Last week, I (Joyce ) went to Battambang, a city in Cambodia near the Thai border. I was assisting the Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia’s Women’s Commission in their Family Management training for church leaders. There were about 32 male and female church leaders in attendance for a 3-day workshop.
We received feedback that the training was greatly appreciated—that it addressed needs and concerns that these leaders face every day. This is the third run on the manual that I worked so hard on with the staff of EFC-WC. We were encouraged to hear that many participants plan to use the materials and what they learned in their churches and women’s groups. I can only thank God for he opportunity and the strength to carry through.
On my side, I was blown away by the faith of Cambodian Christians. The more I get to see the faith of people at a grass-roots level and hear people’s stories and testimonies, I am simply in awe. Although there may be a lack of training and Biblical foundation, there is a very deep and real faith. There is maturity that grows out of persecution, through exile from family and through living their faith in spite of hardships every day. Seeing these leaders in prayer for each other and for various issues in Cambodia and the world, I felt honored to be in the same room, privileged to take part in the expressions of faithfulness here. I thank God for bringing us to this place in this time.
One evening the staff of the Women’s commission said that they thought that since I came all the way to Battambang (5 1/2 hrs from Phnom Penh by bus), I should see some of the city. So after the program ended, we all climbed into a tuk-tuk to go “daerleeng”—this is a term which means to go out, to hang-out Cambodian style.
There needn’t be a fixed purpose as I understand it. So we drove around town, seeing some points of interest and came to spot where they thought we should get out. There were various food stalls and roadside restaurants.
They started joke around and ask me how many “bong diya” I was going to eat. We and just eaten a nice meal at the church, so I said that I wasn’t so hungry. I know that bong diya here aren’t simply duck eggs, but eggs with embryonic baby ducks (like balut in the Philippines). We sat down and started with fish cakes wrapped in vegetables, another local treat. The next thing I knew, there was a duck egg in front of me and I was being shown where it dip it and what to wrap around it. I have to say that it was better than boiled chicken eggs (which I don’t eat). I did have trouble actually finishing it, not because of the taste or even the texture (which wasn’t as rubbery as I thought it would be), but by the thought. Next time, I am sure that I can eat it all and even possibly enjoy it.
The next evening, we sat down for our meal at the church and one of the volunteers said that I should eat very slowly. She was going to bring some very good “triy aing”--roasted fish. I have to mention that the food at the training was excellent, always a soup and at least two other dishes, well-prepared, tasty, fresh. It’s not that we weren’t eating well. About 15 minutes later, the volunteer came with something wrapped in newspaper.
The experience led me to reflect on meals that I’ve had in various places over the years. And made me think about a top-ten list of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. Most of them are meals that I remember individually in vivid detail. There are a couple that made the list for overall consistent excellence.
1. Red stew with chicken made by the wife of our former student Obadiya Pandiwa in the Eastern Kambari area, Nigeria. Obadiya was our student at Smith Bible College and he had gone to work as a missionary in this remote place where the CRC was working. Gil also still talks about this meal when the subject of good food comes up. Although this list was meant to be in no particular order, this may be my favorite, even in the top 10.
2. Mom’s turkey dinner. What can I say? Will we be able to have it in the next two months while “Grandma” is visiting us in Cambodia?
3. Roasted lamb, Beijing, China. In the short 6 weeks in China where every meal was a treat this stop at a Uyghur restaurant is unforgettable. I don’t even normally eat lamb.
4. Kimchi Chigae, Charlie Kang’s, Lansing, Michigan. Gil was working at a church in Flint at the end of seminary. We were engaged and I usually went with him. Often we would swing by for this comfort food of Kimchi soup on the way back to Grand Rapids. How much of the memorability of this meal was its actual taste? How much was flavored by romance? It is hard to know.
I realize that it is hard to separate out the taste of a meal from the surroundings and atmosphere. As I look at the list that is developing, I have to recognize a certain “terroire” to many of these meals. How much of the greatness of Blessing’s red stew was the joy of eating it with a person who we had helped train and was now doing the Lord’s work cross-culturally? How much was just the red dirt, the sunlight, the expanse of the African countryside? How much of Mom’s turkey dinner is being in a warm house with family in the cooling days of Autumn or the chill of Winter in Canada?
5. Rice, beans and red stew, Jalingo Road, Nigeria. We were on the way to Gandole and needed to stop for lunch. Kathy Vanderkloet, a fellow missionary, suggested this hole-in-the-wall kind of place and I can not forget this humble meal that we had there. We often think of meals in Nigeria as being humble. But clearly that doesn’t mean not good. When I think of it, I can remember many individual meals made by each of the staff wives at Veenstra seminary and the peanut kunu made by my friend Charity and served steaming hot out of a thermos for breakfast from time-to-time.
6. Chinese feast, Beijing. One of our short-term mission team made friends with a girl whose mother owned a restaurant. Our team was invited for a meal and it felt like everything on the menu was on the table. Steamed, roasted, fried--every type of meat and vegetable cooked in every way imaginable. When I think of the banquet in the presence of the Lord in heaven, this is the meal I think of.. What does it tell you about food in China that, although I was only there for 6 weeks, two of my top 10 meals are there?
7. Korean barbecue. Well, this is another classic that seems to be good anywhere. Korean spicy tofu soup is at the same level in my mind and was a favorite in San Jose. Good Korean food is readily available in Phnom Penh and we get our share of it. But I am still waiting for the ultimate Korean dining experience when my dear husband of 12+ years takes me to Korea for the first time.
8. Omelet with deep-fried sweet potato chips, under the Mango tree, Wukari, Nigeria. I can make an omelet, have eaten omelets in fancy hotels even, but none have ever matched the perfect combination of onion, tomato and hot pepper. Maybe it is the generous oil, maybe it is the open fire. Maybe it is being able to rest in the shade of the mango tree. Maybe it was the feeling of being on the way. Something makes this experience--which became a habit when we traveled through Wukari—absolutely unforgettable.
9. Everything I’ve ever eaten in Thailand. Our vacation last week reminded me of this truism. We went for seafood—not normally my favorite. Particularly recommended was the crab curry. It didn’t sound good to me. Well, I was wrong. Thai food seems to capture the right combination of everything.
And now, a new addition to round out the top 10:
10. Grilled Red Snapper, Battambang Cambodia. As for others, the taste can’t be separated from the experience--eating outside, in front of the Methodist church, with staff and volunteers from EFC-WC, fish fresh from the fire, out of newspaper package, rushed over on the back of a motorcycle.
I can’t see changing this list, but given my experience in Cambodia so far, I am expecting the list to develop to a top-20 list in no time. People may wonder how missionaries can “eat the food” in the places where they are living. Well, the opposite is true. The question is how can we “not eat the food”? My list tells me to value the humble, roadside kind of places, and treasure the joy of sharing a meal with old and new friends.
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