Connect Cambodia

A time of transition....

2009-08-07T06:32:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well sadly..(....but not too sadly), this will be our last blog post as we've made the move to communications via facebook now!!

For those that are unaware - we registered a private limited company known as Future Now Enterprises Cambodia with the Cambodian Government back in April 2009.

Future Now Enterprises will be the entity to which we will do all things related to business and new business development - being an expression of our call to business as mission in Cambodia. This business entity will still have a strong link to the mission of Christian City Church Whitehorse (CCCW) in Cambodia and will compliment the work we do regarding helping the local church become sustainable (ie. through church leadership seminars & ministry training). In terms of these such activities - they will continue to be done within Cambodia under the name of Connect Cambodia.

The vision of Future Now Enterprises will be to develop profitable business led initiatives through a range of equity partnership models in Cambodia – partnering with local Christian entrepreneurs. In this we're seeking to equip and empower individual's dreams here in Cambodia in particular where there is a heart and passion to serve the local community and church through business.

Please add the following link to the new Future Now Enterprises Cambodia facebook homepage: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=110951459759

Given we only have limited resources and time - we've decided to limit our updates to this new facebook homepage from now onwards. It will contain regular posts, including recent pics & video. In addition, there is greater opportunity for you to give us feedback on what information you'd like to know and for us to chat more freely and openly given facebooks social networking capabilities. We'd definitely be more than happy to chat about any of the work here - so make sure you look out for us next time your online in facebook!

We're really excited about what the future holds for us here....we're continuing to see some incredible opportunities opening up to us -- so we're definitely believing for some great days ahead!

Look forward to hearing from you.
Lots of love.

Mark & Jo

An update on our last 3 months: Dec 08 to Feb 09

2009-03-11T02:38:00.000-07:00

Hi there ! Well - it's been a long time since our last blog entry - so hold on to your hats - you'll be getting almost 3 months worth of update in one entry! (..we know what you're saying..."how can they do this to us!!"..well don't worry, we felt the pain in putting it all down - so just remember that - alright!!)

Seriously - we hope you enjoy the pics and updates below.

Lots of love - Mark & Jo

December 08
We had a very busy but productive December. We finished up the Church Sustainability Forum training with an end of year event - taking all 30+ forum attendees on a river cruise on the Tonle Sap/Bassac river systems on the PP riverside. We shared a brilliant meal catered from Hagar restaurant and had some laughs just hanging out, mingling and enjoying the perfect moonlit night (one to remember for sure!).

We had a pretty low key Christmas - getting out of Phnom Penh for a break over the main public holidays - spending a few days in Kampot. It was nice in Kampot, very quiet but definitely lacking in things to do! So, we just spent time catching up on sleep and reading..like we said...pretty low key Christmas!!

Other Activities in December:

For our team end of year break-up we had big lunch together then went to the only bowling alley in PP - it is small - but at least it actually looked similar to anywhere else in the world.. we had lots of fun and it was Virak and Rathana's first time of playing ten-pin bowling...they loved it! (mind you: the worn and broken shoes they gave us to wear did kinda take abit to get used to for all of us...they were that bad we were all almost thinking of bowling barefoot!!)

Catching up with the girls at Jars of clay before Christmas. We started providing management and spiritual support to Pov the cafe manager and the teamJars of Clay in December. We're also exploring ways we can help with moving the business forward to become a great model of sustainable local business run by christians (it is currently one of only a few christian businesses we've come across that is consistently profitable, sustainable and actively gives to it's local community providing financial assistance to poor widows and orphans)

Jars of Clay Cafe: Pic of Pov, the cafe manager with Somphors the assistant manager - enjoying another day in the life of the cafe!

New Life Fellowship (NLF) Dorms - Update
Throughout 2008, CCCW and its numerous financial partners continued with financial support of two dorms run by NLF in Phnom Penh. In addition to providing life skills training to dorm members in 2008 we have also provided assistance with rice to feed the guys (no surprises that this is a critical need!!), and financial support to pay utilities, rent and ongoing maintenance / household furnishings in the dorms.

A pic of Virak at the BKK3 dorm - providing a number of household furnishing items, etc to the guys.

A pic of Virak at the BSL dorm - providing household items that will make life more comfortable in the dorms.

January 09
After a short rest over Christmas we started well and truly back into things! We had a team from our church in Melbourne come for a whirlwind tour of Cambodia - meeting a number of key contacts of those we've connected with and built relationship with and exploring God opportunities in the provinces.

The team consisted of Peter and Lyn McHugh (senior Pastors), Maurice Benington (Missions Pastor), Hugh & Jane Marquis (business owners), Steve & Jane Kiel (business owners), Malcolm Le Lievre (business owner), Nel & Jacques Dekker (business owners/intercessors), and obviously our team of four (Mark, Jo, Virak and Rathana) making it a 14 person tour de force!

CCCW Team visit and tour of provincial centres:
We hired out two 12 seater vans - which ended up being comfortably full with both people and luggage and starting from PP we visited an incredible six provinces in six days !! It was full-on for all, but we encountered some incredible experiences and people on the journey (we'll provide further update on this in the months to come!).

Our trip involved connecting with the following people / ministries:

In Kratie - visiting Steve Hyde's ministry (Word of Life Ministries Cambodia) including schools, Children's Centre, village church planting and community development work.

In Siem Reap - visiting Ps. Tun Chhay's work through Cambodia Global Action (part of AOG Cambodia) including micro-enterprise and community development projects, and village church planting.

In Battambang - visiting Ps. Dear Sourm's work through ARMS International (Rapha House) and the local KCS Church including prevention and recovery/counselling programs for young girls/women rescued from trafficking/sex-trades; micro-enteprise training programs, village church planting and development work.

In Banthey Meanchey / Poipet: Involved meeting groups of pastors and key contacts such as the Governor of BM and Poipet and his representative - all with a common interest in assisting infrastructure and business enterprise development in these two provinces.

Below are some pics and comments from the trip.

Map showing the extent of the tour we embarked on in January: Phnom Penh to Kratie, Kratie to Siem Reap, Siem Reap to Battambang, Battambang to Poipet/Banthey Meanchey, Poipet to Phnom Penh - all in six days!!

Our first lunchtime stop on the road to Kratie - all was running smoothly until Steve Hyde decided to bring a live Tarantula to the table!

Steve drawing a crowd with the locally grown tarantula (yes...the ones they deep fry and eat here!)

Steve Hyde with the live tarantula - he told us it's fangs had been taken out - but after playing around with it and passing it around - Jo then asked him again about the fangs only to find on looking that the fangs hadn't actually been removed!!

Malcolm Le Lievre - the only member of our team brave enough to handle the supposedly "de-fanged" beast...pictured here partaking in a fried version of the spider...much less confronting really!

Malcolm experiencing the tastes of fried spider - cambodian style...

A pic of Steve Hyde's Children Centre in Kratie - we heard some amazing stories of God's goodness and provision in the midst of some heart-wrenching experiences. The Centre is such a great way of developing the young people in the area - providing housing and educating them in a pleasant, self-sustained environment.

A pic of the children's playground at Steve's Children's Centre in Kratie.

The team talking with Steve in the young guys dormitory building.

A time of hanging out and having fun with all the children at the Kratie Centre. They were such a lively and free flowing bunch of kids - it was clear to all that they enjoyed living here and had a huge amount of respect for all the staff and Steve.

Our team during a short time of sharing, ministry and worship. All the kids really entered in to the worship and prayer - so cool to see such passion and openness - we were all really touched.

Our team being prayed for by the kids at the Centre ..lost for words on this one..

Hugh Marquis on the big beast (well...actually the glorified posty bike!)...up into some rugged territory in Kratie province on the way to visit the khmer pastor of a remote church plant.

The guys travelling in some pretty rugged country...some looking more comfortable than others on the bikes!

At the scene of the only "mishap" ...this one from the most experienced rider in the group -- Steve Hyde!!

Steve showing proof of doing it tough for the kingdom - a scarred leg from the topple off the bike...nothing too serious but a nuisance all the same!

A pic of all us guys at the local khmer pastors house - in a remote village in Kratie province.

The local khmer pastor that we visited - his home (doubles as the church) in the background.

A pic from our time in Poipet after meeting and having dinner with the Governor. This place was full of contrasts - Luxury hotels and casino's line the border between Cambodia and Thailand catering for mostly Thai gamblers...and then you have the reality for most...devastating poverty and hardship. This pic shows one of the many luggage carriers that work at the border - carting goods over the border for others, making the tiniest amounts of money in the process (apparently all trucks have to be unloaded with the goods they carry being carted over item by item to be loaded onto trucks on the other side of the border...go figure!)

A group pic with Steve Hyde and the Governor's representative, Sopheap who is a christian business owner seeking to develop the province and provide employment to church members. We met and discussed opportunities for business enterprise and infrastructure development within both Banthey Meanchey and Poipet cities.

Some pics and comments from the CCCW team:
(From Hugh Marquis)
"Well wasn’t the last trip great. From the moment we arrived there was a sense of destiny over the trip. Waiting at the airport as four planes arrived from different countries, then all joining together to go and get Pete and Lyn. The trip to Krachie was great, cant believe that Malcolm was the first to eat spiders. There has got to be a picture of that some where. The first school that we visited just had a sense of expectation that great things were going to happen. ( well except for the electrical cabling) Going out to the children’s centre was very exiting, it looked a lot like a God space picture that was drawn. Not one of us had a dry eye as Steve Hyde talked about the doctor. Jumping on the motor bikes, well what can I say the spirit of competition came over us as well as that of need for speed, however some of the tracks that we were on prohibited the use of speed in any form, and then to realise that people live at the end of these so called roads. Travelling from major center to major center by air-conditioned bus was a bit of a luxury, and I still want to know who won paper scissors rock. The meeting with the Govenor, the ability to totally change our plans, the countryside, the hope, God is in this with us. Overall awesome. Thank you for facilitating it."

(Nel Dekker)
"Kratie (Cambodia) A huge man with an equally huge heart. A young couple who give their all out of love for HIM. Smiling, young faces, full of hope, they are the future of this nation. A brightly coloured playground. Songs of joy to the One, who deserves all praise. A son's love for his mother. A widow's hospitality. Thank you!"

Some comments from our Cambodian staff (Virak):

"When I firstly heard Mark and Jo talking about it I really surprised and I wondered how we can travel within a week to many provinces.

This is the first time for me and that’s really good opportunity to do this ‘Road Trip’. I had more challenges in Christian life when I went to visit Steve’s Church in the rural area. It convinced my faith in Christ also. They have a hard livelihood, but they still love God and still survived for some reasons, what about me? I’m really proud about what Steve is doing.

That’s good for me to discover the difference places surround Cambodia. I can travel to many provinces for a week time. That’s really tired and exhausted, but I’m still happy about it. That’s good to see how hard the rural life and have a better thinking about our daily life in the city. I have to thank God for what I have and going to have, and also more satisfied about this.

Thanks God!

Thanks Mark and Jo!!

Thanks to all C3W team!!!"

January 09 Church Sustainability Forum Training

Starting back with the Forum trainin program - we enjoyed a fun morning of building relationships and trust. We played a number of relationship building games and had some great laughs in the process! Approx. 25 people were involved - including both business owners and pastors.

Part of the fun activities in getting to know one another.

A knock-out blow for this team in the game that showed that not all men (or teams for that matter) are created equal!! This team lost the game 8 points to 1 - having to do a "penalty" activity for losses - that fortunately for the other team mostly involved making fools of themselves!! Lots of laughs all round.

February 09
In February we had a combination of travel, training and planning for the start of 2009 activities. Our first week involved travelling to Chaing Mai to attend a 3 day seminar on Business as Mission - which was fantastic and a great networking opportunity within SE Asia region. We also provided a week of training for Mercy Teams International (part of their staff retreat) which was based in Koh Kong which is near the Thai border and has some great beaches! Apart from these two activities - we started the tuk-tuk/van hire business (equity partnership) which will aim to direct some profits back to support the NLF dorms project (a separate blog entry on this will follow shortly) and preparing for business training programs we'll provide in 2009.

BAM Seminar in Chaing Mai, Thailand:

Virak at Bangkok Airport ready to board the plane to Chaing Mai for the BAM seminar. This was Virak's first international journey - so he was understandably excited! We really had a great time all together and were glad we could bring Virak along to join the BAM conference. It was very much a worthy investment of our time as a team.

