Postscripts from Phnom Penh (June 07)

Hi there!..well it's quickly headed into June now and we are right in the middle of the hot/wet season. It is difficult to know exactly when the seasons really start and finish here. We've still had incredibly hot weather (which we're told has been some of the hottest for quite a number of years) and some sporadic wet season rains. As we speak it is pelting down in a typical wet season monsoon shower. Lately we've actually been praying for this sort of rain as the hot weather can just get really unbearable after a while...I think we've both seen enough of the sun already as Mark's arms in particular are getting browner and browner each week (..can't be good - we're sure!).

Anyway - we're both going well...keeping very busy and on the whole really satisfied with progress and where we're at in our work here. There are occasional moments where we are hanging out to go home - but fortunately these are getting fewer and far between than we we first arrived. Lately - our focus has been on the church sustainability forums and assessing options for setting up an NGO here and looking at potential social justice projects. An update on the forums will be posted shortly - so stay tuned for this!

Regarding the NGO - it is quite a process for setting up and registering with the various Government departments - each wanting their own little "fee" for their approval services. Interesting process so we've been told...we will fill you on how it pans out as we take the journey with all this!

Since our last update in April, here's a few things that have happened:
We nearly forgot Easter as it's not celebrated here, it being primarily a Buddhist nation - not even chocolate easter eggs or hot cross buns! However, we did end up going to one of the international churches on Easter Sunday to help us reflect on what Easter is all about. The weekend after Easter was then nearly a week off for most Khmers to celebrate the Khmer New Year public holiday, where most people head back to their homes in the province (most people come to the city to seek work but are originally from the provinces). All the markets and many places are closed over this period of time, so it was relatively quiet here in the city, which I (Jo) immensely enjoyed (particularly being able to sleep without being woken by constant noise)!

We also attended the ANZAC Day memorial dawn service at the Australian Ambassador's house (see pics below). After much deliberation, we decided to hire Yaan, an older Khmer woman to help us clean our place once a week. Whilst it is a very common practice to have home help with cooking and cleaning amongst expats and the more wealthy Khmers, Mark and I did not even contemplate this until we realised that because of the dirt and the dust from the streets, etc, you nearly need to clean every day. This was becoming more and more exhausting as we were getting more busy with our work here (not to mention sweating like a pig just mopping the floor)! We continue to do our own shopping and cooking, washing, etc and just some lighter cleaning duties.

We also went to a 'Timothy's All Project" pastor's retreat down in Sihanoukville (~4+hrs in a bus) that we were invited along to. This project is centred on a mentoring program for senior leadership of the main khmer church denominations here. It provided an interesting time to observe the pastors interact with each other as well joining in with some of the practical teaching. It was also really enjoying spending some time getting to know the pastor's families - as the retreat included pastors plus their wives and children. It definitely became memorable on the long bus trip back when a microphone was passed around the bus allowing Khmer hymns to be belted out by the pastors and their wives! Khmers love karaoke and singing their hearts out - bless their souls!

May and the start of June was personally a time of celebrations for us both. We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary (with a surprise trip to Bangkok for a couple of days organised by Mark), Mark's birthday in late May and then my (Jo's) birthday in early June. (Not to mention Mother's Day back home and it was my mum's birthday as well.) Such wonderful occassions here take an extra special effort to plan as again Cambodians do not celebrate anniversaries or birthdays (if they do - it is usually for the more "western" khmers and even then - mainly for the young children) - partly because they can't afford it and some of them don't have details of their actual birth dates.

