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It is hard to believe that it's already the last day of 2007. I still remember vividly how I told Brian last year that I love the months of October, November and December but hate January. For me, January marks the end of the holiday season (read: vacation, feast, gifts, etc) and the beginning of another year (read: deadlines, work, etc). I remember feeling exactly the same way about the start of a year when I was a child as that meant that it's time to go back to school (January is the beginning of the school year in Malaysia).
However, this year-end has been so busy for us that there was hardly any "holiday season." So, I'm not as depressed about New Year's day this time round. New Year's eve will see us shopping for groceries (food prices are slated to increase by at least 10% by January 1) and in the evening, we'll be going to our church for Watchnite Service where we contemplate God's goodness over the past year as we herald in the new one in faith. Before the service starts, there will be supper - teochew porridge (it's a rice congee meal - Chinese comfort-food - see pix below).
Brian begins a new phase of his life on January 2. He will be a full-time student again. I salute his academic stamina!
Anyhow, here's wishing everyone of you as great new start to another year! I'll leave you with a quote from GK Chesterton:
“The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year.
It is that we should have a new soul”
Christmas was especially low-key for us this year. As we're still recovering from our travels and Brian is still battling his Cambodian-stomach, we decided we'll just veg at home and watch tv. Unlike last year when my mom and sister visited and I cooked up a traditional (American) Xmas feast (ham, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, etc), this year we had instant ramen and salad. There weren't many boxes under the tree either as we decided to keep it simple (read: frugal) since Brian is going back to school as a full-time student next year.
What was fun was how we were able to do web-cam conferencing with Brian's family in Maryland via Skype. It was really nice to be able to see everyone and be a part of the festivities there vicariously.
While many are winding down at work at this time of the year, I've got one more conference to teach at tomorrow. Last few days saw me busy putting my presentation together.
For those of you who do not know, Brian is a bibliographer. He keeps a comprehensive database of all the books we own (in the thousands) and the books we'd love to have. He has an incredible memory, too, when it comes to authors and titles of books. I remember how I used to call him when I'm at a bookstore and we'd play this game where I'll name him the title of a book and he'd give me the name of the author. He gets it correct 99% of the time!
Anyhow, on this database that he has, he'd list the title, author/contributors, publisher, etc of the book. This week, he informed me, I've made it onto his list! I contributed a chapter to a book published by Thomas Nelson and we got our copy yesterday. Since I'm one of the writers, my name would be on the "Brian Thomas List"! I'm thrilled to see my chapter in print and it feels so unreal to be contributing to a book alongside giants like Alister McGrath, Ravi Zacharias and John Lennox!
Meanwhile, I'll leave you with a pix of my bibliographer!
We just came back exhausted from our Cambodian trip. It was quite an experience. Our church sent about 19 people, divided up into three teams. One team went to an orphanage, about 1 ½ hour outside of Phnom Penh. Our church has been ministering to this orphanage for some years. Another team of teachers went to help train some Cambodian school teachers. I’Ching and I constituted the third team, and our purpose was to speak to university students and teach some classes at a bible college there.
One of our contacts in Phnom Penh was a missionary and his family. They have been in Cambodia for 11 years, and worked with Cambodian refugees in the US before that. He speaks Khmer and gave us a lot of insight into what is going on in Cambodia. He and his wife are really warm and hospitable. They invited us to dinner a couple of times, and were really pleasant to get to know. His 16-year-old son who prefers the nickname “Peter” from The Chronicles of Narnia (!) is a great Dutch Blitz player, and we had a great time introducing I’Ching to the game.
Universities in Phnom Penh do not have dorms on campus for their students—they have to find their own housing. This can be a great difficulty for them, especially those who come from the provinces. Many male students stay at some of the Buddhist temples for free, but it is not a great environment for study. So our friend runs a male dorm and a female dorm, each with a resident director. They look out for students who are bright and poor as potential dorm residents. The goal is to have 70% Christian students and 30% non-Christian. All of the students are ministered to and cared for.
I’Ching and I each gave a one-hour talk to the dorm students over two nights. I also was able to attend the Khmer church service on Sunday. The really encouraging thing about these experiences is that the Khmer students are so hungry for the gospel and to follow Christ. They ask good questions, and we were able to have some engaging conversations with the ones that spoke English. Some people from the other teams were able to come with us one night, and they all helped to engage the students afterward.
We also taught at a bible college for three days. Each day starts with a devotional in chapel. We also taught an afternoon class for a few hours on two days. These were also wonderful students who were really hungry for the Word of God.
For all of our meetings, we had to use a translator. This is one difficulty in Cambodia. All of our meetings cover only about half of what one would expect because of translation. Furthermore, the Khmer language lacks words for some biblical, theological, and philosophical concepts, so it is quite difficult to communicate certain ideas to them. One need for Cambodian bible students is to enhance their theological vocabulary, perhaps by taking words from English and having the meanings explained in Khmer. There is a lot of work to be done in this area.
