Hello from Phnom Penh, Cambodia!
Me, MyLen, Phoung, and Johnny celebrating our last day with flour fights and games.(MyLen and Phoung are teachers and Johnny is one of my current teammates)
Ask a child what they want to be when they grow up. You’ll hear answers like singer, ballerina, doctor, teacher, and the list goes on. We all know children are dreamers and as adults if we admit it, we usually can come up with some crazy dreams as well.
We are created with wild imaginations, it’s crazy that the Lord created us to think in the ways we do. The younger we are the more we tend to dream pure dreams, dreams we were and are intended to dream. Though these young dreams may seem impossible we believe in a God who makes all things possible (Luke 18:17). He also tells us that in order to enter the kingdom of heaven we must be like little children (Matthew 18:3).
I know we’re not supposed to have favorites as teachers, but this little boy was one of mine
So if you put those things together you get adults who should act like little children and believe in the impossible… So if you will allow me a little leverage here I think this means God loves it when we dream big, impossible, wild dreams… like children do!
In fact, there is a verse in Psalms that talks about dreaming in such a beautiful way. It says that, “The Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’ The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy” (Psalm 126:1-3).
My prayer is that as you read this the Lord reignites dreams inside your heart, that you see the great things He has done for you, that your mouths be filled with laughter and your tongues be filled with songs of joy. I pray that you (and I for that matter) see that when situations seem hopeless, we have our God who restores us to be like those who dream. Our God is the God of dreamers.
I have plenty of dreams that are wild beyond belief. One of them was to become a missionary… and here I am. How good is God that with a single breath He can give life to our deflated lungs? We take one hit and we’re out. We’re down. When life hits us it hits us hard and sometimes we let it keep us down. We sulk in the hopelessness of our situations.
But the Lord, HE restored our fortunes, HE lifted us out of the muck and mud and HE gave life to our dry bones. He gave hope to our once hopeless lives AND we were once again like those who dreamed.
Some of the Lord’s lil’ dreamers waiting for Sunday worship service to start
The Lord is raising up a generation of dreamers over here in Cambodia and it’s contagious (you should hear the things I’ve been thinking up since coming here).
Okay, so you want to talk about impossible? Ya, I’m sure your dreams are impossible and blah blah blah… never could happen, well whatever. Here in Cambodia the Lord is Restoring His little children and they are dreaming big, impossible dreams.
Some of our students and God’s little children playing marbles and such in front of the school 
During the Vietnam war there were many Vietnamese who fled to Cambodia to seek refuge. In the process of fleeing many lost any and all legal documentation or didn’t have it in the first place. Well now the war is over and the Vietnamese government will not allow them back in the country because they have no legal documents. The Cambodian government also does not allow these people to become legal citizens in Cambodia because they are Vietnamese.
Because of lack of documentation, Vietnamese people here cannot legally purchase land, cannot send children to any accredited schools, cannot attain any sort of decent paying job, and the list goes on. They are stuck in a country that doesn’t want them and rejected by the country that once had them.
Eating dinner with one of the families we were able to share the gospel with (note: it was a floating house.. pretty cool)
Anyone in their right mind would look at this situation and agree that these people are going nowhere. Some of these people themselves have accepted the hopelessness of their situation. It is reflected in the dreams of their children.
When asked what they dream for or what they dream to become the replies are sobering. One little boy dreams of having a trash can with wheels on it so that being a garbage man will be easier. Another little girl dreams of becoming a prostitute so that she will be able to dress nicer and look prettier.
How does God breath life into these children? How does the Lord restore them to be like dreamers?
He provides them with a place to dream.
One of the teachers, Nissi, teaching English with the 2nd grade class
My ministry host and friend, Thien Ai (pronounced Ting I) has been living in Cambodia for twelve years now fighting to give these children hope and dreams in Jesus. She will admit to having made many mistakes along the way, falling and getting back up. Trying one thing and failing but moving onto the next by the grace and strength of God.
I am so honored to have been able to spend the past month working in the school that she put tears, sweat and prayer into in order to cultivate a place for children to have a brighter hope for their future.
Thein Ai
The school is located on the edge of the river, conveniently located for the Vietnamese families that line the edge of the water. Because the Vietnamese are not considered legal many of the homes of the students are in water villages because water is not considered buyable property (probably a better way to say that but frankly, I’m not sure how).
View from a nearby bridge of the water village and city where the school was (Tonle Sap River)
The teachers that work in the school are not credited teachers yet they offer years of their lives to help teach the children. Aside from Thein Ai’s husband Charles, all of the teachers on staff are legal citizens in Vietnam and have agreed to temporarily teach in Cambodia in order to help spread Jesus’ love to the families and teach them about the only God that will always welcome them home. To give them hope that with Jesus Christ they will always be a part of a family, they will always belong despite any situation this life throws at them.
The students in the school are full of life and are learning that they are deeply loved and cherished by their Heavenly Father. Many of the students are the first Christian in their families. In fact, three of the students who had been in the school since it started are now committed believers and are student teaching for the school. Out of the three I know of one, Lucy, who has helped to bring her parents to Christ after being raised in a Buddhist household.
Lucy, Cienna and Thom are the three student teachers who were raised up within the school. They now student teach in the morning block of school (7:30am-12:00pm) and continue schooling with their classmates in the afternoon block (1:30pm-4:30pm). Both Lucy and Cienna work with the preschool and kindergarten ages while Thom takes shifts in teaching the older children computer skills. Lucy is 18, Cienna is 17 and Thom is 15.
Cienna and Lucy
Thom and Nissi leading Sunday’s worship for the school and staff
As you may imagine, the school is not only giving these children integrity, hope, and identity in their Savior, it is giving them a place to dream bigger dreams. The students that I talked about who are student teaching are not stopping there. During our time with the school Lucy hosted a young adults prayer meeting at the school and talked about being a light to the people of Cambodia, being a candle in the darkness.
My teammate Coop at Lucy’s candlelight prayer meeting
It brings me to tears when I consider this young women’s situation. She is raised in a country that tells her she does not belong. She is rejected by the country that she should be able to call her own. She is not even allowed to live on land and yet she wants to raise up a generation to spread the love of God to the very country that rejects her… and she’s excited to so.
I am so blown away that our God really is the God who brings hope to hopeless. That our God is not only a dreamer but the creator of the very dreams we dream for. Our God breathes life into our thoughts, puts our dreams into motion, our God wants us to live lives to the full regarless of what our situation says. Our God makes impossible possible and there in Cambodia, that much is clear.
Me getting on a little boat to visit one of the families of our students (note: Right before taking this picture I had to walk across a little floating house. Seriously it was so little. So to my surprise, I stepped on the very corner of the little floating house and it began to titanic… awkward, funny and embarrassing moment to share with you all. Needless to say the people there are a little smaller than your average American).
As always, thank you so much for checking in on me and reading what I’m up to and what God has put on my heart. Some of you may already know that I am off of social media for the remainder of my trip but I would love to remain available to you so comment with any questions you might have and feel free to share my blog if you feel compelled to do so (or simply because I am unable to share it myself and it would be helpful:)). Love you all! May God bless your socks off!
With Joy
-Katy
