Missionaries Joe and Viya Stoltenow – Serving in Cambodia

Jun
5, ’20

By

Student Spotlight

Category: Uncategorized Leave a Comment

Pa-Oun Srey (Khmer for “Little Sister)

To protect the privacy of these street children and their families, we will not be providing the actual names of our students online.
For this months student spotlight we decided to pick what may possibly be the cutest human being on the planet, Pa-Oun Srey. Pa-Oun Srey is six years old and is currently one of two Ray of Hope students in Kindergarten. She has an absolutely glowing personality and is constantly putting smiles on our faces. She enjoys playing with her new friends at our center and loves to eat sour soup with morning glory, a Khmer favorite.

Pa-Oun Srey was introduced to us back in early 2019 from our friend Rachel who worked with expecting mothers in poor and homeless communities in Battambang.  Rachel told us about a woman she was helping who had a little girl who desperately wanted to go to school but couldn’t afford it. So we went to visit the mother and daughter at their home to give them an application for our program. Their house was little more than a wooden shack with a sheet metal roof. There was one main room in the shack with a small area designated for cooking. The entire shack was raised about three feet off the ground and underneath was filled with dirty, polluted water.

We sat down inside and met with Pa-Oun Srey’s mother while Pa-Oun Srey shyly smiled at us from the doorway. Her father was also present but he slept through the entire meeting in his hammock. After learning more about the families background it didn’t take long for Viya and I to agree that she was a perfect candidate for our ministry and soon after that meeting she was accepted into Ray of Hope.

Since starting at Ray of Hope, Pa-Oun Srey has already grown both physically and spiritually. She loves our Bible classes and is very excited to be playing the highly coveted role of Sheep #2 in our upcoming Christmas pageant. She is also loving her time at school and is currently learning her Khmer alphabet. We thank God everyday for the opportunity to have Pa-Oun Srey in our program and that we get to teach her about her Savior Jesus Christ every single day!

 

Follow
X

Follow

E-mail : *

Jun
5, ’20

By

Student Spotlight

Category: Uncategorized Leave a Comment

Chet Law-Ah (Khmer for “Kind Heart)

To protect the privacy of these street children and their families, we will not be providing the actual names of our students online.
When Ray of Hope opened back in 2017 we began the school year with four girls and one boy. That boy was Chet Law-Ah. As one of Ray of Hope’s first students, we have been able to see a tremendous growth in him from a little street kid with crazy hair, into a mature and caring young man. As stated above, Chet Law-Ah is Khmer for “Kind Heart”, and we think the name fits him perfectly.

Chet lives in a slum near the abandon train station in Battambang with his grandmother and his younger brother. His parents are currently in Thailand making a small living as construction workers. From their small income they are able to send small amounts of money back to Chet’s grandmother to help support them moth to month. Due to the distance and constant need to provide, Chet’s parents are only able to visit him twice a year. This is a very common circumstance in Cambodia especially with street kids.

Chet began third grade at the start of the school year at our partner school, Pannasastra University Battambang, and is currently ranked fourth in his class. He is also very good at Khmer reading and writing and, as a result, the school recently selected him for their upcoming reading competition.  The competition will be school wide and will be held sometime in March. We will be sure to keep everyone updated on his results!

When Chet started at Ray of Hope, he was a relatively easy going kid who really just went with flow and rarely misbehaved. Today, he is a model student and is always the first to volunteer with chores at our center. He loves Bible class and learning about Jesus, and we have seen him actively applying Bible lessons in his day to day life. It is truly a blessing from God to have him in our Ray of Hope family!

Follow
X

Follow

E-mail : *