I am sitting on my bed, with the window open, listening to the rain, in the dark, with just a candle and laptop light. This is mainly because there is no electricity, and it is hot! It’s been a weird day electricity-wise. I was in Jars of Clay, and the power went off and on heaps. I’m super glad it’s raining right now, otherwise it would be hot and muggy and unbearable. I’ve just come back from a friend’s place nearby. She had a few people over as she will be leaving next week: another farewell party. This one was fun – on a roof top overlooking Phnom Penh, some swing and blues dancing, some good wine, some great pizza from Comme a la Maison.

Since I blogged here last, I have been working mainly on preparing lesson notes for a child care workers training course. The course is to help child care workers understand children’s behaviour, so that they can then find ways to teach the child more appropriate behaviour options. The idea is that this training can be taught to child care workers, in various roles, in Khmer, to help up-skill the workers, and make them more effective.

At Bible College, I avoided all the children’s ministry and youth ministry courses I could. I had to do one unit to complete my degree, but I focused a lot more on the theories of youth work than anything to do with actually working with children. So I am learning a lot! I am mainly learning that children need to be led from understanding that a particular behaviour has an immediate, short term, positive consequence for them, to understanding that a behaviour has a long term, positive consequence for other people. Positive short term consequences are like teaching dog tricks with doggie treats! It’s the long term, others-centred behaviour that is harder to convey effectively.

I have still been teaching some bible classes and songs to the youth at Family of Hope. I really enjoy spending time explaining how to read the bible to the older youth. I know that it supposed to be a spiritual exercise, but a lot of what I end up teaching is more to do with basic comprehension of text. We talk about context, the intended audience, presuppositions as well as overall themes. To be able to read and understand these things is important for reading any text, but especially for the bible!

I’ve pulled out all the old school youth group songs that I can think of that had “cool” actions and a fast tempo (think, “Praise Him” from Planet Shakers). One of the guys at the school is a good guitarist, so he is all over these songs, and we play together. A lot of the kids go to more traditional Khmer churches, so they have less exposure to the latest songs. And I am not exposing them to the latest songs either!! I’ve mixed up the “dance” to Praise Him to include a Mexican Wave, which took some explaining/translating. As soon as I mentioned “football” (a.k.a. soccer) they understood.

I have really enjoyed the last little while here. I have made heaps of friends, Christians and non-Christians. I ran into a coffee guy on Saturday night, who is the manager for a company roasting Cambodian coffee, and tonight a wine guy, who organises wine-tasting nights. Tomorrow night he is doing a “South Australian Wines” night – which I may be able to squeeze in between swing class and social dance time. I also played at Elim church for the first time since Warnbro. It is a beautiful community of people where I feel very much at home. All-in-all, I have had a very blessed time here in the past few weeks, and will definitely miss being here! Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts, and I look forward to seeing most of you soon!

I am excited that I am coming home in 2 months. I really can’t wait to see everyone again. 6 months isn’t really a long time, but at the moment it feels like it is I’m missing different things about Australia. I miss the beach being close – for walks when I feel stressed, or want to feel closer to God, and I miss having parks and green open spaces. Apart from the Riverfront, there are no “green spaces” in Phnom Penh at all – no parks or grassed areas, or even playgrounds. If you want those, you have to go to the Riverfront with the other masses of people.

If I were to stay in Phnom Penh long term, I would definitely want to cultivate a roof top garden, or courtyard on the ground floor or something. There is something about being surrounded by nature, even “manicured” nature, that I didn’t really realise that I needed until I came here. I had a conversation with a girl, Grace, along these lines. She comes from Hong Kong, which apparently has no parks also, due to space being at a premium. We were contrasting these cities with London, Paris, Perth, or even Sydney. Even the action of walking home through a park like Hyde Park can be enough to release the stresses of being immersed in an urban environment. For these reasons, and others, I am intending to return to Perth to live. I don’t know exactly what I will be doing when I get there, but I know that I will be playing music more than ever before.

But for now, I am having many more conversations with different Khmer people that I encounter. I guess my face is a little more familiar now. These conversations are very dear to me, as life is all about relationships with people, and I would hate to be in Cambodia not speaking with Khmer people. One lady is studying Korean in her work breaks so that she can go to South Korea and earn more money to support her family. Another girl has stopped studying at university so she can focus on an internship at her church this year wholeheartedly. She plans to go back to university when she has time to work and study both, as she is supporting herself. One of the church musicians wants to have a cafe with a small stage to promote Christian music in Phnom Penh. The father of one of the students in Phnom Penh is in hospital at the moment, recovering from a stomach operation. I had the chance to visit him, bringing a gift of sweetened condensed milk (a Khmer favourite) from myself and other staff at Empowering Cambodia. We had a little conversation aided by Phearin translating (thanks Phearin!), and we prayed together with other family members for his continued healing.

On Saturdays I enter the other world of Phnom Penh, the expat community. I am teaching beginner guitar to 12 students, 10 of whom are expats. Some of the students are really motivated, watching Youtube videos about how to play certain songs, or different techniques. They keep me on my toes. I am learning far more Beetles than I ever knew before! I will be attending the 8th International Music Festival Phnom Penh, over 5 nights in early November. In order to promote classical music in Phnom Penh, the events are free. Although you always see Caucasians and Asians whom you are sure aren’t Khmer on the street, it’s like they all come out of their hidey-holes (or embassies) at these events. A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of hearing the Wittenburg Chamber Orchestra, with some Khmer musicians. It was quite incredible, and the Khmer musicians would have been much encouraged by the opportunity to play with the orchestra, although I understand that some of them flew home to “S’rok Khmer” to be here for the event.

