Sunday, I was invited to a wedding reception for one of my Thai friend's friend. After teaching English at church, I went with my friend to the reception. When we arrived I quickly realized my friend was very good friends with the groom. He was the equivalent of the best man in an American wedding reception. He recruited me to greet new comers and lead them to tables for dinner. People poured in in a constant stream for over an hour. I could have become tired of standing so long, but I just kept looking at the bride and groom who stood in the same place for pictures the whole time, and I felt better. Wedding receptions in Thailand are times for the friends and family of the bride and groom to feast, sing, and have a good time. For the bride and groom, it is a three hour photo shoot with everyone attending. After the first hour I sat down with some new friends and feasted on Chinese cuisine for two hours. It was a lot of fun, and I was able to meet some new people.
Some highlights from the reception:
1. All the people there were from Klong Toei. It was a great chance to meet and connect with a lot of Thais in my area of work.
2. I was introduced to the mayor of Klong Toei or Governor of Bangkok. I'm not sure. I was introduced to a guy who acted like he was important. Later I asked who he was, and was told, "He is the head of the government. Not the country government, the city."
3. An interesting dynamic of the reception, which I hope is not a foreshadowing of the marriage though I am scared it will be, was that after most people had left the groom found some friends and drank till he no longer could put a coherent sentence together while the wife counted the money gifts given to them. Interesting how the dynamic starts so early.
Yesterday I had lunch with a pastor of a local international church and a friend starting a project in the Klong Toei slums. We talked some about the Tallia church. I knew that a lot of the people in the church if not all came from backgrounds of excessive drinking and all the vices that are common in the slum. I found out the pastor of the church was actually part of the local mafia before his dad sent him to a Bible College in Korea. He became a Christian there and returned to plant a church. Since he has planted one church and is in the process of planting/training to churches/pastors in the area. The church building was actually bought from the mafia when the church began. This connected some dots in my mind. I have wondered how many of the friends I have been making are in the mafia. I wonder how much I am in the mafia circles now. Because the church is on good terms with the mafia, the pastor and members are friends with a lot of people in the mafia. I don't know the extent of the mafia, but I think it is more of an organization that unofficially runs the area. I know the motorbike drivers are all part of the mafia.
In any case, pray God will shine through me. My faith that God can speak through me in Thai is small. Pray God increases my faith. Pray He speaks even if its not through my mouth in Thai.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Prayer for the Thai Church
I just want to update ya'll about some things I have done and learned this weekend.
First, Please be praying for Nom, the Buddhist lady who helps at kids club. She is curious about Christianity. She has told me she wants to go to church with me. She even offered to take me to her local church which she doesn't go to but would like to. At dinner Saturday night she asked me to pray for the food before we ate, and she has asked me to be praying for her.
Second, Tallia Klong Toei Church is awesome. Koon brought a lot of the kids in the church to kids club Saturday. When he saw we didn't have a whole lot planned he immediately sent some one to get him some candy and began games with the kids. The kids loved it and had a blast. Some more people from the church have told me they would like t help. Its so great.
I am officially the conversational English teacher at Tallia. This past Sunday was great and we had a lot of fun. I learned that Tallia is looking to plant two churches in neighboring slums. Two of the Tallia members are training under the pastor to become the pastors of these church plants. Tallia is praying to be able to start 12 churches. I have been praying the same for them, and I ask you will do the same. They need prayer that God will pour out His Spirit on them, giving them boldness, courage, humility, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. They are trying to start as many social programs out of the church as well. They trust God to use them to show compassion to the people in the community, helping them like Jesus did during his ministry on earth, with the prayer that through them the community would be saved.
Yesterday was a landmine day for my research. As I mentioned before, I interviewed five of our clients last week. Those interviews brought up some interesting aspects of our program. Yesterday all of those things were brought to light and discussed. It was a great jump start to my research which was beginning to bottom out. Please be praying that God will give Timmy and me the right questions and true answers to those questions as we try to understand better where Step Ahead is now and where it should go. We have a lot to do in the next few weeks so please be praying for God to work through us to help direct Step Ahead into the instrument of grace that He intends it to be.
