We have finally transitioned into our new home and have wi-fi…woo hoo!  It only took about a month.

Alot of my time has been spent making this new house a home for my wife and boys and I feel like I have accomplished that goal… (three pats on the back for me) I can honestly say that even though our new place is not like our former home, there is much more peace here.  After four moves in seven months, I am glad to just finally be done with all of the lifting, painting, purchasing, cleaning, and organizing.

I am taking it all in stride though.  Everything in this first year has been a lesson for me.  I can see the hand of God in all things these past few months, even in what seems to be like delays and distractions.  I am really learning alot about myself, trust, patience, perserverance, faith, and all of those other life lessons we might love to skip out on if possible.

What always keeps me pressing forward, besides the grace of God and my awesome family and friends, is the cool things that are happening in the lives of Thai people around us.  Here are a few recent things:

-New believers are being baptized,

-People are hearing the Gospel for the very first time…ever,

-University students from other nations are being saved,

-Prisoners are experiencing the freedom of Jesus,

-Doors of opportunity are opening in new villages,

-Wisdom for new outreaches is being received,

-Thai People are testifying of God doing miracles for them, and

-Underground believers in a restricted nation are being encouraged in practical ways.

So for these reasons and more, we continue to press on for the hope what is yet to come for this place.

What is it that has motivated you and driven you through the difficult times of transition in your own life?  I would love to hear…

“To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.  I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich!…Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. Revelation 2:8-10

While in Laos I had the privledge of meeting a man who suffered much for the name of Jesus Christ.  I gave him the nickname “Lao Job” because of all of the things he went through.

“Lao Job” was put into prison by the communist government because of his work in spreading the Gospel to many people. While he was in prison the officials worked overtime to get him to sign a document renouncing his faith in Jesus Christ.   Despite the intense pressure and suffering he would face, he would not turn his back on the One who had called him.

One day word came to him in prison that his wife had died.  The officials coldly told him that he should renounce his faith in Jesus Christ so he could go and take care of his children and his mother.  He refused.

Later word came to him that his mother had died.  The officials pressured him to renounce his faith and return home so that he could care for his children.  They cut to his heart even deeper said, “Why should your children be without their father”?  Yet he refused to turn his back on the Lord.

In final gut-blow he was informed that his children had died.  His pain was unbearable.  In a final act of desperation, the officials pushed him to renounce his “foreign god” and return back to the local way of worship (animism). He said to them, “I have paid much too high a price for my faith.  Why would I turn my back on Jesus now?  If I do, I will have lost even more and gained only hell.  I will never do it.”

I never fully understood how of them died, but I got the feeling that it wasn’t from natural causes.  The brothers seem to imply it, but actually saying it seemed to bring up too much emotion.  Many stories of this type of horrible modern day persecution, of going after the families of Christian leaders in order to get through to the leader, continue in this part of the world.  It is nothing short of diabolical.

Eventually the prison officials released “Lao Job” because of increasing pressure from outside international organizations demanding that religious prisoners be set free.  He left prison with no earthly possessions and only the help of a couple of his brothers in Christ.  They helped him find a place to live and start a new life on his own.

Eventually he began to raise water buffalo as a way to make a living.  Not too long after, the entire herd died of a disease.  His fellow villagers came to him and asked him why he would continue to believe in God since God was obviously not helping him.  ”God is not with you”, they taunted him, and they again tested him to renounce his faith.  He again refused.

One day he was hunting for some food and saw a monitor lizard.  Many Laotians prize this meat and if they didn’t eat it themselves they could sell it and make a good bit of money.  So he chased the lizard up a tree.  As he climbed a nearby tree to reach for it, the tree snapped and he fell a long way down landing on his hands where his right collar bone snapped in half.  The pain was immense for a very long time.  Without proper medical care available, he would suffer much in front of his fellow villagers.  Again they taunted him.

“Why do you still persist to believe in this Jesus?”, they said.  ”He is not with you.  He does not care for you.  Why bother?  Just renounce him and move on with your life.” Again “Lao Job” refused.  With each trial he faced his faith grew even more precious to him.  He kept his eyes fixed on Jesus and longed for the day when his glory would be revealed.  He knew that despite the suffering he was enduring, God still loved him and Jesus was still faithful.

