Today we a real highlight because our team was able to visit the Phnom Penh field office of the International Justice Mission.IJM works in the darkest corners of the human race: sexual slavery. Its four-fold mission: ersis1. Victim Rescue2. Perpetrator...
Our final meeting in Phnom Penh was the most important of them all as our GSUMC team gathered with 10 District Superintendents of the Cambodian Methodist Church. We were struck with the courage of these pastors and leaders. Most are the only Christians in their entire...
As I mentioned in Tuesday's post, Good Shepherd's founding pastor Claude Kayler forged a relationship with Cambodian pastor Sopeung Sok in 1999 and 2000.As a result, our church was able to build a church building for Pastor Sopeung's church early in the last decade.So...
On our first night in Phnom Penh, we had a dinner with about 15 United Methodist pastors and young adult leader.I sat down next to a very nice young woman who introduced herself to me. Turns out she is the president of United Methodist Youth in Cambodia. That's a...
Yesterday, I posted that my colleagues and I were on our way to Phnom Penh, Cambodia and ultimately to the state of Orissa in India.So why would we want to travel such great distances to spend 12 days in cultures that are so unfamiliar?Turns out there are at least...
As you read this, I am somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, travelling with these three friends of mine.From the left, it's Mike Dey, Ron Dozier, Brian Braunschweiger, and well, you know.All of us are part of the Good Shepherd family.We are flying into Phnom Penh,...
Can a pastor really say something like "forget about God's will for your life!" and still be a Christian?I think so.And I love the reasons why.Come this Sunday and you'll find out.And then to reinforce that message, we have a beautiful event planned for Sunday evening...
Yesterday, I took the staff on a field trip to the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in center city Charlotte. It's a spectacular place.We joked that we were going "uptown and high brow." So we did.We also had a charming "docent" -- which is a cool name for a tour guide...
Throughout the years, I've had several occasions to serve in pastoral roles on both sides of my family -- with my extended family and with Julie's.It's usually pretty nerve-wracking.Why? Because the shift in roles is so dramatic. These are people who changed my...
We have an event coming this Sunday that is a first of its kind for Good Shepherd.The Reading Of The Red Letters.From 5 - 6 p.m., we'll gather as a people being shaped by the Holy Spirit and we'll listen to the words of Jesus. Out loud. In community. Without...