Welcome to our one room school. We are partnered with Cambodia Slum Ministries, or CSM. They started a few years ago after needing the need for additional schooling for underprivileged slum children. Here in Cambodia school is ‘technically’ free, according to the government. But the teachers don’t get paid enough so they resort to charging students extra fees for classes. This means that a high percentage of the population cannot afford to go to school, at least not for very long. So CSM was created.
CSM hosts classes Mon-Thurs, A music class Saturday afternoons, and Bible study/youth church on Sunday mornings. They provide preschool in the mornings for 3 hours where they teach Khmer, English, math and tell Bible stories. In the afternoons there are 3 hours of English classes for students ages ~9-19 years. There are three sections divided by age and ability. CSM has also just started making typing and computer skills classes available. All of these classes are held in the same room. English classes and computer classes are held simultaneously.
The first week we were here was a holiday. All the students had left the city and gone home for the Khmer New Year. So we had a lot of time on our hands, nowhere to go, and several large containers of paint. So we decided to leave our mark on the CSM class room. We created a mural of the nativity scene. We also painted an alphabet banner and added six flags to the class room. We spent the first week game planning, sketching, erasing, measuring, painting, laughing and sweating. It was a great time for the team to do ministry 100% together. Oddly enough we have made it to month four without all seven of us having the opportunity to do do ministry alongside one another. It was a lot of fun getting to put on music and create something that was completely our own but benefited the ministry.
This week the students are back which means we are all teachers! To all the teachers out there, I salute you! I also sincerely apologize for all the blank stares I gave you when you were teaching. I understand now that is not a confidence building response. Thank you for your patience.
I have loved the ministry this month. It has been a great balance of rest and challenge. The combination of getting to use my artistic gifts as well as be challenged with teaching english to 9-12 year olds has been….stretching. But so so good!
We leave CSM in two days. It’s hard to believe we are already done. But that is the nature of things when you have debriefs/LDW’s almost every month (I can explain this in another blog). I will remain in Cambodia for about another week up in Siem Reap (where Angkor Wat is) participating in an awakening and a debrief. I am sure I will have a lot to tell you all after all of that!
CSM shared some of the prayer requests they have so I would love to pass them along and allow y’all another way to partner with me in prayer!
- prayers for classes to run smoothy and so be beneficial to the students
- for the students that come to be able to hear the gospel through CSM and not simply learn english
- The school support program – a program where CSM provides scholarships for students in need – for them to have discernment and wisdom in choosing the students to support
- New building with plenty of space for them to live, hold all the different classes, and host teams
- For a sound system
This ministry is really great and we have been so blessed to be able to work with them! If you want to see more about CSM here are a few links to follow. Also if you feel led to help support them financially there is a link for that too.
http://www.reactsministries.org/cambodia-slum-ministry.html
https://app.easytithe.com/g3/h/
https://www.facebook.com/CambodiaSlumMinistry/
Here is some of the art work we created this week!
Thank you as always for keeping up with me!!
Until next time, Gig’em and God bless!!
Mags
