Earlier this month, over the Khmer New Year holiday, we had regional meetings on the island of Jeju in South Korea. We decided to stay a few days after to have a short family vacation. I’ll write more about our explorations later but I’ll start with another entry in my flower series. We enjoyed visiting Longwood…
Author: Charles
Khmer New Year 2026
Next week is Khmer New Year, celebrating the start of the 2,570th year of the Buddhist Era in Cambodia. In the Chinese Zodiac this also will mark the beginning of the Year of the Horse in Cambodia. On Monday MCC Cambodia held a joint Easter and Khmer New Year celebration. This included a time of…
Heroic Rats from Tanzania
We’ve heard from a few people this month who saw a story in the news about Cambodia unveiling a stone statue of Magawa – the world’s most successful landmine detection rat. So now seems like a good time to share about the the African Giant Pouched Rats who are considered heroes for contributions to landmine…
Article: A Letter from Myanmar
I wanted to share this Canadian Mennonite article by Amos Chin President of Bible Missionary Church Mennonite, the Mennonite World Conference affiliated church in Myanmar. The original article can be found on the Canadian Mennonite website. BMC Mennonite is a partner of MCC in Myanmar. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do…
Farewell Tasiana, Mainza, and Nathan
Three years ago I introduced you to our newly arrived service workers Mainza and Tasiana. Time has certainly seemed to go quickly because we just saw them off at the airport at the end of their three year term of service. From Zambia, Mainza and Tasiana are Anabaptists belonging to the Brethren in Christ church….
Catherine enjoying Kuy Teav for breakfast last Sunday
Six years ago I gave you an introduction to គុយទាវ, or Kuy Teav, the iconic Khmer rice noodle soup. It’s a traditional soup known throughout the region by various names including Hủ Tiếu in Viet Nam, Kway Teow in Malaysia, and Kuai Tiao in Thailand. Four years ago I updated you that Catherine can now eat…
Collaboration between Mennonites in Taiwan and Myanmar
Last year we visited the Fellowship of Mennonite Churches in Taiwan to thank them for their generous donation to MCC’s earthquake response in Myanmar. While there we visited the Mennonite Christian Hospital in Hualien, Taiwan and learned from the Hospital Chaplain that they had been joining mission trips to Myanmar. We shared that Mennonite Central…
Nipah Virus January 2026
As the Nipah Virus is in the news Crystal’s Uncle David Waltner-Toews recently shared a excerpt from his Book On Pandemics (Greystone Press, 2000) on his blog. I thought I would re-blog here as well since there have been a lot of questions and concerns about the Nipah Virus especially as we come into the…
Online Conflict Between Thailand and Cambodia
In 2023 Cambodia hosted the Southeast Asia Games for the first time. You can think of the SEA Games as a regional Olympics that – in addition to hosting well known international sports like Soccer – include Southeast Asian regional sports like Sepak Takraw, Ouk Chaktrang, Pencak Sila, and traditional boat races. The martial arts…
Christmas 2025 – Fear not here is your God
The past year has been filled with challenges and discouragements—injustice, oppression, war, and famine plague our world. Today Cambodia is facing it’s largest scale humanitarian crisis in decades, as border clashes with Thailand have escalated into a broader armed conflict. In Myanmar, the military regime continues to brutally oppress its people but will no doubt…