Program areas at Lydia
Sunrise children's home: now with over 30 children. A home with house parents, provision of all food and medical needs and provision of educational costs through high school. 150 children have come through the home since 2009.
The melody house: a home for widows. A beautiful new home led by our house mom, providing care and shelter for up to 16 women at a time. These women, most of whom were living on the street due to having no family to care for them, average 68 years old. We provide for all of their needs including medical care.
University house: a home for college students. Our children's home graduates as well as selected students with great need from our network of churches recommended by their pastors. 24 students now. (75 students have graduated and are serving in business, ministry and education roles across cambodia and southeast asia).
Lydia project pastor support: currently we provide support for over 20 pastors, that care for more than 50 churches in four different provinces around the country. We have constructed 7 church buildings over the years.school of discipleship: our key cambodian leaders all are survivors of the killing fields era, and are senior pastors of churches, having pastored for 30 plus years. In 2010 a group of seven such pastors from various denominations faced similar challenges - thousands of unreached villages, but not enough young pastors or opportunity for them to be trained. So, they formed a pastoral training program, sod. A two-year program, taught by these seven men, all seminary graduates themselves. They have the vision, training, and the passion, we provide the funding. The program meets quarterly for one-week intensive sessions, where the students stay together for the entire week, taught by these men who in many cases are denominational leaders in their daily life. Then they are mentored between sessions by their sending pastors. A "mini-seminary" program, the students gradate after two years. Classes take place in 6 different provinces, and we currently have 100 students in process (around 15 per class). Todate we have over 150 graduates, and together they have planted more than 400 churches or small cell churches in unreached villages! We are so very thankful that this team has a goal to reach every village where jesus is not known by anyone. (because of the death of all but 200 believers in the killing fields era, there are almost 10,000 villages who have no christian presence of any kind, and have never heard the good news of the gospel.)
Jesus schools: on the outskirts of phnom penh is a slum-like village of tin, cardboard and 2x4's that is situated adjacent to the city landfill/dump. There, around 200 families reside in horrific conditions - no running water, no electricity and survive on collecting recyclables. Pastor meng and his wife rady had a dream to provide a school to the children here, that have no other education option. Today, we have a 15,000 sq ft, 22 classroom school with more than 300 students, grades 1-7. This school is changing the trajectory of this village. Now with high school accreditation, we will add a grade per year through high school. All costs are covered for the children to attend. We also have a second jesus school in kam pong cham province with 100 students, first and second grades.grace fields: responding to the overwhelming abuse and trafficking issues in the villages where we have churches, we have begun a rescue, rehabilitation, and restoration facility for young girls. Grace fields. Now home to 10 girls, (average age 11), we provide professionally trained staff, counselors, social workers, and house moms. Our capacity is 40 girls in our newly completed facility. The program has been licensed by the cambodian government, but our focus is a gospel centered recovery, with restoration and follow up assisted by pastors and churches in the girl's individual communities. Our director's background includes 10 years with the largest rescue ministry in asia, where she served in many roles including for several years as director of the phnom penh shelter caring for nearly 500 girls during her tenure.