Dear Friends and Family,
Election time is coming and in
Cambodia , a nation which has
essentially become a one party
political system, all patronage
flows uphill. We’ve recently heard
three star generals boohoo about how
tough life
is for them in meeting their,
“support” quota each month. The poor
things, they might have to sell one
of their villas or Lexus vehicles to
meet it! Life is hard, but they
don’t give up easily, as long as
there are ‘cash cows, to milk, they
keep on pulling! The problem is; we
are one of the cows, along with
every other NGO
(Non-Government-Organization) in
Cambodia . Though the term
exists, there is no such thing as
‘duty free’ in this country. No
matter that we support orphans, if
we have something that is needed,
and they can find an excuse to hold
it for ransom, what develops is an
auction. We have a container of
cooking oil and new shoes that has
been held up in port for four
months. The excuse, “Were not sure
that the oil is not a shipment of
drugs.” Cooking oil?? They have
demanded a scientific analysis from
the manufacturer to prove its
purity. No one has thought of
unscrewing a cap and tasting it.
Now, I fully realize that, “A
bulldog can beat a skunk any day,
but that sometimes the results
aren’t worth it”. This is generally
good advice in
Cambodia , if you don’t want
the stink. So, we live with the
result. Normally, we just wait them
out and eventually everyone gets
tired of the sham, they reduce their
demands, we pay more than we should,
and life goes on.
But, what do you do when the
circumstance dictates action? This
month we had a big problem. Swiss
Warm Blankets sent us a container of
plumbing supplies, valued at over
$140,000 US, for the construction of
the women’s dorm. Our problem was
that a team of Swiss engineers were
arriving on October 13th
to instruct our Cambodian
contractors on the installation
technique of this 21st
century technology. Their two week
window was the only time in the next
year that they would be available.
It’s not that the supplies didn’t
arrive in port soon enough. The
stuff had been here six weeks. We’d
filed all the necessary paper work.
The problem was the officials knew
that we needed these supplies, they
were high value, and the big shots
were behind on their political
donations. So, we bit the bullet,
took on the skunk, and it stunk!
After much groveling, arm twisting,
and $7,500, we got the supplies the
day before the Swiss engineers
arrived, that is except for one
important box, which was delayed
until the day before they left, just
to show us who really had the
“power”. After nine years, I’m still
not used to it.
http://www.missionreports.com/womens%5Fdorm%5Fplumbing%5Foct07
Why
is it that when left to our human
instincts we inevitably make bad
choices? We pick a Saul over a David
ten out of ten. Normally, we are
wiser and more spiritual, but, we
didn’t pray about it. I know! We
were stupid! We inherited this guy
and since he was a ‘pastor’, looked
and talked like a pastor, we assumed
all was well. We were wrong. “You
fall into a hole easy but you crawl
out hard” We’d put the ‘bad apple’
in the barrel. With a dishonest
pastor it is easy to say, “Fire
him!” but, in a land where that is
more difficult than getting a
divorce, things get complicated,
especially when he has curried local
government favor. We had a winsome
thought about selling the church to
a Korean missionary. There’s plenty
of money, and he had an eager
willingness, but there are too many
loyal church members, and then the
orphans???
Besides, I like the Korean, and if
he is cruisin’
for a bruisin’…??
I don’t want to get hit by a
lightning bolt! A few years back we
had a pastor that was stealing from
the orphans. I was so angry I
threatened to pick him up and place
him in the center of the highway,
then pray for an 18-wheeler to
‘grease’ him. He must have thought I
was serious, because he repented.
That was five years ago, and he has
been exemplary ever since. Somehow,
that doesn’t seem to be the way
Jesus would handle this. I’ve
decided to become a ‘nice guy’.
Really! Now, we have confronted
him, prayed for him, but no change,
so that leaves the Cambodian method.
“If you want the fish to leave the
pond you heat up the water until he
gets to hot and swims away” Our
supervisors are stoking the fire. It
should make for warm and
‘interesting’ month.
Anna Blake’s gone. We threw a big
surprise party and had about 150
people show up. We ate a cow, and
everything else we had prepared,
gave her a pile of presents and
said, “Goodbye” to a faithful
servant. She then took off with the
three other young women who work in
the office for a final visit to
Laos . Other than the fact
that she broke her nose while
swinging from a rope into river at
Vang Vieng, they had a
great time, and her nose is now
straight to boot. Anna’s back home
in
Colorado . Thanks for six
years of wonderful service, Anna! We
wish you God’s best! Josh Ferguson
has stepped into her former role as
Team’s Leader and has proven to be
up to the task.
