Portrait of the Body of Christ in Cambodia

I recently received a document from October 2007 entitled, 'Portrait of the Body of Christ in Cambodia' (Antioch Institute Research). Here are some points I found interesting:

- The size of the Church in Cambodia is 1.3%-2.8%. (Based on a population of nearly 14 million people.)

- There are less than 10 churches in Cambodia with more than 200 members.

- The average church size is 19 regular attenders.

- More than 50% of churches meet in village homes.

- Almost 5% meet in the open under trees.

- 69% of church leaders are rice farmers (only 5% are full-time pastors).

- The average age of a Cambodian church leader is 34 years.

- The average education level of a Cambodian church leader is Grade 6.7 (i.e. they have started Grade 7 but not finished).

- More than 75% of Church leaders listen to a Christian radio station.

- Only 12% of church leaders have read the whole bible.

- 13% of leaders do not have their own bible.

- The average offering for churches in Cambodia is $8.06 per month.

- 35% of church leaders first heard about Jesus through traveling evangelists or church planters. 25% heard from a friend.

- 54% of respondents said that the best way of starting new churches is to talk with relatives and friends about Jesus.

- 75% of church leaders have been personally involved in starting new churches.

- 10% of those surveyed currently oversee four churches or more.

- 26% of church leaders said the first person to take them to church was a foreign missionary.

- 72% said they had a 'very good experience' with foreign missionaries but 4% said they had such a bad experience that 'all foreign missionaries should go home'.

- 58% say that the main role of foreigners should be training leaders.

- 90% of church leaders say that Khmer should be responsible for evangelising minority groups in Cambodia. However, 39% said that Khmer should not have to learn minority languages or that all minorities should learn Khmer.

How do these statistics compare with your city or country?

Long weekend

Last weekend I took a Saturday- Monday long weekend in Phnom Penh. It was a great time to run, swim, eat and catch up with friends. I love to take a short break in Phnom Penh because it's different enough to know I'm away from home and work responsibilities but familiar enough that it still feels like home.

One of the highlights was taking a Cambodian friend to try the curious foreign food item known as pizza. We sat at a rooftop bar in one of the tourist districts. The menu was only in English, but he thought my powers of ordering food were almost genius. "Pizza and beer go together so well!" Hmm.. maybe Australian guys and Cambodian guys aren't so different after all?!

How Cambodian's Learn

When we have computer problems, we call in a young guy who works with a Cambodian IT company (blue shirt, sitting at the computer). Last week, I noticed that four of our staff were crowded around him, watching him work and peppering him with questions. I went back to my office with a 'let me know when it's fixed' kind of a shrug... To an outsider, their ways of learning can seem to be a 'waste of time'. However, I think we miss something of this hands-on learning and natural curiosity in our super-specialised Western work culture.

Sick to the Max

I learned a new word recently. Catastrophising (or catastrophizing if you're a US speller) is: to view or talk about an event or situation as worse than it actually is. I read about a similar idea in a newspaper article too. It was about the Mars/ Venus theory and the idea that 'maximisers' are usually attracted to 'minimisers' and vice versa. I didn't get far into the article because for some reason I thought they were talking about bra types, got distracted and stopped reading.

Anyway, it's easy to maximise and catastrophise when you're sick and away from home (like I was for a couple of days this week). I blame travel books. They make it seem like a quick trip up the coast is fraught with peril. For those who dare to get on a plane and travel overseas, half of the guidebook is taken up with warnings of sicknesses, scams, rip-offs, landmines, pick-pockets, dodgy roads, overpriced guesthouses, wars and other inconveniences. I see the tourists on the plane with their guidebook in one hand and their lunch menu in the other. 'Fresh garden salad,' they read aloud to their travel buddy, 'And what is this about Japanese Encephalitis?'. 'Roast BBQ duck with rice or beef with mashed potatoes... and TB, typhoid and malaria.' They consider the cheesecake for dessert and wonder, 'Omg! Did we get vaccinated for dengue?'

On arrival, it is easy to think that every small complaint is something very serious. It probably isn't. You probably don't have an exotic skin disease. You just didn't scrub your ankles properly and there's three days' build-up of grime changing the colour of your skin. You probably don't have a fever. It's just hot here. After four months of attempting meaningful development work, you probably don't have clinical depression. You're normal and you've had a crap day.

Try to remind yourself before wondering about where your body will be cremated that you probably just have: a cold, a headache, food poising, a common virus, worms or a hangover. Nothing that a few cheap pills, some time in bed and a couple of fresh coconuts can't cure.

Fresh food from a 'slum' school!

Every weekday morning, Sim clean the office and cooks lunch for our staff. In the afternoons, she teaches Grade 3. Last Friday, the students took home some some of the fruits of their labour; 700g of morning glory.