About four weeks ago I noticed one of the girls who goes to kids club had a few deep holes on her ankle and foot. I asked her what the were and she just brushed me off. There was still the evidence of band aids having been used to cover them up. The next week I noticed the wounds were not better, instead flies flew around them. The next week I noticed that the wounds were noticeably worse. I asked Ja who had the most experience with Step Ahead if we could do anything to help. The Thursday before that I had talked in a Bible study about being in a situation like that. We had discussed how we would help in that situation since it was a specific need God was giving to us. I did nothing, because I did not know what to do. She was on my mind all last week. I regretted not doing anything for her. This past Saturday, her foot was much much worse. Her foot had changed colors, the wounds were obviously infected, and she was in pain when she stepped wrong or someone touched her foot. Thankfully God had placed it Mr. Quinley's heart (CEO of Step Ahead) to come to kids club that morning. I told him about the problem and asked him what we could do. At first he was reluctant to help for fear of the prospect of changed community expectations of kids club. I insisted that this was a real problem and that I wanted to help if at possible. He took a chance and helped her. Praise God. She had her foot cleaned and was given antibiotics. When she got back from the clinic she ran up to me and showed me her foot. She was excited she had it cleaned. I ask you too pray for this girl. Pray her foot heals. Pray God heals her physically and spiritually. Pray this act of compassion doesn't compromise Step Ahead's position with kids club. Instead, pray it furthers Step Ahead's witness and works to multiply what they can do in the community.
One final thing I will mention and ask prayer for. Today formal English classes begin with the Step Ahead staff. I have been given a textbook to work through with them and will be teaching from 5-6pm Monday-Friday. I will have to commit 1 hours prep time for each class, which means this is a big time commitment to add to my schedule. Pray God works through this time for them to learn English, me to learn Thai, us to build a deeper friendship, and God to become more evident in our lives. As it is I have committed to attending church services Wednesday-Saturday nights as well as Sunday morning and teaching English at the church Sunday afternoons. I am finding there are often not enough hours in the day to do everything I would like. Pray God will sustain me, strengthen me, work through me, humble me, and give me boldness in truth. Pray God gives me wisdom to know when to say no, and when to say yes. I do not want to be so committed that I am spread thin, giving less than 100% in everything I do. I also do not want to settle for doing anything less than what is divinely possible.
Pray God works in Thailand. Pray He works in America. Pray He works in this world.
We long for the day of our King's return, when we will be joined with our savior, the broken mended, the weak made strong, the abused loved, the curse lifted. In that hope and to that end we strive to seek justice, love the abused, feed the hungry, and lift up the afflicted. We strive to present the world to God upon His return as likened to the world He so desires it to be. In that effort we throw off the things of this world and press on to the surpassing greatness of our King.
First, Please be praying for Nom, the Buddhist lady who helps at kids club. She is curious about Christianity. She has told me she wants to go to church with me. She even offered to take me to her local church which she doesn't go to but would like to. At dinner Saturday night she asked me to pray for the food before we ate, and she has asked me to be praying for her.
Second, Tallia Klong Toei Church is awesome. Koon brought a lot of the kids in the church to kids club Saturday. When he saw we didn't have a whole lot planned he immediately sent some one to get him some candy and began games with the kids. The kids loved it and had a blast. Some more people from the church have told me they would like t help. Its so great.
I am officially the conversational English teacher at Tallia. This past Sunday was great and we had a lot of fun. I learned that Tallia is looking to plant two churches in neighboring slums. Two of the Tallia members are training under the pastor to become the pastors of these church plants. Tallia is praying to be able to start 12 churches. I have been praying the same for them, and I ask you will do the same. They need prayer that God will pour out His Spirit on them, giving them boldness, courage, humility, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. They are trying to start as many social programs out of the church as well. They trust God to use them to show compassion to the people in the community, helping them like Jesus did during his ministry on earth, with the prayer that through them the community would be saved.
Yesterday was a landmine day for my research. As I mentioned before, I interviewed five of our clients last week. Those interviews brought up some interesting aspects of our program. Yesterday all of those things were brought to light and discussed. It was a great jump start to my research which was beginning to bottom out. Please be praying that God will give Timmy and me the right questions and true answers to those questions as we try to understand better where Step Ahead is now and where it should go. We have a lot to do in the next few weeks so please be praying for God to work through us to help direct Step Ahead into the instrument of grace that He intends it to be.
