Malones in Thailand

Reaching the poor - Isaan strategy

2012-02-10T10:00:00.012+11:00

You have probably caught up with the fact that we are intending to move to the Isaan Region of North East Thailand by the end of this year to start a new team "Sowing Seed to Plant Indigenous Churches".

Seed sowing is an important occupation in this large region of 21.5 million people. It is mainly poor rural communities that make up Isaan - main industry is agriculture, with the production of Sticky Rice accounting for 60 per cent of the cultivated land in Isaan. However, Isaan is the driest and poorest region in Thailand - all of Thailand's 10 poorest provinces are in Isaan (the poorest province is Si Saket, which is just to the west of Ubon). Isaan has a history of being dominated and oppressed by various regimes over the last 800 years - which paints a painful past for the ethnolinguistic groups that occupy the region (Isaan, Lao and Khmer).

We are excited about the potential here for great things to happen and for building on the work already started by others in some parts of the region. In early May we are making another survey trip to the Isaan and visiting with a Thai Christian worker in the needy province of Si Saket (poorest province in all of Thailand) to see how we can partner with him in the future.

What is a picture of the need in Isaan?

The following statistics give a stark picture of the spiritual need in Isaan and are what God is using to drive my heart toward the unreached .....

Population per 1 evangelical Christian

Regional Data - Thailand (174), Isaan (634), Bangkok (113), Chiang Mai (20), Chiang Rai (17)

Isaan provincial data - Khon Kaen (528), Ubon (844), Surin (1,076), Si Saket (1,068), Kalasin (1,303)

This data shows that in order to evangelise their respective provinces, each Christian in Chiang Rai only needs to reach 17 people, while each Christian in Kalasin needs to reach 1,303 people. Much God-honouring work has been done in the past in areas like Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai and we celebrate the progress of the Good News in those places. But these figures demonstrate the enormity of the missions task STILL to be done in the Isaan region and its true nature as a largely unreached area.

Crowds of Isaan people gather at a concert in one of the cities

My heart cries deeply as Jesus spoke about the harvest being plentiful but the labourers are few. This truly reflects large sections of Thailand, with a heavy focus on the 20 provinces that make up the Isaan region.

Challenge to pray

Will you pray with us as we seek to build a team strategy, survey and build a plan of action over the coming months to reach the great unreached region of Isaan in North East Thailand. Please pray that seed would be sown in relationship building that lasts for eternity to give people an opportunity to hear the Good News about Jesus.

Moving on in tears ....

2012-01-22T16:00:00.005+11:00

Yes, we are planning a move from Samut Prakan to another part of Thailand by the end of this year - to do similar ministry. After 3-4 years of sweat and tears, God blessed us with the official opening of our church plant in our local slum community (see photos after this 1st paragraph). This seemed impossible 7 years ago (end 2004) when we did the surveying and then even more impossible when we started the reality of working there 4 years ago in 2008. But God does more than we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20,21 - my life favourite verse). During that time we have seen God bring people to Himself in a new faith, and taken us through some incredibly difficult times, given us strength through discouragement, gave us the opportunity to train a team of Thai leaders and now He gives birth (officially) to this new church! We are hanging around for a few more months yet, until we are sure they are fully equipped to reach out to new slum communities in our city.

Picture 1: The church gathering from the back

Picture 2: The "front door" of church :-)

God is faithful .... as a quote from my autobiography says "Never doubt His faithfulness and His character to do more than what you can ask or imagine. Believe in the impossible and what mankind says is unattainable until, through God’s strength, it becomes possible and attainable."

Moving on doesn't mean abandoning an area or ministry (i.e. the urban poor) .... it means giving it freedom to 'fly on its own' - in a similar way that God called us to do with our children when they became adults. 'Flying on your own' grows maturity and dependence on God like nothing else - we've seen that with our own children. Now we hope to see it with this new church plant.

God has convicted me strongly in this country (and taught me through some very hard lessons) to be careful to hand things over to local believers (when the time is right) and remove myself from the temptation of squashing their initiative with my control tendencies.

I have observed Jesus' example and Paul's example of an incarnational approach to ministry. But they never stayed in a place for very long. In Jesus short time of ministry He lived in at least 3 different places (Bethlehem, Egypt and Nazareth). In His ministry He travelled extensively to many places - moving on when He sensed the time was right! Paul, while being very incarnational, only planted himself in any location for up to 2 years (his longest was in Corinth for 2 years).

I firmly believe I see the best fruit when God uses me (only by His Grace for an deserving sinner like me) to pioneer a new work where people haven't heard about Jesus, see God bring them to Himself and then grow them into a new church. What comes next is incredibly hard for me - MOVE ON !! God is now telling me to do just that. He is also telling me to maintain an apostolic connection for the rest of my life with the slum ministry in Samut Prakan. He is now telling me to follow His path to work in reaching the great unreached region of Isaan.

I choose to obey my God - in tears I choose to move on .... watch this space over the coming months as we share more of the vision to reach the 21.5 million Isaan people group of North East Thailand - where the poorest of the poor live in this country.

A Season of Blessing

2011-12-12T15:12:00.018+11:00

As the window draws closer to a close on 2011, I reflect on a challenging year while I enjoy a season of blessing at this time.

The year began with our return to Thailand for our 2nd term of service, after a wonderful furlough time in Australia. On the flight over as I listened to God, He said to me we would experience change, challenges and new things in this term. That has certainly being the case!

February to April - 'settling back in and new fruit'

After working 'flat out like a lizard drinking' to get paperwork in for our new work permit, visa and Samut Prakan branch office of our Foundation, God directed us back to live in the same neighbourhood which we had left 6 months beforehand. We praised God to see that the new believers (in our local slum community) from earlier last year were still following Jesus and growing. We marveled at the Grace of God in then bringing more people to follow Jesus , together with His abundant provision for our needs.

Picture - praising God with a New Believer

May to August - 'hitting a wall'

I 'hit a wall' with the contraction of Dengue Fever in early May, which put me out of the action for at least one month. As I lay everyday in my bed, too exhausted to even walk down the stairs I reflected on the Grace and Sovereignty of God for me - that this ministry is not about what I do, but it is about HOW God works in His timing and for His Glory. As I cried for release from the intense back and stomach pains and begged God to take me either back to Australia or to Heaven, His quiet still voice spoke and reminded me why He had called me here to Thailand. I remained depressed, however, for a few months.

Picture - praying no matter the circumstances

Work in our larger slum community also 'hit a wall' and we even toyed with the idea of throwing the work in this community away. I was tired and depressed, not only from Dengue Fever but from the heat and humidity and the fresh new discouragements in the ministry. After complaining to God He challenged me to 'run with the horses' in much the same way as He challenged Jeremiah in Jeremiah 12:5. God then showed me to persist by still providing encouragement for us in the fruit from our local slum community (different community from the larger discouraging community mentioned above). He also used an overseas friend on Facebook (whom I have never met face to face to encourage me with these words "I know you long to be full speed. I also know Isaiah 40:31 is woven tightly into the fabric of your soul" .... God was calling me to rest and retreat more in Him.

Picture - labour of love: building a new house for a Believer in the larger slum community after it was eaten by termites

September to mid October - 'consolidation and new direction'

I began to feel the worst of Dengue was now behind me. God took me into a retreat period when I spent a few weeks seeking His Face on future direction in my life and ministry - first at a leadership training retreat and then on a personal retreat in the lead-up to my 50th birthday. During this time I also completed my autobiography "Saved from the Fowler's Snare", which I am praying about releasing next year.

God produced more fruit in the ministry and started to consolidate the house church plant in our local slum community to provide encouragement for our souls.

Picture - community of new believers in our local slum community

late October to now - 'a season of blessing'

God poured His blessing out by gifting me with my first grandchild (a son to Karis and Noom) - 6 days before my 50th birthday! This fulfilled a promise God gave me at the age of 18 years old, that I would be a grandparent before I reached 50 years.

Picture - Getting to know my grandson

God also spoke clearly into the ministry with a new direction of discipling and training the emerging group of new Thai believers with our vision to reach all Slum Communities in Samut Prakan with the Good News. Again, we saw more new fruit as God brought people to Himself. Despite the immense challenges training new leaders was presenting, God began clearly leading in this way!

Picture - flooded market behind our house BEFORE the Great Flood of 2011

Despite the horrific damage caused by the Great Flood of 2011, God used this occasion to bless the Thai church by giving them an opportunity to be the 'hands and feet of Jesus'. We were very blessed by the generosity from friends back in Australia to our Flood Relief Fund.

One of the greatest blessings of all was the opportunity God has now given for Jen and I to have all our kids in the same country for 2 and a half weeks. Tim arrives today (12 December). We have been blessed thoroughly to have Matt with us since early November. We then plan to travel with our sons to Ubon to be with Karis and Noom and our grandson (Eliyah Sartugan), as we share the first family Christmas together for 3 years.

The New Year 2012 - ?

We don't know what God will do next year or where He will take us in His Sovereignty (Psalm 115:3). We are prepared for a ride, however, along this journey of life and ministry that He has for us. Whatever that is, He is by our side encouraging, building and taking us to new heights as we echo the words of the prophet in Habakkuk 3:19 "the Sovereign Lord is my Strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights" :-)

Picture - end of one season, beginning of next

Bless you all for a merry Christmas and happy New Year :-)

Pray for Thailand

2011-11-12T13:00:00.008+11:00

Most of you would be aware that Thailand has been coping one of its worst natural disasters over the last month or two - as massive amounts of floodwater flow through the country from the north to the mouth of the Chao Phraya River. On its way south the floodwaters have caused over 500 deaths, destroyed innumerable amounts of infrastruture (including many industrial parks and highways) and led to homelessness for millions of people. It has also wiped out a quarter of Thailand's rice crop - Thailand is the world's largest exporter of rice. Much of the floodwaters have now escaped to the ocean, but there is still more water to work its way through Bangkok, which remains under 1 metre or so of water in many parts.

