Intro to prophetic current quarter

Week one. What is violence? How is it manifested? Week two. Personal
and direct. Three. Economic. Four. Structural. Five. Nature of
nonviolence. Six. Response, plan, strategy. Both gospel and non gospel
texts. Nt, ot. Maybe a focus on one or two communities. Pray for them
and their specific issues. Email team leaders for their input what are
the issues of violence for their teams, contexts. Reminder, info on
pico and other trainings.

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Intro to prophetic current quarter

So steeped in our worldview it's hard to imagine a world without it,
and may even feel it immoral to suggest that there is no place for
violence. What about national defence? Personal security? Terrorism?
Crime? Etc. I strongly believe that part of jesus' mission was to live
a life exemplifying nonviolence.

Intro letter for prophetic current quarter

Draft. Dear staff, the last year and a half has been a huge learning
experiment for me, to which i owe a huge debt of gratitude to many
people - not the least, Samantha, my team here in Cambodia, and many
patient human rights workers. Its been a journey of learning how to
deal with evil in it's specific manifestation of violence. A good
friend recently asked me what's my vision for Cambodia? My response
was

Prophetic quarter ideas

Bible passages for reflection. Method? Lectio or other? Have people
think of prophetic issues, esp around violence. Still use themes from
acts, but use bible. Then action options like CSJ. Also include
research options like meeting a community leader or human rights
group, peace building group. Critical thinking on what you're
observing. Etc. As well, extra readings for the ambitious. And links
to web sites and movies, documentaries. Is there time to send DVD of
all stuff to teams?

What passages? The usual, plus unusual? Micah 6 8, luke 4, acts 2,
turn other cheek, walk second mile, loving OTHER - good samaritan, ok,
check some of my writings. Put away your swords, blessed are the
peacemakers. What prayer exercises could be done to be interesting and
unique? Thinking, asking what is prophetic, justice, peace - for whom?
Listen to paul's song if he's ok. Links to website movies. Licadho, al
jazeera, movies - war on democracay, lions for lambs, war inc, jouex
noelle, etc. Film an intro by me?

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New directions

The last few weeks, since the Dey Krahom eviction, have been busy and
overloaded. I'm struggling to keep the website going since losing
Senim, and I've yet to secure any volunteers or staff to help the
newspaper mapping going, and i have many more ideas for expanding it

Socheat

Today I learned of Socheat, a brave young woman of 22 who faces court
tomorrow. Her crime: pulling a police officer off another community
member and protecting her from a serious beating. As a result Socheat
was beaten and charged. She faces 8 months in prison. But is willing
to do so. What a champion for peace, nonviolence and her community!

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Fwd: DK update - February 16

From Lee...

Sorry for the delay in updates. Internet access has been sporadic.

Today, we went to court to get the verdict for the three DK representatives regarding one of the bogus criminal cases against them. The courts found them guilty of 'assault' and 'destruction of property', and sentenced them to 1.5 years SUSPENDED sentence, with 5 years probation. The 7NG company asked for over $60,000 in damages but the court decided on $500 from each defendant. Just to spell it out for you, this is the best news we could have hoped for. Despite being innocent, nobody expected an innocent verdict but still hoped to keep them out of prison as the best-case scenario.

Nonviolent story project

Peace and Justice: Cambodia's Nonviolent Story Project.

Building peace and ensuring justice in Cambodia one story at a time.

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Story telling as peace building

What is story telling? Passing on the story to others. Action
reflection on the story - experience. Values personal exp as
learning-teaching tool and methodology. Transfers knowledge to others
that would otherwise be lost. Move from content focus to process
focus. But need to provide content. Answers the mythology problem of
creating nonviolent myth alternatives. Stories are creative, each
listener is at the same level, it creates a temporary alternative
reality as determined and controlled by story teller. Can be used in
different situations for different purposes. Others can tell story, or
insert their own. There are no right and wrong ways to tell a story.
Focus is on drawing lessons. Also on internalising the values of the
story. Helps communities realise they're not on their own, and not
starting from zero, helps communities avoid common traps and tactics
used by companies-other interests. Low cost. Can be done anywhere. Is
relational. Culturally engaging and normative.

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I just need my morning coffee

After all these years ordering a coffee still gets me in a pickle.

