Getting on board for the journey

No matter what stage we are at in life, we are travelling on a journey ... a journey that hopefully the Living God is directing us on. Life is short and uncertain, so it is wise to ensure our journey is God's best for us. We can discern God's best by listening to Him and seeking His Heart. In this we can be assured that He has awesome plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11-13).

Our journey at this point in time has us training leaders in the new church plant in our local slum community. Like any journey it is quite challenging - trying to understand people's nuances when they speak which are often immersed in culture that is still 'foreign' to us. Also, there is challenge in knowing how best to train these humble people .... we definitely don't train in the same way we would in Australia. We need to fit into their culture and relate and serve them in the best way for them to understand. So, I ask you to "get on board" this journey with us by praying for wisdom, resilience and faithfulness on our part.

Image 1: A Thai Family on a journey together in Samut Prakan

We have been on the Leadership Development phase of this journey for at least 3-4 months already. Like the Thai family in Image 1 above, the journey has sometimes being a little uncomfortable as we try to fit together and meet their needs. It is our role to serve these new leaders who have only been followers of Christ for around 1-2 years. Please pray we remain faithful and obedient in this Leadership Development phase and that they continue to grow in caring for one another and reaching out to the communities around them.

As we listen carefully to God we believe the next stage of our journey is taking us to the Isaan Region of North East Thailand, where around 22 million people live - most of whom have not heard about the Good News. God is preparing the way for this journey with many details being worked out before our very eyes - even before we ask for them!

Image 2: A group of friends on a journey down an Ubon Ratchathani city street

Like the people grouping together on a journey in Image 2 above, we desire to serve WITH Isaan people and others that God chooses to bring alongside us in Ubon Ratchathani and the surrounding provinces of Si Saket, Surin and Kalasin. Please pray the path ahead would be clear (like it is for the truck in Image 2) and that many would join us to go on this journey together. Again - a reminder - praying with us means you are on this journey with us to reach the unreached. Be encouraged because God will bless your partnership as we "travel" together :-)

Moving on in tears ....

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.

Riding on God's back

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 !!! :-)

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

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 warrior of the faith

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.

Is this a future Thai leader?

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.