Our province - Samut Prakan - has largely been spared damage from these floodwaters, although parts of our province are now becoming flooded. Samut Prakan is the last province the flood passes through before spilling into the ocean. We are immediately south of Bangkok and at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River. That is to our advantage - at least the floodwaters had somewhere to escape (i.e. into the ocean).

Below are some images of the flood in Thailand. I stress that none of these pictures are my own, I have merely taken some off the Internet. After viewing the pictures, could you please note the prayer points at the end of this blog and take a few moments to PRAY for THAILAND!

Many people have evacuated their homes across the country

Not even Big Mac survives the flood :-)

Floodwaters in some towns have been neck-deep for at least a month

It's sad what people cling to in a crisis - this person clings to 120 baht (around AUD4)

Prayer for Thailand

that believers would continue to be 'His Hands and Feet' to the vast numbers of people in need;
that people would see help coming from Christians as coming from the the Living God, the Only One who can help them in their time of desperate need;
as floodwaters gradually abate that water-borne diseases would be controlled (note: there are already reports of people in the Central Plains suffering from water borne diseases).

Thank you for praying for Thailand. Many of those suffering are very poor. Therefore in partnership with our church we now have a flood relief fund. 100 percent of monies given go directly to providing help for flood victims. If you are interested in giving to our flood relief fund, please contact me at email: malone.phil@gmail.com

Quilts by Jemuay

2011-11-02T23:52:00.009+11:00

One of the gifts we gave our new grandson was a set of baby quilts made by our friend Jemuay, who is known to most of the visitors we've had over the last 3 years as she lives in the slum community near our home.

Jemuay is hoping to be able to make these quilts to order, using her wonderful sewing/patchwork skills, in order to earn an income. She will make the size, colour, and pattern according to order, including adult sizes, and can leave an opening to insert a doona if required. They are made completely by hand, these ones mostly sewn in the motorcycle taxi stand near her home while she was helping her sister-in-law sell snacks to passers-by, as seen in the photo here, with Jemuay on the right, next to her sister-in-law, and the motorcycle taxi stand behind them. This baby quilt size will sell for 1000 baht (about $30) plus postage. If interested in ordering a quilt and helping one family living in poverty, please contact me at jenmalone7@gmail.com

Good news story

2011-07-14T18:00:00.005+10:00

By God's Grace we have been interacting with people and working in our local slum community for around 3 years now. Our approach has been very simple ....

- pray ... into strongholds and for new openings,

- serve ... the community according to their needs,

- build ... relationships through whatever means God opens and provides,

- search ... out 'a person of peace' (c.f. Luke 10:1-9),

- pray & prayer-walk ... regularly through the community,

- pray ... again and again,

- wait on God ... for opportunities to share about His Grace while praying again,

- wait on God ... to bring people into a believing faith of Him while praying again,

- celebrate ... new birth and encourage new believers,

- meet ... with new believers regularly, with emphasis on getting them into the Word of God and praying with believing prayer,

- build ... a new church around the original 'person of peace',

- seek God ... to build a vision of outreach into new communities and pray together for these communities to start the process over again.

With praise to God we celebrated 5 new believers in this community last week. :-) Our small fellowship has grown by 50% overnight. It is by God's Grace that these new believers will remain faithful over the years. I don't know the outcome of that at this stage. Other new believers in our other slum community, a further distance from where we live, have struggled. BUT, the new believers in our local slum community who met Jesus around 18 months ago are going strong and loving new discoveries in the Word of God.

Jen & I with 3 of the new believers of 18 months ago and 2 of the original members of this church plant

It is beyond my human comprehension how God begins to transform a community that once had no hope. Ephesians 3:20,21 reminds me that nothing happens in my human comprehension anyway. It is an awesome privilege to serve the Living God and be a part of what HE is doing. In our 4 years here there have been huge setbacks and unbearable periods of pain (physically, emotionally and spiritually). But it is all worth it when a community begins a process of transformation before your very eyes!! It is all worth it when the God of the universe decides to involve the worst of sinners (i.e. me) in His plans!! There is very little else that brings such tears and weeping to my heart and eyes.

Community of hope? not at the moment

2011-06-02T10:00:00.004+10:00

As I lay sick in bed from dengue fever during May and then unable to move because of back problems, God brought to mind one of our communities to pray for regularly. When I had the strength to pray, I wrestled with God over the plight of our larger slum community - a community in which we have worked for around 2 years now. Yet there remains little visible fruit from the hard sweaty labour. Unlike our local slum community (which is the smaller of the 2 communities in which we work) where the fruit has been good, we are struggling in the larger slum community to plant a strong community church with faithful people. We do have a small church there but it is struggling because of the veil over the community of no hope. God spoke directly to me, as I lay on my bed listening to Him, about the reasons for this - which is really the subject of another blog .... watch this space ! :-)

But in the meantime, God has provided for us to open a Ministry Resource Centre in this larger community - thanks to a generous one-off donation a few years ago from St James Menangle in Sydney ( http://www.menangle.anglican.asn.au/ ). We have named this Centre the House of Hope. It is placed in the middle of this large community that has no hope. Daily, in this community, we are faced with heartache and pain that would rip open even the hardest of hearts. It is a smelly, sweaty place that some residents desire to get out of ..... and some do if they are lucky enough to find a job and get some money. I have posted 2 videos below of the opening of our Ministry Resource Centre last Saturday - please check them out, but then please read on AFTER the videos as I share an opportunity in this community which God is urging us to jump at !!! ....

I wrote above that this Community has no hope. There are lots of reasons for this which stem from a spiritual stronghold over the place of drugs, alcohol, bitterness, jealousy and hatred. BUT the community is also bracing itself for the ultimate building of the Skytrain which will put a station right outside this place. The community of around 5,000 people is owned by one person who rents the swamp to poor people who build wobbly structures on it. This one person is now likely to sell his swamp in 2-3 years to developers to build condominiums for richer people to live next to the new Skytrain station. Residents will then be thrust out to other swamps/communities they can find to build makeshift dwellings. Many have lived here for over 30 years, so the breakdown in community that will occur is horrendous. BUT .....

God is in control and I believe this is a unique OPPORTUNITY to disciple new believers before they are ultimately thrust out to new locations. Could this be a strategy to reach the unreached communities in our city?, bearing in mind we have only impacted 3-4 of the 30 slum communities at this stage. Please pray for God to open hearts and bring down strongholds of hopelessness in this community and grow this opportunity to disciple people BEFORE they are thrust out in order to reach all communities. Will you take up this challenge with us and pray?

It only takes one Sovereign touch

2011-05-06T12:55:00.008+10:00

I felt compelled to write this blog while recovering from Dengue Fever - a debilitating fever that requires rest for as long as it takes to recover. I'm only up to one week's rest so far, only God knows how long He wants me to rest. I never get bitten by mosquitoes, while Jen always gets lots of bites. But the one Sovereign bite I got must have been by a Dengue mosquito.

This reminds me of the Sovereign touch from the Spirit of God ... it only takes one powerful touch and then someone is infected by the Almighty Living God. We have seen that one powerful Sovereign touch in lives already. Have a look at the photo below and then I'll talk you through only a few stories of the touch from God ....

This was taken last week as we led some members of our small community church in Klong Da Nu slum community through a game putting together events from the Bible into chronological order. The 2 guys on the right (squatting) are Bom and Lung Bratheung (Bom's father). Lung Bratheung was touched from God around 13 months ago and is developing as a leader in this new church plant. His son Bom and some of his household have since been touched from God and also are now believers. The guy on the left in the white singlet is Lung Tui. Every week for almost 2 years I visited Lung Tui's little shack to collect his grandson who he cares for and bring him to the kids activities we were holding in a different part of the community only 2 minutes walk away. Lung Tui was always happy for his grandson to go with us because he liked us. Lung Tui was also touched by the Sovereign hand of God and has since decided to follow Jesus. Lung Tui has a hunger to 'eat God's Word'. Every week he has questions and is desiring to learn ... he loved this game because he wants to know how everything in the Bible fits together.

I was pondering on this during one of my many rests in bed this week. Let me introduce to another who had one Sovereign touch from God. He is in the picture below.

This is Pedro - a young Thai man who has been discipled by Noom (our son-in-law) and our daughter Karis as he lives with them in Ubon Ratchathani. Pedro is pictured here leading worship for us in the same slum community last week. God has sovereignly provided Pedro for us and brought him to live with Jen & I for the next 3 months to help us in the ministry. All this at a time when I need to rest and recover from my sickness. To have someone on our team who obviously knows the language and culture (especially at this time when God sovereignly knew I would not be able to do much) is an amazing Sovereign touch from God!

Please pray with us for more Sovereign touches from God.

Yaa Peung!!

2011-04-15T22:37:00.006+10:00

What do you do when you see people in need all around you, you have the means to help some of them but you don’t want to breed dependence?

What do you do when you want to help someone financially to get a better start but you know any income will be taken by her psychotic demon-possessed husband so he can visit the temple yet again and pay the monks to drive out the demon, yet again?

What do you do when your friend, the sister of that man, has lost all her hard earned savings to him and lives in fear of him to the point that she has lost heart in her walk with God?

What do you do when you want to help a friend rebuild their home that is falling down around them but when a jealous neighbour sees the house being rebuilt they tell the land owner and suggest he ups the rent on the land, causing your frightened friend to put a halt to the work before it has been made liveable?

What do you do when heaps of neighbours are asking you to give their kids private English lessons when it’s not really the focus of your ministry?

‘Yaa Peung’ is a term in Thai that means ‘just a sec’, ‘not just yet’, ‘wait a bit’. This, God has been teaching me, is to be my first response in such situations, followed of course by prayer.

I am the type of person who, when I see people living in great difficulty, wants to step in and help as much as I can to make their life better. This sounds very noble but I have actually been learning lately that it stems from unbelief! It often seems that God is so slow to answer prayers and sometimes I just can’t see Him helping, so I feel I have to take over His job and do it right, if it’s within my power to do so, as if I know better than God! Why is God always so slow to bring about His purposes?

