North County Christ the King has founded and supported the Life Giving Network over the course of several years. Tim's company supports the LGN monthly so part of this trip for Tim was following upon those funds, and continuing to help support the LGN pastors on the ground.
Theses are a few successes in Cambodia alone through the ministry of the LGN from a note that Tim sent to his staff:
Theses are a few successes in Cambodia alone through the ministry of the LGN from a note that Tim sent to his staff:
"Last week I got a note from the head of the LGN stating the following.... One of
our pastors who reaches out to Muslims lead 32 Muslims to Christ in one day and five different villages.
Another of our pastors there now has 30 churches with 3000 people in it. Pastor Koy had 85 baptisms the
week I was there. Sophea just emailed me and told me something like 23 youth gave their life to Christ just the
other night at his church. One of the other pastors was part of a 10 province crusade he lead and we had 1400
people receive Christ of which 145 were baptized. We (Sophea, Kim and the church) also were able to adopt 50 children with special needs
in Cambodia and I just interviewed and am preparing to adopt 50 orphans in India through our pastors in the
LGN there."
Tim's final days and thoughts in Cambodia....
{ Boys and their bikes. }
{ Brian and Sophia casually enjoying an afternoon nap. }
As the trip ends, there were a couple stand out successes and areas
for continued work.
We got together several times with an International organization called Agape
International Missions (AIM). They focus on the Cambodia sex trade industry. In a nutshell, here
is what happens over there... literally! Families have debt that has accumulated over the years
and an easy way out is to sell off one of your children. The boys have less value than the girls,
because the girls can be sold into sex trade and produce way more money. So the parents will
sell off their young girls (average age of sold girl is 8 years old, as young as 5 at times). A local
hospital first confirms that the girls are actually virgins, and they are given a “certificate of
virginity” which allows them to charge top dollar for the girl. These girls are then locked in a
room (called Pink Rooms), and they are kept in there and sold to pedophiles who will pay high
dollar for a young virgin. After the virginity is taken away, they leave the girls in these rooms and
sell them multiple times a day to men who come from all around the world for this specific
reason, as well as local men who just want a quick fix. These young girls will stay in this
environment until they are 12 years old or so, or when the debt is paid back. But at that point the
families have become used to the additional income that was going to the debt, so they leave
the girls in that environment and start collecting some income from them. If the girls can escape,
which is rare, they usually go right back and become prostitutes because they only know that
industry and can make ok money. This is the reality of what is going on over there!
AIM has swot teams on the ground in the cities that target pedophiles and follow them around, they identify where the girls are being sold and locked up, and then go in and save them. These
for continued work.
-
1) We will be establishing the micro loan business now in Cambodia, which we should have off
the ground in a couple months. This will produce great returns for the investors, and will also
produce extensive revenue and profits that can be left in country to support a few key
organizations. We were able to get a plan developed for this, and now have people
on the ground who are going to run it and manage it for us. Very exciting!
-
2) Big success - got to see the Tortilla making company that we have been coaching for a year
and a half now. They doubled in size last year, doubled their profits as well - in a growth
year. We helped him position his infrastructure as well for better profitability in the next year,
and he’s on track for that too. So cool to see it in action. He has become the “wealthy
business man” of the church there (that’s how they see him), and is now able to start giving
back financially to the church and it’s paying huge dividends. He is also coaching other local
businesses now and paying it forward. So great to see!
- 3) Spent half a day with a start-up medical clinic and helped develop their budget, market plan, and have given them the tools now to effectively start their new company. They were two people who came to the business course we taught, and wanted to get together to discuss further their plans and concerns. Very sharp kids! We fully expect next time we’re back (September) to see this medical clinic open and operational.
4) Taught a business course to over 100 students on business development and marketing structures. Great
time of dialogue and questions from them, and reviewing business plans that many of them have and are
about to implement.
5) On my first trip here we visited a village where there was no school, so kids were going entirely without
education, and there was no local church and literally zero infrastructure in the town. We stood outside the
town on a piece of property that the local pastor had a vision for and prayed over it. We just went back
yesterday (one year later) and saw a completed church, school, and entire complex developed and fully
functioning. I got to stand outside the class and see kids playing games, learning, and being taught essential
life skills that most here do not have. They built the entire complex for $55,000, and they have 200 students
daily. Through the LGN and its support, this has all happened fast! Profits from the micro loan business, funds from the home building in Whatcom county, and other investments have helped make this a reality.
