Coming home!

My visa is just about up, so I will be making a brief trip back to the States to make new visa arrangements.

I am sorry that I will not have the time to get to see and talk with as many of you as I would like, but I will probably be asleep most of the time that you guys are awake anyhow : ) However, for those of you that will be in the Chattanooga area I would love to connect while I am back. (you can get me at 423-821-0622)

Please pray for travel and flight connections to go smoothly. I will be flying from Bangkok to Tokyo, Tokyo to Atlanta, and then into Chattanooga Wednesday night.

I am a little late with my formal update newsletter and I will get that out to everyone when I get back. There are some exciting changes to report with my ministry here, and I need to cross my t's and dot my i's before I can publicize them.

God bless all you guys and thank you for your continued support!

Sunday service

This Sunday was a very long day but another really rewarding one. I preached the morning service at Immanuel Baptist Church, and then I got to spend the rest of the day with my friends from that church.



I preached on Mark 4:35-41 where Jesus stills the storm on the Galilee. Ahjan Winit translated for me. He is a man who practices what he preaches. Thailand is blessed to have him as a leader in the church.

In the afternoon, I got to go with Terry and Ahjan Vee to a new slum where they have been working for 2 years. It never ceases to amaze me how many slums there are here. The children there were SO excited to see the group.



I got interrogated by the children. One of the little girls asked me why I was a farang (white man) but I could speak Thai. I told her that I was a student and studied Thai in a school. She said, "it must be a big school."

I then traveled with the team to our usual Sunday evening ministry site at the Baring Slum community. As is our custom there, we ended the evening with a meal and then a time of worship. God draws very near during those times.

May Update

Greetings all. My apologies for the long span of time since I last posted. I was quite busy for a while with moving, and then I did not have internet until recently. The move went great, and I am really enjoying my new place. Here is a little self portrait of me on the roof (25 floors up).



Things have been somewhat slow over the last few weeks. I did finally find a young man to tutor me in Thai. We started meeting this week. Please keep praying that I will grow daily in my Thai. It takes a lot more discipline and self control when you are not in school every day.



I have also continued to go to the Baring slum on Sunday evenings. This past Sunday we said goodbye to four of the gang that are headed up to Bible college in the north. (pictured left to right are Peace, Jamnian, Bee, Noom)

Please pray for this whole group!! Noom and Peace are going back for their second year, but this will be Jamnian and Bee's first year. Ask God to grow them in their faith, understanding, and obedience. Thailand needs more Thai leadership in all areas: church planting, evangelism, pastoral ministry. If this country is going to see a widespread movement to Christ it will be through the faithful and bold ministry of Thai Christians like these. "Stay the course guys!"

it is HOT

It is summer in Thailand. It has been over 100 each day for a week now, and the heat index has been maxing out around 115. Thankfully, it is not too humid, but I have had to set up shop in the mall the last few days to stay cool.

One thing I have been doing is translating the Thai Bible. I found a very informal translation that I can actually understand. Reading the Bible in another language is such an incredible blessing. It forces you to read more slowly and thus you see a lot more when you do so. I compare it to taking a walk through a park versus driving your car.

I am probably going to be moving next week. Hopefully the heat will subside a little, but there will be sweat. I will post some pictures of the new place soon after.

Otherwise, I am still trying to make arrangements for a Thai tutor. Please be praying that God would connect me with the right teacher. Also, please keep praying that God would connect me with a Thai ministry partner. I have some good contacts to help me in my search, and I will be pursuing those as soon as I get settled in the new room.

stay cool!

Songkran!

Thailand celebrates the new year based on a calendar that is dated from the death of the Buddha. So their new years celebration falls in mid-April. For 3 days, Thai people celebrate the new year by engaging in a national water fight. People roam the streets armed with squirt guns. Trucks loaded with barrels of water and people with buckets cruise the roads looking for easy prey.


This is an example of one of the trucks absolutely loaded down with people and water that are everywhere during Songkran.




This is what it looks like when one of the roving attack units comes across a fixed attack position. Things get wet.




Snipers are positioned at every crosswalk. He looks innocent enough but given the chance he wouldn't hesitate to hose you down.




Finally, this picture says it all, everybody plays! You can not skirt by and ask for mercy on account of the fact that you are an innocent passer-by. If you go out in public then you are in the game. I think this poor guy probably stayed home after this.

Praise!

Well, the days of early morning commutes and intensive language study are just about to draw to a close. This Friday will be my last day at Thai language school. Thank you for all your prayers throughout this period. It has been physically and mentally draining, but the Lord has given me strength and focus to make it through.