As I was chatting with God about this the other morning, He reminded me of Joseph languishing in prison through no fault of his own. I’m sure if I was there and had any power whatsoever I would have done all I could to get him out of prison. After all God, what are you doing letting an innocent man suffer in prison for so long? But then Joseph wouldn’t have been there to interpret the dreams of the cupbearer and the baker. The cupbearer wouldn’t have mentioned Joseph when Pharaoh had his dreams. No one would have saved up food for the famine during the years of plenty. And Joseph’s family, the beginnings of the Israelite nation through whom God was going to bless all the nations, would have died. Or God would have brought all things together for good as He does, and would have made sure that I learnt my lesson.

Then there was Moses who, on seeing the suffering of his people, killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew and consequently had to flee to Midian where he lived out the next 40 years of his life until God finally called him to save His people at the age of 80! When he tried to help in his own way and his own time, it didn’t help at all. But another 40 years of suffering for the people God?! Why does God allow such suffering to go on for so long?

And what about impetuous Peter, cutting off the ear of the high priest’s servant in an effort to save Jesus from being arrested? Maybe it’s a good thing he then denied Jesus and didn’t hang around to see the crucifixion or he might have tried to rescue Jesus from the suffering He was destined to go through for our salvation.

I’m so thankful than even when we make mistakes, even when we stuff things up through our sinfulness, our unbelief, our impetuousness, God still promises to bring all things together for good, for His glory. And in the process He teaches us some good lessons.

I’m so thankful that even though I stepped in ahead of God’s timing in my eagerness for someone to have a home that would keep them dry in the coming wet season, God enabled the job to finish well in the end. All this despite the horrible fear that we’d destroyed two years of work in that community in one day when it looked like the budget would blow out above what we had set aside, and leave us with not enough to pay the workers in the community.

I’m so thankful that God promises to guide us and to give us His wisdom, and that so long as I am focussing on Him and not my own petty needs and fears, so long as I am seeking His will and not jumping in to do things according to my own puny wisdom, I can trust that He will help me to make the right decisions about what to do in all those situations above and in any others that come my way. After all, God has placed me here to be His instrument, to join in what He is doing. It’s not as if I’m asking Him to help me and join in what I’m doing!

And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. (1 Cor 2 1-5)

Escaping the poverty trap

2011-03-28T08:00:00.002+11:00

Over the last two years we have been praying about helping those living in poverty to begin a new occupation that will provide sustainable income. We've been asking God to lead us to the right people who He has prepared and have been waiting for His guidance.

At the same time, over the last two years, Khun Jaa has had a dream to help her community by learning a new trade. She hopes this will provide a sustainable income to support her family and enable her to give more money to help her community church. Many of you have visited or read about or financially helped this slum community church led by a blind pastor, Ajarn Charlie. Besides supporting her family and church, Khun Jaa also has a burden to teach others in her community so they too can have an income to support their families.

On a recent visit to Ajarn Charlie's church we were chatting with Khun Jaa on the way out. She happened to mention her dream to us and asked that we would pray for her, that God would provide the money needed to make her dream a reality. As we listened more to Khun Jaa's desire to help her community and church, and as we talked to God about her we were excited to realise that God had brought us together. God had placed us there in order to play a small part in bringing about His plan for Khun Jaa and her community.

This is a photo of Khun Jaa with the items she was able to buy with the funds provided by our Foundation and some of the flowers she has learnt to make to sell at the market. There are already many others who are keen to learn when Khun Jaa opens a class at the church and passes on to others what she has learnt.

May God use this enterprise to help many escape the trap of poverty, to help grow this small church and to bring glory to His Name.

One Family's Story

2011-03-14T10:00:00.000+11:00

In one of the communities we spend time in there is a young lady called Nong Wan, about 13 years old, who comes to hang around with me at every opportunity. She loves to play card games with me and just sit and chat, but most of all she loves to read all the Thai books we have about Jesus. She has been going to our local Thai church ever since she started to receive sponsorship from a Christian foundation to go to school, so she already has a beautiful relationship with Jesus. Last Thursday when we arrived to spend the day in the community, Nong Wan spent her own 5 baht (about 16 cents) to buy me a bottle of water and was then sharing with me her dream of becoming a doctor. I of course encouraged her to keep going for that dream and God will help her to reach it.

Later that day as Phil went to buy some lunch for us, I had the opportunity to go to Wan's home with her grandmother, who has the care of both Wan and her 2 year old brother since their mother abandoned them. As I gently asked questions to determine why Wan sometimes had to miss school she explained that she earned money to live on by selling goods that she buys cheap from a market in Bangkok and that she needs Wan to mind the little one while she goes out to sell them as she can't take him with her. She went on to explain that she used to be a housemaid but can't do that anymore since she has to care for her grandchildren, and that at times she doesn't even have enough money to buy the cheap goods in order to sell them, and is reduced to begging. She was crying by this stage. As I looked at her home around me, the mud we had walked through to get there, the gaping space where the roof was missing (remembering rainy season is on its way), the bits of tin and wood that looked like they'd fall down any minute, and remembered Wan's dream to become a doctor, and the money she had spent on me that morning, I too began to cry, and to desperately ask God for wisdom to know how best to help this family.

For starters, I rang Phil and told him to get two extra lunches. (The photo above is of them eating lunch in our rented space.)

Secondly, we are able to use donated money set aside for situations like this to help improve their house and make it safe to live in, with the help of people from our local church and also from within the community, giving us an opportunity to provide some work for unemployed men.

Thirdly, we'd like to encourage, enable and empower Wan's grandmother to do some kind of handiwork that she can do in her home or in the community without having to take Wan out of school to care for the little one.

And finally, as the donations already given are gradually used up in helping families like this, we'd ask people to consider donating more to our Foundation so that we can continue to make a difference in people's lives by being God's hands and feet. This can be done by contacting Suzanne North or Glenda Allred at Pioneers of Australia on 1800 787889 or by donating online at pioneers.org.au and specifying the gift is for "Phil & Jenny Malone Special Project - Foundation for the Urban Poor" (The online giving is only new and we haven't seen it work yet so please let us know if you donate online so we can follow it up if necessary.)

House Hunting - A Cultural Lesson in this Oral Society

2011-02-09T14:16:00.004+11:00

Who needs a real estate agent when you have friends, old nieghbours, acquaintances, and even strangers to show you around? We've been blown away by the kindness and generosity of the Thais around us as they've helped us in our search for a home to live in for this next stage of our journey. All we have to do is mention that we're looking for a house to rent and they're already offering to help us, whether it's our closest friend walking around the streets with us, an old neighbour taking me on the back of her motorbike, the father of one of the boys in the slum where we taught English riding around on his motobike with us sitting in his little Thai-style side-car, or the assistant pastor at our Thai church taking us around his old car.

Everything happens by 'word of mouth' so they'll take us to where they've heard of something available, and ask people on the street, who then will often join the search with us and take us on to another location. In one slum community a man with a bottle of whiskey in his pocket heard of our search and led us down a path to a house he knew of. In another, a street vendor drew a map for us and called ahead to his fellow coffee vendor to take us to see a landlord he knew of. In our old neighbourhood the mother of one of our previous English students who would have loved to have us rent her place that wouldn't be ready for another two months, instead took us to another neighbour who has a townhouse for rent. This one we are hoping will be the end of our search, funnily enough in the same street as last time.

We had been praying about living in one of the slum communities alongside the people we are working with and knew of several homes there that would be suitable for us to live in, but as none are available to rent at this time, it seems that God has other plans, perhaps because our vision is to reach into many communities not just one. We only pray that we'll still be able to share not only the Gospel, but our very lives with the poor in the communities around us. (1 Thess 2:8) Even though they may be poor materially, they are certainly very generous in giving of their time and the resources they do have. We have much to learn from them.

The plan from here

2011-01-17T08:00:00.000+11:00

The central business district of our city

In a few weeks, God willing, we'll be back in Samut Prakan after spending around 7 months in Australia. For the first 2 weeks we are staying at a friend's condo while we look for suitable accommodation in Samut Prakan in the same district we were living last year.

Communication will be a challenge for the entire month of February (and maybe into March) as we'll be restricted only to Internet cafes until we find a place to live and then get Internet connected there ..... so only email ... no blogs ... no VOIP phone ... no Skype!

Please pray for us in February that God will provide a suitable place in or near to our local slum community. We start by praying and walking the streets (that we know so well after living there from 2008 to 2010) and asking people and looking for lease signs. No real estate agents in our 'neck of the woods' !!

Some typical housing in our district

Please pray for us in March that God will provide a smooth process for our visa. We enter the country on a 90-day visa, but then need to convert it to our annual work permit associated with our new Foundation. If this is is not processed within 90 days of our entry (around 1 May) we will have leave the country and re-apply in Singapore for another 90 days. The work permit can only be applied for in-country.

Please pray for us in February to April that we will adjust to the oppressively hot weather (not uncommon for it to be 40+ degrees by April with high humidity - it's the build-up to the wet season). Also please pray in February to April that we adjust quickly back to ministry to the urban poor, that we give our very lives (".... we were delighted to share with you not only the Gospel of God but our very lives as well ..." I Thess. 2:8) as we build relationships and plant new fellowships that glorify God.

Also in February to April we have a few visitors who are 'checking out the work' in Samut Prakan with a view to where they may serve in the future. Please pray for clear direction for us and them.

Well .... that's the plan from here. But we are always mindful of the fact that "in his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps" (Prov. 16:9). Bless you our readers, friends and prayer partners that you would continue to feel a vital part of bringing in the harvest of the unreached urban poor.

Exciting Opportunities in Samut Prakan

2010-11-29T15:30:00.001+11:00

We are increasingly focusing on our next term in Thailand (2011-14) and in which direction the Work is heading. Recently, there has been some exciting developments regarding longer-term visas, work with the Foundation, and future partnerships on the ground in Thailand, which we will write about soon to those who regularly receive our prayer letters. Our Home Assignment time in Australia over these last 6 months has been enjoyable catching up with many friends and seeing so much of our beautiful home country again. But, now it is preparation time for another term of service overseas.

