It's getting very cold in here. The breeze feels as cold as ice. But it didn't stop us visiting homes of Christian friends and sing Christmas carols, read the scripture and pray for our hosts. We enjoyed the fellowship and the beautiful Burmese Christmas songs. Our neighbors couldn't wait for Tuesday when the church's carolers will come here in our home and sing Christmas songs. They gonna love it.
We never thought that December would really be a busy month for us here. Yes, we use to have very busy December back home because of church programs, school activities, associational parties and family reunions, shopping for gifts and many other activities. Now, if you put them together within a month this is really a stressful month.
Anyway, meaningful Christmas activities keep us busy here. Christians celebrate Christmas here in a simple way without the burden of commercialism. On 14th of December, the English Club in Soi 5 Doi Ngam community celebrated the birthday of Jesus and one of its members, Tat Dawn. Most of the members of the English Club are Buddhists.
We ate and played games but the most important part was the narration of the story of Jesus' birth, the story of how God became man so that we can have life. The children and young people had a great time. Tat Dawn was happy to celebrate her birthday for the first time in her life (Buddhists usually don't celebrate their birthday although deep inside they always like to do so.) Her relatives and friends joined us in the celebration. Pastor Mong prayed for her. It was indeed a time when we appreciate the truth that our life comes from God.
You may believe it or not. We observed that Thais in our community have a fascination about Christmas. I mentioned this before, they like Christmas songs especially their children. We often hear Christmas tune used as ringing tone in their cell phones. The definitely like Christmas decorations especially the tree.
So when we set up our little Christmas tree about three weeks ago, our neighbor's children came and help us decorate the tree while the older people watch in our front door and enjoyed watching us doing things to the poor Christmas tree. We do here what we were doing back home put up the tree and hang those beautiful blinking colorful Christmas lights and our neighbor would stare at them and we see the delightful smiles in their faces. Now, we have the opportunity to explain to them the significance of these symbolisms--this is all about Christ who become man to save us from our sins and give us a gift of eternal life.
Our hands were full for the whole week. Most of our activities entailed me to work away from my computer and if I actually found the time to sit and type something, I just didn’t have enough energy to do it. My wife, me and some of our friends organized a health awareness seminar for the poor migrant workers from 
After three weeks of staying with us, Sam Wise the brave died today. He was well-loved by the family. He was growing up as really beautiful and smart dog when he was accidentally ran over by a car (so we guessed). We enjoyed the short three weeks he had been with us.
Since we came here, our children wanted to have pet so badly. I know they prefer to have a dog. We had a wonderful pet back home named Duke he was good and smart dog. But two months ago we received news that he has died. So, we were always on the look out for a puppy. Here they don't give out their puppies. In the Philippines you just ask for them and they will give it to you right away here even if you are somebody important, they will refuse. Here, puppies cost 500-5,000 baht of course, it defends on the breed. So every time we would saw puppies for sale, we would look the other way, pretending not to see anything. Today, at the Grace Home Kindergarten Center, a puppy was waiting for us. The kids are happy and excited... they finally have a pet. We named him Sam. (After our favorite character in TLOR- Sam Wise, the brave).
Jared celebrate his 14th birthday in a very simple breakfast candle-blowing celebration. All fo us celebrated our birthdays here this year. We miss home a lot.
My children are not living a life that normal children should be. They don't have permanent friends because we have moved five times with in their lifetime. We moved from Cainta to Pangasinan to Baguio, back to Cainta again in six short months and finally moved here in Thailand.
They never experienced the joy of childhood both Narlin and I had. We never left our respective homes until we were married. We have permanent friends and best friends who grew up with us. And althoug distance keeps us apart, communication was never lacking. We grew up in our respective home church with people who love us and treated us as part of their family. (These people are the ones who are supporting us here in the mission field). We matured with them both physically and spiritually. My children never enjoyed this kind of relationships.