This does not mark the end of my language learning. I will be transitioning to meeting with a tutor 3 days a week and self study. Six months ago I could not read, write, or do almost anything in Thai, but God has brought me a long way. Of course, this is an endless process. There is always more to learn, but that is why you have to put a stake in the ground every now and then and look back at how far you have come and say thank you Lord!

Another answer to prayer is that we have a new team member! Her name is Connie. She was just recently accepted onto our team, and she is now in the process of raising support to join us here in Thailand. This is a huge answer to prayer. Please join me in praying that God would get her over here quickly and that He would continue to add members to our team.

"You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness,
O God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas"
Psalm 65:5

Contemplating Tragedy

Over Christmas break, I spent a week with a group from a Bangkok Church doing Christmas programs in the towns hit by the deadly Tsunami of 2004. Through a translator, I was given numerous opportunities to talk about Jesus with people who had never known anything about the real meaning of Christmas. These are people whose lives have been forever changed by the deaths of their friends and family on that day 5 years ago. The beach resorts have been rebuilt and the sunburned tourists have returned, but the wounds and the trauma have not faded from the hearts of the people.

I also recently visited another disaster zone, but this one was caused by the deliberate and cruel actions of men. It was the location of the central prison and torture facility of the Khmer Rouge in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Today, it is a museum that documents the cruelty of the atrocities carried out there by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970's when they took over Cambodia. The genocide perpetrated by the regime took the lives of nearly 2 million people. The displays at the museum (pictures of dead bodies, display cases of human skulls) turned my stomach, but the government wants to make sure that the brutality of those years is not forgotten and hopefully never relived.

These two places have endured very different but equally devastating disasters. The question that the people ask in each place is the same, "Why?" Some faiths would answer that it was simply fate. Others would say that the gods were angry and this was punishment for sinful living. Some say there’s no reason at all. Would these responses bring you comfort if you were the one asking “Why…?”

As Christians we are assured that God is sovereign over all that happens. The Tsunami, Khmer Rouge, 9-11, and the present financial crisis did not sneak up on him by surprise. Paul tells us in Ephesians that God “works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (1:11). God permits and plans all things so that his ultimate purposes triumph.

A great example from Scripture is the story of Joseph. Here is a guy that gets sold into slavery by his own brothers! Yet, God guides events so Joseph ends up in a position of power and influence where he can save his brothers from a future famine. When Joseph reveals himself to his brothers years after the cruel betrayal he tells them, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Gen 50:20).

We don’t know exactly how God will work through each tragedy. Each instance is unique, but we can say confidently to every person that HE IS working and the result will be the advancement of his good and perfect plan. This brings meaning to our suffering and that should give us the strength to endure faithfully.

(Sorry for the rant, but I just needed to process my own thoughts about these places and events.)

God Bless

Oh, the People You'll Meet!

Dr. Seuss wrote a well known book titled "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" I would love to see someone write a book about missions titled "Oh, the People You'll Meet!" I cannot begin to express how rewarding it is to fellowship and serve with Christians from all over the world. Each one has a unique story of God's grace in their lives.

I would like to occasionally highlight some of these folks and offer their story to you for inspiration and encouragement.

In the photo above are two guys that I have been honored to get to know in my time here. On the left is Terry Collins ("Big-C"). Terry is an American who accepted an offer from his company to go and work at their offices in Bangkok for 3 years. He works full-time during the week as a manager at his company. Normally you would expect such a person to take it nice and easy on the weekends. Not Terry. He has chosen to give every ounce of his free time to serving the Thai people through Immanuel Baptist Church. He has only been here for 8 months but he has already been on mission trips to the north, west, and south of Thailand. He also serves with the group from Immanuel in the slums every Sunday afternoon.

Whenever he is asked about all the time he gives to serving the church his ready answer is, "there is nowhere else I'd rather be."

The other man in the picture is Ahjan (means= pastor/teacher) Vee. He is the associate pastor at Immanuel Baptist. I met him in the Sunday slum outreach, and he is the one who invited me to go on the trip to Khao Lak. He is an incredibly gentle and loving person. His devotion to Christ is total. God has folded a number of gifts into him. He is a pastor, encourager, evangelist, and leader. He is the husband of a wonderful Christian woman and father of two energetic young boys.

Yet, Vee's life was not always so together. He grew up in a Buddhist home. In his teens, he got into drugs and alcohol. A few years later he was a full blown herojoin addict. He wanted to quit but could never find the strength to do so. Until one day, a pastor shared the gospel with him and promised him that Christ could deliver him from addiction if he would believe. He did believe, and Christ took over and cleaned up his life.