We were blessed in the previous term (2007-10) with many short-termers visiting and this looks set to continue over the next year at least. But, one of our priorities over 2011-14 is to build longer-term team - given the enormous amount of work to be done in planting new cell churches in every slum community in the 1.2 million urban-industrial province of Samut Prakan. Yet, at this stage, it is only Jen & I working among this group on this task. So, here goes a little plug for the many job opportunities on the Samut Prakan team followed by 3 pictures depicting some life there ....

Our focus is on the urban poor. Our strategy is firstly to share Jesus holistically (as meeting spiritual, physical, emotional and mental needs). Secondly, to disciple new believers, in a church planting context, so they are equipped to reach out to their own people. This strategy is mindful of the need to adopt a learning approach and to offer ourselves as servants of the people – as shown by the examples of Jesus and the Apostle Paul. To this end, we need people who love Jesus and want to make Him known, have a desire to serve the urban poor and have skills, or experience and/or training in any of the following areas ...

- TESOL teaching
- Starting up micro-enterprises with the poor
- Youth and/or children’s ministry
- Sports ministry(soccer, basketball etc.)
- Community / health development with the poor
- Health professionals (esp. doctors, dentists)
- Musicians
- Artistic / craft design
- Providing addiction recovery
- Environmental management
- Training leaders and/or discipling new believers

If any of this speaks to your heart, then please contact us. Then we can journey in discovering together whether working in this exciting ministry is for you. If God is prompting you, PLEASE listen to Him :-)

Some of our kids in our local slum community on our last day with them in June this year

Our cell church in our local slum community

Living conditions for many are very poor - this guy's name is Phil :-)

Feel free to comment or discuss further and to pray and partner with us in Samut Prakan for God's Glory. Until we see Him face to face, Phil

Thailand Ministry Images

2010-08-26T14:00:00.002+10:00

Check out our new video "Thailand Ministry Images". Some of you may have seen this video already as we have used it to present to groups over the last month. The video was made by a friend who visited us for a week in April 2010, so contains some excellent live images of bits of our work there. Why not have a look and leave feedback or a comment :-)

We continue to be on furlough in Australia and it is our plan to return to the work in Thailand with the urban poor in January 2011.

Our first 3 years in Thailand

2010-07-22T14:00:00.005+10:00

We are enjoying our Home Assignment in Australia, experiencing an Aussie winter again after 3 years of intensely hot weather in Thailand. I have compiled a very amateur video of our first 3 years in slum ministry in Thailand. Please have a look, feel free to drop a comment and enjoy :-)

Also, use this to stimulate you to partner with us in prayer. The needs are great, only God can adequately meet all the needs through His riches in Glory in Christ Jesus (Phil.4:19). What a privilege it is to serve the Living God - made possible only through His sovereign Grace :-)

STOP PRESS - we will shortly have 2 more videos put up made more professionally by a friend with videoing skills .... watch this space.

Settling back into Australia

2010-07-01T09:00:00.000+10:00

We have now been back in Australia for 3 weeks. Leaving Thailand seems like a blur, but before we know it we'll be back again to the ministry in Thailand in mid January 2011. Some things have been strange back in Australia such as:

- cars stopping for you at zebra crossings,

- relative absence of people in the streets (maybe because of the cold in Canberra),

- the rough Aussie accent (especially that of our new Prime Minister), which we appreciate would be hard for new learners of English to understand,

- the huge choice in the shops in varieties of Tim Tams and Easy Mac ...... and the list goes on!

But now we are back we are fully into re-connecting with people. It has been our priority to understand where many of our friends are at after 3 years and to appreciate their vastly different journeys to ours. We have also spent considerable time lately sharing with organised groups about the needs in Samut Prakan and the unfinished job at hand.

Our sendoff from our friends in Samut Prakan in early June seems sooooo long ago now, but below are a few images of this occasion .........

Some of our stuff is carried off by a friend to storage for the 7 months

I'm Saying goodbye to one of our key ministry partners - Ajarn Chaiyut

Two friends saying goodbye at Bangkok airport with Jen

Some of Matt's friends giving him a final hug

So, we have left Thailand for now. We ask you to pray that we remain faithful as we continue in ministry for these months in our own culture. :-)

1,033 days on ..... expectations exceeded

2010-06-02T09:00:00.001+10:00

That's the length of time we have been in Thailand ... wow, what a journey it has been!! We look forward now to catching up with friends and family in Australia for the next 7 months.

We have seen God exceed our human expectations, but at the same time are not surprised because God can do immeasurably MORE than all we ask or imagine (see Ephesians 3:20,21). We have been "riding on God's Back" as He does His work in Samut Prakan - we have simply been His willing (and some days not so willing) servants. Sure, the heat and humidity and general daily discomfort of living conditions get to you, but in the end it is worth it seeing the Hand of God in people's lives and His transforming power to behold. Only last Sunday, after preaching on Mark 13 at church God gave me the blessing of praying with a friend from our local slum community as he received Jesus as his Lord and Saviour.

Blessing of praying with Brateung as he receives Jesus

What then are expectations of our time back in Australia?

Firstly, to have quality time with friends and family. We will not push ourselves onto you but will serve those who are willing to have the time. This we hope will include lots of laughter, but may also include some tears (depending on what you - our friends - and we have been through over these last 3 years).

Secondly, we would like to share our burden for cross-cultural mission in Asia and want to (with passion) share with those who will listen how you can be involved in a great movement of God's Spirit across Asia. We want to celebrate God's Goodness together with you.

Thirdly, we will need to take some rest time in our own culture for a change. So, we do expect to get to the surf and also to the mountains and Aussie bush at some stage. Also, getting to see the Rabbitohs will be high on the list - wouldn't it be great if they made the grand final this year?

In the meantime, please continue to pray with passion for our friends here that God would continue to transform lives in the slum communities of Thailand. Below is a picture of our last cell church meeting last week. We praise God that after 2 years of meeting every week with only one of these people in our local slum community that God has added to the number for His Honour and Glory. What a Great God have we!!

Joys in the Midst of Challenges

2010-05-16T17:34:00.004+10:00

In past blogs I've tried to convey some of the challenges of our work here in urban slum communities, but there are also many joys amidst those challenges. Here I want to share two joys that we experienced last week.

Last Thursday at our cell group in our local community I had the joy of sharing the Gospel in Thai with a man who has been coming to our group for a few weeks. Not only has he been coming, but he has allowed us to meet in the shade of his front yard since the weather has been too hot to meet in Jemuay's home! He had been to a church in the past, and as we chatted about God's love it became clear that he was now praying to God instead of to Buddha for such things as happiness, a good night's sleep, and the provision of enough to live on, and he knew that Jesus died to save us, but he didn't know why we needed saving and from what. So it was a great joy to be able to share this with him. Bateung can be seen standing in the middle back of the photo below of our cell group in front of his home.

The other joy was visiting a 9 day old baby in the other community that we work in. On our first visit to this community we met Som, a girl in her early 20s, and started teaching her English every week along with a couple of other students. We have only seen her sporadically since then, including a few weeks ago when I noticed she was pregnant. We were excited to hear last week from her mother-in-law, who attends our cell group, that Som had just had a baby boy, so went to visit on Saturday. Here is a photo of Som, her baby, her mother-in-law (Mae Lek) and a nephew and niece. They're sitting in a house that Som's husband has started to build for them next to Mae Lek's house. The floor and roof are done, but he had to put make-shift walls of tin on two sides for now. When compared to all the paraphernalia that we had to have when we had babies, they have next to nothing, but it certainly hasn't affected the amount of joy that a new born baby brings to a family!

Riding on God's back

2010-05-05T09:00:00.002+10:00

Whenever I go to either of our 2 slum communities I am greeted by several smiling little Thai faces calling out "kru fil ma laew ... khii lang, khii lang". Basically, what they are saying is "teacher Phil is here, can we ride on your back". Generally, these kids have no fathers, they live with their grandmothers or another relative and yearn for male attention and rough play. The only attention they normally get from adults is an aggressive hit over the head. So I respond to their plea by giving them a ride on my back. I pay for it the next day - most of the time with a sore and stiff back. I've come a long way from someone who (at times) couldn't walk because of my injured back, as a teenager I was told I needed an operation with at least 1 year's convalescence.

Check out the video below of a happy little 8 year old (called Jet) taken a year ago riding on my back. If the video doesn't load you can view it on my Youtube channel.

As we conclude our first term of service in Thailand it occurs to me that this is what we have been doing - we have been riding on our Father God's back. It is only Him who has kept us faithful during opposition. During this time He has established a ministry here in the urban slum communities. He has planted 2 cell churches to be a strong and faithful witness in these 2 communities. We have also seen people make commitments to follow Him as their Lord and Saviour. Let's not be under any illusion here - it was God alone who was preparing to do a work in Samut Prakan 3 years ago. We've just come here and have ridden on His back. Zechariah 4:6 confirms this when it says " .... not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord Almighty".

The video below shows a prayer time at the end of our cell church meeting in one of these slums. In this particular slum we started a small cell group (when we started a kids ministry) around 2 years ago with the only believer in this community. It is a huge blessing to see what God is doing as He "adds to the number those who are being saved" (Acts 2:47) and has raised up solid Thai leadership ..... no need for me to teach here anymore and we can feel thankful and 'blessed out of our boots' as we go on Home Assignment next month. Watch and enjoy what God has done :-)

Yes, riding on God's Back is the best thing we can do. What are you going to do in your life? I plead with you to choose to ride on God's Back - it is worth it, you get to see things from a HIGHER perspective, you get protected by the strongest back in the universe, you get to have fun !! However, it is a bumpy ride sometimes but I can testify it is worth it and I wouldn't exchange riding on His Back for anything else in this world !!! :-)

It's time .....

2010-04-21T11:00:00.001+10:00

We are drawing close to the end of our 1st term in Thailand and are now preparing to return to Australia in early June for 7 months. Over the month of May we will be making sure arrangements are in place for the ministry to continue over the June to January period and saying goodbye to our many friends here for 7 months.