Jared is in the second year of his teenage life. He never had friends who grew up with him. (My bestfriend lived in the next house and we were together until I responded to the call). Jared hates school. He always thought that teachers do not teach but talk to the (black)board. The only teacher he was fond of was his grade 4 teacher who took him under her care. And as a parent, I was greatly grateful to that teacher who perhaps changed Jared's perspective about education. Jared hates home schooling as well. And if I were him, I will feel the same. Home schooling materials are the most boring educational material I've ever read. But we are thankful for home schooling and for the people who made this possible for us because it is the only way he and his siblings can have their education. He likes computer. I think he learned to use the computer first before he learn to talk. He can create his own website, he knows how to mess with html code,he maintained and designed this blog (and the other blog), he knows how to install and configure Linux from the root terminal which I didn't learn and perhaps will never have a chance to learn.
In his 14th birthday, he is holding on to his childhood for as long as he can. He doesn't want it to go. And I understand it... I want him to enjoy it as long as it last because his childhood will be gone sooner than we thought. We thank the Lord that we are here in the mission field together. We share everything, the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, the joy and the sorrow, the love and the hate, the excitement and the boredom. I'm not afraid that my children will be lost from our side... because we are together in responding to God's call. Happy birthday Jared!!!
Today the whole Thailand is in festive mood because of the celebration of the Loy-Krathong festival. Here in Mae Sai it feels like Christmas. The people are walking outside the main streets with their family relaxing and celebrating. We also have "perya" here but better I guess. Only very few rides but the carousel really looks impressive. The big inflatable giant slide is attracting a lot of children. There is also a tiangge hosted by the Chinese near their temple for fund raising. The long and wide road leading to the border is full of people selling anything foods, dress, jackets, lanterns, books, finger foods, kakanin, almost anything.
Nonetheless the most important place today for Thais and Burmese Buddhists is the river. People come to the river to float their Krathong. "Krathong" is a "lotus-shaped vessel made of banana leaves". The Krathong usually containts a candle, three joss-sticks, some flower and coins. And "loy" means "to float."
The festival is considered by many as Brahmin in origin in which the people offer thanks to the goddess of water. Under the light of the fullmoon people light the candles and the joss sticks, make a wish and launch their krathongs on canals, rivers or even small ponds. It is believed that the krathong carry away sins and bad luck , and the wishes that have been made for the new year starts. It is indeed a time of celebration as people thought that their sufferings and bad luck are floating away.
Here in Mae Sai the festival starts on Saturday night and will go on until Sunday night. We will be back at the river tomorrow to observe the festival. People from all walks of life, young and old, rich and poor, Thai and Burmese will be together in this festival. After making a wish as if in deep prayer they would gently release their krathongs to the water and let them drift away until they are out of sight.
There are also people who sell fishes, crabs, and whatever water creatures are there and people will buy them on their way to the river. I see some of them hold the plastic in their two hands as if in prayer and press it on their forehead and after making a wish they release the fish to the river. I guess they do it to attract good fortune.
Although there are lots of symbolisms in this festival, the people are now doing it for fun. If there is religious significance in it, I am sure that only very few are taking this activities for spiritual reasons. Of course, I believe that Christians should not participate in this activities not because of its religious meaning but for the lack of it. We enjoy the festivities as casual observers. I hope to see more of it tonight.
Grace Home Kindergarten Center (GHKC, yes that's our new name) in partnership with International Rescue Commission (IRC) held its first seminar on AIDS/HIV Awareness on October 27-28, 2006. This is the first of the three scheduled seminars that will be conducted by us through IRC funding. The seminar was relevant for the Burmese Migrant Workers here. The seminars were offered primarily to the parents of the students at GHKC and the invitations were extended to the migrant workers in the community.
Joey was given an opportunity to proclaim the gospel in the two-day seminar. Angela and Narlin were responsible for organizing the seminar with the help the staff. We are envisioning that those who attend will become Christians and be discipled. We are praying that activities like these will be a way of evangelizing Burmese migrants here in Mae Sai and bring them in our church on the hill.
