Our first month of ministry is in Kampong Cham, Cambodia working at an orphanage through the organization New Hope for Orphans. The orphanage is located out in the countryside off a little dirt road about three miles outside of town. It is warm and so very green here, which is a nice change from the snowy winter I left behind in Canada. We are sleeping in our own personal little treehouse (it’s actually just a cute little porch up some insanely narrow ladder-like steps). We are greeted by the joyful smiles and giggles of the sweetest kids daily, and we are fed copious amounts of rice, vegetables, and meat (with some noodles thrown in there every now and then).
Our ministry host is Vandy, a kind man with a very gentle spirit. You see, Vandy was an orphan himself as a child after his father left when he was two and his mother remarried a man who didn’t want him. He had a difficult childhood, and grew up knowing that he wanted to give orphans like himself a better life than what he had. That’s what led him to start the orphanage here in Kampong Cham. Him and his wife are now the stand-in parents to forty-five kids here at the orphanage, ranging in age from 5 to 22.
Over the years, it hasn’t always been easy. Vandy has had many people tell him he should go to school and study to get a job where he could make more money or a job that would be easier than raising these kids, but the peace and joy that God has given him through the orphanage is more than enough for him. He’s found comfort and strength in God, and it has kept him going for twenty years. Vandy earns no salary running the orphanage, but trusts that God will provide everything him and his family needs.
Ten years ago, Vandy and the kids started praying for a new building so that the kids would have more space. The one they currently live in is pretty run down, and quite small for the number of kids that live there. They prayed earnestly without ceasing, and waited patiently for the Lord to provide, and He did. After ten years, they received the funding and land to build a new orphanage for the kids just up the road from where they currently live.
They’re in the process of finishing building the new orphanage, something that our team gets to take part in daily. It has two large, beautiful buildings, one for the boys and one for the girls, and a kitchen area right in the middle. It also has room for the kids to run around and play soccer (their favourite thing to do). They’re hoping, in time, they’ll receive the funding to build a learning centre for the kids as it is very important to Vandy that the kids get an education and learn English.
Vandy and his wife love each of the kids deeply, and don’t want anything more than to spend their days caring for them. Some of the stories of how the kids have ended up at the orphanage absolutely breaks my heart, but the pure joy I see in them now at the orphanage is a beautiful reminder of the hope and restoration Jesus has for each and every one of us; a reminder that no matter what we’ve been through, He brings joy that surpasses all understanding.