6) Have committed to build a new school in the slums for Koy and his church. Will start putting a plan together on this to see it happen in the next year. Will put a team together from the community here and will go handle it with the Cambodians. Any one interested??? :)
7) AIM.... Here is what we are working on with them....
AIM has swot teams on the ground in the cities that target pedophiles and follow them around, they identify where the girls are being sold and locked up, and then go in and save them. These
girls are then taken to a location that is not named, and cleaned up, raised, educated, and
provided a normal living environment with counseling and support. To fund these homes, they
started making T shirts and selling them. Now they have a small factory that makes and prints T
shirts and ships them around the world. The funds go to the girls directly and to the organization
as well.
{ All of these brown roofs are brothels where young girls are
locked up being sold daily. }
This is a door that locks from
below so they can secure the girls
in a section of the house
overnight to keep them from
getting out.
{ All of these brown roofs are brothels where young girls are
locked up being sold daily. }
We were not allowed to take many pictures, as they don’t want to reveal the locations of their
safe houses. We had to go through back ground checks before we could come and see the
operation as well. They take this part very seriously!
We toured the homes, the schools, the housing, etc. All if it was so well done. After learning about the background, and watching video’s of what is going on, and then seeing a school room full of young girls, who are having fun, laughing, learning, etc, it’s inspiring to say the least! We then went and toured the shirt making factory.
We toured the homes, the schools, the housing, etc. All if it was so well done. After learning about the background, and watching video’s of what is going on, and then seeing a school room full of young girls, who are having fun, laughing, learning, etc, it’s inspiring to say the least! We then went and toured the shirt making factory.
This is where we started to talk business with them. They have $3 mil budget every year, as
they have a lot of donors around the world. A few years ago CNN did a big blitz on this
organization and made a movie documentary, “Every Day in Cambodia” with Mira Sorvino
(actress), which brought a lot of light to the situation in Cambodia. Next there was another
documentary done called “The Pink Room”, which won awards and again, created awareness.
So AIM has great funding, but is struggling in many aspects to go from begging for funds, to
creating a structure that produces regular revenue and repeat donations.
We spent a better part of a day with the business development folks on the ground and were able to come up with some changes to their approach. They are hesitant and worry that the head of the organization wouldn’t go for them. We had nothing to lose so we just reached out to him directly and he is extremely interested in help. So we will be meeting with him next month in California and will be explaining our thoughts, and the concerns we had from a marketing perspective, and business management perspective. As an organization, they are now realizing that there are some things that are broken and need repair. It will be super rewarding to help them restructure their approach. With the donor base they have, we should be able to make a dynamic impact by helping them be more effective on the front end development of funds, and the execution of processes in the field.
So in the end, it was a great trip! From helping coach businesses, teaching the business course, seeing the purchase of the property, starting new businesses, etc, it was all around a success, and a busy trip.
We spent a better part of a day with the business development folks on the ground and were able to come up with some changes to their approach. They are hesitant and worry that the head of the organization wouldn’t go for them. We had nothing to lose so we just reached out to him directly and he is extremely interested in help. So we will be meeting with him next month in California and will be explaining our thoughts, and the concerns we had from a marketing perspective, and business management perspective. As an organization, they are now realizing that there are some things that are broken and need repair. It will be super rewarding to help them restructure their approach. With the donor base they have, we should be able to make a dynamic impact by helping them be more effective on the front end development of funds, and the execution of processes in the field.
So in the end, it was a great trip! From helping coach businesses, teaching the business course, seeing the purchase of the property, starting new businesses, etc, it was all around a success, and a busy trip.
Thank you to everyone who had covered Brian and Tim in prayer as they traveled to and from. The kids survived, I didn't eat them in frustration of being a single parent and we all were happily waiting for Daddy last night when he came home. The sweaty laundry has been cleaned and plans for the next trip have begun. As Charlie says every night,
"Mom, don't forget to pray for the kids in Cambodia!"
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