I’m still digesting my Thanksgiving turkey. Actually, we invited all our central staff, about 40 people, and ate three (turkeys not staff!). We had quite a party. Everyone was thoroughly stuffed and saturated (literally). Naret, our staff legal affairs officer, announced that it was, “The best day of my life!” http://www.missionreports.com/thanksgiving_cambodia_nov08 We started at noon, its 7:11pm, and I can still hear the party. Though we are separated from family and many friends we were never lonely. Nothing like 40 years ago today. I was a fresh 22 year old recruit in Laos , the only American in my province, just six weeks out of language school, in the middle of a war, no phones, no TV, and away from family and friends for the first Thanksgiving of my life. My only English speaking companion was a shortwave radio with an intermittent V.O.A (Voice of America) signal that buzzed with Soviet “Jammers”. After that, I knew what lonely is, and that has become my baseline. Every Thanksgiving since has been better than that. This one was great! Yes, I am thankful to my parents for leaving me an inheritance that allowed us to build a home with a pool, but more importantly, the truth is; I am thankful for you! Let’s talk about “Truth”.
Merry Christmas! I thought this year just began? Anyway, that is just my perception because yesterday Sou and I were walking through our upstairs hall and noticed a small Christmas tree in the corner. We never took it down last year! Which brings me to my thesis for this month. “Truth is that which pertains to reality”, I’ll accept that definition, but we don’t believe that, for us, perception is truth. I have come to believe that perceptions are often (usually?) wrong. I, as most of you, believe that, “God is not mocked” (Gal. 6:7). About three years ago we had a neighbor of our training center take ‘pot shots’ at our visiting pastors who had arrived for training, because he hated Christians. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but, since he was the son of a police colonel, nothing could be done. Pastor Peter went to talk to the family but they just laughed, “He was high on drugs, just leave us alone!” They prospered in the “Wild West” economy of the past few years selling off confiscated land. In fact, after selling off a piece for more than a million dollars US, the colonel bought the gun toting son a new, $108,000US Land Cruiser. Peter continued to reach out to the young man. “We don’t need your God! We have money”! came the reply. A few days later, as he was leaving his home in his new car, he was shot dead by thieves. No one was apprehended.
Then, there is Hok Lundy, the former Police General of Cambodia . He was the second most powerful man in the country; brutal, cocky, confident; he bragged that, “No one can kill me”! He wore numerous ‘charms’ to thwart evil, and people believed that bullets would literally bounce off his chest. Two weeks ago he was meeting with the King of Cambodia, and positioned himself with his head higher than the King, a moral faux pas in Cambodia . That afternoon he went to visit a resort on the border with Vietnam , upon his return in his private helicopter; he was stuck by a lightning bolt. Our ‘Tractor factory’ manager is a police reserve officer. He was called up to retrieve the body. He said they picked up three pieces of what used to be the General, and he had to watch as doctors sewed them back together so that there would be a body to bury. He had a lousy appetite the next day.
It’s not just these two, it’s the whole world. I’ll give you one more example (granted it’s my prejudiced opinion) from many possibilities, which is certain to stir your passions. We allow ourselves to be convinced by concepts that in our minds become reality, but are not truth. When I was in college I was seriously considering doing a post graduate degree on the merits of carbon dioxide enhancement of the atmosphere to increase crop production. The Vietnam War ended my plans, but today, the whole world is convinced that we are in the midst of catastrophic calamity because global warming. Now, I am all in favor of clean air and cheap fuel, and I hate the “yellow clouds” that float down on us from China and make our acid rain, so, “Bring on the Greens!” (Well, maybe not. I eat meat!) but, I have yet to be convinced that a rain forest is more beneficial to humanity than a well managed farm. In fact, crops do photosynthesize! Maybe as much as jungles, without the rotting methane gas? Truth: I love draining swamps, clearing jungles, and turning them into farmland! “Gasp! That has got to be the anti-Christ!” No! It’s me. We’ll see who is right in a few hundred years. Actually, the polar ice cap is growing, and the world has been getting cooler since 1998. For now, indulge me. Remember the old song from the “Sound of Music”, “These Are a Few of My Favorite Things”? Well, I have new lyrics for the old tune. They go like this: “Chain saws and herbicides, dynamite and bulldozers, vast waving rice fields that glow in the sun, these are a few of my favorite things. When the bee stings, when the dog bites, when I’m feeling blue, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feel so bad, ta da ta da da taa ………. Etc.” Don’t like my song? Nothing is as it seems :>) Am I wrong? Maybe.