To get an iced coffee with milk is quite a trial in the morning. To start I'm barely conscious without the ante meridian infusion of caffeine. My communication skills - in any language - are severely hampered. My patience for stunned waiters and waitresses at a foreigner speaking khmer is very low. And then I try to get the order out as fluently as possible. It rarely works. But I'm usually so desperate for my fix that I take whatever caffeinated beverage they decide I asked for - usually NOT what I thought I asked for.

For several naive years I asked for iced coffee incorrectly. One is supposed to say, 'coffee, milk, ice' in that exact order. It doesn't help that the khmer phrase is a tongue-twister at the best of times, the difficulty level upgraded by the lack of current caffeine supply in the blood-stream.

Once I realised I'd been saying, 'coffee, ice, milk' and not the correct order, after a kindly khmer friend corrected me, I thought my troubles would be over. Not so.

I would say my chances of a correct order have increased twenty per cent. But no more. There are mornings where I forget the correct order, or my tongue refuses to operate under direct instruction from the cerebral command center. There are plenty of times when my servers refuse to believe I'm even speaking a language they understand. And so I get a blank stare, then a polite shake of the head and a softly spoken, 'I Don't understand' to which I reply, 'you don't speak Cambodian'? Another smile and shake of the head. I repeat myself. This time my interlocutor turns around to find his/her eldest child who is studying English at school from a Cambodian teacher who learnt English from a non-native speaker. Then there is a brief tussle over who's second language skills are better than the other. If my Khmer is better we finally discover together that I really do speak Khmer and I want an iced coffee with milk, thanks very much.

Ninety percent the man I was

I'm at the doctors the other day with kids and family in tow (or was
it me being towed?). We were getting shots/injections. Rabies for all
and tetanus boosters for Sam and I.
To keep the boys interested while doctor is preparing the
syringes, etc, we jump on the scales. My eyes nearly popped out of
their sockets - It read 88kg! I haven't weighed under 90kg since i
rowed crew more than 15 years ago. When Sam and I left Australia for
Cambodia in 2004 I was weighing in around 105kg - my heaviest.

I do no exercise - beyond throwing a two and four year old around
occasionally. But i have decreased how much I eat quite a bit.

So in 5 years I am now less than ninety percent the man I used to be.

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Our neighbourhood

The talk of the street this past few weeks has been devoted to the
ongoing road works paving our street with concrete. Just yesterday
they finally reached past our front gate. We can now drive our car in
and out on nicely paved road instead of bumpy, rutted road
occasionally covered with broken bricks, sand, dirt and plenty of
rubbish. Hopefully by the end of next week the entire street will be
complete.

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Bushfires

Dear Australian friends, family,

my heart and prayers go out to all affected by this devastation. I
hope that you and your families are safe from harm and injury.

Peace. Chris BakerEvens.

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Fwd: we can do something for justice in Cambodia this week!

