The prayer and more.

Today has been an exciting one, It is today that we get the best idea as to whether the people have understood the teaching and caught the vision for what it can mean for their church and local community.

We began every session (3 per day) with outstanding worship led by the students from the Normisjon dormitory pluss others. Something I don't often see in my church are elderly people bopping and dancing to the latest Christian song, as worship is loudly led by a very good and enthusiastic drummer, bass guitarist, accoustic guitar, keyboard and african drums. There were also up to 12 teenagers leading the worship. It was alive, vibrant and moving. Some of the songs we knew from English but by no means all of them, it didn't matter.

There was a lot of time allocated to group work today. When everyone had made plans for their church for the next six months it was time to present their ideas and vision to the other churches. This always takes some time so we divided into two groups in two seperate rooms. There will be another Agenda1 for these same leaders in six months time. The first session will then be self-assessment of what they planned and how it went. What are the successes and what are/were the challenges?

I have had to wear a "tag" so that people knew I was a member of the conference, this was especially important at meal times otherwise I risked not getting anything to eat! Those of you who have ever been with me to an event where we wear name labels will know that I HATE them. I was however happy to wear this one because I thought it was rather fun, my name was written in Khmer - how cool is that!

Talking of food, I generally like Khmer food but there was a couple of dishes which I passed over. One of them, chicken with ginger and noodles sounded very nice, I am fond of both chicken and ginger. It wasn't until it was passed to me that I realized that the chicken was chicken feet. So there I was with a problem, having been passed the plate to help myself I thought it would be too rude to say I had changed my mind but could not imagine eating the scaly toes of a chicken, whatever the sauce tasted like! My solution? I just took noodles and hoped nobody noticed.

Mealtime

During the worship both yesterday and today the sense of the presence of God was really powerful. I do not have prophet as my main area of gifting but sometimes, especially when singing and worshipping I feel Him telling me stuff. There was no exception yesterday when He showed me His plan for Agenda 1 and today he reminded me of His promises for the persecuted and the poor (Rev 7:9-end).

At the end of the conference each group is prayed for with the laying on of hands. In the west we pray for one another in turn and quietly. Not so in Cambodia! Here there is a huge enthusiasm to pray and to be prayed for. Everyone prays loudly and at once and these are by no means short prayers! As each group is prayed for, if anyone has as prophecy or word of knowledge they can write it down for the group to take home with them. There were lots and lots! Prayer like worship in Cambodia is authentic, active and loud. This picture does not do it justice but might give you an idea. I would love Norkirken's prayer ministry team to have been here today. Another time maybe?

Now I am back at the Goldiana Hotel in the centre of the city. There is internet and a swimming pool! Although I will be out and about doing stuff over the next couple of days, I will be staying here until Monday morning.

Helping to develop direction and a missional mindset

The conference is being held in a church. All the meals and the accommodation are in the church. I have a very comfortable room and all the rooms we are using, including the bedrooms have air conditioning, a pleasant surprise.

The Church is not built on a hill, I am holding my camera wonky and have no idea how to correct the problem digitally!

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was no internet at the Church but there was electricity, something which I learned on my last trip, not to take for granted! I have teken a picture of the powerlines to give you an idea of the standard.

 

 

There are 2 of us here from Norway for the Agenda 1 Conference as well as the Cambodian team. Steve Bruns and I. Here's a picture of Steve thinking during one of the breaks.

He has done an excellent job of making the Agenda 1 concept accessible to the Cambodian people who have varying levels of education. We have both been bending our minds about how to convey a thaught or concept pictorally. Between us we have come up with some very good and easy to understand ideas. At least, easy to understand if you are following the teaching. Here is an example:

Can you guess what it is illustrating?








The teaching is not all about sitting on chairs listening. We have many different churches from different places and different denominations represented here. That is the genius of the Agenda concept! It is equally relevant to all, it is cross-denominational and cross-cultural. It was also really great to see the unity of the churches as they worked, worshipped and lived together for three days.

