Monday, April 6, 2009
BIRTHDAY BOY!
ROB'S BIRTHDAY WAS THIS PAST WEEK AND IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!! WE WENT TO THE ZOO/AQUARIUM AND IT WAS QUITE AN EXPERIENCE. RATHER THAN HAVE THE ANIMALS IN CAGES THEY HAD SOME WALKING AROUND TO WHERE YOU COULD FEED THEM!! THE FENCE FOR THE GIRAFFE'S WAS ABOUT WAIST HIGH AND ONE OF THEM BENT DOWN ALL THE WAY TO ROB AS IF HE WAS BEGGING HIM TO FEED HIM; IT WAS HILARIOUS! YOU CAN EVEN FEED THE TIGERS, LEOPARDS, AND JAGUARS MEAT THROUGH THE FENCE. A LIABILITY MAYBE??? ANYWAYS, WE HAD A BLAST AND WANTED TO SHARE SOME PICS!!!
Friday, March 13, 2009
A Cow in the Street
So this morning we got up at 5:45 am to watch the Bedlam basketball game. Go Pokes! We watched the game at our boss's house and had pancakes. On our way home the car in front of us slammed on their brakes and swerved. To our suprise it was a huge cow slowly walking down the middle of the highway...no big deal! It was crazy and we laughed hysterically for about five minutes. Just another day in Thailand!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES!
So we experienced our first movie here in Thailand...it was great and definitely memorable. The movie theatre was located on the 5th level of a mall near our house. We went to see Valkyrie because it was in English with Thai subtitles. We bought our tickets (they were equivalent to about $2) and then we had to pick our seats. They put a chart in front of you and you literally pick your seat while you are in line to buy the tickets...it is hilarious. We passed on the popcorn since it had not butter. When we asked if they had butter they looked at us like we were crazy. The only way we knew what theater to go to was because they were trying to hold a poster of Valkyrie up over a Bolt poster...it was pretty funny to watch. After the previews everyone stands as the national anthem and a tribute to the King is played. Then it was movie time...only because it is extremely rude to show your feet you couldn't relax and put them on the seat in front of you. After the movie we walked out into a 5 story mall that was dark and no one in it. Honestly it was a bit creepy...but it was absolutely so fun and we were so thankful to see a movie in English!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
DAILY LIFE IN CHIANG MAI
Well we are in our fourth week here in Chiang Mai and it is starting to feel like home! Every morning we wake up and have language from 10-12pm. It is really fun being able to learn a new language but I can't even begin to describe how exhausting it is!! My mind just hurts after two hours of Thai...but the neat thing is that we are able to communicate with Thai people on some level. We normally eat lunch on the side of the road somewhere for about one or two dollars. Most of the time it is delicious, although last week we had a really questionable meal. Every afternoon we have meetings, ministry projects to work on, or language study. On Wednesday afternoon/evenings we do a homework help for college students and Friday we have a party we call "Fantastic Friday." Starting this Saturday we are leading a team back to Mae Wang to start storying with them. We can't wait! Okay so everything here takes 2-3 times longer than in the states. Driving is ridiculous...lines are a suggestion and red lights mean absolutely nothing!! Oh and the crazy thing is that you can park on the highways...when you feel like it just pull over and take up an entire lane! We feel like we are playing Mario Kart on the Wii when we drive here...it is pretty fun. We are attaching some pics of our home so you can see how great it is...it is like living in a loft in a big city. Thank you for all your support...we are hoping to post short stories every few days from now on. Talk to you soon!
This is our living room and kitchen all in one!
Another view of our hang out area
Our hallway
Our bathroom with hot water and a toilet!
