Esther

Last week I attended a graduation celebration for one of our projects. This was a group of 50 churches who have been studying how to help their community - it includes a little bit of theology (what role does the church have in the community from a Biblical perspective) and some practical ways to make a difference. After the education sessions they write action plans and we walk beside them for a year as they begin to implement them and we also give them a little bit of seed money for these projects. We asked these groups to focus on at risk youth and compassionate care for the sick.

At the graduation ceremony there was a girl around the age of five running around. She came up to me and we played for a little bit. She had long brown hair, big brown eyes and an adorable smile (though she was lacking most of her teeth in the front on top and bottom). One of the staff later told me her story.

They told me she is living with her grandmother. Her father is an alcoholic and often beats her mother. When this would happen, the little girl would throw herself out the window to make it stop - I guess this was a distraction technique and I imagine that is how she lost her teeth because it didn't look like they'd fallen out naturally. She had done this many times and since they were on a top floor, she would get hurt. That isn't the worst of it.

This five year old girl was gang raped by 4-5 boys. The boys were only 10 and 11 years old. I could have cried. Esther did not have parents to protect her from this hurt. What happened to those boys that they would even come up with such a thing so young? The situation is absolutely tragic.

Please pray for Esther and her family. Pray for her future. Pray for healing for all of those involved. Pray for the grandma who is now raising a 5 year old in her old age. I never know what the right response is in situations like these.

The best thing I know to do is challenge the local church (made up of individuals like you and me) to invtervene in such difficult circumstances. Not to cast judgement, but to give hurting people a place to belong and hopefully find healing. If you are a church attender, there are likely hurting people in your congregation. Is your church a welcome place where they can find refuge and relationship?

iCooked

I've received a few inquiries lately about what I've been making for dinner. Here is a sampling of some of my latest attempts.

• Blueberry muffins: I found a Betty Crocker muffin packet at the store one day. You know the kind I am talking about that says on the front "just add water." The hardest part of this meal was our oven. We have a gas oven - which I prefer when it comes to the stove top, however it is rather difficult to bake things here. We may now have a thermometer for taking our temperature when we are sick, but I lack an oven thermometer. So, I turn the oven on high to warm it up, then turn it down to what I think might be 400 or 350 degrees. I have to check things in the oven often because it gets scorching hot and I am usually hoping not to burn whatever I am baking. The muffins came out perfectly and they were delicious. How could they not be? They have corn syrup in the ingredients!
• Cheeseburgers: ground meat (not sure what kind it is so I am not going to call it beef) is available, but the quality is questionable. I thought it wouldn't be too bad with some seasoning and melted cheese on top. I was wrong. It wasn't good. We did enjoy the condiments - I had found some frozen tater tots in the frozen food section and also some pork and beans in the canned vegetables aisle - those ended up being dinner for the night.
• Huevos Rancheros: we have eggs (you can choose either chicken or duck eggs - I stick with chicken), I had found some pinto beans one day (I had looked for these before and found nothing. they must have had a shipment in, so I stocked up). We have access to ground chili peppers - actually all sorts of chili's are available here, with the exception of my favorite Hatch variety from home. I made a paste out of it using my Uncle Orlando's famous chili recipe that my Aunt Nita sent me many moons ago. I also fried up some potatoes. A local restaurant sells tortillas - the worst part of that meal was actually the quality of the tortillas. I had a friend over for dinner that night, she said it was a good meal. It didn't meet my standards, but I will try again.
• Lasagna: I had to borrow a pan from my neighbor upstairs to cook this because I didn't have a good sized baking dish. Cambodians cook using fire or two counter top burners - not ovens. Since ovens are really only used by the foreigners living here it is nearly impossible to find baking dishes. Everything available has been imported. I knew this before I came and packed baking dishes, like the muffin pan, as a result. I just didn't think about what I would need to make lasagna. Good thing I have good neighbors!
• Rice Krispie treats: we had invited some people over for game night at our place on Saturday. We had planned to order pizza from our favorite pizza place just up the road. Being the Suzy Homemaker that I am, I wanted to serve our guests a sweet treat. While trolling the aisles at the grocery I saw rice krispies and decided these would be my treat. Luckily, I was able to locate marshmallows. My favorite rice krispie treats have butterscotch chips in them, I hunted for those but was unsuccessful. Just so you know, these were probably the most expensive rice krispie treats I've ever made. Why is that? Cereal items are imported and eaten exclusively by foreigners, they figure every foreigner is rich, so they charge a ridiculous amount for a box of cereal. They range anywhere from $4-12. Marshmallows are another imported item. I think I paid close to $5 for the bag of fluffy sugar. It was worth it to have a little taste of home. I got to serve this treat to some people who are not from the US - they were game for trying something new and I think they may have even liked it. I know Kenyon did.

