Place of Rescue a haven for children in Cambodia
Graeme Morton,
Calgary Herald
Published: Saturday, September 13, 2008
For Marie Ens, these truly are the golden years. "I praise God every day for my life," says the eloquent 73-year-old.
"I get to live in this beautiful place with palm trees, tropical flowers, my two golden retrievers and I have all these children who call me grandma," she adds with a smile.
A luxury retirement condo on a pristine Caribbean island?
No, it's the Place of Rescue orphanage in rural Cambodia which Ens founded five years ago and where she's still the driving force.
At this neat-as-a-pin community west of the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, more than 150 children, many orphaned by parents who died from AIDS, live in a safe, secure environment.
They range in age from newborn to 19 years. The centre is also a home to 17 "grannies," elderly women whose children have died of AIDS or were wiped out during the maniacal regime of Pol Pot during the 1970s.
Ens is in Calgary visiting her own family.
She was the guest of honour Friday night at a fundraising concert for Place of Rescue at RockPointe Church, featuring country music star and orphanage supporter Paul Brandt.
"My job is to act as the go-between linking the kids in Cambodia and people in North America who have the heart to help them," says Ens. "This place was the Lord's dream."
The youngest of seven children from a Saskatchewan Mennonite family, Ens knew from an early age that she had a missionary's heart.
After marrying her husband Norm, the couple applied to be missionaries wherever the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church chose to send them.
"We arrived in Cambodia in 1961," Ens recalls. "It was a very quiet, peaceful country with not a lot of exposure to Christianity."
The Ens continued to do evangelical and humanitarian work in southeast Asia until shortly before Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge forces stormed into Phnom Penh in 1975.
"We didn't want to leave Cambodia and the people we were ministering to. It was a very tumultuous time, but I don't think anyone knew of the horrors that were to come," recalls Ens.
In three years, Pol Pot and his minions are believed to have killed between one and two million Cambodians in his drive to create a socialist, agrarian utopia.
The Ens spent four years in France, where they ministered to many Cambodian refugees, sharing their pain over the decimation of their distant homeland.
After her husband's death in 1991, Ens felt like she needed to return to Cambodia.
"I still felt like I had a lot to contribute to doing God's work among those wonderful people who had endured so much," she says.
Invited to retire from active missionary work in 2000 when she turned 66, Ens had a spiritual epiphany in, of all places, an office supply store.
"I was searching for my niche. Despite my age, nothing had changed about the calling I still felt inside me. When I was in a Staples store, I heard the Billy Joel song My Life and that was it," she recalls with a smile.
Soon after, Ens was off to Cambodia again, ministering in military hospitals and caring for those stricken with AIDS.
She saw firsthand the growing legions of children being left behind when their parents died.
Substantial funding to launch her orphanage came from Samaritan's Purse supporters, many from Calgary.
The Place of Rescue now houses 155 children, a school for elementary-age youngsters and room to expand in the future.
Each child is sponsored by a North American supporter to cover daily necessities such as food, clothing and education.
The love, hugs and support come from Ens and her Cambodian staff.
"Some of these kids come from horrible situations. My job is to be that caring grandma so that they know they are loved and valued," says Ens.
"When they walk out of the door of Place of Rescue, I pray that these kids will be a model for the rest of Cambodia. They have hope, they realize that they can dream again."
gmorton@theherald.canwest.com
Graeme Morton,
Calgary Herald
Published: Saturday, September 13, 2008
For Marie Ens, these truly are the golden years. "I praise God every day for my life," says the eloquent 73-year-old.
"I get to live in this beautiful place with palm trees, tropical flowers, my two golden retrievers and I have all these children who call me grandma," she adds with a smile.
A luxury retirement condo on a pristine Caribbean island?
No, it's the Place of Rescue orphanage in rural Cambodia which Ens founded five years ago and where she's still the driving force.
At this neat-as-a-pin community west of the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, more than 150 children, many orphaned by parents who died from AIDS, live in a safe, secure environment.
They range in age from newborn to 19 years. The centre is also a home to 17 "grannies," elderly women whose children have died of AIDS or were wiped out during the maniacal regime of Pol Pot during the 1970s.
Ens is in Calgary visiting her own family.
She was the guest of honour Friday night at a fundraising concert for Place of Rescue at RockPointe Church, featuring country music star and orphanage supporter Paul Brandt.
"My job is to act as the go-between linking the kids in Cambodia and people in North America who have the heart to help them," says Ens. "This place was the Lord's dream."
The youngest of seven children from a Saskatchewan Mennonite family, Ens knew from an early age that she had a missionary's heart.
After marrying her husband Norm, the couple applied to be missionaries wherever the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church chose to send them.
"We arrived in Cambodia in 1961," Ens recalls. "It was a very quiet, peaceful country with not a lot of exposure to Christianity."
The Ens continued to do evangelical and humanitarian work in southeast Asia until shortly before Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge forces stormed into Phnom Penh in 1975.
"We didn't want to leave Cambodia and the people we were ministering to. It was a very tumultuous time, but I don't think anyone knew of the horrors that were to come," recalls Ens.
In three years, Pol Pot and his minions are believed to have killed between one and two million Cambodians in his drive to create a socialist, agrarian utopia.
The Ens spent four years in France, where they ministered to many Cambodian refugees, sharing their pain over the decimation of their distant homeland.
After her husband's death in 1991, Ens felt like she needed to return to Cambodia.
"I still felt like I had a lot to contribute to doing God's work among those wonderful people who had endured so much," she says.
Invited to retire from active missionary work in 2000 when she turned 66, Ens had a spiritual epiphany in, of all places, an office supply store.
"I was searching for my niche. Despite my age, nothing had changed about the calling I still felt inside me. When I was in a Staples store, I heard the Billy Joel song My Life and that was it," she recalls with a smile.
Soon after, Ens was off to Cambodia again, ministering in military hospitals and caring for those stricken with AIDS.
She saw firsthand the growing legions of children being left behind when their parents died.
Substantial funding to launch her orphanage came from Samaritan's Purse supporters, many from Calgary.
The Place of Rescue now houses 155 children, a school for elementary-age youngsters and room to expand in the future.
Each child is sponsored by a North American supporter to cover daily necessities such as food, clothing and education.
The love, hugs and support come from Ens and her Cambodian staff.
"Some of these kids come from horrible situations. My job is to be that caring grandma so that they know they are loved and valued," says Ens.
"When they walk out of the door of Place of Rescue, I pray that these kids will be a model for the rest of Cambodia. They have hope, they realize that they can dream again."
gmorton@theherald.canwest.com
© The Calgary Herald 2008
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