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

Language School: week 1

I have just finished my first week at Thai language school. I am exceedingly glad to start formally learning the language. My class is made up of people from Germany, Korea, Denmark and China. Most of them are learning Thai for business related reasons. The teacher is very high energy and keeps things fast and fun. I am in class every morning from 8am-noon. The course is composed of six month long modules. After that, they offer specialized modules that introduce vocabulary for things like Thai culture and social issues. I will likely take a few of these also when I finish the foundational set.

All in all, it was a very good start to learning the Thai language. Please ask God to help me stay rested and focused throughout these next few months. God bless!

Video Tour of Neighborhood

Here's a brief collection of shots showing off my living quarters and the area around my apartment building. Enjoy!

Settling in

I did finally make it to Bangkok. My travel arrangements were altered such that I ended up on the LA to Bangkok flight. It was only 17.5 hours long, but I am grateful that it got me where I was going. I moved into my apartment on Monday.

Here is a shot of the first sunrise from my room on Tuesday morning.

I am living in a very busy neighborhood with lots of people, shopping and food stalls of various kinds. I have spent most of my time thus far just walking back and forth to the large shopping center getting various things for my room. I have also been sampling some of the interesting eating options around my place.


Today we went up to the city proper to enroll me in language school. I will start my classes in Thai on September 16th. Please make language learning a top priority in your prayers. Thai is very difficult, and laying a solid foundation in the language will pay huge dividends in ministry down the road.

I mentioned the political situation in the previous post. It is not affecting most of the city or country. All the events are taking place in a small part of Bangkok. Do not be alarmed if you hear about Thailand declaring a state of emergency on the news.

Be looking in the next few days for a video that I am going to put together and post showcasing my neighborhood. Until then.

On the Road

I am now on the way to my new home. There have been some travel obstacles already, but it looks like I will be setting down in Bangkok around Sunday evening (EST). I had a truly wonderful summer at home in Tennessee. We had the whole Brown family at home for almost the entire summer, and so I am very grateful to God for all the time I got to spend with them. On top of that, I was able to see the Braves, hike the Smokies and eat numerous Krystals. What more could you want?

I want to alert you to a new prayer request. There has been some political instability in Thailand for a few days, and it is not clear what the result of it will be. You can read about the most recent developments here: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/

Please ask God to guide the leadership towards a peaceful resolution of this matter.

Double Praise!

I am very glad to report that I received my passport back from the consulate this week and they did issue me a 1 year visa! This was a huge answer to prayer. A lot of things happened at just the right time to make this possible so I give all the credit to God. Thank you for joining me in praying for this.

That was not the only prayer answered this week. Many of you know that I have been trying to sell my car for a few weeks. Unfortunately, it was a big old gas guzzlin SUV, and to say that there was little interest would be an understatement. But our God loves to respond when the deck is stacked against Him and He found a buyer for my car. Praise God!!

"...nothing is impossible with God." Luke1:37

Ticket Booked! Visa prayers...

I have officially booked my travel for Thailand. I will be leaving on August 30th. The language school I will attend starts in mid-September so I will have 2 weeks to settle in and get acclimated before the start of classes.

There is only one thing that still needs to be addressed before I can leave, my visa. There are a number of different types of visas for various lengths of time, but I want to get a non-immigrant one year multiple entry visa. The granting of these visas is totally at the discretion of the consulate staff. I will be sending the paperwork (along with my passport) to the consulate in Atlanta next week. Please pray that the staff there would grant me this 1 year visa and that all the paperwork will get to Atlanta and back safely.

Thank you!

Summer Update

Things have been somewhat slow since I returned from Bangkok, but I did take a very important step this past week. For the whole week, I was at Pioneers' headquarters in Orlando for our final pre-departure training session. We met with counselors that helped us understand how our unique personality types will best function on a team. We studied strategies for planting churches, and we covered a lot of the administrative details about finances and living in another country.

