Dear Friends and Family,
2006 is 2% over, and I’m finally getting around to
wishing you a “Happy New Year!” We’re still doing
Christmas, actually Christmas in Cambodia starts in
July. I used to get upset when I see stores in
American put up Christmas decorations in September,
but our pastors start collecting for the Christmas
celebration six months early. It is by far the
“Event of the Year”. Churches are packed out to see
the re-enactment of the Christmas pageant, complete
with dancing cows, Mary with morning sickness,
singing sheep, angels that have wings which go
tinkle-tinkle-tinkle when they flap them, thatch
stables, and God, who speaks with so much
reverberation, that the rafters shake. Peter had
1500 people show up for most of Christmas day. They
started in the morning and were still dancing at
9:00pm. Hundreds received Christ. This event was
repeated in every church, large and small. Churches
that run 20 in attendance would have more than 100
guests. It truly is an amazing time of growth for
the church with none of the commercialism.
http://www.missionreports.com/merrychristmas2005
Ryan Taggart (Medical Director) and Wendy Hicks (ESL
Specialist) both took home leave and had Christmas
in America. He left with the good news that Pastor
Cheang Ka’s wife, so terribly injured in an accident
last May, is up and walking (see picture in the
decemberevents Website below). I
traveled back to the US for a brief meeting with
International Cooperating Ministries (ICM) and a
Sunday at the Black Mountain Harvest Church, near
Wilkes-Barre, PA. ICM is currently funding the
construction of 12 Church/homes and looking to
complete another 22 in the next two years. We’ve had
good news from Warm Blankets regarding donors for
the construction of the Factory Workers Dorm, which
will house 300 young women working in the garment
industry. The facility will be built adjacent to our
national Training Center and these girls will not
only receive safe, comfortable housing, but train to
share the Gospel with their co-workers. We are still
seeking matching grant funds for construction, so
hint, hint, contact: Craig Muller at Warm Blankets
(847-577-1070) if you have some way of helping.
We’re looking for some military bunk beds. My US
Congressman, Don Manzullo, is doing what he can, but
if anyone knows of any military base closings in
your area, we need about 1500 bunks. The Ministry of
Social Concerns had a meeting of all the orphan care
providers in Cambodia. There were nearly 95 groups
represented. FCOP is by far the largest with 82
church/homes, most of the other organizations had
just one facility. It was a real ego boost for our
home directors, and it should encourage all of you
donors, to hear that FCOP was held up as an example
of good care, education, and nutrition. The only
request that the Ministry of Social Concerns had for
us was the addition of beds. Even though 95% of
Cambodians sleep on floor mats, we would love to
comply, as it is healthier for the children, but to
construct 1500 bunks would cost us more than
$150,000US, so we could use some help.
Anna Blake (Teams Leader) brought her family and
some friends over for Christmas. They traveled to
Steung Treng in northern Cambodia and spent the two
weeks building a cafeteria building for the church
home there. They got to relax at the beach for
Christmas day.
http://www.missionreports.com/steung_treng05
The rice harvest is about finished and we are buying
and milling rice. We milled close to 500 tons of
rice in 2005. So far we have purchased about 250
tons for 2006 but need to double that. It takes us
about $100 per ton for patty rice this year, so an
additional $25,000 would keep us fed when combined
with the help we are getting from The ‘Butte County
Rice Producers’, ‘Glad Tidings Church’, ‘Gleanings
for the Hungry’ , and now a new partner, ‘Children’s
Hunger Fund’. On Dec. 30th a team from
the San Joaquin District of Foursquare Churches
arrived. They are still in country, more on them
next month. This was also a month for staff
weddings, with Vichea, our former administrator,
Vanna, Bible School student and employee of FCOP,
being married, and Ly Heng, administrator, being
engaged.
Hannah was in a musical put on by her school, “Guys
and Dolls”, she played “Nicely, Nicely Johnson”. We
never knew she could sing, “Sit Down! You’re Rockin’
the Boat!” which should probably become my theme
song. Sou, Hannah and I took off for a break in
Nepal. We met with our good friend, and Nepalese
pastor, Daniel Ghale. He set us up with some very
comfortable accommodations in Pokahra. Hannah went
on a four day trek, managed to escape the Maoists,
Sou went flying on an ultra light around “Fish Tail
Mountain”, and I played catch up on helping Dr. Mary
Ann Lind with the book she is writing. We flew back
to Bangkok on Christmas day. Hannah and Sou went to
see ‘King Kong’ and I rested up for surgery on the
26th. It seems there was a bone fragment
in my groin from the accident in 1997 that never
healed up correctly. Anyway, I went under the knife.
