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.