Starting Small

This month we are excited about the newest teacher from our Center: SreyOuen, one of our Father’s House kids! For many months now, staff member Aly has been visiting local children and teaching them Khmer literacy and basic English. Aly has been doing such a great job transitioning these children from completely unschooled to functionally literate! And sometimes she brings along some of our Father’s House children (including SreyOuen) to help.

Recently, SreyOuen noticed that there were several new children hanging around who seemed interested in learning but were not ready for the level of study that the children who had been attending for months were at.  She asked Aly if she could start her own little class teaching basic Khmer reading and writing to them. We were of course thrilled to say yes to this endeavor!

One of our biggest desires for Father’s House and Loaves and Fish children is that as they grow up and see how God has brought them out of brokenness into lives of blessing and abundance, that they would begin to sow back into the communities where they were once considered outcasts: that they would bring hope to those around them just as God has brought hope to them.

We are so thankful for faithful and encouraging staff like Aly, who are modeling service and helping our children find their callings. And we are excited to see the many ways that the kids in our programs are blossoming, maturing, and sharing what they have with others! Please join us in praying for SreyEun’s little literacy class, that as she teaches these young children, both she and they would be blessed!

- IHSI

Looking Forward

Our last blog post gave a picture of what God has been doing through IHSI in the past year, and as promised in this entry we want to let you in on some exciting things that have already been happening in the new year and their significance as we look forward. So without further ado, we are very excited to announce that God has provided funding for the purchase of two adjacent plots of land at our Center.  All of the official paperwork and rezoning was completed on Saturday, nearly doubling our campus’ size and open up new possibilities for ministry to the community!

This expansion has been made possible through a new partnership between IHSI and Mission Community Church in Gilbert, Arizona. We are excited to have them commit not only to sponsoring this and other projects, but to having them come and do outreach with us on the field regularly!

In His Steps founders Eric and Ginny Hanson believe that this growth is significant not only as an enlarging of physical space, but as a symbol of increasing influence in the community and in the hearts of those we minister to. Just a few of the future plans for this new addition to our Center include:

• Constructing a second on-site Sak Saum facility, adding to the existing Vocational Training Center which is already more than full. This will be a great blessing to the community by allowing Sak Saum to reach even more at-risk/exploited men and women in the area through job creation and holistic ministry.
• Adding more open space to the property for kite flying, games, and outdoor events.
• Setting up flexible-use areas for soccer and volleyball games, allowing us to build relationships with more youth in the area as well as host sports camps and tournaments with other area churches.
• Providing more parking space for students and children who come to play (our current parking area tends to overflow each afternoon)
  
• Create a picnic area for families, youth, and Sak Saum to gather, share meals, and fellowship together.

Yesterday at our Sunday church service, the entire congregation took time to walk the new land together. As we expressed worship and gratitude to God, declared blessing and peace over the property in Christ, and prayed for God’s presence to be felt by all who come to the campus, there was a palpable sense of joy and excitement in the air! As a church we are all experiencing and learning together how faithful He is.

Now, the boundary posts of our Center are being moved to unite all the land into one piece. Old trees which have been growing without fruit are being cut down to make way for the land to be filled and graded. This is a great picture of what we believe God is doing in ministry! Moving old boundary stones, discarding anything unnecessary or unfruitful, and preparing for new uses and opportunities is exactly what needs to happen in many hearts and many systems of the world as we know it.

IHSI is so thankful for the many new things ahead, the new ways in which God wants to bless Saang, and the expanding of our reach into this area to fulfill the vision that He has given us from the beginning.

In His Steps

If you would like to read a more in-depth review of our 2013 activities, click here.