Some good news is we just bought a car recently - a little VW Golf, about 15 years old and who knows how many owners!. It is definitely not original like most vehicles around Phnom Penh - but at was cheap and should be reliable (so we're told!). So, we are happy about this and it was a real answer to prayer considering we're heading into the wet season right now and have already been caught out on the motorbike a number of times - which can be pretty dangerous to say the least! (it is a case of "every man for himself" usually - let alone during the madness of peak hour traffic in pelting rain). So, having the ability to get around town in a car will be a safe and better option for our transport needs. It was funny though, when a couple of weeks ago we used the car to go to a cambodian wedding reception we were invited to and it rained very heavily causing some significant flooding in most of the inner city areas and in particular in the area near the reception venue. We were amazed that our little VW actually made it through the deluge - considering the water depth was at least 1 1/2 foot in sections...amazingly the car didn't miss a beat, and didn't float away (..we have heard stories of this happening in PP not so long ago actually!). We were praying intently though...as the prospect of push starting in the rain and with the roads so flooded - was not something we were looking forward to! (at least for Jo - as she was in her nice dress on the way to the wedding reception!!).

Aside from this - we do have another team coming next week which will be great! We are really looking forward to seeing some of our church friends again. This trip is focused on assessing some potential social justice projects that our church can commit to undertake - so it will be great to see how this unfolds and hopefully we can start getting a little more clarity around this particular area of what we're doing in Cambodia. In spite of a large number of NGO and local/international government efforts in place currently (over 800+) - there is still significant needs here in terms of improving the quality of life for the many poor and marginalised in cambodian society.

Well...that's about it from us! Below are some interesting photos of our recent journey. Enjoy!

Pic of us both on the road with the motorbike (Jo is now confident in riding - though still getting used to traffic)

Typical daily traffic scene - can they honestly expect to fit anymore in that van!!

Outdoor activities at the beach in Sihanoukville - as part of "Timothy's All Project" cambodian pastors retreat

Mark posing with the elephant and Ps. Toun Kakada

Group photo at the end of the pastors retreat in Sihanoukville (we're the ones on the left of frame!)


Pic taken while out on one of our morning runs around the Olympic Stadium (...don't be fooled - we are not that fit and unfortunately going for a run is less frequent than we'd like!)- shows a local youths basketball team drill

At the ANZAC Day ceremony in Phnom Penh...it was really great to be involved and good to see it was so well supported by the local Aussies

...Ahh...a touch of Australiana! a friendly game of 2-up on ANZAC day


Our man Heng, going for the big bite on a local fried spider (famous in the township of Skoun, about 1 hr from PP)

...and yes...he is for real.!!

..nice touch...just the leg dangling out of the mouth: Perfect!!

A happy little camper! ...

Our joint response to the spider eating incident....(we won't be in a hurry to try that one!!)

Our landlady doing her daily cooking - using a traditional khmer clay oven (this is used by most cambodians - even in the city!)

Relaxing with some friends on the beach at Sihanoukville (on the King's Birthday holiday weekend)

Jo surprised Mark with a huge birthday cake during the May Forum. Very nice!!

Wet season is here!! ..this pic was taken out front of a wedding reception venue..our little VW Golf got us to the venue reasonably on time and most importantly without floating down the road!

Pic of Jo beside a line of guests at a traditional khmer wedding ceremony. Guests are asked to carry the packs of fruit or other food items in a procession to the ceremony entrance. They are then taken and placed on the floor where the bridal party sit. The bride and groom then give the fruit and other items to the parents and relatives as a way to honor them throughout the wedding ceremony. (The fruit carrying ceremony usually starts at 6am in the morning mind you!!...Tis a long day for everyone really!)

Pic of us at the wedding reception (..and yes...Jo is holding a friends baby in her arms!!)

Jo's (surprise) birthday celebrations - with a few friends at the nice French restaurant (Comme a la Maison)

Church Sustainability Forums - General Info & Update (April 07)

Vision for the Church Sustainability Forums

The church sustainability forums aim to assist Cambodian pastors build self-sustaining, growing churches that impact their communities for the kingdom of God.

We do believe that the Cambodian church has the ability to break out of the donor-support cycle and become self sustaining financially. And we also believe that the Cambodian church can reach and be a part of the emerging middle-class.

To achieve this goal, we believe the immediate need is in building capacity, strengthening the relationships between pastors and their key church business people, and in facilitating learning and spiritual growth through mentoring relationships.