April has been summer holidays in Thailand ..... schools have been closed and many of our friends have gone back to the rural provinces. So, over this last month we have interspersed holidays while continuing some ministry in the slum communities in which we work.

The joy of the Songkran festival - I'm on the left joining in on the water throwing

The annual Songkran festival was a real highlight with all our children joining us in Samut Prakan. But even better was the opportunity Jen & I had to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary - firstly, on our own, then with all our kids together. On both occasions we went to the sea, thanks to God's bountiful provision of a monetary gift. At this time, we do feel blessed by God's goodness to us - His provision of strength and energy during this hot season, His provision of 25 years of marriage partnership, and His provision of 3 wonderful adult children who love to follow the Living God. I feel in a good place as we conclude our first term of ministry in Thailand - God has done much to establish this ministry to the urban poor of Samut Prakan, we recognise His Hand in all things. What a joy it is to serve the Living God !!

Jen & I took the opportunity to thank God for 25 years and think toward the next ? years until death parts us

If you had seen the news you would realise that Thailand is in the middle of a political and economic crisis that has the potential to shake up the country significantly. We would ask that you please pray for the Thai people in this period of political uncertainty that their desire for peace and resolution would turn their attention to the Only One who binds the broken-hearted (our Lord Jesus Christ).

Cell church in the slum

2010-03-21T08:00:00.001+11:00

Just wanted to give you a 'small peek' into the cell group we run in Klong Da Nu slum community. Every Thursday we meet with 3 believers and are often joined by neighbours or other interested people who want to see what it is like to worship the Living God. Klong Da Nu is a community of around 700 people.

This video was taken last Thursday. If you have problems viewing the video here, you can also view it on my YouTube page at http://www.youtube.com/user/malonephil
along with other videos there.

This is very early stages of church planting in an urban slum community. After 18 months of working in this community we feel a part of it. God has used this time to build credibility for His Name amongst a people who are hurting from a range of issues in their lives and background. God has given many opportunities from these many friendships to share about the Good News. It is long and hard work, but a privilege to testify to the faithfulness of God in our our own lives.

Faces of Klong Da Nu Community

Please pray for us as we continue to work in this community on days when the temperature reaches 40 degrees with high humidity. You may notice in the video a wet towel around my neck (this is a necessity at this time of the year).

We are now in the midst of the lengthy Thai summer break when schools are closed and many return to their rural provinces for time with their wider families. It is also the Thai new year in a couple of weeks. So, from Monday 22 March we will be on holidays for around 4 weeks (which will include a conference with our mission agency in the middle of that time) and include a celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary with all our children. So, we probably won't blog again until late April :-) Happy new Thai year.

Some Challenges in Ministering to the Poor

2010-03-09T14:54:00.000+11:00

1 John 3:17 challenges us: "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?" This verse rings in my mind as I spend time in poor communities visiting friends from church, eating lunch with english students, chatting with people sitting along the path and building relationships.

I see one couple from church trying to rebuild their termite-eaten house one side at a time so they still have two walls and half a roof to sleep under for the several weeks it will take them since they don't have the money to hire help. The have been able to buy some timber and tiles with money they have saved up from her $8 a day 4 day a week job since he stopped drinking and she stopped gambling, but it has now run out. I should mention too that they look after her 10 year old grandson whose parents were both sent to jail on drugs charges and are now both dead, one from a disease, the other from capital punishment. My whole being wants to use funds donated by our friends around the world to give them all they need to have a decent home that will not fall down around them again in another year, as well as the money needed to request electricity connection to their house. As you read this you're probably thinking, well what's the problem, why don't you??

To put it simply, poverty is not just about lack of material things and so is not fixed by just giving material things. For example, we don't want to cause a dependence on charity, especially from foreigners, to replace a dependency on gambling, or worse, to take the place of a dependence on God. We have already agreed with our pastor that most of our giving should be done through the local church and are thankful for the wisdom he has shown in meeting the needs of the poor.

We did give an agreed amount through the church to the above family to buy good timber for the posts and tiles for the roof, and the men from the church helped with labouring one Sunday afternoon. It still is not the house of their dreams, as they had to use the corrugated iron from the old roof to make the walls until they're able to save up enough again to buy fibro for the walls.

Meanwhile, I'm still struggling with the questions of who to help, how best to help in a way that will bring people closer to God, and how much of my desire for people to think well of me is tied up in my desire to help. Most importantly, I'm learning that this community needs God's love even more than any material help we can give, as addressing their spiritual poverty will go a long way towards 'fixing' their material poverty, which brings me back to the verse I began with: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." (v16-18) And let us not love just with money, but with our whole lives. Isaiah 58:10 tells us to "spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry," not just to spend our money on them. There are so many other stories we could add to this one which show that our first response is not always the best, so please pray for Godly wisdom for us in everything we do.

Neighbourhood offering to monks

2010-02-23T08:00:00.001+11:00

Thailand is a country of festivals ..... never a month goes by and we see a festival of some description. Last month we witnessed a parade of monks coming through our area to give their new year blessing to the neighbourhood. Receiving this blessing from monks is very important to the Thai - from their perspective it will give them good fortune, protection from evil spirits and earn good merit - all part of a journey to earn their own salvation.

A neighbour prays over her offering for the monks

An official precedes the monk procession to collect a monetary offering from the neighbour

The procession of monks comes down the road calling into each house

Another neighbour shows respect while they receive blessing from a monk

All the 'goodies' collected are thrown into a ute accompanying the procession

Please pray with us for release for the Thai from the burden of making merit. We know that Jesus has made perfect merit for us that lasts for eternity and provides a free gift of salvation for all people.

The Challenges of Cross Cultural Discipleship

2010-02-06T16:38:00.005+11:00

We have been working with the kids in the slum community near our home for around 18 months now and were overjoyed to witness many of them pray to accept Jesus at our Christmas outreaches, as you may have read about previously. We have been even more overjoyed to observe in these weeks following, that some of them were really serious about the decision they made, and although they don't fully understand it, they are keen to learn more about becoming children of God.

Amidst the joys of following up some of these children and teenagers, it's also been quite a challenge and somewhat discouraging at times. These challenges include their haphazard attendance at our get togethers as they're often off staying at mum's place or visiting relatives in another community for the weekend, the distractions from younger children, their different world view and ingrained beliefs, as well as my feelings of inadequacy with the language barrier and the age barrier (I hardly ever worked with children in Australia!)

This morning we came to the question, are you confident you will go to heaven when you die? When they answered that they're not sure, it depends on how much good they do compared to how much bad, I realised how much their Buddhist world view is still ingrained in their thinking, despite the number of times they'd heard the Gospel. I was able to go over with them again the fact that we can never do enough good to get to heaven, that we need only trust in what Jesus has done for us...

There are two 13 year old girls in particular who I would love you to pray for. Their names are Bin and Wil. Please pray that God will continue to work in their hearts to bring them to a greater understanding of what He has done for them and of His love for them so that they will be able to pass it on to the younger children in their community, and so that the changes in their lives will be a witness to the adults as well. Praise God for His promise in the midst of my inadequacies: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor 12:9)

Wil on the right with one of her little neighbours

Bin in her community

A new year - God's work continues (part 2 of 2)

2010-01-24T13:00:00.001+11:00

Part 2 of "God's work continues" features a small selection of the fellow believers that we work with - Thai people who love Jesus and desire to make Him known to others that have little opportunity in life.

Our church - this is where we meet with some great people on Sundays

Probably one of my greatest joys in ministry in Thailand has been to connect with this fellowship of believers (known as Muang Samut Prakan Church). I am thoroughly blessed as we meet together to worship the Living God - frequently, I am overcome with tears at the goodness of God as we worship together in that simple building pictured above. They have helped us grow our worship in Thai and have partnered with us in every aspect of the ministry in which God has called us to do here in Samut Prakan.

Our friend and church pastor - Ajarn Chaiyut

Ajarn Chaiyut did his theological training in America, so he can speak English. However our friendship has been built with him using only Thai language. On the rare occasions when I preach (about 3-4 times a year), he translates into Thai for me as I am not confident enough to preach in Thai yet. He has a good understanding of the Bible himself and faithfully teaches and preaches God's Word. God used him to start this church around 12 years ago. It has since grown to now have somewhere between 70 and 90 regular attenders (including children). Every Tuesday morning for about 2-3 hours we meet with and pray with Ajarn Chaiyut as we work very closely on proclaiming Jesus in Samut Prakan and growing fellowships of believers in the many communities in which we work.

Mae Dukada - one of our "mothers" at church, aged 82 years

Mae Dukada speaks of renewed energy in her life since meeting Jesus for the 1st time only 3 years ago (at the ripe old age of 79). She lives a very simple lifestyle in a poor community but Jesus has provided everything she needs and she is satisfied with her new life in Christ. Last year she was attacked and robbed and suffered injury and bruising, but God protected her from losing her life. She says the only priority in her life now is to read God's Word and pray - God does everything else. She is a living example of God's faithfulness to the other older ladies in our church that come from poor communities. Praise God for Mae Dukada, we love her very much :-)

Jen with Jemoway in her house in the smaller slum community

Jemoway has worked with us for over 2 years now. She is full of the joy of the Lord despite having very little of her own things. She lives in one room that is her workroom (where she makes clothes), her kitchen and bedroom altogether ..... note the ironing board in the picture with a garment on it that she is making. Until recently Jemoway was the only believer in the smaller slum community in which we work (now, there are a few teenagers as well that Jen is discipling after the Christmas outreach). Every week in her room (pictured above) we have read God's Word together and prayed together for the establishment of God's church in her community. God is at work and the gates of hell cannot prevail against Him (see Matthew 16:18).

Please pray with us for these and others we work with who already know Jesus. Pray that we will encourage them to disciple the Thai church so that it grows into the next generation as a strong church that reaches the nation, the region of South East Asia and beyond.