Sim learned to grow vegetables when she was in primary school. She remembers that the school had a large plot of land and a dam nearby, making it easy to take care of their plots. They planted cauliflower, spinach, lettuce and morning glory. At home, Sim has experimented with planting all of these, plus pumpkins, cucumbers and melons. Over the past month, the Grade 3 students at MMF were divided into six small groups of five students to try their hand at growing green beans, spinach and morning glory. Unfortunately, the beans didn't take and the spinach was eaten by insects. But the morning glory, 'tragoon' as it's known in Khmer, flourished.

Sim said that she wants to continue with the 'tragoon' and also to try green beans again (with different seeds). She said, 'We have to plant things that will grow quickly. I'm always afraid that some families will move to Thailand before the students get to harvest their own vegetables!' Sim also commented, 'Whatever jobs they have in the future, I want my students to know the basics about farming.' For now, they're getting hand on learning, they're enjoying seeing the playground alive with colour and I'm sure they enjoyed a good meal over the weekend with the vegetables they grew themselves!

Last Week

Don't tell me grief isn't physical.

I met him last week.

At 4am when alone I waited

For sleep's quiet invitation.

At 6am when I ran

but breathing hurt and my eyes stung

and the skies pressed down on me.

Stupid, I blamed: heat and humidity.

In snatches of sleep I dreamed of cupcakes.

Awake nothing tasted good.

Sadness stole my words.

I need them to lead my team-

to praise, encourage, correct and challenge.

Heart empty, I borrowed scraps from last season's script.

Grief sat heavy on my chest- and tight.

Like when I was six years old and

play-wrestling with the neighbourhood kids

until a bigger boy beat me and wouldn't get off.

Writhe. Scream. Struggle. It makes no difference.

Sadness has his own schedule.

He came but now he's gone again.

And I still rise to hope.

Kids Taekwondo

Here's a peek into one of our Taekwondo classes for 8-14 year olds. They train Wednesday -Friday afternoons from 4pm. I joined with 16 new students on Wednesday and I learned four new ways to walk! (Plus had some fun throwing some kicks!)

Week one of my marathon training is going well. Minor struggles include a moment yesterday when I was 2km into an 18km run and a jogger wearing jeans overtook me! I had to remind myself to 'trust the program' and resist the temptation to race him!

Study Resources For K & Grade 1

I don't want to get bored of this... Last week we handed out Maths & English textbooks to Grade 1 Students at this school. For the Pre-School students we gave alphabet flashcards, a whiteboard (with chalkboard on the flip-side), a whiteboard marker and a box of chalk.

Yeah.. just more cute pre-school kids getting some encouragement to learn at home with their older brothers & sisters, parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles. Simple, locally-bought resources that help these children to learn...similar to last year's activity. It seemed to work so we're doing it again. The usual. And the older guys? Well.. somehow they got by without textbooks before. One borrowed book between six or more students... copy the letters from the whiteboard and hope that it sinks in... don't worry too much if you miss a day because you're sick or have to work? But, yeah.. we bought them Maths & Khmer texts. One set each. And hopefully this is a small encouragement to learn the Grade 1 curriculum thoroughly, whether they're 6 years old or 12 years old.

These gifts have potential to help kids learn. I don't want to get tired of telling these stories!

Running A Marathon

This year I'm planning to run a marathon. Yeah.. you've heard this before. It's true, I have finished five marathons & an ultra marathon. But the thing is... I tend to run the first 30km's of a marathon at my goal pace and then... well... I struggle/ hit the wall/ fade/ choke. I'm not proud of this fact but in four out of the five marathons this pattern repeats itself. Anyway, I still get the finishers medal. And I know that most people couldn't care less how many minutes and seconds it takes the average Joe to mash out 26.6 miles. But there's something in me that wants learn to run 42.2km as fast as I can.

I've avoided the marathon for a full twelve months. I haven't even trained for a half marathon in long time either. I've raced 21.1km events (and set a new PB last year) but I haven't trained for them! One reason is that I do better on a 'long mileage' 10km program. So I'll do 14-16km runs every week with weekly speed work and lots of fun runs with my friends just to keep in shape for a 10km race. It's not too hard to stretch from a 16km training run to racing a half marathon. You set out fast and by the time you're getting tired you're ahead of the pack and the excitement of the race is enough to hold the pace for the final 5km (and usually enough find a little kick for the last 400m too).

The marathon is different. It demands more. In 2012 I want to have another crack at it. Therefore, I'm making it public that tomorrow is Day 1, Week 1 of a 16 Week program to prep for the Phuket marathon on June 10. I want to run strong for the whole race...no grandma shuffle! I want to be so well trained that I look forward to the 'second half of the race' that begins at the 30km marker. I want to beat my previous best by 15 minutes! And if I can do these things I expect to place in the top 3 in my age group. Wish me luck?

Appropriate Technology

Here's one way to watch a downloaded drama series from Korea that has been dubbed into Thai while talking to a friend in Khmer. Yeah! This is how we roll in Poipet!