Our closets
My cute vanity from the market!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Life in Mae Wang
Our life in Mae Wang has been a blessing in every way. We feel at home and comfortable here doing God’s work among the Lanna people. We feel as if it was an experience that we will never forget. A short excerpt from my journal day 16 “We anticipate the Lord’s work among these people. We know that His will, will be done in this place. Your face shine down like the stars so bright with so much light. Sing a new song in this place, sing with joy and happiness people of Mae Wang. For our God is the one and we will worship Him at all times, in the morning, at night Your name be praised. May it echo in the streets of this village. May the rocks cry out and sing your praise oh God if the people will not. May they see your majesty oh God.” That is our prayer for this village.
We have been preparing for this time in the village for about 6 months now and I feel that the Lord has used my life up to this point for preparation to do his work. I had very low expectations going in to our time here. I told myself that whatever it is it would be working for the Lord and not for myself or my own comforts. The food, the living conditions, the people, the ministry we had very low expectations from the beginning. I felt as if the food would not be eatable because it would be too hot. I felt as if we would be camping out every night, and I felt the people would be cold and we would not be able to communicate with them. I felt as if it would be hard and I went in hoping that my faith in the Lord would increase and that my relationship with Jordan would grow stronger. I also expected the Lord to have gone before us in the hearts and lives of the people here.
What happened in the village was very different than my expectations in many ways. First off the people of San Kanta and Don Pin were so welcoming and took us in as their children. Mae Sà and Pa Sin were so wonderful and treated us as if we were their own children. They have gone above and beyond what they should have done for us, but most of all, they loved us. The people were very shy at first not really opening up, the kids were our only friends the first two weeks, and then we saw God open the hearts of the village and the hearts of the people. After we danced with them, after we ate what they ate, after we had learned their language enough to talk to them, after we had taught their children, after we dressed like them, after many days of riding our 1970’s kirin standard edition bike we started to see a difference the last week and a half that we had not seen the first few days. We just smiled as big as we possibly could and hope that the light of God would reveal himself to the people. So much so that Jordan was placed in a place of honor with all the ladies during sports day, and I had a chance to walk in the parade with the elderly men. They have given us gifts and many people come to our house to talk to us in Thai. Their face lights up when you speak to them in their own language. They have even let us pray for a few of them.
I was not surprised to see how the Lord has been working here. During the middle of our time here I cried out to the Lord saying you have been doing work here, but where. The Lord is doing mighty things here through many people here in this village. Emily, Lydia, Quintin, & Kim have been scattering seed throughout. The joys of this time have come from the Lord and seeing his work here. The 11th day we were here we had a girl come up to us and say in perfect English “I love Jesus.” We didn’t know if she is a true believer or not. It took us quite a while to get to know her because she wouldn’t come to the house, because she lived far away. We finally got a chance to get to know her. She is a believer but her parents are not believers. What a gift from God. I feel as if every so often God gives us encouragement and shows us little victories that keep our faith strong. This was a victory. We went to the girl’s house the last week and we found out that there was a family of new believers of just 4 months. Wow, how much God has moved while we have been here. It took us 31 days to find a house church, but we found it and it was beautiful. The sweet spirit of the Lord was over the entire place. About 10 kids were their and they have come from Bankad because their parents do not believe. What faith these children must have to be set apart even from their parents. There were around 4 families their with the pastor, who preached from the word of God. He spoke English and said that they were new believers and that they were not baptized yet because they were still learning about their faith. What a joy to worship the Lord in Thai. The house that we were at is the house that is in the village. They told us their testimony about how their little girl heard about Jesus. Bop Bee became a Christian and led her parents to the Lord later. What a treat to see these new believers in Christ and seeing that it can be done here in this village and in Thailand.