A new year - God's work continues (part 1 of 2)

2010-01-10T13:00:00.002+11:00

I was reading Colossians 4 a few days ago and God drew my attention to the following in verse 18 "... see to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord". There are 2 very important truths here - firstly, God requires resolute faithfulness and obedience from me ("complete the work") and secondly, this ministry in the slums of Samut Prakan comes from God, belongs to God and is for His Glory ("the work you have received from the Lord"). So we are into a new year, and I have no idea what it will bring. God willing, the year can be divided into 2 parts - ministry in Samut Prakan up to early June, then Home Assignment in Australia for the rest of the year.

So, in this blog, let me introduce you to some typical people that we work with who don't know Jesus (next blog I'll introduce you to some people we work with who do know Jesus) .....

This is the Committee Chairperson who runs/governs the larger of the slum communities we work in.

God has enabled us to find favour with him while he has observed our Saturday work with the many children in his community. It was this relationship that paved the way for the Christmas outreach to be held in the central community area where somewhere between 400-500 people attended and heard about Jesus for the first time.

This lady also comes from the same community - we teach her English each Thursday and have a very good relationship that opens the door in sharing the Good news with her.

She helped us tirelessly with the Christmas outreach, providing sweets for the 300+ kids who turned up. She also cooks us something yummy each week and/or takes us out for lunch. We have many good conversations with her, but she is tied to the cycle of "doing good to receive good".

This 8-year old boy from the larger slum community has hung with us for a year now. He is slowly growing into a friendship with Jesus.

His name in Thai means "ant". He displays typical behavioural problems associated with a child who has been abandoned by their parents. As he learns to trust Jesus fully, I firmly believe God will bring the healing he needs to be a whole person. He is seen here at the Christmas outreach throwing down his ticket number which was not called out for a present because we ran out of presents.

This lady lives in the smaller slum community in which we work.

She makes pegs - 10 hours work for a mere $2. She is very needy and has the added responsibility of caring for her grandchildren who have been abandoned by their parents. She loves chats with Jen and stopped me in the street yesterday to tell me how much she has missed us over the last week or so when we were away. As we share the Good news with her we are reminded that Jesus loves her and wants to see her come to Himself.

I have just opened a small window to only 4 people who are fairly typical of those in Samut Prakan for whom Jesus died and cares for, but still don't know the saving Grace of a friendship with Jesus. Please pray with us over the next few months in Samut Prakan that God's work will continue for His Glory and that we will remain faithful as the temperatures soar to over 40 degrees (celcius) and humidity hovers around 90-100 per cent.

Encouragement of Christmas outreaches

2009-12-27T08:30:00.003+11:00

As another year draws to a close, I am conscious of many discouragements in this difficult land, yet also many encouragements. You know, if we go simply by feelings we will fail to walk along the path that God wants us in ..... I have certainly learnt that over this last year. God's call to win the Central Thai people group and the enormity of the task at hand has not changed. But who am I? a simple person who has fallen and being broken over many years - not capable of doing the task at hand on my own, but ever determined to follow my best friend Jesus in winning the lost, even if it means walking to the cross.

I have posted below some pictures of our Christmas outreaches held in 4 separate communities in the period 13-19 December. You can also see a short video of one of the outreaches by clicking on my Youtube channel on the right of this page. The encouragement of the Outreaches has reinforced to me the promise of God's faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22,23), which has completely overshadowed all discouragements of 2009. For those not on Facebook, this will be your first view of these pictures. Please look at them slowly, read the short descriptions and pray for the people you see ..... it may be their only chance to get snatched from the lake of fire that we read about in Jude verse 23. And on behalf of those people in the photos and from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for praying, I love you and appreciate you very much.

A 13 year old girl chooses to follow Jesus

The fulfillment of an ice-cream is nothing compared to the fulfillment that Jesus can give (as Jet is being exposed to)

Rays of sunlight beam onto children choosing Jesus

Jen & I with some of our kids we teach every Saturday... as they hold their Christmas gifts, we desperately want them to grow in the gift of Jesus for them

Sea of faces (adults and kids) wait to hear the Good News

The challenge of ongoing discipleship as many say yes to Jesus

Truly the harvest is ripe and the labourers are few. We are trying to put discipleship groups together to respond to the many who came forward to receive Jesus at the Christmas outreaches. The task is great .... Jesus has them in His Hands, but we need your help. Will you join in working with the movement of the Holy Spirit through Asia?

A warrior of the faith

2009-12-08T14:35:00.005+11:00

It is refreshing to meet Thais who love their people and have a burning desire to see their fellow Thai come to know the Living God. These people are true leaders who give and serve, even when they're feeling tired, for the sake of their own people. One such man is our friend Citichai. He loves Jesus greatly and works tirelessly to see Jesus become known amongst the Central Thai.

Here Citichai works with some kids from a slum community

Citichai is a happily married man aged 40 with 3 beautiful young kids. He works as the Assistant Pastor at our Thai church. However, life was not always happy for Citichai. He sold himself into drug addiction for 13 years, which took away many years of his life and plunged him into a life of hopelessness and poverty. However, Jesus rescued him 14 years ago and transformed him into the new man we know now.

We love Citichai, we laugh with him at his constant forgetfulness - a consequence of the long hard years of drug addiction - yet know that Jesus never forgets him and is with him every day in the tough battles God calls him to fight as a warrior. He understands the many addicts that live in our slum communities - having been rescued from this lifestyle.

He recently told us that now he has children (which take a lot of his energy) he gets up as late as 6.00am everyday to meet with God. I am not sure what time he used to get up, but even at 6.00am this is a real commitment that obviously results in an infectious love for Jesus.

Kids tend to be drawn to Citichai's infectious love for Jesus

Thai kids cling to Citichai because there is something different about him - maybe it is the transformed life and love that flows naturally from him as he walks daily with the Living God. There is nothing in terms of possessions that makes Citichai smile, he has very little. The car he drives (essential for his ministry) is VERY old and breaks down every day. One day he turned up late for a leaders meeting at church because his car broke down and then he had to catch a motorcycle-taxi during which time his glasses blew off and subsequently broke. A friend at church was quick to do some temporary soldering work so Citichai could see again :-) Citichai's wife must work full-time (although they have 3 young children under the age of 6) in order for them to be able to feed and clothe their children.

Although he has little in terms of material possessions, Citichai loves serving the Living God

This is an example of a new/first-generation Thai believer who we are working closely with in one of our slum communities. Please pray for Citichai that his infectious love would continue to touch his people and the schemes of the evil one would be ineffective against him.

Please also pray for us as we work with Citichai on Christmas outreach over the coming weeks.

When prayer offensive takes place opposition is certain

2009-11-29T01:00:00.001+11:00

Last week we were blessed by a group of Thai believers prayer walking with us one evening through our communities of ministry - the slum communities in which we work and the schools in which we teach. It was stirring prayer, in which we claimed territory for Jesus Christ, and in which we claimed the end of exploitation of human beings by the evil one. Also, I've been prayer walking through one of these communities almost weekly now for the last year and a half. One would think the job is done, right?

I'm afraid not. The very next day, Jen & I went as usual into one of these slum communities to teach the children, including opening God's Word together. However, this day we saw the greatest disruption we have had - with most kids being troublesome so that even the few that were interested could not have the opportunity to hear a story about the Lord Jesus.

Then last week both schools that we prayer-walked past contacted us to cancel our Christmas Day outreach (Note: Christmas Day is a normal working day here as it is considered a 'western festival' only and therefore is NOT a holiday). The reasons for cancelling seemed minor and irrelevant (i.e. an all-day 'teachers meeting' to close the school for the day, rescheduling of exams to take place on 25 December). This disappointment comes despite our excellent relationships with both schools and the credibility God has built up for us there over many years already.

I could slip into disappointment and depression about this, because it does tear my heart apart. But God has been speaking to me (no coincidence, of course) in Nehemiah chapters 1 and 2. After engaging in 4 months of prayer, Nehemiah sought the king's permission to rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem. Yet he faced ridicule and opposition. Further reading shows he pressed ahead in strength claiming the power of God over opposition. It seems to me that this is what I need to do in this circumstance - not to give up prayer-walking or serving in these communities, but to press ahead in the strength and authority that is available from the Living God through Jesus Christ my Lord.

Some of "our kids" in one of our communities

- they get an opportunity to hear God's Word every Saturday

Will you pray with us, please? , because when a prayer offensive takes place then opposition is always certain !!

An Attempt to Ease the Poverty Dilemma

2009-11-14T18:04:00.001+11:00

Last month we blogged on the poverty dilemma that we see every day in our local communities. As we have prayed and talked with people and brainstormed with our local pastor, an idea that we have had in the backs of minds for a while now, is beginning to look like becoming reality.

There are many women in the slum communities who are constantly trying to find ways of making enough money to live on. We wrote about Mae Gulaap who looks after a baby for the equivalent of $3 a day. Others sweep streets, clean toilets or collect recyclable rubbish from rubbish bins. Last week when I visited a friend, Pi Eew in her home, she was putting pegs together. For 10 hours of this menial work she receives the equivalent of $2.

At the same time, another friend, Pi Anong, has craft skills that she would love to share with people in her community but has not been able to get any support from her community leaders. Another friend at church is ready to teach women jewellery making skills in order to give them another option for earning an income. The only missing link is a viable market. This is where you could come in.

If after looking at the accompanying photos of jewellery and Anong's handbag, you have ideas for selling these products eg, in churches, coffee shops, at parties, please let me know, as we can't begin a project like this without being sure we can draw an income from it for the women.

A new fellowship birthed

2009-11-02T11:00:00.001+11:00

God blesses us with times when we come across some extraordinary people. Charlee is one of those. He is blind - the result of a fight some years ago. Subsequent to that, Charlee met Jesus. As a result, he loves the people in his community and has never wallowed in his plight of poverty and disadvantage (in Thailand there is no Government help for those who are stuck in poverty because of their circumstances). We came across Charlee last year when we served for some months teaching English in his community. Charlee started a cell church in his one-room dwelling (no bigger than 9 square metres). As the cell church began to grow it soon became apparent that the accommodation was inadequate .... so Charlee approached us for help to move to a bigger dwelling.

