Dear Friends and Family,
We live off the enduring good will
of donor organizations but, no one
more so than Warm Blankets Orphan
Care International. Orphans are
dependents, and though we have
broken every rule of modern
mission’s philosophy in undertaking
their care, God has chosen to bless
us. Since late 1999, when Craig
Muller, the founding director, first
fell in love with Cambodia ’s
orphans, the flow of help has
continually increased, yet Warm
Blankets has taken nothing for their
overhead. Along with ongoing home
support they provide the
website
server and all the
development expense to keep our
information updated.
(Every
church/home has its own website that
a sponsor can access.
Here is
an example:
http://homes.warmblankets.org/preykhmer
it’s time to return the favor.
Bless Warm Blankets. Please help
them with their overhead. They never
ask, but I know they need it.
www.warmblankets.org
Call it a “Shot across the bow” or
a “Splash of ice water in the face
of a drowsy man”, regardless, the
result couldn’t have been more
sobering. A friend and colleague,
who’s been a missionary in Cambodia
longer than I, and done a great
work, left his ministry and family
for a girl less than half his age. I
know there is a sexual magnetism, of
a spiritual dimension, in Cambodia .
Some would call it a “Territorial
spirit” that dates back to the bare
breasted spiritual maiden, Apsara,
and her seduction of the King of
Cambodia, a thousand years ago. I
don’t know about that, but I do know
that I don’t sense the sexual ‘draw’
in the US , and other countries I
visit, that I do here, and it scares
me. I feel nothing but pity for my
friend, his churches, and his
family. I know that, “But for the
grace of God there go I”. For a
mid-fifties aged male, with normal
hormones, struggling with his
dwindling manhood, being in Cambodia
is like putting a kid with a ‘sweet
tooth’ in a candy store, and telling
him ‘not to touch’. To have a
beautiful young Cambodian woman tell
you how marvelous you are, and back
it up with physical advances, is
bait that is difficult to resist. In
Cambodia it’s on every street
corner. What to do? Here are some
things I have learned, but it
doesn’t mean I’m bullet proof.
-
Know how vulnerable you are. You
are just one act of foolishness
from disaster.
-
Pray. I have 3500 orphans who
pray for me daily. That is
probably the only reason I’m
still here.
-
Never travel alone. Never meet
alone with the opposite sex.
-
Make sure your wife knows your
needs, and keeps the ‘flames
doused’.
-
Get yourself a trustworthy
accountability partner. I thank
God for Pastor Peter.
-
Give your wife permission to
watch out for you. Ma Sou has
fired ‘overly friendly’ staff.
-
Have a regular computer check to
make sure you stay “Porn free”.
I’m getting too preachy, so, I’ll
quit.
Speaking of spiritual warfare, we
ran into an encounter that many,
especially in the Western World,
will not believe. Can demonic
spirits manifest physically and
cause bodily harm? Theologians will
argue that they can only operate
through physical bodies, but our
experience would contradict that.
Years ago, we had a corrupt
contractor, who was overcharging for
buildings, and giving kickbacks to
the local pastors, and the national
church leader. He was discovered and
fired, and the national leader
replaced. Most of the pastors that
were involved left, but a few
repented, and have served
faithfully. One, who has gone on to
become a District Supervisor,
recalls that the contractor was
involved with a “Spiritual
practitioner” (witch doctor) who
went around to the six homes he
built, took drill bits dipped in
blood (we are not sure what kind),
drove them deep into the main beams
of the churches, and broke them off.
All of those churches have struggled
through the years, have had multiple
pastors, several divorced.
Three pastors have come and failed
at Phnom Thom. The current pastor
took the position about a year ago.
When he came to the church his 8
year old son took a machete and
began chopping his hand. His father
saw it and stopped him just before
he severed his thumb. “What are you
doing?” The son replied, “The demon
told me to cut my hand off and kill
my sister!” The pastor and his wife
began to pray and the spirit lifted.
The daughter saw the physical
manifestation of the spirit. Then
the home residents began
experiencing the appearance of a
ghostly apparition. Recently, the
spirit has attacked them in their
sleep, and residents would awaken to
bruised bodies. The English teacher
even experienced an attack while he
was teaching. He asked the class,
“Did you see who hit me?” No one saw
anything except his bruised face.
One previous pastor was so severely
beaten he left the church. The
Supervisor failed to make the
connection between the act of
witchcraft and the attacks. Finally
the story was reported to us in
Phnom Penh .
During morning staff devotion I
taught on Acts 19:11-20, which is
about the seven sons of Sceva who,
because they took on a ministry of
deliverance without really knowing
the source of their power, were
badly beaten. Sou and I went over
the basics of preparation for such a
mission of deliverance through
prayer and fasting, and then asked,
“Who would like to ‘take on’ the
spirits at Phnom Thom?” They all
raised their hands. I told the m a
gain, “This is not for the curious,
or for the thrill seeker, but for
those who are solid in their faith”.
