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"Forget about all that
[that is, the things God did in the past].
It is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
For I am about to do a brand new thing.
See, I have already begun. Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness for my people to come home.
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I will create rivers for them in the desert…
Yes, I will make springs in the desert, so that my chosen people can be refreshed.
I have made Israel
[and Cambodian AIDS orphans]
for myself,
and they will someday honor me before the whole world."
When the orphanage was just a dream, we stood on the road and responded to that question in Isaiah "Do you not see it?"
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Today Place a Rescue is a reality.
It is a village on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A place for terminal AIDs patients
and their families to live. And an orphange for the children who survive their parents.
Surrounded by rice fields and sugar palm trees, there are thatch homes for familes,
and cement buildings that include small homes for the orphans, a rec center, a learning center,
a baby house, two granny houses and a home for pregnant factory girls.
What started small has grown so much over the past few years. There are gardens, fish ponds, and
pig pens, rabbit hutch, a chicken coop and a wading pool. |
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The AIDS family homes are simple but adequate. Here a family of four
can spend time together in an environment of love, security, and quiet dignity.
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A couple of years ago, we started building dormitories for ophan children near the thatch homes.
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The kids were going to have a great view of the fields and trees outside their windows.
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And in no time, a new village came into being.
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We decided to make the homes simple, family style with a dorm Mom to look after a manageable group of 10 kids
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Here is what they look like today.
The kids are playing soccer on the lawn, and Suzie our Golden Retriever, is playing goalie.
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After the orphan homes, we were to build a recreation center nearby for the kids to gather and play.
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The rec center is not far from the thatch homes, which can be seen in the background.
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This is the view from the village back toward the rec center.
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And the view down the street.
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The Learning Center
This is the Learning Center.
Here the kids can even use a computer thanks to a donation. |
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Baby House
Baby House was built to care for babies up to two or three years of age.
When they are three they will be moved to the orphan houses.
Baby House has two bedrooms and a common kitchen/sitting room.
Here two care-givers will look after four babies.
Three little ones lived for a time in Baby House and have now graduated to live with the older children.
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Helping orphan grannies.
Cambodia has not only orphan children but also orphan grannies and grampas. In this culture the elderly live with their grown children and grand-children. If their children die they are destitute and often end up in hovels and begging for their food. Place of Rescue has responded to this need by building two granny houses
Click on picture to see more
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Helping pregnant factory girls
In Cambodia 300,000 young women work in the clothing factories. Far from the watchful eyes of their parents in their home villages they are sometimes seduced, raped or propositioned by their bosses. If they become pregnant they sometimes seek to have an abortion. Place of Rescue is responding to the needs of mother and baby by providing a safe haven where they can stay until the baby is born and where they can receive love and support..
Click on picture to see more
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Sometimes I sit on my porch and look at the gorgeous Cambodian sunset.
And I think to myself, "What amazing thing will God do tomorrow?"
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