The saddest thing that we see is the people don’t have knowledge. Ma Saa for instance is as sweet of lady as you will find and has a soft heart, but she cannot read. She for lack of knowledge does what everyone else does. She cannot find out for herself what to do because she must go on what people say to do. They do it because that is what they know. They don’t question why or what will happen someone told them at some point what to do and they do it. It is sad to see that even the monks say that the people worship in vain. I met a friend while we were visiting Doi Su Tep and I ask him who are the people praying to when they walk around, his reply was Buddha. I said, “but even bhudda himself said not to worship him, and he is only a man just like you and me.” His response was chilling almost frightening to hear. “Your right Buddha must not be worshiped they just don’t know any better.” The stark reality is that they just don’t know any better. For instance, at this house church we went to I recognized a lady who had just been next door about 2 hours ago with her 1year old baby inquiring of the spirits how to heal her baby because she cries all the time. I wondered why she would be going to church, and asked the pastor if she was a believer. The pastor said she is not a believer yet and she is a seeker. After the service they wanted us to pray for the little girl’s healing. We prayed and told the woman through the pastor who speaks English that her baby will be healed through Yesu and only Yesu. I told her that the reason that her baby was not healed already was because she was going to the spirit doctor and that she is not to go back and that her baby will be healed, for God wants the glory for Himself and He alone.
My heart is overjoyed when I see the Lord moving every day and when I am on the front line battling the enemy for territory that belongs to Him. He is evident and real in every day life. He has been our comfort when we are scared, He has been our rest when there is no rest. He has been our word when we cannot speak, He has been our light in a dark world. The Lord has been teaching us so many wonderful things about His love and His compassion on peoples that do not yet know Him. He has grown me and Jordan together and we are running after Him. She has been there to comfort and to calm, and it is something we as a family will tell our grandchildren about. He has shown me in Daniel how Daniel stood up and trusted the Lord God in a foreign land and his actions spoke to the people so much that they loved him. They came to know who his God was because of God revealing himself to them through his faithful people. We pray that God would reveal himself to the people of this land.
We have been preparing for this time in the village for about 6 months now and I feel that the Lord has used my life up to this point for preparation to do his work. I had very low expectations going in to our time here. I told myself that whatever it is it would be working for the Lord and not for myself or my own comforts. The food, the living conditions, the people, the ministry we had very low expectations from the beginning. I felt as if the food would not be eatable because it would be too hot. I felt as if we would be camping out every night, and I felt the people would be cold and we would not be able to communicate with them. I felt as if it would be hard and I went in hoping that my faith in the Lord would increase and that my relationship with Jordan would grow stronger. I also expected the Lord to have gone before us in the hearts and lives of the people here.
What happened in the village was very different than my expectations in many ways. First off the people of San Kanta and Don Pin were so welcoming and took us in as their children. Mae Sà and Pa Sin were so wonderful and treated us as if we were their own children. They have gone above and beyond what they should have done for us, but most of all, they loved us. The people were very shy at first not really opening up, the kids were our only friends the first two weeks, and then we saw God open the hearts of the village and the hearts of the people. After we danced with them, after we ate what they ate, after we had learned their language enough to talk to them, after we had taught their children, after we dressed like them, after many days of riding our 1970’s kirin standard edition bike we started to see a difference the last week and a half that we had not seen the first few days. We just smiled as big as we possibly could and hope that the light of God would reveal himself to the people. So much so that Jordan was placed in a place of honor with all the ladies during sports day, and I had a chance to walk in the parade with the elderly men. They have given us gifts and many people come to our house to talk to us in Thai. Their face lights up when you speak to them in their own language. They have even let us pray for a few of them.
