God is at work

Some really exciting and encouraging stuff has been going on the last few weeks, and I want to provide a summary survey of all that our God is doing over here.

The young leaders group that was initially created for preparing Eddy to go into the military said goodbye to our friend earlier this month. We had a powerful and emotional time of worship, and each person encouraged Eddy with a piece of Scripture. I previously mentioned his brother Note (pictured to the right of Eddy). Note has not shown up to church or the group since Eddy left. Please keep praying for him.



One of the goals we have for the young leaders group going forward is to make it intentionally evangelistic. We have asked the guys to be praying for a lost friend and consider bringing them along. One young Christian named Pai (pictured below) has been doing just that since our first meeting.



Pai is a university student and he brought a classmate friend of his named Jeng (pictured below at the first meeting with me) Jeng was not there every week, but he did show up again for our goodbye to Eddy. It apparently impacted him very deeply because he told Pai he wants to be with us every time we meet from now on!



To Pai's amazement, Jeng agreed to come to church with him this past Sunday. We were all very excited to see him there. And he did not just come to the service. He did the full rounds going with us to the slums in the afternoon also. He had a great time helping out with the children.



Jeng had such a good time he wants to come again next week, and he said he is going to invite other non-believing friends! I ask your prayers for him. At the young mens group this week (Thursday), I am going to teach on the core elements of the gospel. Please pray that Jeng and Note will both be there, and that God will open their hearts to understand and believe.

Pictured below is an Indian man named Bobbie. He showed up at our church about 3 weeks ago becuase he was told there was someone there who could help him find work. Bobbie has been in Thailand five years, and he came here from Punjab, India. He grew up as a Sikh, but he decided to change to Christianity in Thailand.



I had the opportunity to meet with Bobbie several times over the last couple weeks and teach him the fundamentals of Christianity. After I explained the gospel, he said he had never heard it before. I explained grace, and that salvation is a gift we receive and that cannot be earned. He was so excited and relieved to hear that, and he stated firmly that he believed and would follow Jesus. Yesterday he started his new job. Please pray that he would continue faithful to his confession and growing in the knowledge of God.


God is also at work at the church right now among the radio listeners and English students. The church's community radio is having a major impact. This Sunday they baptized the second person who came to the church becuase of the radio. The first person was one of my English students. Also this Sunday, three of my English students came to the worship service before class! very cool!

Next month, December 6th, the church is hosting a big outreach event for the radio listener community. A number of church members will share their testimony, and there will be lots of yummy food. Pray for a big turnout of people, and that God continue drawing people to Himself through this event and all the various ministries of the church.

Back from the Jungle

This last week I went out to Ganchanaburi province for a church retreat for 3 days. This was a retreat for the group that works in the slums and a few others to get out of the city, fellowship, study God's word, and plan for the future.

We stayed in cabins in a national park. The setting was a gorgeous rainforest up in the hills of western Thailand. There was a stream that flowed through the middle of our camp and served as a very soothing background track to our time together.



Of course, the young'ens were more interested in getting wet than enjoying the aesthetic value of the stream. I think they were soaking wet the whole time.



There were all kinds of strange flowers, bugs, animals around our campsite. This flower had what looked like pieces of corn in it.



Here's a picture that you can't take in Bangkok...



The stream flows out of a cave that is just a few yards from our camp site. And the cave is full of bats. This might unnerve some people, but bats eat mosquitoes and mosquitoes eat me so therefore bats are my natural allies.



The cave is hard to picture, but it had a huge main cavern with some gigantic formations.



Here I was lucky to catch a photo of two wild monkeys. Ting and soon to be soldier Eddie goofing around.



A group shot of all those in attendance. Last year we had about 15 people and this year it was more like 30. There are some amazing servants of Christ in this group, and there are some young people that I know God is going to do incredible things through.



Ting and Sanit's parents joined us for the retreat. They live in Isaan (Northeast Thailand), but they are in the city for 2 weeks and therefore joined us. Sanit, was the first Christian in her family and becuase of her witness her whole family is now trusting in Jesus. Praise the Lord!



The province that we went to is the location of the famous Bridge on the River Kwai and the war museum that commemorates the servicemen who died there. Here is Tangk, Ikey, Boy, and John on the bridge.



This was a really cool stop for me becuase I had been here before. 15 years ago! when I participated in an international summer camp called CISV. Here is present day Greg at the bridge...



And here is me at the same spot 15 years ago....



I NEVER imagined at that time I would ever have any reason to come back to Thailand. But God's hand was all over my being there then and being back here now.


This is a shot of the cemetery for the thousands of servicemen that died as POW's under the Japanese army while building the Thailand-Burma railway. The vast majority are Australians, followed by New Zealanders, Dutch, French and British.



For the US servicemen that perished there is only a commemorative plaque.




And after experiencing all the wonder and beauty of God's creation out in the country we got back to Bangkok.

Eddie & Note

One of the highlights for me the last few weeks has been the young mens Bible study group that we have been doing at Terry's condo. The guys have really responded positively and we have heard a lot of encouraging things from them.



The group was started to encourage and prepare Eddie as he is about to enter the military for two years.