A CHANCE TO DO SOMETHING FOR JUSTICE IN CAMBODIA! Dear friends, 3 important events coming up this week: On this Tuesday (10th) at 8.00, there is a meeting at 7NG between 7NG (the company behind the violent eviction of Dey Krahom community two weeks ago (24th Jan) and Dey Krahom community representatives. 7NG, in collusion with the Govt and Municipality of Phnom Penh, have carried out a violent eviction, and have created a humanitarian disaster resulting in hundreds of Internally Displaced people with now inadequate access to shelter, sanitation, livlihoods, schools etc. This meeting is reported to be the Communities LAST CHANCE to gain compensation from 7NG. We are appealing to all people of faith, and all those who long for justice in this nation, to come join us in a prayer vigil from 8.00am onward. If you can come for 20 minutes or an hour or all morning, if you want to pray or just stand in quiet solidarity with those violently evicted and who have had their homes destroyed - we would welcome you. We believe this will make a difference. We will meet on the small park area directly in front of 7NG's entrance. 7NG office is at #15 Sotheros Boulevard, not far from Build Bright University, the Anana Center, and Lucky Seven Burgers. Secondly: On Wednesday 2pm, at the Municipal Court, 3 community leaders of Dey Krahom appear to face trumped up charges of doing property damage to 7NG. These are cynical charges being used to intimidate those who dared to lead the resistance to the grabbing of tehir land. Again, please come and prayerfully show your solidarity (the exact time & location will be sent out in an e mail tomorrow). Thirdly: on Friday evening, 6.00-9.30pm we have the first meeting of 2009 for CSJ (Christians for Social Justice) group. This is a group of people from various Christian faith traditions who meet regularly to reflect, discuss, pray, advocate and network to advance to cause of justice in Cambodia. We also have excellent partnerships and work collaboratively with several local human rights groups. There will be food as well! Location, Servants Team Center #119 (1st floor), St 440 (the street that runs along the northern edge of Toul Tom Poung market). The house is about 50 meters west of the corner of 440 and 155. (Unfortunately, on some maps St 440 is listed as St 444, so don't be fooled!). We will be discussing our strategy for 2009. We'd love to see you at any of these events. God Bless Kristin Jack (017 348 164) and Chris Baker Evans (012 359 143). Contact either of us for more details. We are calling upon all people of faith, and those who long for justice in this nation, to gather in the small park area immediately in front of the 7NG entrance for a prayer vigil. We will be praying gthru the morning for justice to be done, and fair compensation for land taken and homes and livlihoods destroyed. If you can join us for 20 minutes or an hour or all morning to offer prayer, or just stand in solidarity with the people viollently evicted from Dey Krahom, PLEASE COME AND JOIN US from 8.00 am onwards.

we can do something for justice in Cambodia this week!

SONGS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS concerning Dey Krahom Join us for a moving and inspiring night of great music on Thursday, January 12, 7pm at Gasolina #56-58, St. 57 Phnom Penh. The Danish band "The Chopsticks" arrived in Cambodia in January of 2009 to release - "Love & Eviction" - a new album dedicated to and inspired by Dey Krahorm village and their 4-year, non-violent resistance to eviction. The Chopsticks and Dey Krahorm artists and leaders had planned to launch a solidarity concert tour for threatened and evicted communities at the end of January. But on January 24th, instead of instruments and song-sheets, they grabbed cameras and human rights monitor vests and witnessed the brutal attack on Dey Krahorm friends, hope, and human rights in general. Today, re-motivated by Dey Krahorm's continued resilience, The Chopsticks are picking up their instruments for a fund-raising concert in support of the hard-working volunteers of LICADHO Canada who have documented the trials and tribulations of Dey Krahorm side by side with the villagers. This documentation has been used as legal evidence, to support existing advocacy efforts and has been key in enabling Dey Krahorm to claim a loud voice. The Chopsticks concerts will ensure LICADHO Canada continue to document this critical time in Dey Krahorm's story. A limited amount of the "Love & Eviction" albums will be available for minimum of $30 donation. Additionally, a selection of LICADHO Canada's hard-impact videos will be shown between sets and Borey Penn [LICADHO Canada] will share an update on the current situation of the Dey Krahorm evictees. Join us for a moving and inspiring night on Thursday, January 12, 7pm at Gasolina #56-58, St. 57 Phnom Penh Contact Cornelius for details 017 799 716. [A special thank you to Gasolina for donating the venue]

Prayer for Dey Krahom

Friends of peace & faith: Christians 4 Social Justice will hold a
prayer vigil at 8am tomorrow Cambodia time at park in front of
office of 7ng / Lucky 7 on Sothearos Blvde in support of Dey Krahom
negotiations with 7ng. All are welcome to pray.

This is a high-level meeting including representatives from the Prime
Ministers cabinet office, and could be the last real opportunity for
fair compensation for Dey Krahom evictee's. DK meet today to plan for
tomorrow. Your prayers for their preparation also appreciated.

On Wednesday Chan Vichet and two other DK community leaders will go to
court on false charges of destruction of property (charges made by 7ng
company). Many friends and supporters will go to the court house.
Again, your prayers deeply appreciated.

Peace. Chris.

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Tired

After three survey trips and attempts at squeezing in my normal work
schedule I am completely EXHAUSTED. I've been lying around all day.
Vertical is too much energy expenditure for right now. Even Patrick
turned in at 7.30pm tonight.

