Conventional wisdom believes that the rich exploit the poor. I suppose there are always cases of that, but it is not universally true. This past month we’ve faced a government in virtual shutdown, with offices closed, ministries not functioning, road traffic blocked by either opposition party members, demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister, or union members forcing factory workers to strike for the doubling of their wages, or both working in unison. It was very difficult to move about the country. Hundreds of thousands of Cambodians took to the streets with their demands. I was held up for three …  

Jenny Robinson spent four fruitful years with us and is greatly missed. We believe she is moving into a new chapter of life and will always be a big supporter of FCOP even though she now lives on the other side of the world. We had to have a going-away celebration for her. Thank you Jenny!  

November 1st, I went to the bank, there was a large gift from Union Church in Hong Kong, help form the churches in the USA, help from FCOPI, money from Europe, and a promise from Singapore. We were at least going to survive. Two 40′ shipping containers showed up with a protein drink; 60,000 bottles of it! Two more 40′ containers of nutrition rice meals. This was wonderful, but when I looked back at the unity and compassion poured out by the churches of Cambodia, I felt like a fool for my self-commiserating pity party.  

People are more than just physical and spiritual beings. Culture, and social interaction, are huge parts of life and we are foolish to allow the church to ignore this. The first complaint leveled against us was that the Christian Church is, “Destroying Cambodian culture”. So, from day one, we made a deliberate discussion to put culture into our services. Take a look at what I am talking about:  (see video above) If you don’t think this has spiritual value, you really don’t understand how the human soul hears from God. God is bigger than religion, and if religion is all …  

Now, this is going to date you. But, I’ve been gone for 15 years, so, please, cut me some slack! Let’s see how good  you are at “Trivia”?   Question: Take Jeb Clampertt, ( Beverly Hillbillies) cross him with MacGyver (The guy who could fix anything), and marry him off to “Wonder Woman”(No explanation needed), and what do you get? Give up? Bob and Christal Hollandsworth! That should have been easy! Now, Ol’e Bob and Christal are  leaving us. Bummer! After six years of faithful service, they have become such an institution in Cambodia, that I’m not sure we’ll be complete …  

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 Service” by Prime Minister Hun Sen through the Minister of Social Affairs, Ith Sam Heng, at a special ceremony. Sou …  

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 orphans show up in mid afternoon. After Valentine’s Day, another official holiday, Meak Bochea, takes place one week following the beginning of Chinese new …  

We can’t stop the merry-go-round of life and get off when trouble makes it inconvenient to continue. “Auld Lang Syne!” We’ve added over 250 kids in the last 60 days and have been informed that the Prime Minister is going to present FCOP with some kind of award. It is hard to believe that a year ago there were those who were calling for us to be shut down. Sometimes, I wish we could pull the switch and rest for a while, but buildings need repair and, people get sick and we are refreshed by the help of those of you give constantly, like the donor who …