Phnom Braset Rock Quarry

It was extremely hot travelling 30km from Phnom Penh to the Phnom Braset rock quarry. I was travelling with another ministry group called rock foundation ( rockfoundationcambodia.webs.com ) a small ministry reaching out to this community of squatters living and working in the quarry.

This community barely eeks out an existence by working tirelessly day in and day out breaking rocks apart with primitive tools . The community works as a team some members breaking apart the large boulders by setting fires with rubber tires under them and then heating them to a point that they can break by sledgehammering them....someone else takes these rocks and smashes them into pieces bigger than your fist....the women in the community strap a bare wooden pole over there shoulders with two baskets filled with these rocks and brings them to another area...they then take a small sledge and ..place a piece of rubber around the rock and pound it into gravel size pieces...for a full truckload they get 12 dollars...a full truckload of gravel beat from the side of the mountain by hand. This would be barely enough to feed themselves and on they go the next day and the next and the next with no end in site but survival.

This is a community without electricity,no fresh water or well.

Brett Hedlin and his Cambodian wife Sokeun have been travelling out here once a week on fridays to spend time with the community and share God's love with them.They have hooked up with some other ministries and now provide some bible studies with the kids and worship.They have fellowship together sharing soup and rice..breaking bread together...the ministry has bought some land nearby to build a team centre and are trying to get some funding together for a cart you put behind a moto which acts as sort of taxi to bring the children to the local church.

Today Bret with his ingenuity installed a water filter that uses sand rock and then a blacklight to kill impurities it can clean 60 gallons a minute ...without electricity he installed a car battery that they will recharge when necessary.

Bret and his team will also help them with building a proper well and provides some health care when funds are available.

It was great to witness the love that this community had for the people God sent to serve them..it wasn't just witnessing with my eyes but by being there and sharing in their life and community I was instantly a part of their community ..a community open and warm to the love that we share with them.

It was a blessing to be there today and I look forward to many other opportunities as they are very close to another community God has put on my heart.

Click here for a web album of photos from the quarry visit.