Meeting Rudy Rudesh from AOG World Missions - Chaing Mai, Thailand. Rudy is overseeing a motel / guesthouse and conference centre facility which they use as both a for-profit business and a training environment to teach local Thai young people in customer service, hospitality, cleaning, adminstration and grounds management. A great example of practical training that works!

Training staff of Mercy Teams International in Koh Kong (yearly staff retreat)

Group discussion from the DISC workshop - Provincial team.

Group discussion relating to the DISC workshop outcomes - this is the MTI counselling team.

Small group discussion - Phnom Penh Admin team discussing the DISC workshop outcomes

A game we played to introduce the communication training - aim is to untangle as a team..not as easy as it first looks!

Part of the group team building game...as can be seen - the MTI team really enjoyed playing!

This is a view of Koh Kong township - from the roof of our guesthouse. It rained heavily this day as can be seen. This is really unusual given it is normally still cool/dry season..but alas it was actually ushering in an early hot season.

Pic of Mark with the seal stealing the show beside him. We only caught the last 2 minutes of the show (if that!) ...so at least a pic of the seal was on the cards.

This is a pic with the resident orangutan at the Koh Kong Safari world...rather looks like a distant cousin to Mark with his new facial hair addition!

The last night of the retreat involved a talent show where everyone had to contribute a sketch or drama / comedy act. It was hilarious to say the least...the team at MTI definitely have some real characters with great acting ability!

Nov - Dec 08 update

2008-12-07T06:32:00.000-08:00

Update for Nov - Dec '08

Well, what a year we've had! It has been a great year in many ways....some thoughts on what we've achieved / have experienced throughout 2008 are:

- Forum Program: Continuing to see slow but steady fruit in the Church Sustainability Forum program - with numbers increasing this year to approx. 20 people attending regularly.
- Life Skills training: Completed a six training sessions for New Life Fellowship Dorm / Church members
- Training of staff in International NGO's: We continued to build a strong base of training for NGO staff - including Samaritan's Purse, International Cooperation Cambodia and Mercy Ministries (Jan '09).
- Vocational Skills Training (VST) development: We narrowed down the field of what we believe is the best starting point for VST in Cambodia, this led to IT services being selected. We are now progressing detail assessment of developing IT services vocational training programs.
- Visiting key province centres and building relationship with pastors in Kratie, Battambang and Siem Reap
- Development a business case for a tuktuk/van hire business that will help support the NLF Dorms project. Currently awaiting interest from potential khmer candidates for the Business Owner / Manager role.

Some pics from the last 2 months:

December Life Skills Training at NLF: Attendees with certificates are those who completed the training in full

Game to start of the December Life Skills Training at NLF

Forum - End of Year Function

We had a very nice meal catered by Hagar restaurant and a cruise along the Mekong-Bassac rivers, Phnom Penh. A beautiful moonlit night made the function extra special for most who attended!

Jo with Rathana and some of the girls in the Forum program - not so serious pic really!!

Jo with all the girls - Vathey, Samphor & Pov from Jars of Clay, and Marion Fromm (RTC Cambodia).

Ps. Toun Kakada and Buntheoun from RTC Cambodia enjoying the boat cruise.

Mingling throughout the night on the boat cruise.

Mark with Kounthea (VisionFund), Ps. Chanthoeun's father and Ps. Mith (NLF pastors)

Frank Woods with Rathana and Ps. Kakada behind him, enjoying the cruise.

Pov from Jars of Clay and Ps. Chanthoeun.

Group pic on board the boat.

Ps. Kakada and Sophal enjoying the boat cruise.

Visits to Provincial Centres: Battambang and Siem Reap

Small above ground (was a very novel design for sure!!) fish farming project in Siem Reap province, part of Cambodia Global Action (CGA's) development work.

Not too much meat on this one! One of the catch from the small fish farming project in Siem Reap province.

Jo trying her hand at climbing the coconut tree at a local pastors house, Siem Reap province (the ladder does help somewhat!!). Our hosts served us fresh coconut juice - which was fabulous!

A sign in our Hotel in Siem Reap...the "cowboy" days of Cambodia are not that long ago judging by this sign!!

A farmer in Siem Reap province - growing long green beans (we think they call them "snake beans") to sell at the local markets.

This farmer had undergone micro-agriculture training with CGA in Siem Reap. Here he is growing cauliflower to sell in the Hotels in Siem Reap. After having only started 3 months ago - it definitely looks a very promising way of raising incomes in the villages.

The farmer in Siem Reap province we met through CGA contact Ps. Chhay. The farmer is growing herbs, cauliflower and beans currently after training from CGA people. He also has a small rice field on his land too.

Group pic of the local pastor (on Mark's right side) and his family and some church members. The village chief is on the far left of the frame. Apparently he is not a believer but is supportive of the pastor and the church in his community. Ps. Soklay our key contact in Battambang is on Mark's left side.

Group pic at the same pastors church / house in Battambang province (this time with Jo in the frame!)

While visiting this local pastors house in Battambang province, he showed us his rice yield after this year's harvest. Apparently he harvested 23 bags this year, several below last year's crop (it was a late wet season this year so many farmers did not get a bumper crop) leaving the family about 4 bags short of what they typically need for subsistence until next year's harvest.

Typical day in the life of a rice farmer in the provinces, this about 3o mins out of Battambang township.

A local church in Battambang province. The female pastor had quite a testimony...with most of the women in this church sharing a common thread of being divorcees - it seems a lot are due to their husbands alcohol addiction, domestic violence or infidelity.

Mark with Ps. Soklay (on his left) and the local Battambang pastor on his right, together with her family.

The local pastor outside a small building used as a students dormitory (about 5 young guys from the countryside live there and study in Battambang). She is trying chicken farming as a small way to generate income for herself and for some of her pastors in the provinces.

Mark & Jo with Ps. Timothy's wife and two boys at Battambang province. Ps. Timothy lives in a small community just out of Battambang that was established by United Nations following the war as a housing project for war refugees. Ps. Timothy has recently left a mainline denomination to go independent and holds church at the ground floor of his house.

Mark with Ps. Timothy, his wife and their two boys.

Jo with a Cambodian counsellor who oversees a number of counselling and rescue programs at ARMS International rescue centre (they work in prevention and rehabilitation of trafficked young girls and women), Battambang province.

Mark with Ps. Soklay and the pastors at KCS Church, Battamang province. This church is active in serving the community with HIV/AIDS orphanage, vocational skills training (hair-dressing, sewing, IT) and a soccer outreach program from at risk youth in Battambang. All great stuff!

One of the very successful programs run out of ARMS International centre - this one is a mushroom growing agri-business (micro-enterprise) - a fantastic little model for helping very poor families eek out a living. ARMS make up the kits for growing the mushrooms and gift them to poor families.

The postcard picture: pond lily cambodian style (Taken at ARMS International centre, Battambang)

Part of the ARMS International counselling centre. This building is actually a boat floating on the dam at the ARMS International centre!

The main building of the ARMS International centre, Battambang.

Forum Photos

December Forum group photo - we had quite a few new people attend this day and some usual attendees unable to join us. Approx. 20 people attend the Forum regularly - which is great!

Discussions during the December Forum - talking about ethics and integrity in business.

Group discussion during the Dec Forum.

Training for Samaritan's Purse staff

The winners of a team building activity requiring creativity and good design of a fail-proof egg container! Lots of fun!!

The egg-drop activity. A final test of which team has the best design. All but one failed the drop test..with a bit of sticky mess left to clean up afterwards!!

Group game / relay activity to break up the after-lunch tired spell!

Part of training in communication styles - this one involved one-one dialogue practising active listening skills. All fun!

Ice-breaker activity at the start of the day to loosen everyone up before the day's training.

Training at New Life Fellowship Church, Phnom Penh Thmey (Ps. Sophea Sem)

Mark teaching on understanding mindsets and attitudes.

Group workshop on discussin typical cambodian mindsets. Very interesting results as usual!

Jo teaching on mindsets and attitudes.

Sept - Oct 08 Update

2008-11-15T22:18:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone from a surprisingly cooler Phnom Penh (...yes, cooler relative to mostly hot and humid!) ..we have just started heading into the cool/dry season although you wouldn't know the dry had come yet...we've still been getting some heavy rains with a fair part of the city and countryside with flooding to varying degrees.

We do hope you're all well and enjoying life! It has been a while since we last blogged - so hopefully this will fill you in on our last few months. As we're heading towards the end of another year - it is amazing how time flies by so quickly...So, here's some of the highlights of Sept - Oct.

- We provided training for Samaritan's Purse staff and for members of New Life Fellowship Phnom Penh Thmey, Ps. Sophea's church which was lots of fun and interesting as usual! We taught on understanding personality types using the DISC model for both - and had great response from all the people attending the training.
- We had Peter McHugh and Hugh Marquis in town early September which was really nice. It is so good to connect with Pete when he's in town and to catch up on life at church in Melbourne and what God has been doing in general in Australie and in our world here in Cambodia. Pete was the guest speaker at a three separate leadership seminar days we held that week including one where he shed light on understanding the role of Boards and Governance in the Church. All great stuff and well received by those attending. Hugh helped with further development of plans for an IT services vocational training centre (we're hoping to see this developed further in 2009)
- We continued with the monthly programs of: Sustainability Forum (started a series looking at limitations to financial flow), and Life skills training for NLF dorm members covering Communication with others, Intimacy with God & Communication with God topics.
- We had a week away in Kep over the Water Festival week which was fantastic and nice rest for us both.
- Progressed the development of an equity partnership business model template in particular starting to plan for a tuktuk/van hire business to help sustain New Life Fellowship dorms (anticipate start up in Jan '09)

Well - that's enough text for any sane individual ! - so, we've included some pics below for you to enjoy.
Be blessed - we look forward to updating you again in the early new year 2009! As usual - we'd love to hear from you - so please drop us a line sometime!

Lots of love - Mark & Jo

Peter teaching in the seminar on understanding Boards and Governance in the Church.

Pete with Sophy Mong our resident interpreter for the week!

Hugh, Rathana, Pete and Virak - blokes in a manly embrace!

Mark teaching in the Sept Sustainability Forum

Group discussion during Oct Sustainability Forum

Small group discussion during Oct Sustainability Forum

Same as above

Same as above

Flooding of the road to Ps. Sophea's church in PP Thmey area - we had to reschedule the training there several weeks running simply because access to the church was limited from the flooding (it was deep enough in parts for some of the locals to put in small fishing nets apparently!!)

Introduction game to week 1 of personality types training at New Life Fellowship Phnom Penh Thmey church (Ps. Sophea): Jo explaining the rules of the "fruit salad" game - lots of fun all round!

Same as above - the khmer people no matter what age just love interaction and active games - they can't get enough of it!

As above

The "free for all" part of the game where every one has to scramble to find another seat to sit in - it was hilarious!!

Jo introducing the opening game for week 2 of training in understanding personality types at Ps. Sophea's church. This one involved each person in the group linking their hands together randomly and then having to "untangle" the quickest.

Still in a tangle...it was quite interesting to watch..one group got it while the other totally bombed out and had to start all over again!

This group in a pickle half way through their attempt to "untangle" - check out the young guy in the middle of the group - he's squatting on the floor - very funny indeed!

Mark speaking on personality types at Ps. Sophea's church (PP Thmey district)

Group activity using the DISC model of understanding personality types

Group discussion on each personality represented

Same as above

Part of the DISC card activity - where each person had to explain their three cards (each with a distinct DISC adjective listed) that best described them

Mark teaching in the Sept Life Skills training at NLF Phnom Penh

Sept Life skills training - an activity in trust building - very funny to watch. But they did actually get the point of the activity in the end!

Sept Life sklls training - Part of the guys activity in trust building

Mark with the aid of visual prop No. 1 - a piece of KFC, no that got everyone's attention! Part of teaching on meditating on God's word -- of all things to use KFC for!!

Jo leading the Oct Life skills training - this was an exercise on encouragement where each person was aksed to write a positive message, scripture verse or compliment about every other person in the group. It was lots of fun and you could see the delight when each person got their piece of paper returned to them with all the personal words of encouragement directed at them. We never knew Cambodians blushed until that day - it was really pleasing to see the outcome! Interestingly, most had never done anything like this before.