About four weeks ago I noticed one of the girls who goes to kids club had a few deep holes on her ankle and foot. I asked her what the were and she just brushed me off. There was still the evidence of band aids having been used to cover them up. The next week I noticed the wounds were not better, instead flies flew around them. The next week I noticed that the wounds were noticeably worse. I asked Ja who had the most experience with Step Ahead if we could do anything to help. The Thursday before that I had talked in a Bible study about being in a situation like that. We had discussed how we would help in that situation since it was a specific need God was giving to us. I did nothing, because I did not know what to do. She was on my mind all last week. I regretted not doing anything for her. This past Saturday, her foot was much much worse. Her foot had changed colors, the wounds were obviously infected, and she was in pain when she stepped wrong or someone touched her foot. Thankfully God had placed it Mr. Quinley's heart (CEO of Step Ahead) to come to kids club that morning. I told him about the problem and asked him what we could do. At first he was reluctant to help for fear of the prospect of changed community expectations of kids club. I insisted that this was a real problem and that I wanted to help if at possible. He took a chance and helped her. Praise God. She had her foot cleaned and was given antibiotics. When she got back from the clinic she ran up to me and showed me her foot. She was excited she had it cleaned. I ask you too pray for this girl. Pray her foot heals. Pray God heals her physically and spiritually. Pray this act of compassion doesn't compromise Step Ahead's position with kids club. Instead, pray it furthers Step Ahead's witness and works to multiply what they can do in the community.
One final thing I will mention and ask prayer for. Today formal English classes begin with the Step Ahead staff. I have been given a textbook to work through with them and will be teaching from 5-6pm Monday-Friday. I will have to commit 1 hours prep time for each class, which means this is a big time commitment to add to my schedule. Pray God works through this time for them to learn English, me to learn Thai, us to build a deeper friendship, and God to become more evident in our lives. As it is I have committed to attending church services Wednesday-Saturday nights as well as Sunday morning and teaching English at the church Sunday afternoons. I am finding there are often not enough hours in the day to do everything I would like. Pray God will sustain me, strengthen me, work through me, humble me, and give me boldness in truth. Pray God gives me wisdom to know when to say no, and when to say yes. I do not want to be so committed that I am spread thin, giving less than 100% in everything I do. I also do not want to settle for doing anything less than what is divinely possible.
Pray God works in Thailand. Pray He works in America. Pray He works in this world.
We long for the day of our King's return, when we will be joined with our savior, the broken mended, the weak made strong, the abused loved, the curse lifted. In that hope and to that end we strive to seek justice, love the abused, feed the hungry, and lift up the afflicted. We strive to present the world to God upon His return as likened to the world He so desires it to be. In that effort we throw off the things of this world and press on to the surpassing greatness of our King.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Centuries of History
This week has been slow on the MFI scene. I have not been able to do much work with Microfin and Loan Performer because Timmy has been writing a paper for his university. One of the volunteers from Step Ahead Khao Lak came into Bangkok Monday to see the difference between life in the city and the south. I took him around town for dinner Monday and Tuesday night and went with him, Carter, and Coleman, Wednesday, to see some historical parts of Bangkok. We went to the Temple of the Dawn which was the royal temple 1-2 centuries ago, the grand palace which was the last king's palace and know houses the emerald Buddha, and the temple of the reclining Buddha. That's right. The significant historical artifacts in Thai culture all have something to do with Buddha or the king. The Thai flag is red, white, and blue. Each color represents king, country, or religion (Buddhism). I'm not sure which color represents which. In Thailand to become a Christian truly means to give up mother and father, wife and children, and even king, country, and history.
I put some pictures from the Temple of the Dawn and the Grand palace on my flickr. The Temple of the Dawn was really old and looked it. It was the first pyramid I have climbed, though. Pretty cool. The Grand Palace is absolutely spectacular. Just the temple of the emerald Buddha has to be valued at billions of dollars. There is so much gold, jewels, and intricate paintings on everything. The most amazing part, to me, was the continues mural that stretched across the inside of the wall surrounding the palace. The wall is 1900 meters long, and the mural painted on it tells the story of an ancient Thai myth. It is painted with beautiful colors and is very intricate. It even has a lot of things painted in gold! So beautiful. If you haven't been to the Grand Palace (which I assume everyone reading this hasn't) you should (as if it is that easy). I truely am blessed by God.
Tonight, I am going to a party for a friend who is leaving Thailand. Please be praying for him and his family in this time of transition. Pray God would protect him and draw him close to God.
Tomorrow, I will be leading kids club again. Please continue praying for the kids. Pray that God will save them and send His Spirit as a seal on them. It breaks my heart to think of these kids without God.
Please be praying for me. I am struggling with feeling useful. I want so bad to be able to talk with my neighbors and to share with them the good news of Christ, yet when I speak they do not understand what I am saying, because I am not speaking their language. Please pray God uses me. That He will show me how I can be useful and direct my paths to invest in what I can do. To God be the glory. He works amazing miracles daily in my life. Please pray He does the same for those around me.