None deterred. Fasting and prayer
commenced, and two days later Ma Sou
and Pastor Daniel led the group,
with the help of the local pastors,
the Phnom Penh worship team, and
orphan volunteers, to battle.
Reading Psalm 46 out loud, praying
in the Spirit, and anointing every
opening with oil, the victory was so
complete that several villagers saw
a physical departure of the spirit,
and sweet sleep was had by all. So
impressed, were previously
frightened members of the church
that, several dozen asked to be
baptized.
http://www.missionreports.com/phnom_thom_sept06
Many people that left
in fear have decided to return to
the church. Groups volunteered to go
cleanse the other homes that had
been cursed. A sense of joy flooded
the district.
Floods? Floods of the physical
nature have returned to Cambodia .
The water is the highest it has been
since 2000. Central Cambodia
resembles a huge lake with palm
trees protruding from it.
http://www.missionreports.com/flashflood_aug06
Some of our church members in the
Balang region lost their crops,
construction have been halted in
most locations, and three of our
church/homes have been flooded. The
church in Palelai (Poipet) was built
on a filled area at the edge of town
in the year 2001, since then the
vacant land surrounding the church
has been built up, and each new
resident hauls in a higher level of
fill, so that now the church is the
lowest of the surrounding
properties, turning the church lot
into a pond. The driveway of an army
general was blocking the only
possible drainage. He refused to
have it cut, but after we
volunteered to dig in the culvert
and pay for all costs, he mercifully
allowed us access, and the property
was at least drained to the point of
drying out the building. The rainy
season always causes us problems but
the upside is that the rains have
produced a better than average crop
of rice for Cambodia this year.
http://www.missionreports.com/flood_palelai_06
Food and supply shipments are a big
part of our support. Our biggest
single expense for orphan care is
food, so we are very grateful for
the material assistance we receive.
Nutritious food has come from
several donors Gleanings for the
Hungry, Feed My Starving Children,
Children’s Hunger Fund, Convoy of
Hope , Glad Tidings Church , Butte
County Rice Growers, and others have
really helped us. Some items are a
‘slam dunk’ like cooking oil and
rice. Other items, that really are
nutritionally beneficial, require
some creative adaptation. An example
is a wonderful load received from
Convoy of Hope that contained beans,
pasta, and breakfast cereal among
other items like shoes. By turning
beans into porridge, the kids lined
up for second and third helpings.
Every item has been served
deliciously to the tastes of
Cambodian orphans, although
Americans would find many of the
adaptations unconventional at best.
Ma Sou and others work hard at
innovating methods of food
preparation. http://www.missionreports.com/convoyofhope/index.htm
We have a new medical clinic under
construction, The Wentz Medical
Center, thanks to Children’s Hunger
Fund, Dr. Myron Wentz and his
company USANA.
http://www.missionreports.com/wentz_clinic
The facility is being constructed
on the grounds of the ‘ Training
Center ’ and will consist of an
emergency room, x-ray room,
emergency care area, and at least
6
beds for extended care. It will have
a gynecology pre-natal room, post
natal room, optometry room,
pharmacy, laboratory, classroom, and
a dental suite. It will be a great
benefit to the orphans of Cambodia
and the garment factory workers. We
also received a grant from The
Foursquare Foundation, and others,
to construct our long sought Garment
Factory Worker’s Dorm which will
house 300 evangelists for the
garment factories of Cambodia . This
is a dream come true. PTL!
September brought several teams to
Cambodia and two visits from our
partners at ICM who have helped
build nearly 100 Church/homes in
Cambodia (14 under construction at
this time).
http://missionreports.com/icm_sept06
Their second visit included their
partners from Air One Radio who have
raised funds for 15 buildings. One
of our stops was the “ Floating
Church ” located in the Great Lake (Ton’le
Sap). Our plan was to cross the lake
from Khampong Chhanang to Khampong
Thom, but due to rapid currents the
‘three hour tour’, just like Giligan,
AGAIN! Turned into five. ( Moral?
Never! Never! Trust a Cambodian
river boat pilot’s time estimate.)
We finished the trip in the dark, in
a booming thunderstorm, trying to
feel our way up the floodwaters by
brail, not much fun at the time, but
rather exciting in retrospect.
http://missionreports.com/a1_sept06
The Swiss Foursquare Church and
Warm Blankets Switzerland have
arrived and are slaving away in the
hinterlands of Cambodia . You’ll get
a full report next month.
Enough already! Stop!
OK.
Blessings!
Ted & Sou Olbrich ,
Anna Blake & Jamie Gonzalez,
Cambodia
