by Irene Mparutsa
In 2009, Pho Linn, a woman from the Phum Meas rural area, had come to a clinic sponsored by CHAD and a volunteer health team from the United States. She was weak with ovarian cancer. We laid hands on her and prayed, referring her to the Russian Hospital in Phnom Penh. The doctor there could do nothing for her except confirm the cancer. A Methodist pastor stopped by and prayed with her every day.
About a year later, I was accompanying a United Methodist Volunteer-in-Mission team from Virginia when I saw her again. She looked well! She was experiencing some pain, so I asked her to return to the Phnom Penh hospital for review. The doctor confirmed that she had no more cancer! She had continued to pray to Jesus; and, in her Buddhist village, the word has gotten around. She went home with a Bible, and her brother-in-law is now asking about building a church.
Access to Care
After a meeting in Kratie with the Provincial Health Director to talk about the problem of goiters (enlargements of the thyroid gland), we decided to work together on a campaign to prevent the problem. Being able to work with high-level government officials on health issues is an exciting part of the Cambodia Mission Initiative's health ministry. We will begin with a house-to-house survey to learn more about the disease and what has already been done for it. While in Kratie, we visited some village health centers to continue building relationships and bridges between local health services, the church, and the community.
Another goal of our visit to Kratie was to continue nurturing the newly established congregation there.
Last week, the office door opened and Yei (Granny) Oeun and her pastor walked in. At first I thought she was Ming Phalla, another yei from her church who also has a beguiling smile and only one tooth. Yei Oeun and her pastor had a good laugh over my confusion and then she began to tell me her story. She wanted a referral letter for free treatment at a clinic. I admired the wisdom of her appeal to CHAD for help. One translation of Proverbs 1:2 speaks of the "discipline of wise thoughtfulness." She had heard of the CHAD ministry from her friend, Ming Phalla. Using the wisdom God had given her, she had thought it through and come to ask for help.
A great part of the health ministry continues to be helping people access health care here in Phnom Penh. Church members and their families and neighbors from the 147 Methodist Mission in Cambodia congregations - which are located all over the country - call on their pastors, who, in turn, contact CHAD. As the word gets out about CHAD, the number of people asking for help is growing. In January, members of the Social Concerns Committee participated in a training to build their skills in advocating for affordable treatments.
This story also appeared in July/August 2010 edition of New World Outlook.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Human trafficking and a women's hostel in Phnom Penh
by Katherine Parker
My cousin Wes sent me this article on Human Trafficking and it got me thinking about recent experiences that I have had.
I love going to the Tropical Oasis Spa down by the Toul Tem Pong market. It certainly is not as upscale as some others, but I like to support the young women who are studying there. It is part of an NGO run by friends of mine that works with at-risk girls and those who have escaped from trafficking. There is a great cafe downstairs and I often run into other friends from around town.
The Methodist Mission in Cambodia has a similar training program in beauty, cooking and sewing skills for at-risk young women. It is called Emmaus. Last year, we held a two-day meeting of the Social Concerns Committee (SCC) at the center to expose more of the Cambodian pastors to the program so they know about the opportunity as an option for at-risk young women in their communities. It is a great program and I love visiting its relaxing and beautiful campus. It is a bit out of Phnom Penh, so I've only been a few times. They work hard to help the girls with job placement and just submitted a proposal to CHAD to help some of the graduates with loans to set up their own businesses. The goal in part is to enable young women to return to their villages, rather than stay in Phnom Penh to look for work. I really hope we can fund them.
I also started going to a Monday night prayer group. It is held at the home of a man who works for World Vision on advocacy about trafficking. He has been educating me bit by bit about the situation in Cambodia and in Southeast Asia. While I know that trafficking is a reality here in Cambodia, I usually don't think too much about it. A recent incident, though, has forced me to.
The 10th grade daughter of a church worker I know was waiting at the side of the road in a dark section of Phnom Penh to be picked up to go home after an event. A moto-dop (motorcycle taxi) pulled up. He looked legitimate and she decided to get a ride with him rather than waiting for her arranged ride to come. Quickly, she realized that he was not going in the right direction. He took her to a house and locked her up in a room. Later, she met other girls who were also locked up and who had had similar experiences. They were awaiting transport to Thailand for prostitution.
The church worker's daughter had some advantages that others did not. Because she was waiting for someone to pick her up, family and friends realized right away that she was missing. The church called together a prayer meeting. The church members put out posters and the moto-dop drivers in the church started asking around.
A few days later, her captors said that holding her was too much trouble and they let her go!
The family is not talking much about it, and even though I was just at the church either shortly before or after the kidnapping, (I'm not sure of the exact timing), nothing was mentioned to me. I think there is shame associated with the situation and the church and friends want to minimize that for the girl and her family. I know she wants to continue with her studies.
What would have happened if they didn't have a church community to work together and come to her aid? What about all of the other women who are being held? I know intellectually that Phnom Penh is a dangerous place for young Khmer women, but this seemed really close to home.
