FCOP Update -- September 2005

Dear Friends and Family,

We are all saddened by the “Taste of Tsunami” received by the people of the Gulf Coast region of the United States. The Cambodian Church in Phnom Penh prayed for the people of New Orleans at 10:35am this morning (10:35, Sept 3, Saturday evening, central time, in the US). As the voices of the 300 plus worshipers resonated in heart felt compassion, I can honestly say, in my near 59 years, I have never felt a greater outpouring of The Spirit of God. Cambodians know about the devastation of floods. Not to make light of the present misery in the US, I have a riddle for you? How do you have a drought and a flood at the same time in the same place? Answer: Have downpours in China and Laos fill the Mekong to flood stage and at the same time have drought downstream in parts of Cambodia. It is strange year in Cambodia, with some areas evacuating due to floods while passing by their dried up rice fields. We are extremely grateful for the rice mill that we have in operation and the food aid received from the Convoy of Hope, Gleanings for the Hungry, Glad Tidings Church, and the National Raisins Board, and the Hong Kong E. Free Church! http://www.missionreports.com/thankyou/index.htm

~~FOR SALE~~: SOLD! Phnom Penh, Cambodia. NW corner of Royal palace, University of Cambodia, National Assembly Building, National Stadium, etc. Now, I always said you could buy anything in Cambodia, but I was talking about “political favors”, not the literal national landmarks. I was wrong; all were just sold in the last couple of months. Oh, at the same time, the National Assemblymen, who are basically unemployed, since all decisions seem to emanate from the Prime Minister’s office, voted themselves seven personal aids at full salary, never mind that most of the new hires are relatives. Hey! What they need are more laws, right? Wrong! They love more laws, just more opportunities to charge “fees” for circumvention. Seriously, all cynicism aside, the only answer is a new value system, and the only one I have seen work is Christ’s. Here is an example: Our rice mill. Diesel is so expensive that it is the major expense in milling rice, so we switched to LP gas. This was accomplished by purchasing a 100hp LP gas tractor from the US along with a 1000 gallon LP gas Tank. The gas company delivers via truck to our site. They took a look and decided that we had enough excess capacity to fill and retail small gas cylinders as there is no outlet within 40 miles. They offered us another micro-enterprise. I asked our elder, and mechanic, Paul Mok, “How can we manage that and keep everything from being stolen?” No one in Cambodia would think of operating a rice mill by ‘remote control’ let alone a gas station. Paul looked at me like I was a total heathen. “You just do what you did with the rice mill, you put believers with honest hearts in charge, tell them that this is God’s gas, they won’t steal it!” I smiled as I reflected on the thought that God has ‘gas’, not on the naiveté that Christians never steal. (Hey! What have you thought actually caused thunder? Come on lighten up! Just kidding!) Believe it or not though, Paul is right, this system of God’s law seems to work quite well for us in this lawless land. Why? I believe primarily because F.C.O.P. trusts the Cambodians, and they rarely let us down. Anyway, we decided that running a gas station is outside our scope of ministry.

The problem of a ministry of justice without mercy is that it leaves no room for the compassion and restoration of Christ. We have more than 200 pastors who used to be Khmer Rouge, and a Church/home orphan care manager who used to recruit prostitutes for her ‘big shot’ husband until he knocked her teeth out. Now, she restores sexually abused children with a tenderness and level of understanding that only she can express. If we Christians just march forward with the sword of justice, all these people would be in jail or worse. Justice as the ‘calling card’ will never bring a nation to Christ. People’s hearts must be change first, and then they will rise up and institute the legal reforms needed. It is slow, there is not the thrill of revenge, it lacks Hollywood drama, doesn’t sell books, but it is Christ’s way.

Despite the selling of landmarks by the government the church keeps chugging along erecting and dedicating new facilities. One village of ten families was completely destroyed by a fire caused by an overturned lamp. Five of the families were involved in a home church. They banded together and headed up a rebuilding project for the entire village. Now every family has come to Christ. Three more Church/homes were put into service this month as construction continues on multiple fronts, some stalled by floods and rain, others steadily progressing. People ask how we keep building, and it is really a blessing of partnership with International Cooperating Ministries (ICM) which furnishes the bulk of funding for construction. What is the cost for a facility? The answer is that we are approaching $30,000 finished cost, less real estate expense, which varies by location. Our big challenge is to support the orphans once the facilities are built. We still have 12 church/ homes which have no sponsors. http://www.missionreports.com/church_homes/index.htm

