In Luke 18:16, Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God”. Children are precious in God’s eyes, they need to know God, and they need God’s salvation like every one of us.
We can’t neglect the children, they are like bamboo shoot, and they grow very fast to become young adult, if we take care of the bamboo shoot well they will become strong bamboo.
So, reaching the children today can be a strong foundation for the kingdom work in a few years’ time.
Reaching and working with the children have some challenges but are manageable, especially the children in the villages, they are meek, humble, and have an open heart to the Word of God. While there is time, we can evangelize and eventually disciple them for the Lord Jesus Christ.
For the past seven years, God opened the door for us to reach to seven public schools in Kampong Speu Province, and an estimated 3,000 children heard about Jesus. However, we were not able to continue as there is no dedicated teacher to teach them even just on a weekly basis. A crucial strategy is to regularly teach them about who God is and have a deeper understanding of God’s plans for their lives. Due to a lack of resources, we were not able to visit Schools in the provinces regularly, we were only able to visit and minister to them about 3-4 times a year as funds become available, in this case, they did not grow in their knowledge of the TRUE GOD. The Seed was planted but did not grow because no one cultivated and watered it.
The door is actually very open for us to do ministry to them, the School Principals and teachers in each school and the Commune and Village chiefs were very supportive of our work and allow us freedom to share Christ with them.
These children and teachers want us to teach them English, and we want to take this opportunity to teach them English Bible and Bible study at every School, but the real problem is that we don’t have enough resources to fund teachers that they can go and teach them English and Bible lessons regularly. This is a good way to maintain the children’s faith to continue to trust and believe in God.
In order to sustain this work, we need to hire seven full-time Christian teachers as we have seven schools,
We have one school in the city; ABC123 School was established in Phnom Penh, in 2007 to reach out to the children whose parents are able to pay some amount of tuition fees. In October 2020, ABC123 School was renamed Cornerstone International School to cater to older children. The School was used by God to lead city children to come to know Him as their Lord and Savior. Children of local Christian workers also benefitted through discounted tuition fees. There is a weekly Bible Study and devotion that enrolled pupils need to attend.
Books and Materials (per semester, 2x a year) $1.5 per book x 400 students
$600 x 2 = $1200 per year per school
Projected Monthly Needs for One School:
Teacher’s Salary: $350.00
Gasoline: $70.00
Fellowship and discipleship: $150.00
TOTAL: $570.00