Num6ers

I have just returned from the annual New Life Fellowship staff camp - three days at Sihanoukville with 125 folk. That's not the church - it is the staff, kind of. Included were 10 people from Phnom Penh Thmei Church (established out from NLF), three pastors and their wives (as in one wife per pastor) from churches in Takeo Province, and a bunch of kids, wives and possible second cousins once removed of the staff.

Two of our staff were able to come too - Sreymom and Dtouch. Sue stayed back with Sopheap and Neth to keep the home open. The retreat was held at a (in name ..) resort - quite adequate facilities with working aircon and a toilet that was eventually coaxed into flush mode. I shared a room with Donnie. Donnie travels with a serious amount of chips and medical supplies. Unfortunately the knocking on the door late one night was not a dream but one of the sweet wee dancers needing a pill of something. I think I dazzled her in my boxers, perhaps 20% awake, when I opened the door ...

Pastor Mara (front left) and his wife, Leah (great with child) at one of the meeting sessions. Mara is just a lovely man to get on with. He has pastoral oversight of the Healing Home and regularly comes to visit and encourage. To the right of Leah, in the aisle, is Nite. Nite is a teacher at the church school and often translates for me when I'm running a class of some sort.

There was a good mix of social fun and focussed teaching sessions. Some of the stats that I learned:

New Life School - grades 1-6 - has 170 students and 20 staff
94 - the number of homegroups in the church

12 - churches established in the provinces from NLF, all with pastors. In addition there are 35 'emerging churches' (villages with weekly homegroup-based ministries establised) and 20-something 'outreach points'7 - evangelists working out of the church (and all at the staff retreat)
178 - sponsored children in the 'Children at Risk' program

70-ish - staff in NLF covering a heap of ministries that includes childrens work, community enabling health (CEH) teams, visitation to sick, media, office skills training, English classes and much more.

Food is a very serious affair with Cambodian people - and when you are at the coast, seafood is what brings joy to every heart. Here are the crabs and prawns on the table - lots of squid too. For the few white folk among us who do not do seafood, there was rice for them ....

Jesse, the senior leader of NLF, continues to amaze and inspire me. He is a remarkable mix - energetic and focussed, yet unswervingly relaxed and easy-going. He lives at an incredible pace yet does not grow weary. On our second night, Pastor Samdy took us thru' the 'session you have all been waiting for' (NLF Policy and Procedures review) that inevitably over-ran the alloted time. It finished at 10pm - and then Jesse rips into a message! A very good message, may I say.

Meanwhile, good things have been happening back at home. I returned to find two patients healed and gone home; a lady with bleeding issues whom the doc said 'nothing the matter with you' and another lady who was exhausted, wheezy and coughing thru' the nights - all healed.

This morning our devotion was about 'rejoice with those who rejoice''!