We beg that you continue to pray for us. Pray for a healthy relationship with fellow Christians here. Pray for the Grace Home Kindergarten as we envision to reach more people to Christ through this ministry. Pray for our church involvement as we reach out to the community through the church’s program of free English classes and Computer literacy. Pray as we train local church leaders through PBTS/SEE. Pray for the Holy Spirit empowerment as Joey preaches every Sunday.
This post is cross-posted over at Missions and Theology.
We woke up one morning with the noise playing and talking children accompanied by their parents. These families were visiting our neighbors who are worshippers of Allah. We are fully aware that we are living in a Muslim community but I didn’t realize until then that there are in the city itself. Our Muslim neighbors opened up their houses and set tables in their living rooms so that their fellow Muslims and their families could visit their house had some time to talk and eat (not much). We watched them as they passed by our house walking playfully in both directions, some were leaving and many were still coming. It was a sight to see; they were dressed with colorful robe, small head gear for men and a beautiful veil for women. It was a joyous day for them… it was the end of Ramadan.
We are enjoying religious freedom here in Thailand. In our few months of staying here, we have won friends both from Muslim and Buddhist religion. However, I find it strange that in a place where Christianity and Islam are both marginalized, our belief in one God and to some extent in Christ have given us special affinity than the dominant religion. Of course we have many Christian friends, but our best friends here are Muslims.
On an even ground, side by side with Christianity, my opinion is that Islam would grow faster in this region because Muslims are showing a strong sense of unity than Christians. It seems they have a more intimate and loving relationship with each other. They worship in one mosque; rich and poor, young and old, from different ethnic origins—Thai, Indians, Burmese, Chinese, Malays among others. Of course women are discriminated but they come and worship anyway. I could not say the same with Christians here. Christians here are so divided in many ways maybe not by denomination but by organizations that fund and support a particular ministry. Burmese and Chinese worship separately; tribal groups have their own church building. Christians don’t know each other. Yes, there is a strong of presence of Christian here but the people don’t notice.
Besides the appearance of strong unity, another reason that Muslims have strong “witness” here is their commitment to their fixed form of worship. For them, it does not matter if they don’t understand what the language of their worship is because they understand that worship is not for their personal benefits. Worship is their act of submission and surrender to the will of Allah. Christians here are the same as Christians all over the world, the worship for their own sake; they worship for their own benefit. I would like to direct you to Dr. Jim’s observation regarding Christian’s motives for in worship. I can relate with his observations. And I find his observations are also true here. Although understanding the language is very important in worship, I think if you don’t have much choice, you have to commit yourself to a church and worship there in spite of language barrier than not to worship at all (as some other field workers are doing). We have been attending a Burmese church since we came here and although we don’t understand most part of it, I believe we genuinely worship God in spirit and truth. Isn’t it the vision of our Lord Jesus Christ that Christians worship together in unity in spite of diversity? Why do Christians are not as committed to their worship compare to other major religions of the world?
I believe it has something to do with our theology of worship. Our worship is human-centered rather than God centered. Yes God is there in our worship but we seek to satisfy our own needs than to seek to praise and worship God. It seems we can only worship the Lord if we feel like it. And if our church is unable to bring us to that stage of emotion, we conclude that we are not worshipping and look for a place that could satisfy our emotional needs.
I would want to quote Alister E. McGrath here with regards to theology and worship and although I’m a Baptist and don’t usually worship liturgically I believe he has something to say about the relationship between worship and theology. Our theology determines our worship and vice versa.
One of the most important elements of the Christian tradition is fixed forms of worship; usually know as “liturgy.” In recent years there has been a rediscovery of the fact that Christian theologians pray and worship, and that his devotional context shapes their theological reflections. This point has been appreciated since the first centuries of the Christian church. The tag lex orandi, lex credendi, which could be translated as roughly as “the way you prays determine what you believe,” express the fact that theology and worship interact with each other. What Christians believe affects the manner in which they pray and worship; the manner in which Christians pray and worship affects what they believe.
