Karen Scheib and Caroline Culver leading Bible studies

Women's retreat in Svay Rieng

Women selecting eye glasses at Svay Rieng retreat

A basket weaver's home and rice fields near Svay Rieng

Children of the basket weavers near Svay Rieng

Women's basket weaving project near Svay Rieng

Methodist School of Cambodia

Thursday started with a visit to the Methodist School of Cambodia, which is part of the Methodist Missions Society and is related to the Singapore Methodist Church. The school has nearly 800 students and has grown to cover grades K- 11. Grade 12 will be added next year. The school is tuition based, and approximately 25 % of the students receive scholarships. There is a waiting list to attend. Children of pastors are provided with a free education as a way of nurturing the next generation of church leaders. We received a tour of the school, which was quite impressive, and to our surprise, we were greeted with "high-fives" from the kindergarten children! The mission of the school is to "mold boys and girls to be thinking, caring and giving."

In addition to this main school, there is a youth hostel program which provides housing for older youth from the countrysides who have come to the city to pursue high school or university studies.

Approximately 10 - 15% of the students are Christian, and the rest are Buddhist. I was interested in why Buddhist families choose to send their children to a Christian school. Most of the students come from middle-class fmilies that value the excellent education provided by the school, even though Bible snd Christian values are taught as part of the standard curriculum. The interim director also told us that Christian values affect the way the school teachers and administrators talk with parents about their chidren. For example, the school talks about children as being precious, wonderfully made, and created in the image of God, whereas the general Cambodian society tends to view children as lower -ranking parts of society. Also, the school, through its scholarship program, enables poor children to attend school, thereby following the teachings of Christ that all are equally precious to God. This value is in contradiction to the broader society view that the poor are not worthy to attend school.

The Methodist School is part of the community development goal of The Methodist Missions Society of the Singapore Church The other component is church planting. By participating in community development activities, the Cambodians experience the Gospel in action, and ideally the seeds are thereby planted for new churches in the future. Indeed the schools' very founding illustrates the power of community development. The land for the school was purchased in a former "red light" area of Phnom Penh, and the area has gradually changed as the school has grown. To our amusement, we learned that the church next to the school was at one time a night club!

Women's retreat in Svay Rieng

Yesterday, we joined about 40 women from various Methodist churches in the Svay Rieng district. The retreat started with a joyous time of singing hymns set to traditional Khmer music. Also, some women who were dressed in beautiful traditional dresses and tiaras carrying small baskets of flower petals presented an exquisitely graceful, traditional dance described to us a dance of praise and thanks to Jesus for his blessings. Karen Scheib and Caroline Culver had both prepared Bible studies for the meeting. Their studies had been sent to Marilyn in advance for translation and copying. Marilyn plans district events like this to provide fellowship for the women and to provide important training. The women at the event each received copies of the Bible studies so that they may organize a similar event for the women in their own churches. Karen's study was on 1 Corinthians 12: 1 - 12, and she invited the women to engage in discussions to identity and share their spiritual gifts and the ways they may be used. After lunch, Caroline presented her study on Ruth and Naomi. During the time of sharing, one of the women told how she identifies with Ruth's decision to leave familiar family practices and select another faith because of the difficulties she had in becoming Christian, which involved moving from her family's Buddhist tradition. During one of the breaks, Marilyn distributed the medicines and eye glasses we had brought them, which they were very excited to receive. I enjoyed watching them try on glasses and hold up papers to read as they tried to determine the correct strength. We departed the church mid-afternoon and drove to a nearby rural area to visit one of the projects funded by a micro-loan Marilyn administers. The particular recipient we visited raises pigs. She borrows money from Marilyn's program to feed the pigs, and then repays the funds when the pigs are sold. She had an impressive group of pigs! Marilyn said she presently has about 12 of these micro-loan projects with women, and that she would like to expand due to their success at enabling women to start small businesses and earn income. We then made the return three-hour trip to Phnom Penh.

On the way to Svay Rieng

On Tuesday afternoon, we traveled in our van to Svay Rieng. The trip itself was quite an experience. On the way, we had to drive the van onto a ferry to cross the river because there is no bridge. The line was long, and we finally got the third ferry after our arrival. The scene while we waited for a ferry was a quite amazing. Our van, along with every other car, was surrounded by vendors wearing large baskets filled with exotic foods. They would knock on the van windows vigorously to get our attention, and we did indeed buy some things. Karen Scheib gets the award for being the most adventurous. She ate two fried crickets our Cambodian drivers offered to her, and she said they were quite tasty! The others of us sampled some of the exotic fruits that Marilyn selected for us. I can't begin to spell all the names, but two I can manage are lotus and jack fruit, both of which were great. I have never seen some of the other fruits we ate, but perhaps I just have not spent enough time at the DeKalf Farmers' Market.