Over the next two months, I also plan to visit Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. I can’t wait to see the ancient temples – especially as they have been overtaken by nature, resulting in some wonderful scenery that has inspired many artists, authors and directors. Apparently it is good to go to see the sunrise over the main temple… I’m not sure how I feel about that, but I’ve not seen a sunrise properly since I’ve been in Cambodia, so I think I will make the effort! I will probably have time for one more trip out of Phnom Penh before I come home, so I am trying to decide between Ho Chi Minh and Kep, another seaside town in Cambodia. They are quite opposite: one, a metropolis of over 9 million people, and the other a small town in picturesque countryside…

So, you know all those American sports movies where the final game is fairly predictable? I’ll give you my version:

Due to some previous successes, the team heads into the state final fairly confidently. But the first half doesn’t go to plan. They might score some points initially, but then the opposite team – the enemy – starts taking control of the game, until at half time, the challenge of winning the game seems impossible. Then, the whistle is blown for half time. Something happens at half time to re-fire the team. They remember who they are, they remember the power in team work. Normally, this is because a coach gives a rallying, inspirational speech.

At the moment, I feel like a team player on a bench in the locker room. I’ve heard the speech. I now have to consciously choose to believe what the coach says. I have to choose not to act based on how I feel, but on what I know to be true.

I’m about half way thru my time here at Empowering Cambodia. The things that I thought i’d enjoy are turning out to be the harder things to do. Grabbing my guitar and singing songs with the students at Family of Hope with some games,a bible study and english lessons is great. Working in the office is much harder! And I’m loving teaching music on Tuesday nights and Saturdays. Music seems to bypass a lot of cultural pitfalls.

So I have some admin projects to complete before I come home at Christmas time. I’m trying to do things that will be of most value to the people that EC work with when I’m gone. Over the past month I lost sight of the big picture, with personal stuff overshadowing the importance of ministry. I wasn’t well for some time, felt isolated, and struggled to communicate well. The times when I felt I was helping people all happened outside of EC . Then I realised that my efforts to “minister” were born out of a desire to perform well, rather than overflowing from genuine love for people.

Now, I’m determined to do the things in front of me with a whole heart. As a Christian, I want to show God’s love for people, not my desperate need to contribute! As 1 Corinthians 13:3 (CEV) says:
What if I gave away all that I owned and let myself be burned alive?
I would gain nothing, unless I loved others.

I have just had 2 weeks holidays here. The first week I spent some time in a nice hotel on my own, and the second week my sister, Rebecca, came to visit. I had a really good time being a tourist here. We went swooning, had facials and massages, visited the Killing Fields and went quad-biking through the country side.

There’s less than 11 weeks til Christmas. I want to be as deliberate as possible in that time, not just pass time until I see you all again. So, please pray that in every little thing I do, little seeds of growth and hope would be planted in the hearts of every one I encounter. Hope is needed in Cambodia. Young people need a bigger vision for their lives, and people to support them as they learn how to think outside the cultural box that surrounds them.

Today is the 1 month anniversary of my arrival in Phnom Penh.

The month has passed so quickly, and I hardly know how to summarise it. I am still being driven around in a tuktuk, wide-eyed at the sights … very excited to have driven past 2 organic vegetable shops today – on 63rd Street. I will be going back there for sure. I’ve made friends, been to the beach, had fun hanging out with visiting teams, been to a party with a bunch of expats about my age…

Before you think that I’ve been here on holiday (!) I will share some of the things I’m really proud of:

I now know all the names of the students at the Family of Hope, and I am building relationships with them more every time we hang out, or have lessons. They are all wonderfully different from each other, with different stories and backgrounds, but they are definitely a family. I am teaching them every afternoon during the week. My classes are English, English Worship Songs, Bible Study, 7 Habits and History. I’ve just taught them “One Thing Remains” from the latest Jesus Culture album – they love it

I’m helping in the office in the mornings. So far, I think my greatest contribution has been helping word emails with better english, and being a sounding board for ideas and issues in the office. Malis and Phearin are great, and I am learning heaps from them every day.

I start Khmer lessons for real Monday evening. I hope to be a good student, and if there is time in my teacher’s schedule, I will try to have more than 1 lesson a week. I’m sure the students at Family of Hope will help me to get the pronunciation right. It makes such a difference when I try to communicate in the local language, so it is definitely worth the effort. I’m not sure I will try and learn to read and write, just speak

I have had a chance to develop some great friendships, and meet wonderful people.

There are some more opportunities for me to help out around the place, maybe at New Life Church as well. I am looking at these and waiting and praying – I hope that my time here will be used fully.

Thank you all for your support over the last month. I have been so blessed – by your reading the blog, commenting and letting me know I am (not – typo!!) forgotten, by your giving and your prayers. This is an amazing opportunity, and I am happy to be here, serving the Khmer people.

****NOTE: There is a blog coming for my time at the beach this past week, but not ready yet and I need to sleep now!