Weaving God into Daily Conversation

We had Socheat, his wife, seven year old boy and 11 month old baby over for dinner last night. We told them that we would have American food for them to try. Courtney made breaded chicken with mash potatoes and gravy. Everything was ready for their traditional “late” arrival so we took advantage of the time and prayed for evening and conversation together. This Cambodian custom of arriving late is something we have gotten use to, but we never had completely understood.

As it turns out they were only at our house for an hour. The evening progressed and they even liked the food! Socheat started a conversation by asking if it was OK to ask some questions. My heart skipped a beat and I thought here it is, the question about Jesus. His question, sadly, wasn’t gospel related. He wanted to know if it was true that Europeans kiss when they meet, and was this an American custom as well. The conversation continued on this topic; the differences between European (French) customs and Cambodian customs.

His last question was about nude bathing in Europe, now prevalent in Thailand. His wife and seven year old were both present at the table and such risque conversation in mixed company is not the norm. But they were all attentive, as if they all were wondering the same thing. No one blushed or stirred in their chairs. This behavior is not acceptable in Cambodia, and he wondered how embarrassing this tradition must be.

Court felt the Lord leading to talk about the subject of God. But, how? Just blast in with Jesus dying on the cross or what? Then she heard herself saying, “You know that reminds me of a story about Creation…..” She went on to explain that everything God made was good and perfect without sin. Then God created the first man and the first women and they also were good without sin and naked. But once they disobeyed God sin enter the world and their body and they realized for the first time that they were naked. They became ashamed and embarrassed. This was the fist time that man had ever sinned and first time they had ever felt this emotion. They listened to the story but then their baby started crying and our conversation came to an end.

When they finally left, both of us started to laugh about how I tried to get in a spiritual conversation while talking about nude European bathing. You definitely need a sense of humor in ministry.

We are praying for the seeds (no matter how kookie they come) we have planted and for more opportunities to share. Our team (two other couples and us) will be going to Socheat’s house tonight (Monday). He has invited us over for dinner. Please pray as all of us share a meal and hopefully more interesting spiritual conversations.

What would you do?

In Anthological circles, missionaries are often demonized. Missionaries are commonly posed as the ones who destroy cultures, crusading over the barbarians, making peace loving tribal people conform to some Victorian and prudish norms. Missionaries are the ones who took surfing and the Hula away from the Hawaiians after all.

Yes, missionaries have gone way overboard in some cultures. Sometimes non-moral practices, such as a sport or fashion, have been unnecessarily put down by missionaries who claim the moral high ground. It is a case of missionaries majoring on minor or non-issues, if you will. I believe missions in general has made great improvement in recent decades and has refocused on the essentials of their message.

Cultures, on the other hand, are not necessary always good for people. Preserving a “culture” as if it is something holy is off the scale in the other direction. Some cultural behavior degrade a people group, destroying relationships and diminish social cohesion. Long held common social practices sometimes lead to more social problems. Often a people group doesn’t see the causes of their own social problems because they are in the culture. The old “frog in the kettle” scenario. Slowly, imperceptibly, peoples behavior heats up, causing people emotional pain, and people don’t know why it is. Such practices should be called out by missionaries. It takes an outside perspective, like a missionary, to diagnose a problem and cause social change.

In Cambodia, child molestation is common. I will withhold the specifics in consideration of my reader. Both male and female adults practice what I will call, “inappropriate touching” of children as a means of teasing, playing, or pacifying a child. Such practices, if preformed in other countries, would undoubtably be grounds for criminal prosecution. But to Cambodians, this is an non-moral issue, a cultural pattern that has been practice for who knows how long.

And Cambodians wonder why there are so many family and marriage issues in their culture.

Yesterday, I witnessed such an event as a male neighbor inappropriately touched a young male child from another family. The child’s mother and female neighbor were present as well as my wife and I. No protests were made by the mother. Her reaction was if it was an non-moral issue and was not offended. However, the young boy clearly felt degraded, screamed out in cries, swinging his fists at the older male as he persisted in the assault. It was over in moments. As an observer, I felt anger, but I held my tongue as I watched and waited for the mothers lead in the situation. Nothing came.

