Try to imagine what life is like for street children in Phnom Penh, Cambodia–sifting through garbage for food at a dump site, living in a resettlement area with no provision for education, or finding shelter in an urban orphanage. Clara Biswas, a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church, can tell you all about them. By nurturing and loving 500 children in the Phnom Penh area, Clara is bringing the love of Jesus Christ to those whose lives are unimaginable to us. She creates hope in the hopeless.

Clara has visited Tryon United Methodist Church in the past, and on Thursday, July 9, she will return at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. to talk about her Street Children Ministry. Its mission is to provide a better quality of life for street children by creating educational opportunities through classes, field trips, scholarships, and access to vocational job training, supplying for nutritional needs that might not be met, teaching about God’s love for them, and creating fellowship opportunities.

Street children in Cambodia, including children living in orphanages and in poor communities, have limited access to local public school education, proper nutrition, fellowship activities, or opportunities to learn about the Bible. In each of the four communities Clara works in, the project has enhanced their education, provided means for fellowship and filled various other needs to improve the overall quality of the child’s life.

A native of Bangladesh, Clara Biswas worked as a missionary in her country and in Japan, before making the Street Children Ministry project her primary focus. Tryon United Methodist Church, along with many other churches, is in a covenant relationship with her, providing financial support for her salary, housing, food, and personal needs. People can help with Clara’s street children ministry project by providing donations to the project.

The community is welcome to attend either or both sessions on July 9. The meeting will be held in the church Fellowship Hall at 195 New Market Road in Tryon. For more information, call the church office at 859-9218.

– Submitted by Nancy Hiley