Sad follow up to 12th grade tests

Monday morning day 1 of the test SreyOwn mom passed away. Sreykeo and SreyNygt went home to be with their mom in her final moments.
We held off telling SreyOwn until we picked her up from the test Tuesday afternoon. Their mom's been sick for a while so it wasn't too much of a surprise.
Sad news to get the day you graduate.

The rest of the kids tests went well.  Lots of stories to tell about the craziness that goes on here at test time.


Oct. 2007
SreyOwn, Mom SreyKeo

Our 6 children (young adults) from A Greater Hope Orphanage will be taking their high school exam on Monday the 21st and Tuesday the 22nd.  Their whole year depends on the one test, regardless how they did in class.  We have confidence in them as we've done our part and they've done well.

We'd like you to join in prayer with us this weekend that God would provide them the answers they need. That they would be protected from any problems, like nerves or illness.

Early September they will find out if they pass and move on towards college or hang around another year.  We believe they will pass no problem.  September they will likely seek summer employment. There will be opportunities here with us at the house and at the school. This will give them a little experience and some spending money as they prepare for YWAM January 2018.

A big thank you to all of you who helped them get where they are today. To the support and sponsors, many of you have hung in there more than 10 years.  I can't say there are a lot of organizations out there that have such loyalty in their support, we really value that a lot more than we say, so thank you.

To our guests, who have been hands on with the kids. Jessica, Alicia, Neal, Ashley, Ginny, Zach are a few names that came to mind that really made an impact on the kids spending large amounts of personal time with them. So many of you who came to Cambodia has helped us make A Greater Hope a special place to grow up. Maybe it was baseball, soccer or bracelets, movies or snack time. All those little pieces helped take kids from a really bad places from where they came from and turned them into the ladies and gentlemen you know today.  Each of these guys have lost 1 or more parent, some have been slaves, some sold, some abused, but they haven't let the past hold them down with excuses.

Today they know Christ,  speak multiple languages, most of them are musicians, some amazing artists, a couple of them are great cooks, some supper mechanical each of them I could tell you lots of stories about my fondness for them.  A couple of them we really struggled for them to make it this far, I mean really really struggled.  Some where no problem at all as if they didn't exist. (so thankful for those kind) ;).

We give a shout out to Pastor Pat who got this started and Pastor Barry who has been a pillar of support for us personally in making the happen.

First and last Glory to Christ for the calling and having great mercy on all of us.  What a mess this would all be with out His constant guidance.

We've a fundraiser going on

We've a fundraiser going on

We believe one of Cambodia's biggest earthly needs is education.  We believe the lack of a good education is the foundation of all Cambodia's struggles.
We believe one of Cambodia's biggest spiritual needs is a relationship with Christ.
Through the school the kids and the staff are being educated.
Through the school the students, staff and their families are hearing the gospel of Jesus the Christ.

A Heart for Wisdom school is a local, private Christian school located in a small village an hour outside the city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Education wise we are doing great the last 3 years a 100% of 9th graders have passed their national exams.

Besides daily teaching Christ to the students, the teachers are in daily bible studies sometimes twice a day. We also regularly visit and work with the student's families. So many of the students, their moms, grandmas and relatives are getting saved.
There's so much more that is being done, we are so proud of what God is doing through us that we could go on and on about it.

So many of you, our friends that have been here and seen what I am sharing about first hand.

Oct.of 2010 our first preschool class with 16 students


2016 we had 17 classes and reached 500 students


2018 enrollment we're expecting close to 600 students with 20 classes and 40 staff


We regularly turn away student because we lack the space.


2014, I think it was we bought the property next door.


2016 we opened a second location.


2017 we're looking to expand


We really need your help and the link below is a way you can do so.
Please like the page as it does all that web magic stuff.
Please share the page as much as you want to see us succeed.
Please give and ask others to give as well.

The link  below is all you need.

Fund Raiser for the Next Buildings

Thank you for your help

New Page to the New Website

Please, Please if you have ever visited us in the past would you do us the honor of filling our new Follow Up Review.  We won't bug you to much after that unless you want us too.

If you came a while ago but would still like to leave a review it will help us maybe improve or add to the next guest experience.


Follow Up Form
https://agreaterhopeorphanage.com/960-2/

More Guest Forms if you looking for an Application or something.
https://agreaterhopeorphanage.com/visting-teams/

New Website     Please give it a look.
https://agreaterhopeorphanage.com/

Looking for some help with windows access.

