The School that Love Built

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; He seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor.

For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; on them he has set the world.

1 Samuel 2:8

Someone shared with Pastor Sihok about 80 families that lived in desperate conditions at a village surrounding a dumpsite so he went to see for himself. His heart so moved by the desperate conditions that he has been ministering to these families at dumpsite for the past year.  Pastor Sihok, divinely connected with Jen Barnes and the LifeTotes team, was able to take a small step to help the families here rise up, find hope, and begin establishing a solid foundation for their future.  This small step was accomplished through the building of a school.

Less than three months after meeting Pastor Sihok and Jen’s visit to Cambodia, children at the dumpsite village, who were once forgotten and had little hope for education, are attending the LifeTotes school in their village. 

LifeTotes’ dear friend, Sharon Hattaway, has dedicated her life to the people of Cambodia.  Currently living in Phnom Penh, Sharon recently visited the LifeTotes school at the dumpsite village.  She shared with us about the school that is a helping build a foundation of hope for this community.

This is how Sharon describes the school:

“There are about 20 children who go every day to this new school building. Most of the children have never been to school or at least have not been regularly.”

“Pastor Sihok worked the local community to design the building and they thought of many specific design elements that helped make the building better equipped for the surrounding environment. The building is very basic but extremely functional. It has open windows on three sides to take advantage of any breeze and keep the metal building as cool as possible.”

“There are also two fans on the ceiling, which help with airflow and cooling. The building design also wonderfully allows natural light to be used in the classroom. The windows can be latched so when it rains the students stay dry. There is a cement floor so that there is no problem with mud in the rainy season.”

“The classroom is very basic with 10 student desks (each can sit 3 to 5 students), a teacher's desk, a white board, and one poster on the wall that looks like the children made it. The students use slates instead of paper to write whatever is needed.”

The Lord has used others to continue to show love to these families. A woman from a local church donated the slates for the children.  Sharon herself has donated funds to ensure that the students have flashcards, books, and posters for the English portion of the school as well as Khmer posters or books for the students to learn Khmer, the local language.

The school is indeed just a building, but it is a building built with much love, prayer, hope and vision.  It is a building whose foundation was established by Jesus and that serves as a vision of His immense love for all of His children.