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Kampot / Kep Survey - day five: the last ride home

Well, I certainly hope it's the last ride home! We bought two seats
outright in the taxi-van so it's not too tight like in Snuol. We've
been sent home from Chenda's with three branches of coconuts. All very
sweet with plenty of meat.

Our final meeting with the pastor in Chuuk was hard to sit through. I
was done listening and talking in khmer, and this guy really know's
how to talk! All good stuff, gave us some important background and an
invitation to come partner with him and his partnership of churches.
But I was just exhausted.

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Kampot / Kep Survey - day five

Heap and i are squished in the back of a taxi with two other
passengers. We're on our way to Chuuk. This is our last day, and last
meeting of the trip. Them we get to go home to our families. :)

The road is really bumpy. Up and down, side to side. There is some
road works indicating impotenents. But only a small section. It will
be a while before the road is any good.

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Kampot / Kep Survey - day four

This afternoon's meeting was probably the most encouraging of the
whole trip, simply for the contrast to the more depressing information
and contacts.

We met a young pastor who finished bible school two years ago and came
to Kampot to start ministering shortly after.

Right now he has 15 groups involving 1000 children, a sunday morning
service for up to 100 children and another for 25 youth. He is not
strangely in need of assistance as if only has five helpers.

There was sonnetiing about this pastor that encouraged me. I'm not
sure what, and maybe i was in a better frame of mind after meeting the
community folk in the morning.

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Kampot / Kep Survey - day four

Today's surveying has been encouraging for both Heap and I. We
travelled out towards Kompong Som this morning to meet with a
community losing two thousand plus hectares of land to a Chinese?
company. The legal situation sounds confusing and in the space of
legal fog the government and company have taken a large tract of land
(one side is 10 km long) on the mountainside where the community
relies on for agriculture and forest products that increases their
livelihood sustainability.

One community seems to be bold and face the company. But many are not.

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Kampot / Kep Survey - day four

I'm not sure why, but I'm finding my language skills are coming
together well for me. My listening is by far the strongest element,
followed by speaking. My greatest liability is the size of my
vocabulary. As I engage more and more with communities I'm recognising
more and more words I DON'T know and can then go away and look them up
- if I'm not too lazy.

My speaking is definitely more confident than just a short time ago,
and I find being in situations without translation assistance is very
helpful as I've only my own skills to rely on. Having said that, Heap
has been invaluable this trip, and in Mondulkiri and Kratie, when I
really got in deep.

I think losing the Smith's and Everitt's has pushed me as I realise
that after Heap, I am next most experienced in language on team
(closely followed by Sam and Hayden). And that's scary knowing how
little I know. But I see that a move out of Phnom Penh is going to
accelerate my language skills immensely.

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Kampot / Kep Survey - day three

After talking with the missionaries and pastor i feel less confident
that this is a great place to work. There is a lot of dependency -
expectation of money or material benefit - from much of the Christian
work done. It is a very hard dynamic to break. And there is still
plenty of pastors and groups willing to throw money around. Therefore
anyone not willing to play the game will find it hard to keep good
people as there is a well paid position to be had elsewhere. Or a bag
of rice for sitting through a sermon on the weekend. But the fruit is
obvious. Committed Christians - those convinced of the story of Jesus
as a life-changing and life-giving story, will stay away, while others
buy people's allegiance in the most obvious fashions. Like calling for
offerings and telling people God will not bless them unless they give
generously to the church, and immediately turning arounding and
handing out money to the participants. All the while video-taping the
proceedings as 'evidence' of such a faithful group of believers for
the foreign donor churches and agencies to see. How sad.

As such, a common answer to the question: how could we complement what
is already going on in Kampot, was - basic bible teaching to know the
values a Christian is to live by, and leadership development as many
people are supported by short term groups, but there are few who live
here permanently and walk alongside the pastors through the good and
bad times.

To me that seems like a big mess to wall through.

The pastor we met was not really inspiring to me. Maybe it was a bad
day for him. He seemed really young and his plans seemed unrealistic
to me - like wanting to teach local school teachers the bible so they
could teach the children. Even though the teachers are not Christian
themselves. Part of his motivation is that they teach evolution in
school - that we come from monkeys. That seems like an immature
response when there are so many other issues to consider. Surely
evolution is on the bottom of the list of concerns in Cambodia!