Building towards the vision:
With the goal of sustainability in mind, we have established a pilot program including weekly mentoring sessions and a schedule of monthly training forums that seek to:
• Assist pastors and their church businessperson build strong relationships
• Build the capacity of both pastor and businessperson through practical training
• Provide relational support through a local expatriate business and pastoral mentoring program.

Through the mentoring relationships and the monthly forums we will be helping both the senior pastor and their church businessperson build sustainable organisations by applying kingdom principles to their respective organisations.

Update on the Forums:
We commenced the pilot forum program in March 07. This pilot program is planned to extend for a 12 month period initially - being limited to a maximum of 4 churches (of which we are working with senior pastor/s and their key church businesspeople).

Currently, the pilot program includes a total of 12 participants (4 pastors, 8 business people) from the following churches in Phnom Penh:

- New Life Fellowship (Ps. Jesse McCaul and Ps. Leang Samdy)
- Russey Keo Baptist (Ps. Toun Kakda)
- Victory Life Centre (Ps. Jimmy Lu)
- Home Centre Church (Home based outreach to university students - led by a leadership team currently)

We are also very blessed to have four locally based expats who are capable and well experienced in their respective areas of expertise, and have committed to fulfill either a pastoral or kingdom business mentoring role within this pilot forum program.

Some pics from the April forum in which we covered the subject of mindsets and attitudes to financial stewardship...






Following review and evaluation - we intend to extend the year 1 forum schedule to include a new group of participants.

Participants who undertake year 1 of the forums will be considered for a year 2 forum program focusing on spirit inspired business planning. In entirety - over the year 1 & 2 schedule of forums, we aim to cover teaching on the elements of building a spiritual enterprise, business planning and inputting a biblical and Holy Spirit guided formation of a business plan (relevant to the cambodian church business person); and elements of church growth and leadership, vision, and sustainability for growth-oriented churches (relevant to the cambodian pastor).

Training in the monthly forums is provided by a combination of local and overseas speakers that have held and do hold very high positions in large Corporations and growing churches, and some are experienced Christian entrepreneurs who have founded and built their businesses on what they have been led by God to do.

If you would like to be involved in this exciting program - please contact Mark directly on mark.dennert@cccw.org.au

An insight into the cultural and spiritual landscape in Cambodia

These are some of the spiritual and cultural "layers" that we've observed and have been told about in our time here in the country. No rocket science here (!)...but we do hope this helps in understanding the khmer people and what influences them as people - spiritually and culturally:
Animism
- The earliest recorded religions in Cambodia where based on this belief system
- Animists believe that spirits reside in all things
- It is considered that good and evil spirits exist and are active in all of community life
- Animist belief still exists today in much of Cambodian culture and society

Hinduism
- Believed to be introduced by Indian traders around the time of Christ
- Cambodia’s creation myth describes how the country originated from a union between the princess of a serpent king and an Indian Brahman named Kaundinya. As dowry, the king presented the couple with a new territory called Kambuja-the source of both the names Cambodia and Kampuchea.
- Cambodia’s first formalized religion
- Early Angkorian King’s worshipped Hindu gods like Siva and Vishnu
- Temples of Hindu influence proliferated from the 9th century onwards, the most prominent today, Angkor Wat was first dedicated to the hindu god Vishnu.

Feudalism
- Feudal based communities existed in early Cambodian society
- People belonged to a village, may have been able to grow their own rice – but were also obliged to serve their overlords in public works and war
- Society was heavily defined by lines of status and social hierarchy determined by birthright – with the ruling class dominating the “ruled”.

Buddhism
- Buddhism arrived in Cambodia with Indian traders. Cambodia adopted the Theravada variant of Buddhism in the 13th century.
- After King Jayavarman VII switched from Hinduism to Buddhism, Buddhist religious icons were added to many of the temples that had already been built along Hindu architectural lines.
- Buddhists believe that living beings are reincarnated after death to return to Earth in some form or another to live many future lives. In this view, advantage enjoyed in the next life must be earned in this life. Feudalism in Cambodia’s early history reinforced this fatalistic outlook, where social status was established by birthright and could not be changed much during a person’s life.
- Ninety-six percent of the population today is considered Buddhist

