Reflections on January 2010

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?) and a better shower, etc., as well as mosquito nets for the windows. The nets couldn ’t be installed right away so there were two miserable weeks where I would coat myself in bug spray. It was also a bit disturbing because birds kept flying into the house. A mouse also came in. All of that has been fixed now and the house is much more comfortable. One of the missionary families here has moved on to another country of service, and I inherited some things from them, including a refrigerator, washing machine and some rattan furniture. I still need to hook up the washing machine and get new cushions made for the chairs. We are waiting for the power company to come and improve our power supply so that we can run these appliances. I am also still borrowing a gas burner from my cook Sochiet, and I need to make arrangements to get one for myself. I’m not great at managing my own house, but I am making do and I’m glad to have a friend living in the apartment downstairs. I don’t feel quite so alone.

In January, I also started working on all of our reports during the first week, especially preparing our financial records for an audit. Unfortunately, I haven't been working fast enough, since here it is the end of the month and the reports are still not done. I also edited a draft of CHAD's new memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Agriculture. My biggest accomplishment for the first week was the preparation of a yearbook for the Social Concerns Committee for the Khmer Methodists. The yearbook includes copies of all the previous minutes, as well as guidelines and forms for starting new projects and monitoring existing ones. It has been great to get all of these documents compiled and assembled into a single book.

Things really started to pick up in the second week. I met with the pastors' coordinating committee in Kampong Speu. We discussed a plan for how I would work with pastors in this district, at least for the first quarter, but hopefully this will lay the groundwork for the rest of this year. We agreed to study the "Theology of Development" curriculum together and that I would facilitate the "Mobilizing the Church" curriculum at three locations for six churches, with the intention of forming local Social Concerns Committees in these locations.

The national Social Concerns Committee meeting occurred over two days. We reviewed 2009 and made a plan for 2010. I am very happy that we have some specific training goals in place and I hope that the members will get more involved in project monitoring this year. The second day, my colleague Mr. Thy also provided a lesson on record keeping for savings and credit groups.

In the middle of the second week of the month, we started receiving news about Haiti and our friends there. This was a difficult emotional roller coaster with no news and then good news and then bad news. While I am overjoyed that Jim Gulley , my friend and mentor and adviser to CHAD, was rescued from the rubble, the joy is dampened by the loss of two wonderful colleagues with whom Jim was trapped for 55 hours, ClintRabb and Sam Dixon, and the enormous damage and loss throughout Haiti.

I traveled on two successive January weekends up to Kampong Chhnang to visit with two churches there, twice each: Solong Kandal and Methodist Amen. The goal was to continue the Bible study on "Mobilizing the Church." We also joined together in prayers for Haiti. Solong Kandal has taken up a small offering, which we will send on to Haiti. The second weekend, we thought we would be joined by a small volunteer team from the United States. In the end, the US team couldn’t join us, but we still had a really productive time together. At both churches, we talked in part about the importance of small group study. Despite every one's busy schedules, many of the church members committed to try and get together during the week for just a half hour or hour to re-read the scripture from the previous Sunday and pray together. At Methodist Amen, the youth also organized a hygiene outreach to treat the hair of local children for lice. The highlight for me of the visit, though, was eating curry with the members of Solong Kandal. Yum yum!

Prayers for Haiti dominated my third week of January, but we also set aside time to make the annual plan for CHAD. Vannak is working on making wall calendars for us with the plan highlights for each month, so we can stay focused and keep each other up to date with our various travel plans. Wednesday, I had dinner with a visiting team from Switzerland (and a few French folks, too). Thursday, I had lunch with an UMVIM team from Virginia and Western Pennsylvania.

On Monday and Tuesday of the fourth week, Mr. Thy and I started the "Theology of Development" training with the pastors in Kampong Speu. I should perhaps write a whole entry just about the new insights I learned about Khmer culture through this study with them. We covered two lessons: "Biblical Worldview" and "The Extravagant Love of God." The pastors engaged quickly and we spent the second afternoon on the very challenging task of critically applying the lessons to our own lives and work.

Along the same lines of making our annual plan, on Wednesday I had another meeting about how to better coordinate between some of the work that various missionaries do, especially with the women’s program. I had another meeting on Thursday, looking towards the future of CHAD in 2011 and beyond.

Which bring us to today. I’m still hoping to finish the financial report this weekend, so I can submit it on Monday and clean up, organize, and file the oh-so-many papers and notes. I met with and need to document the visits of several folks coming toPhnom Penh for medical care, including one lady from Kampong Chhnang, two man from Kampong Speu, and one lady from outer Phnom Penh. I also received a few updates about repayment of loans into rice banks. there are some challenges with delayed repayments of small business loans, as well as a query about how to reinvest profits from a water filter project into a new project for the district. I’m also working currently to help Daneth get ready to go from Cambodia to Japan in April for a year of leadership training at the Asian Rural Institute. I am also trying to help Daneth to improve her story telling, but we could use another editor. If you are motivated, I am seeking a volunteer that could work with Daneth to edit the "stories of transformation" that she has written about her work with the women's livelihood development projects.

This fall I will be back in the United States to visit churches. I’m starting to contact folks and block out dates for when I will be in which states. (Probably, no visit to California this time, though.) I was excited to receive a note that another church, First United Methodist of Sunnyvale has agreed to start a covenant relationship with me.

My language lessons continue, as often as they can (16 lessons this month). I am really proud of my progress. I can now actually carry on a decent conversation with my tutor, and I can facilitate some of the "Mobilizing the Church" Bible studies by myself in Khmer. I often, though, still need Daneth to translate Khmer to English (or at least Khmer to simple Khmer), because I can’t understand much of what folks in the villages say. When I stopped by the Bible school yesterday, every one of my pastor friends that I passed by made a comment about my improvements. It was good motivation. Last night, my friend Heng gave a very moving testimonial about why she became a Christian. I was glad to be there to support her.

It has been a great month!

Comments

Gary and Debbi Grundman said…
Katherine - Glad to read of your ministry and mission in Cambodia! It has been awhile since following your work - can you define CHAD for me? What strikes me is how much in common the efforts around paperwork and 'setting up the apartment' are to lives everywhere - and yet we think some of the work must be so exotic! We offer our prayers for you, your colleagues and all the people who witness to Christ's love by spreading good news in being and doing! God be with you! Gary and Debbi Grundman
Jim Gulley said…
Katherine,
Just catching up reading your blog. Thank you for your prayers for us in Haiti. Thank you also for all the great work you are doing not only through CHAD but your witness to your companions and others. May God continue to bless you as you are a blessing to others!
Grace and peace,
Jim Gulley