The young women from the Emmaus Center have been living two by two when they come to Phnom Penh, but the situations are not optimum. The Women's Program has been praying about starting a hostel where 20 or so of them can live together (both Emmaus graduates and those who come to Phnom Penh to attend college). The reality of the work situation is that the young women often have to work on Sundays, so they can't participate in a regular worship community. A house would give them solidarity and support for each other and a place where they could continue their spiritual development. Yesterday, I heard that the house next to mine might be available for rent, and I thought of it as a possibility.
I have also been praying recently about how I might be more involved with spiritual development of young women in Cambodia. Maybe this is an opportunity. There is still quite a bit of planning that needs to be done, and this is really just the first glimmer of an idea. We would need to raise the funds for maybe two years of rent up front to give the project a chance to become self sustaining. The girls in the house would initially be responsible for water, electricity, and food. We have other hostels around Phnom Penh that have been very important outreach ministries to youth, so we have a good model of how it could work.
Please pray for the Women's Ministry of the Methodist Church in Cambodia, for how the ministry might best be expanded with young women, particularly those at risk. And, please pray for me, also, that I might have clarity about how I can be involved.
My cousin Wes sent me this article on Human Trafficking and it got me thinking about recent experiences that I have had.
I love going to the Tropical Oasis Spa down by the Toul Tem Pong market. It certainly is not as upscale as some others, but I like to support the young women who are studying there. It is part of an NGO run by friends of mine that works with at-risk girls and those who have escaped from trafficking. There is a great cafe downstairs and I often run into other friends from around town.
The Methodist Mission in Cambodia has a similar training program in beauty, cooking and sewing skills for at-risk young women. It is called Emmaus. Last year, we held a two-day meeting of the Social Concerns Committee (SCC) at the center to expose more of the Cambodian pastors to the program so they know about the opportunity as an option for at-risk young women in their communities. It is a great program and I love visiting its relaxing and beautiful campus. It is a bit out of Phnom Penh, so I've only been a few times. They work hard to help the girls with job placement and just submitted a proposal to CHAD to help some of the graduates with loans to set up their own businesses. The goal in part is to enable young women to return to their villages, rather than stay in Phnom Penh to look for work. I really hope we can fund them.
I also started going to a Monday night prayer group. It is held at the home of a man who works for World Vision on advocacy about trafficking. He has been educating me bit by bit about the situation in Cambodia and in Southeast Asia. While I know that trafficking is a reality here in Cambodia, I usually don't think too much about it. A recent incident, though, has forced me to.
The 10th grade daughter of a church worker I know was waiting at the side of the road in a dark section of Phnom Penh to be picked up to go home after an event. A moto-dop (motorcycle taxi) pulled up. He looked legitimate and she decided to get a ride with him rather than waiting for her arranged ride to come. Quickly, she realized that he was not going in the right direction. He took her to a house and locked her up in a room. Later, she met other girls who were also locked up and who had had similar experiences. They were awaiting transport to Thailand for prostitution.
The church worker's daughter had some advantages that others did not. Because she was waiting for someone to pick her up, family and friends realized right away that she was missing. The church called together a prayer meeting. The church members put out posters and the moto-dop drivers in the church started asking around.
A few days later, her captors said that holding her was too much trouble and they let her go!
The family is not talking much about it, and even though I was just at the church either shortly before or after the kidnapping, (I'm not sure of the exact timing), nothing was mentioned to me. I think there is shame associated with the situation and the church and friends want to minimize that for the girl and her family. I know she wants to continue with her studies.
What would have happened if they didn't have a church community to work together and come to her aid? What about all of the other women who are being held? I know intellectually that Phnom Penh is a dangerous place for young Khmer women, but this seemed really close to home.
The young women from the Emmaus Center have been living two by two when they come to Phnom Penh, but the situations are not optimum. The Women's Program has been praying about starting a hostel where 20 or so of them can live together (both Emmaus graduates and those who come to Phnom Penh to attend college). The reality of the work situation is that the young women often have to work on Sundays, so they can't participate in a regular worship community. A house would give them solidarity and support for each other and a place where they could continue their spiritual development. Yesterday, I heard that the house next to mine might be available for rent, and I thought of it as a possibility.
I have also been praying recently about how I might be more involved with spiritual development of young women in Cambodia. Maybe this is an opportunity. There is still quite a bit of planning that needs to be done, and this is really just the first glimmer of an idea. We would need to raise the funds for maybe two years of rent up front to give the project a chance to become self sustaining. The girls in the house would initially be responsible for water, electricity, and food. We have other hostels around Phnom Penh that have been very important outreach ministries to youth, so we have a good model of how it could work.
Please pray for the Women's Ministry of the Methodist Church in Cambodia, for how the ministry might best be expanded with young women, particularly those at risk. And, please pray for me, also, that I might have clarity about how I can be involved.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Leadership Development
by Katherine Parker
One visitor to Phnom Penh described it as a giant box store, because shops for certain items seem to be clustered in districts rather that spread out over the whole city. If I want to buy a sewing machine, I go to street 210; new shock absorbers for a motorcycle are at the corner of street 144. The business model seems to be “if my neighbor has a good business I should open an identical one.” When CHAD first started implementing development projects in Cambodia, this same principle seemed to apply. Everyone caught the idea that cow groups were a great project, and now we have 33 groups raising cows!