Pic from a day trip to some waterfalls near Kampot

Beautiful sunset riverside view in Kampot

View from the crab market in Kep ...ahh the serenity..So nice indeed!

June - Aug 08 Update

2008-08-25T02:52:00.000-07:00

Well, we’ve had a very busy but rewarding couple months since our last blog entry. We had guests Jason and Fiona (City Life, Melbourne), Jeanette Korporaal (Benkorp, Sydney), Maurice Benington (CCCW, Melbourne) and then Andee Sellman (CCCW, Melbourne) stay with us over this time. In addition, we had visits from Paul Christiansz (business consultant from Melbourne), a team from CCC Rockingham in Perth led by Mark Barham, and most recently a short visit from Lisa Craig and Jane Marquis (CCCW, Melbourne) – who we managed to miss unfortunately as we were in Ratanakiri at the time!.

In the midst of all this – we employed our 2nd Cambodian staff member (Rathana Sek) around the start of June, and have managed to keep ourselves occupied with running the Forum program, the life skills training for the New Life Fellowship church members, holding a seminar relating to Boards and governance in Churches, and running a week of training staff at International Cooperation Cambodia’s (ICC) Ratanakiri site office. Thankfully, after all this - we then escaped the National Election madness to get a long weekend away in wonderful Kep! (ahh…the serenity..).

Over June and July we also continued working on planning for activities scheduled for 2009 and continued with on-going coaching/mentoring of various pastors and kingdom business owners involved in the forum program.

Well…that’s our last couple months in a nutshell…phew…makes us exhausted just thinking about it!!

Some comments re: our journey of late:

- The month before the National Election was quite an experience to say the least - we experienced daily barrages from each of the main political parties – with trucks filled with party supporters running through every street of Phnom Penh stopping traffic and drumming up support through a mix of vocal haranguing and karaoke style music – at full volume. Yes…needless to say…our ear drums are still in tact and we are glad it’s all finally over !!

- Watching the Olympics this side of the world is incredibly boring – with only those sports that China is good at screening on all the cable TV channels. We saw the Chinese table tennis final repeated who knows how many times…too many that’s for sure!! We also started to get over the whole thing pretty quickly due to the Khmer and Chinese interpreters talking over the English speaking commentators (at higher, distorted volume we might add!!)…anyways…you get the picture. FUN, FUN…

- Our Khmer language learning is continuing to hobble along on one leg at the moment….our aim of doing 1 hour a day has completely gone AWOL and we’re probably scratching to get an hour a week these days…Ahhh….if only God could give us the gift of the Khmer tongue…keep praying for us in this area….we need it!!

- Mark’s enjoying watching the occasional AFL match on Australia Network with his beloved Cats doing incredibly well heading into another Grand Final showing (here’s hoping at least!)

- Jo’s enjoying getting the occasional massage from the Blind Massage organisation here in Phnom Penh (..hmm…it must be just about time to go back again she says as I type this!!).

Well, that’s about it from us for a few weeks!

We have provided a collective of entries below with many pics – so, please ENJOY!! Lots of love, Mark & Jo

July Forum and Life Skills Training July

2008-08-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from the July Forum - with Andee Sellman assisting the presentation and workshops (continuing from June's forum on deBono six hats thinking process).

Also in July, we held further life skills training for the NLF dorms guys and girls relating to effective communication. This training was lots of fun and interactive - where most seemed to really get alot out of the teaching. Enjoy the pics!

Ratanakiri Training 21-23 July

2008-08-24T18:49:00.000-07:00

From the 21-23 July we provided training for staff at International Cooperation Cambodia's (ICC's) Ratanakiri site office based in Banlung. The training comprised three full days of staff development - presenting training in understanding mindsets and behaviour, introduction to personality types (using the DISC model) and teamwork/communication. We trained approx. 35 staff - of whom half were christians and with a mix of khmer and ethnic/minority group peoples. It was challenging presenting to such a wide audience - but very rewarding for us all to see the teaching being understood by most and all people participating and enjoying themselves (in particular when it came to the games - no surprises there!!)

We all had lots of fun and had some great feedback from the staff in Ratanakiri. The staff were incredibly friendly and easy-going. The scenery in Ratanakiri was fantastic - we all loved it immensely. Here are some pics taken during the three days of the training. Enjoy!

Ratanakiri sightseeing

2008-08-24T04:15:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pics of our time sight seeing in Ratanakiri. We were based at Banlung (capital of Ratanakiri province) for the training at ICC - so the photos include those of Banlung township and some of the local tourist sites - Kachanh and Katieng waterfalls, and beautiful Yeak Loam lake (natural crater lake).

Here are some thoughts from Rathana (pictured below) from his time in Ratankiri:

"As a person who loves to the landscape and the nature, I had travelled some place in Cambodia. On 17 of July, I and my team work had travelled to Ratanakiri Province. It the first time for me to spend 10 hour in the car, I’m so tire but when we arrived Ratanakiri , seeing the beautiful forest and take the pure air make me fell so refresh ,wow , It the wonderful place, at that time I start to think about God and what he has greaten. I have very good experience there, I had tested the wild, see the beautiful great lake, waterfall, walk in the forest, see ethnic group, test a good coconut shake, sleep long time in the hotel, for the training, it very good for me, I had learn a new things from the training such as: I can improve my interpret skill, know more about my personality type, know effect communication and I have good relationship with people there. I really love Ratanakiri very much, if I have time I will go there again. Everything is in God love."

Here is some thoughts from Virak (pictured below) from his experiences and time in Ratanakiri:

"Well, what I expect for my trip is so difference. I thought that every thing there will be not so modern or quite old. I don't expect to see many tree and the green there also. The last thing is I thought that the road to reach there maybe really hard to go.

After travel about 10 hours, we can arrived there, every things are difference from my expectation. Every where full of Green, a lot of tree, and the road also not so hard. It's really great chance for me to go there. I really enjoy my time there, even if we have changed the atmosphere of daily life in Phnom Penh. It's a bit quiet there. No more Ethnic Group with black skin and their traditional clothes, because I saw some women from Ethnic are more whiter than me. Well, I have learn many new things there. We enjoy our work group together as a team. We all know each other more and more than before. I don't know that the people there they had a little bit high education, they know English well. Some they are better than me also.

Hmm, I really appreciate that chance to go to visit Ratanakiri. In the Future if I have another chance to go there, It's really great."

Ratanakiri Elephant Ride

2008-08-24T03:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of our "non-work" / sight-seeing time while in Ratanakiri for training of ICC staff. In particular, these show our elephant ride (wahoo!!) - much thanks to our good friends Jez and Jacqui (expat managers at ICC who have recently moved from Ratanakiri to Phnom Penh) who arranged this for us as a surprise!. The last photo is a crack up - a classic "funny photo" candidate (look closely at the sign)...you'll see when you get to it..Enjoy:

June Forum and Seminar on Church Boards & Governance

2008-08-24T03:19:00.000-07:00

In June we had a visit from Maurice Benington our Missions Pastor from CCCW. Maurice assisted with presentations at the Church Sustainability Forum and also with a seminar discussing the role and nature of Church Boards and Governance. We had approx. 30 people attend this seminar and very positive feedback from all following the session. Some pics are included below:

People in attendance at the Seminar on Church Boards and Governance

Part of Maurices presentation - Seminar on Church Boards and Governance

Part of CCCW's gift to the BKK3 mens dorm - a new stove top for all to use. Fantastic!!

Below are a number of pics taken during the June Church Sustainability Forum - with presentation by Maurice Benington on creative thinking using DeBono's six hats process.

May - June 08: Guests Jason and Fiona Rezannah and Life Skills Training June

2008-08-24T03:04:00.000-07:00

Between May and June we had some first time guests from Melbourne (of all places!) stay with us for approx. 6 weeks - a young couple Jason and Fiona Rezannah (part of CityLife Church, Wantirna). It was great having another aussie couple stay with us and especially since they had a good sense of humour! We shared many laughs and funny stories and were able to show them around some of Phnom Penh city in their time staying with us.

Jason and Fiona volunteered with New Life Fellowship over their 6 weeks in PP - assisting with a number of NLF ministries. These are some of their comments from their visit to Phnom Penh:

"This is a must see for all people visiting the amazing city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We were blessed to go and be in Phnom Penh for 6 weeks from April-June 2008 whilst we were involved in outreach work through the local church New Life Fellowship.

Mark and Jo have a great home in the heart of Phnom Penh. Jason and I really benefited from Mark and Jo's love, especially Jo's thoughtfulness and mothering nature and Mark's relaxed "Aussie" approach that we are sure serves him well to cope with the challenges faced there. Mark and Jo shared with us so many amazing stories that afterwards you think "only in Cambodia". The change in culture and adjusting to Cambodia was made so much easier being alongside such fun-loving characters. We are very thankful to Mark and Jo for so willingly opening their home to us and embracing us – they have such a gift of hospitality!

Cambodia was an amazing experience for Jason and I. The culture, the smells, the traffic and un-said road rules whilst at first may appear confronting quickly became a comfort and home to us.

We were blessed to work alongside the church and lead bible classes, work with the children's ministry which involves outreach to the street kids through a ministry called "Joy Club" held weekly. We also ventured into some slums – eye opening to say the least, and frequently visited orphanages where the children captivated our hearts!

This journey certainly has enlarged our hearts for compassion! Jason was blessed to preach in one of the provincial churches where 5 gave their lives.....The previous week we also had another decision for Jesus in our bible class so Jase and I are so excited that God has used us and that 11 more beautiful Khmer have been added to the Kingdom!! And we have been blessed in So many ways beyond counting and we look forward to our return to this wonderful nation....."

Some pics from Jason and Fiona's time in Phnom Penh:

"Open house" dinner at our house - with our neighbors and some folk from NLF that Jason and Fiona built good relationship with over their time in PP

Last day in PP before flying to England - Jo, Jason, Fiona & Mark (L to R)

As part of CCCW's support of the NLF Dorms we have continued training both girls and guys who stay in the dorms in various life skills. In June, we taught on the topic of understanding mindsets and how they influence behaviour - it was lots of fun (as usual - we have run this training at many locations now!). Below are some pics from the day:

UPDATE OF ACTIVITIES - JUNE 08

2008-06-24T05:51:00.000-07:00

Church Sustainability Forums

Monthly forums for Church Pastors and Business owners. Currently we are working with approx. 7 different Churches (incl. some province Churches) with numbers increasing each month.

In addition, we're assisting the following forum members in a specific sustainability project over the next 12 months:

Churches

New Life Fellowship, Phnom Penh (Ps. Samdy Leang and Snr Ps. Jesse McCaul): 1)Assisting with implementation of new financial management system (supporting the main effort led by Benkorp organisation); 2) Assisting in review and re-structure of Office Skills Training Centre (OSTC); 3) Advice and assistance with development of micro-enterprise opportunities to help support the needs of the NLF young men's and women's dormitories; 4) Advice re: setting up a Church advisory Board/Committee

New Life Fellowship, Kran Tnong (Ps. Ty Pros): Business advice re: income generation proposals including chicken farming project in the provinces

New Life Fellowship, Samroung Young (Ps. Chao Chantheoun): Monthly leadership training for the key church leaders at Samroung Young NLF church

Church Celebrating Jesus Christ (Ps. Inpa Eliezer): Business advice re: Inpa's church forming a business partnership involving the church members

Russey Keo Baptist Church (Ps. Toun Kakada): Providing monthly business foundations training for church members

New Generation Community Church (Ps. Joko): Planning for potential kingdom business to support Church.

Business Owners

OneSherpa Cambodia (Veasna Uk): Personal mentoring

Compass Design (Selah Sin): Personal mentoring and assistance with Compass Design business processes

Women's fashion market shop (Vathey): Business planning and advice re: expanding the business

Chicken Farming business (Kran Tnong Church): Advice and business planning for chicken farm business

Khmer translation service (Vatha Ouk and Hak Heng): Advice and business planning

RTC Cambodia (Marion Fromm): Advice and assistance in project planning for business expansion

Vocational Training

We are presently conducting market research and reviewing specific opportunities for development of vocational training programs in the following four key market segments:

Hospitality / Customer Service

IT services

Motor mechanic / servicing

Homewares /soft home furnishings

Our aim is to develop at least one vocational training program for commencement in 2009. This training will initially be offered to members of New Life Fellowship and other churches in the Forum program.