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Kampot / Kep Survey - day three

This first thing that really strikes me, as a visitor from the city to
a small country town, is the silence and the new sounds it bring with
it - crickets, soft music from distant restaurants, the rush of the
ceiling fan. The sound of a dog scrummaging on the side of the road.
All of there are hidden in Phnom Penh.

Today has been quite busy, going from one meeting to the next. So I am
writing this reflection at the end of the day, and may need to split
into several installmets as my phone won't let me write an endless
note. Which is probably in the readers' favour.

In short, we net with four groups of people. Two missionary families,
one person who helped establish a local NGO, and a local pastor. I'm
going to refrain from using names on such a public venue as a blog.

The first meeting with the local NGO, but foreign founder, is someone
I've connected with before, and has connections in both the faith, and
human rights spheres. As such I admire his work very much and the
values he and his wife embody.

As i expected, Kampot is no stranger to land grabbing and the adverse
effects of economic land concessions. Mostly Korean and Chinese firms.
Agricultural and dams projects. Apparently 2000 Chinese workers live
around here to work on just one dam project alone. Communities are
constantly on the defensive, but have had some success. A couple of
months back one community marched on the governor and demanded a
solution or they would not leave. He signed a document giving them
their land back. You can probably find the article on my website from
last year.

From my respective, there is a great partnership opportunity with this
group. They have a good grasp of the issues and are looking to expand
operations in the coming years.

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Kampot / Kep Survey Trip - day two

On the bus to Kampot now. Couple of Tuk Tuk drivers wanted to scam us
into buying tickets from them saying we wouldn't get on otherwise! The
bus driver has been more helpful.

If anything, this time has been an easing into our work in Kampot. We
have a full day booked for tomorrow, so no more leisurely strolls
along the beach to eat fresh cooked crabs in pepper sauce. Though
Kampot is not known for shabby food either.

I guess we got a good overall lay of the land from Luc and Ling. And
who have been incredibly hospitable.

And it takes about half a minute to remind me why i don't want to move
to Kampot - the road. The worst i've travelled on in Cambodia.

It also turns out that BAB work in Kep.

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Kampot / Kep Survey - day two

Heap and I net with Pastor Soeung and the Kampong Trach home group.
They are the only group that meets weekly in all of Kep area that we
know of. Kep has about 30,000 people - I need to check that figure. So
this community is way out on their own and I'm sure appreciate all the
prayer support they can get. And it's good to know they recieve
encouragement and training from missionaries in Kampot.

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Spiritual Gift survey

According to the questionnaire my gifts are:
1. Mercy, 2. Administration, equal 3. Giving, leadership, teaching, and wisdom.

According to my review of the characteristics of gifts i would say:
1. Service, 2. Helps, 3. Administration, 4. Prophet, 5. Exhortation.

I had to take a broad view of the characteristics because, again, the
language used and examples given don't relate well with me. And except
for service i didn't fit the definition 100 per cent of any of the
gifts listed. I suppose that's true of us all.

What it does confirm is that my primary 'leadership' gifts are
so-called supporting gifts, and i am secondarily gifted in 'equipping'
gifts. People tend to follow me because of who i am and what i do,
less because of what i say, or the vision i caste.

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Kampot / Kep survey - day two

Nothing to report so far. Heap and I are relaxing by the beach,
working on our Paul Ford Leadership Grip questionnaires. Strangely
enough I struggle with the language it uses to ask question. Very
evangelical, and I'm just not evangelical. I moved on from
evangelicalism a long time ago. While I used to lap up spiritual gift
assessments - because I wanted to know how God intended to make my
life great - I now wonder if spiritual gifts are a reality or just a
fancy Christian label for personal attributes. On the other hand, the
basic question being asked by the questionnaire - how has God equipped
me for leadership - is sound and helpful. More so than checking the
boxes next to strangely-worded questions. I think I will go through
the descriptions of leadership 'gifts' to identify my own strengths
and weaknesses. That will be a better way forward than being
frustrated by evangelicalese.

The premise I value for leadership is to look back at the way we have
used various life opportunities to lead others. What was done well,
what was done poorly, do i work as an individual or in a team? Do i
see the bigger picture, or work out the details?

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