Two years after CHAD got started, the Methodist Church in Cambodia started a huge process of merging together the many members of our Methodist family into one church, and we started working with more pastors, many who were new to the ideas of church-based community development. We continued on, but took a few steps back in terms of leadership development as the CHAD program staff took on more of the responsibility of receiving project proposals and approving funding. But this was never our desire.
Last year, Ken Cruz (missionary from The Philippines) took over the chairmanship of the SCC committee and started the process of empowering the pastor representatives from all the Methodist districts that make up the SCC to make decisions for which projects will get new funding from the CHAD program. Initially, we were faced with the problem that most of the members of the SCC didn’t have a framework for making decisions about what makes a good development project. We offered opportunities for dialogue and challenged the group by prompting them with questions they should ask about a proposal. We also supported several pastors (under the initiative of Pastor Saron) and lay leaders to attend training on community development with our partner ICC-SPPA (International Cooperation Cambodia – Skills Promotion for Poverty Alleviation). And, then the big day came for reviewing the project proposals and allocating the funds that had been donated by our partner churches in the USA, Finland and Japan.
What was the impact of this year of training?
Ken reflected on the changes he saw in Pastor Saron and other SCC members. “A highlight has been the transformation of the SCC members into the owners of the process. This is demonstrated by their improved understanding of the process.
“I think one impact of the ICC-SPPA training that Pastor Saron and others attended is that they increased their understanding of development philosophy, such that they can have better judgment about what kind of project deserves to get support from CHAD. They can also deliberate more intelligently and make an informed decision to determine how much and what kind of funds they will approve. Pastor Saron encouraged the group to think about how the proposal dealt with community participation in the project. How many people would this impact? Did it reach out beyond just the church members? Was the project transparent to the larger community? He also challenged the group to think about the responsibility of the church to contribute. Did all of the funds need to come from CHAD? What was the group ownership in the project as demonstrated by the group's contribution? He also challenged the group to assess the management capacity of the group? Were there structures in place to handle the proposed project? Did the group have the ability to follow through with the project?
Up until now it had been the CHAD staff that raised these concepts of development and encouraged the SCC members to deliberate on them. But, at this meeting, it was Pastors Sarun and Phalla who were raising the issues and challenging their fellow pastors. It is not a fast process, but the signs of transformation are all around us as the Methodist Mission in Cambodia works to develop principled Christian leaders for the church and the world.
One visitor to Phnom Penh described it as a giant box store, because shops for certain items seem to be clustered in districts rather that spread out over the whole city. If I want to buy a sewing machine, I go to street 210; new shock absorbers for a motorcycle are at the corner of street 144. The business model seems to be “if my neighbor has a good business I should open an identical one.” When CHAD first started implementing development projects in Cambodia, this same principle seemed to apply. Everyone caught the idea that cow groups were a great project, and now we have 33 groups raising cows!
Two years after CHAD got started, the Methodist Church in Cambodia started a huge process of merging together the many members of our Methodist family into one church, and we started working with more pastors, many who were new to the ideas of church-based community development. We continued on, but took a few steps back in terms of leadership development as the CHAD program staff took on more of the responsibility of receiving project proposals and approving funding. But this was never our desire.
Last year, Ken Cruz (missionary from The Philippines) took over the chairmanship of the SCC committee and started the process of empowering the pastor representatives from all the Methodist districts that make up the SCC to make decisions for which projects will get new funding from the CHAD program. Initially, we were faced with the problem that most of the members of the SCC didn’t have a framework for making decisions about what makes a good development project. We offered opportunities for dialogue and challenged the group by prompting them with questions they should ask about a proposal. We also supported several pastors (under the initiative of Pastor Saron) and lay leaders to attend training on community development with our partner ICC-SPPA (International Cooperation Cambodia – Skills Promotion for Poverty Alleviation). And, then the big day came for reviewing the project proposals and allocating the funds that had been donated by our partner churches in the USA, Finland and Japan.
What was the impact of this year of training?
Ken reflected on the changes he saw in Pastor Saron and other SCC members. “A highlight has been the transformation of the SCC members into the owners of the process. This is demonstrated by their improved understanding of the process.
“I think one impact of the ICC-SPPA training that Pastor Saron and others attended is that they increased their understanding of development philosophy, such that they can have better judgment about what kind of project deserves to get support from CHAD. They can also deliberate more intelligently and make an informed decision to determine how much and what kind of funds they will approve. Pastor Saron encouraged the group to think about how the proposal dealt with community participation in the project. How many people would this impact? Did it reach out beyond just the church members? Was the project transparent to the larger community? He also challenged the group to think about the responsibility of the church to contribute. Did all of the funds need to come from CHAD? What was the group ownership in the project as demonstrated by the group's contribution? He also challenged the group to assess the management capacity of the group? Were there structures in place to handle the proposed project? Did the group have the ability to follow through with the project?
Up until now it had been the CHAD staff that raised these concepts of development and encouraged the SCC members to deliberate on them. But, at this meeting, it was Pastors Sarun and Phalla who were raising the issues and challenging their fellow pastors. It is not a fast process, but the signs of transformation are all around us as the Methodist Mission in Cambodia works to develop principled Christian leaders for the church and the world.