My point? The only rock upon which you can stand, that won’t move, is not the economy, not the environment, not your feelings, not your friends, your dog (Spud?), nor even your family, but, Jesus Christ. Everything else, like the old song tells us, “is sinking sand”! Children love to hear about Jesus and our “Kid’s Clubs” are bringing in a harvest. We’ve printed up 65,000 Christmas tracts, 15,000 Children’s Christmas tracts, and 78,000 Bible booklets to be given away this Christmas. http://www.missionreports.com/children_ministry_training_kc/Index.html We’ve found that our English classes have been very effective at introducing young Cambodians to Christ. “That’s dishonest!” you may protest. No! We tell them up front what we are teaching and why. http://www.missionreports.com/esl_basedth Truth: The same goes with our dental and medical treatment. Medical Teams International, with our old friend, Dr. Mike Callan, from Church of the Open Door in Clinton , IA ; did wonders in one of the poorest regions of the country. http://www.missionreports.com/mti_kratie He was so in love with the people he stayed for Sunday Service. This all reinforces a very unique teaching I received at our Missions Retreat in Medan , Indonesia . It was taught by a woman who never completed eighth grade, who was locked up in and insane asylum when she was 14 for trying to kill 4 people. Perception: “What are you doing listening to such a ‘nut case’”? Truth: it was a moment with the Lord. We work so hard for salvations, but to what point? God wants us in unity with Himself and each other. That fact can change the way you do church. We spend way to much time fighting with one another.
Perception: Foster care is so superior to your institutions. Truth: We don’t have institutions, we run homes. The widows and staff that operate our facilities do not punch time clocks; they are family that live with the children. The kids literally grow up in the church with a maximum of 40 brothers and sisters. The pastor becomes the surrogate father, he leads daily devotions and lets them know that they are the hope of their nation, they can change Cambodia . The children are loved by people who have suffered loss and understand their pain. Each child is assigned tasks to help support the family. Our kids attend the public schools but, in the home they learn life skills as well as cultural, technical, and English training. They are kept in a healthy, safe, loving, Christian family environment, but not spoiled so that they are unable to return to any Cambodian village and help change their nation. They thrive with 20 to 40 brothers and sisters that love and care for them. This is far from a foster family that responds to the $50 per month to take a child. The children are rarely equals, and often Cinderella’s. The separation that has been so painful is compounded. No, Church/homes are vastly superior. Ask Canadian Pastor Des Klingspon, he just visited a home: http://www.missionreports.com/visiting_prey_krang We thank Warm Blankets Orphan Care, Children of Promise, Kids for the Kingdom, and many of our Foursquare Churches and other congregations for their selfless sacrifice.
Perception: This combine is 30 years old but has only700 hours on it (the equivalent of about one year’s use). Reality: either the old geezer that sold it to me broke the hour meter at 700 hours and never repaired it for the next 20 years, or he ran the machine through sand and grindstones for the full 700 hours. It was worn out worse than some machines with 4000 hours. The last insult was the hydrostatic transmission. It pushed the machine about 100 yards through the mud and died. We found a rebuilding specialist in Vietnam and after several days, and about $4000, we had a new transmission. Finally, after a good month on the combine, and spending 20 days building rice storage bins, conveying systems and rewiring we are ready for harvest. Just in time! So is the Rice! http://www.missionreports.com/pathom_combine
Perception: Buildings are not important, we need people groups! Truth, people come and go, buildings give a presence, a permanence that endures when the home group fails. It becomes a worldly investment that forces spiritual action and gives an eternal return. Either keep it going or look like a fool. Because we are invested we try, try, try again and again until we get a hit. Without that presence we would pull up stakes and leave. International Cooperating Ministries has helped us build 106 Church/homes, we are thankful for them! We have two new Church/homes under construction. http://www.missionreports.com/home_progressing_nov08
Perception: “If I drink this I’ll look like Superman” http://www.missionreports.com/muscle_milk Truth: Sorry kids! It has all the nutrition to give you a balanced diet, and supplement your rice. I’m talking about “Muscle Milk” and supplemental food products received from Gleanings for the Hungry, Warm Blankets Orphan Care International, and Church of Glad Tidings . The dried fruit, soup mix, rice, pasta, Muscle Milk, and Herbalife Instant Meals make our kids some of the healthiest in Cambodia . We are thankful for you!
We bless you and thank you! That is the truth! Perception: I will push the “Send” button and you will receive this. Truth: Someone stole about 400 meters of transmission cable off our main line. You get it when you get it.
Merry Christmas!
Pa Thom (Me, Ted)
And those still do’in all the work,
The Cambodian FCOP Team,
Ma Sou,
Emily Plater
Josh and Michelle Ferguson
Kris Warner
Bob and Christal Hollandsworth
