There are now eight groups, five student groups and three groups of ex-students most of whom are working. The first group started in 1999. While the groups are young and fragile, there are some very dynamic young Cambodian Christians involved. There are also some Korean Jesuits, diocesan priests, a Filipino sister and a Hong Kong lay missionary involved as guides.
In November 2003, two of us participated in the workshop on Ignatian spirituality in the Philippines. At that time, the young Cambodians did not have a good level of English but their language skills have improved dramatically in the last two years! At that spirituality meeting, email addresses were abundantly distributed but apparently not widely enough!
It is perhaps time for us in Cambodia to reflect with the local groups about setting up a National Executive for Cambodia. In this way, the young Cambodians could deal with you directly about CLC and will not need to pass through me anymore. It is perhaps also time for a more in-depth introduction to Ignatian spirituality for those who are ready for it.
Earlier this year, we had a good example of a fruitful interaction between spirituality and education when Ms. Flavia Hung accompanied a group of Wah Yan Hong Kong boys on a visit to Cambodia. This group entered deeply into the reality of Cambodia and interacted with our Jesuit Mission team in a spiritual dialogue which is rare for young people. The spiritual orientation given before and during together with the accompaniment of Ms. Flavia and our resident lay missionary Wendy Lui contributed to this formation experience.