We then adopted this church as one of our financial projects. Thanks to the financial generosity of some of our friends in Australia this little cell church in the slum community now has a place to meet. To our knowledge it is the only church operating WITHIN a slum community in Samut Prakan. Samut Prakan is the city province in which we live - an industrial city housing most of Thailand's major industries, but also a city with large tracts of people living in poverty and sub-standard housing.

Outside the cell church building

Dom (standing) and Charlee leading a worship service

Sitting on the floor waiting for church to begin

Jen interacting with some of the kids, while Charlee tunes his guitar in the background

Some of the kids perform a dance of praise to God

Please pray for this community that the witness of faithful people like Charlee (who have very little) will continue to touch the people around him whom he loves.

English Camp at the beach

2009-10-20T14:20:00.001+11:00

Last week we ran our Annual English Camp with a local school from Samut Prakan. This represents the only opportunity these people get to hear the Good News that God had placed in our hearts. We travelled down to Rayong Beach. 90 kids attended, along with 10 Thai teachers and our team of 11 native English speakers (including Jen & I). By the way, I'm still not telling anyone that I failed English at school :-) Thankfully, I am married to a wonderful woman who not only has TESOL training but clearly knows what she is doing. Also, we were blessed with a great team of volunteers who came from Chiang Mai (Thailand), Sydney and Canberra (Australia). They gave their all and brought a variety of skills and gifts to the Camp (beyond English teaching) - they were a fantastic team :-)

The great group of volunteers who helped us run the Camp

Hot pink was the theme colour for teachers at this year's camp. Somehow, I don't think I will be wearing my hot pink shirt again - Jen tells me it doesn't suit me !!

This is a unique opportunity we have every October to continue to build relationships with this local school and share the Good News with those who come along to Camp. We are really thankful that every child got an opportunity to hear about Jesus - either through the 'Bible Story' activity or through our interactions with them. Also, we were blessed to have many opportunities to interact with the Thai teachers. These relationships allow us to hold an assembly in the school on Christmas Day to share the Good News story God has given us - yep, schools here are open as normal right through what Westerners know as the Christmas period.

Acting out a story about Jesus going to His friends in the storm

One of the 5 teams lining up for a photo on the beach

Outside games activity

As we plan to be in Australia this time next year, we are unable to run the Camp next October. This was burdening our hearts, yet we are hopeful that God may have provided already a team of people who can liaise with one of the Thai teachers and another worker here in Thailand to make sure the Camp still goes ahead next October.

Yet another opportunity that God provides here to testify about the God of all creation to a people group that has had previous little impact from the Good News.

The poverty dilemma

2009-10-07T14:15:00.002+11:00

I often ask myself the question here in Thailand .... why do people live in such poverty when so many are living comfortable lives? And then, how best can we help people who are often in dire physical need?

Let me share a story.... Mae GuLaap (translated 'Mother Rose') is a 70+ year old lady who must fend for herself in her simple dwelling made of wood and cast iron in one of the communities in which we work. She needs to earn income because social welfare is inadequate to keep her alive. She lives with two children who have been abandoned by their parents. Then she looks after many more each day in order to earn 100 baht per day (equivalent to around $A 3.40). These little children are left by their mothers because they must go off to earn whatever they can through selling food on the streets and work long hours (a 12 hour day selling food is not uncommon). The dilemma Mae GuLaap has is that (in case of 2 children previously) the mothers may not come back for their children and then she must take on more young ones in her permanent care. The picture below shows one of the children (a small baby) looked after by Mae GuLaap. This baby is left with her for around 12 hours each day for 7 days a week.

One of the children looked after by Mae GuLaap - a baby rocking to sleep outside Mae GuLaap's dwelling

Mae GuLaap has tremendous needs, yet her face oozes out the love of God with a smile that can only come from Jesus giving her strength. She is a member of our church. But she rarely gets to church because she must earn her income 7 days a week. This is the reality of living from day-to-day on the poverty line in a country where there is little social welfare and few people to help those in need.

Last week we took Mae GuLaap a huge bag of rice - her face lit up like she had won the lottery :-) . A practical way to help meet a need and it probably means she can feed the children who have been abandoned into her care during the next week.

Green stagnant water lays beneath these places all year round in one of our slum communities

As you can see in the picture above, a lot of care is undertaken to ensure the spirits reside in well elevated little dwellings that are clean and carefully maintained. People, on the other hand, reside in houses made of whatever materials can be slapped together. We would love to be able to help teach people the importance of a clean and safe environment. Also, there are huge opportunities here to help in community development (more specifically community health development), if we had the people skilled in this area.

But, daily we are faced with the dilemma of how to best help people in poverty .... handing out money is not wise because it grows dependence and breaks down community by showing favouritism, yet turning your back on valid needs is certainly not what Jesus would do. We are increasingly coming to the conclusion that one reason God has called us here is to share our blessings with people in need - through providing food and other practical assistance (such as helping to pay education fees for children). It is a dilemma - while financial dependence is not a good thing there is a need for assistance. This assistance must respond to specific needs (e.g. helping the elderly with food parcels, or, helping younger more-able people with the means to run their own businesses). That is, in the case of younger people, the old adage applies "if you give them a fish, they will eat for a day but if you teach them how to fish they will eat for a lifetime".

Above all, we have Good News about salvation. God calls us to share this Good News while we are being Christ to people in caring for them physically.

Finally, we must ask ourselves the question in all circumstances like these .... what would Jesus do?

Is this a future Thai leader?

2009-09-30T08:40:00.002+10:00

Every community has its leaders, whether by natural selection, by force, or by default. Even in a community of kids there are natural leaders who step up to the mark and lead their mates around. We see this with the kids we interact with in the communities we serve here in Thailand.

Let me introduce you to one of those ... his name is Jet and we think he is 8 years old. Many kids in our communities don't actually know how old they are because no one has told them when their birthday is. The number of kids we get to our kids' program on Thursdays and Saturdays can often depend entirely on how Jet feels that day. Let me share an example .... last Saturday, Jet said to me that he was not going to our Program of English teaching and games in the afternoon. And, so true to his word, he walked around telling others also not to go. His 'followers' promptly did what he said and didn't turn up. More on that later ....

Jet, like many kids we spend time with, is very needy without any male role model in his life. IF he is feeling OK he will grab hold of you and insist you give him all your attention and stops others receiving attention. Yet, on the other hand, he also takes a natural leadership position of organising the kids and trying to control them (whether they are older or younger) and many follow - out of respect or fear or wanting to be led, I really don't know why.

Mischievous Jet - but insisting on being up the front

Jet is very happy when he is in charge. But he is somewhat disruptive when he is being led.

Again, Jet making the 'statement' that he is the leader of 'the gang'

He doesn't go to school and spends his time either wandering around his slum community or playing and then is ready to boss others when they return home from the local school.

Jet refusing the challenge of a friend climbing to his 'height'

Most kids respect him and don't stand up to him, because he will be very forceful to get his own way.

Jet (on the right) trying to be cool, but he doesn't let his friends 'step out of line'

Anyway, back to last Saturday .... Jet finally decided (out of boredom, I think) that it was a good idea to join in with our kids' program at which time he stood with hands on his hip and yelled at the top of his voice for all the neighbourhood kids to come along as well. Those who didn't dare challenge his leadership prior to this time were now free to come and they all enjoyed our time together joining in with lots of fun games and activities. We had around 20 kids that day.

What do you think when I introduce you to Jet ? Possibilities can include ....

1. You may see his leadership qualities and the potential of a young man like this ?

2. You may think he is just a kid who misbehaves and wants his own way and should be disciplined ?

3. You may see that he is a kid with deep needs and deep wounds who has been rejected by potential adult role models who are too preoccupied by their own issues that stem from their extreme poverty ?

4. You may see that this child needs love and the care and leadership of Jesus in his life ?

I actually see the enormous leadership potential in Jet and want to provide care for him that eventually introduces him to my favourite leader - Jesus Christ. I have been encouraged by a friend in Australia to pray for Jet that one day he will become a servant leader of the emerging Thai church. Will you consider praying that with me?

My favourite leader is Jesus Christ because He showed how to lead people through servanthood. He never lords it over people but poured Himself out through His sacrificial death and continues to pour Himself out so His followers can be free. There is no better leader than Jesus - that is who we seek to serve and demonstrate to the communities in which we live.

Please pray that these natural leaders (like Jet) would choose the servanthood leadership of Jesus Christ and become natural servant leaders for their people in a way that revolutionises the Thai church.

The Communities in whch we work - part 3 of 3

2009-09-22T16:00:00.002+10:00

3rd in the series of communities in which we work, this blog features the neighbourhood in which we live. Our outreach activities in this community are concentrated on Fridays where we hold a club for kids and teenagers to learn English, and then teach English in our local government school.

The picture below shows a typical street in our neighbourhood. Vegetation grows quickly here in the hot humid climate and can typically overrun disused dwellings or vacant land.

Many locals in our community live in small high density dwellings - the picture below shows a poor housing block 1 minute walk from our place. By and large people will put whatever money they have into a vehicle (which is the status symbol in Thailand) and not into their dwelling.

Every Friday afternoon we open our house for kids and teenagers to come and learn English. The photo below shows a part of this group lining up for a game outside.

We normally get around 20 coming to join in games, songs and a Bible story - we use as many creative methods as possible to teach English while also sharing the Good News that is on our hearts.

Video - Jen sharing story about Jesus in our house

But before we hold this activity at our house, on Friday mornings we teach English at our local school. Last week we taught a Year 5/6 class of 55 kids. In the picture below Jen & I pose for a photo with some of the kids from lower grades. Many of these kids already know us as they live in Community No.1 which we featured in a blog a couple of weeks ago.

Please pray for this community in which we live that God would use us to be as light and salt to a people who have never heard of the Good News available to them from the Living God.