What I most enjoyed during the week was getting to know all the people there who were getting ready to head out into the mission field just like myself. There were people going to India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kenya, Chad, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, China, Israel, Russia, and a few other places. I loved swapping stories about how God led each of us to these places and how He has provided incredibly to make it all possible. It was a great reminder of God's love and concern for ALL people. What a privilege to be among those whom God has recruited and equipped to spread His fame around the world!

"Sing to the LORD, all the earth;
proclaim his salvation day after day.

Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens."

-1 Chronicles 16:23-26

Big city, big needs

I had the really cool opportunity the other night to dine at the top of Thailand's tallest building. The Malones have been volunteering in a slum ministry with some Thai Christians. The Thais wanted to show their gratitude by taking them to the Baiyoke Sky Tower for dinner. (I got to tag along!)

84 floors up in the air we walked around the building and took in the immensity of greater Bangkok. There are 10 million people living in the city. 1 million of them live in slums. 2 million of them make their living from the sex industry, and almost 99% of them do not have a saving relationship with the Lord.

The needs here are too big for me to handle, but that reminds me to rest in the sovereignty of God. He will accomplish his perfect and glorious purpose for this place. I only have to be faithful in doing my part were He places me.

I thank God that He has confirmed in my heart that this is the place where He wants me to serve, and I thank Him for the encouragement and support that He has brought to me through each of you. Please continue to pray for me and especially for the Thai people.

I will be in transit back to the states tomorrow night (which is Sunday afternoon for you). I ask your prayers for safe travel home. Thank you!

Contrasts...misery...hope

I have seen a bit more of the city now, and I am beginning to understand that Bangkok is a city of sharp contrasts. There are hotels and shopping areas that rival anything 5th avenue and Beverly Hills has to offer. Then, just around the corner you might find a dilapidated slum comunity. There is tremendous wealth here and also tremendous poverty.

I have been able to visit a few different slum communities now. They are smelly, cramped, and generally unpleasant. Drug use and prostituion are major problems. There are small children who have been abandoned by their parents and left in the care of infirm relatives. One old woman said that she had to take in her grandaughter because her parents "threw her away."

Although they are mired in physical and spiritual darkness, God has not forgotten these people. There are small rays of hope and truth piercing into these areas. We met a blind man named Char-lee that is living in one of the slums. It has about 10,000 people, and he is the only Christian. He lost his sight in a fight as a teenager. Since then, he came to Christ, and the people of his slum say the change in him has been incredible. He teaches about Jesus to the orphaned children and any who will listen.

When he needs to go somewhere, the children gather around him and serve as his eyes. He loves the Lord, and he desires for all of his people to know Jesus like he does.

I hope you will be as blessed as I was by seeing this man's smiling face. My prayer for myself and all of us is that we might know a fraction of the joy that Char-lee has in in his relationship with God.

Things I saw this morning...

Good morning from the other side of the world! Thanks all for your prayers while I was traveling. Everything went great, and I am safe and sound here in the Malone's home in Bangkok.

I wanted to briefly share what it's like to step outside and grab a coffee in the city. The first thing I noticed before even leaving the apartment parking lot was a large Buddha shrine. Many of the people on their way to work and school were stopping to place an offering on the shrine and say a prayer. You can see some coconut juice and bananas in the foreground.

I had not walked much further when I saw a pair of monks doing their morning rounds. The monks are supposed to live off of the food offerings they collect from the people each morning. The people kneeling in the picture had just given some food items to the monks. Giving food to monks is one of the ways that Buddhists believe they can gain merit. If they can earn enough merit (good works) they escape the cycle of reincarnation and slip into eternal nothingness (nirvana). Pray that these people will one day know the grace of our Lord Jesus which is given freely and impossible to earn.