We arrive in Svay Rieng around dusk and went to a Methodist Church where the pastor greeted us. After a short break, during which Sarah impressed a group of Cambodian boys with her volleyball skills as she joined a game, we headed on to an even more rural area where the Methodist church, through Marilyn's efforts, supports women in a basket weaving project. The women greeted us warmly and proudly displayed their basket weaving skills. The church provide funds for the bamboo which the women cut into strips for weaving baskets of all sizes. The baskets are purchased by a middleman who takes them to the cities to be sold in markets. The women sell these baskets for about 38 cents a piece, but the enterprise provides them with badly needed financial resources. The homes are very modest, mostly built high on stilts with the open air area under the home used for keeping animals and for family basic living activities. Before leaving the women, Marilyn shared with them some of medicines we had brought and the reading glasses. It was heartwarming to see the smiles on the women's faces as they tried on different pairs of glasses to select the best strength; and they were very happy to receive the medicines. After leaving the women, we traveled a bit further for dinner and then settled into the Red Cross Hotel for the night. Perhaps you can imagine why we were too tired to post that night!

Scenes from the market in Phnom Penh

Monday June 27, 2011

• Here are some photos from Choeung Ek Genocide Museum at the site of one of the killing fields and from the musuem at Tuol Sleng (S-21).

Killing Fields

Today we visited the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum and the monument at Choeung Ek, the largest and most well known of one of over 400 killing fields in Cambodia from the Khmer Rouge era. As it happens, today some of the Khmer Rouge leaders were being put on trial in an international tribunal now almost 30 years after the regime ended.

Even though I have seen photographs of the monument at Choeung Ek, which houses hundreds of skulls and bone fragments of some of the victims including children, I was not prepared for the sight of all those skulls or the feelings triggered by the empty eye sockets looking back at me. They seemed to ask me how human beings are capable of such acts of great violence against each other. What is it that allows us to reduce one another to something less than human, less than animal even, to consider others as little less than insects that can be exterminated? Just as an insecticide was used in the Nazi gas chambers for the purpose of murder, so too, in the killing fields was insecticide used. DDT was used to cover the stench of death and to hasten the death of those thrown into the graves, but not quite dead.

It is a surreal and unsettling experience to be standing in the midst of what at first appears to be lush green fields and then to hear of the horrors committed there. I will spare you the details here. There are many good films and books that document the violence committed. In the courtyard, a hen and her brood scavenge for food. On the path in the middle of the killing fields the guide points out teeth and part of a jaw bone emerging from the ground. With each heavy rain, new remains are found, new sorrows emerge.

A Conversation on Sunday Morning

Yesterday morning, on our way to church, I chatted with Chandra. Though originally from Cambodia, she now lives in the U.S., but is now back on a mission of prayer. She is both praying for her country and teaching the importance of prayer to Cambodian Christians.

From the little bit of her story that Chandra had shared with me, I knew that she had been raised in the Theravada Buddhist tradition predominant in Cambodia. I asked her how Christian prayer differs from Buddhist prayers and what she found in Christianity that she had not found before.

She said there were three things she found in Christianity: 1) a personal relationship with the Lord, and knowing that God knows you and loves you personally 2) forgiveness 3) an attitude toward suffering, which leads to concern for others.

Having grown up as a Christian, I often wonder how Christianity is perceived by those new to the faith. Chandra gave me new eyes to receive the gifts of my faith.

Sunday Morning and Holy Mountain Methodist Church

Yesterday morning we worshipped with about 50 of our Cambodian brothers and sisters at the Holy Mountain Methodist Chuch, which was started in Phnom Pehn by the Korean Methodist Church. The members warmly greeted us with the traditional folded hands and slight bow, and we removed our shoes just outside the door, as is the custom before entering a holy place or a home. Indeed, it seemed appropriate to remove our shoes before entering the "Holy Mountain!" Truly the Holy Spirit was very present in that service. Singing was a joyous and important component of the worship, and the songs were a mixture of Western praise music, Western hymns, and Khmer music. Different groups sang, and we particularly loved hearing the children and later the youth. A women's group sang "How Great Thou Art," and then our group of five was asked to sing. We chose "Amazing Grace" which we sang in English and then invited all to join us in Khmer. The sermon text was John 15, and the sermon was translated for us into English. During much of the service, I felt like we were in the midst of a mini-Pentacost, such as when we were all singing familiar songs, praying the Lord's Prayer, or reciting the Apostle's Creed simultaneously in Khmer and in English. But this was particularly true at the close of the service when everyone formed a circle and held hands to pray. They all shouted loudly "Oh, Lord" three times, and then everyone concurrently began to pray their own individual prayer in loud, fervent voices. I cannot adequately describe my amazement, and indeed astonishment, at being encircled by what initially seemed like chaos and then bacame for me a powerful testimony of faith, as I added my own prayers in English to the sea of prayers uttered in Khmer. After what felt like a long time, the prayers started winding down and the pastor closed the service. I had been blessed by those around me. Cambodia is predominantly Buddhist, and the pastor mentioned that less than 5% of Cambodians are Christian. I found myself wondering how someone who is raised Buddhist comes to embrace Christianity. In talking after the service with

one member, I asked her how long she had been a Christian and why she became a Christian. She told me that she became a Christian 5 years ago. Her journey toward Christianity began when a co-worker told that her that God loves each of us as individuals and that God cares for each us. This brought her the hope she needed at a difficult time. She smiled radiantly as she shared her story, and I give thanks for her witness and for the witness of all who opened their hearts to us during our time of worship together.