To this day he continues to testify of God’s faithfulness and goodness despite all of the excruciating trials he endured.  He is now remarried and has a child, maybe two.  He leads over eleven families in his small village and is responsible for traveling his surrounding area to encourage between four and five hundred other believers.  He does all of this on foot since his motorcycle broke and he did not have the money to repair it.

I was able to meet him in person.  The lump on his collar bone from his bone never properly resetting emphasized the story the Lao brothers had just finished sharing with me.  As we prayed for him, his family, and the believers that followed his leadership; I wondered to myself what it would be like for him to finally meet his Savior face to face.

I also wondered about what it would be like for me to stand next to these “nameless faceless” leaders of the Church who have sacrificed so much for the name of Jesus.  What kind of faith story would my life tell?

Jesus says that there are those who are poor and afflicted now, but they are in fact rich.  They suffer, are put into prison by the devil, and suffer harsh persecution in this life.  Instead of allowing these things and calling his people to remain faithful, why doesn’t Jesus just deliver them and blast their enemies into dust?

Although we may never fully know the answers this side of eternity, I began to see a glimpse of the wisdom of God through some of the other testimonies I would later hear in person.

I will share these things in my next post.  Stay tuned.

During one of our stops, we were clandestinely brought into a home where a group of believers meets. There we met with a group who had been faithfully meeting for some time.  Their desire was to eventually be recognized by the government as an official church, so they made an application.  They had not heard anything as of yet, but they told us that they had been working hard to demonstrate that they were a group that could be trusted in their community.  Our Lao contact felt that while this was certainly to be respected, he encouraged them to stand firm in their faith no matter what the outcome.  They were already a “church” that had been accepted and received by Jesus Christ.  They were accepted and authorized by Him!

As we spoke with them, we could not help but overhear a loud wailing coming from outside. The members seemed to try and ignore it, but it was nearly impossible.  As our friends talked in Lao and Thai, we were getting a little lost in translation. Eventually we were able to hear the story of what was going on.  We came to find out that one of the ladies in the room is married to the man making all of the noise outside.

From what I understood, he had been a part of their meeting at one time and was coming around to believing in Jesus, but I don’t believe he had made the commitment yet.  His wife tells us that while visiting a local Buddhist temple, he ate some food that had been offered to an idol.  After this incident, he became severely demon possessed and has almost completely stopped eating.  He howls and growls and has no rest day or night. (This is the second time I have heard a story similar to this…the other time in Thailand)

Eventually the members brought this man into our meeting area.  Our Thai contact moved over to meet the man and commanded the spirit in the name of Jesus to be quiet.  The man came and knelt down before him.  As the Thai contact spoke to him, the man began to “wai” him in the traditional way.  It was a way of showing respect, but as the Thai contact went on in speaking to the man, it became apparent that he was not being respectful but mocking.  Our Thai friend spent awhile talking with the man and commanding the spirit, but the man remained unmoved.  Both Freddy and I were getting anxious to help, but we did not feel like the brothers were opening the door for us, so we stayed back.

Eventually, after all of us praying for the man as a group, he remained calm, but the wild stare remained in his eyes.  We continued to wait patiently, not wanting to force ourselves into the situation.  Our contacts began to explain to us that they felt that this man was not yet free because it was the responsibility of the group to fight this battle, not ours.  God would get the glory when this man was set free by this group, not by us.  They must pray and fight so that when this man is free the whole village would see it as a miracle.  We could see the point, but we did not agree that it meant we should leave him this way and go.  If at all possible, we must continue to fight in Jesus name.  Our friends were wanting us to eat with them, but how could we eat when this man remained in this condition.

If we had more time here we wanted to use it to pray.  Because we felt the group transitioning back to what seemed like normal chatting, we finally asked our contacts if we could pray for this man as well.  We looked at his wife and asked her through the interpreter, “You want your husband to be free, don’t you.”?  Of course she said yes.  Freddy began to speak about how Jesus healed and set free all who came to him.  “He came to destroy the works of the devil.  He wants this man to be free.  We are going to believe together for him to be free.”