In addition, we are presently holding monthly Life Skills Training (held at NLF Church) for young men and women in the dormitories.

Business Training:

Currently, aside from informal business training & advice offered as part of the Church Sustainability Forum program - we are investing time in strategic planning relating to development of a more formal training program to be provided in the future. The context of training material we are seeking to develop will be suitable for micro-enterprise or small business owners in a cambodian context. At this stage, we are pursuing development of a foundations (introduction to business) level training course. We are in dialogue with several key organisations who we will potentially be partnering with in the development of this training program. Stay tuned for more details!

NLF Dorms:

We are currently partnering with New Life Fellowship (Phnom Penh) in financial support of 2 No. young men's and women's dormitories over the 2008/09 fin. year period. We are, in conjunction with assisting with operations of the dorms, exploring both vocational training opportunities as outlined above and also potential micro-enterprise opportunities. Our goal is to equip the young men and women in the dorms with skills and opportunities to see them develop a sustainable livelihood through employment or business, and in the longer term to see how these dormitories can become more self-supporting.

Other Activities:

Christian Business and Professional Leaders Lunch Events: We are part of a small group of dedicated people coordinating quarterly christian business and professional lunch & networking events in Phnom Penh. The last event was held in April 08 with Talmag Payne (CEO of Hagar Cambodia) as guest speaker.

Adhoc training for Christian NGO (Non-government organisations): To date, we have provided staff training in key areas of: Understanding mindsets, Understanding personality types, teamwork, communication and conflict resolution. To date, we have provided this training for staff at New Life Fellowship International Christian School, International Cooperation Cambodia (ICC) and New Life Fellowship Church.

April - May 08 update

2008-06-22T18:48:00.000-07:00

Photo on celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary - we went out to enjoy a very nice meal at Raffles Hotel. Funny story was coming home and finding our guests (a couple from Aust. staying with us for 8 weeks) had actually locked the front gate and the latch to the padlock ...so we couldn't get into the house!! After several failed attempts at trying to call them (their phone was turned off as we later found out!!) - we had to resort to climbing over the front gate (which is quite high..well, that's Mark's excuse anyway...) long story short is ...well..Mark's stamina and fitness is not like it used to be sooo....we ended up having to ask a neighbour (a youth who came to have a laugh at the big barang trying to straddle the gate!!) to climb up over and open the latch for us...a great way to finish a nite out for our wedding anniversary!!

Celebrating Mark's birthday - a surprise cake from Jo - planned nicely to fit in with the May forum!

The elephants are a rare sight in Cambodia nowadays...this particular one is a local of PP being employed to work at Wat Phnom in giving tourists rides around the Wat. This is a pic of the elephant's slow walk back to its home via the Riverside Boulevard...obviously doesn't mind stopping for the odd snack or two from local restaurant owners.

A classic example of PP infrastructure investment from the Government...not sure I'd like to live in the house adjacent this pole!!

The wedding of Ps. Phally finally came around ! ..a very happy couple indeed!!

A group shot at Ps. Phally's wedding..(the couple are wearing one of up to 8-10 different outfits that they display throughout the wedding day...!!)

Jo & Mark at Ps. Phally's wedding reception

Jo with a group of ladies from Hagar catering...spot the one not wearing a tonne of make-up!! The locals tend to like doing the wedding thing in style and with a lot of accessorising !!

Mark with some local friends Oudum and Frank Woods - who both work at Hagar Catering (At Ps. Phally's wedding)

A group photo of Frank and the team from Hagar catering...it was great to share the table with them at the wedding..plenty of laughs all round!

Example of Sustainability Project - Business training at Russey Keo Baptist

2008-06-22T04:20:00.000-07:00

As part of the monthly Church Sustainability Forum program that we've been running - we have offered to each pastor and business owner involved in the program the opportunity of assistance in a specific sustainability project over this year in 2008.

Ps. Toun Kakada who pastors the Russey Keo Baptist church and is a regular attender in the Forums asked us to run some training for his church members in business skills. So, we have begun teaching basic business principles (business foundations) to a small group of his church members. Approx. two of the members in this group have small businesses (a women's clothing shop owner and a CD seller), several are self-employed (motodop driver, food stall operators), and the rest are students wanting to learn some business skills.

We have held training at Ps. Kakada's church since March 08 - holding 1-2 hour training sessions each month (based at his Church in Russey Keo district in Phnom Penh).

Our aim in this sustainability project is to provide a basic understanding of business principles to the business owners present in this group and teaching for students willing to learn (who hopefully will start their own business in the future). It has been lots of fun and as always we're continuing to learn how best to target training to the audience in question. In this case, most of the group have little if any formal education - so we have to bring lots of practical examples and life experiences into the mix of training provided. All in all - has been heaps of fun - and we're starting to see some fruit come out of it - with one of the business owners - a young lady by the name of Vathey asking us to help further with her plans to expand her small women's fashion business (located in the old market - near the riverside).

The intent of this project is to help with Ps. Kakada's vision of building a self-sustaining church through: Equipping business people in his church to grow and develop their skills - so that through these businesses growing and being more profitable - people's livelihoods can be improved and more financial resource can be added into the local church through the members.

This is a pic of Mark with Pastor Kakada taken last year:

These are some pics taken during some of the training conducted to date: Enjoy!!

May Church Sustainability Forum

2008-06-22T03:42:00.000-07:00

In the May Forum we discussed some key criteria to assist business owners and pastors determine if the way they're building reflects a Kingdom or worldly (cultural) values system. In this we had some great discussion around what it actually means to be self-sustaining in the context of the local khmer Churches and in kingdom business. We also talked through the need for taking steps towards sustainability, in particular - how the model we're using will impact on our ability to reach the goal of sustainability, and the ways in which organisation "culture" is established in the process.

We had a great time of prayer at the end of the forum - as we encouraged each person to identify what "seed" they needed to start planting in their business or Church - encouraging them to take steps towards being more sustainable in sowing this seed right now. We asked the pastors and business people to draw their "seed" as a picture or write it down in words - and we encouraged each person to pray over this seed, to speak to it's destiny/prophesy over it and declare God's promises for the reaping of a great harvest and to ask for God's blessing. For some - this was the first time they had experienced prayer in this way - and for some it was even the first time of drawing something on paper!!

Overall - this was quite significant - as during that week, the khmer people celebrated what is known as the "royal ploughing day" ceremony which is a buddhist spiritual festival (public holiday) involving an invitation to the (demonic) spirit world to speak and determine which crop would have the blessing for the coming year's harvest.

We believe God is calling his Church in Cambodia to rise up and claim its rightful inheritance - God's goodness for the nation. In this we seek His blessing in building kingdom business and partnering with Him in building the Church - so, the act of praying over our seed (God's vision, prophetic word) was a great way to end the Forum! ..Here are some pics:

Cambodia Prophecy May 08

2008-06-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

Jo & I, together with 6 other expats living and working in various organisations in Cambodia attended a conference at Jakarta recently which was a really great time for us all. God healed many people throughout the week - with some amazing miracles. Below is a YouTube link to a prophecy we as a group received on the first day (session 1) ! of the conference from a pastor from Canada - Charlie Robinson...if we only came to conference for this alone - it would have been worth it !! Hope you are as inspired watching this as we all are every time we re-visit the prophecy. Enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dscALNCYNzI

Introducing our new cambodian staff members..

2008-06-05T07:19:00.000-07:00

Virak Yang (Vocational Training Coordinator)

My name is Virak Yang. I was on in July 1987 at Kampong Chhnag Province the middle of Cambodia. I live in the Nuclear Family. I'm single son in my family. I quite experienced about the lonely life, because I have no brother and sister.

I had finished high school in 2005, after that I moved to Phnom Penh to continue at the University. Now I'm studying at Cambodian University for Specialties(private school) in course Hotel and Tourism.

I have been a Christian almost two years. I first time came to study English at New Life Center through my friend. Firstly I started join the Youth Party on Saturday night at New Life Fellowship. After that I started to join the Sunday Meeting and Sunday School also.

Day by day, God had given me a promise about my future. I've been waiting for his and I nearly give up and run a way from him. But now his will be done for my life. I get employ at Connect Cambodia as Vocational Training Coordinator.

I believe that through my job, I'll help Cambodian youths and young adults to find the employment for themselves.

Rathana Sek (Business Development Coordinator)

My name is Rathana Sek, I was born in August, 10 1985 at Svey Rieng province, I had live in a small village that far from the capital 30km, I have 2 brothers and 3 sisters, I’m the third child in my family, I came from the farmer family, my parents are planting rice.

I start believe Jesus in September 09, 2006 when I was second year at university. My life start better than before, I have hope, peace, joy and a lot of things in my life. It the blessing of God for me because he had gives me many good friends, leaders and pastors ….As Christian life I had received many miracles from God (Healing , prosperity…. ).Now I had finished my Studying at university and I also got a great job that God gives me, I work at Connect Cambodia with Mark and Jo Dennert. I has one vision in my life, I want to see the kingdom of God is come to Cambodia in this generation, I have a vision to be a politician and I believe that through Christian politician and the power of God Cambodia will change.

Khmer New Year Holiday time in Kep

2008-04-19T07:09:00.000-07:00

Jo enjoying some local food, a delicacy....chickens feet (yum, yum NOT!!). Not really what we ordered, but anyway...that's the way it goes sometimes eating at such local restaurants as these (Pic taken at the restaurant's picnic marquee)

A beautiful sunset pic looking out to the ocean - Bokor Mountain silhouette is seen in the background (View from the Verandah restaurant)

A view down the main road in Kep (alongside the beach). Here you can see the individual marquee style picnic spots (you have to rent them - at anywhere between $3-6 depending on who you talk to!)

On our way to the local crab market at dusk - over Khmer New Year it is very busy with market sellers, locals and foreigners alike enjoying some fresh seafood

Jo enjoying the hammock at the Vanna Guest house bungalow - very nice view at a relaxing spot in Kep

Jo with view of the ocean from Vanna Guest house

Same, same but different! Mark with ocean behind (at Vanna Guest house)

Visiting Rabbit Island for the day...talk about doin' it tough!! the swimming beaches are great on the island - better than Kep beaches which have local drains/sewerage outfall nearby...Over Khmer NY - there were mainly locals visiting for a change ..busy, busy on the island this day!

Exploring some of the countryside on moto - lots of fun until we got a flat tyre! Fortunately a repair shop was close by at about 1.5 km walking distance...lots of fun in the heat of the day we might add!! We visited Kampot one day and Kampong Trach the next - fascinating countryside areas, with beautiful scenery.

On the road - a local motodop driver taking a load of supplies somewhere...this is typical of the load they tend to carry - talk about a balancing act!!

On the way into Kampong Trach tonwship - a local farmer taking a load of wood using horse and buggy...this is still very familiar mode of transport locally - just shows how different that countryside areas are compared to PP with all it's Lexus' and 4WD's getting around...

On a visit to the "secret beach" just out of Kep - it was a tad disappointing given the beach was pretty non-existent, merely a fishing inlet for locals. Though we arrived just as the local farmers were coming in for lunch - this is a pic of some of them coming in from harvesting (not sure what exactly!) but they all carried machete's and hoes....interesting!

A local fisherman bringing in the crab nets - behind the crab markets in Kep

Picture says it all...ahh the serenity! Kep Beach sunset at its finest...

Local fisherman wading out to collect some nets...beautiful sunset with rain on the way (it seemed the wet season had arrived - as it rained several nights in a row while we were in Kep)

A large gecko wonderfully disguised on this stone wall...

Our last day - waiting for the 1pm bus....it turned up at 1:50pm and as typical of the local bus system at every stop along the way they just keep piling in more and more people - it's really crazy! Felt rather like sardines after a while!! Arrived 4.5 hours later in Phnom Penh with busy roads catering for the return traffic from Khmer NY celebrations in the provinces.

Traffic sprawl in Phnom Penh...

2008-04-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

Peter McHugh's visit + March Forum pics

2008-04-07T07:43:00.000-07:00

A group pic - (L to R) Hugh Marquis, Mark, Jo, Pete McHugh and Virak (pronounced: "wira") our new staff member

During the March Forum - this month's topic was dealing with the nature and role of partnerships - here Patrick & Carol Kelly share from their experiences on partnering - excellent advice.