Everything is fine, but I’m moving a little slow, as
I got chopped in a rather delicate spot.
www.missionreports.com/decemberevents2005
The church cabinet has been meeting the past three
days putting the finishing touches on our annual
meeting, to be held February 20-24, 2006, at our
training center. This year’s theme is: “Behold the
fields are white and ready for harvest”. The
emphasis will be to encourage the pastors to train
and engage the laity in their churches to reach
their friends, neighbors, and families with the
Gospel. We expect 2000 people at our center designed
for 400. It should prove to be very interesting,
especially since we are raising our own fish, pigs,
rice and cattle to feed everyone. It’s not quite
like America where you call a hotel, make a
reservation, and place an order.
Hey! Spud killed a rat, actually in the last 4 days
we killed seven rats. The neighbors decided to
remodel their house. Guess who decided to move? The
rats! The moral of this story is that nothing
reinvigorates Spud like a good ‘rat fight’, kind of
like his owner. I’d decided to park the ‘Soap Box’
for 2006, I upset too many people! And, I am
familiar with the proverb: “A soft answer turns away
wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger, the tongue
of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of
fools pours forth foolishness.” And, “Even a fool is
counted wise when he holds his peace…” So, I decided
to shut up, but then…, Spud killed that big rat….
So, “Drag out that box Spud!” Up I go… Now, I have a
proverb of my own, “Never trust a friend who is
afraid to make an enemy.” Why? They won’t tell you
the truth. I know I have a big mouth, considered by
some to be a ‘Smart (Biblical word for donkey)’, but
I don’t lie. Do you know what got Stephen (the early
church deacon in Acts) killed? It was his big mouth.
He told the truth. If he had just left the verses in
Acts 7:51-53 unsaid, he’d probably have lived a lot
longer. But then God used that event to turn Saul
around, and scatter the church to build the kingdom
of God. Not a bad exchange.
So, why not just be a nice guy; promote world peace,
etc.?? I’d probably retain more donors. We’ll, what
about your favorite camp bracelet, “WWJD” (What
would Jesus do?). I know, He said, “Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of
God”, so, there is hope for the wimps of the world,
but what did he DO?? Hmmm?? He stood outside the
temple weaving a whip (don’t tell me this wasn’t
pre-meditated) as he watched the merchants inside
making a fortune off God’s people, then He went
inside and drove them out. (Jn 2:15) he called the
Pharisees “Vipers” and “Whitewashed tombs”, not
exactly terms of endearment, because they were
taking widow’s, and even their parent’s money, and
claiming it for God’s use. Why do I stir up so much
controversy? Because, the same thing is happening
today with a lot of “Rip off Christian”
organizations taking money from God’s churches and
doing no ‘Kingdom good’ with it. They talk ‘Christ’
to the churches, and then never mention His name in
the field; they love to talk about good works and
“pre-evangelism”. They tell heart wringing stories
about building schools, orphans, or rescuing
prostitutes (and manage to get them beaten or
killed), while raising millions of dollars in the
name of Jesus, but are so afraid of loosing their
secular funding, they won’t mention His name to
those who most need to hear it.
Are you mad at me yet? If not, this should really
stir things up. I have a suggestion, before you
write another check, due to the emotional tug of
these hucksters, find out how many souls are
entering the Kingdom of God. What good are you
doing, in an eternal sense, if you take a hungry,
desperate, person and turn them into an educated,
self satisfied, contented person, if in the process
they never come to Christ? Good works, coupled with
the Gospel, are powerful. That is precisely why Paul
told Titus (3-14): “And let our people also learn to
maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they
may not be unfruitful” Make no mistake, the fruit
Paul was talking about was souls. The truth is that
good works alone may do more eternal harm than good,
if they eliminate the spiritual hunger that could
lead people to Christ. “Spud! Why are you growling
at me? You got your rat, let me have mine! Back boy!
Bad dog!”
The End
Do
you still love me? We love you!
Remember to find out all about us tap on to:
http://www.missionreports.com/cambodia
Ted, Sou and Hannah Olbrich
Anna Blake, Ryan Taggart, Wendy Hicks,
Cambodia