We moved in close to the man together and began to command, “In the name of Jesus Christ…”  As we spoke, the man lunged forward with a loud growl.  He was clearly not liking that name spoken in that way!  He stretched his neck forward and his eyes bulged in their sockets as we continued to declare the Word of God over him. Some of the brothers grabbed his arms so that he could not swing them.  Freddy looked into the man’s eyes and spoke to the spirits who had taken control of this man’s life.  It was time for them to go!  One time the man spoke clearly in perfect English, “Stop, Stop.”

Eventually, the man began exhaling deeply over multiple times until he fell face first and went limp.  We continued to speak the Word of God over him until at once he came to himself and realized that strangers were around him and he was on the floor.  From what I could tell, he was embarrassed as he walked out of the room and back to his home.  His eyes were definitely more clear than they were before, but I could tell that this was just the beginning of what would be needed to help this family find complete freedom.  This one would need the combined efforts of their community through fasting and prayer.

This was not an expected part of the itinerary, both for us and for our contacts, but it was one that we believe God wanted.  It reminded me of the fact that as much as we try as believers to be respected by our communities, and in this case the government, the ministry of helping people find freedom in Jesus can get messy.  People’s lives are not always clean, quiet, and nicely packaged.  There are many people who are suffering because of ignorance and disobedience.  They don’t need a good speech or someone to explain their problem, they need power to get free.

We continued on our journey that day, not rattled by what we experienced as much as the thought of what would become of our friends and their group.  As our Thai contacts initially said, it would be up to them now.  I just hope that we were used to give them a large dose of momentum in the right direction.

What would you have done in this situation?  Would you have done anything differently?

Stay tuned as I share more in upcoming posts.

Remember Us.

*Update: This recently released news story from Compass Direct matches with the first hand story I just shared about persecution, threats, denial of medical care, schooling for children, etc:  Click Here to Learn More.

“One brother asked for us to come.  This brother NEEDS us to come.”  This is what our Lao contact said to us as we headed to our new destination to encourage a family that was facing real life persecution for being Christian.

The villagers had already shut off access to water and kept their son from attending school as a way to force them out of the village.  The boy was now very sick and needed to see a doctor, but the village doctor refused to see him and the drug store owner refused to sell the parents medicine.  As the parents searched desperately for a solution, they contacted their brother in Christ to come and help them.

This would be one of many real life dramas we would encounter on our journey throughout the countryside of Laos.

In just a couple of days we traveled well over 1000 kilometers and made over 20 stops.  At each stop, we encouraged and prayed for our brothers and sisters, listened to their stories, and helped where we were able.   Our going to these more remote places encouraged the people we met so much.  Each time we met with a new group, we greeted them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the name of our supporters, their brothers and sisters, from all over the world. We told them that we were so honored to have them as family and that we would be sure to let more of our friends know about their lives and stories.

During one of our first long stretches we picked up a brother and his wife who were leaders over many groups.  After some time together this brother began to tell us his story.  He told us of a time not too long ago when the government was working hard to round up Christian leaders and send them to re-education “classes” or to prison if they would not sign documents renouncing their faith in Jesus.  Many of his friends ended up in prison.  He himself was a newer Christian, but he found himself in a new leadership role as he had to go to the families of these brothers and encourage them to remain faithful to Jesus despite the intense pressure they were under.

He would take food to his fellow believers in prison and help them in any way he could.  Many times the government would not have ever charged these men with a crime and neither did they ever receive a trial.  If they did allege something, it had to do with being a traitor to the government, but in reality all they were doing was sharing their faith in Jesus with others.  These men were branded as key leaders of “the movement.”  Anyone who was thought to be a “propagater” of Christianity was fair game.

It wasn’t long before this brother found himself back at the prison, but this time it wasn’t to encourage the brothers from the outside, but now he would be encouraging them from the inside.  While in the prison, he shared stories of torture and of almost being starved to death on a regular basis.  One time he was in the stocks with both his arms and legs secured for 23 hours a day.  Many times he felt near death, but he held fast to his faith in God.  Eventually, these brothers were released due to outside pressure from foreign groups on the government, but the life many of them returned back to was already destroyed.

As our brother got to this part in his testimony, his voice began to quiver and his breathing deepened.  He told us that many of those who were in prison were not able to reconnect with their families.  They were “missing.”  Wives, children, and parents were no where to be found.  Property had been confiscated and the villages they used to live in were not places where they could return.  At this point, our brother stopped his testimony and tears streamed down his face.  This truck full of grown men sat in stunned silence as we tried to wrap our minds around what he had just shared.

