Featured – Page 8 – FCOP International

March 5, 2012

Eugene Visit

Eugene Faith Center brought over a familiarization team and toured our work around the country to discover the best ways to provide continuing assistance. They already provide support for Bar-One Ministries that is helping us with pastoral training. They have been good supporters through the years and Pastor Steve Overman serves on the FCOP International board. Thank you!

March 5, 2012

Manna Packs

One of our chief benefactors has been “Reach Now International” who, through the assistance of Lou Binninger, handles all our shipping arrangements, has sent us more than 100 tons of rice nutrition meals called, “Manna Packs”, over the past two years. The product, furnished by Feed My Starving Children, supplies a completely balanced diet with one feeding per day. These meals have literally been lifesavers by filling the gaps in our rice production impaired through drought and floods. The kids have learned to make a morning porridge out of the product, and it really gives them a great start for …

March 5, 2012

Family Preservation

Marriage in Cambodia is a troubled institution. It is not uncommon for women to be left with several children as Dad takes off with a new mate. Mom sometimes leaves these kids as she finds a new, “Mr. Right”. They wind up at our Church Homes. Often, we take in an abandoned wife with possibly a half dozen kids and no support. We put mom to work on staff, and the kids in the home, the family is in tact. The failure to recognize the need of these people is part of the bloviating hypocrisy of UNICEF. They condemn us …

February 6, 2012

Vision

“VISION” It’s been a big topic in both Christian and secular realms for at least two decades. Hundreds of books have been written on the subject. I’ve probably read at least a dozen. All of them had at least a few good concepts, some, in my opinion, reduced the subject to a mere ‘planning process’. So, who cares? I do, because I didn’t find any of the books, which I have read, that capture the essence of what I call “Vision”. You see, I don’t believe you can develop “Vision”, it is a gift. Its like faith with a specific …

February 6, 2012

The Big Picture

Each of the 123 District and Divisional leaders teach what they have learned to another 30, or more, local leaders. I pray these people of “Vision” are out there. I don’t mean someone who ‘believes in it, ‘will die to see it happen’, or, ‘desires it with all their heart’. I’m looking for a person who knows it is a certain reality, and sees themselves as centrally involved. Here is what I’ve seen, and please forgive me if it sounds self engrandizing; I honestly see it this way. it’s just that I know; this is real! Here is what I’ve …

February 6, 2012

The Real Deal

What happened this Christmas is a good example of what is occurring throughout the nation. Churches were celebrating Christmas well into January. We estimate some 30,000 people, more than half were children, entered into a faith relationship with Christ during our Christmas season. Here is what I am looking for; I was with a land survey team from Fort Morgan, Colorado. We ate dinner at a local restaurant. In the process of ordering our food, I asked the waitress what religion she was. She responded, “Christian”. So, I asked her what church she went to, and she said, “Foursquare”. I …

February 6, 2012

Sling’n Dirt

We are about 150 tons short of meeting our rice needs to feed our orphans and widows for 2012, due to the drought, and then floods, of 2011. So, I encouraged a land survey team to come and do a GPS survey of our 400 acres of rice property. The land is made up of a series of small plots, like random squares on a checker board. Our largest single area is about 65 acres, and if we can gain access, and properly ditch and dike the land, we can easily raise two crops of high yielding rice per year. …

February 6, 2012

Mission Teams Vital

I cannot over emphasize the importance of teams coming to Cambodia. We had great teams this month, and two more showed up while I was leaving for the USA, which I will talk about in the next issue. East Valley Church, Orangevale, California, USA was here and the work they accomplished was astonishing, but I keep telling people that what the work teams do physically, wonderful as it is, is not the greatest value of a team. I know that there is a book circulating which discounts, and even discourages, teams from coming to the field. I could not disagree …

February 6, 2012

Ego Boost

We received a big ego boost this month. After dueling with UNICEF over the renewal of our “Memorandum of Understanding,” (which gives us license to operate in Cambodia) for most of last year. The head of the Ministry of Social Concerns, and the Secretary of State for Cambodia, paid a lengthy personal visit to our National Training Center, and recognized FCOP as the premiere provider of orphan care in Cambodia; a model for other N.G.O.’s (Non-Government-Organizations) to follow in operational integrity, and relationship. It came as quite s shock after all the opposition we faced from foreign sources. Thank you God!

January 10, 2012

The Vodka Was Great?

“The vodka was great but the meat is rotten.” That, believe it or not, is a direct translation of a Bible verse spewed forth from a billion dollar Cray Super Computer programmed by the Pentagon to translate English into Russian during the “Cold War” days of the late 1980’s. The verse? “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41) So, now you know why we have problems with relaying complex concepts from one language to another. The whole point of Christmas was being missed. The most basic concept of the Christian faith, “Salvation” has eluded Cambodian …

January 10, 2012

A Christmas Harvest

This Christmas we went to great efforts to make sure that everyone who came to Christ realized that they had nothing to do in earning their relationship with God, but that it was a free gift given to them through faith. Thanks to the generosity of Home of English, 90,000 full color, Christmas books were distributed. The results are still being tabulated. In fact some churches will be celebrating Christmas for another week, but we already know of more than 20,000 Cambodians being born again this Christmas. At Chom Chao alone, nearly 3000 came to Christ.

January 10, 2012

One Long Slog

If you’ve ever gone on a long, extremely difficult, dangerous and exhausting slog, (almost like fighting a war) and felt the exhilaration upon achievement of the goal, you’ll understand our emotions as the Ministry of Social Concerns hosted a recognition reception for the delivery of our Memorandum of Understanding. We were fighting for our existence. It was six months of painful and often contentious preparation, compromise and negotiation, but the kind words of encouragement spoken at the reception made us look like true heroes. We were held up as the largest and best model, Non-Government-Organization (NGO) for care of orphans …