Katherine Parker in Nepal

So much has been going on in Cambodia this year, but I just haven't been writing as much as I would like. You can read some stories from from Adam Jenkins, our summer intern from Virginia, CHAD Cambodian staff Him Daneth as she studies at the Asian Rural Institute in Japan as well as Ken Cruz and Leng Thy on our blog http://chad-cambodia.blogspot.com Starting on Sunday October 10th will be the launch of 10-fold.org and exciting 10-day online event. It is a special day for me since it will mark the three year anniversary of my commissioning (and also my birthday), but more importantly this looks to be an amazing mobilization effort to share about work around the world and I encourage everyone to check it out and sign up for the email updates and come back for the live web-events. I taped an interview about water quality that will be part of the program on October 17th. You can check it out at http://www.10-fold.org . The CHAD program was also chosen to be highlighted next year in B...

At our Theology of Development training for pastors last week, I was overwhelmed when the pastors started connecting the concepts to small practical actions. It is so important for our pastors to have fellowship time, to study together and compare notes about what makes for effective ministry in Cambodia. Some great ideas came out about *how* to take a weekly rice offering for the poor, orphans & widows. When we talked about examples of unjust economic situations in Cambodia the pastors discussed how weddings can be a significant economic drain for poor families, yet people tend to give smaller gifts to poor families than to wealth ones (wedding gifts are always cash). Therefore, in living out our faith values on economic justice, we should strive to give an equal gift to everyone so as to reduce the hardship placed on poor families to host a wedding. It is a privilege to walk alongside as our young church is figuring out what it means live an authentic faith in *this* place. ...

April was a relatively slow month. On the first of April I met with my friend Lynn who has been working with Gui tribe in Kampong Thom and in particular with one of our pastors there. She was interested in some resources for community needs appraisal which I provided, but I got to learn more about the storytelling method that she and her husband are using and I'm excited to try and implement some of these ideas when I start revising our curriculum. And on Friday the 2nd we saw Daneth off at the airport as she left for a 9 month study program at the Asian Rural Institute in Japan. Friday and Saturday, I also spent in Kampong Spue continuing the LSCC workshops. On Easter Sunday I was joined by visitors Mellisa and Karen at the international worship service and we had lunch with my housemate Heng. Monday was the final push to prepare for the UMCOR Emergency Response workshop, picking up supplies, translating documents, etc. Mellisa facilitated the workshop along with a trai...

March continued to be dominated by various workshops. The first week of the month is scheduled as office time, but I still sliped away for an LSCC workshop in Kampong Speu on Tuesday, but got back in time to meet with the auditor that evening. Wednesday I finally got the financial report off to Finland (although it still needs some work). I was also asked to take over coordination of an Emergency Response workshop that the Cabinet had requested UMCOR to provide. Thursday we had our monthly staff meeting. Saturday the 6th, Sunday and Tuesday I continued LSCC workshops in Kampong Speu and Kampong Chhnang. Monday the 8th was International Women's Day and the office was closed, so I'm fairly certain I spent the whole day sleeping. I love facilitating workshops in the villages, but the driving is quite draining for me. Thursday through Saturday I attended a workshop on coaching, which has provided a really helpful framework for me in how to work to empower our SCC pa...

I am continuing to try and write a review of my activities each month; February started off at a gallop and never let up. The first week in February we held a special 3 day Social Concerns Committee (SCC) meeting for a Health Training at the Hagar conference facilities. There was a long discussion on the importance of the church participating in relief work. The highlight for me was learning about some of the traditional Khmer methods of raising funds to meet an emergency disaster. In some regions, other NGOs had helped to mobilize community-wide multi-religious efforts using these methods. In other areas, churches themselves had adopted these methods. In a few of the districts they have established bereavement funds, either among the pastors or with churches. But for many of our churches they still feel outside of mainstream culture and they neither organize local church fundraisers to meet emergency needs or bereavement and they participate in wider community events to a ve...

According to my Grandfather Wendell, one of the Methodist traditions for pastors is to keep a weekly journal. I think John Wesley kept a very detailed daily journal, which prompted this tradition. I keep a day planner with my notes for meetings and notes from meetings, workshops, etc. , but I haven’t had the discipline of sitting down and reflecting from time to time about what has been accomplished. Actually, I don’t do a very good job of writing up reports from my field visits either. I just trust that I get enough down in my diary that I can later remember. But I’m trying to do better. As a trial, I am reporting on this month’s activities here on my blog. So, January. I've moved into a new shared housing arrangement with my friend Heng , a professional Khmer woman who is about my age. This has been a lot of work, since we had to make a lot of improvements to make the house more livable. A contractor came in to install three new sinks (How can you build a bathroom without a sink?...

My prayers continue to go out to the people of Haiti and the tremendous loss, especially the family of my co-worker Sam Dixon and to Clint Rabb, who was still in critical condition in Florida last I heard. I am glad to be part of a church family that has been and will continue to be actively involved together with our members in Haiti for the improvement of the country. http://www.umc.org/haiti for updates. On the other side of the world, 2010 has started off at a sprint. The annual report is not yet done for 2009, but the planning meeting with the Social Concerns Committee was great and I've already got the first quarter of workshops scheduled in Kampong Speu with 6 churches and the district pastors' group in addition to ongoing work in Kampong Chhnang and some tentative plans in Kampong Thom. We're also getting ready to host our first volunteer team on Wednesday. I'm really excited! You can be too with a donation . This month is Human Trafficking Awareness Mon...

My cousin Wes sent me this article on Human Trafficking and it got me thinking about recent experiences that I have had. I love going to the Tropical Oasis Spa down by the Toul Tem Pong market. It certainly is not as upscale as some others, but I like to support the young women who are studying there. It is part of an NGO run by friends of mine that works with at-risk girls and those who have escaped from trafficking. There is a great cafe downstairs and I often run into other friends from around town. The Methodist Mission in Cambodia has a similar training program in beauty, cooking and sewing skills for at-risk young women. It is called Emmaus. Last year, we held a two-day meeting of the Social Concerns Committee (SCC) at the center to expose more of the Cambodian pastors to the program so they know about the opportunity as an option for at-risk young women in their communities. It is a great program and I love visiting its relaxing and beautiful campus. It is a bit out of Phnom Pe...