Coz I Can

Saturday night a week ago, I had a dream. I was sitting in a local church service and one of the members stood up in a white shirt and a dark pair of pants. He said, "There is someone here who needs to give $xxx amount of money." I thought, "Hmmm... I reckon that's me." In my dream, I saw myself reach into my purse, take out the amount of cash that the leader spoke of and put it in the cotton offering bag.

The following morning, I walked into church and the same guy from my dream was standing in front of the congregation (wearing... you guessed it.... a white shirt and dark pants). He didn't say anything about money, but when the offering bag was passed around I had a choice about how much I was going to drop in. So I gave the amount I dreamt about the night before. Why?! Did I think was compelled to give because of some weird, summer night dream? Nope. I gave because I'm free to give. I give coz I can.

Coz I can.... reminds me of a Pink song. She talks trash and talks herself up- spitting out lyrics about her fast car, massive house and fantasy life that "you're not smart enough to even dream". The song makes me smile because it's so ridiculous. But it would be sad if I actually strived to live like that... Instead, I drive a moto, share a house and shower with a bucket and scoop. Coz I can. Being free from the 'me first' mantra, I'm learning to be more generous.

This last week my mate Nat wrote an article for an Australian mag on topic of money. It hasn't gone through the slash-edit process but there's some great stuff in it. Nat wonders how the Western church will continue to give when we live in a world that is saturated by hyper-consumerism (a culture in which identity is found in the things we consume)?

Nat writes: "God is calling us to delve into the root causes of poverty; to recognise the social, structural and spiritual core of it. And if we are going to empower others to be free from the things that enslave them in poverty- like addictions, oppression or violence- then we need to be free from the power of consumerism in ourselves. And freedom is where generosity begins."

Yep! Good stuff Nat. Let's be ridiculously generous people.... Coz we can.

Bolt Verses Kitty

From Jamaican Sprinter Usain Bolt Verses a House Cat
Cameron Stratcher (The Wall Street Journal)

Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter who shattered two world records last week may now be the world's fastest human, but his accomplishments raise some intriguing questions about how he and other humans match up against the rest of the animal kingdom.

At top speed, Bolt hit about 48kph as he set his record (he averaged 38kph over 100 meters). The cheetah, in contrast, can reach a top speed of 113kph and maintain it for about 183 to 274 meters. ...The pronghorn can run at about 105kph. The wildebeest, lion and gazelle can all run at about 80kph...And so, among land animals, Bolt's record-setting runs probably place him around 30th on the list of the fastest, behind the while tail deer, warthog, grizzly bear, and house cat (which can reach speeds of about 48kph).

And yet there are very few animals that could beat a man in a marathon or longer distance race. Haile Gebrelassie, the Ethiopian distance runner who holds the world record in the marathon, averages about 19kph. True, in the Iditarod sled race, Siberian huskies match or beat that pace, and maintain it for up to six hours a day, 11 days in a row. And the Arabian horse has run 97km at a pace of 26kph, while the fastest human runs just under 16kph at that distance. But other than those two, there probably isn't another land animal in the world that could beat the current world record in the marathon of 2:03:59.

...Animals run because they have to- to eat or avoid being eaten. Man is the only animal that runs simply to do it. Our large brains can persuade our frail bodies to keep moving regardless of cost.

[I'm hoping my large brain will push my frail body to keep moving for 42.2km at 11.8kph..... whether at Singapore in 99 days time or at a later marathon...]

What is Deep South?

There's a guy in his 20's who studies English at one of the church-based private language schools in Poipet. I've taught his class for a total of about 3 weeks over the past 6 months. (Yep, I am the dreaded substitute teacher.) These days he sends me a text if he's studying at home and can't figure out a word.

Teacher, what is retirees?
What is Deep South?
Excuse me teacher, can you explain radio signal jammer?

Tonight this student also sent me a follow-up message saying, "Thank you for teacher that you could be used to explain me all the time." Sweet. The message continued, "So I pray for you right away." The prayer he typed was rather confusing so I was glad that called and I could ask him a bit more about his religious beliefs.

He explained, "What I mean to say is... to me you are a god." Of course, he had his reasons (because I'm kind, wise, helpful etc) ...but I did feel the need to point out that there are some significant differences between The Deity and me.