Today this brother leads many groups of believers.  The intensity of the past persecution is behind him, but the scars remain.  He has committed his life to helping others come to know the amazing love and sustaining power of the Jesus he suffered so much for.  For me, his story was another wake up call to the very real spiritual battle that we are fighting in the world today, a battle between good and evil, ignorance and truth.  But most of all, I reminded of the scripture in Hebrews 13 and the reality of it’s very real application for us today.

“Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” Hebrews 13:3

This is God’s word to us who are able to live out our faith today in relative comfort and safety.  We are called to feel these things deeply and to understand the value of our common faith in light of these 21st century realities.  Remember these family members in your prayers, would you?

As we traveled further on our journey, there would be many more stories to hear and experiences to have.  Stay tuned as I will share more soon in the posts to come.  To read past stories, click here

Once we decided to go to Laos, it seemed like everything tried to work against us to keep us from going.  My friend Freddy got a high fever and a very bad stomach flu the day before we were supposed to leave.  My landlady had also just told us that we would have to move within ten days which was only a couple of days after I was set to return from the trip.  It seemed that hell was breaking loose on us at once.  We came to the conclusion that this resistance was even more proof that we were doing the right thing in taking this trip.

The night before we our meet up, we prayed for Freddy’s healing.  He got up the next day and headed up to meet us in Udon Thani.  As he soldiered forward, he progressively got better.  Before leaving, I had talked with my wife about our situation and we both felt we would deal with the situation when I returned.  In some way, I knew that everything would work itself out.  And eventually it did.  After I returned, my landlady gave us another month and a half in the house before we needed to move which was just enough time to get into our next home.

Getting Ready to Cross the Border

Freddy came to Thailand from Cambodia with the intention of going into Laos.  When he mentioned the trip to me, I felt strongly that I wanted to go, so I began to make plans.  Freddy found our Thai contact through a friend of a friend from Cambodia.  This Pastor then connected us with our contact in Laos.  Freddy also invited an older Thai man who spoke good English to come with us as our interpreter.  One brother who was thinking of coming with us backed out at the last moment and it turned out to be a good thing.  We would not have had a seat for him in the truck we traveled in.  We later saw that if another one of us would have backed out of the trip, it would not have been possible for the rest of us to go.  Everything had to line up so that this trip could be accomplished.

Once we arrived at the border, our interpreter was only able to get a three day visa because his passport was within six months of expiring.  Another hurdle for us to overcome that cut our trip by a few days from our original plans. After we met our contact in Laos, our plans changed on the spot.  We were going in the exact opposite direction that we talked about going.  Not only that, but our ministry plans had changed and both Freddy and I were beginning to feel that we might have to separate and go our own way.

As the guys prepared for the trip, we talked and prayed among ourselves about what are options were if we still wanted to go in the direction we had originally planned to go.  We then discussed everything frankly with our Thai contacts and were just about to pull out from our trip when I decided that we should just go with the new plan.  I felt that I was willing to go along with the new plan even if at worse case we would be disappointed or even defrauded.  I saw that the potential of us pulling out could hurt not only our relationship with our new Thai contact, but also his relationship with our Lao partner.  As we headed down the bumpy Lao road crammed in the back seat of an extra cab pickup, we were unsure about what was ahead, but we worked to redouble our trust in God that we were here for a purpose.

To me there are so many lessons embedded in our experience…revelation, intention, resistence, connection, circumstances, flexibility, and trust.

Little did we know it, but there would be many more valuable life lessons and experiences to come…

I recently returned from a trip to the country of Laos where I was able to see and learn so much.  I want to invite you to come with me into this modern day story of those who are paying a high price for their faith in the Lord Jesus.

For the sake of protection I will be general in description of people, places, and timing.  It is my hope that you will be challenged and encouraged by these stories, and energized to pray for and support our brothers and sisters who live in this reality every day.

Let me start things off with a little background first.

Laos is a very diverse tribal country of over 6 million people with over 90 languages.  Over 80% of the population makes their living from subsistence farming.  The average income is only 1.3% of the median income for America which comes out to about $1.00 per day.

