It Takes a Team

For the past two weeks, a team from Heritage Bible Church has been helping us with outreach programs in Chachoengsao.

The Heritage Bible Church Team at Bethel Church

They have gone into two schools to teach English using fun and games and have put on VBS programs in two different communities.  It was the first time for MB Mission and Bethel Church to do an outreach in one of the communities and it looks like it may lead to the beginning of a regular kids club.

The team had many opportunities to share the gospel, and several children and at least one adult decided they wanted to get rid of their bad karma (which is the Thai way of referring to sin) by the blood Jesus.  We also made a connection with a believer who is new in the faith and would like to be in a discipleship relationship with another believer.

One of the greatest things this team did was to hang out with and hug kids, many of whom come from broken homes where there is not a lot of love to be had.  My heart breaks for many of these kids and I’m glad that these children were able to receive some loving attention, even if only for a brief while.

Bri giving some attentio to someone in need

The team also helped us build some bridges with two schools in the area.  One of those schools does not get a lot of attention from the outside world.  It also happens to be where many of the children from our neighborhood go who cannot afford to go to private school.

Talad Pak Khlong Cao School

Khlon Cao School

Thanks to Heritage Bible Church for sending this great group of people to come and love on our neighbors and share with them the even greater love that is found in Jesus Christ.

But this team, like us, could not do what they did by themselves.

The more obvious team members that were involved were members of our Missionary Team here in Chachoengsao: Dave, Louise and Sandy.

Then there were members of the Bethel Church that played critical roles in all this, most notably Ajan Naat, Phi Chin, Knot and Kaew.

Beyond that there are somewhat less visible members of our team-those folks in our home offices in Canada, Fresno and our local offices in Chonburi and Chachoengsao that make it possible for us to be here.

Then there are the almost invisible members of our team: those individuals and churches in the US and Canada that pray for the work here and give financially to help make it happen.
It is great to be a part of the body of Christ, and when we all work together in our various roles, great things can happen.

¹⁴ Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.
¹⁵ If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.
¹⁶ And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.
¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
¹⁸ But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be?
²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!"
²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,
²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it,
²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.
²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
1 Corinthians 12:14-27 (NIV)

Lost in Translation

Satar Lite sign 2
Originally uploaded by SierraSunrise

In Thailand, it is not unusual for intersections to have names. It is only recently that I noticed the sign at a particular 3 way intersection we frequently pass--usually I am too occupied with watching out for traffic (if I am moving) or the sign is blocked by big trucks (if I am stopped).

I first noticed the Latin script text of the sign. I quickly assumed it must be a name of foreign origin because there were two sounds represented that the Thai language doesn't have--a final "r" sound, and a long "i" sound followed by a final t.

So I looked at the Thai to try to figure it out:

สตาร์ ไลท์

Sounding out the Thai letters, I came up with (using letters that represent approximate American English sounds):

sahtah lie (as in the English word "lie")

figuring in the unpronounced Thai letters (which are used frequently in words borrowed from other languages and often represented with a ์ symbol), I came up with:

satar lite (as the sign reads)

Then, I applied a little bit of mental processing, I came up with:

starlight

Which I later learned was the name of a factory located near the intersection.

It is quite common in Thailand to see signs representing English words written in Thai script. Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to figure them out. Sometimes I never do get it--at least not in the limited time I have while driving past a road sign.

I remember one of my language instructors joking to me: "you're the only American in this class and you have the hardest time reading English."

Isn't it so much easier when things are presented to us in a way we can understand? It is why we work so hard at learning the Thai language--in order that we can communicate with the Thai people--through words as well as actions--how much God loves them.

It is why God sent Jesus to earth--in order that God could communicate though the life and teachings of Jesus the things He wants us to know about Him and what our response to God should be.

As Jesus said:
Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." --John 10:37-38 (NIV)

And as Paul later adds:
For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand.--2 Corinthians 1:13 (NIV)

How thankful I am that we have a God that wants to communicate with us and who went to great lengths to do so.  I'm thankful that so many who went before us went to great effort to preserve the actions of God in world and the record of the words of God's prophets and especially Jesus.