Culture Shock!

This week we started with shots and ended with the discussion of culture shock! Although we both knew that our culture is very different from the Thai culture, we realized there was a lot more to it than we thought. For instance, pointing at someone or something in the Thai culture is very offensive; you are not allowed to touch someone on the shoulders or the head; no physical touch between spouses in public; the left hand is unclean; dinner starts around 9; and many other differences that happen on a daily basis. We had lunch with our small group and got to talk with everyone about what we are most nervous about...I think overall learning the language was the biggest. Adressing culture shock was a great end to the week! Now we are in between games for the volleyball tournament this weekend...our team (PacRim) just won in the first round against the Middle America and the Caribbean team... GO PACRIM!!

Let us know what is going on with you!!!

My Testimony

It can only be two minutes..... Hey i am Rob, even when i was a little boy i knew what was wrong and what was right. I knew when my mother told me to do something i could choose whether to do it and obey or disobey and do what I wanted to do. Well as some of you may have guessed I chose the wrong way some of the time, I messed up i didn't obey my parents laws. I started looking at my surroundings and seeing the beautiful mountains and massive amounts of trees and the sky and said this couldn't have just been an accident; you see at a young age i realized that any painting had an artist, any book has an author, any building has an architect, and this world must have a creator. The childrens pastor at our church showed me out of God's holy book, the Bible, that i had broken God's holy law. I had just like adam and eve gone against the one true God and turned my own way. You see in the Garden of Eden the fellowship between God and Man had been broken,we were no longer able to walk talk and have a relationship with God because in God there is no sin. We rejected God, But a man told me that God loved me so much that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for my sin because He(Jesus) was perfect not deserving of death serving as the perfect sacrifice for our sin. John 1:12 says "But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God." Now I am a child of God are you?

Life in Richmond

Hello! Well life in Virginia has not slowed down since we arrived. Last week we learned about Church Doctrine and Church Planting Movements (CPM). On Saturday we were in an ESL class to get certified to teach overseas. We received word that we will be living on the third floor of the community center! That should make getting to work on time easy! This week we are focused on Anthropology and sharing our testimony. We have learned great ways to prepare a two minute testimony on incorporating how and when we became followers of Christ, how we began growing in faith, and then the here and now part. I would encourage everyone to know their story and be able to share it with those around as a witnessing tool. Also something neat we learned is that if someone asks you if you are a Christian, you should respond by asking them, "What do you mean by Christian?" So many people today have a skewed view of what true Christianity means and from that question you can help clarify the true message of the Gospel. Have a great week and keep seeking Him!

The Word

Hey guys! Well we feel so blessed to be here at training and we are both learning so much about God and our walk with Him. I wanted to share with you the way we have been taught to read through Scripture. While this is not the only way to do it, it is a very practical and insightful way to read a passage. With every passage or chapter you read ask and record the following insights:

SPECKA
S: Is there a sin to confess in this passage?
P: Is there a promise to claim in this passage?
E: Is there an example to follow in this passage?
C: Is there a command to obey in this passage?
K: Is there knowledge to observe in this passage?
A: Is there an application for my life?

One of our assignments is to read through a chapter of the book of Acts each day and use this SPECKA method. We would challenge you to do the same and post insight to what the Lord is showing you.

The first Sacrifice Lamb for a Man

Jesus said, " I am the way the truth and the life no man comes to the Father except through me." Let me tell you the story from the beginning.... In Genesis God created man. He created man physically in his body so that he could see, hear, taste, smell, and touch. He also created man "in the image of God" or with a spirit, the bible says that adam and eve walked and talked with God. And lastly he created man with a soul(intellect, emotion, will). God created man to have relationship with God in the Garden of Eden and to be fruitfull and multiply and fill the earth. God also gave one command which was do not eat of one tree in the middle of the garden which was the tree of knowledge of good and evil, or you will surely die. Why did he give man this choice? Love is not love if you not have the choice not to love. God gave dominion over the earth to man and over all the animals, but there was a fallen angel who wanted the dominion for himself and wanted the dominion of the earth, the Prince of this world. Satan, the great deceiver, confronted Eve and said, "You will surely not die, and you will be as God knowing good and evil." Remember before this time man had lived in perfect harmony with God and had dominion of the earth given by God. Eve succumbed to the serpent and so did Adam. At this time the relationship between God and man was cut off. Man's Spirit died. God said that he would surely die what part of Adam died? Not his physical he had many children, not his soul, for he had will and showed emotion. No longer were Adam and Eve free to roam the garden, and now were ashamed of their clothing. Remember no sin can be with God. At this time is the first picture of Christ, where God had to step in for Adam and Eve and to give them clothing he gave them animal skin to cover their nakedness. The first time the thought of sacrifice is shown. Life for a life. The spilling of Blood something unheard of in a perfect Garden of Eden. A LAMB FOR A MAN. Also after this sin Jesus is also prophesied about in Genesis " Man will come from Woman and you (Satan) will bruise his heel and he(Jesus) will crush your head." Jesus calls himself the Son of Man and fullfills this prophecy by suffering on the cross, but being resurrected and conquering death and thus defeating Satan, I will explain further later. Wait for my next post. The story continues