Now, what would you do if you were the missionary? Would you: a)walk over and bust the man in the chops for his behavior? b) preach at the man, explaining to him (who doesn’t have the same moral background as you) that he is preforming an immoral act? c) wait for an opportunity share the Gospel and then hope later to address this issue? d) consider this issue as a minor issue and just get over it?

If you think of another option please send me your thoughts.
Jeff

The Koh Kong Health Club

Our goal in coming to Koh Kong was to share about Jesus. In many ways, we have seen a lot of measurable success. While we have had many opportunities to this end, we have not seen many deep relationships. I think we assumed this would naturally happen, but for some reason, Cambodians in Koh Kong are a bit resistant to relationships beyond casual conversation.

So our solution is to start a business to help bridge the gap. A small project to help us get deeper relationships. Something that doesn’t cost a lot of money or need a lot of time to maintain. Our solution is the Koh Kong Health Club.

The people of Koh Kong are more health conscience than most Cambodians. They know about some of the basic elements to healthy living and they believe that exercise is one of them. So we created the Koh Kong Health Club to meet this need and help us get deeper relationships.

The amazing thing about the Club is that is was easy for us to put together. Our teammates have experience in exercise. James has loved to lift weights for a long time and has built homemade exercise equipment. Pat is a physical therapist, who specialized in sports medicine. Lynette is a former aerobics instructor. Jeannie is a marathon runner. Courtney knows how to do the books and speaks Khmer really good. And I (Jeff),…well I just help and learn.

We opened on April 1, 2009 and already we have had more contacts than in the many months prior. Gospel conversation seems to be quite common at the gym. Keep praying that through the Club we well break the relationship barrier that has stopped us up.

Going to the Dogs

Cambodia has a fascination with dogs. Even the poorest person has two or three. Existing on the smallest of food portions from their owners, millions of dogs rummage around the country looking for food. In Cambodia, if there is a heap of garbage, their is sure to be a dog looking for something edible, or at the very least, chewable.

Sanitation is a difficult task because of the dog issue. Street side garbage cans aren’t used here. Why? Because poor people would steal the cans. Plastic garbage bags are sometimes used, but the many dogs tear into them, strewing about the contents all over the street. One of the many reasons Cambodia is covered in litter.

Cambodia, with its traces of Buddhist influence, believes the killing of animals is a sin. While the killing of animals to eat is somewhat acceptable, to kill a dog just because he is a nuisance is wrong. A dog could be the reincarnation of an ancestor. Killing an ancestor is bad. Therefore, dogs are allowed to roam the streets and towns throughout the country, many times, wreaking havoc.

Dogs here are not the family pet, and they are not trained to be. They are spanked and beaten for perceived misbehavior or they are sometimes tied up, but for the most part, dogs are wild. They listen only to the one who feeds them. Beating a dog is acceptable behavior, if it is your dog.

So why have a dog? Security for one reason. A good dog who sticks close to the house will alert you when a thief is near. Theft is a problem and Cambodians have a heartfelt need for feeling secure, to know that someone, even a dog, is looking out for them. Dogs generally do a good job at watching out for their territory. Even the smallest of them will fight for their spot of ground.

Walking down the street is a dangerous endeavor. One must always be on the alert. I have seen packs of dogs chase down school children, knock down a moving bicycle, even stop a motorcycle. I have seen large packs of wandering dogs meet and fight. At night, the noise of fighting and mating dogs is sometime insufferable, sleeping a hopeful wish. Living in Cambodia is like living in a dog kennel.

I had another reminder of this lesson the other day. While walking the half mile to my friends house, I was met by a large pack of dogs. They weren’t happy to see me. Maybe it was the color of my skin? I don’t know, but twelve dogs chased me with savage intent. Surrounded by these bullies, I swatted and kicked, but to know avail. I yelled back at them, I charged at them, but they were unmoved. I could hear the sharp snap of their jaws from behind, so I spun around to kick the mongrels. I missed, slipped and fell on by back. Now, the situation was worse. I was looking up at these frothed mouth, perturbed dogs, and I thought that a bite wound was inevitable. Surely, I was going to the hospital.

Out of the house next to where I lay, a old woman came running, armed with a weapon. She startled the dogs with some Cambodian battle cry just as they move to strike, and I had a moment to stand back up. She charged the pack and scattered them, waving her stick. She was effective and they started to withdraw. I saw my moment to get way and I hobbled quickly on my way. I told her “thank you” as I retreated. No reply, she waved at me to go on. The pack of dogs disappeared into the brush. Maybe they were her dogs? I didn’t stick around to find out.