To all our friends out there we're looking for a bit of help.  

We're trying to use Windows Access student management for our school.  We would like it to cover a little more than it's doing by adding a page or two. 

It seems quite simple but more than I can figure out.  I am sure a more knowledgeable person could set us up in minutes and I can do the inputting.  

https://access-templates.com/access+2016/access+student+database+management+system+templates-594.html

Thank you for sharing this if you know someone who can offer some help.

The Biggest Update in 10 years

January 2017 we localized our leadership. 

What does that mean exactly?

Under our international NGO our home church in the USA was responsible for our leadership and upper level board decisions. But as we've grown and as we continue to grow we came to the realization that our Cambodian ministry has grown so large that we have created needs that could really only be meet here locally.
So to become more efficient in our service, to continue to raise up locals to do the work, to get real time answers and take on all the responsibilities for the ministry we worked to come up with a solution. In agreement and with encouragement from our pastor we've taken steps to secure our leadership, localize our boards and file for a local Cambodian non proffit or Non Government Organization (NGO).
Sunday April 2 the new NGO was announced to our congregation in California that their baby had grown up and now I can share this exciting news with you our international friends and support net work.


Calvary Chapel Fallbrook still donate to us and still receive funds on our behalf as they always have, standing in as a 501c3 providing tax incentives to our donors.

We have to give glory to Christ who called us to the mission field and we give our everlasting gratitude to Pastor Pat who got us going and Pastor Barry who has done more for us than anyone will ever know. We love the home we grew up in and the people we call brothers and sisters.

A Big Thank you our Calvary Chapel Fallbrook family.

I'd love to take this opportunity to introduce you to our new Non Government Organization.

A Greater Hope. N.G.O.

An official Non profit of Cambodian

A Greater Hope NGO  ministries still included

A Greater Hope Orphanage   &   A Heart for Wisdom school

Ream as a Cambodian national has been made Director of AGH NGO.

Ream has also been made Director of the AGH Orphanage as the government also has a new requirement that a Cambodian national must run Cambodian orphanages.

I, Kit Carson remain Director of A Heart for Wisdom school.

We are currently working on some fundamental changes to our ministries, our structure and how we might better interact with you and keeping you more informed.

We've been given such great a gift from Micheal, Director CCBC Kauai. He will have a new website up for us very soon that integrates the blog and all social media things that we are suppose to be using in one place.

Some things we are working towards;  

1. Family assistance, in home care, local adoptions and possibly even foster care with our church families here.

2. We're praying right now about opening a chapel on the new campus and starting a Sunday service.

3.  We are a year maybe two from starting a vocation/ngo/bible college and we'll share about this later.

4.  Most importantly we are working towards something called Ministry Partners.

5. Ministry Partners in short is going to open some doors for those who wanted to support the ministry but didn't work out for some reason. We're going to do what we can to make sure anyone wanting to get involved can, as much or as little as they want in any aspect of what we do. 

Our number one concern in this is ensuring our current children sponsorship program remains secure and those relationships continue to grow while at the same time covering children expenses that still exist outside the sponsorship programs we already have. Two examples of top of my head are finances for school and medical. One trip to the doctor can cost well over the yearly income from a sponsor.  

So we really want to open the door to everyone with this new program, cover all our cost and give us room to grow as the ministry requires. 

Thank you all for your time and commitment to our organization, we're so close to so many of you. Honestly when I think about all the people who have done so much for the ministry and kept up relationships with us after so many years it's humbling.
It's something only Christ could have done,  I hope everyone involved can see that, Amen?

Temporarily

Our New Website Address Is

https://agreaterhopeorphanage.com

We are going to change it to 

https://agreaterhope.org

I'll announce the chance when it takes place

A Quick Note

It was tax time yeah!!!!

I ended up owing the IRS again this year, but maybe you didn't.
If you're looking for a solid organization to share your refund with.  Or maybe your financial blessings have nothing to do with a tax refund and your hopelessly lost on what to do with that extra cash.  Well look no further than AGH.   We could use your support.

For an unlimited amount of time we are seeking additional ministry partners.

Yes, that's true.

So if you've ever inquired about partnering with our ministry we are wide open for your involvement.
Already partnering with our ministry but want to do more no worries, you are now free to give freely to the ministry you've come to know and love.


Sorry I've seen the TV show "Shark Tank" for the first time and such pitches are stuck in my mind.
All cuteness aside we could use your support and our guest list is wide open until mid August.
A Greater Hope Orphanage as a project is in a bit of a lull this past year and we'd really like your involvement.