Monday, August 31, 2009
A Small Miracle
from Martha Parker, Individual Volunteer in Mission
I don't know how this really happened. I only know that when I prayed with a young girl in Cambodia, the prayer was answered. I would like to tell the story from my point of view.
My daughter Katherine Parker is a missionary in Cambodia working to improve the lives of the poor. I am a community health nurse in California, serving the elementary schools of Mill Valley, my home community. The schools have a long break during the summer and I volunteered through the UMVIM program of our church ("United Methodist Volunteers in Mission"). I raised money for my expenses and to provide funds to carry out the work of the CHAD program within which Katherine works. "CHAD" stands for community health and agricultural development.
While in Cambodia, Katherine and I visited a newly formed congregation in rural Kompong Chhang province. At the end of the Sunday worship service, the pastor told us that one of the families that was present that day had lost all hope of finding help for a 12-year-old daughter who had a heart that was not healthy. The mother said she had been to many doctors in Phnom Penh and that the girl needed to have surgery, but the family had used up all its money. In fact, she said she had sold all her land to try to get help for her daughter. She said her husband had deserted her and that she and her three children were destitute.
What I had learned from Irene Mparutsa, the nurse with the CHAD program, was that the government hospital in Phnom Penh would care for the very poor if they had documentation from their village chiefs. I also knew that CHAD had pastors who were trained to assist families with the process of going through this system. I asked the mother if we could pray about this, and the congregation and the family prayed together. I asked the mother to prepare her documentation and gather what she needed and that we would contact her. Then, I talked directly to the young girl through an interpreter. The girl said she wanted her heart to be healed, and we prayed together.
Being a nurse, I knew she probably had lived with the condition her entire life. The mother said the doctors just told her not to drink coconut milk; they did not say anything else she could do. I could feel a murmur when I placed my hand on her chest, probably something that would have been corrected as a young child in the US. It was like looking at medical books that were 50 years old about children who had murmurs that kept them from activities and that meant they always would be tired and weak. This girl had difficulty breathing and her muscles were not well developed, because she had to rest so much.
The following week, I started my volunteer teaching of the nurses at a hospital in Phnom Penh. I found out from CHAD's Irene Mparutsa that a team of Methodist missionary heart surgeons from Korea was coming the following week. All was very vague and we had no easy way to communicate directly with the woman and her daughter other than by going to the village that was a three-hour drive for us.
We reported to the pastor and made plans on our end to help the girl come for the heart clinic, but were disturbed to hear back a few days later that the girl's condition had worsened, that the mother was also sick, and that they had set out from their rural village for Phnom Penh with their letter from the village chief, but *without* the information from us as to the specific hospital to which they should go.
I was so upset! I had so hoped to connect the girl with the heart surgeons from Korea, who I had learned were doing their surgeries at Phnom Penh's large public hospital. All I could do was continue to pray, and I asked my home congregation and healing prayer group in Mill Valley also to pray.
Another week went by, and still no one had word of the woman and her daughter. The surgeons had come and gone. Katherine and I visited the village again and we all continued to pray together.
Two more weeks passed and, one day, the pastor called Katherine and me with the joyful report that the girl had returned to the village! She had had open heart surgery and was better! We drove the three hours to the church that Sunday . . . and, who was there? The girl herself and her mother arrived by bike at the small bamboo-stilt church, beaming and praising God for the miracle of the surgery.
We asked where she had the surgery and it was at the hospital where the missionary team of Korean heart surgeons had been, and it happened the week that they were there. Did they do it? No one knew, except that the girl now had a heart to provide her a normal life.
If I have ever seen a miraculous answer to prayer, this is my witness.
I don't know how this really happened. I only know that when I prayed with a young girl in Cambodia, the prayer was answered. I would like to tell the story from my point of view.
My daughter Katherine Parker is a missionary in Cambodia working to improve the lives of the poor. I am a community health nurse in California, serving the elementary schools of Mill Valley, my home community. The schools have a long break during the summer and I volunteered through the UMVIM program of our church ("United Methodist Volunteers in Mission"). I raised money for my expenses and to provide funds to carry out the work of the CHAD program within which Katherine works. "CHAD" stands for community health and agricultural development.
While in Cambodia, Katherine and I visited a newly formed congregation in rural Kompong Chhang province. At the end of the Sunday worship service, the pastor told us that one of the families that was present that day had lost all hope of finding help for a 12-year-old daughter who had a heart that was not healthy. The mother said she had been to many doctors in Phnom Penh and that the girl needed to have surgery, but the family had used up all its money. In fact, she said she had sold all her land to try to get help for her daughter. She said her husband had deserted her and that she and her three children were destitute.
What I had learned from Irene Mparutsa, the nurse with the CHAD program, was that the government hospital in Phnom Penh would care for the very poor if they had documentation from their village chiefs. I also knew that CHAD had pastors who were trained to assist families with the process of going through this system. I asked the mother if we could pray about this, and the congregation and the family prayed together. I asked the mother to prepare her documentation and gather what she needed and that we would contact her. Then, I talked directly to the young girl through an interpreter. The girl said she wanted her heart to be healed, and we prayed together.
