Auckland Community Church
Te Hahi Waka Huihui i Nga Tangata o Tamaki Makaurau

Family Circle July 2007

People news - On the move

News from Phnom Penh
Workshopping with UNIQ
Being there for Adam

Dear Friends at ACC,

Hi from Phnom Penh in Cambodia. Reth and I arrived here in March after a couple of weeks with our relatives in the US – including a few days skiing at Aspen! What a fantastic place it is! The hot hot weather of Cambodia came as a shock after that, as it was the middle of the hot season when we arrived. We set about sorting out our new life here. Found a local non-governmental organization (NGO) which was keen to work with Reth to set up a jewelry school for disabled people (there are thousands of men, women and children with missing limbs in Cambodia– many end up begging on the streets).

Reth has also kept very busy coaching the Cambodian National Aerobics Team and setting up house. We found a nice gym to join at the Cambodiana Hotel. The first one we went to was a local gym with a 10 cent entry fee, but the equipment was knackered and there were hundreds of hot sweaty bodies fighting for space - and not a towel in sight! Could appeal to some I suppose!

We also bought a house – for a lot less than what you would expect. It is a typical Cambodian style apartment with 6 small bedrooms and 7 bathrooms! It goes up 3 stories and has a flat rooftop which would be great if we had a BBQ. The house is on the outskirts of Phnom Penh and is in an “interesting” neighborhood – factories nearby and the road from hell outside – unsealed and full of pot holes. Since the rainy season started it has been like a river of mud outside the door!

However, we like it and Reths family has also shifted in – plus their 3 little dogs. The dogs are loving being able to go outside for walks (on a leash) after spending years 5 floors up. However, there are a lot of big dogs running around the streets and a few nights ago I was walking one of Reth’s dogs when it was attacked from behind by a big dog which grabbed it by the back leg. I kicked the mongrel and it let go, but not before it had inflicted a nasty penetrating bite which needed a few stitches! Two of us are now walking the dogs one a time – carrying a big stick to beat off any attackers!

4 jobs! I work at the Ministry of Health (1 day) and the Faculty of Odontostomatology (national dental school) for a day – both these jobs are as a volunteer. I also do about half a day of private practice, and spend the rest of the time as the Executive Dean of the new dental school at the International University (IU). Lots of variety and plenty of challenges – but I am loving it.

At the moment I am putting together a proposal with a local NGO to start a prison dental service. Conditions in the prisons are appalling. There are a lot of men and women with HIV and they do not receive medications or even testing. The women often have their children with them in the prisons. And there are some foreigners in prison as well including a NZ man whom I have been asked to help.

Crime is pretty rampant here – we bought a car but lost the insignia a few days later during the night. People usually get anything detachable like that riveted to the car! There is a terrible dengue haemorraghic fever epidemic sweeping through the country at the moment and the children’s hospitals have been inundated – they have 3 times as many children as there are beds – so most lie on the floor. Most of the dengue is in the country-side and not in Phnom Penh so I think we are fairly safe here.

No plans to come back to NZ to visit this year – perhaps next year. We do enjoy getting the news and think of you often. There are several ex-pat churches here – but all are of the non-inclusive fundamentalist evangelical variety so I don’t really feel very welcome.

Wishing you all well.

UNIQ Conference

Peter Lineham and Leigh Neighbour facilitated an interesting workshop in Queer Spirituality. About a quarter of the conference’s 80 participants chose this workshop. Discussion ranged from the spiritual aspects of coming out, Aelred of Riveaux’ theology of friendship, to Maori, Christian and Pagan spirituality, what the Christian Scriptures say, the openness of churches, e.g. to the film God and Gays…

I want to thank all our friends at ACC for taking additional time to "watch out" for Cathy while I was away in Baltimore for 11 weeks. It was fantastic to know that friends were inviting her to meals etc and seeing that she was not getting too lonely. That’s what makes our community stand out.

I had a good bonding time with my son Roger, his amazing wife Lara and my cute granddaughter Erin. Being there for Adam's birth was so special. Nothing can beat an almost two-year old's happy "good morning geourgeous Gaga" at 7 AM

From Liz

Briefs

Our next Bible study will be a break from Saving Jesus Dvds. More details later. Welcome to Shelley Walker visiting from the south for mid-July.

Fr Caleb has left hospital after several weeks recovering from a street accident Good wishes to returning University students.

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Contacts:
curl by email: info@aucklandcommunitychurch.org.nz
curl by phone: Cathy and Liz (64)(09)578 1292 or Hugh Dyson (64)(09)579 1850
curl by snail mail: c/- 187 Federal Street, Auckland, New Zealand.