Thank you

A new guest and a new friend

We've got a young lady staying with us for the next couple month sharing her skills as a nurse with our ministry.  Her name is Heather and we pray God gives her incite, wisdom and knowledge as she spends time her helping people with their ailments.

Like with most guests we're secretly praying she loses her passports and has to stay for everrrrrrr.

I encourage you to follow her blog while she is here to get some fresh perspective of what is being done here and how her trip moves a long.  

http://meetmeincambodia.blogspot.com/

There's already a story I hope she'll share about a random child that followed her home on day two.

Blessings to you all pray you had a wonderful Easter service.

Some Great News for Two Children

Two children, Samrang and Long were living with their aunt in 2009 when they came to us.
They had lost their father and presumed their mother was dead as she went to Thailand 4 or 5 years earlier and not been heard from since.

Fast forward to last week April 2017 their mom showed up at the house 12 years later.

Samrang and Long have a mother again which is pretty cool thing to happen to someone.  We hope she's ready to be a mother and that we can fill in some gaps for her with pictures of who her babies were.

We did a lot of work on these two for sure, we had a number of people help support their stay here.  I can't think of a better investment to be able to have a child care for and returned when the right time presents itself.  

If your reading this and aren't involved with our ministry I say your missing out on such rewards and encourage you to contact us about becoming involved.  

Long and Samrang the day they arrived 8 years ago.

National testing 2017

Each year the country holds a best student competition for Math, Physics and Khmer.

We sent 4 students 3 from grade 9 and 1 from grade 12 to the local district test.
Neighboring schools sent about 60 students.

Of our 4 children 3 passed, 2 - 9th grade students for Math and Physics and our 12th grader passed for Khmer. 
Neighboring schools sent about 60 students, 10 passed.
State testing happened last week Emey passed number 7 in the province/state.
Emey was the only student in our district of 16 schools that passed the State test. 

She will test again for country May 4th. The government is providing everything for the student. Transportation and hotels for the student and family as well as meals and a little touring vacation of all Battambangs wonderful sights.

Ream shared this on facebook today so I wanted to post it as well.

We are very proud of Pi Emey, she's such a good student and very sweet and humble. Teacher Chay Chanra is Khmer teacher for 11-12 grades at our school. He is a very good teacher he is very gentle, caring and loves his students. He works very hard teaching the students and has spent a lot of time with her one on one tutoring. Please continue to pray for her that she will do well for the next test. We really thank the Lord that she past the last test.

ពិ​ អ៊ីម៉ី ជាសិស្សថ្នាក់ទី ១២ នៃសាលារៀនបេះដូងសម្រាប់វិជ្ជា ដែលបានប្រឡងជាប់សិស្សពូកែផ្នែកភាសាខ្មែរ ទូទាំងខេត្តតាកែវ ហើយត្រៀមទៅប្រឡងសិស្សពូកែទូទាំងប្រទេស ។ សាលារៀនមានមោទនភាពចំពោះគាត់ ដោយគាត់ជាសិស្សដែលយកចិត្តទុកដាក់រៀនសូត្រ មានអត្តចរិតទន់ភ្លន់ សុភាពរាបសា គួរឱ្យស្រឡាញ់ ។ លោកគ្រូ ចយ ច័ន្ទរ៉ា ជាគ្រូបង្រៀនភាសាខ្មែរ​ថ្នាក់់ទី ១១ និងទី ១២ នៅក្នុងសាលារៀនបេះដូងសម្រាប់វីជ្ជា ។ គាត់ជាគ្រូបង្រៀនដ៏ល្អ បង្រៀនដោយយកចិត្តទុកដាក់ និងមានក្ដីស្រឡាញ់ចំពោះសិស្ស ។​ សូមជួយបន្តអធិស្ថានសម្រាប់់ ពិ អ៊ីម៉ី ក្នុងការប្រឡងសិស្សពូកែទូទាំងប្រទេស​ ។ អរគុណព្រះជាម្ចាស់សម្រាប់ការប្រឡងជាប់កន្លងមក ។

The First

The Social Affair has required all NGO orphanages to register with international division to also do so with the local national division.  Pretty much a lot of paperwork that we've already done.

We were notified yesterday that we are the first orphanage in our State/province and much of the country to complete the paperwork and should receive a letter of recognition once it's approved.
  
