Go Beyond

Hope is in short supply among the poor who live in Poipet, a once sleepy little town located along the border between Cambodia and Thailand. Poipet is fast-becoming the new gateway between these two Southeast Asian nations. The border crossing between Cambodia and Thailand is a no-man’s land that has become a gambling mecca — and a magnet for drug dealers and human traffickers. In recent years, the population of Poipet has exploded. Tens of thousands of poor people have settled there in hope of finding work to support their families. Unfortunately, the infrastructure of the town cannot support the burgeoning population, so the poor live as squatters in a muddy slum littered with garbage and raw sewage.

Every day, as many as 40,000 of Poipet’s poor cross the border into Thailand searching for work. These day laborers leave their children unattended all day and, sometimes, for days. These vulnerable kids are targeted by traffickers. Many are kidnapped and taken to Thailand. Girls are sold to brothels and boys are sold to work at construction sites and brick factories. Some of these kids are used as mules to transport drugs. Those who control the lives of these kids treat them as disposable assets. Poipet is unquestionably one of the most dangerous places in the world for kids.

Our missions ministry is working with Steve Hyde, our ministry partner in Cambodia, and our friends at Life International to reach out to the poor in Poipet and the surrounding region. At the end of last year, through the kindness of Kingsland families, we provided funding for the purchase of 7.5 acres of land near Steve’s Imparting Smiles orphanage in Poipet. This land is the new home of The Hope Center, a campus that will provide medical and dental care for women and children, a feeding and education center for the children who live in the nearby slums, and extended care for children whose parents fail to return home.

The Hope Center will be staffed by Cambodians and will serve as a lighthouse in a region that is steeped in death and darkness. It will be the go-to place for those in need of medical care and who are seeking safety. The medical center, phase one, will be completed this Spring. Kingsland will underwrite the second phase, the feeding center for children, later in 2013. Once the feeding center is operational, Steve anticipates that as many as one-thousand children will receive a nourishing meal at least once every day. Please pray for this ongoing initiative to provide hope to the people of Poipet. And please pray that no worker is injured during the construction of the center. Our prayer is that God will be glorified and His name made famous throughout this region of Cambodia.

Construction continues on The Hope Center in Poipet, Cambodia.