Inflation

Inflation has caught up with us in Cambodia, and the costs for construction has jumped about 25%. We now have a bill of USD28,900. Fortunately God as usual, has provided for this inflation ahead of time, so we should be able to meet out commitments.

Praise Him from whom all blessings flow.

We on the way....!

						USD
75 sets of tables and chairs (joint ) USD20 each,						$1,500.00
3 tables for the teachers USd20 each						$60.00
3 toilets/bathrooms						$1,300.00
3 classrooms						$18,600.00
One Drill well						$1,200.00
TOTAL						$22,660.00

This is the budget for the school building. The constribution of Mt Carmel to this endeavour will be USD $12,660.

Thank God for His faithfulness in providing. We are so overjoyed to be able to begin building.

silence

a new moon
silent over tree tops
dry winds blowing
through my heart

i am afraid

above the silence
of the deep night
the crickets chant
their mantras

i hear
the sound of city
rolling like thunder
and i am afraid
for my children

children sleep
at peace
for the moment
they do not understand
my heart 's pain
losing little phi-phi to the river
last year

sister chea weeps
quietly inside
nothing written
on her face
i know
for her eyes speak
the hidden pain
losing a child

we share tears
in the silence
where no one hears
our heartbreak

and i am afraid

Alms

The giving of alms is by definition a little different in concept from tithing. Generally it may be regarded as giving to the needy as an act of religious virtue. As such it should not be prescriptive. There are however, clear biblical principles with regards to supporting the destitute and needy. In addition, Jesus made it very clear (Luke 11) that giving, as is true for other aspects of religiosity, must come from the inside of a person and not done as a display.

39Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. 42"Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

Alms giving should therefore be part of our intrinsic spirituality rather than a mere response to a specific requirement. Nevertheless, there are specific Old Testament commandments that prescribe the tithing of alms once in every 3 years. In Deuteronomy 14, the Israelites were commanded to lay aside a specific tithe, once every 3 years, for the foreigners, fatherless and needy:

28 At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: 29 And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.

In the overall context of tithing, the Israelites were specifically commanded to to provide 10% per year as a Levite/Temple tithe, 9% (10% of the remainder 90%) as a festival tithe and 2.7% (10% of the remaining 81%, once every 3 years) as an 'alms' tithe.

Therefore, at a personal level, apart from the 10% tithe/pledges we make annually to the church (this is not giving of alms!), we should be prepared to set aside at least 2.7% annually for 'alms' giving. Similarly, at a corporate level, since the Levites were also subject to the same principles of tithing, the annual church collection from the congregation should be prepared to set aside at least 2.7% for corporate 'alms' giving. A church with average annual receipts of ~$2 million, should therefore be prepared to allocate at least $54,000 annually towards 'alms'.

These are however, merely the legalistic old testament principles. At best, they exist as guidelines for our giving. Giving now is for us an act of grace, and a manifestation of our spirituality. We are instructed to give generously (Luke 6:38;Matt 10:8), according to what we have and not what we do not have (2Cor 8:12), cheerfully (2 Cor 9:7) and quietly (Matt 6:1-4).

His floodgates

I am almost at a loss for words.

God has opened His floodgates of blessing. Since last week, there has been an overwhelming level of support for this school in O Ta Saeng, and through the generosity of His people, the target of USD10,000 has been more than 50% exceeded. We have received a total of $22,800 (~USD15,724).

And I am sitting here completely overwhelmed by emotion as I reflect upon His goodness and faithfulness.

For those who were intending to donate but have not done so, please do not send any cheques now. We have already exceeded our target, and I do not want to accumulate any excess funds. The present monies will be used to build the school, and any excess funds will be utilized to purchase educational materials and any other support the students need.

There will definitely be other needs that will arise though the year, and I will keep everyone informed through this blog as these needs become clear. As a matter of principle, any fund raising done through this project will be 100% needs specific.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. And my heartfelt thanks to all who have contributed.

And to all, God's richest blessings for 2008.

don't know

people say
it is the new year
but i don't know
today
drags along
like yesterday..
and the day before

2008
i don't know
what that means
but i know
the rains have gone
i hope not gone
too much
because the harvest
will soon be
calling

i don't know
how much
the harvest will bring
father does not say
maybe
i am too stupid
to know

so i don't know

chaul chnam thmey
mother says
will come
after the harvest
i don't know
only a word
i can't read
or write

new year she says
but i really
don't know

e.

The Watch Night that isn't....

So we have survived the Christmas cheer, and now find ourselves on the threshold of yet another new year.....another anachronistic milestone. :) Seems strange since our lives have long since ceased to be organized around the idea of January 1st being the start of a new year. Neither our working nor personal life is truly organized around the Gregorian calendar, and practically, our calendar year neither begins on 1st January nor ends on 31st December. The only cycle of activity that seems still to operate according to the conventional January 1st - December 31st cycle would probably be the school system.

Many churches organize a watch night service, which is kind of a misnomer as it is merely an evening service on New Year's eve and not a true watching-of-the-night service.

If you google 'watch night service', you'll get a variety of resources that will point the origins of the watch night service to John Wesley's covenant service 0f 1755. Somehow, I am not so convinced, since the original Wesley Covenant Service was not held on New Year's eve but on 11th August. Neither was it a watching-of-the-night vigil service. A commentary by Rev. Diedra Kriewald ties it to a later event 33 years later involving converted British miners:

"Watch-night prayers became a regular service in the Methodist centers of Bristol, London and Newcastle. They were generally held between 8:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. on the Friday nearest the full moon "so that participants walked safely home through moonlit streets," as stated in Wesley's journal, Dec. 31, 1777. Wesley linked the watch-night vigil liturgically with a covenant of grace (an invitation to accept renewed obedience to Christ) in a service on Aug. 11, 1775 -- 33 years after the first watch night."

By the 19th century, this had somehow morphed into a New Year's eve service. And for pragmatic reasons, many 'watch night' services have since ceased to be vigil services, but merely evening services held to remember God's Grace and blessings over the past year.

It seems to me that the meaning of the event has been somewhat lost. We still unthinkingly refer to it as a 'watch night service' when it is clearly not a watching-the-night vigil service. The original covenantal spirit as envisioned by Wesley has also been somewhat lost over the years. And as a remembrance of God's Grace, which should be celebratory, my impressions of past watch-night services has been that they have tended to be overly introspective, sombre and morose. Where is the joy and celebration in recognizing God's Grace and blessings in our lives?

Perhaps we should return to fundamentals and revisit the idea of a covenant renewal service on the first day of the new year, or a truly celebratory service on the last day of the old year, and drop this anachronistic idea of a watch night service.