A Day at the Beach

Today we were back to work. We checked out a couple of ministries the May team can be involved with. There's plenty of charities here, but most are corrupt-government agencies & NGO's alike. So, it's absolutely crucial for us to have God's wisdom in scouting these places out. (Thanx Myrtle for constant covering in this area!) We have been blessed to find two trustworthy ministries in Sihanouk Ville.

I thoroughly checked out one called Cambodia Children's Painting Project. Street children, who seem to be innumerable here, are welcomed in to play, eat & paint postcards & 8-1/2 x 11 pictures which are sold to help cover costs. Most of the funding comes thru other means of support tho. These activities keep the children from the danger of the streets, of which there are many. The live-in staff keep track of the children & their families diligently. They make sure the children go to school, even paying tuition, teacher fees & purchasing uniforms. They take seriously wounded & ill children to a local clinic free of charge too. They visit the families encouraging every member to live safe, healthy & with dignity.

I was pleased those in charge wanted to thoroughly check me out too. That's always a good sign in this pedophile infested country. Fyi, any children's charity that welcomes visitors without background checks is a cover for human trafficking or pocketing all the donations.

The other was an easy find. We visited the orphanage Isaac worked with when he was here last year. This orphanage, Mission of Mercy, is by far the best thing I've seen in all of Cambodia. MoM houses about 75 children on a virtually self-sustaining walled-in compound. The children receive the highest quality education in this area & possibly the entire country. In addition, they learn many life skills that are of value at the orphanage & will be of equal value once the children graduate university. Yes, they get to go to college too! Best of all, the children are trained to love Jesus & to spread the Gospel wherever they go. Hallelujah!

We also saw again how the less fortunate children are forced to live here. I cannot tell you how many tourists we saw "escorting" children today. Neither can I count how many children begged me for money or offered me some cheap trinket or service for purchase. Even those who attend school work after class is dismissed. I'm not talking about teenagers flipping burgers for pocket money here. I'm talking about 6 & 7 year-olds hawking tourists here to support their familes....if they have a family to live with.

Schools share in the corruption as well. Families are charged a hefty tuition & must purchase the school's uniforms (generally half a month's wages). Plus, the children must daily pay "teacher fees" to enter the classroom. Teachers charge students $1 or $2 per day for general education & english classes usually run even higher.

It's not a matter of Googling local charities or contacting the local Red Cross here. To find trustworthy, worthwhile charities that are really making a long-term, helpful difference is like finding a needle in a rice paddy here. Please join us in thanking the God whose eyes are roaming to & fro across the earth looking for faith, for today He has shown us where He's found it in Sihanouk Ville, Cambodia.