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having friends around the world is a joy and a heartache!!!
Last week saw the end to the Pacific Rim Conference in Australia where we had gathered leaders from the Churches we are working with in the Pacific Rim. It was a wonderful time full of laughter and joy.
Since that conference our friends from New Zealand have returned to a terrible mine disaster where 29 lives are still thought to hang in the balance. Meanwhile, our friends from Cambodia [see article below] returned to a horrendous bridge stampede which saw hundreds killed.
Like a Massacre...
MONDAY night’s deadly stampede in Phnom Penh could not have befallen Cambodia with more miserable timing. Coming at the height of the water festival—one of the most popular holidays in the Cambodian calendar—the incident cut short three joyous days of concerts, carnival rides and dragon-boat races. Instead a black pall of mourning hangs over the capital.
At least 378 people were killed, either crushed to death on a narrow footbridge or drowned in the shallow riverbed below as they fell from it. The bridge spans a part of the Tonle Sap, connecting the city proper to Diamond island, a newly built shopping and entertainment district. It is not clear what caused the panic that turned the festival crowd into a stampede; rumours abound.
When one knows friends who live in different places in the world one reads the news a little differently. I was relieved to hear from Steve Smith who leads our work in Cambodia that although some of our Church congregation were on the bridge hours before the stampede, they are all safe.
I'm glad I have many friends around the world. As I said it brings much joy to my soul but also increases the heartache somewhat.
Much Love in Christ
Peter
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Peter Brooks, 25/11/2010 |
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