in this case Froggat's edge. This morning I got to do what I always mean to do but never get around to. Bunking off when everyone else is going to work. Phil Scott is a lifelong friend who lives and works in Phnom Penh as a missionary. Back for a brief time in the UK the only way we could get together was for me to drive up to see him in Sheffield Sunday night and Monday morning. But being so close to the Peaks it we were 10 minutes away from Froggatt's edge so spent the morning walking and talking. One topic was conflict resolution. Given the trauma which Cambodia experienced with the killing fields the Khmer are still living under the shadow of that time. So handling conflict is a real problem. Either avoiding confrontation altogether or tipping over into outbursts of anger and violence because there is no halfway house - which led to a discussion about how effective Western cultures are at handling conflict- not so polarised but still finding confrontation a problem. Another aside was discovering that he and his family rent a 19 bedroom villa. Why? Because in effect they are running a hostel for students who come up to the city to study. He'd like to get a place of his own and live rather more conventionally but as his wife reminds him - why did we come to this country in the first place if not to serve the people here?
Interesting when one of the major critiques of missionaries is challenging and changing the local culture. What is less discussed is when and how much local cultures need changing. No culture stands still and most are in need of repair.