Colonialism
- After the fall of Angkor, Cambodia was subject to threats on many fronts: Thais to the west, Chams to the east, Thai and Vietnamese from the 17th century until the French in 1860. Overlaying this was the European influence, firstly from the Spanish traders pushing up from the Philippines.
- In the early 17th century, the Cambodians lost important territory to both the Vietnamese and the Thais – this remains to present day.
- In 1863 France took over Cambodia following assuming control of Vietnam (the French saw Indo-China as a pathway into southern China)
- The Cambodian ruling elite and the merchant class (mainly Chinese merchants) lived a comfortable and profitable existence under the French – while the rural population remained exploited (the first rule of French colonization was to run the colonies at profit). French rule in Cambodia ceased in 1953 with the declaration of Cambodian independence.

Communism
- In the 1950’s, amidst rising conflict in the region relating to communist inspired independence movements – Sihanouk opted for a policy of neutrality.
- Over this period, Cambodia became involved in the communist war lead by USA and their allies. In the midst of Thailand and South Vietnam’s support of America’s war on communism, Prince Sihanouk, in his role as Prime Minister, forged an alliance with Vietnam and begun adopting increasingly socialist policies.
- The US conducted many bombing raids on Cambodian territory due to their suspicions of North Vietnamese positions in Cambodia. Massive bombing efforts led by the US targeting Cambodian lands delivered psychological terror to most of the rural population. This bombing divided the country – rural areas under bombardment became increasingly hostile to the Americans and sympathetic to the communists. Cambodian cities by contrast remained under the control of the US’s anti-communist ally, the Phnom Penh government (led by General Lon Nol), leading to civil war between the countryside (backed by North Vietnamese army) and the cities (backed by the States)
- The war between the Khmer-Rouge/North Vietnamese alliance and Lon Nol’s forces raged for five years. The war concluded in April 1975, two months ahead of the fall of Saigon, with victory to the Khmer Rouge communists.

Revolutionism (Pol-Pot Regime)
- Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge in 1975; liberated citizens were however unaware of the cultural division between the city and country that had been bred into the KR soldiers. Within a day of taking over the city, the Khmer Rouge deceptively led a campaign of massive social reconstruction (city dwellers were viewed as enemies of the revolution who needed to be ‘re-educated’). Many believed that they were helping the Khmer Rouge rebuild the country as they were escorted out of the city, totally unaware that in fact they would be heading to their deaths.
- The revolution led by Pol Pot aspired to return the country to “Year Zero”, turning society upside down: where peasants became overseers and the urban middle class became peasants. Rural people ruled the urban leaders. Young ruled over the old. Students ruled their teachers. The ignorant ruled the knowledgeable.
- It is claimed that Pol Pot’s first measure on assuming power had been to attack the basic unit of Cambodian society: the family unit. Parents lost their children in this process (considered to now be part of the family of “Angkar”- the name given to the ideology and political force of the revolution), leaving a generation of orphans.
- This revolution failed in devastating form resulting in the extermination of much of the educated and middle class in Cambodian society. A widely quoted Khmer Rouge saying towards the prospects of the peasant class was: “Keeping you is not profitable to us. Discarding you is no loss”.
- Many of the countries cultural and religious sites of significance, and many historical artifacts were all systematically sought to be eliminated during this period. This only resulted in more devastation, poverty and depletion of human and natural resources within the country.
- It is estimated that over 1 million Cambodians (estimates range between 20-30% of the population) died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge between 1975-79.
- On 7 January 1979, the North Vietnamese army entered Phnom Penh and took control of power.

Post-Revolutionism (Continued fighting, Starvation and Uncertainty)
- Several years of warring continued after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, due to the liberation of the Cambodian people from the KR coming via the communist Vietnamese army.
- In the almost ten years of fighting that followed (between US led forces, including remnants of the KR forces backed by the US against the Vietnamese) - much destruction to infrastructure and agricultural lands resulted. This led to the prospect of massive starvation, further political and social instability and many Cambodians seeking refugee status across the border in Thailand.
- In 1989, the Vietnamese army withdrew from Cambodia. After the Vietnamese left, the Khmer Rouge saw another chance to come back, but failed.
- In 1991, the Peace Accords were signed ushering in the presence of United Nations personnel to oversee establishment of a transitionary government and rebuilding of much needed infrastructure (known as UNTAC).

