Dear
Friends and Family,
There
was a lot to be thankful for this year; being alive for
one. Our eldest son, Tony, and his wife Sandi, finally
got to visit us for the first time. Wanting to show him
around, Rattanakirri was on the “must do” list, the
problem is that more people wanted to go than could fit
in the plane. In Cambodia, “No problem, cram in one
more!” So, what is the elastic limit of the 40 year old,
52 seat, Chinese built prop plane? Well, it is less than
62 people and freight piled to the ceiling in the fore
and aft compartments, as on landing on the dirt strip
the right wheel strut collapsed, causing the plane to
veer off the runway, breaking off the nose wheel,
bending the wing, and setting the grass on fire.
Typically, the courageous pilots bailed out the nose
window, peeled off their uniforms, and disappeared into
the brush. It turns out the plane was rented from the
now defunct Royal Cambodian Airlines and probably
neither
it, nor the crew,
had seen any maintenance in months. Ma Sou was the last
one out, after allowing several panicked Cambodians to
pass her over the seat tops. She remembers praying
loudly, “Jesus, Jesus, Help!” as the plane slammed into
the runway and physically saw a large hand clear the way
for the plane. Everyone lived with only a few sprained
limbs. Pastor Mot, waiting for the plane to arrive,
heard the explosive sound of the impact, and assumed
everyone dead. Running, he was one of the first to the
smoldering plane, and greatly relieved that everyone got
out.
http://www.missionreports.com/plane_crash
The
rest of Tony and Sandi’s visit was more benign with only
the usual “Ho Chi Minh’s” revenge to deal with. It was
Tony’s first trip back to Asia since he left Laos as a
three year old during the height of the Vietnam War. Ted
took them back to Laos to see Tony’s roots, including
the spot where he survived a rocket attack in March
1970. Hannah turned 18 while they were here, and Wendy
Hicks arranged a surprise birthday party for her on
November 25th. The camera caught the surprise, and it
was complete. The same camera also caught a typical day
at the office, so we’ll throw in a line or two just to
let you see us in action. Some people think Spud is a
fictitious character, but he is ‘Chief of Security” for
F.C.O.P. He oversees a staff of two, Sergeant Bucco and
Private Buddy (Anna Blake’s new best friend). Actually,
Spud is a very religious dog, or a playboy, we can’t
decide which, because he always comes to morning staff
devotions, but then he sits between two pretty girls,
and naps through my teaching. Must be a playboy? Bad
dog!
http://www.missionreports.com/dec_2005
Ryan
Taggart, our Medical Director, along with Dr. Chhaya,
took one of our pastors with a large tumorous mass on
his head, via the generosity of a member of a member of
the Northwest Medical Team, to Vietnam for special
surgery with miraculous results. Make sure to click on
the link to read the entire story.
http://www.missionreports.com/vietnam_2005 We have
also been busy with the usual training of pastors,
musicians, and evangelism programs. The results are
difficult for us to quantify but the numbers are huge.
We are thankful for the help of the Foursquare
Foundation in facilitating this growth.
Something everyone should be thankful for is the growth
of the Cambodian Church. The official count is at 1423
with several hundred more small groups which we hope
will become churches (more than 20 adults in
attendance) We thought you’d like to see the scope of
the, soon to be, 82 Church homes that have been built
since 1999. Each one of these is home for up to 50 or
more orphans and has served as a divisional headquarters
for the churches scattered in all the provinces of
Cambodia. We are specifically grateful to International
Cooperating Ministries for their participation with the
major portion of the construction expense for most of
the homes, also World Orphans, for their help in
building 55 homes. Warm Blankets, Children of Promise
and Kids for the Kingdom take on the even harder task of
daily care for the 3500 orphans and widows loved in
these facilities with other wonderful partners supplying
food, medical care and training. The work here in
Cambodia has impacted nearly 300,000 people with the
Gospel.
http://foursquareorphans.org/home_pics.htm
Its harvest time in CAMBODIA! Not only a harvest of
souls, but also a harvest of rice! Foursquare Children
of Promise owns 31 hectors (equivalent to about 70
acres) of land up north in the Banteay Meanchey
province, not far from our rice mill. Four months ago
the land was plowed with an ox drawn plow and the rice
planted. Last month, fifty F.C.O.P. personnel (pastors,
wives, and older orphan boys) went up to Balang and hand
harvested the rice. It took them two weeks to glean the
31 hectors. Setting up tents to form a small camp, they
worked from early sunrise to dusk, taking a break at
noon in the heat of the day. Every evening they held a
time of devotions. After the last stalk of rice had
been cut they offered up thanks to God and asked for His
continual blessing upon their crops. The harvest will
be used to feed the orphans. Now, if only we could buy
another 400 tons we’d be set for another year. Hint!
http://www.missionreports.com/rice_harvest
Orphans! I often get inquiries about adoption of
orphans. One problem is it is illegal for US citizens to
adopt Cambodian orphans. It boils down to this. In a
nation where the average per Capita income hovers around
the $250 per year mark anything that remotely smells
like money gets corrupted. In Cambodia, foreign adoption
has turned into a real "Money Cow'. First of all you
have the desperately poor people, especially
prostitutes, giving birth to children that they may
love, but have no means of supporting. Then you have the
wealthy Americans who will pay almost anything to secure
a "cute little Cambodian baby". Add to this government
officials willing to exploit any situation to extract
funds from anyone who can't hurt them, and you have the
formula for disaster. However, the truth is that even
if it was legal for US citizens to adopt Cambodian
orphans we would not participate. Why? Well, the main
reason that Foursquare Children of Promise does not
provide children for adoption is that God called us to
change a nation, not export its most precious commodity.
Don’t miss-understand, there are many children in
Cambodia who would benefit from adoption, we are for
that, but our kids are raised to see their future in a
new, Christian, nation of which they are the leadership
core. If we allow the adoption of a few of these kids
every child’s focus will turn from, “How can I change my
nation?” to, “How can I get some American couple to
adopt me?” That would destroy our purpose for being
here and would probably cost us the blessing of favor
that God has poured upon us. I hope you understand.
Have
you considered adopting a child? How about your church?
For $1500 per month you can adopt a whole home full of
kids. Just think of it, you will have up to 50 kids,
complete with a home, staff and church to care for them.
You will be the provider for their feeding, care,
clothing, education, and medical treatment. You will
have web-site that links you to the home, with hundreds
of pictures and information on what is happening in your
home. You can visit anytime. We don’t even ask for
advance notice. Come take your kids to the beach or just
‘hang out’. They will be praying for you daily, and want
your prayers as well. For the price of raising one child
in America you can raise up an entire home of children
who will not only bless you and bless God, but change
their nation to boot. What more could you do to add
meaning to your life? Not much!
Remember to find out all about us tap on to:
http://www.missionreports.com/cambodia
Hey,
from all of us to all of you, may God bless you and have
a Merry Christmas!
Ted, Sou and Hannah Olbrich
Anna Blake,
Ryan Taggart, & Wendy
Hicks