The last thing I noticed before completing my 60 second walk to the coffee stand was a group of laborers waking from their sleep at a construction site. Phil tells me they are mostly Burmese illegal aliens. The construction companies pay them next to nothing, and that is about all they have from the looks of it. It is expected that the number of Burmese illegals will jump tremendously following the cyclone. Pray that the church here will sieze on this opportunity to reach out to the Burmese people with love and truth.

I did finally get my coffee, and it was delicious.

Graduation Day!

Today, I walked the stage at Dallas Seminary graduation and accepted my diploma. God is good! This would not have been possible without the love, encouragement and prayer of my friends and family. Thank you all for the different ways you have impacted me and entered into my life.

This weekend was a celebratory time, but it was also about facing the weight of responsibility that comes with having been given such a wonderful endowment of truth. I have been eagerly looking forward to moving overseas and sharing the wonderful news of Jesus. To that end, I am leaving in just a few hours for my survey trip to Bangkok. (see earlier post if that is news) Please be in prayer as I am traveling for almost 24 hours straight and pray for the Spirit's clear leading as I seek his direction for the future while in Thailand.

For those of you in Dallas who I did not see before leaving. It has really been a privilege to serve with you, learn with you, worship with you, and just have fun. Please keep me in the loop on what God is doing in your lives!

Tennessee, I'll be there in two weeks.

(Check back in the next few days. I hope to make some postings while in Bangkok.)

Part 2: Thailand Calling

In my last post, I discussed the roots of my interest in missions and my first trip to Thailand. Now, I will explain how I ended up choosing to serve there long term.

When I graduated from school, I ended up heading to Wisconsin for work. In Madison, I found a really good church and I got back into regular reading of Scripture. It was an incredible time of growth for me spiritually. I began pray about God’s plan for my life, and I eventually came to the point where I felt convinced that I was going to be a missionary. At the time, I had no idea how to become a missionary. I had never heard of Pioneers or any missions agency, but I knew that I needed to know the Bible better before I moved anywhere. So, I told my boss that I was going to seminary, and a few weeks later my business career was over.

Before starting DTS in the fall of ’05, I decided that it would be good for me to take a missions trip over the summer. I was really interested in working with Muslims and so I applied to an agency called Frontiers that specializes in Muslims. I told them that I was willing to go anywhere in the world and for the whole summer. Imagine my surprise when they called to tell me that I had been accepted on a trip to…Thailand. I didn’t even think there were Muslims in Thailand. As it happens, there is a Muslim people group there of about 4 million people.

Well, I can hardly do justice to the experience that I had on that trip. We worked with a long term missionary teaching English to Muslim and Buddhist students. While the focus of the work was on reaching Muslims, I felt myself drawn more to the Thai Buddhists. When we left, I never dreamed I would go back. I wanted to go to Central Asia or the Middle East and work in a more typically Muslim country.

While studying in seminary, I developed some very strong convictions about the approach I wanted to take with my ministry. I decided that working in a city and working among the poor were both very biblical and very strategic emphases to have. I wanted to plant churches among the urban poor and train them to go back to their home countries and villages and plant churches on their own.

After joining Pioneers, I took a survey trip to Turkey. I was interested in Turkey because of the desperate need for a Christian witness in that land. However, after much prayer, I decided that the type of ministry that God had put on my heart was not a match for Turkey. In order to work there today, one has to operate as a businessperson and evangelize very carefully.

As I stepped back from my narrow focus on Muslims to consider the bigger picture, I felt like God had been pointing me towards Thailand from the beginning. I had already been there twice without ever really choosing to go there. I had a wonderful experience with the people both times, and although Thailand has long been open to missionary activity, the church has not firmly taken root among the Thai as of yet. Also, I have come to believe that God has prepared Thailand as a strategic launching pad for ministry in Southeast Asia. Of all the bordering countries (Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia), Thailand is the only one that is wide open for missionaries. And people from all these countries can be found in the big cities of Thailand, especially Bangkok. Finally, Bangkok is full of slums. Some estimate that as many as 1 million people live in the city’s slums.

