Insulators are helping to fund a missionary team's efforts in Cambodia. Here are a few of the items brought back to the US this fall. See page 30.
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                            

Missionary Couple Returns with Insulators

Gingerbread men, T-Bars, and other insulators now find homes in American collections thanks to the efforts of a missionary couple to Cambodia. 

Kris and Mary Ann Young started their missionary outreach in 1982, first visiting and then moving to Cambodia. 

They have attempted to make their ministry practical, teaching the native people job skills that would, help them make a living in one of the world's poorest nations. 

Kris & Mary Ann Young show off items from their adopted home of Cambodia

That's where their interest in insulators came in. Kris is teaching men to become insulator hunters. First he sent them out to small shops where old insulators are sold for re-use in electrical projects. Then the men started calling on linemen to directly acquire discarded insulators. Kris says that after the communist wars of the 1960's and 1970's, new power lines were constructed to replace older lines destroyed by decades of turmoil. In some places, poles from the old lines remain standing, with insulators still on them.

When Kris and Mary Arm returned to the US for a visit this fall, they brought back dozens of insulators in their travel bags, many still on the iron brackets (see page 29). Selling them turned into a notable economic benefit for the men back in Cambodia.

Two of the more popular insulators recovered so far were CD 690 T-Bars. One was embossed EIV and the other, L'Electro Verre. Also found were a variety of ginger bread men including CD 640 and 642's. Embossings on the gingerbread men include lsorex, Folembray & L'Electro Verre. Colors range from yellow green, teal green, to dark emerald green. Kris is believing he'll find one in amethyst. He thought he spotted an amethyst one on a pole one day, but when he returned for a closer rook, it was gone. Still other insulators include CD 531's, 541's, 557's and porcelain gingerbread men.

Some of the collectors Kris contacted wanted the insulators still on the metal brackets, so many of them were brought through airport security in that fashion. No one even questioned Kris about them until the insulators were declared to US customs. But once it was explained that the insulators were for a missionary fund-raiser, nothing further was asked. 

The insulators are typically cemented to the pins, making removal very difficult. However, Kris found that those cemented with some type of yellowish substance (sulfur cement?) can be removed easily if the metal pins are heated.

Kris, Mary Ann and their teenage son, Luke, will return to Cambodia in January. They are hoping to obtain another cache of insulators to send back to the US with other supporters of their ministry in the spring.

You can learn more about Kris and Mary Ann and their ministry by visiting their website at: www.ministryincambodia.com