I was not surprised to see how the Lord has been working here. During the middle of our time here I cried out to the Lord saying you have been doing work here, but where. The Lord is doing mighty things here through many people here in this village. Emily, Lydia, Quintin, & Kim have been scattering seed throughout. The joys of this time have come from the Lord and seeing his work here. The 11th day we were here we had a girl come up to us and say in perfect English “I love Jesus.” We didn’t know if she is a true believer or not. It took us quite a while to get to know her because she wouldn’t come to the house, because she lived far away. We finally got a chance to get to know her. She is a believer but her parents are not believers. What a gift from God. I feel as if every so often God gives us encouragement and shows us little victories that keep our faith strong. This was a victory. We went to the girl’s house the last week and we found out that there was a family of new believers of just 4 months. Wow, how much God has moved while we have been here. It took us 31 days to find a house church, but we found it and it was beautiful. The sweet spirit of the Lord was over the entire place. About 10 kids were their and they have come from Bankad because their parents do not believe. What faith these children must have to be set apart even from their parents. There were around 4 families their with the pastor, who preached from the word of God. He spoke English and said that they were new believers and that they were not baptized yet because they were still learning about their faith. What a joy to worship the Lord in Thai. The house that we were at is the house that is in the village. They told us their testimony about how their little girl heard about Jesus. Bop Bee became a Christian and led her parents to the Lord later. What a treat to see these new believers in Christ and seeing that it can be done here in this village and in Thailand.
The saddest thing that we see is the people don’t have knowledge. Ma Saa for instance is as sweet of lady as you will find and has a soft heart, but she cannot read. She for lack of knowledge does what everyone else does. She cannot find out for herself what to do because she must go on what people say to do. They do it because that is what they know. They don’t question why or what will happen someone told them at some point what to do and they do it. It is sad to see that even the monks say that the people worship in vain. I met a friend while we were visiting Doi Su Tep and I ask him who are the people praying to when they walk around, his reply was Buddha. I said, “but even bhudda himself said not to worship him, and he is only a man just like you and me.” His response was chilling almost frightening to hear. “Your right Buddha must not be worshiped they just don’t know any better.” The stark reality is that they just don’t know any better. For instance, at this house church we went to I recognized a lady who had just been next door about 2 hours ago with her 1year old baby inquiring of the spirits how to heal her baby because she cries all the time. I wondered why she would be going to church, and asked the pastor if she was a believer. The pastor said she is not a believer yet and she is a seeker. After the service they wanted us to pray for the little girl’s healing. We prayed and told the woman through the pastor who speaks English that her baby will be healed through Yesu and only Yesu. I told her that the reason that her baby was not healed already was because she was going to the spirit doctor and that she is not to go back and that her baby will be healed, for God wants the glory for Himself and He alone.
My heart is overjoyed when I see the Lord moving every day and when I am on the front line battling the enemy for territory that belongs to Him. He is evident and real in every day life. He has been our comfort when we are scared, He has been our rest when there is no rest. He has been our word when we cannot speak, He has been our light in a dark world. The Lord has been teaching us so many wonderful things about His love and His compassion on peoples that do not yet know Him. He has grown me and Jordan together and we are running after Him. She has been there to comfort and to calm, and it is something we as a family will tell our grandchildren about. He has shown me in Daniel how Daniel stood up and trusted the Lord God in a foreign land and his actions spoke to the people so much that they loved him. They came to know who his God was because of God revealing himself to them through his faithful people. We pray that God would reveal himself to the people of this land.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
“A Short Expose on Reaching the Bhuddist World”
In Bhuddist thought, one can get to where he wants to go by searching for truth. Christ said, “I am the truth”, John 14:1. In Bhuddist thought one can get to the pinnacle of one spiritual journey by ending suffering. In 2 Tim 1:10, It says, “Jesus was the one who abolished death and brought life.” He suffered so that we would not have to suffer for eternity. The problem is not the theological aspect between Christianity and Bhuddism, the problem is people turning from their former ways and being saved through the washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit. The problem is not that it doesn’t make complete sense; the problem is the generations of culture worship. The generations that have not seen the great light….. yet. Isaiah 9:2 “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.” Buddhism is interwoven into the peoples everyday life and affects the people's outlook on philosophy, education, values, and all areas. Thus Buddhism and the culture are one in the same. The foundation of the people's identity is found in their Bhuddist culture. People are born into the Bhuddist mindset and therefore they are not made members by their personal choice or decision. The Holy Spirit is working in the hearts of the Bhuddists and all that we can do is share the message that gives Hope.
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