LEGO CREATIONS

Leap and Kyler

“Mom, that made my heart hurt and I  felt like I had pain on the inside”, Kyler shared with me. 

 I responded, “me too.  It makes me sad to see children hurting. But today, Kyler, you made Leap so happy”. Kyler smiled back at me, “Mom, I feel happy and sad. Thanks for taking me. I’m glad I brought Leap Legos today!”

Building Lego Creations car (above/below)

This past Saturday I made a nursing consultation visit to the “Healing Home”. Kyler joined me, and so we rode our bikes a kilometer there while I carried my medical bag. I was following up on a 16 year old boy with fever who has a terminal autoimmune disorder called epidermolysis bullosa.  

 
Kyler accomplished more that morning than I had ever
accomplished. Leap smiled when he saw Kyler (above photo). I have been helping with Leap’s care for almost 2 years now. He has never smiled for me during my consultations no matter how much I would smile at him. Kyler brought with him a Lego kit that day. Leap’s eyes lit up when Kyler gave it to him. I watched for the next 30 minutes as Kyler helped him open the box and the two of them assembled the race car together.

Kyler and I took a small journey together that morning. God showed us two things. First, that our identity as human beings is to be productive stewards, faithfully caring for people. Second, God created us to do ministry together as a family.  He intentionally placed us in a system of relationships with Himself, with ourselves, and with community. The human family is a gift of God, a reflection of who God is.

 

What is the Healing Home?

Healing Home, Patient Care Ministry

Leap and his family live in a small village in a rural area of Cambodia which does not have hospitals. Cambodia also does not have a social system that provides those marginalized like Leap with medical assistance. Leap requires specialized care which can only be provided in the capital, Phnom Penh. Leap and his mom are temporarily living at the HH. He receives routine dressing changes, pain medicine, and health check ups. 

  Like most Cambodians, once they arrive in the capital to seek medical care they have no place to stay. Many sleep on mats outside on the hospital grounds. This unmet need is why the Healing Home was created (photo above). It came out of a vision to create a “temporary home for rural villagers needing extended outpatient care while staying in the capital city.

Patient Care Ministry Staff, Donnie, Dara & Rina

The staff (right) at the Healing Home provide spiritual encouragement, healthcare support, and building oversight of the facility. The Healing Home is just one of the many ways that the Patient Care Ministry at New Life Fellowship uses healthcare assistance to minister God's love. If you would like more information how you can partner with the ministry of the Healing Home or become a sponsor for Leap, please select email me and/or to go “Patient Care”@ http://www.cambodiaoutreach.org/donate

 

Knocking It Out Of The Park!

 Okay, I’m going to admit it from the start that I’m bragging! I started to write this from the perspective of “celebrating”, but the truth is I’m proud of a little girl, her community, the Samaritan’s Purse staff and I’m really proud to get to be a small part of all of it!

So what am I talking about.  This last month Banteay Meanchey Province had it’s annual provincial reading competition. It’s like the state level competition in other countries. One of the contestants came from a small village and a small school. Her name is Sophea. She is 11 years old and is in the 6^th grade. Sophea won her school competition and then won the district competition and made it all the way to the provincial level where she won 1st place again!

Sophea receiving her award with the Village Chief
and Provincial Director of Education

After she won she was awarded a bicycle and other prizes and had her picture taken with the Director of the Provincial Office of Education and several officials, including her Village Chief.  You might ask, why so many people, and why was the Village Chief at a provincial reading competition?

A couple of years ago Sophea’s village had a small wooden school house and the school was struggling to provide the children with a quality education. Like so many other villages in this area the reading and writing levels of many of the children were extremely low. However, the parents and community had dreams and hopes for their kids. When the parents and community shared their hopes and dreams with Samaritan’s Purse and with partners, everyone was compelled to see how we could help. Samaritan’s Purse started a program called We Can Read We Can Write. They added library books, teacher's resources, teacher training and technology to the school. At the same time they built a brand new primary school building for the community.

Sophea with her new bike and the
 new school in the background

Sophea’s personal achievement is just one of the outcomes of this great partnership with the community. Before the program started only about 5 out of every 20 students continued their education from primary school on through middle school. This year 21 out of 21 6th grade students in Sophea’s primary school have enrolled to continue their education into middle school! The Village Chief’s presence at the reading competition is just one evidence of the communities commitment to seeing the next generation fulfill their dreams!  

6th Grade graduates receiving their
new bikes for starting Middle School

When Samaritan's Purse staff asked Sophea what she wanted to be when she grows up, she replied she wants to be a teacher. This is just more proof students aren't just learning skills, but are understanding the true value of education. 

There has been has been a lot of celebrating in Sophea's village recently. First was Sophea's victory, but later the community celebrated the enrollment of all 21 of the 6th grade graduates into Middle School. As a special recognition of this monumental achievement Samaritan's Purse and partners provided each child with a new bike to ride to school. I forgot to mention that the nearest Middle School is 8 kilometers away. These bikes will make that twice a day journey much easier and help make sure these students stay in school.  As a guy who went to a small country school this has been special to me because I realize that Sophea's victory, and the achievement of all of her classmates, is really a victory for small village schools across Cambodia. It's shows that when a community values its children they will rise to the occasion. It makes me thankful for the community I came from!

This is what hope for the future looks like! These students will attend Middle School and that will alter the trajectory of their lives. Please pray for these students as they continue to Middle School and that a church spring up in Sophea's community. 

Great job community, teachers, partners and Samaritan's Purse Education staff!

Bye! Bye!