Sunday June 26, 2011-Pictures

pictures from the church we visited in phnom pehn

Good Morning! -Day 1

We arrived here in here in Phnom Penh after about 20 hours on planes, bustling around airports, being told to fasten our safety belts, and being asked beef or Korean dish? (..."oh, uhmm I'll try the Korean dish?"). Anyways, it's day one of our 13-day journey and I couldn't be more excited to get going or more hungry to go to breakfast!

Cambodia!

After a long day (or two) of travel, we have made it to Cambodia. We arrived in Phnom Penh around 10 o'clock PM and our lovely host brought us to our hotel. For those of you on eastern time, we are 11 hours ahead. We sort of missed Saturday during our two flights. Anyway, we are safe and sound in our hotel and ready to begin our journey here.

Here is our schedule for tomorrow:

Breakfast 7:15

Church 8:30

Lunch Meeting with the United Methodist Women (UMW) President and her husband who is the district superintendent for Phnom Penh

Afternoon visit to the market

It should be a great day. Look for an update and pictures tomorrow!

arrived in korea

we have finally, after 18 hours, arrived at the airport in korea! we have a two hour layover, then cambodia bound! very exciting!

Beginning

Today is the day! We will all be arriving at the airport in the next few hours, saying goodbye to our loved ones, and hoping on a plane bound for Cambodia.

I am terribly excited about getting to visit this beautiful country again. I learned so much last time I traveled there, but I know there is still so much to learn. I hope this experience pushes and challenges me in my faith, my beliefs, and in my call to ministry.

Please pray for us as we begin this journey. Please pray for the people we will meet and fellowship with along the way.

Let the sojourn begin.

Three Books and a Song

You may wonder why I decided to make this trip to Cambodia. Last year, I read two books that had a signficant impact on me. The first was Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. The introduction features the story of a young Cambodian woman he met in Poipet at the Cambodia/Thailand border. She had been a victim of sex trafficking and is now a vivacious entrepreneur. I also read the memoir of Somaly Mam, entitled The Road of Lost Innocence, which tells her story of being sold into sex slavery at 16, escaping and now devoting her life to assisting other victims. After reading these two books and having a lengthy conversation with the Chairman of the Board of The Somaly Mam Foundation, I knew I needed to make the journey to Cambodia.

I also read the story of Marilyn and Joseph Chan, as told by Carolyn Ritch Guess in Because He Lives: Love, Faith and Hope in Action. Marilyn and Joseph survived the Khmer Rouge persecutions, escaped to refugee camps in Thailand, later came to the U.S. to live and attend school, and then returned to Cambodia as United Methodist missionaries. Marilyn and Joseph will be our primary hosts and guides in Cambodia. They are an amazing couple, and we are honored by the opportunity to learn from them over the next two weeks.

So, this trip all started with a book. And now for the song. My father used to sing "Far Away Places." The lyrics, in part, say " Far away place with strange sounding names, far away over the sea... Going to China or maybe Siam, I wanna see for myself. Those far away places I've been readin' about -- from a book-- that I took -- from a shelf." Be careful what you read!! '

Getting Ready

My dining room is full of supplies, including medicines, craft supplies, toothbrushes and toothpaste, reading glasses, and parachutes (not the kind used to jump from a plane!). Many thanks to everyone from Glenn Memorial UMC in Atlanta, Trinity UMC in Sumter, SC, and my family and friends who have donated supplies or money to purchase supplies. The challenge now is getting everything into the suitcases!

Can't Wait Much Longer!

Rainy season in Cambodia looks harsh from these photos; and I do admit I'm going to be a baby about the rain at first, then I hopefully won't even think a thing of it. The rain there this time a year, I think, is as much a part of their summer as the heat index is a part of ours in that they're just accustomes to dealing with it. Besides, the serene and beautiful landscape there wouldn't be half as spectacular with out.

My suitcase is almost complete with what I put on my packing list, though it is already stuffed to the brim. I leave from Wilmington, NC tomorrow and will drive with my sister, Katy, and mom, Gretchen, all the 7 hour way down to Atlanta. I cannot wait to begin this journey!

Sojourn to Cambodia

Our departure date is fast approaching. On June 24 we will set out to fly half-way around the world to Cambodia. Our trip has three parts. The first will be examining sex trafficking. We will be studying this, speaking with individuals who have been directly impacted by sex trafficking, and spend time learning from organizations who are working to end sex trafficking in Cambodia and in the world. Secondly, we will spend time in community with groups of United Methodist Women and United Methodist congregations in the country through bible study and fellowship. Finally, we will learn about the country itself by visiting Angkor Wat, Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, the Killing Fields, and the Royal Palace.

Here are some links to more information about Cambodia, sex trafficking prevention organizations, and about Angkor Wat, Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, the Killing Fields, and the Royal Palace.

We hope you will sojourn with us by reading our blog for daily updates, pictures, and video post of our time in Cambodia. We also ask for your prayers for the many affected by sex trafficking, for those working to end it, and for us as we work to better understand what we can do to be part of the solution.