Online Dating

Whenever I hear people talking about the dating scene these days, it seems that so many people meet their significant others though online dating sites or other online activities. For someone my age, this system can be hard to understand.

Except that I met my wife this way as well.

Kind of.

Back in the early Late 1970's and  early 1980's there wasn't an internet to speak of, at least not like what we think of these days. But we did have computers. I know, hard to believe that dinosaurs coexisted with computers. Just a few days after I graduated, I attended the Urbana missions conference. Included with our conference admission was a job search through and organization called InterCristo. InterCristo was an organization that did computer matches of people looking to work in Christian ministry with organizations looking for workers. (InterCristo has since been acquired by Salem Web Network which runs the Christianjobs.com website.)

What was nice about this is that many of the organizations in out InterCristo report had booths at the conference, so that we could meet with representatives of different organizations. One of the organizations on the list was called Emmanuel International. I talked with some of their reps at the site. A few weeks later, someone from that organization was in Massachusetts, so I went to chat with them more. I applied to Emmanuel International and was accepted, so that fall I ended up at their office and training facility in Ontario. While I was hanging out there, a day or so before the training was to begin, Ingrid walked in the door.

(Ingrid's route there was a bit different. She had met representatives of Emmanuel International at a missions conference at a Bible school.)

And the rest is history. I met my wife through a computer matching service—though we never really dated. And they did a good job, because we're still together and like being together. Technology may have changed, but our love remains the same.

Emmanuel International Office in Ontario

That all nations might believe and obey...

About 35 years ago I was sitting in the arena at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign surrounded by about 17,000 people who were followers of Jesus. It was the largest gathering of any kind that I had ever attended and was a test of my wits (as I start to get more and more withdrawn as a group exceeds a size of about 8 people).

I wasn't exactly sure why I was at the Urbana 76 missions conference.  But I do know that it drastically altered the course of my life.

The theme of the conference was That All Nations Might Believe and Obey.

It was through this conference that I hooked up with an organization called Emmanuel International though which I went overseas for the first time and though which I met my beautiful wife of now 31+ years.

I can't say I remember much about the speakers either, except for two.

John Stott led us through an expositional study of the first few chapters of Romans talking about the word "justification".  I always remembered the catchy way he defined it: God's righteous way of righteousing the unrighteous.  That middle word confounds the dictionaries a bit, but it is also hard to forget.

The other speaker I remember is Elisabeth Elliot, who passed away yesterday.

Two things particularly stick with me.

First, to illustrate a point she was making, she quoted a poem by a missionary to India named Amy Carmichael.  And she recited the poem in a very beautiful and memorable way.

     From prayer that asks that I may be
     Sheltered from winds that beat on Thee,
     From fearing when I should aspire,
     From faltering when I should climb higher
     From silken self, O Captain, free
     Thy soldier who would follow Thee.

     From subtle love of softening things,
     From easy choices, weakenings,
     (Not thus are spirits fortified,
     Not this way went the Crucified)
     From all that dims Thy Calvary
     O Lamb of God, deliver me.

     Give me the love that leads the way,
     The faith that nothing can dismay
     The hope no disappointments tire,
     The passion that will burn like fire;
     Let me not sink to be a clod;
     Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.

The second thing that stood out to me was her story.  It wasn't the story of her initial move to Ecuador which resulted in the martyrdom of her husband the the husbands of her teammates.  The lives of these men was a testimony to their profound commitment to Jesus and the exceedingly good news he brought to mankind.

No, to me the truly amazing thing is that she went back.

SHE WENT BACK!

HOW COULD SHE DO THAT?

She went back to those who killed he husband because she knew that they killed him in ignorance.

She went back to those who killed her husband because she knew that as awful a thing it was that they killed her second love, Jim; her first love, Jesus, still loved them.

She went back because Jesus helped her to forgive them.

Her testimony that night 35 years ago had a profound impact on me.  I listened to it over again many times on my cassette player.  I would read and re-read it in the syllabus we received.

My power to forgive has been tested--but never quite that much.

My power to forgive is currently being tested, and sometimes I find it a hard thing to do.

But I remember how much Jesus loved me--enough to forgive me over and over again for the stupid things I do that dishonor His name.

Thank you, Elisabeth Elliot, for sharing your testimony.  For helping me to know about how powerful a thing forgiveness can be.

Elisabeth Elliot 1926-2015
image:www.elisabethelliot.org

In Season

June is the saddest month of the year here in Central Thailand.  That’s because June marks the end of mango season.

I don’t have many favorites in my life.
I have no favorite color
no favorite song
no favorite food
no favorite movie
no favorite sport
etc.

But I DO have a favorite person (my wife)
AND a favorite fruit (mango).  My wife’s favorite fruit is mango as well.

We sometimes joke that we moved to Thailand because of the mangos.