Although there are lots of people, the leaders from each church work together in their group looking how their plans made last time have gone, applying the teaching, dreaming big dreams and then coming back to reality and making concrete plans as to what they want to implement in their church, how they are going to go about it and who will be responsible. Here is a picture of the groups at work:

Notice how young the leaders are!

The conference begins

After a very nice breakfast of freshly made omelett and toast with tea to drink we left the hotel by tuctuc. Travelling on the roads in the city always feels chaotic and uncontrolled and today was no exception. There were people, bikes, mopeds, tuctucs cars and lorries, all going in different directions - usually at the same time. The ride took about 30 minutes and took us to a part of town I have not been to before. There is also here the usual mix of affluence and abject poverty co-existing and clear for all to see. There is so much poverty here that it is not possible to hide it away or legislate against it was we do in the west.

 

 

 

There are over a hundred church leaders gathered for three days of teaching, discussion and planning. As with all gatherings of Christians, the day began with some excellent worship led by students from the dormitory which Normisjon runs here in the capital.

 

 

The church leaders who are gathered reflect the society in general here with the majority being young. The country still struggles With the after-effects of the Khmer Rouge genocide. T he four years they were in power during the 1970’s saw almost a whole generation wiped in those few years.

 

 

The lunch was very tasty, traditional Khmer cuisine eaten outside in the shade. In conversation with one of the pastors he shared with me that one of the problems he faces in his area is the ever present threat of starvation. This is not a real problem for most of us church leaders in the west. The church in the west is in danger of over-eating both spiritually and literally while the churches in countries like Cambodia is hunger both spiritually and literally.

 

The theme of these next three days is discipleship. What was a disciple in Jesus’ day and what does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus today? I shared with the conference that a disciple is not what you do but who you are. Whether we are aware of it or not we are all followers of something or someone. Being a Christian is about who you choose to follow. You can’t follow someone unless you are going the same way as them. It is easy to see that we cannot follow Jesus and at the same time go our own way. I touched on the truth that following Jesus is a way of being, it’s who we are. I will be going deeper into it in a teaching session this evening (using Matt 4. 18-22). We are both disciples and leaders at the same time. Jesus sent us into the world as his disciples but with a mandate to amongst other things, make disciples (see Matt 28. 16-20). Who are you following and who’s following you?

Sights and smells

I have arrived safely in Cambodia, just waiting for the other person I am working with, Steve, to arrive on a flight later today, The journey was a little long but went very well. I left a cold Sola airport in Stavanger at 7am headed for Frankfurt. After that was a lunch time flight from Frankfurt to Singapore. It was a 12 hour flight which made my arrival time midnight European time but 6am here. Lost a night somewhere on the journey!

Landed safely in Singapore, found my way to a different terminal by sky train and onto the flight in time.






 

 

It was so nice to be met at the airport and to see old friends again. I have spent some time by the pool, then into the nearby shops to locate factor 50 suncream. Not so necessary in the city but this evening we, the leaders are sharing a meal and having a planning/strategy meeting. After that I have no idea when I might get time for shopping before the last day! I will definitely need the suncream.

 

Travel in the city is either by private car, Bicycle, moped or tuctuc. Tuctucs are everywhere and the drivers are all willing to take you anywhere you want to og.

These are an inexpensive and reasonably safe way of getting around the city. It is helpful if your tuctuc driver speaks a bit of English, mine didn't! No problem though, he got out his map of the city so I could point to where I wanted to og to, but the map was written in Khmer! Still no problem, we just stopped a passing padestrian who happily translated for us.

It is almost three years since I was here last but I still remember the sights, whole families and shopping crammed onto a moped. Nor are the smells forgotten, the smell of oyster sauce, quite pleasant in small quantities is really overpowering when the streets are full of street vendors selling take-away food. The combination of that and the usual city pollution and grime means that Phnom Penh is not easily forgotten.