That is Eddie on the far left in the above picture. The guy sitting to his right is his brother Note. Note is not a Christian and has actually been pressuring Eddie to come back to Buddhism. Note has come to the study twice, and he seems to really enjoy the fellowship there. Amazingly, Note came to church with Eddie yesterday and spent the whole day with us. He helped us out with the kids at the slum, and then he went with us to sing and preach at a local fair.



Pictured above are Note and Eddie playing a game with the kids where they try to identify a mystery substance in the box.

I ask your prayers for both of these guys. Pray that God would be preparing Eddie to stand strong as a witness for Christ in the military, and pray that God would open Note's heart to faith in Christ.

the week in review

Well this was a truly an exceptional week. It was just about as busy as it could be. On Tuesday, I taught a Bible lesson for the church's school staff. Imagine my shock and surprise when I was told by Ahjan Vee that I would do the whole thing in Thai. He helped me when I got stuck on a few words but for the most part I was able to get through it. I taught about Ephesians 6 and putting on the armor of God each day and compared that to fighting against the H1N1 flu and the precautions we all take for that. They were all very nice and said they understood me just fine, but I was terrified.

After that, Ahjan Vee and I went out into 2 of the slums near the church where they have ministry currently underway. Next week, he and I are going to start canvassing new slum areas that they have never been into before. We are really praying right now about ways to reach out to young men and adults. Please keep that in your prayers!

On Wednesday night I had the great joy of having dinner with Terry (Big-C), Son, Ting, and Eddie at Terry's condo. This was a warmup gathering for a new Bible study we are starting this week at Terry's place. Eddie (who is pictured in the middle between Son on the left and Ting on the right) was drafted into the military a few months ago.

He reports in November, and will have to serve for the next 2 years. So Terry had the idea to get some of the young men together to encourage Eddie and study about the Bible's definition of being a man of integrity. Pray for this gathering over the next 7 weeks and pray for Eddie to stand steadfast in Christ as he serves out his time in what will be a very difficult environment for a Christian.

On Friday, I had another banner day. I told you about the radio station the church had started. Well, I was interviewed (in Thai) on the radio for almost 30 minutes by DJ Tony. We were inviting more people in the community to come study English. The highlight was when a caller called into the show and asked me "Do you like Thai ladies?" I said something about them being very nice and that both women and men were welcome to come study English. whew

On Friday night, there are two worship/Bible study sessions. This Friday it just so happened I ended up teaching both of them becuase Ahjan Winit was not well. I taught on church planting and people groups in the first session and Matthew 2 in the second.

And then of course there is Sunday. This Sunday I taught Sunday school and covered 1 Samuel 4-6 about the incredible journey of the Ark in Philistine hands. And then the usual Sunday schedule of teaching English at church and at the slum. Also, I got another dramatic role in the childrens Bible story. I played the part of the fish in the Jonah story. To my great relief, the fish never talks : )

Another great Sunday

Sunday was another busy and blessed day. I had the wonderful opportunity again to share at Immanuel Baptist in the early morning service. I preached on Psalm 22 and the parallels with the crucifixion. I talked about how Jesus had to be separated at that moment from the Father in order to receive the punishment for our sins. (that is Pastor Winit translating)



I found out last week that the church has a new outreach going. A few weeks ago they started a Christian community radio station. Recently, they began to advertise free English classes at the church. The response has been huge. So, after the main service I teach English for one hour at the church. Yesterday we had around 20 people come. We will be inviting the students to come earlier and check out the church service and have lunch with us.

After that, I travel with the group down to the Baring community. I was informed on the way down that I would play the role of King Solomon in a drama for the kids. I am not sure that I got my lines quite right, but I think they got the point.

The team then played games with the kids while I taught an English lesson for the adults. One of the games they do involves the kids eating a bunch of foods and then blowing into a plate full of flour. It makes for good fun and good pics.



Son and Ting did a magic show for the kids. Their big finale was Ting said he would pull a rabbit out of his hat. What he pulled out was a notecard with the word "rabbit" written on it.



Finally, here is shot of all the kids from yesterday.

Chapter Two Begins

I landed safely and on time back in Bangkok last night. I was very happy to see my friends Ahjan Vee and Big C (See post from 1/23/09) there to welcome me back and drive me home.

I was really looking forward to seeing my bed, but see it I could not because my power had been disconnected! Turns out I missed my electric bill deadline by a day. Luckily the doorman was able to round up one of the utility guys to flip my power back on just in time for an air conditioned and deeply satisfying rest. (I don't sleep on planes for those who don't know)

I had a wonderful time back home getting to see almost all of my family and many of my friends. I was very encouraged by how many of you said you are reading this blog and praying for me. THANK YOU!

Some of the things I did while I was home: drove a car, ate a steak, caught a fish, saw a braves game, saw the stars (in the sky not in Dallas), ate a Krystal, played darts, listened to country, watched cable, worshiped in English, and made a few pars.

It was a fun and refreshing time, and I am grateful to God that everything went smoothly with travels and with my transition from PIONEERS to being an independent missionary. Thus begins the second chapter of my life and work in Thailand. In the next post I will offer some possibilities about what I may be doing with myself in the coming months. But for now I am exhausted. My body has been telling me to go to sleep since 2pm and I made it this long!

good night

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