• Craig Grunert from Yorktown, SA, Canada. Friend, we'll miss you...

    Craig Grunert Memorial Rice Planting

    Every so often, in every life, you receive those shockingly painful blows of reality. They come as telegrams, emails, phone calls, a knock on the door in the middle of the night or a soft touch on the shoulder, but they always send a cold shudder up your spine – someone close has died. We didn’t talk much, but I felt an instant bond. Maybe it wasn’t so much spiritual as it was a sense of brotherhood; we were both farmers. I didn’t realize it at … Continue reading

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  • The rice seed is in, now we just need some rain!

    Seed’s in the Ground

    Craig Grunert died when he went to inspect a silo of canola. No one knows what happened to this normally, very safety minded farmer. But, he’s the third farmer I have known personally, to die in a bin of grain. Craig’s mortality has put a new urgency into Sou and I’s own transition in Cambodia. A key factor in making the Cambodian Foursquare Church sustainable is to make it more self-supporting. My fear is that long term donors may see Cambodia as this huge gushing wound with … Continue reading

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  • Beth Barone and Naret Pow during a training class in Cambodia

    New Generation Trained

    Beth Barone has become the newest member of the FCOP International Board of Directors. She has been here for a week, training a group of key transitional leaders. Sou and I realize that we are pioneers. We’re a bit like Gen. George Patton, if you want to win a war, just give us one! But, we’re not the ones to win the peace. That takes a Gen. George Marshall. If you don’t understand me, Google some history. We know that the transition from … Continue reading

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  • Jesus' crucifixion is reenacted during an Easter service

    Easter in Rattanakirri

    The Church just keeps growing. Easter was a big holiday this year with hundreds of people around the country coming to Christ. A missionary friend of mine here in Cambodia wrote to me about a group developing a manual for church planting. I think he probably insulted them when he said, “Why don’t you just get people saved and filled with Holy Spirit and turn them lose? Go visit Foursquare.” I have not been contacted… It is amazing though, how we all embrace the scripture … Continue reading

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  • Our earth mover scraper is finally in good hands, ours!

    Hostage Released

    After 60 days, our hostage was released. Finally, after a two month struggle and after it was too late to accomplish anything this dry season, our earth moving scraper was released from the Cambodian Port of Sihanoukville. We look forward to seeing it do some work next dry season.

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  • Jackie Evancho

    Precisely accurate: You’d have to be dead from the knees up if this doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, and though it’s already gone viral, that’s all I have to say about this, except, that this young woman, with this song, has captured the heart, the mission, and the soul of FCOP.

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  • My Hero

    Imprecisely accurate: “My Hero!” He-ro (hir’o) n. 1. A mythological or legendary figure, often of divine ancestry, who is favored by the gods, endowed with great courage and strength, and celebrated for bold exploits. Now, Mak Sou is not mythological, she is a daughter, favored by the one and only God, has courage and strength, and does perform bold exploits. So, we think she’s qualified, and at least the Prime Minister of Cambodia agrees. Sou was awarded the “Medal of … Continue reading

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  • Canadian Team

    Canadian Team

    Pastor Des Klingspon, our FCOP Canadian Representative, brought a large team to Cambodia. They left -20 degree  F. Yorktown, Canada in a blizzard, to arrive in 105 degree F. Phnom Penh, to serve Cambodian orphans and widows. Des observed: “Since we started giving to the orphans God has blessed our church with more than we ever gave.” Now, that’s Biblical accurate! Deut. 24:18b-19   ”…therefore I command you to do this thing. 19 When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget … Continue reading

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  • Singapore Supreme

    Singapore Supreme

    The International Community School of Singapore and the Community of Praise Baptist Church of Singapore have figured this out, very precisely as well. They not only came and re-built the Snule Church/Home, but several of their members have given toward helping with our rice crop expenses.  Hey! Singapore is blessed as well. “Ahhh, come on! Is that the real reason?” Well, it sure didn’t hurt!

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  • Certain Blessing

    Certain Blessing

    There’s an element of accuracy in obedience. That’s why FCOP is blessed, and we certainly will succeed. We not only leave a few sheaves of rice behind, we give the entire crop to the orphans and widows. Now, if we could just get some more help with the cost of our seed, fertilizer, diesel fuel and herbicides, we’d really have something to celebrate! But, FCOP is certain to be blessed, or God will have to resign for breach-of -contract, and we know that isn’t … Continue reading

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  • Land Muncher

    Land Muncher

    “Your problem is that you’re precise but not accurate.” Now, the problem, for us, was that the civil engineer who was speaking made that statement with a very matter-of-fact tone of voice.  Sonny (our FCOP International President) and I had just returned from surveying most of our 500 acres of rice land in Balang. We looked at each other, and in unison scratched our heads and said, ”What in the world does that mean?” We had five decimal points of accuracy on … Continue reading

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  • Thank you for sending food!