During the March Forum - Patrick and Carol Kelly as guest speakers.

A visit to Ps. Ty Bros' Church in Kraing Thnong village

2008-04-07T04:52:00.000-07:00

Some pics of the small chicken farming project used by Ps. Bros to raise funds and support the local church. Local youth are employed to work in the business - the profits are currently helping Ps. Bros' church become self-sustainable.

A local truck en-route to the Ps. Pros' province - typical mode of travel for locals is anywhere there's a room to sit - even if on top!!

Ps. Bros with a local young woman entrepreneur. An example of silk weaving business development - the church loans the weaving looms on a pay-back basis to such young entrepreneurs, the profits from these small enterprises are greater than working in the garment factories. Each woman can then work from home, enabling them to help with their family/parents, while earning a decent salary - enough to contribute well to the families income needs.

Ps. Bros' church building - with some recent renovations and fresh coat of paint - looks fantastic!

The Easter "taster trip" with Paul & Ruth Azzopardi

2008-04-07T02:34:00.000-07:00

A visit to New Life Fellowship International School - Ruth enjoying play time with one of the students!

A visit with Marion Fromm to see land where she hopes to build a new factory, staff housing and church for RTC Cambodia business.

A visit to a village relocation and children's education centre project set-up by Patrick and Carol Kelly - reaching out to a small village community with health and education programs

Paul and Ruth interacting with the local kids - high 5's al' round!

Some of the local girls at the village community (Mark in background)

Jo playing football (yes: soccer!) with the local kids - lots of fun!!

Paul giving a child at the village a higher view of the world - best superman impersonation around PP!

Patrick Kelly and Ps. Sara - who is the local pastor leading the ministry to the village people

A visit to a local orphanage in Phnom Penh - kids having fun during lunch time break

A visit to one of the New Life Fellowship (NLF) guys Dorms - Paul & Ruth shared a testimony and asked about the young guys' stories and what they want to do in life.

A visit to the NLF girls dorms - lots of fun and much different discussion to that in the guys dorms...something about how Paul & Ruth got together, who asked who...you get the picture! Girls are girls all the world over!

A group pic of the girls dorm visit

A time of sharing at Ps. Chao Chanthoeun's church in Samrong Yong province.

Some of Ps. Chantheoun's staff and family with Paul

Feb 08 post script

2008-02-29T02:26:00.000-08:00

Now, I can't believe it's been well over a month since we've been back! We knew we were back when we arrived home to no electricity and then the 2nd day, we had a flat tyre on our moto!Our first week or so was getting our place organised, both home and office and settling back in (the couple who house-sat our place had stayed in our place longer than we had lived in it before we left)! We also caught up with some of our friends here and had our first Church Sustainability Forum on the 26th Jan and started back running expat cell group. Coming back was definitely so much easier than when we first came over in Sept '06, particularly coming back to having a place already set up and having a clearer idea of what we're doing over here!!! Mark was more eager in coming back and thus took less time for him to settle in whereas I think I was enjoying Aus too much to prepare myself in coming back!

Feb saw Chinese New Year with lots of fire crackers going off and mounds of burning incense and fake money outside people's homes whilst Mark and I decided to join with our church back home in fasting. For us it it's been just fruit and vege - I've been well and truly challenged on how to cook a range of vegetarian dishes, particularly since not all the vege are the same or taste the same as back home! Ironically the time of when we started the fast was also when Mark and I both got a bad bout of gastro - unfortunately I got it slightly worse with it affecting me both ends! (I'll spare details!) Fortunately we were both better by Valentine's Day, although we have joked about how we may be allergic to having too many fruits and veges!! Interestingly, Valentine's Day here is amazing. Come Christmas and Easter, you wouldn't even know it existed here but Valentine's Day there's roses sold everywhere and it's the one time you will publically see males and females showing physical signs of affection!

There's construction going on constantly here - even in the time we were in Oz, it's been noticeable - a 'Gold Tower' comprising of a 42-storey building in the making (there's nothing really above 10-storeys here), several new restaurants and art/craft shops and even a KFC is being built (who would have thought they've beaten Maccas to it but then again we do already have 'Lucky Burger')!

Re. some current affairs in Cambodia:
- Mia Farrow (actress) was here on a quiet protest with some local NGOs as part of her travels to other countries where genocides have occured, to protest against what has been happening in Dafur. However, the police and army on behalf of the government blocked their way both at 'The Killing Fields' and at Toul Sleng museum. One of the newspapers here wrote along the lines of that 'the government didn't think Cambodia had anything to do with this'.
- Khmer Rouge Tribunal - there have been 5 people charged as to date. It is uncertain how many others will be put on trial as money to run the tribunal is running out!
- The elections are coming up in July this year - the prime minister, Hun Sen has been in power since after the civil war and Khmer Rouge period and has been quoted as saying that he wants to stay in power for another 30 or so years.

Anyways, I hope my essay here has made up in part for the time we haven't written! We would love to hear from you so, please drop us a line when you have time!
Take care till next time,
love Jo

Some recent pics of Phnom Penh city - a city in transition with the property boom fueling development:

One of the many new high end housing developments - this one on Sihanouk Blvd near the Independence Monument

...a bit of the old and a bit of the new....these old slum apartments are now few and far between around the city

New commercial development at the Naga casino site near the Riverside

The monument celebrating good Vietnamese relationship - a newly established park area

A new commercial shopping outlet on the rise on Sihanouk Blvd on the way to Goldiana Hotel

A sign of a rising middle class for sure - Hummers on sale !!

At the corner of Monivong and Sihanouk Blvd - this proposed 50 storey Korean development is slow to sell its luxury aparments

Near Toul Kauk (over the railway line near Boeung Kak Lake) yet another multi storey development sign posted

Some young people enjoying a game of volleyball amidst the sprawl of urban development

...a novel small business outlet - unlikely to secure long term tenancy I'd say !!

Nov 07 - Jan 08

2008-02-29T02:19:00.000-08:00

From 10th of Nov 07 to 14th Jan 08 - we came back home to Australia for an awesome time with family and friends. We arrived back to be spoilt in attending the Graeme Cooke conference at our church in Melbourne - it was truly a great time of impartation. For those who don't know, the last time Graeme was at our church he shared on 'walking off our maps' and at that time Mark and I had agreed upon coming to Cambodia although it was not yet officially known - so it was an amazingly incredible time to come back to here him again. Besides having to sort through all our stuff in storage, I could go on about our time in Aus - being with family and friends, going to the beach, breathing fresh air, walking in green grass, being in normal traffic, going camping, having Christmas with family and having lots of BBQs and roast lambs - it was all fantastic! Over this time - we were blessed to have a couple from New Zealand who were coming back from furlough with no place to go to come to house-sit for us - great timing really. In Australia, we were also blessed with our amazing church family loaning us the use of their cars and places to stay - so thanks again!!! In particular - a huge thanks goes to: Maurice B (for organising it all for us!), to Neil Campbell, Arthur Bithell, and Jonathon & Kate Rodwell for loaning us their cars, ...and to Wayne and Ann-Katrine Knapman's and the Sellman's for housing us adhoc ! We are so grateful to you all.

Pic of the Petronas Towers at night (stopover en-route to Melbourne)

On top of a peak at Halls Gap - part of Mark's family retreat in November

Jo holding the newest addition to the extended Dennert clan - our first great niece, very cute !!

...just having some fun on the ferris wheel at Luna Park, Sydney (Yah!)

..chillin' out at a local cafe at the Rocks, Sydney

Sept - Oct 07 post scripts

2008-02-29T02:01:00.000-08:00

Over the months of Sept and Oct our main focus was in preparing for the Intercessory Prayer and Worship team coming over from our church in Oct. The aim was to provide training to a small group of local churches that we've built relationship with in the area of prophetic worship and prayer. During this month in particular, we faced some opposition from a few of these local churches however regarding unrealistic expectations (mainly in the area of money). This was a struggle for us both - just learning how to navigate through this issue. Tackling the money issue here is quite difficult given many other expats that come to Cambodia (missios, foreign churches, NGO's, etc), in particularly those from other Asian countries, believe it is more than ok to give money as a means to open a doorway to partnering / relationship. What we've experienced though, is that this only further fosters a dependency / handout mentality - which we have seen in many areas of the local church since being here. Not uncommon is for local churches to find themselves in difficult situations though when they accept such money from foreigners - as they soon realise that there were conditions with the giving that they weren't first aware of, such as in some cases being requested to sign over the name of their church to the name of the foreigner's denomination name or the like. Hearing these stories - really makes you angry with the way some people go about building the kingdom.

Towards the end of Sept, Mark and I moved into our new house that has so much more natural light, more air flow and has different levels to separate the office from the rest of the house - yah! We were so happy to have a new house to move into that really was exactly what we had been looking for. We asked some of the guys from the NLF dorms ('Next Step Houses') to help us out lifting furniture, etc and treated them to a wonderful lunch. They thought they were really strong and I willed myself not to look when they kept crashing into the walls with the furniture after my many attempts to tell them to be careful! We also had to hire a crane truck to lift some of our furniture as it didn't fit up the tight stairwells, so over the balcony the furniture did come (mmm, we were too busy to get any photos but it sure was a sight)!

In October we had the Intercessory Prayer/Worship team come and whilst we ended up only running training at two local churches, it was an amazing time in the Spirit. Words can't describe the impact of these two days - but to say there was a significant breakthrough in the area of worship in both these churches as a result. It was fantastic !! The team consisted of Lyn McHugh, Nel Dekker, Karen Wilson, Marg Easton, Ursula Cettolin, Tim Coghill, Joel Dowling and Tavis Wardlaw. The rest of the time, the team explored some cultural sights and a range of non-govt organisations (NGO's) including the HIV/AIDS hospital for babies and young children and then on the Sunday, splitting into 2 teams, going to 2 different provinces and sharing with the local people in a local church, which was fantastic!

As Mark and I had managed to double-book ourselves during the week of this prayer and worship training - we missed one of the two training seminars in Phnom Penh. Our time was spent in training a selection of staff from International Cooperation Cambodia (ICC) up in Kratie (one of the provinces up north). We taught on 'mindsets' which is one of the topics that we have shared on in the Church Sustainability Forums and since had been asked to share this with their staff and also various churches and other NGOs here. This training was interesting for us as this particular NGO works primarily with the minority ethnic groups in Cambodia, so we got to learn a bit more about Cambodia.

Late Oct was when one of my sisters came and visited us on her way back from visiting Japan. It was really great to see her and for her to experience a bit of Cambodia. To top it off, my youngest sister came for a few days (on her way from her month break in Aus to Laos where she works) while my other sister was still here, so that was really great! It was really good to spend time with them both and in particular since my youngest sister would not be home for Christmas.

July - Aug 07 post scripts

2008-02-20T19:08:00.000-08:00

In July/Aug - we saw the 30 Days of Hope in Cambodia, which included Joyce Meyer, Hillsong Uk and Hillsong Aus and Delirious!, John Maxwell Equip Leadership Training plus over 100 people coming from all over the world throughout the 30 days to help in children's ministry training, as medical teams, and outreaches in various provinces.
There were mixed reactions amongst the local churches and as a result there were 2 different committees and thus different programs allowed. In addition, apparently while there was approval from the government to run the various outreaches in Phnom Penh, it ended up being opposed through more subtle means. Typically, venues were changed at last minute by the Government, then either totally shut down completely or rescheduled for the next day after prolonged negotiations only to be cancelled again !! We witnessed a classic example of this in person - when given the thumbs up had finally been given to the Phnom Penh Delirious and Hillsong concerts only to have the electricity turned off whilst the Delirious! and Darlene Zschech were leading the building full of people in worship! Incredible really - but we did enjoy a great unplugged (and unplanned) set from Delirious that night with our mobile phone lights being on the lights in the building !