It is funny how a stop-gap measure causes more problems. We have a heartfelt need, yet what we use to fill the need has ramifications in other areas. Cambodians want to feel secure (the heartfelt need), so they get a dog (stop-gap). The new dog starts to bite pedestrians or tears into the garbage (new problem). So now something has to be done to fix the problems cause by the dog. But, since the heartfelt need is met, there seems to be less motivation to fix the new problems. Those problems somehow become the property of someone else.

Prayer rarely seems to be a solution to our heartfelt needs. The spiritual battle goes on daily against the current unseen ruler of this world. Like it or not, we are in the throws of a spiritual conflict. Our weapon isn’t a stick but the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. We have been given every spiritual tool necessary to stand firm (not slipping), resist the attacks and pray! Eph 6:10-20.

Many of us find prayer a hard habit to maintain. Finding a stop-gap seems easier. Even the smallest (or elderly) can have a huge impact in the spiritual battle through prayer. Prayer seems so passive, yet it is the perfect solution for our needs. We become alert to see how God meets those heartfelt needs and we receive the peace we ultimately desire without the by-products of new problems.

Some Break…

After the prayer conference last week, Courtney and I needed to go Phnom Penh to get our truck fixed and see the dentist. Yeah, not fun, but we decided to spend a few extra days at hotel with a pool to take a break. While the prayer conference was a total success, we felt the need for a reprieve and a swim.

Our SUV needed the air conditioner fixed. It was really bad timing for it to break. Not only were we transporting a truck load of Cambodian friends home from the prayer conference in 100 degree temperatures, those friends purchased, durian fruit, shrimp paste, fresh fish, and squid for the ride home. This wouldn’t have been so bad, except that the coolers that contained these treasures, leaked, spilling a large amount of the liquid contents into the deep recesses of my SUV. The smell of one of these items is bad, but mixed together, was absolutely unbearable. The mechanic who later helped me with repairs almost refused to work because of the stench.

But as we came into Phnom Penh, Courtney had to drop me off at the dentists, run some quick errands, and pick me up around 5 pm, the hottest part of the day. As she neared the dentists office, our truck stalled out in a very tight, busy intersection. And of course, it wouldn’t start. Here she was, our boy Weston is in his car seat screaming because of the heat and stench, anxious feelings flowing with the needs of a new baby, over 100 degrees outside the car, no a/c, and getting yelled at by Cambodians who are too busy and impatient to help her push start the car.

After 10 minutes of pleading people to help a few older men helped her push the car and get it started (they also stated that she was neglecting the baby in the car, but what could one do?). She arrived at the dentists, completely wet with sweat, holding Weston, who equally hot and wet, and his diaper bag. We rushed him into the air conditioned doctor’s office, while I, still numb and dizzy from the dentist appointment, helped her give him a bath in a sink to cool him down. We reached that familiar emotional threshold again, either laugh, or have a nervous breakdown. We chose to laugh.

We spent the last few days setting by a pool, waiting for the truck to get fixed, and the foul fetor to subside. Before we left Phnom Penh to return home to Koh Kong, we decided to stop by the office and get our mail. As Weston and I were on our way out to the truck from our office door, we were met by a Cambodian man in the street. He was in his mid forties, covered with blood from head to toe, with a dazed look on his face. It was as if he had been hit by a car or something, but I saw no car. Did he fall off something? Was he ran over? Cambodians were coming out from their houses to witness this hideous sight.

He was bleeding profusely from one of his hands, saliva was dripping from his mouth, and he acted like he was completely disoriented. I ran back inside the office, called for Courtney (who is a nurse) and tried to steady myself (I get light headed with the sight of human blood). No one was willing to help him. Nearly forty people we assembled to watch this man bleed to death, and I wondered why no one was wanting to help him. It was then the visual clues were falling into place and it finally occurred to us what was really going on. He was not hit by a car, but in the process of committing suicide. A bloody piece of glass was on the far side of the street which he used to lacerate his wrist.

