Saturday, September 29, 2012

Same People, Different Landscape

One of the Love146 partners who I had the opportunity to learn from in Cambodia was in the States recently. He posted some thoughts on facebook as he headed home from his first trip to this side of the world. I thought I'd share one thing that really grabbed me from what he said. It's always fascinating to hear cross cultural perspectives. 

"At a parking lot, a man said, '$15 for parking for 30 minutes.' I was astonished! A thought came into my head, 'My gosh! Parking car for 30 minutes costs our 3 meals in Cambodia.' Buying two sandwiches for breakfast, I paid $27. I felt, 'Oh! That is so expensive.' A silly thought came to my mind again, 'The price of 4 sandwiches is the same amount that we give to the families of the children to improve their lives (we give $50 as a micro-loan to help the family to start small business).' 4 NYC sandwiches can help to change a whole family and the entire community."

This was just one observation among many. There was no judgement in it. It's just a fact of our different landscapes. How quickly I forget these facts though. This was such a good reminder for me as we enter this month of choosing to say no to excess and yes to sharing with others in the Less is More Mix, For Love146. I'm not good at this. I often forget how blessed we are to be able to give. I'm asking God for these things to root down in my heart like they never have before. I'm asking for His Spirit to change me, help me become more intentional and for all of us that are participating in this to come alongside each other in unexpected ways, sharing in the beauty of what it really means to live life together. 

I hope that we can continue to develop ideas together and share in best practices that we've discovered that help us live well in the great Story we're a part of. 

* Sophany Pang is the director of Kone Kmeng out of Phnom Pen, Cambodia. You can follow them on facebook.

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