Jesuit Service Cambodia bid farewell to Ms Wendy Lui Wan Sze of the Hong Kong Catholic Lay Missionary Association, who worked with the Catholic Church Student Centre (Phnom Penh) from 2004-2006, and then with Banteay Prieb, the school for the handicapped run by Jesuit Service Cambodia, from 2006-2008. Wendy will be missed by the many students of the Student Center and Banteay Prieb whom she had touched with her caring and nursing. We wish her well as she moves on to her studies at the East Asian Pastoral Institute in Manila in 2009.
To continue the work of building up Jesuit community life, Fr Gabriel Je, Delegate of the Korea Provincial (Cambodia Mission) visited the Jesuit communities in Battambang, Sisophon and Siem Reap from September 5 – 11. It was also a time for him to share and listen to the individual Jesuits out in the field.
315 youths of the Battambang Prefecture gathered at the Battambang Church for a Youth Synod from September 2 – 6. The theme, Receive the Power of the Holy Spirit, was most apt for the young Catholics in this young and growing Church in the North-west of Cambodia. Fun was certainly an element at the gathering, and it will take many more years before the seed of faith being planted now could germinate and grow strong to withstand the harsh winds demanded from a life in Christ.
In an effort to uplift the standard of education in Cambodia, and specifically to build capacity in higher education, the Higher Education Committee is collaborating with Sogang University in Seoul, Korea, to provide scholarships for master studies to graduates and young faculties of Cambodian universities who share our aims. The first batch of three scholars were selected through a short listing and interview process last September 18. They will proceed to Korea by early 2009 to learn the Korean language and start working towards Master Degrees in Mathematics, Physics and History when the new academic year starts in April 2009.
Fr Jose Hildy ‘Totet’ Banaynal (PHI), and Br Benedictus Cahyo Christanto (IDO), together with Mr Tom Chheat, Mr Sao Sony, and Mr Phiruna, young staff of the newly established Oscar Romero Pastoral Center, Battambang Prefecture, attended the Asian Assembly of SIGNIS ASIA organized by the Catholic Social Communications in Phnom Penh from September 15-19. The event was a chance for the young Cambodian staff to get to know and network with others in the communication ministry in Asia. Fr Rappai Poothokaren, from Gujarat Province of India, stayed an evening with the Jesuit community in Phnom Penh on September 21, after attending the Assembly.
Four seminarians from the Seoul Diocese, South Korea, Kim Tae-jung, Shin Hyun-hak, Jung Sung-hoon and Hong Woong-gi, started their 3-month exposure in Cambodia from September 18 – December 27. They are staying at the Jesuit House in Phnom Penh and learning the Khmer language for two weeks before beginning their journey around Cambodia. Their exposure will include time with the Don Bosco Technical School, the Missionary of Charity Brothers, Stungtraeng and the Battambang parish.