But the good news is that June is the beginning of longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour. ลำไย) season

Longans are usually sold in bunches like this

Insides and seed of longan

What's left after eating

We never had eaten longan before we came to Thailand, but it is probably now the second favorite fruit for both of us.  But soon even it’s season will be over.

In the US we would sometimes be almost unaware of the cyclical nature of fruit harvest because in the grocery store you can get just about anything at any time of year due to the ability to transport fruit over great distances and store the harvested fruit while maintaining a reasonable quality.

But here in Thailand where we tend to buy our fruit in open markets, we tend to be more aware of the seasons of harvest.  And we adapt our fruit eating habits to whatever is in season.  (Though certain fruits are available all year long: banana, pineapple, papaya and watermelon.)

There is a seasonal nature to our work here in Thailand as well-even tough we are not involved in Agricultural production.  Paul alludes to the cyclical nature of our kind of work in 1 Corinthians 3:6 (ESV):

   I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

We spend a lot of time planting and watering, so to speak, and aren’t always sure what the harvest will look like or if we will even be around for it.  Sometimes we get to harvest what others have planted.

Sometimes we think there is a crop coming along fine but then a storm comes up and beats the crop down.  I think of one person in our community who indicated a desire to follow Christ back in December.  But then some temptations came up and he succumbed to the temptation.  Now he seems too ashamed to be around us any more.

But while it is our responsibility to be faithful laborers. it is God who brings about the growth.  We don’t control that aspect of it.

So on one day my “sowing” might be holding a child whose parents are in prison and is pretty much neglected by his relatives.  It might be years before he can understand more fully the message of God’s love—what it means for God to send His Son and for His Son to take upon himself the sins of the whole world.

On another day I might be watering-teaching a young believer about the Bible and what certain scriptures mean to his life.

On perhaps another day we might enjoy a bit of harvest—praying with someone who is responding to the message of God’s love.

We plant.  We water.  We pray for God to make the crop grow.  And we bring in the harvest.
Like eating the seasonal fruit, we learn to enjoy each “fruit” in its season:

We enjoy planting in planting season
We enjoy watering in watering season
and we enjoy reaping in harvest season
And there’s always room for more laborers in the field.

 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Matthew 9:38 (NIV)

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)

Juan

Am I back in California?

We had just finished an outreach program at a Children’s Day celebration at a park in Ban Phrueksa.  Louise and the TREK team kept children occupied with games and crafts and singing along with a presentation of the gospel.

Afterwards, a young fellow came up whose name is Juan.  At least, that was my first thought.  Then reality hit that this was not California and the boy's name was more likely “Day” (Wan) than “John”  (Juan) (translating from Thai instead of Spanish), but I had not heard that name before, so it caught me by surprise.

Wan had bene watching our presentation and was interested in what he saw.  He expressed interest in learning to play an instrument, perhaps guitar.  We chatted a bit and then he helped load all of our stuff into my truck and later helped unload it at our house.  I thought perhaps I might next see him for guitar instruction on Saturday.

Once we got organized, the TREK team, Louise, Ingrid and myself got into my pickup and headed off to Bethel Church.  Several people had to sit in the back of the pickup (at least there is AC in the camper shell).  When we got to the church and everyone spilled out of the back I saw, to my surprise, that Wan had come along as well.

Wan (left) prays to receive Jesus into his life

We made our way to the church, arriving just as the sermon was about to begin.  Ajan Nat was preaching.  One of the verses she shared was 2 Corinthians 5:17--where Paul writes that if anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation.

After preaching, Nat asked it there were any who would like to trust Jesus as their Savior, and so become a new creation.  Wan, along with another first time guest (read Danae’s blog for that amazing story) went forward.
 
And so se welcome Wan into the family of God and pray that he will persevere and become active in the house church that will be starting here next week.

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17--NLT)

Terryville Tunnel

Not far from where I used to live, there is a mile-long train tunnel called the Terryville Tunnel.


One night when I was a teenager, some friends and myself decided to go visit the tunnel.  It was quite dark, no lights anywhere around.  We entered the tunnel with our flashlights and walked to about the halfway point—which we estimated by when the dark gray openings (which we could barely see) on either end of the tunnel were about the same size.  It was a strange feeling to be in such a dark place where the light was not much brighter than the dark.  Kind of like this image I made here—see if you can even see the light colored spot.

Last night I wake up and was not able to sleep for a bit.  So I decided to pray for Isaan, that part of Thailand where we may one day bring the light of the good news of Jesus.  As I prayed, the image of our night-time visit to the tunnel came to mind.  This is a part of the Thailand where in most places no one has heard the the name of Jesus and in in a few places there are only a handful that have found hope in Him.  It is a dark place where even the bright places aren’t very bright. This makes me think of the words of Jesus, “If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” Matthew 6:23 (ESV)

How grateful we are that God provided a way out of darkness: the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned (Matthew 4:16-ESV)