I hope you enjoyed this installment of iCooked. If you have any good recipe's, please pass them on. I'd be happy to experiement and see if I can track down the ingredients.

It is well...

I've often heard people say, "we knew it was God's will because our house sold in a day" or "it must have been God's will because all the details just came together." That has not been my experience.

I know God asked us to join the organization I am working with, obeying that request meant a move to North Carolina. I owned a condo in Kansas City. When I bought it, renting it out was an option - they changed the bi-laws months before we moved and did not grandfather in old residents. I had always thought it could be an income property when my circumstances changed - well, my circumstances changed and that option was no longer available. Kenyon had to leave his job, with the hope that he could find something in our new location.

The house didn't sell in a day. It didn't sell in a month, two months or three months. Nearly a year later the house sold - during the depths of the recession, which meant we couldn't even ask the price I had paid for the property a few years earlier. We took a loss on the sale. A big loss. It wasn't because I had made bad financial decisions. I wasn't in a mortgage I couldn't pay or a house I couldn't afford. The economy just tanked. Property values fell. That had not happened any time in recent history, but it was the reality I was living. Does that mean moving wasn't God's will, because my house didn't sell quickly and I didn't make any money off the sale?

Kenyon looked for work every week while in North Carolina. Two years later he was still unemployed. That was mostly attributed to the economy and being in a small town with limited options. There are three major employers in the small town we were living in - one was laying people off every quarter, another was in a year and a half hiring freeze, and the third was my employer that only offered desk jobs which he wasn't interested in. Does Kenyon's extended unemployment mean it wasn't God's will, because the details didn't just work out?

The step to move overseas hasn't been easy. We believe it is what God was asking of us, or we wouldn't be here. Again, the details haven't just come together in a magical constellation of divine alignment. Things aren't working out as we had hoped or planned. Does that mean it isn't God's will?

Contrary to popular opinion, I don't believe that when we follow God's will our life suddenly becomes easy. Remember what it says in Matthew - the road is narrow and few follow it. If it was easy, the road would be crowded. I'm not saying we should complicate our lives intentionally with hardship and call it God's will either. What I'm saying is, God's will comes with challenges. Following that path increases our faith and dependence on him.

What I am discovering is he gives us strength for each new day to face the challenges that lie ahead. I am learning to say, whatever the circumstance...it is well with my soul.

So, on this Thanksgiving Day when I am spending the day working and far away from friends and family. Where it is just another day that looked like the day before and the one to follow - I am still thankful. I am thankful, that I have a God who is faithful in times of struggle. I have a God who offers peace and rest to a troubled soul. I have a God who offers strength to the weary. Despite the hardship, I have never regretted following where he leads me - it has been beyond my wildest dreams. I am thankful for my God - even when the details don't just work out.

Interesting International Facts: eating dog meat

did you know?

When eating dog meat it feels warm once inside the digestive system. I haven't experienced this myself, but I was told this recently by some of our staff from Indonesia currently working in Myanmar.

Yesterday, I posted about the dog restaurant next door. When my dad was visiting we went on a little walk in the neighborhood one night. He saw the dog heads in a bowl and the entrails in the glass cabinets. He saw the customers packed in - it is a very popular restaurant with the locals. We also saw something I hadn't seen yet. A man with a dog on a rope, selling it to the restaurant owner. Bob said, "poor animal, it doesn't know it's been led to slaughter."

The next morning he told me, "I didn't expect for that to bother me as much as it did."

It is unusual for an American to consider eating dog, but there are things we do that others would consider odd. I live next door and my approach is to walk by without looking. The grilled dog heads in a bowl are rather disturbing and it is a nightly occurance.

Maybe this is a good time to extend an invitation to visit us in Cambodia - anyone? anyone?

dog tail soup

When I was a little girl my brother and I would often ask my mom, "what's for dinner?" I'm quite sure as an adult that whatever her answer was we would have responded with, "but I don't want that" or "I don't like that," wah, wah, wah. Being a mom is hard work!

My mom is a comedian and she hates whining. So, she came up with an answer that we didn't really have a good response to. When we asked what's for dinner, she'd say, "dog tail soup." How do you respond to that one? She is quite clever. We would just shake our heads and walk away.

Fastforward 20 years and I am living in Cambodia. I was talking with my mom on the phone and she was asking about our apartment. I told her it's nice, but there is one drawback - it's next door to a dog restaurant.

M: a dog restaurant? like people bring their dogs to be served, or they serve dog to people?

S: they serve dog to people

laughter. lots of laughter on her end of the phone.

S: what's so funny?

M: dog tail soup

laughter. lots of laughter on both ends of the phone.

If there is anywhere one could actually order and consume dog tail soup - the restaurant next door to my apartment would be a good place to look.