Solomon Church, part 1: Chenda's children

She’s a dreamer, that girl. 

My friend Chenda was so excited when her church moved from downtown out near Logos.  “Do you know what this means?”  She laid out grandiose visions of the neighborhood kids pouring in there, tots and tweens and teenagers.  I was happy with her, but personally I wasn’t convinced.  She said the congregation had never been huge and had lost a lot of members who didn’t want to drive so far north of town.  Would they be in a place to draw in kids?  And did these kids want to come to church?  Would families even allow them to?

The two original "church kids," whose family not only attends, but lives in and cares for the building for the organization who owns it

But if anyone could make it happen, it’s Chenda.  She’s a go-getter, a farmer’s daughter who rose from Logos teacher’s assistant to graduate student and coordinator for the Catch-Up School program that meets at Logos.  Every Monday to Friday evening, over two hundred kids aged five to maybe twenty come to study grades 1-5 Khmer and math, or English, if they test high enough in Khmer.  They also learn about God’s love, as well as practical issues like hygiene, sexual abuse, and respecting their parents.  Some of the grade 1 and 2 students are much older than the others, mostly girls who never had the chance to attend school.  Most are enrolled in the local public schools or have scholarships to low-budget Christian schools, but many of them still struggle because teachers here lack training and have far too many kids in their classes.  Elementary schools meet half-day, with a morning class and an afternoon class, meaning students don't have much classroom time.  The Catch-Up School has made a huge difference for several kids I know, and many parents have reported transformation in their children’s attitudes at home and their achievement at school.  Chenda oversees their teachers and plans curriculum with remarkable competence and dedication.

Preaching

I ended up seeing for myself what was happening at her church when I began attending there this past June.  I was just starting to learn Christian vocabulary in Khmer, so it finally made sense for me to go to a Khmer-language church.  People were very welcoming in her church, urging me to eat snacks and chat after the service.  It only had about 25 members, which dwindled to about 15 over the next two months.  I never asked about those who left, but I’m guessing they likewise found a church closer to home.  Still, a core group showed up every week: a handful of late adolescent boys, and a bunch of ladies.  Some of them are single, while others are married to Buddhists who don’t want to come to church; only one comes with her husband and kids, who conveniently live at the church.  Often a guy comes and preaches; he’s not a pastor, but he works for a Christian NGO that helps people in prison.  When he can’t make it, one of the matriarchs shares some thoughts.  Sometimes someone shakes a tambourine to help keep our singing in time, though perhaps not quite in tune.  My personal favorite part is “sharing time” - hearing their testimonies of God’s goodness the past week.  

Counting the offering after church

A Sunday School class was just forming in June, which Chenda soon delegated to her friend Dani.  Enthusiastic young kids arrived each week at 7:30 AM, before the 8:30 service.  Chenda met several times with all the ladies to discuss ways to expand the program to teens.  I was worried that she’d bully them into it or that they’d give her a half-hearted “yes” but not follow through.  There were so few committed women at church already; were they willing to work together and invest in kids every week?  Still, they went ahead with it, adding a guitar class and a soccer team which both met Sunday afternoons.  (The team borrows the nearby Logos field.)  Two of Chenda’s friends from outside of church agreed to run both clubs.  I was invited to come along and help pick out five new guitars for the class at about $25 each.  Two students share each guitar; Chenda’s hoping next year they can add a second class to reach 20 students total.  

Stringing a new guitar

Flyers went up on the Logos gate with a date when applications would be accepted first-come, first-served.  That first day, both guitar and soccer filled up within hours.  Some students already attended the Catch-Up School at Logos, while others had heard about it from friends or just seen the sign.  Shy at first, they soon gained confidence to enter the church building and joke around with each other.  Better still, they soon felt comfortable with the church ladies, who waited around for them and invited them into conversations.  The ladies may be few in number, but they excel at being friendly and motherly!  The goal is that these ladies can be positive role models and adult figures in their lives.  While many Khmer families spend plenty of time together, they often don’t really give kids and teens a voice or ask how they’re doing.  If the church can both encourage students to participate in wholesome activities and nurture them emotionally, they can strengthen students and help them grow.

Arriving one Sunday

Within a few weeks of the clubs starting, many of those teens began showing up at the church service as well.  And they all participated in the Christmas program two weeks ago…see my next post for details. 

My roommate Annalisa said Isaiah 54:1 reminds her of Chenda.  “…More are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.”  Chenda’s in her mid-30s and would love to be married, but she’s got more kids than the Duggers.  And all her kids know how much she loves them.

She’s a dreamer, that Chenda, and it's beautiful to see her dreams coming true.