Yesterday I attended the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia’s 32nd annual general meeting. It was an all day event and I was able to attend in person for the first time in a long time. The CCC is Cambodia’s oldest and largest NGO networking group. MCC was a founder member of the CCC back in 1990,…
Myanmar: Give the LORD no rest
The situation in Myanmar is getting worse. Now the power cuts are extreme and people are surviving without electricity most of the time, setting alarms for when the electricity comes on so they can quickly cook their food and charge their phones. Food and basic commodities are more expensive. And Omicron is blazing through the…
Impacts of climate change in Mondulkiri province
I wanted to share this story that was written by one of our YAMEN participants, Jacksha from Malawi, who is working with our local partner the Cambodian Rural Development Team (CRDT). She had a wonderful time traveling out to Mondulkiri province, which is in the northeast highlands, to meet with the farmer in the story…
Some photos of Catherine being a big girl
Now we’re looking ahead to Catherine’s birthday in May and realizing that she’s turning the same age that Charlotte was when she moved here. There’s definitely some COVID-19 time dilation going on because it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long. In any case, I wanted to share some photos of Catherine’s final months as…
The Season of Lent
For Lent this year, both Crystal and I have gone on a social media fast. You won’t be seeing us on Facebook or Twitter, unless we need to hop on for work, but instead we’re trying to redirect the time and energy we usually spend on social media towards God. At least that’s the intention….
Charlotte’s 8th Birthday
Last month we celebrated Charlotte’s 8th birthday in isolation. All four of us had COVID-19 at the time but, fortunately, the birthday girl had the mildest symptoms of the four of us. She had been hoping for a birthday party with her friends from school but, while disappointed, was completely understanding of the situation. At…
Earl Shutt
I haven’t shared the story of how I became Mennonite here (and I won’t be now) but the course of my life was changed profoundly by attending Fairfield Mennonite Church while in High School. Suffice to say, I wouldn’t be with Mennonite Central Committee or in Cambodia now if not for that congregation’s influence. As…
Prayer for Peace, from Cambodia to Ukraine
Monika, from Cambodia, served in Ukraine with MCC’s YAMEN program from 2019 to 2020. I shared some of her social media posts in an earlier post and I wanted to follow-up by sharing her prayer for peace. The Lord of peace, the Lord of love, I kneel here, crying and pleading, waiting for the miracles…
Ukraine and Colonialization
This week, I’ve been thinking back to a conversation I had during our MCC orientation in 2019. This occurred during a session on colonialism. The facilitator split the participants into two groups based on their skintone – people of color were to discuss the legacy of being colonized and white people were to discuss the…
War, Peace, and YAMEN.
A joint initiative of Mennonite Central Committee and Mennonite World Conference, the Young Anabaptist Mennonite Exchange Network (YAMEN) is a year-long Christian service opportunity for young adults from outside the U.S. and Canada. This cross cultural exchange sends young adults between developing countries, where they live with a local host family, attend a local church,…