Tomorrow we head into the suburbs for the start of the conference I will be helping to lead. There will be lots of Church leaders from all over the country and various denominations gathered for a week of inspiration and teaching. Very exciting!

 
 

 



How many degrees?

Can you see the temperature here today? -9 degrees centigrade. In 48 hours I will be in Cambodia and it will be about 40 degrees warmer than Ørsdalen today! I have finished packing, it seems strange to pack shorts and tops, suncream and mosquito spray, mosquito net and sandals. My head knows that in just a couple of days I will be in the warmth (and humidity) of Cambodia but some how I am struggling with digesting this idea! It does not help that it has been a gorgeous, if cold day here in Ørsdalen with sun and snow.

I have just had a look at the weather forecast for Phnom Penh next week. They are forecasting +33 - +34 degrees and sunny. The down side is that it will also be 82% humidity. The first night there will be air conditioning but after that... who knows, that remains to be seen! I think I will need to invest in some high factor sunscreen too.

For anyone reading this in warm climates, here is a snow picture from this afternoon. For anyone reading it the north, well, look what you missed.

History Makers

One of the projects Normisjon runs in Cambodia is the History Makers Project. The aim is to give students from the countryside who are coming to take a further education course in the capitol Phnom Penh, a safe place to live. There are two student hostels, one for boys and one for girls. Each one has about twenty places.  The fourty students are cared for by a house mother, Lysom (playing the guitar) and a house father, Situon (below) and their two small boys.

 These pictures were taken on my trip almost Three years ago. Many of the students I got to know on that trip have now finished their studies and moved on although I hope to meet some from last time.

One of the activities these students have started is to bring kindness to the very poor people who live in the slum area of the city. This slum is built on a disused rubbish tip and in the rainy season the rubbish just floats about the make-shift homes. The students have had a number of actions in the slum bringing a bit of humanity, love and kindness to the families who live there.

One of the parents I have contact with through one of our church groups has donated LOADS of clothing for boys and girls aged 0-3 years. I will be taking it with me, after all, I don't really need to take much for just me. The students will then be able to give it to the families in the slum area as a very small act of kindness in what can otherwise be a harsh existence. Picture below.


Most people have not said no to Jesus, they just don't know what he's like. Our small acts of loving kindness in the everyday matters reflect just a little bit of his love and grace. One person cannot change the world but together we can!

Here we go again!

I sit here and wonder how to start off. It has been more than 2 years since I wrote anything on here. There are all sorts of witty ways of beginning again but none of them "feel" right. Oh well, here we go!

I am off to Cambodia again in 5 days. No I haven't known about it for very long, but never mind that. I am off to teach the Agenda 1 concept which we use here in Norway for Christians wanting to lead lives focussed on Jesus. It focusses on living missional lives and growing in our discipleship.

I am travelling all that way alone. Steve Bruns and I will be teaching but Steve's flight lands about 12 hours after mine.

There are lots of things I am looking forward to on the trip. I am looking forward to teaching in English, the warmth - perhaps not the humidity though but most of all I am looking forward to seeing the people I met last time and the friends I made there. It is strange but I find it is the people I miss most, whether it is back in the UK or in Romsdal where we lived for ten years when the children were small or the people I have met while travelling.

As I was praying and thinking this morning I read the story of Jesus' baptism. Before Jesus has done anything he hears the voice of his Father affirming him and saying "This is my Son whom I love." It struck me that this happened before Jesus has done anything. I then wondered how good I am at resting in the fact that I too am loved for who I am before I have done anything. This is my daughter, adopted in my family, whom I love. I know the theory, most Christians do, but do I live like I believe it? Maybe, sometimes... 

The status so far regarding the trip is: vaccinations - done, medical case in event of illness - done, tell people who need to know - done, flights and bookings - done, visa applied for and received back. I guess there is only the packing left to do. I have begun to gather together a heap of things on the dining room table so I am at least started with that.More about the packing tomorrow.