As Cambodia is looking at closing may of the non government orphanages in the country by 2018.
A Greater Hope Orphanage will be able to operate in Cambodia as long as the need presents itself.

Amen,  

Tickets to Cambodia

Super Cheap

I thought I'd share we had a guest book a ticket for April from New York to Cambodia for close to $700 usd.  The layovers were quite short on good airline Cathay Pacific.  

This is maybe $300 cheaper than an average from LA.

I'd say this would be a good chance to visit us if you've ever thought about it.

Also other than April and September our schedule is wide open if you wanted to do missions with us shoot us an email.

  

New Photo from Space

Just a little bit of fun.

New Photo put out on Google maps was recently posted so I thought I'd share it with you all.

Newer items not shown in the last photo.

A - 4 new classed Oct. 2015

      B - New pad poured Aug. 2016 

               C - Team house completed Sept. 2015

Christmas 2016

Thank you for all the support we've had this year.

Thank you for the teams that visited this year and people that volunteered their time.

This was our Christmas

Best cookies ever made at our house.
Thank you to world race "Joyful Awakening" team.

Sitha

Dara

Long

Rotha

SengHi

Sithon

Sanh

SengHo

Sambath

Weed

Rathana

Samnang

Rosa

Sothy

Sorya

SengHua

Mangju

SreyOn

SreyJon

SreyWut

Chantrea

Naiput

SreyOwn

Mangly

Vanack

Engly

SreyNygt

SreyLy

Yong - Headed to YWAM

SreyKeo - Headed to YWAM

SreyPov - Headed to YWAM

Tong - Headed to YWAM

ViChai - In College

Channee - In College

Staff

Tate - Back from YWAM

Sowly

Cheda

Adah giving all the style she can

Birthday Kids

The Games This Year Were Great

Group Stand ups

Group sizes got larger each time from 2 to 10

Pass the Banana
Using your toes to pass a banana over your head to the next person toes

Santa Beard

Using some lotion which was suppose to be lightly applies to the beard area.

Which turned into American Indian war paints 

Lick it Clean

This is peanut butter on a window, which the boys and girls competed to lick off more than the other.  The hard part is you can see the other person licking.  The boys got groused out by the amount of peanut butter to eat and the girls were groused out by seeing the boy licking to other side of the glass.  

It was hysterical.

Love this one of Chantrea's excitement 

Rudolf  Red Nose Relay

The Rudolf would dip his nose in the red paint and had to paint the rest of his team noses with his nose.  This was a blast to watch.

Santa  Present Unwrap

Basically the person in front of you rolls two dice looking for double while the person has to put the hat and mitts on to unwrap the gift.  If the person with the dice gets double the Santa takes it off and passed forward for the new Santa to unwrap.  I think we got through ten people before the gift was unwrapped.

Frozen Shirt Race.

This is a shirt soaked in water and frozen over night.  The first person to get it open and wear it gets to keep the shirt.  The shirts were very cold and extremely hard to get on.
There was nothing but shivering squeals when it came to putting the shirt on.  

Rathana's sleeve was still frozen shut when she tried to put the shirt on and had to struggled and extra long time in that cold shirt. 

There was also an eat or wear it game

We bought a couple cans of weird things and they had to draw a number which determined which food they had to try.  A bag of Jelly Fish, Raw egg, chili tuna, baby clams, squid, mustard, yogurt and so on.  Somethings were normal to Americans such as mustard, pickle relish but completely foreign to the kids.  One of the girls from the team played which the stuff like jelly fish and squid for foreign to her.  This all made for the kids playing somewhat of an even game.

So the idea is you choose a number from a bag, that number will choose a food that you will have to eat.  If you eat some of the food the other 3 people would have to wear some of it.  If you choose not to eat it you have to wear it and the others were safe.

The person that eat the most things won a new t-shirt and a goodies bag, everyone else got to keep the shirt they wore for the game.  Also at the end they could eat the rest of what ever they want from the cans.  They ravaged the can squid after and Lion enjoyed the can of dog food.

It may seem a bit wasteful, but in truth it was a low budget game, the kids eat most everything and what they didn't eat the dogs did aside from the mustard and things like that which went back into my fridge.  

If you want to try this at home.  Going to an Asian market will prove useful in crazy items.  A Tarp is necessary not just grass as you can't clean some of this stuff up other wise.  

baby corn


Mustard

I have to say this was one of the best game days we've had in a long time.

By the way our guest Carmen won.