He was completely intoxicated with alcohol (maybe other things, too). Courtney, with gloves on, and armed with some bandage material from our office made a tourniquet on his wrist. He was so docile and light headed, he didn’t put up a fight. The cut had exposed much of his wrist and a tourniquet was the only way to stop the flow. Weston and I were proud of how she handled the situation! A police man came driving up and waited with us as the ambulance arrived twenty minutes later. He sat on our front steps, not revealing anything about who he was or what drove him to this madness.

After he left, I had to wash away the pool of blood from the place were he sat with a garden hose. My mind began to process the situation. This man, despite how terrible his condition was, was once a little infant, like my Weston. He had a family who loved him, at some point, and cared for him. What had come into his life to push him over the brink? I started to think about others in my life whom I care for. I was terrified that this madness could come to someone I knew, someone like him.

What a blessing it is to have a God who loves us, whose every action is done out of perfect love. What a gift to know him, to know He is completely trustworthy, and shelter in the middle of the storm! We can, at any moment lay our deepest burdens down at His feet.

This poor man, didn’t know what was available to him in his desperate hour. He was ignorant of the great resource available to him. While our encounter with this man was a shock to the system, I walked away with greater motivation in my work here in Cambodia. The needs are substantial, and while my efforts are like a drop in the bucket, the hope available to all is worth my all.

Korean Mobile Clinic 2

Car Accident

Sometimes I wonder if Cambodia is in a different universe. Far away from all other know countries and kingdoms. Maybe Cambodia lies in some sort of Bermuda Triangle, a dimension where the know laws of physics like action/reaction are singularly special, where one plus two equals four. For example, in the US, if there isn’t a guardrail along a walkway, someone is sure to slide off. In Cambodia, there are never any guardrails and it seems there is never a problem. In the US, babies generally sleep in cribs, yet there is an occasional death in that padded environment. In Cambodia, babies sleep in hammocks that hang two to three feet above the floor. Cambodian mothers swing it once in a while, but the baby is generally neglected. Yet, I have never seen a baby injured by falling out of a hammock. These oddities go on and on.

My Car accident is good case to my point. I was driving along the road yesterday night, when I came upon a place where the road divided at a bridge. It was a small bridge, only thirty feet in length, but it divided the road, to where it actually became two bridges; one lane coming and one going. Between the two bridges was a space of only a few feet. At both ends the bridge it was buttressed with two large cement columns, one on each side.

As I was crossing the bridge, I heard a tremendous crash, a split second later a human body dropped in snow flake like fashion from the sky in front of my moving vehicle. As I slammed on the brakes, I heard another large object banging against the side of the car. I wasn’t going very fast, so I stopped suddenly. I got out of the car to see if I ran the falling person over. I didn’t. He got up, dazed and walked to the side of the road and sat down. Looking behind me, there was a crumpled up motorcycle next to my car, beyond that, a motorcycle tire, and beyond that and person laying unconscious in the road. I was in shock to see so much mayhem, yet not sure how it all came about. Another motorcycle came up, scooped up the unconscious person draping his limp body over the seat, and drove off. A crowed of people began to form around me, so I walked to the side of the road and called my friends for help with my cell phone. The police came and took my statement and I went home not sure if one or both of these people had died.

Apparently, two twenty year old boys were late to a wedding. Driving a great speed on one motorcycle (no helmets, no protective gear of any sort) they decided to pass me. Unfortunately for them, they tried to pass me at the bridge, not seeing the cement columns in the dark. At full force, their motorcycle hit the foot of the column, sending in spinning like a slingshot. The driver was flung into the handlebars and thrown abruptly to the ground. The boy on the back was catapulted into the air. So much force was placed into this, now airborne body, by the cart wheeling motorcycle that he flew ten feet in the air vertically and three times that horizontally, easily clearing my moving car. The driverless motorcycle continued it’s acrobatics, spinning in mid air and banging it’s self against the side of the car, finally coming to rest when I stopped.

The miracle of the story is this: no one died. Not only did no one die, but their injuries were minor. The driver suffered a broken clavicle.

Truth is said to be sometimes stranger that fiction. I believe that. The chances of those boys walking away from this accident would be the same as someone winning the lottery. Mathematically, their bodies should have been thoroughly broken on the road, yet they landed just right, touching down in such a way where their heads didn’t hit the cement, or get run over by my car. Amazing? Yes. I believe the hand of God is working in ways that are not yet known to us. However unlikely it was they survived; angles or Providence was on all our side that night and we all lived to tell about it.