The Communities in which we work - part 2 of 3

2009-09-15T15:27:00.001+10:00

2nd in the series of communities in which we work, this blog features a larger slum community but with the same sorts of issues as the first one. Normally, we get into a 'songtaew' and travel for about 10 minutes to be there on 2 days per week.

In this community we teach adults on one day and then on another day we hold a program for kids and attend an adult cell church in the home of one of the believers.

Picture 1 - adults learn English at slum community no.2

At this stage, we are building relationships with these and other adults and use every opportunity to testify to the Hope and Restoration that we have through Jesus. In contrast to other English classes, we do not use God's Word in this class to teach English but just use a range of other materials. Each week God gives us greater insight into the needs of these people.

Then on another day we hold a program for kids and gather in a large central community meeting place, which we have done for about 3-4 months now. This has found favour with the Committee that runs the Community as well as the range of other adults who sit around to listen and observe our English class. Our Thai church has just begun to help us in this activity. Over the last few weeks we have slowly begun to introduce our Great God in many songs we do with the kids.

Picture 2 - some of the kids sit in groups to play 'animal bingo'

Picture 3 - Phil x 2 ... here, I piggyback one of our kids whose name is Phil

In contrast to other slum communities we have been exposed to, our kids program here is predominantly full of boys (normally in other places, we get to interact with more girls in a class). On an average day we will get anything from 15 to 25 boys attending and around 1-2 girls. The boys have the same heartbreaking issues as in other communities - no male role models and mostly looked after by grandparents because the parents have abandoned them. Their poverty stems from the fact that their carers are therefore too old to earn sufficient income to care for them .... and so the cycle of poverty continues for kids in this community. Their choices are limited in breaking out of this and we pray against and want to protect them from making damaging choices.

Picture 4 - our dear friend who cooks for us and provides us with drink in the hot humid climate

God has provided this lady to care for us when we serve in her community. While we teach adults and kids, she provides drink and food for us (paid by the local Government Committee that administer the Community). In her mind, she is serving us because we serve her community and she is 'earning merit' by helping people (us) who help others. We have, however, explained to her about the love of God that compels us to serve.

Lastly, in this community we take part in a small cell church of around 6 adults. The believers are mostly elderly women who have been in poverty all their lives and now have the care of their grandchildren as their priority. It breaks my heart to enter this small wooden house at the end of the path of other rundown shacks. We sit on the hard wooden floor, for around 2 hours, in the only room left in this lady's house where the electricity stills works. We sing praise to God, share testimony and read from the Word of God together. We celebrate God's Goodness to us and pray for sustenance to get through the next week and opportunities to testify about our mutual friend Jesus Christ.

Picture 5 - our cell church (picture 1 of 2) in this community

Picture 6 - our cell church (picture 2 of 2) in this community - elderly lady on left gets paid 100 baht ($3) per day to look after local kids

Interested to hear any comments you may have on this community ....

New videos out

2009-09-13T18:19:00.002+10:00

Hi all our readers,

I have uploaded 2 new videos of worship this morning. You can check them out by clicking on the 2 videos highest up in the YouTube bar on the right-hand-side of this page.... enjoy :-)

This week I will be posting the next blog featuring another community in which we work.

The Communities in which we work - part 1 of 3

2009-09-06T18:31:00.027+10:00

Over the course of the next few weeks, I will be posting 3 blogs - one for each of the 3 communities in which we work in order to introduce these places to you (our readers). So, today is the first - a slum community 5 minutes walk from our home.

First, click on the video below, showing me mucking around with some of the kids from this community (if it doesn't work then click on the video on the YouTube bar on the right of this page) ....

We have been working in this community for close to 12 months now, being with them on 2 days per week to teach the kids English, play games with the kids and meet as a small church cell in the house of the only believer in the community. My heart melts when I am with these people - their needs are great and I know I cannot possibly meet these needs adequately. We attempt to be as Christ to them, loving them, caring for them and then loving them some more.

I invite you to scroll through some pictures before I continue describing some needs in this community (which comes after the pictures). As you scroll through the pictures, please keep the following in mind .....
Picture 1 - pray for these 4 little guys that they would be future leaders of the Thai church (their names are: Ny, Jet, Diaw, Bear) - they are all without male role models,

Pictures 2 & 3 - pray that in our mucking around they will continue to trust us and the advice we give them as they grow into adults,

Picture 4 - pray we will be as Christ to them, caring and loving them as we would our own.

The purpose of hanging in there with the kids is to give them an opportunity to hear about Jesus and to provide assistance to help them get out of the poverty cycle, which is so destructive. The male-role models they have are largely men who drink to excess and rely on getting high with drugs. These are behaviours you can understand when you see the cycle of hopelessness they are in. We are seeking in the future to reach out in love to these adults as well. God has provided some relationships with the adults already. Yet, it breaks my heart when the boys crave my attention and affection because they just don't get it anywhere else. This 'craving need', stemming from lack of attention, makes them highly vulnerable to all types of dangers from the wider urban community.

Now lastly, I present 2 more videos of our activities with the kids in our local slum community. Video 1 shows us playing 'animal bingo' (a creative way to teach English), while Video 2 shows Jen telling a Bible story in Thai. Hopefully, it gives you a taste of just some of the things that go on, although every week is very different presenting a new set of challenges. (Again, if clicking on the videos here doesn't work, then just click on them on the YouTube bar at the rightside of this page.) If you like this blog then please drop us a message after the videos below.

Playing 'Animal Bingo' to teach English vocab. ....

Jen telling a Bible Story in Thai, while I deal with another challenge...

Back into Action

2009-09-02T13:43:00.007+10:00

After an emotional and joyful time being a part of our daughter getting married in Chiang Rai, we had extended family with us for another week. Now, everyone is gone and we are back into action. God is good - He is building His groups of believers and nothing can stand against it.

I observe what God told David in I Chron.17 "You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in. I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt to this day". God tells me again to not look for my own solution in extending His Kingdom - my responsibility is to serve Him and see what He does in building His groups of believers. I am truly in the best possible place that God has for me at this time in my life - there is nothing better in life than to be serving God (who does the impossible) and to see Him blossoming through my dear children.

If you are reading this blog and unsure of your own relationship with God, please trust Him now before it is too late and more time is wasted. He has great plans for everyone, who trusts in His direction.

Please take some time to pray for these dear kids from the urban slums that we hang with, as well as the adults who have little hope.

As Our Daughter Gets Married

2009-08-13T19:58:00.000+10:00

Many of you will know that our beautiful daughter - Karis - is getting married on Saturday 22 August. Below are a brief collection of SOME of my thoughts at this time of reflection, which you will see is a culmination of 30 years of blessing from God.

Karis is almost 20 years old, very young yes .... but shows her maturity in making a decision that changes the rest of her life. She will marry a young man (around 9 years older) who is passionate about winning his people (the Isaan of North East Thailand) to the saving Grace of Jesus. Karis and Noom will begin a new partnership that we pray will make a lasting impact in the Kingdom of God amongst the needy Isaan people.

About 30 years ago, God convicted me (5-6 years before I was married) to begin praying for my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, that He would pour out His Spirit on my offspring and blessing on my descendants to the 3rd and 4th generation (Isaiah 44:3,4). He burdened me to pray daily for this and to this day I cannot rest unless I have prayed that day for my offspring. God has built in me a desperate heart for my children ..... that's why, as we follow God's Call to the Central Thai people, that separation from the two eldest (Tim and Karis) over these last 2 years has felt like it has 'ripped my guts out'. I will die for my kids and want the very best for them.

Therefore, the upcoming wedding is a huge blessing and a huge honour for me to walk down the aisle with my 2nd favourite woman in the world. As I reflect on this today, my heart weeps (in unspeakable joy !!!) with the memories I have of my dear daughter growing to be the genuine Godly woman I know today. I remember the countless joys, the laughs, the fun times of fooling around (how this kept me younger for so long) and also the struggles of fathering a young girl who was yearning to be a woman. I look at her now and know that God has truly blessed her and is pleased with her desire to follow Him with all her heart, soul and mind.

I made many mistakes as a father and did some foolish things. But, my Heavenly Father compensated in His Grace and gifted us as a family with commitment, love and acceptance, and radical hearts to please God no matter the cost. My daughter, Karis, is now a testimony of this unfailing Grace of God. As of 22 August, our family will never be the same again .... we move on in another stage of this exciting life journey .... and another step toward the ultimate blessing (God willing) of seeing Godly influence to the 3rd and 4th generations. There is nothing else better in life than this - money or wealth cannot buy this joy and fulfillment :-) Below are some pictures as I remember Karis today preparing for marriage ......

Pictures 1 & 2 - Karis caring for her siblings in the snow and fooling around with autumn leaves

Picture 3 - Karis as a flower girl at Aunty Red's wedding

Picture 4 - Karis ready for her 1st school formal

Picture 5 - I get to baptise Karis

Picture 6 - Me with Karis in a challenging time

Picture 7 - Karis with Noom

Karis - I entrust you to this man for the rest of your life.

NOTE: I am unlikely to blog in the next few weeks because of the preparations for the wedding and then family visitors in the week after the wedding. So will probaby blog again by early September. In the meantime, watch out for wedding pictures on Facebook. You can also check our Facebook pages for daily status on our lives here in Thailand. Thank you for your support.

New Malones in Thailand site - open NOW

2009-08-13T19:36:00.001+10:00

Welcome to the new Malones in Thailands blog site. Unfortunately, the old site (www.malones.id.au) has become too cumbersome and too loaded with many software problems. This meant that even creating a blog would take several hours and then uploading pictures would only sometimes work. The software problems also meant that bugs were creeping into each blog and randomly changing sizes of pictures and randomly deleting text. So, enough of the old problems ... let's move on and welcome to the new site.

Please make sure this address : http://malones-in-thailand.blogspot.com/ is bookmarked on your computer so it is easy to find when you want it :-)

I will progressively make changes which improve this site when I have more time. But for now, I just wanted to get it going because the software associated with the old site wouldn't allow me today to publish my latest blog. That comes next .....