The forces of globalization and modernization have long left this country behind.  The majority of the people living know very little, if anything, of the modern materialistic life being lived out in the mega cities of the world and in the West.  Even the Northeast of Thailand, which is the poorest area of our country, seemed to be modern compared to what I saw and experienced in the countryside of Laos.

The country gained independence in 1954 when the French were defeated by Vietnamese and Lao communists.  The Communist party is still in control of the government to this day.  After the Vietnam War, Laos gained the dubious distinction of being the most bombed country in the world because of the ordinance dropped on it by the US, 30% of which was left unexploded.  The battles fought in Laos during the Vietnam War has come to be known as the “Secret War.”

Major persecution of the Christian church by the communists began after the pull out of 1975 and continues on to the present time. Although Christians number less than 2% of the population, Christianity has been declared the NUMBER ONE enemy of the state.  According to Open Doors, Laos ranks in the top ten most persecuted countries in the world for Christians.  On our journey, we heard first hand reports of imprisonment, torture, and murder.  I will share a few of these stories in my next posts.

Though the government allows a “registered” church to exist, mainly in the capital city; evangelism, church planting, and new building is against the law.  Most, if not all of these registered churches, were in existence prior to 1975.  Still many have been shut down and their buildings have been destroyed by the government.  Others have been infiltrated by government spies who report on any growth and “illegal” evangelistic activities.

Laotian Leader Praying With Us

Despite the heavy restriction of religious freedom, there is a growing underground movement led by indigenous Lao and tribal leaders who are taking responsibility to see that the Good New of Jesus Christ goes to their whole nation.  They carry the burden of their people daily and live to see them come to know the freedom that is found in Jesus Christ.

They carry out their mission in secret knowing that any moment they could be found out and suffer the consequences along with their families. Many have already been imprisoned, tortured, and lost their families because of their faith in Jesus Christ.

To me, they are modern day heroes of whom Hebrews 11:37-38 says, “the world was not worthy of them.”

Playing the "Kaen" and Slide Whistle

During this little gap between posts we; hosted a great short term missions team from Hawaii, purchased a white ‘95 Nissan Sunny, traveled to speak at Thai churches and groups, had a home robbery where we lost a good chunk of our tech stuff (sniff sniff), was asked to move out of our new rental home because of conflict over a “spirit house”, received guests at our home, traveled to a city a few hours south for outreach and reunion with four other families, nearly twenty kids, and two single alumni from our Bible School.  Lastly, I just returned from a week in the country of Laos meeting new contacts, serving with my friend Freddy, and learning about the work happening there.

Little Man w/ a Little Khaen

A few days ago, my oldest son (6) has started second grade homeschool and after only a couple of months of Thai lessons is already reading three syllable words in Thai script and has all of the alphabet and vowels memorized.  (We are so jealous!) Our other son Aslan is growing up seemingly oblivious to all that is going on around him for the most part.  He has started greeting Thai people with the traditional Thai greeting, the “wai”, which is palms places together touching just under the nose.  He will even tell them “Wadeekhap”, which means hello,…when he feels like it.

Before coming to Thailand, many seasoned people told us that it would take awhile for us to transition here, but I never wanted to believe it.  Other have told us that their first year of missions life was the hardest and that they wouldn’t want to relive it again!  Although their words have proven to be true in some respects, we continue to work through all of the highs and lows of this season of life and ministry with a focused diligence and the grace that only God can give.  He is teaching us so much as a family and we are working to embrace all of the lessons that we are learning together.

We have been blessed to have great friends here locally, both Thai and foreigner, to encourage us in our journey.  It has been a joy to partner with them in order to accomplish things together that could not have happened if they were done alone.  These partnerships in the Gospel make life here so much more sweeter.  I believe that the Father is pleased to see “brothers dwelling together in unity.”  We have also been encouraged by our friends who lift us up in prayer on a regular basis.  By their help we bust through all kinds of spiritual barriers and escape many pitfalls where we could easily fall prey.

So, now that we are a little more caught up, I will try to get back on the blogging habit and fill you in on my recent trip to that country just north of Thailand.  We saw and learned so much, so I look forward to sharing with you in my next few posts. Stay tuned.

