Dear Friends and Family,
I know. I’m late! But I’ve been
busy examining the age old
question, “Did Adam have a
navel?” And, due to my personal
research, I can answer most
affirmatively, “Yes!” You see,
Adam may have
needed emergency gall bladder
surgery (You know? After the
fall. Hey! It could’a
happened!), and the good doctors
needed his navel to hook him up
to a hose and pump him full of
air like the Goodyear blimp to
do a “walkabout” on his innards.
At least that has been my recent
experience, and, since Adam was
my prototype, Walla! He had to
have a navel. Right? Actually, I
just returned from twelve days
in a Bangkok Hospital. I Went to
Thailand to speak at the Thai
Foursquare National Convention,
and on my way home, decided to
stop for an evening check-up on
the operation to my groin area,
which took place at the first of
the year, to remove a bone
fragment. It wasn’t healing
right. The doc took one look and
said, “I need to go in again. I
can schedule you for surgery
here first thing in the morning,
it’s cheaper than the other
hospital, but no one speaks
English.” I speak Lao, which is
considered a very low form of
Thai, so, I can get by in
Thailand, I just make them
laugh, as the Lao I speak is
very “rural”, making me sound
like the ultimate “hillbilly”.
“Let’s get it done!” I
responded. The next morning,
after four hours of surgery, he
removed two chunks of calcified
plaque, each more than an inch
long (they look
like miniature stalagmites). I
was progressing on a normal post
operative recovery, when, on the
second day, I couldn’t sit
up,
eat,
move, or even find
a comfortable position to sleep.
After three days of feeling like
someone was using a baseball bat
on my abdomen, I called in the
“old” head
nurse
(really eight
years younger than myself), who
just happened to grow up right
across the Mekong River from
where I was first stationed in
Laos 38 years ago. (I actually
may have seen her then, as we
both used to shop in the same
market during
that
period) She
understood my Lao, and told me,
“Don’t
worry
older brother, I’ll
take care of you, we are the
same family!” I said, “Sister, I
think I am crazy, and you need
to get me a psychologist, or
else, if you have an ultrasound,
or an MRI in this place, get me
under it, and prove me sane,
because I believe there is
definitely something wrong in my
belly!” Within half an hour, at
6:00pm, I was under an
ultrasound. I couldn’t see the
screen. The technician began
sliding the sensors around on
the slimy jell they’d covered me
with.
I
heard him,
“Ohhh! Hmmmm!
Uhuuuuu! And, after less than a
minute, he
clicked the
machine off. “You have a very
serious gall bladder problem!
There are many stones, some very
big!”
“Can you take’em out in the
morning?” I asked. “No, tomorrow
might be too late!” By 8:00pm I
was back under the knife. I woke
up at midnight feeling rather
poorly. After a
good dose of morphine, the
surgeon explained that my gall
bladder was dead, already black
and badly infected, full
of
calcium bilirubinate
stones. They had to remove it
the hard way, in one piece, so I
had a nice six inch gash across
the gut and about four different
hoses coming out of my abdomen;
one big
one,
right out of my
belly button. The scar will
surely impress my grandchildren,
as I tell them about my
swordfight with the “Black
Prince”. God is still in charge.
The doctors told me, had it
ruptured in Cambodia, I would
most likely not have lived. I
was in the right place at the
right time. Thank God for the
Thai Church speaking invitation,
and those nasty little bone
spurs.
Actually, April was a great
month! The big event was
sponsored by Warm Blankets. We
took 1759 kids, plus staff, to
the beach for a baptism trip.
Typically Cambodian, we’d
planned for 1200. Some of the
kids came from as far as the Lao
border and had never seen the
ocean. About 1350 orphan
children were baptized and, what
proved to be a very successful
experiment, three homes were
allowed to invite their friends
from the church, who had not
been baptized, so about 300
village children were also
baptized. The rest were helpers
and staff. There is much to
write, but pictures tell it the
best, and there are a lot of
pictures.
http://www.missionreports.com/greatcomission_baptismtrip2006
The children went home with
memories of a glorious three
days of Christian fellowship
that will last a lifetime.
Prairie Harvest Fellowship of
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada,
our first Canadian Partners,
came with a team
from Warm Blankets Orphan Care,
headed by Director, Craig
Muller.