Being a nurse, I knew she probably had lived with the condition her entire life. The mother said the doctors just told her not to drink coconut milk; they did not say anything else she could do. I could feel a murmur when I placed my hand on her chest, probably something that would have been corrected as a young child in the US. It was like looking at medical books that were 50 years old about children who had murmurs that kept them from activities and that meant they always would be tired and weak. This girl had difficulty breathing and her muscles were not well developed, because she had to rest so much.
The following week, I started my volunteer teaching of the nurses at a hospital in Phnom Penh. I found out from CHAD's Irene Mparutsa that a team of Methodist missionary heart surgeons from Korea was coming the following week. All was very vague and we had no easy way to communicate directly with the woman and her daughter other than by going to the village that was a three-hour drive for us.
We reported to the pastor and made plans on our end to help the girl come for the heart clinic, but were disturbed to hear back a few days later that the girl's condition had worsened, that the mother was also sick, and that they had set out from their rural village for Phnom Penh with their letter from the village chief, but *without* the information from us as to the specific hospital to which they should go.
I was so upset! I had so hoped to connect the girl with the heart surgeons from Korea, who I had learned were doing their surgeries at Phnom Penh's large public hospital. All I could do was continue to pray, and I asked my home congregation and healing prayer group in Mill Valley also to pray.
Another week went by, and still no one had word of the woman and her daughter. The surgeons had come and gone. Katherine and I visited the village again and we all continued to pray together.
Two more weeks passed and, one day, the pastor called Katherine and me with the joyful report that the girl had returned to the village! She had had open heart surgery and was better! We drove the three hours to the church that Sunday . . . and, who was there? The girl herself and her mother arrived by bike at the small bamboo-stilt church, beaming and praising God for the miracle of the surgery.
We asked where she had the surgery and it was at the hospital where the missionary team of Korean heart surgeons had been, and it happened the week that they were there. Did they do it? No one knew, except that the girl now had a heart to provide her a normal life.
If I have ever seen a miraculous answer to prayer, this is my witness.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
First Mission Conference
by Katherine Parker
Last week I served as a Conference Secretary for the First Annual Session of the Methodist Mission Conference in Cambodia. It has been a busy month as my assistant Vannak and I put together the "Conference Book" of reports and I worked together with Pastor Var Borom to take minutes of the Conference. It is incredibly exciting to be part of the church in Cambodia during these formative stages.
During Conference, the Implementing Board shared a vision based on Isaiah 54:2 of "Expanding God's Kingdom in Cambodia" and our goal of establishing an autonomous structure for the People called Methodists in Cambodia. These are goals laid out for how to establish an autonomous (not independent) church: self-governing, self-propagating, self-supporting and self-theologizing. This year was a milestone as we previously were organized as a "meeting" and now we have met for the first time as a "mission conference."
There were many exciting reports at Conference that pointed to the successful steps in increased autonomy. There is a time-line in place for the goal of self-government to be achieved by 2016 with the election of the first Cambodian Bishop. To this end, we celebrated the ordination of 11 new Deacons and 8 new Elders. Self-propagation has always been a strength of the church in Cambodia. Many new baptisms and full membership reports were given and for the first time congregations were designated as Local Church, Preaching Point or Outreach. The Treasurer gave an astounding report on the goal of self-supporting. The "5% offering" from local churches to MMC increased from $364.06 in 2007 to $3,729.36 in 2008 and the Cabinet resolved to raise $10,000 from local congregations in 2010. The first book of Cambodian sermons will also be published this year towards the goal of self-theologizing. The vision is moving forward.
The vision for the CHAD program parallels this development, has grown, and is bigger than just establishing livelihood development projects for rural communities and training health advocates. It is also to help create local organizational structures to continue this work. We are focusing not just on the current activities, but the long haul, and how to support the next generation of the church in Cambodia to continue the work of being the hands of Christ in this world.
At the same time, Bishop Roy J. Sano reminded us that sometimes we get caught up in building organizational structure because that is actually easier than the hard work of creating a just and peaceful society. He encouraged us to stay focused on our true goal.
CHAD is excited for the coming year again to support the Social Concerns Committee (SCC) of the MMC as it implements its vision: Inspired by our faith in God, Methodist Mission in Cambodia churches are working together with communities to improve the quality of life and to respond to emergency and disaster situations in Cambodia. Based on the Community Based Organization (CBO) model from The Philippines, CHAD is working with passionate pastors to help establish what we are calling Local Social Concerns Committees (LSCC) in some of the communities where we are working.
One of the biggest challenges we have faced in all of our work as CHAD is monitoring and following up to support the various projects and ministries as they face challenges and adapt to meet current community needs. One immediate dream is that the LSCC will be able to work with the SCC to help solve some of these problems so that we few folks in the central office don't spend all of our time running around the country on crisis calls. But the long term goal is that there will be transparent structures in place to initiate ministries of social concern that lead to personal and communal transformation.
