Leading by the Spirit
At the onset of the Battle of the Bulge (hearing that their army was surrounded by greatly outnumbering forces), one American medic commented, "The poor bastards, they have us surrounded again!" That response depicts a level of faith is needed to sustain the kingdom of God against devilish onslaughts. The idea that the church can never lose ground, is historically false. Just look at Asia Minor and the Middle East. One thousand years ago it was overwhelmingly Christian. More recently one can look at Lebanon or Indonesia. I do not believe that God ever desires to see His church decline. The problem comes with overconfident leaders who make worldly plans to win a supernatural war against a determined enemy. It is just before defeat that the enemy strikes with his most ferocious attacks. These are battles that only Spirit led leaders can win.
We can still lose the spiritual war in Cambodia. We suffered major attacks in December.
1) I knew that FCOPI was in for funding troubles as soon as I heard about the international effort to close all orphan homes, pushed by UNICEF and other well meaning, but misinformed, organizations. We came up with the FCOP Rice Production Enterprise to promote self-sufficiency. It was coming together nicely until we got hit with the dams. The damming of the Mekong and its tributaries is causing major drought throughout Cambodia.
2) Then on Dec 18th, I saw this headline: "Today, for the first time ever, all 193 member states of the United Nations have formally recognized that orphanages don’t protect children, they harm them, and have called for the progressive elimination of institutional care globally." It is a declaration based on a lie as far as FCOP is concerned. It claims 80% of children housed in orphan homes are not orphans. At FCOPI refuge homes in Cambodia, just the opposite is true. 80% of the children we house are "True Orphans" as defined by UNICEF. How do we fight these lies? Read entire story: Read
Fortunately, FCOPI has moved all of our homes to become "Refuge Centers" under the Ministry of Cults and Religion.
3) The realignment of Cambodian alliances. We found out that next to our newest Church Refuge Center in Ream, a deep water naval base is being constructed. The only problem is: Cambodia does not have a blue-water navy. Then, fifty kilometers to the northwest, the largest coastal development in the world (on a strip of land that controls 20% of Cambodia's shoreline with a 99-year lease) a three and one half kilometer long airstrip that is designed to accommodate military aircraft is being constructed. The only problem is: Cambodia does not have any fighter jets. This is not a good time to rely on past success. We need prayers and we desperately need support for our refuge centers.