I had been praying about working in a large city with lots of poverty that could serve a strategic purpose regionally, and it took me all this time to figure out that it was a place I had already been when I was 13 years old.

Thailand 1994: Experiencing the Need

Everyone wants to know why I chose Thailand of all places. The easy answer is that God chose it for me. The real question is how did I come to discover that...

My first trip to Thailand was not a missionary trip. Rather, it was for a one month summer camp. I was part of an outfit called CISV that brought teens from 6 countries around the world to live and camp together in Thailand. I had no idea where Thailand was. I simply agreed to do it because my best friend at the time was already part of the group.

(Check out the pictures from the '94 trip that I scanned. You can find them by scrolling down on the right side. Click on them to go to the album)

The experience was incredible. I got to see wild monkeys, hike in rainforest and eat shark soup. The trip was definitely an exhilarating experience for a 13 year old. However, I was also very unsettled by what I was seeing. The family that hosted us for a few days in Bangkok had a shrine in their home with a Buddha statue. Everywhere we went there were spirit houses on the street corners to keep the spirits from coming into the homes. Large Buddhist shrines and temples with throngs of people were also a regular sight. I didn't understand what it all meant, but I knew it was not Christian and that these people did not know Jesus like I did.

The timing of my trip to Thailand was truly providential. I had just begun to really dig into the Bible on my own, and I was beginning to ask theological questions like 'what happens to those who have never heard the gospel?' The reality and significance of such questions hit home in a big way during my time over there. When I returned home, my perspective on missions and evangelism was changed. I realized that Jesus' command to reach the nations was not largely finished, rather, it was largely unfinished.

That was the beginning of my desire to be a part of spreading the good news to the nations. I didn't know how it would take shape, but I told God that I understood the importance of that task and that I wanted to play a role. I didn't share this with anyone, and I really didn't do anything proactive in this regard. I simply opened myself to the possibility of being used by God at the time and place of his choosing.

Then I went through high school.
Then I went through college.
Then I got a job.
Then, God came calling...

In the next post I will discuss my 2005 trip to Thailand and how it ended up being the country where I am going to serve long term.

What is a church plant?

Many people look at me quizzically when I use phrases like church planting and church planting movements. Let me try and clear up some of the confusion. My goal in ministry is to start new churches. This has nothing to do with building a physical building. The churches I will be planting are gatherings of Christians in homes and open spaces in order to study the Bible and worship God.

I have added a video to help give you an idea of what I will be working towards. This is a church in a Bangkok slum that was planted by another ministry organization. Take a look:

These outdoor and house churches are excellent for many reasons. They can be started with little to no money. This means that they can spread much more quickly. Also, the atmosphere of these gatherings really mirrors the close fellowship of early Christian gatherings.

Initially, the missionaries do most of the evangelizing, discipleship, and teaching. However, the goal is to get the new believers involved in these activities as quickly as possible. No matter how long I am there, they will always know the language and culture better than me. When the nationals get active in evangelism then that is when things can really takeoff. If everyone shares the gospel with their friends and family then you get exponential church growth.

So when you think of church planting, I hope that the first thing you think of is not a building. Rather, think about the simple and vibrant gathering of believers to worship the one who saved them.

Bangkok Survey Trip Booked

This is very exciting news!
My desire for ministry in Thailand is to work in the slum areas of Bangkok. Until recently, there was no one else in Pioneers that shared the same vision. So, I was going to join a temporary team in the north for language study. Imagine my joy to learn that there was an Australian couple recruiting people to create a team that will plant churches in the slums of Bangkok.

I have been able to speak with them, and we both decided that the next step was for me to visit them in Bangkok. It is customary in Pioneers and many agencies for potential team members to visit the field and allow each party to get to know one another before making any decisions. So, I am now going to be spending 2 weeks in Bangkok after I graduate from May 11-26.

Please keep this exciting opportunity in prayer. Pray that God will give me and the family a clear sense of direction as to whether or not we should partner together.