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 :-)

Reaching the poor - Isaan strategy

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 ....

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

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 :-)

Good news story

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

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

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.

House Hunting - A Cultural Lesson in this Oral Society

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.

Exciting Opportunities in Samut Prakan

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

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.

Settling back into Australia

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. :-)

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 !!! :-)

Neighbourhood offering to monks

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.

Encouragement of Christmas outreaches

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?

When prayer offensive takes place opposition is certain

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 !!

The poverty dilemma

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?

The Communities in whch we work - part 3 of 3

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

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 ....

The Communities in which we work - part 1 of 3

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...