He had a few more questions. For example: "I want to know where is God?" I tried to be as simple and as honest as I could in reply: "God is everywhere and especially close to people who are seeking God." And it strengthened me to say it simply too.

aisle six

The Lucky supermarket in Soriya Phnom Penh has a set of scales at the end of one of the aisles. It's perhaps the dumbest marketing strategy I've ever seen. Maybe it works for an 80 pound local. For me, weighing myself in a food aisle of a supermarket is without doubt the fastest ticket to the checkout possible... No extra peanut butter. No chockie bar at the cashier. No spontaneous purchasing at all. (Good luck with that idea Lucky...)

Why I can’t wait to be a soccer coach

This week I read The Millennium Development Goals Report 2009, published by the UN. The goals haven’t changed since 2000. Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education. Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women. Etc. Etc. Goal 7 Ensure environmental sustainability. Etc. The 2009 report gives an update on the eight goals to show how we’re tracking in working towards the overall objective of wiping out extreme poverty by 2015.

It doesn’t take much to figure that the goals are related. One paragraph from the 2009 report explains that,

“the large number of out-of-school children is especially worrisome because of the impact it will have on other MDG’s. Evidence shows, for instance, that an increase in the share of mothers with a primary or secondary education is associated with a reduction in the child mortality rater, and that educated parents have better nourished children. Parental literacy also plays a role in whether children attend school. Education has been shown to have a positive effect on the success of HIV prevention and increase the probability of accessing decent employment.” (p 15)

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve also been citing local research in forming a draft project proposal. In my city, the issues that the people identify as being their main concerns include: child trafficking, lack of work, lack of food security, sexual exploitation and drug use. Here’s the thing… having lived here for a year now, I’m starting to see these challenges not just in terms of the stats or the research. I’m beginning to know these people. This weekend, when the ugliness and the pain of it all hit me again, I found myself getting stupidly excited at the prospect of being trained as a soccer coach. What does football have to do with anything?! Hear me out…

We’re partnering with SALT Academy to have a 2010 soccer league starting in January. The idea is to start with a season for U16s and Girls Open. The Girls teams will need coaches. Therefore, knowing that this is a little weird/ different for most chicks but recognizing that foreigners are allowed to do weird things sometimes, I’ve put up my hand to learn about this world football game, to play a bit and to find some other young people who want to do the same.

It will take time. In November I’ll be spending a significant amount of my work time in training. It is a bit of a risk. I don’t know what the results will be. I’m not even sure how many girls will dare to play. However, I think there will be enough for a team. Even if I have to ask 150 teenagers in order to find 15 who will play, I will do it.

I’m looking forward to several months in which we can practice together, train together, compete together and celebrate whatever small achievements we accomplish. I love it that whatever struggles we have, when we are on the field we are a football team first.

Yes, I hope that this program will empower some young women (MDG Goal 3). Yes, I want to encourage them in their schooling (MDG Goal 2). Yes, I want to know if they come to play a game and haven’t eaten rice in the past day (MDG Goal 1). I also hope that by doing something as seemingly random as playing football, the players will forge stronger relationships as a team in their community, making it more likely to envision their future in Cambodia (rather than seeing the only option as crossing the border where they are much more vulnerable to exploitation). These are my dreams. But at the same time, I don’t know what’s going to happen in this 2009-2010 season. I’m not the one managing the project. I’m not in charge. I’m not writing the reports. I am simply signing up to learn how to kick a ball and coach a team. But I’m pretty excited about it!

7 Ways

We hosted the monthly networking meeting of local pastors and church leaders this morning. In one part we broke into groups of three to brainstorm:

2 ways to sleep on a bed
3 ways to ride a bicycle
4 ways to make someone laugh
5 ways to make your neighbour angry
6 ways to cook a fish
7 ways to show love to your neighbour

The game got people talking and taught me a few things too.

I learned that in Cambodia it is considered funny to put on a giant pair of underpants and pull them up to your chest (is it universally uncool?!)... I learned that Khmer don't rate playing loud music late at night as particularly offensive to your neighbour, but that stealing fruit from their tree is a quick way to make them mad. On the other hand, giving food or other basic necessities was one of the top things mentioned in how to show love. I liked how the pastor in my group worded it, "When someone asks to borrow, we give." They were plenty of other ideas in the 7 ways category.... reminding me that we know how to love our neighbours, we just need to continue doing it!

(A final lesson: Cambodian women can tell you 6 ways to cook a fish in less than 6 seconds!)