Bits and Pieces about Cambodian Culture - Part 2 (some interesting Do's & Don'ts - sourced from another website):

How to Greet

- Offer a traditional greeting with hands in front of face, palms together, in prayer-like fashion.

- Men can shake hands with men.

- Men should not shake hands with Khmer women unless they offer their hand.

- Men should not hug, kiss, or touch the body of women…

- Men should not look women directly in the eye. (They may become confused, feel uncomfortable, nervous, shy, and not respected.)

- Men should not give "strong" visual attention to other men.

How to Sleep

- You must wake up before sunrise or else you are lazy.

- Sleeping places in the home are determined according to status. Cambodian families often live in one or two rooms, and everyone sleeps on the same bed, a large slatted wooden platform of about eight- or ten-feet square. The parents sleep at the "head" end and the youngest children sleep at the "foot" end.


How to Walk

- Tell people where you are going and when you are coming back. This is important to show respect to others and to keep them from being embarrassed if someone asks and they don't know where you are.

- If someone of higher status is passing you, bend lower (from the waist) than that person. ◊Don't make sounds with your skirt when you walk.

- Don't wear shoes or hats when you enter a house or temple.

- Close doors softly when you go through them.

- When you meet someone on the street, ask where they are going.


How to Stand

- Stand with your arms crossed at the waist. (Arms at the side means you are signaling that you are strong. Hands on the hips or arms behind your back or across the chest means you are rich, powerful, threatening, or disrespectful of other people.)


How to Sit

- Sit with your legs straight down. Crossing your legs can be a sign of disrespect. Never put your feet on a table or show the soles of your feet to others as this is very rude.

- Men can sit on the floor in the lotus position while eating.

Women must sit on the floor with their legs to the side.


How to Speak

- You must speak softly and gently.

- Children have no right to speak unless spoken to.

- A guest is polite and doesn't talk unless spoken to.

- Let others talk more than you.

- There should be limited talking at meals.

- If you speak with anger or emotion or express feelings, you will not be respected. You are behaving like an immature and uneducated child.

- Patience is a virtue. (Parents make a comparison between a gasoline fire which ignites quickly and burns to nothing, and a charcoal fire which is difficult to start but cannot easily be extinguished and becomes more intense.)

- Do not make aggressive movements or gestures–such as making a fist, pounding the table, or throwing something–while speaking.

- Giving criticism or discussing an individual's problems must not be done in public. That person will lose face, want revenge, and will be unable to accept your idea.

How to Eat

- Men can eat a lot but must not eat fast.

- Women can eat only a small amount.

- Take food only when asked or directed to.

- Use the communal spoon. Not using it indicates you are insincere or not part of the group.

- People of high rank do not expect to have to get their own food (especially at a buffet). They are often seated in a private or special place and served by others to show status and respect.

- All guests must be served water or another drink even if they come for only a short visit. Give a drink rather than ask what they want which is impolite. If asked, they are obligated to choose the least expensive drink.

- If guests come during a meal, they must be invited to eat.

How to Dress

- The goal in dressing is to blend in with others, not to stand out.

- Formality is very important for respect in the office and at important occasions.

- Women should avoid skirts above the knees and sleeveless or low-cut blouses.

- Shorts are not appropriate in public or when a guest.

- Men's hair should be short.

How to Work

- Maintaining proper relationships in the office takes priority over the work.

- Proper behavior is more important than work performance.

- You will get honor if you show respect and politeness to those of higher status or power.

- Your performance will be evaluated based on allegiance to those in power.

- You will be rewarded with money or power or job security if you give respect and allegiance to your superiors.

- It is better to agree than to disagree, especially if the other person has a higher status. It is the responsibility of those in power to make decisions.