I am finding that culture shock is real though I don’t really like the term.  Shock seems like such a harsh word.  I guess in some ways living in a completely different culture than your own can be a little shocking at times.  But it doesn’t have to be debillitating.  I prefer the term cultural transition.  When I think of shock I think of someone about to die.  I must get this from my medical background.  But culture shock is just a normal part of transition in missionary life.  It ebbs and flows and is stronger at some times more than others.  Sometimes, you don’t realize you are going through it until you look back and say to yourself, “Why was my emotion at an 8 out of 10 for that little incident?  Something is going on here.”

I am finding that in missionary life there is always a mountain to climb, especially as you move through seasons of transition.  Each day has new challenges, some of which are harder than others.  Each day has its own joys and frustrations that are heightened by the amount of culture transition you may or may not be experiencing at the moment.  In addition to normal cultural transitions there are things that I call “pluses.”  These factors add to cultural stress and cause it to be intensified.  I will touch on a few that I have noticed recently in my own life recently.

In addition to culture shock that a new missionary faces, spiritual warfare is a real ongoing issue we face.  In our country, there is a constant stream of open and blatant idol and spirit worship.  Daily offerings are made at numerous temples and shrines throughout the city.  At our new home, our landlady had both indoor and outdoor altars where she made frequent offerings to the spirits.  Most homes and businesses here have these altars and “spirit houses.”  This constant worship causes the spiritual atmosphere to feel heavy and sometimes suffocating for the Christian living among it.

It’s one thing to just live or survive somewhere, but things seem to get even more intense when you are working and praying to bring the Kingdom of God to a place like this.   We frequently take authority over these things and sense the protection of God over us in the midst of great darkness.  Other times, we feel beat up on a little spiritually before we realize what’s going on and pray through.  Through it all we know that we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ!

In a country like ours, we also face stereotyping that causes additional pressures.  Most of the foreign men who travel to Thailand are here for illicit reasons.  Many times I feel as if people think they know why I am in the country, but their assumptions are totally wrong.  At the very least, these tourist men give all of us a bad name.  Just yesterday, I was in a cafe where a young man was openly soliciting Thai prostitutes over his cell phone and the internet.  I realized he was still an older teenager when his Dad showed up at the cafe to pick him up I waited until a moment when they were apart (dad walked outside) and told him what the boy was doing!  But there are many men his dad’s age that are here in Thailand for only that purpose as well, so the battle goes on.

In addition to all of these things, our family is somewhat of an oddity here.  Complete western families are hardly ever seen.  Most of the time, especially in certain parts of the country, the people have never seen such a thing.  The attention can be fun and useful but many times it creates intense additional pressure especially as strangers approach our kids to touch them or tease them.  Sometimes you go out to relax and get away but find yourself wanting to retreat home because of the stares and whispers.  This is backwards for us because we used to go out to relax when we lived in the States, but now we feel more relaxed when we are at home with each other or with close friends.

The last “plus” is time.  Time, being on time, doing what you say you will do when you say you will do it; all seem to be very fluid in this culture.  Lying is not seen as such a negative thing, but more of a technique for “saving face” and not causing embarrassment to oneself or making the other person feel bad.  Navigating through unfamiliar territory also causes things to take much longer than our Western minds think they should take.  Sometimes we don’t know the unspoken rules of the culture yet and this causes us to lose time as people wait for us to “get it” before action is taken.  Many times we just have to take a deep breath and let patience do it’s work in us.  Anyone who has a Type A personality knows that this is a real hard thing to do because we naturally have a tendency to be impatient.

All in all we have been doing very well in these last four months.  We have navigated through many cultural transitions and complexities of life as a missionary to Southeast Asia.  We know we have many more to go, but we have been so blessed to finally get into a new home and we are learning new things about the Thai culture and about ourselves every day.  We have made new friends and continue to press forward each day in learning the language.  We have good friends who love us and help us often.  Most importantly, we have people back home who support us and who pray for us regularly.

This makes climbing the mountain so much easier than it would be without the help.

As I finish this blog among the Thai people in this cafe I am listening to Johnny Cash sing a chorus of “Hallelujah” over the speakers and I am reminded of why I do what I do, why I am here, and why I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

I was my pleasure to participate in a recent group blogging project put on by www.bibledude.net where we were able to each review a chapter of Pastor Dino Rizzo’s new book Servolution.  This book has really got me thinking about what a revolution of serving looks like here in Thailand.  Here is my review of Chapter 8 of the book.  Be sure to pick up a copy for yourself and let’s see a Servolution take place together!

