Dear Friends and Family,
Town drunk and gambler,
Kone, had lost so much
money to the local
police chief of Snule,
that the chief ran him
out of town in 2001, and
threatened to shoot him
if he returned. He wound
up 120 miles Northwest
in a rural part of
Mondolkiri Province,
received the Lord, and,
"Surprise!" became a
Foursquare pastor.
Yeah, I know what you're
thinking, "He should fit
right in!" Right?
Anyway, a group of
animists (spirit
worshipers) had a tribal
woman succumb to a heart
attack. They took her to
the spirit doctor, he
performed a bunch of
chants and rituals, but
she grew worse instead
of better. The spirit
doctor said, "She's
cursed. She's going to
die." The family took
her to the provincial
capital medical center.
The doctors examined her
and said, "She's dying.
There is nothing we can
do." A local church
member told them about
pastor Kone. "He prays
for the sick!" she
proudly announced. On
the way to the church,
the afflicted woman
passed out. They thought
she'd died. Pastor Kone
looked at her and could
not find a pulse. He
prayed for about 20
minutes and at 3:27pm on
the last day of
February, she sat up and
promptly received the
Lord, having seen enough
of hell to know she
didn't want to go there.
She is fine today, and
has been a key to major
revival among the tribal
group. (below) Notice
the picture in the upper
left, no wonder she had
a heart attack! I've
titled it: "Who needs a
truck when you have a
wife?"
(
http://www.foursquareorphans.org/new_groups
)
"Be careful what you
pray for!" We've all
heard that, but the
aftermath of our recent
Pastor's Conference has
brought the awesome
reality of this "Home to
roost". Now, we had
2,600+ pastors and home
group leaders in
attendance, and the
theme was centered on
encouraging, training,
and mobilizing the lay
people in our churches
and home groups to reach
their friends, family,
neighbors, and
co-workers for Christ.
During the first two
weeks after the
conference, reports
poured in from the 23
District supervisors of
new home groups being
started, an average of
ten per district. That's
almost ten percent
growth in two weeks!
Totally out of control.
Ten or more new
believers, mostly
factory girls, receive
Christ each week in the
Cham Chao church. Our
Supervisors are having
to start basic teaching
all over again, and at
the same time continue
with the more advanced
study for our more
experienced trainers and
leaders. Not that we are
complaining, but we
really did not expect,
or prepare, for this.
In the above website are
examples of
a couple of new people
groups (for us) reached
in Mondalkiri, and
Rattanakiri Province,
with reportedly several
hundred new believers
each.
We are finishing up and
dedicating the twelve church
buildings under
construction, (
http://www.foursquareorphans.org/church_building
) including the new floating
church home on the Great
Lake, and have 18 churches
of over 100 members that
have land and have voted to
apply for permission to
build facilities. We are in
the middle of lining up land
deeds, photos, and
collecting the needed data
to satisfy our donors.
One thing that never changes
in Cambodia is change! I was
gone for three weeks of
speaking in the US and when
I returned I felt like a
stranger. All the economic
experts predicted the demise
of Cambodia
as they entered ASEAN (the
Southeast Asian equivalent
of NAFTA) which eliminated
the 15% mandated allotment
for clothing imported into
the US
. Just the opposite has
occurred. Land prices have
skyrocketed. Property that
we paid $4.00 per square
meter for in 2002, is now
near $60 per square meter. I
just came back from the port
city of Khampong Some and I
lost count of the new
factories being built. There
were more than 100 just
along that 200 mile stretch
of road. Wages are
increasing as well. The $40
per month factory girls are
now earning $80 to $100 per
month. Around Phnom Penh and
the provincial capitals the
cities look like "gold rush
boom towns", complete with
all the vices. We have a
number of older orphans that
are due to leave our care
and receive jobs due to the
economic expansion, and they
are taking the Gospel with
them. What's coming?? It all
depends on political
stability. The UN and most
western democracies are
decrying the powerful grip
of the Prime Minister. He
just eliminated commune
elections for mayor, (very
unpopular) but at the same
time went from banning all
right hand steering vehicles
in Cambodia six months ago,
to allowing them today, and
from no tax on L.P.
gas to a big
tax, back down to low tax,
all in two months. The list
could go on and on. But the
point about life in Cambodia
, is that it
is totally unpredictable.
Teams! We have
a
continuous stream of
teams booked through July of
2007. They have been a major
blessing to the Cambodian
Church. I believe that one
of the reasons behind the
success of Foursquare
Cambodia has been the fact
that the church is
Cambodian, not some Gringo
imposition of Western values
forced upon their culture.
The fact is, I don't even
let me preach. Why?
Teams that come to work,
model, and learn are a
blessing. We love you guys!
We need ambassadors for the
work here.
That is our number one
reason for having teams come.
We also need help with
specific projects, i.e.:
cafeteria buildings. But
what we need most is the
modeling, and to be honest,
money, not just labor. We
can hire experienced brick
masons for $2.00 per day.
When teams model servant
leadership, and carry the
message of what God is doing
in Cambodia, to raise
support for orphans, they
are changing attitudes and
building a church.
They
come
to learn, partake, and
impart. That is valid.
We love
teams like that. But, that
is not the motive of some
teams that
apply.
Quite frankly, we turn down
teams that want to come and
"save" Cambodia . Why? The
big reason is that we are a
Cambodian Church
. The church does not need
foreigners to preach the
gospel to Cambodians. Though
most evangelistic teams mean
well, they are often not
beneficial to the Cambodian
church because they: 1) Give
Cambodian pastors the idea
that they are not good
enough, prepared enough, or
educated enough to preach.
2) Give Cambodians the idea
that Christianity is a
foreign religion and that
only foreigners can preach
it correctly. Evangelism
teams have no idea how
condescending they can be to
Cambodian church leaders,
but if they come to equip
and impart new skills, they
are a total blessing. We've
had great teams this past
month!
http://www.foursquareorphans.org/ruffs_2006
http://www.foursquareorphans.org/desert_springs_06
http://www.foursquareorphans.org/medical_preahvihear
Our kids, the orphans, are
getting older, and each
month several get married.
Naturally, Ma and Pa are
important guests. I could
probably spend the rest of
my life going to my "kids'"
weddings. Ly Heng, our
faithful procurements
officer and new pastor, was
married on March 31 st.
We
also buried one of our cell
group leaders who died of
cancer. Most times the
miraculous does not happen.
I guess that's what makes a
miracle. They are rare.
(
http://www.foursquareorphans.org/mar_update06
)
In March, new refrigerated
storage was constructed from
four, forty foot storage
containers which have really
increased the shelf life on
donated food and medicines.
We continue to distribute
nutritious food and improve
the diets of the orphan
children through the
generous donations we
receive. (
http://www.foursquareorphans.org/food_container_march
) Quite frankly, we could
not afford to continue
without this help. (
http://www.foursquareorphans.org/food_distribution
) What goes on here is truly
a team effort and all of you
who contribute prayer,
money, time, and materials
share in the fruitfulness of
what is being accomplished.
You really are changing a
nation.
Have a great month! We
will!
May God bless you!
The FCOP ex-pat gang,
Ted, Sou, & Hannah Olbrich,
Anna Blake,
Ryan Taggart, and Wendy
Hicks