I put some pictures from the Temple of the Dawn and the Grand palace on my flickr. The Temple of the Dawn was really old and looked it. It was the first pyramid I have climbed, though. Pretty cool. The Grand Palace is absolutely spectacular. Just the temple of the emerald Buddha has to be valued at billions of dollars. There is so much gold, jewels, and intricate paintings on everything. The most amazing part, to me, was the continues mural that stretched across the inside of the wall surrounding the palace. The wall is 1900 meters long, and the mural painted on it tells the story of an ancient Thai myth. It is painted with beautiful colors and is very intricate. It even has a lot of things painted in gold! So beautiful. If you haven't been to the Grand Palace (which I assume everyone reading this hasn't) you should (as if it is that easy). I truely am blessed by God.
Tonight, I am going to a party for a friend who is leaving Thailand. Please be praying for him and his family in this time of transition. Pray God would protect him and draw him close to God.
Tomorrow, I will be leading kids club again. Please continue praying for the kids. Pray that God will save them and send His Spirit as a seal on them. It breaks my heart to think of these kids without God.
Please be praying for me. I am struggling with feeling useful. I want so bad to be able to talk with my neighbors and to share with them the good news of Christ, yet when I speak they do not understand what I am saying, because I am not speaking their language. Please pray God uses me. That He will show me how I can be useful and direct my paths to invest in what I can do. To God be the glory. He works amazing miracles daily in my life. Please pray He does the same for those around me.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Tallia Klong Toei Church
Praise God. God is amazing...That's all there is to say about this weekend. This was probably the best weekend yet in Klong Toei. It started Friday when I was walking by Tallia Klong Toei Church near my house. It was just after lunch and there were three men and a woman working in the church. As I passed by I paused for a few seconds to look in. Koon, an outgoing, comic, Thai who is studying to be a pastor, saw me and ran out to say hi. I have talked with him once before but nothing ever came of it. This time he dragged me into the church excitedly and introduced me to everyone there. We talked for about 10 min, and at the end of our conversation Noi invited me to go to a weekly prayer meeting that night. I was excited to get the opportunity to worship with Thais (Tallia is a Thai church) so I accepted.
Friday night I returned for prayer. 10 others and I sang, prayed, shared praises and prayer requests. One man praised God that his mother was healed from a kidney stone she had. It used to be very big and since the church had prayed for her it has shrunk drastically. Noi asked we pray for the church ministries. Koon has often told me he prays and believes one day God will save all of Klong Toei. He also asked us to pray for freedom. I ask that you join me in praying for these people and their requests before God.
After the meeting Koon, Es, and Bee took me to Lompo (a slum next to Jet Sip Rai where I live). There they showed me a church plant Tallia is starting. Koon is studying the Bible under Tallia's pastor's care in order to be the pastor who starts the church.
After kids club, Ya and Koon invited me to have lunch with them at the church. I was able to take Mr. Quinley (CEO of Step Ahead) with me. Mr. Quinley has been trying to connect with the church to partner with them but has not been able to make a connection with the church. He took my involvement with the church as a chance to connect. I am not sure what God will bring of Tallia and Step Ahead together but it is cool to see Thai churches and international development agencies working together.
That afternoon I went with Koon and one of the pastor's sons to play basketbon and footbon with people in the community. As I understand it this is a regular after work activity for the Tallia staff so as to build relationships with the people in the community. It is cool to see the amazing reputation the Tallia pastors have in the community. Everywhere they go everyone is excited to see them. I was able to meet three Buddhist men who asked me to play on their footbon team and after the games showed m some moves. They invited me to play with them more often. At the time I didn't know they were Buddhist, but I did know they were friends of Koon's. So, I asked if they were Christian. They said no but that we were friends anyway.
Sunday, I went to a Thai church in North Bangkok, because a friend invited me. It was a Thai church founded 22 years ago by American missionaries. Now the church focuses primarily on university ministries. I talked with the Thai pastor who spoke very good English. He asked me if I would like to go with him and a team of 10 short term American missionaries to the universities in the weeks to come to teach English and share the good news of Jesus. He even invited me to go on a retreat they are planing the first weekend in July for the university students. Again huge opportunities. One thing stood out about what he said to me. I asked him about denominations in Thailand. He told me, "Denominations were brought to Thailand by the West they are not Thai. Pentecostal and Baptist work together, unlike in America where denominations don't talk." It is a sad truth: In America there isn't a Christian church there are many denominations. In Thailand there is a sense of the Christian church.