Chapter 8 of “Servolution”

“Unlocking the Need- There’s a Great Treasure Inside”

I am honored to be able to review this chapter of Pastor Dino Rizzo’s new book “Servolution.”  Being a native of South Louisiana myself, I know first hand the reputation of Healing Place Church as a church that doesn’t just talk about serving, but actually does it.  

Before leaving for Thailand, while visiting family, my wife and I were able to serve right along side the HPC team as they passed out water, roof tarps, food, and hot lunches to the people who had recently been affected by Hurricane Gustav.  The attitude we saw displayed by the members was upbeat, positive, and contagious even thought the circumstances were tough. (I wrote about here on the blog HERE)

The leaders of this church lead by example and not merely by casting vision.  I know of one of the campus pastors of this community, he also happens to be a friend of mine, who leads a group of fired up servants to mow the lawns of widows in their local community.  I know that this Pastor does this week in and week out simply out of a love for serving these women.  This type of heart is seen throughout the congregation.  

I once heard of another Pastor from HPC ministering to the homeless of downtown Baton Rouge, even spending a night sleeping on the streets, in order to fully identify with what these people were facing.  There are multitudes of untold stories like this coming out of this church.  From ministering to orphans and the elderly, to helping single moms, to feeding the poor (some awesome Cajun food by the way); this church is getting it done in Jesus name.

In Chapter 8 of Servolution, Pastor Dino seeks to help us understand that there is hidden treasure in each of our community no matter where we are in the world.  He reminds us that a revolution in serving starts with people, right here at home, right now.  It’s not about geography.  Every person is important to God, right here and now.  He goes on to remind us that serving is not something we compartmentalize, but it’s a way of life.  

As a missionary, I really appreciate quote Dino included from the great missionary pioneer C.T. Studd, who said, “The light that shines the farthest will shine the brightest at home.”  This emphasis is important because cross-cultural service is not a place for people who couldn’t cut it “back home.”  It is a place for the best and the brightest our churches have to offer, people who go not to be served, but to serve and give their lives for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Dino goes on to check the motivations of our heart.  He shows us the difference between simple acts of service and simple acts of kindness and demonstrates what the difference is between the two.  He reminds us that we are called to serve the poor, which means that many times they have nothing to offer us in return for the kindness we show them in Jesus name.  

I think this is so important and relevant to us in these days because I have a seen a trend in many churches where service and outreach are only targeted towards those who have the ability to add monetary value back to our churches.  We would never say that we believe this or hold it as a value, but our values can be seen in the types of people who are attending our services on a regular basis or where and how our outreach/missions budget is spent.

Finally, we are reminded that like anything that is worth doing or that has eternal value, a servolution will cost those who choose to ignite it.  But like everything in the upside down Kingdom of God, it is in dying to self that we live, and in losing that we gain.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to be challenged to check both their personal and organizational serve.  With Jesus reminding us that he who is greatest in the Kingdom of God is not the one who; gathers the most people, has the best facilities and tech, the most cutting edge services, and the most relevant and engaging messages, but the one who is the servant of all.

John Lambert is an aspiring servant who is originally from South Louisiana.  He is married to Jacqueline, a father of two boys, friend of social media, networker, and cross cultural communicator serving the Kingdom of God in the Kingdom of Thailand.  When in the States, John calls Freedom House Church in Charlotte, NC home.

Web Site: www.spreadtheflame.com

Blog: http://johnlambert.wordpress.com

The New Language of Online Communication

There are so many new tools that make missionary life more connected than it was even five or ten years ago.  Nothing will take the place of the basics of cross cultural work and the principles involved, but there are some great online tools that can add a new dimension to community life and work overseas.     

As believers we should be tuned into the new ways people are communicating in the 21st century.  The world is becoming increasingly more connected and there are fewer and fewer places where there is not at least some type of internet access available.

Here in many parts of Asia, most young people are more connected than their Western counterparts.  In America, more churches are moving into the online world while others are getting left further behind.  

I want to continue to learn about emerging ways of online communication and expression because I have a strong desire to communicate the message and take people along with me in my journey.  Therefore when it comes new ways people are connecting, I want to be a student and not a critic.  How about you?

