Notes From the Forgotten Borough

  • Transformational Small Churches: Guest Post from Christian Phuoc-lanh Phan

    This is a re-post from Ed Stetzer’s Blog.  I really enjoy reading what he has to say.  He is spending time soon discussing small churches who grasp the weight of God’s calling and are becoming transformational.  In the lead up to that discussion, he highlighted this Vietnamese pastor and his church in Washington.  Seeing as…

  • My Worst Fear

    The other day I met up with my dad for lunch at one of the ubiquitous chain restaurants in our area.  One of the joys of living near home again is that we can have conversations over hamburgers instead of on the phone! As we arrived, I needed to use the restroom. One of my…

  • Isaac or Jacob?

    Have you ever read the Genesis account of Isaac’s life?  If you’ve ever tried to read through your Bible in a year, then you may have read it a few times before giving up somewhere late in Exodus.  One verse I find interesting is in Chapter 26: Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug…

  • I’ve Heard a Word from the Lord…

    I love the book of Job.  It is the Bible’s version of a horror movie.  Our worst fears are all summed up in its 42 chapters: extreme loss, abandonment, loneliness, disease, betrayal, false accusations….the list goes on and on.  Furthermore, one of the most majestic and awe-inspiring sections in Scripture describing the glory of God…

  • Cambodia: day 6/7

    The poor Internet at our current location caused some problems for me yesterday. When they finally got the wifi working, my post was somehow deleted. Argh! Yesterday we visited a few of the temples here at Angkor Wat, including the massive structure which is depicted on the Cambodian flag. It was seriously impressive. We saw…

  • Cambodia: day 5

    I’ve been thinking a lot today about the difference between poverty and wealth. We walked around the Russian Market today (which, as far as I can tell, has absolutely nothing to do with Russia) and I managed to find gifts for the last few people on my list. I kept finding gifts I wanted to…

  • Cambodia: day 4

    Today turned out to be a less stressful day than I thought. Hallelujah! This morning we visited a place called Rahab Crafts. We knew the place was a fair trade organization, but we didn’t know the whole story until we walked in. Rahab teaches people with physical handicaps a trade, then after creating their crafts…

  • Cambodia: day 3

    Today was all about relationships: old and new, broken and restored, created and completed. We started the day by visiting Hagar International. It is an NGO whose goal is to do whatever it takes, as long as it takes to restore broken people. They receive young women and boys who have been rescued by other…

  • Cambodia: day 2

    Today is a day that I will remember for a very long time. I’ve tried to process what I have seen today, but I am struggling. More on that in a minute. This morning started well. We explored the Russian Market for an hour, I helped some friends find good knock-off watches and I bought…

  • Cambodia: day 1

    Today was even more exhausting than yesterday. I believe that will be our pattern for the next few days. I awoke this morning at 4 am to the irregular ringing of the prayer bell at the Buddhist park in front of our hotel. Maybe thirty minutes later loudspeakers throughout the town began broadcasting and car/moped…

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