The
teams spent
several days prior to, and after,
the baptism trip,
visiting church/homes
in Rattanakiri, Khampong Thom,
Khampong Speu,
Sway Reiung, and
Siem Reap Provinces
The Cambodian Foursquare Church
has reached a point of
“permanent sustainability”. By
this, I mean that it will
continue to survive and grow
regardless of my personal
presence. I
cried
as I came out of the airport
upon my return yesterday
and met many of the District
Supervisors who had spent days
in continuous prayer on my
behalf. Boun Ridth, a young
supervisor from the south,
cheered me, by telling me, “Pa,
we know you would go to heaven,
but we wanted you to live,
so you would know
that the church you came to
start here will never die!” We
continue to train, and plant new
churches through the help of the
Foursquare Foundation. Almost
all of our current construction
projects are completed, and
international Cooperating
Ministries has approved us for
four more. I just need to get
this beat up carcass of mine
into shape to finish the
applications. The rice mill,
swine enterprises, vegetable
production, fish farming and
micro-enterprise income have
saved our necks in supporting
the orphans this year. But the
simple truth is without your
faithful help,
even though the church may
survive, the orphans wouldn’t.
This month we are planting
35,000 eucalyptus trees, and
5000 dragon fruit plants to
further support the Church and
the ministry to orphans and
widows.
http://www.missionreports.com/may_update06
Easter Sunday drew big crowds
and the usual pageants. At least
no one wanted to volunteer to
actually be crucified this year.
Last year, one of the older
orphan boys, who was playing
Christ in the pageant, so wanted
to identify with Christ’s
suffering, that he secretly
asked the boys playing the Roman
soldiers to use real nails.
Fortunately, one of the Romans
squealed, and Peter and I had a
quick talk with the young man,
convincing him he’d do a lot
more kingdom good by staying
healthy. He was later almost
killed in a motorcycle accident,
and after being restored through
much prayer, is now a firm
believer that serving Christ
with vigor and strength is the
preferred option. Hey! Me too!
One problem with a large staff
of widows, is that they tend to
be old, which simply means,
they don’t have
long life expectancies. This
month we lost two dedicated
caregivers, who peacefully went
to be with the Lord. The
children grieved, but rejoiced
at the peace of these women, who
went from being discards, to
finding real purpose, and joy,
in being grandma’s to dozens of
orphaned children. The funerals
were held on the grounds, with
the children helping in every
detail, including building the
funeral pyre for the cremation.
Life is so less artificial here.
I contrast this to my own
mother’s death; funeral homes,
$10,000 funerals, public
viewings, what a
difference! Mom
went to be with the Lord April 6th.
Sou, Hannah, and I went back for
the funeral, which I preached.
Mom loved the Lord, and in her
will made the final bequest
that,
“More
than anything I want my
children, grandchildren, and
great grandchildren to be with
me forever.” I preached the
funeral message, and eleven
people came to Christ. I was
amazed at the number of people
who showed up for the funeral of
a 90 year old Alzheimer’s
victim, but the differences in
the manner in which we embrace
death in America vs. Cambodia
are worlds apart.
One of our favorite partners is
the Hong Kong EF church. They
come and do some of the most
amazing things. After visiting
the Toule Sleng Prison and the
“Killing Fields” they knew our
pharmacy was getting low, to
out, on many vital drugs. They,
guided by Ryan Taggart, our
Medical Director, purchased
$8000 worth of supplies. It took
a one ton truck to haul them all
back. Then they visited several
homes treating them to apples
and needed food items. http://www.foursquareorphans.org/hong_kong_2006
They also purchase about 4 tons
of rice each month.
“Wendex”, Bright, clear, and
squeaky clean, Ms. Wendy Hicks,
went back to the US to pursue
her teaching career after
lending us a lot of help in
bringing our staff up several
notches in English proficiency,
and assisting in many other
areas of support as well. God
bless you Wendex! Thanks! Hannah
finishes her International
Baccalaurate High
School degree in May, and Anna
Blake, our Teams Leader, took a
week off for a
graduation in the US.
No, not her own! Hard working as
ever, she tells me that we have
a constant stream of teams
visiting through October 2007.
We thank you for your support!
Believe it or not, despite
personal loss, and pain, we
really did have a great month!
Christ be praised!
The devil be
damned!
Blessings!
Your FCOP expat crew,
Ted, Sou & Hannah Olbrich,
Anna Blake and Ryan Taggart