After church in North Bangkok I traveled back to Klong Toei to assist Tallia with there weekly English classes from 2-5 pm. There were some 40 students from Klong Toei there. This is about the size of the church population, and is a huge witness to Christ to the community. I already feel like I could say Tallia is my church home because it is where I can do the work of Christ with my fellow believers. I feel I am actually making a contribution to the community I live in.
After the English classes I went with seven of the church members including the pastor to eat dinner and return back to the church for coffee.
This is a great answer to prayer. I have really wanted to get plugged into Thai churches and in one weekend I have become plugged into a Thai church in North Bangkok and heavily plugged into my local church. God is so good. It is amazing and awesome to see the native church. One of my life questions is what was the church made to look like. After all, the church is the bride of Christ. Christ died for this bride. He rescued her from her filth so she could rise out of it and be clothed in righteousness. And Jesus did not have polygamy in mind when he named the church His bride. He intended her to be one. Paul stresses this over and over in his letters. So I want to discover what it means to have the church live in the light of the living but distant bridegroom, the fallen state of the world, and the unity the church is called to but hasn't achieved. I pray God shows me more everyday I am in the Thai churches and international churches what He desires His bride to be.
Friday night I returned for prayer. 10 others and I sang, prayed, shared praises and prayer requests. One man praised God that his mother was healed from a kidney stone she had. It used to be very big and since the church had prayed for her it has shrunk drastically. Noi asked we pray for the church ministries. Koon has often told me he prays and believes one day God will save all of Klong Toei. He also asked us to pray for freedom. I ask that you join me in praying for these people and their requests before God.
After the meeting Koon, Es, and Bee took me to Lompo (a slum next to Jet Sip Rai where I live). There they showed me a church plant Tallia is starting. Koon is studying the Bible under Tallia's pastor's care in order to be the pastor who starts the church.
After kids club, Ya and Koon invited me to have lunch with them at the church. I was able to take Mr. Quinley (CEO of Step Ahead) with me. Mr. Quinley has been trying to connect with the church to partner with them but has not been able to make a connection with the church. He took my involvement with the church as a chance to connect. I am not sure what God will bring of Tallia and Step Ahead together but it is cool to see Thai churches and international development agencies working together.
That afternoon I went with Koon and one of the pastor's sons to play basketbon and footbon with people in the community. As I understand it this is a regular after work activity for the Tallia staff so as to build relationships with the people in the community. It is cool to see the amazing reputation the Tallia pastors have in the community. Everywhere they go everyone is excited to see them. I was able to meet three Buddhist men who asked me to play on their footbon team and after the games showed m some moves. They invited me to play with them more often. At the time I didn't know they were Buddhist, but I did know they were friends of Koon's. So, I asked if they were Christian. They said no but that we were friends anyway.
Sunday, I went to a Thai church in North Bangkok, because a friend invited me. It was a Thai church founded 22 years ago by American missionaries. Now the church focuses primarily on university ministries. I talked with the Thai pastor who spoke very good English. He asked me if I would like to go with him and a team of 10 short term American missionaries to the universities in the weeks to come to teach English and share the good news of Jesus. He even invited me to go on a retreat they are planing the first weekend in July for the university students. Again huge opportunities. One thing stood out about what he said to me. I asked him about denominations in Thailand. He told me, "Denominations were brought to Thailand by the West they are not Thai. Pentecostal and Baptist work together, unlike in America where denominations don't talk." It is a sad truth: In America there isn't a Christian church there are many denominations. In Thailand there is a sense of the Christian church.
After church in North Bangkok I traveled back to Klong Toei to assist Tallia with there weekly English classes from 2-5 pm. There were some 40 students from Klong Toei there. This is about the size of the church population, and is a huge witness to Christ to the community. I already feel like I could say Tallia is my church home because it is where I can do the work of Christ with my fellow believers. I feel I am actually making a contribution to the community I live in.
After the English classes I went with seven of the church members including the pastor to eat dinner and return back to the church for coffee.