Because of our need for sponsors I have been to the States again last month, and want to thank those of you I visited who have pledged help. I believe we have picked up four+ new home sponsors from some wonderful churches plus other significant gifts including a nice Izusu diesel three ton truck from Gleanings for the Hungry. I just happened to be walking by the vehicle with the director, Rick O’Dwyer, when, more thinking out loud than requesting, I said, “That’d make a great Cambodian Truck!” He asked me, “Do you need a truck like that?” He got my attention, “I’d love a truck like that!” I gushed. Rick paused, “Well, we were given a new truck today, so we’ll give that to you!” PTL! We will use the truck for food distribution and to haul “Dump Kids” to the church for ministry, health care, and feeding.

We do have an, ‘end game’ plan. F.C.O.P. does not project being eternal beggars, although we do beg for short term commitments (like now), to help support orphans. Our goal is self sufficiency and we constantly work toward that goal. Last month a woman hoped to disgrace us by sending ICM a picture of a dilapidated bed from an early home. She failed miserably. Well, the kids at the Church/home down the street decided to go into the bed making business, some orphans busily churn out aftermarket tractor parts for antique US machines, the more skilled are producing a 4X4 rice tractor from old US parts, others have a bicycle repair shop, and the agricultural integration is producing great quantities of, fresh vegetables, fish, pigs, and now even bio-gas, which is used for cooking. http://www.missionreports.com/enterprises/index.htm

The ultimate “End game” is our Theatrical and Culinary Arts Training Center in Siem Reap. There are at least 50 new hotels opening each year. Tourists want to see Cambodia. After days of viewing moldy rocks they want to view the cultural side, and kids in our churches put on the best cultural shows in Cambodia. We will bring those of talent to Siem Reap to further train and perform at the same time. By providing a multi-media presentation of the work here, a buffet dinner, and a ninety minute song and dance act, for about a $12.00 dollar fee, the kids will win the hearts of the tourists, present a subtle view of the power of Christ, learn a viable trade, from bussing tables to theatrical dance, that are all in high demand. We will train kids in ‘living wage’ trades, put committed Christians in every hotel unit that is hiring, and financially support every orphan home in Cambodia within four years of start-up. We are already working to that end by intensifying our English training by bringing Wendy Hicks on staff to train our English teachers. Sound far fetched? Two professionally prepared business plans tell us differently. The problem? It will take $3,000,000 to pull it off. This is a legacy project. We need a major donor, or donors. The fruit produced is incalculable. Interested? Contact me. I’ll send the details.

http://www.missionreports.com/theatrical/index.htm

Last year our corporate passion was to train all pastors. Thanks to a Foursquare Foundation Grant, that is becoming a reality. Now we are focused on one overriding, and ever recurring theme:”Fruitfulness” as defined by, ‘fruit being that which bears the seed’. We are born of the incorruptible seed, Jesus Christ, and He is what every part of F.C.O.P. must contribute to reproduce in the hearts of the Cambodian people. With pastors and staff, we are looking at 2700 leaders being inspired by the same vision, and then infecting 300,000 plus believers with the same driving desire: Produce more Christians. One grant is to accomplish this through the empowering and training of every pastor, another to reach most homes in Cambodia with the Gospel message, another to reach this goal through music, and another through the demonstration of God’s love through medicine. All these programs have launched with a vengeance. As is usually the case, we underestimated the interest. We planned to start training two groups of 25 keyboard artists, 83 people showed up. All we could do with our limited resources is to switch some to guitars and other instruments. http://www.missionreports.com/training/index.htm

It is close to a miracle of resurrection proportions. If you have been following the tragic accident of Divisional Superintendent Cheang Ka’s wife, you will recall that at first we only asked for prayer. We did not include pictures as they would have been too discouraging. Well, she was recently transported to Vietnam for skin grafts, has received several, and we are preparing to return her to Cambodia. See the medical section of the above link and note the original pictures are now included. What you see is not a blanket but a complete un-rolling of the flesh on her leg. http://www.missionreports.com/pak_sinat/index.htm

So life goes on in Cambodia. There is much more to say, but I vowed to be shorter this month.

Have a great September!

Blessings!

Ted, Sou, & Hannah Olbrich

Anna Blake

Ryan Taggart

Wendy Hicks

And 2700 Cambodian staff who love you

Archives:

See August 2005 update

See July 2005 update

See June 2005 update