Spotlight: Tmaw Saw

Happy New Year! Greetings from Koh Kong, Cambodia!

These past few months have been an amazing time to see God working! He has opened many doors for us in our short time in Koh Kong. Since September God has allowed us to seize the moment, and I think, we have taken advantage of it. As of September we have had 540 conversations with people in Koh Kong. Some of these are follow-up but still amazing. Roughly, we have met 450 people in the last three months and out of those 450 we have shared the gospel or had a spiritual conversation with 197 of those. As a team we have shared the gospel or been involved in a spiritual conversation with 44% of the people we have interacted with. I know it is not about the numbers but I think we can use these numbers to A) praise God for what he’s doing and B) encourage us as we work here.

Earlier in this month Jeff and I were able to go to a local village, Tmaa Saw, and share a video made by Cambodians that shares the gospel. We showed it in an open air coffee shop in the evening. We figure over 100 people watched part if not all of the 1 1/2 hour video. Later on in the evening we had several people come and ask question. Sret, our Khmer staff here in Koh Kong, got the majority of the questions. The village is very welcoming and open to our presence. We are praying about our future ministry in Tmaa Saw. You know, it amazes me that there are people there that have never heard about Jesus. The town is not that isolated and yet the gospel has not yet reach the area. May you all be encouraged as we partner together to reach a new area in Christ’s name!

Personally, our lives have been changed forever just in this past week. As you all know we have not been able to have any children due to infertility issues. We have been researching adoption this past year. Cambodia is closed for US International Adoptions but for US citizen’s living in Cambodia, a way have been opened for foster care and adoption. The US embassy signed an affidavit for us about 4 months ago stating we could proceed with adopting a Cambodian Orphan. We have been working directly with the Cambodian government and US government. We received a phone call early in Dec stating a 5 months old boy had been found for. We meet him on Dec 15th and he has been with us since Dec 25. Yep, since Christmas Day! So for those of you who are emailing us or viewing our face book account and saying, “What! We didn’t know anything about your adoption!” Take heart, neither did we until two weeks ago! The process has happened relatively quickly so we all can be praising God for his gift to us, little Weston Lewis Hogue, born July 15th, 2008.

We are still waiting for the final paper work to be signed so we would greatly appreciate your prayers for him too! Once the paper work is signed we will need to have care of him for 2 years before we will be able to return to the states with him wherein we will re-adopt him and get him naturalized!

Many things to be praising God for as we start a new year and we are so grateful for your faithful support! It amazes me to think we have been in Cambodian since 2000. We are eager to see the work God has for us this year. Our private prayer is Tmaa Saw, an area that appears to have God’s fingerprints on it.

Update on Weston

Well the orphanage allowed us to keep him over the weekend with out his nanny! The government says on Tuesday the paper work will be ready. Of course, we all were totally thrilled to have him this weekend!

I was reflecting on how Gracious God has been to us through the process. First of all, from the time we started the Cambodian adoption process to the time we actually meet Weston was around three months. This is less than normal. Then after we met him and we wanted him so bad, but God didn’t allow us to have him right away. We were able to go to Preah Vihear and enjoy a Christmas program and encourage the other missionary’s there with out him. When we returned to Phnom Penh, Weston was with us all day for several days. His nanny came with us everywhere. I think it was good for her to know us a little and know that we would be good parents. We also were able to share the gospel with her. She knows about God and goes to Church on Sunday’s with some of the orphans. Of course she is not yet a believer but we had many opportunities to share with her. We even gave her a children’s bible in Khmer and the Nativity movie in Khmer. She showed the movie several times at the orphanage.

While we were crying out to the Lord to give us Weston, we also were able to experience some peace that God’s time was right. We resigned ourselves to His timing, even if we never understood his ways. Then a few days ago we found out that our teammates kids have Scarlet Fever (highly contagious). God was protecting Weston from contracting the illness! I thought how gracious the Lord was to show us a reason why we couldn’t get Weston’s papers and take him to Koh Kong, but He did allow us to care for him in Phnom Penh. It is very humbling to see and understand a little of His ways!

We are all still praying for the paper work to be done.

Keep on praying! Love to you all!

Weston Lewis Hogue, part 2

There are a few other pictures in our media folder…