Saturday

Today we just hung out, not a whole lot done, other than believers hanging out, talking, and living life.  Somedays are like that, I'm always wired to see something unusual and great, but sometimes it's just life.

I was able to scan a discipleship manual and put it into a format that I can send to many people who choose to ask Jesus to be their Lord and Savior from eternal condemnation.  Several people wisely choose to follow the Lord because of His kindness, and because of His benefits, and because He saved us so that if we just truly believe and ask Him to save us, it is done...it was paid in full on the cross.  But it's interesting to me to see what happens to those people we share with and see what happens with them.  Sometimes it's just fantastic, because you'll see growth, transformation, and healing.  Other times you just see the people continue to live good, decent lives, but yet when you ask, there's no depth in relationship they have with the Lord....they haven't yet heard His voice, haven't experienced Him in a fashion real enough that they can talk of Him and what He is doing...just a good, decent life, but nothing that stands out that demonstrates He truly is in their lives.  Whether these people realize or not that the Lord is going to keep His promise, you always want to see people have an abundant life (not filled with stuff kind of abundance, but filled with the joy, gratefulness, hope, peace, love, and testimony of what the Lord has done...born again kind of stuff that demonstrates the new life God promises for anyone who is born again of the Spirit (John 3:3). 

That being said, I realize all the years that have gone by when I really didn't push hard beyond a handful of gentle urges for folks to really pursue being a DISCIPLE...a follower, one who LEARNS of the Lord.  The Great Commision of Matt 28, Jesus says "Go and preach the Gospel and make disciples (followers/students)  to every nation, baptizing them in name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded, and Lo I am with you to the end of the Age. 

I realize through this experience here in thailand you can't assume your friends or the people you meet will find a good church and make the decision to go there, w/o being influenced by their circumstances and relative lack of faith to make the necessary changes to allow God to nourish them spiritually.  Jesus warns of how the cares of this world, and the devil will steal those good seeds away from the hearts of many. 

So we took the discipleship manual that Tammy and I went through, that speaks of 9 different topics regarding the Christ Centered Life, made scanned copies for email, and sent them to a handful of friends who God brought to our attention who have accepted the Lord as their savior, but could use a lot of help in terms of learning the Word, and therefore not being ignorant of who the Lord is, what He promises us, and also worshipping him by meditating on who He is, and speaking to Him through prayer....because of their lack of knowledge of "how to".

It took me a long time to deal with the incomplete work done by the university, who I paid $7 to scan 110+ pages.  But now it's done, and I can reuse this over and over again.

Today we had band practice.  I didn't enjoy it as much because it was hard for me to follow the songs written in thai, w/o me having my own copy to write notes, and because I typically follow the lead of the lead guitarist, but the songs were getting him mixed up too.  I also like to know what they are singing so i can have my heart in the right place at the time...but today I was just in a funk.  Tomorrow I hope to be able to play and be of some use in the band, as we worship, otherwise I probably just want to sit down and pray during the music instead of being a dork.

Thanks for praying for Tae's ministry.  Great news is that he is going to get a really awesome radio tower with high power, and the church foundation is going to donate to his church the 20,000 baht (divide that by 30 to get the US$ amount)  for this beacon which will share the Gospel all over Ao Udom/Chon Buri.  This will be a vast improvement over the tower used right now, which has decent range for a local, unregulated station like he has, but now the quality and range will be outstanding.  We were all over Phuket island the other day, and the range through the mountains and to the opposite ends of the island for the christian radio station which Tae's friend set up (Chai) was impressive.  Now Tae will get a tower from Chai that is even 2 times the size of the tower in Phuket!!!! Wow!!! and the Lord has provided.

We met up with Ajan Steve, the english teacher from Korea via Chicago, USA.  He's back now.  No students arrived today, so we chatted with Grace, Tammy, Tae, etc.  He encouraged us that many good things are happening, and though we may not see it or understand it in terms of the language barrier within the church, many people are affected dramatically by us just being here.  But I can see a lot of good already, and especially regarding the water side of the business here.  I wish it didn't take so long though.  But I know the development work I hope to see before February in November and January / February here will help me professionally.  The period of consultation I will receive from the 2 experts I've met so far will be very valuable info for me professionally. 

I also know that if we can help Tae fundraise more for the land the church cares to purchase and build upon in Bowin will be a major milestone, along with the water system which is currently in the works. 