Last week I served as a Conference Secretary for the First Annual Session of the Methodist Mission Conference in Cambodia. It has been a busy month as my assistant Vannak and I put together the "Conference Book" of reports and I worked together with Pastor Var Borom to take minutes of the Conference. It is incredibly exciting to be part of the church in Cambodia during these formative stages.
During Conference, the Implementing Board shared a vision based on Isaiah 54:2 of "Expanding God's Kingdom in Cambodia" and our goal of establishing an autonomous structure for the People called Methodists in Cambodia. These are goals laid out for how to establish an autonomous (not independent) church: self-governing, self-propagating, self-supporting and self-theologizing. This year was a milestone as we previously were organized as a "meeting" and now we have met for the first time as a "mission conference."
There were many exciting reports at Conference that pointed to the successful steps in increased autonomy. There is a time-line in place for the goal of self-government to be achieved by 2016 with the election of the first Cambodian Bishop. To this end, we celebrated the ordination of 11 new Deacons and 8 new Elders. Self-propagation has always been a strength of the church in Cambodia. Many new baptisms and full membership reports were given and for the first time congregations were designated as Local Church, Preaching Point or Outreach. The Treasurer gave an astounding report on the goal of self-supporting. The "5% offering" from local churches to MMC increased from $364.06 in 2007 to $3,729.36 in 2008 and the Cabinet resolved to raise $10,000 from local congregations in 2010. The first book of Cambodian sermons will also be published this year towards the goal of self-theologizing. The vision is moving forward.
The vision for the CHAD program parallels this development, has grown, and is bigger than just establishing livelihood development projects for rural communities and training health advocates. It is also to help create local organizational structures to continue this work. We are focusing not just on the current activities, but the long haul, and how to support the next generation of the church in Cambodia to continue the work of being the hands of Christ in this world.
At the same time, Bishop Roy J. Sano reminded us that sometimes we get caught up in building organizational structure because that is actually easier than the hard work of creating a just and peaceful society. He encouraged us to stay focused on our true goal.
CHAD is excited for the coming year again to support the Social Concerns Committee (SCC) of the MMC as it implements its vision: Inspired by our faith in God, Methodist Mission in Cambodia churches are working together with communities to improve the quality of life and to respond to emergency and disaster situations in Cambodia. Based on the Community Based Organization (CBO) model from The Philippines, CHAD is working with passionate pastors to help establish what we are calling Local Social Concerns Committees (LSCC) in some of the communities where we are working.
One of the biggest challenges we have faced in all of our work as CHAD is monitoring and following up to support the various projects and ministries as they face challenges and adapt to meet current community needs. One immediate dream is that the LSCC will be able to work with the SCC to help solve some of these problems so that we few folks in the central office don't spend all of our time running around the country on crisis calls. But the long term goal is that there will be transparent structures in place to initiate ministries of social concern that lead to personal and communal transformation.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
An open letter about chickens to the Vacation Church School children in Bakersfield, CA
From your missionary in Cambodia, Katherine.
To the children, youth and adults of the church in Bakersfield that gather this week for Vacation Church School: Grace to you and peace.
“I always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in my prayers, constantly remembering before our God your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For I know, brothers and sisters, beloved by God, that God has chosen you… And you have become imitators of Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 6a NRSV)
I hear that you are learning about Caring for God’s Creatures this year. In Genesis we learn that God wants us to care for God’s creatures in the same way that God cares for us. And so, I write to you again this year in the style of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians to remind you of the words from Isaiah that “The Lord is the everlasting God; God created all the world. God never grows tired or weary.” (Isaiah 40:28b NRSV)
Here in Cambodia, we raise a lot of different animals, such as fish, frogs, crickets, cows, water buffalo, pigs, ducks and chickens. Raising chickens is an important part of family life. Every family wants to be able to have a few chickens, even in the city.
One of the hardest parts of raising chickens is getting enough food for them to eat because all animals that are raised by families need to be fed by the family. This is how we take part in caring for God’s creatures. If you have a pet dog or cat or fish you need to feed it every day; the same is true for chickens. Chickens in particular love to eat vegetable scraps. What happens when you don’t eat all of your dinner? In Cambodia, the chickens get to eat all of the left over vegetables; they help to keep the farm clean. The left-over rice is dried in the sun and the chickens get to eat this too. Chickens also love bugs. They are particularly fond of termites and worms. A lot of families have a termite mound at their house, which is good for feeding both the chickens and the fish.
Last week, I went to visit the Minister of Agriculture in one province. He was very happy to meet me and to hear about the good work that our churches are doing. He encouraged me to support more families to raise chickens. It is a very good way for the church to help the poorest people in the community. Raising chickens is not too hard and it can give a family a good sense of accomplishment. The United Methodist Church, through the CHAD program is helping families to raise chicken in three ways.
First, we provide gift-loans to community groups so that they can start raising chickens. A group of about five families starts working together, and each family receives about 5 chickens. When the first flock of baby chicks grow to about bantee size, they are given to a new family. In this way, the gift of chickens from the church is passed on from family to family until everyone in the village has a small flock of chickens. Chickens get sick very easily, and this can kill off an entire village of chickens, so this is an important way for the church to help a village rebuild after a natural disease epidemic. The initial gift is not very big, just a few chickens for a few families, but because people share with their neighbor, everyone can benefit.
