Friday, September 10, 2010

Steve Wise

Wooster Grace partners with Steve & Deb Wise. My visit to Cambodia was enhanced by my time with Steve & Deb. As is my bent, I wanted to hear what Steve's favorite snack is.

I was privileged to have the Phnom Penh team join our GoTeam for breakfast at the Kiwi Bakery near the river the day after landing in Cambodia. Steve and Deb joined us with the Robertson's.

At the breakfast, we asked Steve to pray for our meal in Khmer. Then I asked him to share a few tips about ministering at Battambang.

He told us to enjoy the food; especially the rice. The best rice in Cambodia is grown in the area around Battambang. He was accurate. I loved the rice.

He also informed us to work diligently on building relationships with the people. The culture is a patron-client model where the foreigner is ascribed higher status than Cambodians. Thus a Cambodian may not go beyond a student-teacher relationship. He was correct. I had to work hard to engage a budding relationship with the people. But by the end of the week, relationships were built and memories forged.

Steve is a Penn State grad. Please give him encouragement for his team goes up against Alabama this Saturday. It'll be hard not to hear, "Roll Tide!" at the end of the game. Still, send Steve an email at stevendeb@mac.com. He'd love to hear from you.

I like his choice of a snack place. He didn't go for the typical salty or sweet fare. Check out what is his favorite snack place.

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