Dear
Friends and Family,
I am
slooow this month!
The reason? Water!
Lack of it, in it, full of it, and the
arrival of it. First, the most exciting: “In it.”
The “Great Commission” trip put together by Warm Blankets
Orphan Care (WB) brought guests from Australia, China,
Switzerland, and the USA, including six Foursquare
District Supervisors from the US, for the baptism of 1232
orphan children.
http://www.missionreports.com/baptismal_2005/index.html
We
thought putting together the Pastor’s Conference fro 1500
preachers was a big deal, but 1232 kids from 40 church
homes was a bigger stretch than we had imagined. It kept
growing! We started out with 700, then 800, then 1000 and
actually got 1232. What happened? All these are new kids
during the past year, and the 12 new homes opened this
year produced a huge batch of un-baptized kids. Actually,
many of them were baptized in their church/homes, but who
can resist a trip to the ocean? They were all new though.
This is the third year Warm Blankets has funded this
event, so most kids want to wait for the anticipated
event. I think mybe we’ve
built in a little dependency here?? Virtually none of
these kids had ever been to Phnom Penh, even fewer to the
Royal palace and, except for the hosts, zero had made it
to the ocean.
Kids
bounced in the back of pick-up taxis for up to two 10 hour
days just to get here. The good news was we were in the
Cambodian New Year break, so, no school, the kids arrived
a day early to rest and get to know their brothers and
sisters. Sleeping mats and mosquito nets were spread all
over two acres, the cooks served in three shifts, our
staff had a full day of interactive
games, and by the end of the first day, they were
one big family. The second day featured a trip to the
Royal Palace. Kids from grass roofed villages saw the
silver floored pagoda, gold embossed throne room,
manicured gardens, and must have thought they’d arrived in
heaven. Most wandered around in their groups of 50 with
their eyes wide open and mouths dropped in awe. The
second night ended in a tent rally, with songs, dancing
and skits performed by different kids from homes around
the country. Pastor Peter ended the evening with a
teaching on the meaning of baptism. They had a BLAST! If
we had stopped then it would have been enough, but the
best was yet to come.
At 5:00
am the busses arrived, 1232 carsick pills were
administered, and off they went on a five hour trip to the
beach. Singing songs at the top of their lungs until the
carsick pills kicked in and managed to mute a few of them,
that is until it was time to
done the sun screen. They could tell the beach was close,
and excitement reached a pinnacle when the busses crested
a hill and the ocean could be seen in the distance. It was
a great beach day, but the kids were well trained, first
came lunch, then line up by homes as teams of pastors and
guests waded into the water for baptism. After the teams
were in place came the children, one at a time, giving
their profession of faith, as they were laid back under
the surf. The whole process took less than an hour and
then it was “party time”! 1232 kids at a beach party under
the watchful eyes of staff members forming a human chain
around the perimeter. They swam, frolicked, and played
games until 3:00pm, then back on the buses, more pills,
and a joyful but subdued trip back to the Training Center.
They slept well that night.
At 6:00
am taxis full of happy children started back on their long
trek home. All went well to that point with only one child
taken to the hospital with dengue fever. That is until, to
the horror of one pastor en route to
Anlong Veng, at a mid
morning check, a child was discovered missing. They had
seen the Down’s syndrome boy when the taxi was loaded, but
he was no where to be found. Panic ensued. Every home was
called by cell phone. No one had seen the boy. There was a
frantic call to prayer. Hours passed and finally,
a phone call from
Poipet. The boy was found
sleeping under a seat, completely un-noticed, he fell
asleep under the influence of the car-sick medication and
was not found until they unloaded. There was mass
rejoicing. He was 200 miles from home, but safe! PTL!
The WB
guests then set out on a 4 day trip around Cambodia. Peter
and I had to leave the group in
Battambang as a Divisional Supervisor called and
said that after being inspired by the sea trip he spoke at
the churches about baptism and more than 200 adults wanted
to be baptized immediately, in the river. We got there at
8:00am and already more than 180 were gathered, by the
time we walked down to the river close to 300 had come to
be baptized. Wet again!
Water?
How much can you drink in a 12 hour day working in a tin
rice mill in 41 degree (108F) heat? Not enough!! I found
out, that 8 liters still left me dehydrated, as the water
was running down my nose at a steady stream and my clothes
could not have been wetter had I just crawled out of a
river. I left Phnom Penh before the WB guests left the
airport, on my way to
Balang,
Cambodia to finish off the rice mill and church where
construction had stalled due to a lack of cash, thanks to
the inflation pressure of a red-hot Chinese economy and
tsunami demand sucking up construction material. Bolstered
by a gift from Pastor Lankhorst’s
church for the rice mill and World Orphans for the
churches, I was anxious to get things moving. I spent the
next 8 days as a millwright, but am happy to say that
today the mill spewed out more than 10 tons of beautiful,
number one quality, milled rice. See:
http://www.missionreports.com/rice_mill_update (note
the new houses next paragraph)
Ever
wonder how a town gets started? In the case of
Balang, it isn’t water! You
can’t dig a well there, unless you’ve got a rig that can
go 300 feet deep. But we built a church there, because it
was a location between several home groups, then we built
the rice mill. Since then more than 15 new homes have gone
up, three new stores have opened and the government is
building a new 10 room school just 100 meters from the
mill. The church was they key. I wonder if that was true
in a lot of US towns?
Hey!
Pastor Peter, our national church president, got his visa
to the US. No water involved, but a lot of pressure. No
less than four US Senators and two US Representatives
contacted the US Embassy on his behalf. When he showed up
for his second interview, after the first rejection, you’d
have thought the Secretary of State had walked in. He was
immediately granted the visa, and then spent the next 30
minutes explaining how he had so much influence. They had
never experienced anything like it in the history of the
Embassy. I didn’t have any idea as to the work that had
been done, but a big, “Thank You!” to all involved;
especially, Jeff Grisamore, Congressman Manzullo, The Las
Vegas Foursquare Church, and Sonny Weimer. You guy’s know
how to “Kick Butt!” They are still trying to figure out
who I am. We plan to leave for convention on May 19th.
Hallelujah! It looks like the rains have started and a
thirsty land it is. Pray for a good harvest this year. As
an old “pig farmer”, droughts depress me! The land was
parched and my spirit was beginning to crack. On the first
Sunday of April I was informed that a long term donor was
not going to continue to sponsor after the end of the
year. That was the equivalent of six homes. I am not upset
with the donor, they have been faithful, but as Lincoln
said when he lost the congressional election, “I’m too big
to cry and it hurts too much to laugh!” Then rains
started, all six supervisors, pledged to sponsor homes, I
received help from World Orphans, The Hong Kong E. Free
Church has come through again in a big way, and a lot of
wonderful people are pitching in. Last night thunder and
lightning and an extend
drenching rain fell. The drought is being quenched,
physically and spiritually, my spirit and the land are
being refreshed.
Anna
Blake is with a construction team from Oregon in
Mongolborie, and Ryan Taggart
with a medical team from Northwest Medical Missions in
Poipet.
More on that next month. Good things are happening.
Have a
great month. I will! May God bless you all!
Ted, Sou
and Hannah Olbrich,
Anna Blake and Ryan Taggart
Cambodia
