Cambodian Foursquare Church History
When
F.M.I.
missionaries Ted and Sou Olbrich were sent to Cambodia to plant
churches and train pastors in 1999, they scoped the current
movements in the Cambodian Christian Church.
They found it to
be anemic. The Holy Spirit was not moving there, as He had in the
early seventies. The Church was
not growing. It was struggling to survive. Ted and Sou new that
with its recent genocidal history and current state of depravity,
the people of Cambodia needed Jesus more than anything else.
Few churches had
been established in that socially and politically Buddhist land.
The few church organizations existing in Cambodia couldn't even
obtain permissions to build churches for people they evangelized.
Why would a Cambodian government official want to make the political
risk of giving someone permission to construct a church?
Ted and Sou began
to plant churches as best they could. They trained nationals to be
pastors and leaders of the Cambodian Foursquare Church. These
Foursquare pastors served congregations in impoverished
communities. Some of the tens of thousands of Cambodian orphans
lived on the streets nearby.
The Spirit began
to move in Cambodia once again. Acting on faith and struggling with
little support, the pastors began taking the parentless children
into their homes, knowing what God’s word taught them about helping
the needy. When the people of these communities saw the true acts of
faith and good works carried out by the pastors and other
Christians, they were attracted to Christianity.
Wanting to
support the pastors and orphans, Ted and Sou worked with the leaders
of the Cambodian Christian Church to establish the NGO,
Foursquare Children of Promise, Cambodia.
It was necessary to have such an NGO to operate in Cambodia and take
care of orphans and construct church orphan home facilities. They
solicited help for the Foursquare pastors and orphans from US-based
organizations with a heart for helping indigenous churches and needy
orphans. One of those organizations is
Warm Blankets Orphan Care International.
The good works of
the Foursquare Christians and works of the Spirit through them have
attracted thousands of to the love of Christ. The Church in
Cambodia is experiencing rapid growth. Over 1,300 pastors are now
in training and leading churches or cell groups. Their compassion
has given government officials the excuse and pleasure of granting
their NGO permission to build Church and
Orphan Care Facilities. There are 70 Church
Homes sites ministering in every province of Cambodia. Over 60
of those sites already have facilities constructed for church
meetings and orphan care ministries, or have building projects
nearing completion.
Every Orphan Home
is a part of the local Foursquare Church.
They share a
common building, with kids sleeping upstairs and services held on
the lower level. Most, if not all of the children admitted in
the homes end up becoming Christians and members of their Foursquare
Church. A large percent want to become pastors, leading their
nation to Christ and changing Cambodia for His Glory!
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