http://www.missionreports.com/goodbye%5Fanna%5Foct07
I’m
a little dizzy. I returned from ten
days in the States where I managed
to visit Kim
Voisin’s church in the bayous
of
Louisiana, and the Foursquare
Divisional Pastors in his District,
then off to
Illinois to help prepare a
rice combine for shipment to
Cambodia (We have 240 acres
of rice to harvest, and that’s a lot
of work by hand, especially when
most of the seasonal help has left
for factory jobs in the city). I
then spent the last weekend at Burt
Smith’s church in
Olympia, Washington
. I got home Tuesday, and Saturday I
leave for
Germany and
Switzerland , with
Sou and
Pastor Peter, for a ‘Kids for the
Kingdom’ meeting and the Swiss
Foursquare convention. I’ll be back
in
Cambodia for two days and
leave for another 10 day stint in
the US only to return for four days
before going to
Hong Kong to speak. My poor
clock is so messed up I don’t know
when to sleep. I got up at 3:00am to
write this; drove the dogs and
guards crazy, lucky I didn’t get bit
and/or shot.
We
had great teams again this month.
The Swiss sent a work team prior to
the engineers arriving and took on
one of our most pathetic
Church/homes. We built this Church
in Palelai
seven years ago, and it was fine, in
the middle of an open field. But
then, neighbors started moving in
and every one built up their land
higher than the next until we were
surrounded, and became a pond. The
church members quit coming. Who
wants to sit in a foot of sewage
during the church service?
Fortunately we constructed the
building with a 3.5 meter (11.5
foot) ceiling. We filled in two
feet, raised the windows, put in a
new floor, filled the grounds and
now we are high and dry again. The
Swiss did a great job on rebuilding
the cafeteria, but also the spirits
of the pastor, orphans and church
members!
They purchased new
school uniforms, built a new
driveway and added many home
improvements in addition to leaving
funds for a new fence. Thanks!
http://www.missionreports.com/swiss%5Fconstruction%5Foct07
A
Foursquare Church team, from “The
Bridge” from
Milan , IL near the
Quad Cities, came and pitched
in on building a fence at
Tek
Hoat,
bought beds, and provided dental and
medical ministry as well. 1050
patients were seen by the doctors
and five orphan homes received
dental care.
They left us well
supplied with medications. Please
come back soon! They were fantastic,
and are the first team exclusively
led by Josh Ferguson with the help
of Emily Plater.
http://www.missionreports.com/med%5Ftekhoat%5Foct07
Rain and Mud has taken its toll on
vehicles and personnel. October is
usually the most difficult travel
month in the year, and some roads
are so bad the all that can be done
is to slog your way by foot. We have
a few church homes that are so
isolated they have to forage off the
local economy. The road to the rice
mill is churned so badly that only a
tractor drawn wagon can transport
the rice to the main road.
Two of our older orphan’s were
married last year after the husband
finished his study at technical
school. They were traveling on a
rain drenched road in Sway
Rieng
Province by pick-up truck taxi when
they were hit head on by a rain
blinded vehicle. Ten People were
killed instantly. The wife was six
months pregnant. She was transported
to
Phnom Penh by ambulance. The
baby was delivered and is surviving
in an incubator. Mom and dad are
recovering as well. It’s almost
enough to make me yearn for the dust
of the dry season, but I HATE DUST,
almost as much as rats, which we are
knocking off by the hundreds as they
get flooded out of the rice paddy’s
and attempt to move into our
church/homes. Spud, my dog, who
hates rats more than I do, is happy.
Construction progress is virtually
non existent in the provinces, but
we manage to keep moving ahead on
work at the Wentz Medical Clinic and
the Women’s dorm. The tractor
factory keeps churning out
‘like
new’
machines ready for dry season sale.
Bob and Crystal Hollandsworth have
come to lend a hand with both the
tractor factory and rice mill. We
really appreciate their servant
hearts. We’re still drilling wells,
multiplying livestock, and training
pastors and leaders. Due to the poor
transportation,
Pastor Peter took the 13 elders on a
road show this month ministering in
several provinces around the
country. It is much easier to move a
few than many.
http://www.missionreports.com/october%5Factivites
It’s almost six months since my last
operation and each day gets better.
I hit 61 on the 10th, and
after 5 operations in the last 18
months, I feel it. I’m hoping my 62nd
year is better. It should be.
I’m walking four miles a day, doing
my exercises, taking my vitamins,
and going nuts being babied by a
staff that won’t let me
do
anything fun, like work on the
tractors. I know! They keep
reminding me,
that’s not why God put me
here.
Happy Thanksgiving to all in the US
! May God bless you with a great
month!
Pa Thom (Me, Ted)
Still do’in
all the work,
Cambodian Staff
Ma Sou,
Jamie Gonzalez,
Emily Plater
Tabea
Schaller
Josh Ferguson
Bob and Crystal Hollandsworth