This is a great answer to prayer. I have really wanted to get plugged into Thai churches and in one weekend I have become plugged into a Thai church in North Bangkok and heavily plugged into my local church. God is so good. It is amazing and awesome to see the native church. One of my life questions is what was the church made to look like. After all, the church is the bride of Christ. Christ died for this bride. He rescued her from her filth so she could rise out of it and be clothed in righteousness. And Jesus did not have polygamy in mind when he named the church His bride. He intended her to be one. Paul stresses this over and over in his letters. So I want to discover what it means to have the church live in the light of the living but distant bridegroom, the fallen state of the world, and the unity the church is called to but hasn't achieved. I pray God shows me more everyday I am in the Thai churches and international churches what He desires His bride to be.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
A Week in the Community
I am just getting a chance to look at the results from the poll I conducted. I am sad to see, but not at all surprised, that most people who responded have not been in the poor community they live in for over 3 months. God has convicted me this week as well about this poll. When I posted it I did not think about it applying to me. All I thought was, I am living in the slums of Bangkok. Tuesday, I asked one of the Step Ahead staff what the poorest slum community Step Ahead helps is. Later that day, she pointed out a community located under the expressway, next to one of the most polluted and smelliest streams, living in homes made of scrap tin and plywood. She told me, that is where the poorest people live. Then she asked me a question that really hurt and convicted me. She asked what the slums were like in the US. My first thought was: nothing like this, but then I stopped. As my mind raced for a memory of walking through the poor communities in Albertville or Chattanooga with not success. I am so embarrassed to think, I have not spent time walking through the poor communities in America like I have here. I have not spent time living in the poor communities in America like I have here. I have not spent time budgeting like the poor in America like I have here. I have not spent time getting to know the poor in their neighborhoods in America like I have here. I am as much in need of God's grace in this as anyone else, if not more. I want to ask you to spend time with those living around you who have less than you.
God has directed my reading to Isaiah 58. In it God shares what he loves. He shares what true fasting is. I encourage all to read and meditate on it.
The next poll will seek to better understand how much we know about those around us who have less than we do. Please answer it when you read this blog. It will only take one click. In the week to come I challenge all reading this blog to seek out the poor and marginalized and love them. Seek out the poor described in Isaiah 58, and love them the way Isaiah 58 tells us to. It is them who Jesus came to save.
Now, to the one and only God, maker of heaven and earth, be all glory and honor and praise now and forever more.
God has directed my reading to Isaiah 58. In it God shares what he loves. He shares what true fasting is. I encourage all to read and meditate on it.
The next poll will seek to better understand how much we know about those around us who have less than we do. Please answer it when you read this blog. It will only take one click. In the week to come I challenge all reading this blog to seek out the poor and marginalized and love them. Seek out the poor described in Isaiah 58, and love them the way Isaiah 58 tells us to. It is them who Jesus came to save.
Now, to the one and only God, maker of heaven and earth, be all glory and honor and praise now and forever more.
Monday, June 8, 2009
One Month and Counting
Grace to you Brothers and Sisters, Mothers and Fathers in the faith. Praise Jesus Christ for His grace and love never end.
Last week was a busy week. I started working with Microfin (a business modeling system for microfinance institutions). Over the past three months Timmy has been learning how it works and gathering data about Step Ahead to put in the program. He gave me a copy of what he has done so far and I am helping him gather the data needed for the program to work properly. This program is very important because it will help Step Ahead use their resources efficiently to help the maximum number of people. In the process I am learning a lot about what microfinance can do to assist in helping the poor. Please be praying that God will reveal Himself to the members, save them and sustain them in this life.
Saturday, we had kids club and 30 kids showed up. That is the most I have seen come since I've been going. Since I have been in Bangkok, I have seen the life people live in Klong Toei. They work 6-7 days a week working street businesses for 10-16 hrs a day. They live in small shacks with no air conditioning to escape the 100 degree weather here. This is a hard life but its not impossible. What breaks my heart most is seeing beautiful and elaborate spirit houses in every house and business, incense burning to them all the time, food offerings laid in front of them only to be eaten by the animals, temples and Buddha statues all over the place, people bowing and praying to the Buddhas, and buying flower wreathes to put on the Buddhas and spirit houses. These people are so religious, they just worship gods made by man instead of the one true God. I can't help but wonder how many of these people carry on in this practice, enslaved to their own creation, because they have never been told about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When I am at kids club and play with these kids my heart is excited to laugh and play with the kids, but greatly burdened at the thought of these kids following the footsteps of their parents and grandparents.