Today, Muslim and Buddhist holiday are celebrated at the same day. Our Muslim friend and her husband invited us for lunch. We were so honored to be considered as their special family friends. They were actually celebrating the end of the Ramadan. This is the day when their fastings end. However, they told us that the celebration actually will be tomorrow. They just wanted us to be with them today and to enjoy the family fellowship.
The couple were actually our children's language teachers. But this relationship grows to something deeper and we appreciate their openness and acceptance. They are Muslims and we are Christians, they told us that religion really is not a barrier to true friendship. Here, there is no place for criticizing each other's religion. As friends, we learn to appreciate their religion not because we believe in it but because we know them as really good, sincere and honest people. They are genuine and not hypocrite. Our prayer is that they may also appreciate our religion, not because they believe in it but because they will see that we are sincere, honest and authentic in our relationship with them as friends.
In fact, we can tell you that they do believe in Jesus Christ. And although their knowledge of Christ is not as complete as we are, I know that deep inside their hearts the gospel was planted. And we pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to convict and speak to them, so that in the right time they can make a public confession of their faith. But I leave that work to the Holy Spirit.
I cannot over state the importance of prayer in any mission endeavors. So, I'm putting up here some very good quotations about prayer for missions. I just hope that through these quotes you may be encouraged but more so be challenged to pray for your missionaries. I beg you all to pray for us. We really could not do anything without your prayers.
"In our lifetime woudn't it be sad if we spent more time washing dishes or swatting flies or mowing the yard or watching television than praying for world missions." -- (Dave Davidson)
"Prayer needs no passport, visa or work permit. There is no such thing as a 'closed country' as far as prayer is concerned...much of the history of mission could be written in terms of God moving in response to persistent prayer." --- (Stephan Gaukroger)
"There is nothing in the world -- except the Church's disobedience -- to render the evangelization of the world in this generation an impossibility." -- (Robert Speer)
"We can reach our world, if we will. The greatest lack today is not people or funds. The greatest need is prayer." -- (Wesley Duewel)
Indeed it is! Even here. We live in a culture where faith and religion are express in icons and images. There are few Christians here but it is not unusual to find this lone image of Jesus Christ hanging on the wall of their churches and homes. In fact it is unusual if you don't this image displayed somewhere at all. Besides the cross this is another image that best identified Christians here. For me, I feel some kind of comfort and easiness when I enter a place and see this image.
In the Philippines, we always have negative response when we see images of Jesus because we tend to see it as idolatry. I think it is because of our reactions to Roman Catholics excessive use of images in their worship. But here there is no such tendency to identify it with idolatry at all. In the world where in the images of the Buddha abound everywhere, to find an image of Jesus gives Christians a strong sense of faith and togetherness.
If you want to know the history of this image of Jesus, you can read it here. The image is actually called by many as a Protestant "Icon." Below is the last part of the article.While Protestants have historically resisted using pictures in their worship, they often do, in fact, rely on Sallman's images and others in teaching children, in evangelism, and in decorating their homes. For many of them, these activities are as important for everyday life as public worship, especially in forming the early faith of children in ways that will continue to shape their piety for the rest of their lives. This is why even a glimpse of Sallman's pictures can open a deluge of memories. The picture hangs around.
We received a lot of encouragements this week. First, we had been visited by the interim missions director of the LCSBC and his wife . They saw the different ministries that God has entrusted to us. These ministries may be small compared to other high profile ministries in some other areas but we believe that with their partnership it will be a start of something big, great things that God will accomplish here in partnership with His humble servants. We are praying for a fruitful ministry partnership with the as they are getting ready to move to Bangkok next year.
Second, we are touched by the care and concern of the LCSB youth council with the leadership of their director (I was advised not to mention names here). They come to rescue us from impending "disaster" by sending us their support. God is always on-time and he never fails.