Another activity of the church is to start savings and credit groups. Every week, members of the savings group contribute a small amount to their savings account. Families can then take a small loan from the savings union to help them expand their farm. Many families will take a small loan of $25 for 3 months to help them buy chicken feed from the store so they can produce chickens to sell. When the family pays back the loan, the interest stays in the community, thus increasing the communities’ wealth.
The third way the church helps is to provide technical assistance about how to better raise chickens. Through our partner organizations we can share information about proper housing for chickens and improved feed such as worms. Chickens are not very smart creatures; they need the help of families, especially the children, to go in and out. In the morning, it is the responsibility of the children to shoo the chickens outside where they can hunt for bugs and vegetables. Then at night, the children need to gather the chickens back to their safe house again so they don’t catch cold or get stolen. With research from our partner CelAgric (which is funded in part by Heifer International), the church in Cambodia has distributed information about how to build better chicken houses. We have also provided information about what vegetables are best for improving chicken health. During my meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, he encouraged me to start teaching more about worm farming so that families would know how to raise worms, which can also improve the diet and health of chickens. We hope to start a pilot project about this in Methodist Amen Church in Kampong Chhnang province soon.
Learning about Caring for God’s Creatures is an important activity for the children in the church here in Cambodia and I am glad that you are also interested in learning these same lessons. We can sing praises for God’s care of creatures by saying: “You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, and bring forth food from the earth” (Psalm 104:14). We are all made in the image of God and called to continue taking care of God’s creatures. Thank you for your care. Beloved in Christ, pray for us in Cambodia as we continue to keep you in prayer as well and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
To the children, youth and adults of the church in Bakersfield that gather this week for Vacation Church School: Grace to you and peace.
“I always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in my prayers, constantly remembering before our God your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For I know, brothers and sisters, beloved by God, that God has chosen you… And you have become imitators of Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 6a NRSV)
I hear that you are learning about Caring for God’s Creatures this year. In Genesis we learn that God wants us to care for God’s creatures in the same way that God cares for us. And so, I write to you again this year in the style of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians to remind you of the words from Isaiah that “The Lord is the everlasting God; God created all the world. God never grows tired or weary.” (Isaiah 40:28b NRSV)
Here in Cambodia, we raise a lot of different animals, such as fish, frogs, crickets, cows, water buffalo, pigs, ducks and chickens. Raising chickens is an important part of family life. Every family wants to be able to have a few chickens, even in the city.
One of the hardest parts of raising chickens is getting enough food for them to eat because all animals that are raised by families need to be fed by the family. This is how we take part in caring for God’s creatures. If you have a pet dog or cat or fish you need to feed it every day; the same is true for chickens. Chickens in particular love to eat vegetable scraps. What happens when you don’t eat all of your dinner? In Cambodia, the chickens get to eat all of the left over vegetables; they help to keep the farm clean. The left-over rice is dried in the sun and the chickens get to eat this too. Chickens also love bugs. They are particularly fond of termites and worms. A lot of families have a termite mound at their house, which is good for feeding both the chickens and the fish.
Last week, I went to visit the Minister of Agriculture in one province. He was very happy to meet me and to hear about the good work that our churches are doing. He encouraged me to support more families to raise chickens. It is a very good way for the church to help the poorest people in the community. Raising chickens is not too hard and it can give a family a good sense of accomplishment. The United Methodist Church, through the CHAD program is helping families to raise chicken in three ways.
First, we provide gift-loans to community groups so that they can start raising chickens. A group of about five families starts working together, and each family receives about 5 chickens. When the first flock of baby chicks grow to about bantee size, they are given to a new family. In this way, the gift of chickens from the church is passed on from family to family until everyone in the village has a small flock of chickens. Chickens get sick very easily, and this can kill off an entire village of chickens, so this is an important way for the church to help a village rebuild after a natural disease epidemic. The initial gift is not very big, just a few chickens for a few families, but because people share with their neighbor, everyone can benefit.
Another activity of the church is to start savings and credit groups. Every week, members of the savings group contribute a small amount to their savings account. Families can then take a small loan from the savings union to help them expand their farm. Many families will take a small loan of $25 for 3 months to help them buy chicken feed from the store so they can produce chickens to sell. When the family pays back the loan, the interest stays in the community, thus increasing the communities’ wealth.
The third way the church helps is to provide technical assistance about how to better raise chickens. Through our partner organizations we can share information about proper housing for chickens and improved feed such as worms. Chickens are not very smart creatures; they need the help of families, especially the children, to go in and out. In the morning, it is the responsibility of the children to shoo the chickens outside where they can hunt for bugs and vegetables. Then at night, the children need to gather the chickens back to their safe house again so they don’t catch cold or get stolen. With research from our partner CelAgric (which is funded in part by Heifer International), the church in Cambodia has distributed information about how to build better chicken houses. We have also provided information about what vegetables are best for improving chicken health. During my meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, he encouraged me to start teaching more about worm farming so that families would know how to raise worms, which can also improve the diet and health of chickens. We hope to start a pilot project about this in Methodist Amen Church in Kampong Chhnang province soon.
