FCOP Update -- January 2006

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. 30^th 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 26^th. 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,  and Wendy Hicks,
Cambodia