It is so cool to meet folks like these who have been so moved by God's grace in their lives that they can think of no other reponse than to serve him joyfully and faithfully.

I pray you will be inspired and challenged by their stories.

Back from Khao Lak

For the last week I have been in the Khao Lak area of southern Thailand. This is the area hardest hit by the Tsunami in Thailand. The locals estimate that 10,000 people were killed there that day. When I visited the area in 2005 it was totally devastated. Rubble was everywhere, the people were living in the hills in refugee housing, and no one knew if the area would ever recover.

Today it looks very different than it did 3.5 years ago. The hotels and restaurants have been rebuilt, and the tourists have returned. Above is a shot of the beach at Khao Lak. Most importantly, however, is the surging growth of the church in this area. Many of the aid workers that came here were Christian groups. Many people responded to the gospel and numerous churches were planted here. We thank God that many came to Christ becuase of the Tsunami.

There are numerous small churches, but the leadership is thin and they need lots of help. For this reason, I travelled there with a group from a Thai church in Bangkok to help the churches there put on Christmas outreach celebrations for the community.Above is a picture of the community outreach party that we held at our host church. There were almost 200 people that came to hear us sing Christmas songs, eat dinner, recieve gifts, and hear us explain the real meaning of Christmas. This was a very big event for a church of only 4 people!

We did a number of these Christmas parties all throughout the area to many different groups. We did one at a government housing project for sea gypsies. They are a nomadic people that live in boats along the Thai/Burmese coast. Pray for these poeple, the Moken. There are no known believers among them.

We also ministered at a pre-school. Here is a shot of our "little" audience there.
We had a lot of fun playing games and singing songs with the children.

A few times we went out to sing Christmas carols for people. When we were done, someone would share for a few minutes about Jesus and the real story of Christmas. I got to share many times on the trip, and I thank God for these opportunities. Here is me sharing with our wait staff before dinner one night.


This trip was a great blessing to me personally. Through the translation of my Thai Christian friends I got to share the story of Jesus birth and mission on earth with many who had never heard before. Most of all, I was blessed to share a week with some incredible brothers and sisters in the Lord that share a burden for reaching the lost. Here is a picture of the team that I served with.


Please join me in praying that the seeds of truth sown in Khao Lak would find fertile ground in the hearts of many and be nurtured to saving faith by God.

-Greg

As Christmas approaches...

Well, I finished my last module of the year at language school last week. They are closed for three weeks over the Christmas and New Years holidays. I just spent this past week entertaining a fellow missionary friend who is visiting from another country. We spent some time at the beach and exploring the city. It was great to catch up with him and have some time to unwind in the islands.

Here's a picture of me devouring the catch of the day.

I have a really cool opportunity the next few days. From the 25th to 30th I will be in the Phang Nga province of Thailand. This is the area of Thailand that was hardest hit by the tsunami. I have been invited to go with a group from Immanuel Baptist (the church that I do slum ministry with on Sunday) to do Christmas ministry in that area.

I will be travelling to the same town that I visted just six months after the Tsunami back in the summer of 2005. At that time, almost everything was destroyed. The people were all living in refugee camps up in the hills and there were piles of debris everywhere. It will be very exciting to see how the town has changed and especially to encourage the growing Christian population there.

Please pray for our safe travels there and back (it is a long drive), and that God will use us to encourage the churches and proclaim the true message of Christmas to the greater community.
I will have some pictures and updates as soon as I get back.

Have a joyous Christmas!

Greg

Update: political situation

Sorry that I was away for few days and did not give you a timely update on the crisis here. The short version is that the Supreme Court of Thailand voted to dissolve the ruling political party on Tuesday. The protesters were satisfied enough with this and they ended their siege of the airports.

Things have been very quiet the last few days. The Thais are observing the King's birthday this weekend. The King is very cherished and dear to the Thai people. It seems that the battling factions in this crisis have put things on pause right now out of respect for the King. But there is every expectation that tensions will resume soon. I will keep you posted on any important developments. Please continue to pray that God would lead this country to a peaceful resolution of this matter.

Political Crisis Escalates

I have mentioned in a few posts and emails about the political crisis in Thailand. In a nutshell, there is a group that wants the current government to totally disband. This group has been holding rallies and protest marches in Bangkok for a couple of months now. There have been very isolated and limited outbreaks of violence since that time.

Two days ago, this group took over Thailand's main airport, BKK, here in Bangkok. Since that time there has been zero air traffic from the airport. The group has also just seized the other Bangkok airport which services mostly domestic flights.