Mark and I also did some training for the teachers at New Life Fellowship International Christian School (NLFICS) over this period which was lots of fun. At this time we were asked to volunteer to help teach English once a week at a 'university' that NLF is reaching out to (we did this until the start of Oct). It was quite an interesting experience, particularly having some monks in my class and also making me realise how appalling my own English is!!! We also had Andee Sellman and Jamie Hunt come over to share in our Church Sustainability Forum and at the first Christian business and professional leaders lunch (aimed at both locals and expats) with a great turn out of about 40 people. Andee and Jamie also spent time individually with each of our business guys who are involved in our Forums to encourage them and give advice.
Jamie Hunt in a small group discussion in July Forum

Andee Sellman speaking in July Forum

Joyce Meyer speaking at one of the Hope Cambodia events in Phnom Penh

Delirious doing an acoustic set at the Hope Cambodia event

Response following Delirious' request to pray for all the youth at the Hope Cambodia event

Some recent pics (next update coming soon)

2007-08-07T04:20:00.000-07:00

Our next postscripts update is coming soon...but in the interim - here are some recent pics - We hope you enjoy! Lots of love - Mark & Jo

Church Sustainability Forum pics....

Just a simple exercise really (not quite so as it seemed!). This was a "hands-on" exercise we ran in the July forum - when discussing the topics of vision and planning. Very funny exercise indeed - but sure got the point across!

A pic taken during our hands-on "vision" exercise - everyone was involved and enjoyed the learning process

Jo & Mark with Ps. Zephaniah Obi (from Nigeria)...during a break in the July forum.

Other Recent Pics...

Our slightly battered VW Golf after the car accident (..the product of an over-ambitious landcruiser with bull bar running into our car side on). It wasn't a very enjoyable night for us - as it hit on the passenger side where Mark was sitting..fortunately there was no broken bones - we both had some bruising and cuts though. It started raining soon after the accident happened (here we were in the middle of the road with no raincoats and no-one to interpret khmer-english on our behalf amongst a group of 15-20 cambodian onlookers) and then to make matters worse the cambodian driver discreetly left the scene soon after the local police arrived (and after paying off the local policemen as we found out later!). Long story short is: we managed to track the driver down and the repairs were covered under insurance through the drivers employer (which just happened to be a local NGO - whose logo was plastered all over the Landcruiser bonnet ....not a smart move to do a runner when your company logo is on show for all to see!)

Saying a teary goodbye to John and Pauline O'Connell at the airport (this was part of the social justice project team coming from CCCW)

Again..another teary goodby - this time to Lisa & Phil Craig and Jane Marquis at the airport (also part of the June social justice team from CCCW)

Jo with Erica Dekker - part of the moto tour around Phnom Penh (part of the June social justice team visit)

The June social justice team - walking along the railway slum areas - interacting with the local children.

A visit to a NLF silk weaving project out in the province (June team visit)

A local cambodian friends' wedding in Phnom Penh

Postscripts from Phnom Penh (June 07)

2007-05-31T03:17:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-05-08T03:52:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-08T03:43:00.000-07:00

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):

2007-05-08T03:37:00.000-07:00

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.

Postscripts from Phnom Penh (Mar 06)

2007-03-12T03:23:00.000-07:00

From Jo…
Wow, we’ve now been in Cambodia for 6 months – in some ways it seems like ages and in other ways it seems like we’ve just arrived (however, more often the former feeling)! Early February was primarily spent organizing the final details for the conference. The Pastors’ Conference from 20th – 23rd was absolutely fantastic – the Holy Spirit was experienced in a mighty way by all who attended including the team from Oz! Neil and Erin preached amazing messages but moreso led by the Spirit to allow us to soak more and more in His presence. Both Mark and I felt our thirsts got quenched but did not truly realize how thirsty and dry we had got spiritually since being here. Whilst the Cambodian pastors, youth pastors and leaders were impacted, it was even more exciting for me to see how Tim, Gracie, Dean, Greg, and Nel allowed the Spirit to lead them in imparting into the lives of the Cambodians. Anyway, I can’t say enough about the conference…

Soon after the conference finished, Mark and I had our first cell group meeting at our place for expats attending New Life Fellowship (the local church we are attending) – surprise, surprise, we met another couple from Oz who happen to go to CCC Oxford Falls!!! We are looking forward to building the group and being able to minister to each other.

We have just arrived back from our mid-year break in Thailand, spending about 6 nights in Phuket and then 3 nights in Bangkok, which was just heavenly!!! With this amazingly hot weather here, it was so nice to be able to go to a beach (the closest beach to PP is about 4 hrs away and it can cost approx US$10 to visit a pool)! We hired a motorbike for a day and did a bit of sightseeing and went into a massive shopping centre – I was nearly in shock after not seeing one for some time. We found a supermarket that sold more than one variety of apple, and so we went silly buying some gala apples, peaches and plums – I know this may sound funny but it’s amazing what you miss!!! It was also nice to have ‘proper’ coffee, have a range of places to eat and shop and being able to hold Mark’s hand while walking down the street and not breathe in dust (all these things a bit of a rarity in Cambodia). However, coming from a very poor country, doing some shopping in Thailand nearly blew me away as the prices in Thailand seemed extravagant (even though compared to Australia they were reasonable). The only point that wasn’t such a highlight was that I got sick during part of our time, although it didn’t stop me from getting as much action as possible! Oh and we thought the traffic in Cambodia was bad, our taxi driver to the airport for our flight back here at 5am was sitting at about 140km for awhile on the freeway and our seatbelts weren’t working – this certainly kept us wide awake and praying hard!!!
And then the day we arrived back to PP to our place, the electricity cut out on us twice…ahh, welcome back to reality!

From Mark...

Well, here we are as six month old expatriates..sure seems longer than that (as Jo indicated!) - but in reality we have had a pretty good run in terms of settling in. We are definitely feeling alot more settled in the house now that we have it mostly furnished and we have the motorbike to get around town in. Also - in terms of our roles here - it has definitely been a progressive thing in terms of us realising just where we fit in the big scheme of things here in PP. With so many different NGO's and church organisations based here - all doing really good work - we often felt like we were wandering a tad in our direction here - but this has definitely firmed up since and we are now more confident that we can actually add value in many areas here and in ways that others aren't addressing currently. So, that is really re-assuring for us both!

Well, since we last wrote - we held another pastors conference here in PP for cambodian church pastors and leaders (and yes...ridiculously close to the previous one!!). This conference was focused on the role of youth ministries within the local church and we had a good mix of both senior and youth pastors attending. All up - there were around 50 attendees throughout the 4 days - so that was really satisfying and just to see how God was really addressing some significant things in most - was even more special. The main themes coming through were of character issues, understanding the differences between calling & gifting in ministry, the role of youth pastor and senior pastors, raising new generation leaders, submission and unity, and the dream of God for our lives. It was all a great time in building relationships and in allowing some deep inner work by the holy spirit through some real 'God moments' throughout the week. I think we all came away with something significant in God - which is very cool really!

After the hecticness of the previous month in organising for this conference - we really did need a break for ourselves (..yes..we too get tired !!) and took our scheduled half year retreat straight afterward - with time in phuket and bangkok city. This was just what we needed!! We had some nice lazy days in the beaches in phuket and only had the hassle of avoiding all the other foreigners around town, including the many older white males with pretty young local girls hanging off their arms...all pretty disgusting really. We had a few edge of the seat experiences (and I do mean literally!) with some pretty crazy taxi drivers..both times in trying to get us to the airport in time to catch our flights...I think there is a trend emerging here somehow! Anyways...both times I went for the seat-belts - which I haven't done at all in travels in cambodia or laos...but these taxi drivers were seriously putting the pedal to the metal - and to the extreme!!

It was nice to have time in bangkok ...actually I can't believe I'm saying this about bangkok city..of all the places!!..but yes..we both had a healthy dose of retail therapy at the many shopping centres around the city. We stocked up on some things for the house, but also in buying for ourselves - which was really nice to have that luxury and not to have to bargain in hot, sweaty market atmospheres (..we'd both forgotten how nice it is to shop in air-conditioned comfort!).

In terms of our next few months, we are preparing to start a pilot program involving mentoring of a small group of church pastors and their key business-people (will start later this month)..so, we'll keep you in the loop on how all this progresses. We are expecting a really great opportunity in this to help build the vision of self-sustainability for churches here in cambodia.

Anyways..that's about it from us at the moment.

Take care until next time. Lots of love from us both!

Some pics of our journey so far...

Erin, Mark and Tim trying to navigate peak hour in phnom penh traffic to check out some of the local food stalls...I think it was worth the risk factor for them (at least to see the deep fried spiders!)

The cccw team (minus Neil and Greg) on a moto tour of the inner city areas...

A walk around Boeng Kak lake railway line area to get a feel for how the other half live (this is one of many of the inner city slum areas). The cambodians have such a great ability to make something out of so little - truly amazing.

A class in action at the newly opened New Life Fellowships International School (where Narelle works). Team in the background with Narelle.

Visiting the rubbish tip where many desperate cambodians try to make a living off the discard of inner city life dumped by the local rubbish trucks. A truly horrific sight to see in person...so much need here in this location alone. Really stirs you to look at opportunities to meet the practical needs of these people.

The cccw girls spending some time with the girls in New Life Fellowship's girls dorm (Next Step Houses)

Neil in action during one of the conference sessions (w/ Ps. Jesse McCaul interpreting with equal passion!)

Worship during one of the morning sessions of the conference

Erin sharing from her heart in one of the sessions (w/ Ps. Bora, NLF's youth pastor interpreting for her)

During one of the conference session breaks - the girls getting into the good ol' chain massage!

Erin, Grace and Jo in a tuk-tuk. This night: Nel, Grace and Erin all dressed up in the typical local cambodian girls day outfit (kinda like day-pyjama's really!) as we head out for a meal along the riverside (very funny ..and yes...they did get many comments from the local women!)

Tim and Heng posing for the camera in front of some pretty obscure hindu idol statues out front of the Goldiana Hotel

The cccw team (except for Neil) out for drinks and a meal (Note: the girls wearing the local day outfits!)

Heng's story...and our visit to his home in the province

2007-03-12T02:34:00.000-07:00

Heng's story of living in the men's dorms (Next Step Houses):

First of all we just want to express ourselves to say thank for that we have a chance to tell you about our living place in present time and what had happened at there. Yes I hope all these things below will help you to know more about dorms and life passed experiences about a couple of guys.

We have 25 men who stayed at the next step house in Toul Svay Prey I. around 23 something stayed at Women’s dorm most of them coming from provinces.
Some of them continues their study at Universities, some study English at Church, and some study in high school in the Phnom Penh City.
All most of them came from poor farmers families. The reason they come to Phnom Penh because they want to continue their studies and want to find job to do but you know it not easy like what they supposed to do. Some time they felt hopeless. They cry out for help in a quiet room, some don’t know what should they do because don’t have any high education such guys who stay with me he just only study in 3 glades and their family forced him stop to studying since he was young. I fell very sorry for him so much. I, Heng experienced about my life living in the City without any support. I worked as a worker just change for food for all most 5 years. I think it really tough standard of living with people who always promise with us and at the end he turns his words. I have loads of experienced living with people and work for them as a slave. You know at that time I sell and mineral water I get up at 4:30 am and drive car to ice factory and delivered to home customer from door to door till 12:00pm and some time 1:00pm. I have only one hour break for lunch and then drive car deliver pure water to buyer at homes I get back home around 4:00pm something even though it is a hard job but I happy to do it. I thought it my own work and never think about energy, time at all because I know for sure when I stop working for my boss his will give me as what he had promises.

I have a great privilege to get know New Life Center through my friend he encouraged me to study at that organization. The first few week I refused to what he want me to do but he comes almost every week and his encouragement words changed my mind so decided go to study there. The first day I went there it was strange to me because I saw lots of students come and the class is so big, no wall. When I study with Jesse he informed to students I have Bible Class at room 210. Some of my new friend asked me Heng do you want to study Bible
I thought for a second and reply -what was the Bible study about? They said you will know later. The first day of my study Jesse gave New Testament Bible to read at home. You know when I start read the Bible I often have problem with people around me especially son of my boss. They don’t like me when knew that I have time to study English. You know before I have time to do that I try to work hard to satisfy my boss and asked him for times from month to month I always have problems. One evening when I read The Bible and went to bed I dreamed somebody called me in my dream that Heng follow me. When He reached his hands to me I stand still and asked to my mind “who is he” he say follow me I will give you place to stay the morning coming when I woke up I was very happy because I felt his love, and embrace. A few months later my boss talks to me Heng now you have wings so you can fly where you want to… I cried out silently and asked myself why? Where should I go?