I also had a glimpse of how the Lord will use everyone's talents, and how it all fits together.  Ajan (teacher) Steve takes pride in how well Pastor Tae has learned english, and I realize w/o Steve's faithfulness and resolve to stay the course and teach english, instead of dabbling here and there and everywhere, then maybe Tae has no understanding of English, and therefore we would not have been able to come here and communicate.  It was perfect timing, as far as I'm concerned.  It's crazy timing regarding my involvement with Hydranautics, the connections with Rose, and eventually having Rose direct us to Tae and Fang who need the water equipment, who started the vision for the water supply literally months before Tammy and I came.  And it's crazy timing that we met Steve Pumara yesterday, the expert who helped develop dozens and dozens of water projects over thailand yesterday, who can help Tae and Jongyoot (the builder) for free. 

I really have no idea how God can orchestrate such complex matters amongst people with free will.  A part of me is a bit saddened by how short lived some great things orchestrated could last...for whatever reason....maybe free will.  I went to Poipet and found out the 2 ladies who were helping with the No Fear distribution of the shorts fabricated by the Hope Center didn't go far enough...now they are doing scarfes.  The ladies were a bit distracted by some other businesses, and No Fear was slow to pounce on the great opportunity given them.  The Taekwondo classes the Canadian missionary did worked great for a season, but the flood times caused some hiccups and so that ministry lasted for a time, but now is done. 

Other things last, last, and last.  Such as the orphanages that continue to take care, and have faithful servants giving their time and treasure over the years.  I once met a man in carlsbad, by the water plant, who helped build the orphanage over several months, adding concrete foundations/slabs/paving, and framing buildings.  That building continues to shelter kids today, and he worked on that 10 years ago. 
I hope that the things Tammy and I put our time and effort in also bear much fruit that last throughout the years here....especially in the people.  We hope those people we met, planted seeds with, are forever changed, just as we have been, and those people go on and the Lord uses them to affect the people around them, so that more people will turn to Christ and be saved. 

Please pray for our effectiveness in the coming month.  We will leave this apartment after this month and head to Philippines in December.  Please pray for Tae to find a renter here, so he can keep the place, and so that they can do the christmas party here, if that is what God has planned.  Please pray for the finances to come in for the church to eventually move forward with the church in Bowin.  Please pray that financial support will come in for Tammy and I.  We're not hurting, but it would be nice if it came in to cover some food, transportation costs.  Please pray for our furniture which we would like to donate to the right people /missionaries, and pray for plans to be effective regarding the PI/Thailand return, and the logistics behind safe places to stay.  I know God has a lot of plans for us over the next coming months, and so I want to be open and ready to walk in them.  I believe I heard the Lord say that to me directly the other day, that there's a lot in store for us yet.  So please pray that we get renewed in resolve, direction, and to be responsive to when and where God guides us.

In the Old Testament, the Lord brought the Jews out of Egypt, and promised a special land for them...the land promised to Abraham generations prior...but the Lord had the slaves wander the wilderness for many many years...partly due to their bad attitude of mistrust in Him despite all that He had done for them up to that point.  Here's a picture of the Lord leading the Israelites by a pillar of fire by night, and a cloud during the day.  When it was time to move on from one station to the next, God would move them by leading them by the pillar of fire to where He wanted them to go.  This trip through Thailand and PI has been more than ever for me and experience to pray, seek, wait, and follow...  I had an idea because God gave revealed them to me, but the when and where and how was not painted black and white.  God has His Timing.

Thanks!!!!

Here's art work of Jesus sending out 70 disciples, to share the Gospel, proclaim freedom for those captive to sin, heal the sick.



Luke 14:25-onward speaks of how Jesus challenged the crowd, telling them they ought to count the cost of following Him.  He says something shocking, that unless we are willing to carry our own cross (burden/weight/even unto death if that should be the end for those individuals) they can not follow him.  There were a lot more consequence back then for being christian, that's for sure. I love this picture though.  The telephone and electric line poles look like crosses, and there's a sign there with a bend in the road, and it makes me think of how the Lord tells us to pick up the cross and follow Him, and how we don't know of the things around the corner in store for us.



I put this in the sand at the beach, declaring we kept our promise. we're here....and hopefully the Lord will continue to guide us, and hopefully we can continue to follow in obedience, and hopefully more things of substance can result from us being here at this special time.  We have 3 months longer before we return to the states to report to Horizon and pray and hear from the Lord on our future.