Category: Mission Journal

COVID-19 Notes

From the Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Missouri, Deon K. Johnson:

The work of the church is essential.
The work of caring for the lonely, the marginalized, and the oppressed is essential.
The work of speaking truth to power and seeking justice is essential.
The work of being a loving, liberating, and life giving presence in the world is essential.
The work of welcoming the stranger, the refugee and the undocumented is essential.
The work of reconciliation and healing and caring is essential.
The church does not need to “open” because the church never “closed”. We who make up the Body of Christ, the church, love God and our neighbors and ourselves so much that we will stay away from our buildings until it is safe.

We are the church.

Same old, same old…

Today I went to Syphal’s Beautiful Shoes near the Maryknoll office to order a new pair of shoes. I’ve been going there for 18 or 19 years and have always bought the same shoe design each time I’ve been back. When I first went there in the early 2000s, a pair of handmade shoes was $18. Now five or six pairs (maybe more?) later, it’s up to $38. I can pick them up in five days.

When online learning doesn’t work…

The government closed Cambodian schools on March 16 and declared learning would continue online. In a country where a large portion of the population doesn’t have electricity, that is a major challenge, not to mention the lack of smartphones. In the Boeung Tum Pun area, where the Maryknoll Sisters work, they are developing some workarounds, some work-at-home packets to keep the youngest kids engaged and connected to school during this l-o-n-g hiatus. Here a couple staff prepare colored pencils for the packets, colored pencils being maybe THE essential item for younger kids.

A Little Hideaway

Riding along the streets of Phnom Penh, one is confronted by high walls and gates of compounds that just reflect a frightened urban mentality. Go through some of those gates, though, and one is in another world, such as this compound where some famous sisters live. It could not be more secluded although it’s right by the royal palace and the prime minister’s house. Going to the sisters’ house in the dark, one could almost expect the Death Eaters to emerge.