Third, a missionary from Asia has come this week and she will live in the neighborhood. Our village seems to become a favorite resident for missionaries and we believe that God has brought us together for support and encouragement.
Fourth, the Evangelistic English Classes are getting stronger. We expected that after two weeks children and young people will no longer have the energy and drive to continue their language study. But we have a resolute group of young people who are eager and interested to learn. They are learning stories about Jesus each night.
Finally, our senior Pastor had presented us the present and future activities and ministries of the Mae Sai Grace International Church as a means of evangelizing the community and discipling new believers. These are the following:
English Worship Service
Burmese Worship Service
Sunday School
Home Cell Program
Evangelistic English Classes
Discipleship English Classes
Computer Learning Center and Internet Cafe
Thai Language Study
Counselling Center
Early Child Care Development
Peace Building
Handy Craft
Health Program
Shelter for Burmese Migrant Workers
Human Right Advocacy
Capacity Building
Primary School for the Children of Burmese Migran Workers
Mission Training Center
Grace Theological School
Leadership Development
Mushroom Project
Fishery Project
Ice Cream Factory
Goat Product
International Kindergarten School
We came to the church Saturday afternoon for the Sunday worship preparation. We sensed right away that there was something special going on. Some of the members were coming with fruits of their harvests or with their money brought their offering to the church. Narlin because of her talent in decorations and ability to put things in their right place became the “floor director” in the church. The pastor asked him to arrange the thanksgiving offerings that church members were bringing in. And she had done a wonderful job (judge them for yourselves.)
Although Christians are a handful here compare to Buddhists and Islam, Christians are relatively united compare to the more "Christian" nations. I remember the verse in Psalms that says, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is, for brethren to dwell in unity.” It is easy to see unity when the people who gather together have many things in common. But if big difference in race, nationality, language, culture, and worldview exist, it is a joy to know that only our faith in Jesus that's keeping us united. Then here you will really understand the real meaning of the word unity is. …one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:5). It is sad to know that the walls that divide Christians in the better part of the world are growing wider.
My younger brother George started running his own blog, That Strange Feeling. The blog is full of childhood memories, humors and personal experiences. George went to college two years ago in his "old" age. His life has been a colorful journey of spiritual wandering until he find rest in God. Enjoy his stories and poems. All my siblings can write, but none can write like my brother and I believe my sisters will agree with me. Enjoy!
We find ourselves unusually busy this week. I really can’t find the time to update this blog. Narlin is now holding three Evangelistic English classes from afternoon to early evening. I am preparing the materials and the visual aids most part of the day in this computer while supervising my children’s home schooling and afterwards visiting people and sharing visions with our pastor. We also spent a day with our fellow Great Commission workers from the Philippines who came to visit us to see the ministries we have been doing. They are inspired with the works that we have been doing here. They claimed that in all the places they had visited we are the only ones they believe who are doing “real” missions work. They saw our work at the nursery and the come to know about the Evangelistic English classes.
I think by now you are tired of reading posts about our visa. I am tired of this visa thing myself. And I’m hoping against hope that this will be the last post that will mention about it. However, this post is not about visa but God’s faithfulness. It is a story about living literally by faith and not by sight.
Some of my friends know about this because I told them this story in email. But it’s worth repeating here and hopes more people will know how God had been moving in our lives. Now to the story… we have been praying for our one-year visa extension. I guess by now most of the readers know the situation. We were waiting for over a week for our friend-lawyer to call us anytime to go to Chiang Mai immigration for the extension of the visa. The problem was we really didn’t have the money for the visa. The cost was too much for us. When the lawyer called us, we only had 1,000 in our bank. But with a trusting attitude we packed our things and prepared to travel early the next day. How could we go to Chiang Mai when we didn’t have enough money for the bus fare?