On Saturday in the evening around 7:30pm I walked to New Life Fellowship because there I knew some Christian friends. I have told them about these problems. They felt sorry for me and then handed me to see Bora and other old Christian after they knew about the things.
They let me stay with them at resource room. I am very happy when I heard the word “ok”
I started to study harder and helped to do stuff in the Church such as setting chairs, sweeping, clean chairs one in every month in the church with other Christians, and also serving as an usher.
What I can’t forget is that when I reached to the roof top of church I cried out very loud out that THANKS YOU for calling me to this place God.
Brother/sister I just would love to tell you that even if you are rejected by the world but God, he never do that instead loves us and ready helping us for all what we asked for. God is good all the time. Don’t worry you are not alone. in Christ Jesus we have everything. We have father who always care about us.

Thanks you again

Blessings,
Heng Hak

From Mark...on our visit to Heng's family at their house in the province:
Here are some pics of a recent trip we (Jo, Mark + Nel and Tim from the cccw team) made to visit Heng's family in their village last month - as a way to encourage him and his family. It was a real eye-opener just to see how the majority of cambodians live - in a one room style wooden house, in very simple conditions (ie. no running water or electricity). It should make all of us "westerners" very thankful for all the basics in life that we have available to us - and to which we mostly take for granted. Food for thought...

Some pics of our trip are below:

Heng's family (incl. nieces/nephews, cousins, etc) and the cccw team (Jo, Mark, Nel and Tim) outfront of Heng's house in the province.

We were treated on arriving with fresh coconut juice and a local sweet rice cake. They were all delicious and as can be seen we were all enjoying the food on the table below the house! This arrangement is typical of most cambodian houses in the provinces.

Jo enjoying the coconut juice with Heng alongside.

Heng with his grandma. She was facinated with our cameras and in seeing her photos shown back to her....apparently she hadn't seen a picture of herself for many years (having not owned a mirror since she was a younger lady). Simply amazing - what we can so easily take for granted, can be priceless for others who are less fortunate than ourselves.

A view down the road near Heng's house - a mix of local kids and some of Heng's extended family quickly gathered as soon as the camera came out!

Bits and Pieces about Cambodia Culture - Part One

2007-01-31T19:05:00.000-08:00

Bits and Pieces about Cambodia Culture that we’ve been told about – believe it or not….!!

When buying a car, always go in pairs. If you spot a car that looks pretty good, don’t decide to come back another day to buy it, let one person stay behind with the car and the other person to go and get a mechanic and bring them back with them to check the car out thoroughly. This is so because apparently the car will be in great condition the day you first see it but if you decide to come back another day to buy it, the car dealer place is more than likely to change parts on
the car to those that are less than reliable!

FOREIGNERS + CAMBODIA = $$$$$$

A foreigner driving his car in Cambodia got pulled over by the police for apparently not stopping at a street sign. The police told him that he was fined US$10 for the offence. The foreigner only had a US$5 note and told the police this. After a bit of heated discussion, the police decided to let the foreigner off with just paying the US$5 fine. The foreigner drove off with a smile on his face thinking he was able to bargain with the police and get away with it! However when the foreigner met up with some of his local friends telling them the story and boasting of his bargaining with the police, his local friends burst out laughing telling him that by law, the offence for not stopping at a street sign is only 5000 riel (US$1.25)!

(NB. The irony of this story being told to us was that about a week later, Mark got a ride with a local Cambodian friend of ours and they got pulled over by the police twice about 5 mins apart and were fined two different amounts. Mark was adamant not to pay but our poor friend who was borrowing the motorbike from another friend was ‘strongly encouraged’ by the police to pay up or the moto would be taken away from him!)

More and more Cambodians want to learn English, recognizing that this a means to getting better jobs and thus better money. We have heard stories of staff members of
English training schools stealing the answers to tests so they can give them to their friends to pass (even those that are Christians)!

As a foreigner living in Cambodia because it is assumed you have much money, it is also assumed that you have a cook and/or cleaner. We have heard a number of stories of when you are able to find a good cook/cleaner/security guard and a relationship of trust is been built, they are often tempted by their families or friends and this is how many expats find their places robbed of their belongings! We just heard recently that this also happens to Cambodians who can afford help.

Cambodian logic – the further you live away from Cambodia, the cheaper the phone call via internet, i.e. a call to Vietnam costs more than a call to Australia and a call to the States costs less than a call to Australia. However to send a fax, you are generally charged US$3-4 a page or charged depending on how long it takes for the fax to get through, so too bad if you have to try several times before the line is free and you get connected!

In 2005, the number of landmine victims in Cambodia was 862, over 55% of them from the western provinces.

This is a brief article in a local magazine (Bayon Pearnik):
Prison break ends in firefight
Civil society and law officials on June 22 lashed out at Chhay Sovann,
the deputy chief of Battambang Provincial Prison for banning relatives
of the nine dead prisoners, from taking the corpses away for funerals.
Chhay Sovann reasoned that some of the killed criminals were sentenced
to 30 years in prison. So, if the relatives want to hold a funeral, they will
have to wait until the sentence is finished.
“We cannot allow any dead bodies to be sent to their relatives because
those criminals were sentenced to 30 years in jail, so we will keep the
corpses until their sentence is finished,” he was quoted as saying.
The corpses of the criminals were buried in the compound of the provin-
cial prison soon after the incident.

This seems to be linked to the Buddhist way of thinking. As the reporter comments at the end of this article in his own words ‘seems logical in a Cambodian kind of way.’

For those who haven't been here before, these are the conversion rates:
Riel (Cambodian) = US$
200 riel = 5c
1000 riel = 25c
2000 riel = 50c
4000 riel = $1

Postscripts from Phnom Penh (Jan 07)

2007-01-29T01:43:00.000-08:00

Hi and Happy New Year to you all! We can't believe we have been in cambodia now for near on 5 months...it feels like a year already!! Well...not that bad..but sure feels like longer than that. So, what have we been up to? Well...read on:

From Mark...
Hi, well, since our last update in December we've definitely moved forward in terms of feeling more at ease in living here..with adjusting to the culture and climate, etc - which has helped us to settle in. We still have our usual (almost daily!) frustrations of noise, traffic, wading through layer upon layer of khmer people's mindsets and behaviours, etc - but we are both going well and finding our place here in terms of work and ministry.

In the last couple of months we've been focusing on three main areas of planning for this year, building relationships and starting language learning. We are looking to start a pilot training program for a small group of pastors and church business people that will aim to build trust & capacity, and provide teaching on building sustainable church & business organisations. We are looking to have this supported with mentoring relationships formed with local expats in business here. So, we're really looking forward to seeing this started shortly (hopefully in March all things going to plan). We have another pastors conference coming up later this month in Feb with a team from our church coming over again - so, that'll be great and will be really nice to hang out with some of the gang from cccw again! Last time, we had a ball with the team..lot's of fun and great laughs..so, we are very much looking forward to that!!

We have also started our language learning with a tutor coming to our house....and let's just say..this is gonna take some time! We are going right back to basics in learning the khmer vowels and consenants and working at reading the khmer script as we go through. No small task - I might add! (Read: HELP!!). There are just some sounds in the khmer language that we don't have in our english...so, I've had to resort to some helpful prompts to remember the sounds. For instance, there are two vowels that remind me of burping noises...so, obviously I find these easier to remember than Jo..(not sure why that is>?!)..and others, well...one is kinda like a dog yelping (so our khmer tutor tells us!)..so again, this helps in remembering the sounds. Ahh...tis all fun..it will be slow, but hopefully rewarding in the long term!

So, some funny stories: Well..let's see...we attended a local khmer friend's wedding recently which was full of laughs and definitely an experience (Jo will talk about this one though!). We also, have enjoyed hanging out with some of the local expats and hearing their stories. One which comes to mind is a classic....this is from an Aussie who is working with a local NGO (Note: this happened several years ago now): The NGO had just recently had to demolish some building areas as part of renovation works and had a pile of timber and rubble to get rid of....so, one day, as the project supervisor, he told a group of his khmer employees to load up the rubbish and timber in the work truck and take it down to the rubbish tip and burn it. Well, our expatriate friend was somewhat dismayed to find later that day that his khmer staff had taking his instruction literally, and simply driven the truck full of timber to the tip and torched the whole lot, truck and all!! Again, just one example of how communication can sometimes be lost in translation and the cultural setting! What a classic - eh!.

From Jo...
Happy New Year Everyone! Well, it’s been a very busy Dec/Jan for us! Christmas sneaked up on us so quickly, particularly as Christmas as we know it is not celebrated here, as the majority of Cambodians are Buddhists and a smaller number Muslims. Therefore Christmas Day here basically does not exist, no Christmas trees or lights or constant carols in shopping centres (a blessing in some ways..that one!) and people still work, like every other day. Although what’s ironic is that there are about 26 public holidays here, mainly afforded to those who are wealthy or in government positions – so you can see a lot of work gets done with all the siesta’s in between (however the majority who are still very poor have to work each day just to survive)!

We went across the border to Laos to spend Christmas with my brother, sister-in-law, my two nephews and one of my other sisters who are currently working in Laos. My brother and his family have lived/worked there for nearly 5 years and my younger sister is there for a 12 mth stint. It was great to spend 10 days with them, and particularly since my brother and his family have recently decided to move back to Melb. Laos is much quieter, less dusty and crowded and colder than Cambodia so it was a really nice change, although some of the scenery is the same!

Arriving back in Phnom Penh, we instantly hit with a heatwave, despite this time of year being considered ‘cold season’. The temperature has varied between 28-35C. April is supposed to be the hottest month at about 40C and where the locals have about 3 showers a day, so we’ll soon find out how many we’ll be having!

We have also had Leanne, a medical student from Melb Uni come and stay with us for the month of Jan, doing a placement at the Pediatrics’ Hospital, which has been nice to have an Aussie with us.

Some other little bits and pieces:
- We attended a local Cambodian wedding after arriving back from Laos. Money is given instead of presents and you also pay money for the cost of the dinner plus extra if you want to bless them. The wedding started about 6.30am until about 10pm, starting off with traditional Khmer ceremonies. The more ‘Western’ service started about 11ish where the actual vows were said. The dinner at 5ish was very elaborate. Apparently this local Cambodian couple’s families are relatively well off and that showed with the over 600 guests who came to the reception. The wedding was like going to the Logies, the bride changed about 10 times throughout the day, the groom several times and even the guests changed at least twice! Breakfast, lunch and dinner were served for all who attended. Interestingly though, only about 200 people or so attended the actual ceremony but everybody came to the reception.
- We have also attended an engagement party, which again was like going to the Logies. The engaged couple looked like they were getting married!
- One great thing about Cambodia, you can get clothes made cheaply – just have to hope that you someone who can sew straight!
- Some more food stories: I have now witnessed a shop that sells dog meat, with all the dogs’ heads on platters (I thought my friends were pulling my leg)! At the wedding we were served a salad with chicken feet and duck feet! Along with crunchy fried spiders, we have also seen fried crickets and frogs!

We have been trying to meet a number of local pastors from different denominations and to gain a greater understanding of the Cambodian churches and their needs. Whilst trust comes through the building of relationships we are constantly challenged with the expectation from the general culture, including some even within the church expecting money with the view that all foreigners have lots of money! On the other hand, many Western churches and NGOs (non-govt organisations) often like to give money to help Cambodians, which is necessary. However from what we have observed and as another expat here has stated it: 'Cambodia and Western countries often exist in a 'codependent relationship'', that is, unhealthy dependency with each other, instead of being interdependent. Interestingly, we have also been told that one of the local Khmer pastors has stated that 'the problem with Cambodia is that it has too much money'. The impression is that there is more of a need now to teach Cambodians how to manage money better rather than giving another hand-out. Please help us pray into this situation of knowing the balance between when to give money and the teaching of managing it more wisely. On a spiritual level, the church is still struggling to get revelation knowledge that God is their provider and will often resort to relying on their own strength or going to fortune tellers and so on, when pressures of life arise (which happens to us all!)

