Foursquare Children of Promise in Cambodia

Warm Blankets Orphan Care, International

Garment Factory Workers Lodging and Restoration Center

I.       Executive Summary

The Mission:  To reach out to the 150,000 plus young, single women, 18-25 years old, employed in the garment factories within 5 kilometers of the Phnom Penh Training Center by providing safe affordable guarded housing with access to counseling, convenient church services and training into various optional career choices.   These young women have come from rural areas from throughout the country and represent the wage earning population.  Since they are all of marriageable age and have economic viability they are a key aspect in the future of the nation. 

The Need:  Cambodia is one of the least developed nations on earth.  Average per capita income is near $280 per year.  This plan is aimed at alleviating human suffering by introducing the “Gospel lift” that comes as people relate to creation through the teachings of Christ. 

Most of the employees in the garment factories are single woman between the ages of 18-25.  A majority of them come from the provinces where no employment is available.  They receive an average of $40 per month for a standard work shift.  They have to pay a six month procurement fee to get the job. (Pay $240 for a $40 per month job). They have tremendous pressure to send funds home as well as to get out of debt. Pressure to prostitute themselves for this purpose is intense.

Since these girls have no family near the factories, housing is a major problem.  Many girls will travel in the back of two ton, open trucks, for ten to twenty minutes, or more, to find a room, of maybe 150 square feet, to share with up to 10 other girls.  Loneliness, long work hours, poor living conditions, poor nutrition, lack of guidance are all problems associated with the lives of these workers.

These girls are often preyed upon by pimps offering them greater earnings in the sex industry.  The moral damage done to their reputation, since it often ruins their chance for marriage and a family, and the extremely high HIV infection rate, makes this a dangerous choice.  The feeling among many of the girls is, “no one cares”.

These girls are in a spiritual vacuum.  Many are Buddhist only by birth.  The hopelessness and spiritual poverty that exists in these young women can be met with the hope of a new life and new beginning in Christ.  Only the Christian message can radically change the value of these spiritually empty and socially beaten Cambodians. 

The girls working at the factories are wide open to the Gospel, but long shifts and working hours conflict with normal church activities,  scattered lodging over a wide area with no transportation, makes the social unity, evangelization and training of this group difficult.      

 Ministry Strategy:  Provide clean, safe housing, with affordable, nutritious food in a dormitory across from the Phnom Penh Church and Training Center.  The initial complex would be built to house 186 young women in 31 rooms with six persons per room.  The 32^nd room would be reserved for the manger.  The complex would be gated and guarded 24 hours per day and laundry and cafeteria facilities would be available.  Cost would be $5 per month per person, plus meals. These women would be selected from different factories with six from one factory shift sharing a room.  As many as 31 factories could be apart of this project, but if two shifts from a single factory are selected then the number could be as low as 16 factories. 

These young women would be selected based on their interest in the Gospel through evangelism youth teams surveying the factories.  They would be evangelized through the adjoining complex (Phnom Penh Training Center).  Since each factory employs 1000-5000 workers, these selected girls would then be trained, and encouraged to evangelize their factories.  As interest develops, Bible studies would be held at the Training Center facilities between shift changes for up to 500 of these young women.  Transportation and refreshments would be provided, and strict time limits on the length of the studies would be adhered to, in order to respect the limited time these women have.  As interest grows a special church service of 1 hour would be developed during the shift changes. 

As Young women show interest in career alternatives they will be assisted in securing training through other Non-Government Organizations. (Secretarial skills, English Classes, Music and Arts, Clothing Manufacture and Design, Theological Study, Nursing and Medical Technicians)

Management:  The home would be run as a Christian facility under the direction of the Foursquare Church.  A signed agreement on ethical conduct with terms for dismissal from the facility would be required before admission. (This would be done to protect the facility from recruiters for prostitution) The immediate supervisor would be the building manager – a mature married woman of proven character and administrative and ministerial qualities with a husband who would provide maintenance and ministerial oversight as well.  A guard house would be constructed near the gate and manned 24 hours a day for security for the walled in compound.

II.    Ministry Overview

Facility Operation and Administration:  The building manager would handle occupant selection and disciplinary oversight under the direction of the Training Center board of directors which is under the appointment of the National Board of Directors of the Cambodian Foursquare Church.  Occupants would be given a six month lease with renewal based upon the manager’s approval and their sincere interest in reaching out to their fellow workers. These girls would be required to pay a rental fee of $5.00US per month at the beginning of each month.  Special allowances would be made in cases of extreme poverty.   

Facility Construction Construction will be of reinforced concrete frame with brick and mortar walls that are customary to the area.  A volleyball and bad-mitten sports area will be included in the plan along with a recreational area and casual meeting gazebo. 

Estimated Construction Costs

III.       Operation

Growth Strategy:  F.C.O.P.+ WB currently has association with 2,000 plus churches in all 23 Cambodian provinces.  As the girls marry and/or return to their homes they will be key instruments in carrying the gospel message. They will be placed under the care of a local pastor from their area. Those who remain and work generally support the extended family in the provinces.  This fact gives them the tremendous power of influence.  As they share the Gospel with relatives and encourage them to attend churches in their area, or participate in a church plant, the rapid evangelism of Cambodia can continue.  The population of the facility will be in constant rotation as workers move, marry, or return to their homes.

Operation Advantages:  The rental income will make this project self supporting once the initial construction costs are met.  Certain Transportation and training charges may have to be assessed depending upon the training tract selected. The impact of this project is potentially one of the most powerful evangelistic schemes to be implemented in Cambodia.  Tens of thousands of lives will be won to Christ as a result.

External Services and Support:  The garment industry is the only sizeable industrial sector in Cambodia.  These factories are very interested in offering affordable housing for their employees, and anxious to see employees develop safe, harmonious lives.  Although they have not offered any financial assistance they will assist in other ways i.e. the dispersion of information and transportation.

IV.        Sector Participants

Analysis of Similar Organizations:  F.C.O.P. knows of no other similar programs in Cambodia.  There are a few organizations working with provision of training and housing for the rehabilitation of prostitutes.  This program will be pro-active, to intercept the lives of the young women, before they are forced into this regrettable lifestyle.  It is a pioneering effort. Young women actively engaged in the sex industry would also be included however they would not be made conspicuous, allowed to blend in, and maintain a sense of dignity.

Strategic Alliances:  The success of F.C.O.P. has not been an individual effort, but the result of strategic alliance with valued partners like Warm Blankets Foundation, Children of Promise International,  Mercy Smiles, Kids For the Kingdom, International Cooperative Ministries, World Orphans, Foursquare Missions International, Heifer Project International, CHILD, and many individuals and churches that have given sacrificially to make the dream of seeing Cambodia become a Christian nation come true.