The children were excited to travel. But they too, knew the situation and they never worry. That’s child-like faith for you which Narlin and I seemed to retain and never really outgrow. And we thank the Lord for that. That night we had a Home Cell Program (I don’t know why Burmese brethren called it like that it was actually a midweek service) and the Pastor came to know about our predicament. After the program, we went home. Later that night when we were about to go to bed, we heard somebody knocked on the door (actually roll-up). It was unusual for us to have visitor late at night. Even more, it was unusual to open the roll-up that because it made so much noise that it will disturb our sleeping neighbors.
The pastor came to visit us, stayed and talked for a while and gave us an envelope before leaving. We sincerely thanked him. But our hopes were not too high. These Burmese migrant workers are very poor. They work hard here but get so little in return. They are exploited by richer people here. So… we were not expecting that the envelope would contain so much. Anyway, it’s not the amount that counts it is the thought. We were just expecting a 100 baht bill. But when we opened it; right there before our eyes was 1,000 baht. It was worth a week salary for a poor migrant worker. We were deeply touched. We thank the Lord for his provision. He provided the money for the bus fare then we really did not doubt that God will provide the money for the visa. We were ready to go.
So we left for Chiang Mai the next day, we took the earliest trip 6:00 am because this was the cheapest bus we can take, if we were late our money would not be enough. We drove to the terminal in our old motorcycle (two trips) and left it at the terminal hoping to see it again after two days when we return. We arrived at Chiang Mai at 1:00 PM and a friend met us there. We actually called her and told her about our plan to go to Chiang Mai the night before. And we were happy to see her. Seeing a friend when you didn't have enough money was very assuring that things would gonna be okay. She knew about our predicament and we knew that she would see us at the terminal. But we were not so sure that she will lend us the money we needed for the visa. Actually she also needed the money for her own visa renewal. But she told us that God impressed to her to lend us the money. She would not need the money in another two weeks. We thank the Lord again, he provided the bus fare, and now as we trustingly expected he provided the money for the visa.
The next day, we went to the Immigration office with our lawyer-friend. He prepared every documents we needed and told us that it would only take one or two hours, then we can return home. We started computing the amount needed for the visa and the work permit. We thought that the work permit will be paid later in some other time. But the lawyer told us that the payment was also needed that day. We thought the money for the visa was not enough to include the payment for the work permit. Narlin counted the money it was almost not enough. I looked in my wallet and found some bills in there. The money we had was exactly what we needed. With only a few 20 bills left, I had no choice but to withdraw the last money we had in the bank for our bus fare back home and just hope that somebody would deposit money to it sooner so that the account will not close.
We waited at the Immigration Office for interview and approval. But because there were many people in the immigration trying to extend their visa before the implementation of new visa rule, one hour become one day. We got the interview in the afternoon. The officer was kind and very polite. She looked at us and asked us some questions in English. She talked to our friend-lawyer most of the time. For most Filipinos who are getting their visa, this is the most stressful moment. You couldn't predict the officer decision would be. Will she give us the one-year visa or just extend us to another three months just like the others? Will she give us another tourist visa just like what happened to us in Malaysia before? Or will they just tell us that you have been staying in their country very long, you should go home in your own country? The officer looked at us very long and stamped our passport allowing us to stay the whole year. Now, we need to renew our visa next year July 2007. And until then you will not see me post about visa any more. I want this out of my mind, well at least for another year.
Our stay and work is now legal under Thai laws. However, this would not be possible without the help of people who really care for us and know the importance of what we are doing as Great Commission worker. We don't have money but we have a lot of friends, church mates, family who are helping us along the way. And for us that is more important than money. Friends are God's great gifts to us. We feel their presence and care although they are far away from us. We let them know our situations here and they respond as true friend should be. As a Filipino missionary our regular support comes strictly from the Philippines some missionaries and locals couldn't believe this, most Christian workers and activities here are being supported by the organizations from the west or more affluent countries. But we, impossibly, may it be, are being lifted up by our friends back home.