A quick note from Leanne………
I have been the blessed recipient of Mark and Jo’s generosity; after only meeting them on occasion, this couple offered me a place to stay while I undertook my medical elective here in Phnom Penh. It’s been a great experience to be an almost adopted daughter/sister, with warnings of not staying out too late, frequent home
cooked meals and thorough explanations of the odd habits of Cambodians!
Life in Phnom Penh with Mark and Jo has been a truly memorable experience! It has been a great opportunity to experience life in a developing nation, and to meet some fabulous Cambodians. It’s also been really encouraging to see how God is working in Cambodia to bring people to himself.
I am really thankful for my time here in Cambodia, and for Jo and Mark making me feel so welcome.

Anyways, thanks for taking the time to read our update. Look forward to connecting at some stage soon! Here are some recent pics. Hope you enjoy!!.....

Heng Hak, our cambodian staff member....enjoying a typical day in the office!

Mark with nephew Kobi (Jo's brother Ben's youngest son) while in Laos over Christmas and NY 07...and yes, Mark is wearing Kobi's Bob-the-Builder cap!

With some friends after a meal together (Leah and Mara Cassidy-Kong, with their girls Naomi and Anna, Mara's parents, and another expat couple from the UK, Jez and Jacqui)

At a local cambodian friends wedding.....think lots of karaoke and really extravagant dresses!

The girls night out (at the wedding!) L-R: Leah Cassidy (and Naomi her daughter), Chek, Narelle & Jo

Pic of us with the newly wed couple (Pisit and Saha). The typical wedding day starts at 6:30am with guests involved in the many traditional ceremonies (ie. fruit carrying) and sharing meals together. The brides apparently can change outfits up to 10 times throughout the day...(just think though, this is bearable considering that weddings in previous generations used to run between 2-3 days long - imagine the outfit changes for that!!)

Postscripts from Phnom Penh (Dec 06)

2007-01-27T06:52:00.000-08:00

Well….here we are…. almost three months into the journey and we’re both still sane! Amazing really!! – given the frustrations along the way. But thankfully, we’ve really been blessed with a bunch of great things happening over these few months since we last wrote. We’ve tried to capture the essence of this journey to date – so, we hope you enjoy the read!

From Mark….
Hi there, or in khmer…‘arun sus sei dei’ (which kinda sounds like “aroon –sauce-a-day!”) …I’ve found it’s helpful to think of word pictures with some of the khmer words so obviously a meat pie with sauce always comes to mind with this khmer greeting! But don’t be fooled in thinking we’ve got a grasp of the khmer language – cos we still haven’t started the language learning yet!~ we do hope to find a good tutor in the near future - so that at least we can get started with the basics of learning khmer.

Anyways – we’re both going pretty well and seem to be adjusting to life here ok in particular physically – I think we’re feeling a lot more settled than when we first arrived. Though, we definitely aren’t at the point of buying our meat down at the local (flea) markets as yet! – so, we still live to a fair extent with ‘foreigner’ comforts. Mind you, in spite of this – we’ve still managed to get the occasional bout of gastro which seems fairly hard to predict or avoid even if eating from trusted restaurants. Anyway – enough said on that front.

Since we last wrote a lot has happened. For the most part our attention the last month and a half has been on coordinating efforts for a conference for pastors, leaders and church businesspeople that we hosted here in PP only two weeks ago. It all went really well. The conference speakers included our senior pastor Pete McHugh and a team of nine from our church in Melbourne (mix of pastors, business people, board members and other brilliant tag-alongs!). We had between 40-50 khmer attendees – who were clearly really blessed by the teaching and encouragement given in the conference. As the training was really practical - focusing on the role of the pastor and the businessperson in church life plus defining the role of governance in churches – we found that it’s really given us a spring-board to launch into all the economic development work that we’re looking to start here. So, that was great.

It was also fantastic to have all the CCCW team here – and to connect with them and ‘chew the fat’ over good company and good food! Also – just being able to talk aussie-to-aussie was incredibly refreshing. As we’ve been used to talking to all manner of foreigners since we’ve been here – getting back to talking in “real” english was fantastic!! (+ having people who actually understand our sarcastic sense of humour!)

In the midst of all the “business” stuff, we managed to sign a rental contract for a house (single level apartment style) which has worked out great. The house is in a good location and our landlord is a local “commune leader” – which means he knows the police and government contacts (which helps with many “issues” let’s just say that!)… though he does live right next door, so we can’t really play up which is a abit of a bummer! We are still however in the slow (read: incredibly painful!) process of furnishing the house as there was basically nothing in it when we moved in. We’ve been told by local expats that a rule of thumb is to allow up to 4x what it would take back home for normal daily living tasks – so this has at least helped us in normalizing our frustrations in finding the most simplest of items and furnishings for the house!
Also, we bought a new motorbike (100cc) a couple weeks ago which means at least now we have some form of transport (Yah!!). I’m also looking to purchase a 2nd hand dirt bike so that we can at least get out to the province/rural areas to have a look as well (gotta be that country boy thing coming out again – I spose!)

From Jo…
it’s been about three months that we’ve been here now; at times it seems we’ve been here much longer! The last few weeks have been pretty hot although we are supposed to be coming up to the ‘cold season’ (if there is such a thing in Cambodia at ~30C)! The hottest month is apparently April where basically very little work gets done, so we have been told.

Moving into our own place has been absolutely fantastic! However, the process of furnishing it is a different story – everything just takes sooooo long here! We were told by a number of expats that if you get two things done on your ‘to do’ list each day then that’s really good! I think we previously mentioned about the quality and costs of things here, e.g. to clean the house, we had to buy a mop – the mop handle broke in half after mopping just one room; I bought a pair of shoes to wear for the conference and it broke after about 2 wears; our bed base was hammered and sawed into shape so it could fit together (this meant it was a very tight fit to get our mattress to fit the base), and so on. We were also told to expect things to fall apart each week (so encouraging) and did we ever find this to be true!! e.g. our fridge had to be repaired only a few weeks after moving in, (although it is 2nd hand), a number of light globes have blown in different rooms, our shower head holder broke, our bath tub cracked (it is plastic – so no surprises here!), etc, etc. Basically, each item that we have bought has a story behind it, from buying a vegetable peeler that peels/cuts chunks out of the vegetable, to buying a ‘brand new’ motorbike that has to be checked out that it is not a stolen bike before it can be registered.

We have got a water filter so we don’t have to buy bottled water to wash and cook our food in and brush our teeth with, but for whatever reason, it just doesn’t quite have the same taste of our water back home (and this has completely nothing in relation to Mark having worked at Melbourne Water before we left)!!! We are slowly getting used to this but again, it takes time to cook (nearly the double the time back home) whilst trying not to pour down with sweat! We have had a number of blackouts as well but fortunately the electricity has come back on during the night when we use the air-con to sleep! Most locals get up at about 5am and are in bed by about 9pm, basically when the sun rises as many do not have electricity and it also means getting most of the work done such as going to the markets to get food, before it gets too hot.
Ahh, all in a day’s work in Cambodia.

Please, don’t let me put you off visiting – it really is a lovely country with beautiful people, very cheap food and clothes (in particular local places) and lots of yummy mango shakes and seafood!

Of course, having the team from church come over was such a blessing to those who attended the conference but obviously very much so to us. The team were a great group of people who got along really well with each other and also met and built some good relationships with the pastors/business people who attended the conference and were also able to share at different churches on the Sunday. Whilst the teaching was practical and very invaluable and very needed in the churches here, I believe the way our team displayed unity, love and respect for each other and much fun gave the local Khmers at the conference more than a glimpse of what relationships are really all about. Again we feel really blessed and proud to be part of such a fantastic church.

Well, thanks for sharing the journey with us – we value all your support, encouragement and friendship! Missing you all heaps and we look forward to hearing how your journey is going too!

Lots of love from Mark & Jo

PS. GO Aussies in the cricket!

On the back of a moto on the way to the Water Festival (the city swells to 2-3 million people over the 3 day festival!)

Jo with the Water Festival fireworks in the background

The cccw team on a tour about the city on moto's

One of the sessions of the pastors conference

The cccw team at the infamous Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) for the after conference celebrations...a great night had by all!

Postscripts from Phnom Penh (Sept 06)

2007-01-27T06:22:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone - from the humid morning haze of Phnom Penh city!

We've been here for just over three weeks now and are both going really well. Since arriving we've been staying at a hotel and are still in the process of looking around for a place to live and trying to get set-up for life here in Phnom Penh. Rental costs here are surprisingly quite high relative to Australia – so it has proven to be a bit of a challenge finding a place that we can make into our home and that has the right layout to set up an office space.

When we flew in on 5th Sept, the view from the air definitely gave the impression the rains had come. Right now it’s in the middle of the (hot) wet season. Check out the photos on the last page – these are from the flight in and show just how wet this place can get!

Anyway, we hope you enjoy reading of our journey so far!

From Mark….
Well, since arriving it’s certainly proven to be all that we were told to expect (and more!). In spite of the constant haggling of tuk-tuk, moto & cyclo drivers, adjusting to the heat, humidity and that Cambodian smell (you know the one – for those that have been here before!), and learning not to get too frustrated with the pervading “yes” culture (Cambodians will say yes to most things even if they have no idea what you’re asking for!) it still has been a good start to our journey and we’re looking forward to getting settled in. However, we are still learning to lower our expectations and “go with the flow” to limit the frustration factor.

I had my first go at riding a moto around the city the other day and found it a bit of a challenge to start with, but I got there by the end of the journey!...only having one close encounter with the front end of an impatient toyota along the way and fortunate to still have the kick-start pedal in tact after a few false starts (followed by a few more!). Alas, having to get used to handling the bike was a challenge for me (and yes, this too from a country boy!!). Jo is keen to show me up though, with her riding prowess when she gives it a go hopefully in the near future (stay tuned on that one!).

We have started looking around for a car or motorbike to buy. Apparently most of the cars for sale here are actually damaged/written-off vehicles shipped in from overseas (generally from the USA) and receive panel-beating and repairs here in Cambodia. Ensuring you get a car that won’t fall to bits after a drive over the many potholed roads though seems to be the ultimate challenge!

Some interesting experiences so far have included dining out at several restaurants only to have a humungous rat or two scuttle past our table leg (really inspiring stuff while eating asian food in dim lighting…) and trying to get understanding into the deep spiritual culture that exists here. For instance, just last weekend it was fascinating to note the Cambodians celebrated a four day public holiday with the sole purpose of making merit & giving offerings to the spirits of their ancestors at local Buddhist temples all over the city and in the province areas. There are so many layers to this culture –it’s clear we need much wisdom and discernment as we take this journey.
From Jo…
As I’m writing this, it’s a bit overcast outside disguising the humidity! The first few weeks for me have been trying to get used to the weather – I was having siestas without meaning too, so my aim is to last more than two days in a row without having a siesta!

Looking for places to stay as been a bit more of a process than expected – many places only have a kitchen with one basin and tap with cold water (i.e. no pantry, no stove/oven or stove tops are like camping stoves attached to a gas bottle) and each bedroom is likely to have a bathroom attached to it where the showers just have cold water and have no recess, just the shower head coming out of the wall so the toilet is likely to get wet whilst having a shower. However if lucky you may get a Western toilet that actually flushes! One of the biggest things is about security – getting in and out of a place is like Fort Knox as most places have two locked gates to get through before you even get to the front door! Every door from outside to inside the house is locked with a big padlock.

We are yet to find ourselves a language teacher to teach us Khmer (as would like to get settled into a place first) but are learning bits and pieces like ‘please, can we have the bill’ and probably the most important one ‘no thank you’ (for Mark it’s just plain ‘no’) to all the tuk tuk and moto drivers who love to hassle you as soon as you step out into the street!. Also, I’m still continuing with my studies in Christian counseling and family therapy (although it is hard to motivate myself at times) and was able to get a month’s extension on all my assignment – thank God! They were all due the day we left Melb. I will be glad when it’s all over!

Overall we are doing really well and have been praying more fervently when it comes to asking for God’s blessing over the food we eat and for safe travel (we feel quite comfortable now in walking across the road without being run over in spite of some moto driver’s still thinking that they’re in a Grand Prix!).

Well, that’s about it from us for now. Thanks to all for your continued prayers and support! We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends who believe in a great God who is able to do the impossible! Missing you all heaps.

Lots of love from Mark & Jo

Some pics of the journey so far....

View from the plane flying in to phnom penh. The amount of flooding was just amazing to see from the air!

Jo in one of the local markets

Mark asking how much for the market meats...hmm tasty!!

Our favourite billboard since arriving in phnom penh!