Here are a few basic tools I personally use on a regular basis and how I use them.  A simple little guide for “the rest of us.”

1.  Twitter:  

I too used to scoff at Twitter, but now I love it.  To me, it’s about finding people who you are interested in hearing more from and starting to follow them.  I have an ipod touch (didn’t need the phone) with the free Twitterfon application.  I can update my status in 140 characters or less anytime I’m near a wi-fi connection.  People who are interested can get a glimpse into my life here in Thailand and share in the things that I see, think about, and experience on a daily basis.  I can also keep up with the ongoing conversation of leaders and people I choose to follow without much effort.  Whenever I want, I can jump in on the conversation at will.  This makes me feel a part of certain communities even though I may be half a world away.  I have set up my Twitter feed so that it automatically updates my next favorite application…

2.  Facebook:  

I only add my friends, people I have met personally, and a few friends of friends or people I would like to get to know better.  Facebook gives me the ability to peak in on any one of these profiles to catch up on their lives, instant message, send emails and birthday wishes, look at posted links, pics, and video from my friends, and update my supporters with instant prayer requests and praise reports.  I have group called “The Lamberts in Thailand” that is by invitation only.  These are people that have opted in to receiving email and I send them periodic updates, links to my newsletters, and prayer requests.  I also started a group for our local church here in Thailand which I think will make it easier for our members and incoming team members to stay in touch with us even when they leave our city.

3.  Skype:  

Besides being in the same room speaking with the person themselves, there is nothing better than free video calling programs like Skype.  We are able to catch up with our family and share life with them as we live half a world away.  In the beginning we had to set these things up for our parents, but now that they have access to this tool, they are amazed at the fact that we can talk over the computer and see one another like we do.  I have Skype on my ipod and can theoretically chat and talk to people through it, though I haven’t tried it yet.  With a few dollars of Skype credit, we can even call cell phones back in the States as well as take care of business with our banks and businesses when needed.  Looking forward to using Skype to do a live update from the field into our local church or to sit in on one of our church’s team meetings.

4.  Blogs:  

I am a WordPress man and my wife uses Blogger.  I like the clean look and she is more frilly and likes the freedom to decorate more.  The main point however is that we have both been blogging for a few years now and have found it a great outlet of communication and expression.   Blogs give us the ability to chronicle our family’s life, adventures, and our expanded thoughts.  When we post we are able to share these things with the world and it’s our hope that through our writing more people will become of needs and be inspired to play their part in whatever God is calling them to do.  

Blogs help demystify missionary life by sharing our struggles and challenges in addition to our glory stories.  We also hope it opens the door for more people to get involved in the work.  I love reading the blogs of other Christian leaders, even those who may think differently than me or have a different focus.  Many times, they help stretch my thinking and get me open to new possibilities.  

Once you find some blogs you like, you can use a blog reading program like Bloglines or Google Reader and read all of your blogs in one place versus visiting each one seperately.  All you need to do is set up an account then subscribe to your favorite blog’s RSS feed.  From a writer’s perspective I use a program that updates my Twitter when I post something that in turn updates my Facebook.  I like to get the maximum exposure with the minimum effort.  A little set up work makes things easier in the long run.

5.  Podcasts:  

 I have just started really listening to podcasts, but I have found some good ones that I really enjoy taking along with me, especially on those really long road trips.  I can listen to good teaching both in audio and video anytime I choose and the best part is that the ones I listen to are free.  All you need to get set up is the latest download of itunes and some kind of MP3 player.  Once you have searched for the ones you may be interested in, download them, and you are set.  I count this time as part of my ongoing leadership education.  

These tools may not always continue to exist in their present form, but you can be sure that the type of communication they represent will only expand and integrate into new forms as the months and years roll on.  They do take a new level of commitment, but I think the initial investment is worth the dividends you will receive.  The best way to engage these things is to just dive in and learn as you go like most of us did.  Best of all, all of the above mentioned tools are within the missionary’s budget, they are free!

If you are a cross cultural worker, what would you add?  What are some tools that you have used to stay connected and plugged in even while you are living in another country? Have you been limited of the use of these tools because of the sensitive nature of your work in a certain country.  How do work around these limitations and stay in touch?