October 2009-March 2010
Aim:
· To live in Cambodia for 6 months to test out the possibility of living and working in the country on a long-term basis.
Objectives:
· To live in Phnom Penh and get an overview of the work going on there by visiting various projects, groups, organisations and NGOs.
· To work with at least one of these groups to gain some grassroots experience and build relationships.
· To spend time with members of the World Horizons team and get to know them and their work.
· To listen, watch, observe, make friends, pray and generally get a feel for the place.
· To write a blog and stay in touch with friends and supporters in the UK.
Background:
In January 2008 I visited Cambodia for a couple of weeks as part of a round-the-world trip. It was a time when I was seeking God for the future and wondering whether there might be something for me overseas. Having been involved with mission since the early 90s, mainly through World Horizons, the idea of living and working abroad has never been far from my mind so when funding ran out for my job in Hull, it seemed a perfect opportunity to start testing things out for real at last.
Out of all the places I visited, Cambodia made the deepest impact, even though I was there the shortest time. The decision to return took a while though due to a couple of projects I needed to finish in the UK and relocating to the Isle of Wight to spend time with my family. As it turned out, this move proved very timely as it was on the island that I met up with Sheila Reid who inspired me to go back to Cambodia. And it was there, after Norman invited me to come to Phnom Penh as a friend of World Horizons, that I got the backing of two churches who have since been supporting me prayerfully and financially.
Way back in ’91, when I was Liverpool Cathedral after a night working with a church I felt God say to me “Take my beauty to the people”
Having lived and worked in the East End of London (mid 90s) and council estates in Hull for the past nine years, my heart has always been for the “urban poor”. Living where they are and where they’re at has always been important to me. It’s not always been easy or enjoyable but it’s where I find my motivation and most of my inspiration as a creative person too. My visit to Phnom Penh in 08 made an impression, then, precisely for the reasons I’d been living where I’d been living and doing what I was doing up til then. Here was a place....