I mentioned last time that one of the volunteers with kids club is a Buddhist. After kids club Saturday, I had lunch with her and we talked a lot about God, Jesus, and Christianity. She was asking me a lot of questions. She is curious about Christianity. I recognize I can not save her, only God can change a heart. Please pray that God works through me and the other Christians in this girls life to share with her the truth, and that He would save her. She told me she wants to go to church with me next Sunday. I don't know what God has planned for her, but I pray it includes her salvation.
Sunday, a friend took me to a temple to look around. When we went in, I was shocked to find myself looking at a 40 ft Buddha, gold plated, sitting on a five foot tall decorated podium. It was like I imagined when I read the stories about the Israelite kings who made idols in the temples and the stories of the idols of other countries. I thought of the story of when the ark of the covenant was stolen and put in the temple with an idol. The idol was found the next day broken, laid prostrate before the ark. How I wish something like that would happen here. When a person becomes a Christian here there family disowns them. I met one man who married a Thai girl 30 years ago. She was living in Japan because she had converted to Christianity and her parents started persecuting her. The couple chose to get married in Bangkok but were not able to stay because the ladies parents gave them too much trouble. They just came back for the first time since then. Pray that God would save whole families and give courage to those whose families do not believe.
Tonight I will start teaching English to the Step Ahead staff. Pray for that opportunity. Hopefully through this process I can get to know them more and we can mutually encourage each other in our faith.
Last week was a busy week. I started working with Microfin (a business modeling system for microfinance institutions). Over the past three months Timmy has been learning how it works and gathering data about Step Ahead to put in the program. He gave me a copy of what he has done so far and I am helping him gather the data needed for the program to work properly. This program is very important because it will help Step Ahead use their resources efficiently to help the maximum number of people. In the process I am learning a lot about what microfinance can do to assist in helping the poor. Please be praying that God will reveal Himself to the members, save them and sustain them in this life.
Saturday, we had kids club and 30 kids showed up. That is the most I have seen come since I've been going. Since I have been in Bangkok, I have seen the life people live in Klong Toei. They work 6-7 days a week working street businesses for 10-16 hrs a day. They live in small shacks with no air conditioning to escape the 100 degree weather here. This is a hard life but its not impossible. What breaks my heart most is seeing beautiful and elaborate spirit houses in every house and business, incense burning to them all the time, food offerings laid in front of them only to be eaten by the animals, temples and Buddha statues all over the place, people bowing and praying to the Buddhas, and buying flower wreathes to put on the Buddhas and spirit houses. These people are so religious, they just worship gods made by man instead of the one true God. I can't help but wonder how many of these people carry on in this practice, enslaved to their own creation, because they have never been told about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When I am at kids club and play with these kids my heart is excited to laugh and play with the kids, but greatly burdened at the thought of these kids following the footsteps of their parents and grandparents.
I mentioned last time that one of the volunteers with kids club is a Buddhist. After kids club Saturday, I had lunch with her and we talked a lot about God, Jesus, and Christianity. She was asking me a lot of questions. She is curious about Christianity. I recognize I can not save her, only God can change a heart. Please pray that God works through me and the other Christians in this girls life to share with her the truth, and that He would save her. She told me she wants to go to church with me next Sunday. I don't know what God has planned for her, but I pray it includes her salvation.
Sunday, a friend took me to a temple to look around. When we went in, I was shocked to find myself looking at a 40 ft Buddha, gold plated, sitting on a five foot tall decorated podium. It was like I imagined when I read the stories about the Israelite kings who made idols in the temples and the stories of the idols of other countries. I thought of the story of when the ark of the covenant was stolen and put in the temple with an idol. The idol was found the next day broken, laid prostrate before the ark. How I wish something like that would happen here. When a person becomes a Christian here there family disowns them. I met one man who married a Thai girl 30 years ago. She was living in Japan because she had converted to Christianity and her parents started persecuting her. The couple chose to get married in Bangkok but were not able to stay because the ladies parents gave them too much trouble. They just came back for the first time since then. Pray that God would save whole families and give courage to those whose families do not believe.
Tonight I will start teaching English to the Step Ahead staff. Pray for that opportunity. Hopefully through this process I can get to know them more and we can mutually encourage each other in our faith.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
New Survey
Hey guys, I'm interested. How much do you know about those who are poor where you live. I will be posting surveys in the future which will try to assess that. Hopefully as you fill out the surveys they will cause you to reflect on how much you are doing for the least of these in the Jerusalem God has put you in.
Each survey will be open for one week. At the end of the week the responses will be tallied and the percent of people responding with each answer will be posted. If you are reading this, I expect you to answer the survey question.
May God bless you and continually teach you His truth.
