Letter From Cambodia
December 19, 2006
Phnom Penh
Cambodia
Dear Partners and Friends,
Craig Muller of Warm Blankets and I, Ted Olbrich, of Foursquare Children of Promise, want to touch you with a bit of the reality you are transforming for 3500 orphans and widows in Cambodia. We decided to have our kids in Cambodia send the letters to you individually, and include a couple of photos they've personally selected which represent the children you have rescued, and the new life of hope, and training, you are providing. We really want the kids to tell their stories. So here are three. They are true. They not exceptional. Every child has a unique, and often painful, past accented by a hopeful future, due to your help. Please allow these three to represent them all.
This is their, and our, way of saying,"Thank you!"
1. Giri: (Seri Nim) "My mother died when I was very young. I was sent to live with my uncle. He sold me to a man who forced us to have sex with him. I didn't know what to do, I wanted to die. One day a man came and told me about a place I could live. That night I ran away. He took me to the Warm Blanket Orphan Home. Now I am safe and happy with my new family. I thank God for Warm Blankets Orphan Care."
2. Boy: (Pro Rattah) "My mother and father were both killed by a landmine. I did not have any relatives to take me, so I found a job begging with other children run by a man who used us for different things. Sometimes we would steal for him, sometimes just beg for money. He would give us a small amount but it was not enough to get us food to eat. I didn;t know what to do. One day a pastor came and gave me some money. He asked me if I had a place to live and invited me to the orphan home. Thanks to Warm Blankets Orphan Care I now have Jesus in my life and have a good future."
3. Boy (Pro Pawn) "I have 3 brothers and sisters. My mother died when I was 8 years old. I am the oldest. We did not know what to do. I found a large box in the corner of a building and we used it to sleep in. It was our house. We would beg and steal food from the garbage. One day a man saw us and asked why we were stealing food. I told him I had nothing to eat. He took us to the Warm Blankets Orphan home. Now we are going to school. We have a good life and we love Jesus Christ. We thank God for Warm Blankets for helping us in Cambodia."
Wishing You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year on behalf of your kids in Cambodia!
Craig Muller,
Warm Blankets Orphan Care Int.
Ted Olbrich,
Foursquare Children of Promise
Phnom Penh
Cambodia
Dear Partners and Friends,
Craig Muller of Warm Blankets and I, Ted Olbrich, of Foursquare Children of Promise, want to touch you with a bit of the reality you are transforming for 3500 orphans and widows in Cambodia. We decided to have our kids in Cambodia send the letters to you individually, and include a couple of photos they've personally selected which represent the children you have rescued, and the new life of hope, and training, you are providing. We really want the kids to tell their stories. So here are three. They are true. They not exceptional. Every child has a unique, and often painful, past accented by a hopeful future, due to your help. Please allow these three to represent them all.
This is their, and our, way of saying,"Thank you!"
1. Giri: (Seri Nim) "My mother died when I was very young. I was sent to live with my uncle. He sold me to a man who forced us to have sex with him. I didn't know what to do, I wanted to die. One day a man came and told me about a place I could live. That night I ran away. He took me to the Warm Blanket Orphan Home. Now I am safe and happy with my new family. I thank God for Warm Blankets Orphan Care."
2. Boy: (Pro Rattah) "My mother and father were both killed by a landmine. I did not have any relatives to take me, so I found a job begging with other children run by a man who used us for different things. Sometimes we would steal for him, sometimes just beg for money. He would give us a small amount but it was not enough to get us food to eat. I didn;t know what to do. One day a pastor came and gave me some money. He asked me if I had a place to live and invited me to the orphan home. Thanks to Warm Blankets Orphan Care I now have Jesus in my life and have a good future."
3. Boy (Pro Pawn) "I have 3 brothers and sisters. My mother died when I was 8 years old. I am the oldest. We did not know what to do. I found a large box in the corner of a building and we used it to sleep in. It was our house. We would beg and steal food from the garbage. One day a man saw us and asked why we were stealing food. I told him I had nothing to eat. He took us to the Warm Blankets Orphan home. Now we are going to school. We have a good life and we love Jesus Christ. We thank God for Warm Blankets for helping us in Cambodia."
Wishing You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year on behalf of your kids in Cambodia!
Craig Muller,
Warm Blankets Orphan Care Int.
Ted Olbrich,
Foursquare Children of Promise
YPK Host Annual Mass Wedding
November 2006
Yayasan Pondok kasih (YPK), working with AP3 (Association of Wedding Organizers) held a mass wedding event on November 2006. It was attended by the mayor of Surabaya, religious leaders as well as representatives from different Government departments. This event, which Pondok Kasih has run yearly for the last 5 years is warmly welcomed by the Government and the Mayor as a very successful way to raise the moral standards of the community.
Some of the couples have been together long enough to have their grandchildren at their wedding. With this marriage certificate they can now send their children to school or at least they have the right to enter school. This marriage certificate perhaps is the most difficult work Pondok Kasih have gone through the legal process so far, not only for the certificate but also for the permission to counsel the couples using biblical principles.
Yayasan Pondok kasih (YPK), working with AP3 (Association of Wedding Organizers) held a mass wedding event on November 2006. It was attended by the mayor of Surabaya, religious leaders as well as representatives from different Government departments. This event, which Pondok Kasih has run yearly for the last 5 years is warmly welcomed by the Government and the Mayor as a very successful way to raise the moral standards of the community.
Some of the couples have been together long enough to have their grandchildren at their wedding. With this marriage certificate they can now send their children to school or at least they have the right to enter school. This marriage certificate perhaps is the most difficult work Pondok Kasih have gone through the legal process so far, not only for the certificate but also for the permission to counsel the couples using biblical principles.