Jasmine Brown with Lavalla School Cambodia teacher, Im, and her new baby.
Full of Grace - Transform the World with God’s Love
There are places in our lives that leave an imprint on our hearts. Places that linger long after we have departed. Places that draw us back, not because we must return, but because a part of us never really left.
For me, that place is Lavalla.
When I first travelled to Cambodia in 2019, I had no idea that a country would become such a significant part of my story. I could never have imagined that years later I would find myself returning repeatedly, feeling less like a visitor and more like someone coming home.
After my visit to the Lavalla School in 2022, organised by Br Chris Wills and Br Tony Burrows, I left with a promise - “I’ll be back.” At the time, it felt like a simple commitment. Yet, I have since returned in 2024 and again, this year, in 2026. Each visit has deepened my connection to the people, the spirit and Marist mission of Lavalla.
Lavalla is an experience of belonging. Every time I arrive, I am reminded of what it means to be welcomed unconditionally. To be received simply for who you are. In my ‘world’ I so often feel hurried, divided and transactional. Lavalla feels so profoundly different. It feels like Gospel.
As I reflect upon why this place continues to call me back, I realise it is because Lavalla continually reveals
God’s love in its simplest and purest form. It is found in the laughter of children, in the gentle encouragement of teachers and Brothers, in the dignity afforded to every person, and in the unwavering hope that sits at the heart of this Marist family.
The children are not defined by limitations.
They are defined by possibility. And every time I visit, they transform me far more than I could ever hope to transform them. Our theme, “Full of Grace – Transform the World with God’s Love,” resonates so deeply with my experience of Lavalla.
When I think of grace, I think of encounters. I think of a smile. A hand reaching for mine. A conversation that stays with you. A sense of peace that reminds you God is present. Every time I have returned to Cambodia, I have discovered that transformation begins not through grand plans but through presence. It begins when we allow ourselves to be touched by another person’s story. When we allow our hearts to soften. When we choose relationship over distance.
Lavalla has taught me this truth repeatedly.
Within the first hour of arriving at Lavalla this year, I found myself searching for a familiar face. Four years earlier, I wrote here about a little girl named Meanglorng. In 2022 she nestled her head gently into my arm and unknowingly gave me one of the most sacred moments of my life.
This June, the moment we saw each other, we both burst into tears. Not tears of sadness, but tears of relief, joy and love. The little Grade 4 girl I had first written about is now a confident Year 8 student in high school. As we embraced, I found myself overwhelmed by gratitude. Gratitude for the gift of knowing her story and for the privilege of witnessing her growth. In these moments, you understand more deeply than ever what it means to belong to a global Marist family.
Meanglorng’s tears told me she remembered and my tears told her I never forgot. She remains one of God’s greatest gifts in my life.
Jasmine Brown reunites with Meanglorng, a student at the Lavalla School, Cambodia.
This visit also brought another grace-filled reunion with Im, a teacher who had once been a student at Lavalla herself, and who now dedicates her life to educating the next generation. Over the past four years, I have often prayed for Im and her husband, as they longed to start a family. During this year’s visit, Im arrived at Lavalla on maternity leave for a special visit, in her arms a beautiful baby girl. As I held that precious child, I found myself overwhelmed once more. I thought about the prayers whispered over the years. The hopes entrusted to God. The waiting. The uncertainty. And now here she was. A little miracle in my arms.
I realised that returning to Lavalla is no longer simply about revisiting a school. It is about returning to people whose lives have become intertwined with my own. People I pray for. People who continually reveal God’s presence to me.
What makes me especially grateful is knowing that none of this would have been possible without the Marist Association. Had I not been at an Australian Marist Solidarity dinner in 2019 because of my involvement with the Association, I may never have travelled to Lavalla. I may never have encountered the remarkable Marist Brothers, teachers and young people who have shaped my understanding of what it means to be a Marist in today’s world.
The Association has given me more than opportunities. It has given me perspective. It has widened my heart. It has connected me with people and places that have revealed God in new and unexpected ways. Most importantly, it has reminded me that the Marist mission is not something we inherit passively. It is something we enter into. It is something we live.
Standing in Cambodia this year, surrounded by familiar faces and stories that have continued to unfold since my last visit, I reflected on how much can change in five years.
Little girls become young women. Teachers become mothers. Visitors become family. And through it all, God’s grace continues its quiet work. Grace has a face. Grace has a name. Grace arrives disguised as a reunion, an embrace, or a long-awaited answer to prayer.
Lavalla remains a place where every child is known. Every child belongs. Every child is loved.
As I boarded the plane home, I found myself smiling at the promise I made years ago. “I’ll be back.” The truth is a part of me never leaves and I suspect that I will be forever returning. Lavalla is no longer simply a place I visit. It has become a heart space, like home. A place where I have seen Christ in the faces of others. A place where God’s love has transformed me, one encounter at a time.
Jasmine Brown
Association Councillor
Marist Association of Saint Marcellin Champagnat