The closure of BKK is a major hit to the Thai economy. Thailand depends heavily on tourism and the upcoming holiday season is when they have the most tourists. Uncertainty about political stability and flight availability has already resulted in thousands of foriegners cancelling vacations in Thailand.

Thailand needs your prayers now! God commands us to pray for the leaders of nations that they will govern with wisdom and establish peace for their people:

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior"

1 Timothy 2:1-3

Two Months in Missions

Wow! The time has been flying by over here. It is hard to believe that more than 2 months have passed already. I had visions of posting to the blog a couple of times each week but the days are moving faster than I had planned. (sorry)

I am happy to report that 2 months into my service here things are really going wonderfully. God has kept me from getting sick and helped me along with adjusting to the living situation here. Next week I will start the 3rd of 6 language modules and then break for a few weeks at the end of December. Please be praying that God would grant me focus and discipline to really apply myself to studying both in and out of the classroom.



Each week I am in school for 5 days. Then I try to relax and catch up on things on Saturdays. On Sundays, after church, I serve alongside some Christians from a church up in the city. They have an outreach to children in a slum nearby my apartment. Here is a picture of one of the volunteers teaching a Bible story to the children.

The group from the church has a desire to plant a church in this area. Right now they are meeting under a plastic awning that they built up against the front wall of an old woman's home.



This past Sunday, my teammates and I were invited to travel with these volunteers on a retreat to a nearby beach. The retreat was for new Christians from their church. I had the opportunity to share with them a bit about my life and challenge them to stay focused on Jesus as they began their walk of faith.

Here is a shot of me with my teammates Phil and Jenny. As soon as I finish learning Thai, I am going to study Aussie so I can figure out just what in the world they are saying : )


I want you to know that God is taking very good care of me in answer to your prayers. Please keep me and Thailand before the Lord.


Some prayer requests for the rest of the year:

-Language study (will be halfway complete Dec. 16th)
-Discipline (in diet, Bible study, exercise)
-Continued good health
-Ask God to raise up new teammates join us here and work this large field.
-There have been some very isolated outbreaks of violence in the ongoing political crisis here. Please pray that the leaders can find a peaceful way to resolve this divisive issue.
-Amidst political instability, pray that Thai's would yearn for that eternally peaceful Kingdom that God promises to all who believe.

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe"

-Hebrews 12:28

Mid October Thoughts

Everything over here is going great. I have completed the first of 6 language modules and am enjoying a lengthy 2 day break from school. So far I have really enjoyed language study. In Thai I can now talk about where I live, order food and describe my likes/dislikes. The vocab and the sentence structures get more complicated with each module so please keep praying!

One of the highlights of my week is getting to hang out with Thai Christians at church and at the slum ministries I visit. They are almost all first generation believers. Meaning, they were the first person in their families to respond to the gospel and exit Buddhism. Each of them faced opposition from parents, friends, and society at large. (And this is a culture that places tremendous priority on family unity and on not "rocking the boat" by making big changes to your life)

Serving and worshiping alongside these believers is truly a joy and a privilege. They evidence a gratitude to God and and a ready obedience that is truly inspiring. For them, Christianity is something fresh and urgent. It is new to them and they desire eagerly to share it with their fellow Thais.

Thais reaching Thais is the dream of every missionary here. It is the ideal that we are striving for. Today, however, there simply are not enough Thai Christians to do the work on their own. That is why I and many others from around the world have come here, but we all pray for the day when our being here will be unnecessary.

Along these lines, please pray that this generation would see the explosion in church growth here that so many have prayed and labored for over the last 150 years. Join me in praying that this generation would see Thailand become a nation that sends out more missionaries than it receives.

City of Life?

Here is a picture that I took a few days ago of the famous Erawan Shrine in downtown Bangkok. The shrine is jammed into the middle of streets, skyscrapers and the monorail system. It was actually funded by the adjacent Hyatt hotel to appease the spirits because too many workers were dying during the hotel's construction.

I think it is ironic that you can read "Bangkok City of Life" on the monorail track and there below are crowds of people praying to a lifeless metal idol. The imagery is very informative about the character of Bangkok and the Thai people. The people wear western clothing, they enjoy most of the same modern conveniences that we do, and they even like many of the same movies and tv shows. My teacher in school today just told us she is watching a whole season of Prison Break on DVD. But below the surface, their worldview and thinking are very much still rooted in ancient eastern beliefs.

Please join with me in praying that God will deliver many out of the darkness of this place into a true city of life. A city where living water flows from the very throne of God and where nothing and no one will receive worship except for Him to whom all is due!

"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him."

-Revelation 22:1-3