The good news is that the Church is growing in Cambodia, and the young people are really open to the Gospel. Buddhism is just a piece of the cultural identity and furniture there—it doesn’t really meet the needs of the soul. So many are open to Christianity, and thus both the Buddhist priests and the authorities are concerned with the growth of the Christianity. Officially, the percentage of Christians in Cambodia is up to 4%, but it is estimated to be much higher. Many Christians meet in house churches because the government (specifically the Ministry of Cults and Religions) often seek to suppress the churches by what you might call “bureaucratic persecution”: endless red tape, exorbitant bribes and fees, and intrusive demands for personal information. But the gospel is advancing.
On the other hand, Cambodia is a bit of a depressing place. It is so poor, and with so many needs. Corruption and passivity are a way of life there. There are more NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) there than in most countries, trying to help out, and tons of foreign aid money. But it passes through many hands, and a little is skimmed off into people’s pockets at each step along the way. Cambodia needs a revolution of values before it experiences progress beyond third-world status. I’Ching estimates that it is about 20 years or so behind Malaysia in terms of development.
Ironically, Phnom Penh used to be referred to as “The Paris of the East.” Our friend Alvin informed us that Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew visited Prince Sihanouk in the ‘60s and told him that he hoped that one day Singapore would catch up with Phnom Penh! Looking at the two countries now, it is hard to believe that such a switch in fortunes could have happened. Cambodia is a shattered country, picking itself up from the wreckage caused by decades of warfare, civil war, and the Communist rule of the Khmer Rouge. It is estimated that 1/3 of the country’s population died under the rule of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge. There is a missing generation in Cambodia today as a result of Pol Pot.
The last day of our trip we toured Tuol Sleng, the Genocide Museum. This used to be a high school, but was turned into Security Prison 21 (S-21) by the Khmer Rouge. Out of about 17,000 people imprisoned at S-21 from 1975 to 1979, there were only 12 survivors. The wickedness of this regime is beyond belief. Every prisoner had a photo taken upon arrival. Thousands of these photographs are on display in room after room at the museum. Ordinary people from all ages, men and women, all stations of life, stare back at you from the past. Many were tortured until they admitted to fictitious crimes, for which they were then executed. Also on display were many of the implements of torture used. There are some photographs from the Killing Fields, filled with mass graves and uncountable multitudes of skulls arranged in stacks. The last roo
m of the museum contains many skulls of the victims.
It was a sobering end to our trip, but a necessary reminder of the fact of evil in our world, a fact that is often denied or trivialized.
More on our trip next time.
One of the things about living right on the Equator is that there are only two seasons to a year - dry or rainy season. No fall, winter, summer or spring. This means that we are often in our shorts as we open our Christmas presents and sipping cold instead of hot cider in the evening as a nightcap.
Apple cider is not easily found in this part of the world but last year, when we visited the US, we bought a small carton of Aspen Mulling Spices. I had forgotten about it until two days ago when I found it sitting at the far end of our fridge compartment and decided that it is time we realize its full potential. According to instructions, we added 3 teaspoons to regular store-bought apple juice and, voila, we got some cinnamon-laced cider - so comforting to the tummy (and soul) after a long day. As it has been raining ceaselessly here in Singapore, the weather is actually quite cool (around low-80's F. or 24/5 C.). So, we've actually been enjoying some hot mulled cider as we pretend to await the first snowfall.
Meanwhile, I'll leave you with a pix from our Thanksgiving dinner with family in Maryland last month.
We got back from our teaching trip to the Philippines on Tuesday and are mighty glad that we have a few days break before we're on the road again for 2 weeks - first to Malaysia and then to Cambodia. Our time in Manila was fruitful. We had our friend, Dave Geisler, to teach alongside us. Jun Diverte, a local apologist there, was also with us.
It was the first time for both Dave and Brian to be in the Philippines and from their reaction and feedback, I am guessing that they loved it. In fact, Brian says that he prefers Manila over Jakarta. Oh, and on the second day we were there, there was an attempted coup. Apparently it took place at the Peninsula Hotel in Manila. As we were working all day in our hotel room, we had no idea of that until we turned on the tv in the early evening. By that time, all the action was over.
With Christmas approaching and the Philippines a predominantly Catholic country, the city of Manila was all adorned in twinkling lights and other familiar seasonal ornaments. It is understandable that both Dave and Brian enjoy Manila as so much there reminds me of So. Cal. For one, we drive on the right-side of the road. Then, there's the unambiguous reminder of the country's Spanish past - street names, buildings, names of Philippinos, Tagalog (official language of the country), etc - all bear semblance to the Hispanic imprint in So. Cal. We wished there were similarities in the food but alas, rice takes precedence. In fact, KFC here serves rice instead of mash potatoes as the default side dish. Go figure!
Here are some pixs from the teaching trip...
Brian begins a new phase of his life on January 2. He will be a full-time student again. I salute his academic stamina!