Each survey will be open for one week. At the end of the week the responses will be tallied and the percent of people responding with each answer will be posted. If you are reading this, I expect you to answer the survey question.
May God bless you and continually teach you His truth.
English and Soccer
Thank you all for your prayers. This past week has been busy. I worked in the office M-F researching how Step Ahead runs its microfinance institution. I am still trying to get a firm understanding of how Step Ahead operates. Friday night I went with the staff to a sales pitch in a new community. I was the honorary picture taker/take down crew at the end of the night. This freed up one of their staff to help future clients sign up. Step Ahead's mission is bigger than just offering financial services to the poor. As early as the sales pitch of their products, Step Ahead seeks to encourage the poor to take responsibility for improving their circumstances while offering to help them in the process. During the sales pitch they encouraged the woman who attended to keep their husbands from drinking all the time, and explained how if their husbands did stop their husbands could help their families out of this situation.
Tuesday I went with the Step Ahead staff to a noodle shop that is the equivalent of Kristals in the US. If you can eat 20 bowls of noodles you get a free Pepsi (Wes-I thought of you. I wondered if you would intentionally stop at 19). Wednesday and Thursday nights I helped the Crown College team teach English to about 35 kids. I put some pictures from it and the soccer clinic on flickr. Wednesday night after the English I went with the staff to a Chinese restaurant where we celebrated something for about everyone. Thai love to celebrate and Wednesday night was no exception. Thursday night I attended an English Bible study with nine guys in their 20s. We studied the story of the men who lowers a paralyzed man to Jesus for healing. We prayed God would humble us and use us to be stretcher bearers for those in need here. Friday night I went to that pitch in the community.
Saturday, I ran the soccer clinic. It came together very well. We had 93 kids show up from age 6 to 16. It was really exciting because the leader of the park we used came up to us both Friday and Saturday to thank us for doing the clinic and asked us to do it on a regular bases. The Lord is opening doors for Step Ahead to step in and start a soccer league. Many people have come to me volunteering to help in the future which is a huge answer to prayer. Pray that God would send people who would be committed to the ministry and who will take advantage of the teachable moments they are almost assured to have with the kids during the soccer practices.
Please be praying that God uses the kids club and soccer clinics as a means for His healing hand to heal the blind eyes of these youth. Greater thing are yet to come. Greater things have yet to be done in this city. Please pray for me to see what my role is in that process while I'm here. God is good and worthy of praise. My prayer is that Thailand would see that. Also, I had lunch today with a lady who is going to help at kids clubs this summer and discovered she is more of a Buddhist then a Christian. Pray the Lord claims her for his kingdom sooner than later, since she will be a person of influence in the lives of the kids at our kids club.
Tuesday I went with the Step Ahead staff to a noodle shop that is the equivalent of Kristals in the US. If you can eat 20 bowls of noodles you get a free Pepsi (Wes-I thought of you. I wondered if you would intentionally stop at 19). Wednesday and Thursday nights I helped the Crown College team teach English to about 35 kids. I put some pictures from it and the soccer clinic on flickr. Wednesday night after the English I went with the staff to a Chinese restaurant where we celebrated something for about everyone. Thai love to celebrate and Wednesday night was no exception. Thursday night I attended an English Bible study with nine guys in their 20s. We studied the story of the men who lowers a paralyzed man to Jesus for healing. We prayed God would humble us and use us to be stretcher bearers for those in need here. Friday night I went to that pitch in the community.
Saturday, I ran the soccer clinic. It came together very well. We had 93 kids show up from age 6 to 16. It was really exciting because the leader of the park we used came up to us both Friday and Saturday to thank us for doing the clinic and asked us to do it on a regular bases. The Lord is opening doors for Step Ahead to step in and start a soccer league. Many people have come to me volunteering to help in the future which is a huge answer to prayer. Pray that God would send people who would be committed to the ministry and who will take advantage of the teachable moments they are almost assured to have with the kids during the soccer practices.
Please be praying that God uses the kids club and soccer clinics as a means for His healing hand to heal the blind eyes of these youth. Greater thing are yet to come. Greater things have yet to be done in this city. Please pray for me to see what my role is in that process while I'm here. God is good and worthy of praise. My prayer is that Thailand would see that. Also, I had lunch today with a lady who is going to help at kids clubs this summer and discovered she is more of a Buddhist then a Christian. Pray the Lord claims her for his kingdom sooner than later, since she will be a person of influence in the lives of the kids at our kids club.
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