New Life School

It is so cool to be here in Phnom Penh working with Asian Hope to see what kind of difference they are making outside of the obvious. We have 3 schools, a girls and boys home and a hospitality house. They are all great ministries and I enjoy being a part of them. However, since moving here I have realized that our impact is felt beyond the confines of our official programs. One such example would be New Life School. NLS is a small christian school that was started only a couple years ago for the poorest of the poor in Phnom Penh. Each day they receive children from orphanages who could never pay tuition of a private school or the price to pass through a state school. They would be relegated to a life of servitude and probable abuse. Now they are given a chance at a new life through education and Christ. So how does Asian Hope play a part? Well the principal and the 6th grade teacher (both are Khmai women in their mid to late 20's) were once teaching assistants at Logos International School. If you ask either one of them, and I have, they will both tell you that they would not be where they are today without their experience at Logos. Their time with us taught them lesson planning skills, classroom discipline/control, and gave them the confidence and experience needed to affect a change in so many other lives. This is one of the reasons why in most of Logos' classrooms they have an experienced western teacher and a Khmai teaching assistant: it allows us to help produce excellent Khmai teachers who can then leave our school and make an impact in areas that we couldn't. We also support NLS with ongoing teacher training and curriculum.
With this in mind, we wanted to bless the students and staff of New Life school. So last week we bused in all of the kids (in 2 shifts on 2 different days) to enjoy a carnival at Logos. Our 5th and 6th grade classes helped plan and host these students. They were able to run in grass on an obstacle course, swim, play basketball, throw water balloons, get their faces painted, listen to music, watch a puppet show and maybe best of all, eat ice cream. Our hearts were truly blessed to watch these kids light up with all of the choices of activities. I am not sure who had a better time the kids or those of us who could watch them enjoy themselves. I wanted to share some of these pictures with you but really wish I could bottle up the sights and sounds of that day. I look forward to many more of this type of event...they are priceless for these kids. Please know that any of you reading this would be a welcome set of willing hands and feet during any of these events. If you are interested, leave a comment. Blessings!