Learning about Caring for God’s Creatures is an important activity for the children in the church here in Cambodia and I am glad that you are also interested in learning these same lessons. We can sing praises for God’s care of creatures by saying: “You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, and bring forth food from the earth” (Psalm 104:14). We are all made in the image of God and called to continue taking care of God’s creatures. Thank you for your care. Beloved in Christ, pray for us in Cambodia as we continue to keep you in prayer as well and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Alcoholism
by Katherine Parker
This summer I have made a commitment to visit two churches in Kampong Chhnang (Solang Kandal and Methodist Amen) every other Sunday and lead a Bible study on "Mobilizing the Church." This is one of the core curriculum models being used by the CHAD team to help churches organize a local social concerns committee that can plan and implement community development activities. Last week at Solang Kandal, we studied the Good Samaritan story (Luke 10:25-37) and talked about “who is my neighbor.” It was a challenging lesson, and the class worked really hard at thinking about what it means to love your neighbor.
Alcoholism is a huge problem in Cambodia, and Solang Kandal is no exception. During rounds last week, while my mom was volunteering at Center of Hope Hospital (a free hospital for the poor in Phnom Penh), she observed 3 of the 12 beds had folks in their 30s dying of liver failure.
At a previous meeting at Solang Kandal, we prayed for a young man that wanted to come to Phnom Penh to study at the Bible School, but his non-Christian, alcoholic parents were resistant because they didn’t want to lose his labor on the farm. The pastor had invited the parents to meet with the church community and was working to help them accept that this is a good opportunity for their son to improve himself. I only observed a little of the exchange, but I admired how the pastor was able to work with the parents.
This week, two of the women leaders of the church shared during the lesson about the struggle of having alcoholic husbands. After become a Christian, one woman stopped giving money to her husband to buy alcohol. It is not easy, she said. They argue a lot; he still finds other money to drink, and he blames her for many things. We talked about how as a Christian she wants to love her husband and wants the best for him, and so she no longer supports his alcoholism by giving him money. This was a very powerful example to the class of what it means to love your neighbor. Sometimes, loving our neighbors (or our family members) means not enabling them to go down a bad path. I think it was also helpful to the members of the community to be able to express their pain to an outsider and to have it acknowledged. As a guest in the church, I cannot solve the problems, but I can help provide a space and encouragement for people to give voice to problems, and we can pray together for guidance. In the middle of our conversation, one of the alcoholic husbands joined the meeting and was able to participate for part of the Bible study.
This week the pastor called me with encouraging news. The man who joined the meeting had not drunk any alcohol this week and he had been helping his wife with the farm. Even he was able to find encouragement in the discussion. Please keep praying for these families. It is not easy, but our faith gives us hope, and hope gives us strength, and day by day with God’s help we can persevere.
This summer I have made a commitment to visit two churches in Kampong Chhnang (Solang Kandal and Methodist Amen) every other Sunday and lead a Bible study on "Mobilizing the Church." This is one of the core curriculum models being used by the CHAD team to help churches organize a local social concerns committee that can plan and implement community development activities. Last week at Solang Kandal, we studied the Good Samaritan story (Luke 10:25-37) and talked about “who is my neighbor.” It was a challenging lesson, and the class worked really hard at thinking about what it means to love your neighbor.
Alcoholism is a huge problem in Cambodia, and Solang Kandal is no exception. During rounds last week, while my mom was volunteering at Center of Hope Hospital (a free hospital for the poor in Phnom Penh), she observed 3 of the 12 beds had folks in their 30s dying of liver failure.
At a previous meeting at Solang Kandal, we prayed for a young man that wanted to come to Phnom Penh to study at the Bible School, but his non-Christian, alcoholic parents were resistant because they didn’t want to lose his labor on the farm. The pastor had invited the parents to meet with the church community and was working to help them accept that this is a good opportunity for their son to improve himself. I only observed a little of the exchange, but I admired how the pastor was able to work with the parents.
This week, two of the women leaders of the church shared during the lesson about the struggle of having alcoholic husbands. After become a Christian, one woman stopped giving money to her husband to buy alcohol. It is not easy, she said. They argue a lot; he still finds other money to drink, and he blames her for many things. We talked about how as a Christian she wants to love her husband and wants the best for him, and so she no longer supports his alcoholism by giving him money. This was a very powerful example to the class of what it means to love your neighbor. Sometimes, loving our neighbors (or our family members) means not enabling them to go down a bad path. I think it was also helpful to the members of the community to be able to express their pain to an outsider and to have it acknowledged. As a guest in the church, I cannot solve the problems, but I can help provide a space and encouragement for people to give voice to problems, and we can pray together for guidance. In the middle of our conversation, one of the alcoholic husbands joined the meeting and was able to participate for part of the Bible study.
This week the pastor called me with encouraging news. The man who joined the meeting had not drunk any alcohol this week and he had been helping his wife with the farm. Even he was able to find encouragement in the discussion. Please keep praying for these families. It is not easy, but our faith gives us hope, and hope gives us strength, and day by day with God’s help we can persevere.
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