Not so long ago when Kuylay was a young boy he grew up just like other kids in his village. His village is located about halfway up the Mekong River in Cambodia, and about seven kilometers inland away from the river. Most people live along the river banks because that affords them w
Sometime in the early 1960’s a young boy was born to a poor family in Kracheh province; his name was Pin. He was born into a time of war and political unrest. By the time Pin reached nine years old the Khmer Rouge had already taken over the rural eastern region and were threatening
Today, I simply wanted to show you a picture. Last week, while working in Poipet suddenly I realized that we had a whole bunch of nations represented. The nations of the world are converging on this dirty border town to bless them in the name of Jesus! Have a look: We have w
In my previous blog, “Tough Decisions (part 1)“, I tried to explain how the decisions we make on helping kids are very difficult. I used a recent child’s case to show how we were able to help, at least for now, a child and her mother. Less than 24 hours after this
The phone rings. It is a pastor I do not know who received my number through friends. He needs our help. He said: “There is a lady who showed up in our village who was raped in Thailand. She recently had a baby and does not want it and is trying to give it away. Can you tak
Last week one of our girls named Mary heard about a little baby who’s mother had died. In Poipet, most of the population actually work in Thailand, so there was no one to care for this little baby. She was only three months old and was covered with little bed sores, insect bit
The first 7 years of my life were mostly spent in Iowa, but after that I have circled the globe so many times I can’t even count it. Yet, oddly, the site of a John Deere tractor still feels like home to me. When I see rolling fields with perfect rows of corn and beans, or the
During rainy season in Cambodia our showers are fast and violent. It will rarely rain for hours on end, but usually strong weather systems move across Cambodia rapidly. They are often preceded by violent wind storms; many which whip up micro-tornadoes. Our Kracheh children’s center
A year ago I sent out a short e-mail to all my friends and supporters. In that e-mail I listed three urgent requests I had. While hundreds got the news, and no doubt prayed for help, I had very few responses. A couple of people recommended a friend or two for the job, but I only ha
Kum Hian is one of my favorite kids at the Imparting Smiles Center in Poipet. He came to us when he was about 12 years old and had never been to school in his life. Over the year since then, has faithfully studied hard and been able to skip years in school. Even one summer he came