    Reach Now

    If there is an organization that knows how to be precisely blessed, it is “Reach Now International”. Bill Meyer, with some help from several donor charities like Mission of Mercy and Feed My Starving Children, along with Lou Binninger of Glad Tidings Church, has poured blessings into the Cambodian orphans, widows, and poor. I think I’d like to just stand next to him for a while and see what rubs off.  Bless all of you! Thank you!

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Recent Stories

  • 1000 Souls Per Week

    1000 Souls Per Week

    All of this precision and accuracy is for one central point, to bring all of Cambodia to the “Truth”; Jesus Christ. Make no mistake about it, we proselytize! And we are doing it at the rate of about 1000 people per week. There is no way we can document the rapidity of what is happening here. Just look at these few examples of people coming to Christ, new congregations being planted, and remote areas being reached. All of which are daily occurrences in many … Continue reading

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  • Lion’s Easter

    Lion’s Easter

    Easter was accurately celebrated on the last day of March in the US, but we put it forward until April 7th due to a coincidental overlap with a Chinese religious holiday which celebrates the memory of dead ancestors. Easter is about new life, so we are holding our events around the country on April 7th. The Young Lions have not missed the significance of the holiday, and have been criss-crossing the country bringing the good news with them wherever they go. Life … Continue reading

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  • The Good Old Days

    The Good Old Days

    “You fall into a ditch easy and you crawl out hard.” Fifty-three years ago Singapore, the city nation which now has one of the world’s highest per capita incomes,  sent a delegation to Phnom Penh, Cambodia to see how to run a city. People earned a living wage, there was a booming middle class, and the communities were kept clean trough a healthy pride valuing relationship above personal advancement. When Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore came to Phnom Penh, Cambodia in the 1960s, he made this comment: … Continue reading

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  • The Vikings are coming! We glad too!

    Viking Invasion

    For the past 20 years Cambodia has made significant progress in crawling back but, when the soul of a nation is destroyed, it is slow. Think about the concept of a nation self destructing to the point of one-third of the population being destroyed, often through betrayal and false accusation. Then consider what that would do to the concept of “community”. Cambodia became a nation of self serving survivalists. Lack of trust is one the biggest hurdles to not only economic development but, … Continue reading

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  • The Nutland family are a "Change Agent" in the lives of these orphans

    Change Agents

    We went to a village to drill a well, upon  arrival we found two non-functioning wells drilled by the UN several years earlier. We asked, “Has anyone tried to repair these wells?” The answer was a shockingly quick and simple, “No”. The obvious follow-up, “Why?” was just as quick and the answer very revealing. “If we fix the well our neighbors will just break it and we will lose our money.” There was no concept of working together as a community to repair the … Continue reading

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  • Pa Thom explaining to government officials farm progress

    Cooperatives

    The Director of The Cambodian Development Council came to inspect the land holdings of FCOP and was so impressed with what can be done he is inviting the Ministry of Agriculture to come for a look. Our selfish motive in this is to make FCOP self sufficient through rice production. Even this is a demonstration of valuing others more highly than ourselves in that the profits go to support orphans. Small land holdings  of rural rice farmers cannot compete with … Continue reading

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  • Here fishy, fishy, fishy.

    Aquaponics

    FCOP has undertaken the development of a modern rice–production farm through the acquisition of small land holdings through purchase. This is done on purpose. Rather than accept a large government grant, which would save FCOP hundreds of thousands of dollars but produce bitterness, resentment and jealousy on the part of farmers who lived on the land. The farmers working the land receive a fair price and observe the synergistic result of land assets being combined. Production can go from 2.5 tons per hectare per year to 30 tons … Continue reading

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  • Mechanical Monster

    Mechanical Monster

    A key component to enhancing rice production is simply leveling the land. Now the land looks as flat as a pancake, but it can drop as much as six inches in 200 yards, and that means many small levees to get relatively flat paddies. So, how do you get three inches of land peeled off of one side of a field and deposited 200 yards away in a smooth three inch layer? The answer does not exist in Cambodia. It is a … Continue reading

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  • Mak Sou and Pa Thom get a surprise valentine's visit

    Hotdog Munchkins

    Could we have a workday? Please! We started this February with King Norodom Sihanouk’s funeral which wiped out most of the first week’s governmental work days, then Chinese New Year blew out another four or five days. Though it is not an official holiday in Cambodia, Valentine’s Day is a favorite of the young people, and our kids from the Chom Chao Church Home came to wish us well. How do you make 400 hot dogs disappear in twenty minutes? Have the 100 … Continue reading

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  • Randy Clark Training

    Randy Clark Training

    In the midst of this we were fortunate enough to have Randy Clark come to our training center to teach us about hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.We brought in 300 of our key leaders, and though there was nothing they have not experienced in the teaching they did learn how their own gifts can be imparted and how to teach others about hearing the voice of the Spirit. Unfortunately, it cost us twice what a normal event would have … Continue reading

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