Our friends help us to never outgrow our childlike faith. Here, our children influenced us too. We learn a lot from them... after praying for our needs to God and sharing them with our friends and family back home, they eould tell us, everthing's gonna ba okay (Nag pray na tayo tapos sinabi nyo na sa kanila, okay lang yun, tulog na tayo, aalis na tayo bukas.) That's children’s faith, so simple but very confident. God certainly honors childlike faith.
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The snack store in the corner of the street going to the church was made of grass roofs, bamboo posts and bamboo table. The middle-aged woman was selling delicious noodles and finger foods that were delicacies from Myanmar. The foods were delicious so Narlin and I would usually make a stop there when we were hungry and eat while chatting with the woman. This was a rare opportunity when we practiced our Thai language and got corrected and laughed at with our bad pronunciation. This woman we found out later is our link in the community. Her daughter and her daughter’s friends were Narlin’s first students in our English club held in the church last summer. She was responsible for making us popular in the community.
We never thought that we were very popular. A Filipino couple who passed by the neighborhood in their old motorcycle were not worthy of notice at all. Until… one day when I was about to make the turn to the church this woman stopped me. Parang pumapara ng jeep. With her were two young ladies. I didn’t know what the reason was until one of the ladies spoke with me in broken English and tried to tell me something which I did not understand. So I thought maybe they want to see the church or the pastor. I brought them to the church and there we found out that one of the ladies wanted to learn to speak English. Apparently, our English club and DVBS last summer had far reaching effect in the community than what we thought. These two ladies wanted to attend our English club which had stopped for a while because the students were busy with their schooling.
So last night we went to the church, Narlin was expecting and prepared to teach one or two students, but to our surprise more than 20 people showed up. Children and young people came with their parents. Narlin was unprepared to teach that many people. These people come to the church to learn English. They never even want to be near a church much more inside it before but they came and we were grateful. We are praying that through English club they will learn about the story of Jesus and come to know him as the true God.
Last week, Thursday, September 21 was Reuven's 8th birthday. His previous birthdays were usually celebrated in the church with the church's children and young people. We always had an enjoyable celebration because of the fellowship and my mother-in-law usually would cook and prepare the food. And I tell you she is a good cook. I had not taste the most delicious foods anywhere in my life. Not even here in Thailand. The young people and the Sunday School teachers would organize a children's party and games. Everyone would have a great time eating, talking and just being with everyone.
Last Wednesday, we had a very simple celebration. We were not able to invite our neighbors because we really didn't have money to spend for the celebration unlike Jillian's. And besides, it was still raining cats and dogs and the coup was on its peak. The only people who came were the other Filipino who where learning the Thai language with us and our Filipino teacher and her niece. They brought with them cake and Narlin prepared pancit canton. Why pancit canton? Because Reuven missed pancit canton and that is the only food he really liked for us to prepare. (No spaghetti please!)
Although we missed the usual way we celebrate his birthday we are thankful to the Lord. Some friends from the church remembered his birthday and gave the gift last Sunday. Some friends emailed us and sent their greetings. Tita Nori, Tita Dadai and Lola Toti called us up to greet Reuven for his special day. He timidly and in a shy voice would reply "thank you." Just like ordinray children, he wished that he would received many gifts. But he also said that it was still okay if he would not receive a gift.
Reuven is a very smart boy. Most of you who was with him know this. He is a fast learner. Narlin and I have a hard time reading Thai, he actually read Thai better. We always bring him when we go to the supermarket because can read the labels of the goods we were buying. Living in foreign land is tough for the grown up, I could only imagine that it is tougher for our children Please remember our children in your prayers.
By the way, Reuven had written three children books. Ate Precy (Caronongan)was asking for the first book because she want to publish it in the near future.
He is the greatest king of kingsMy youngest son asked me, is he like Jesus Christ? No, he is not but I think the Thais would agree that he is greater than Jesus Christ. I began to wonder, what was happening? Where were the regular TV programs? Did something happened to the king? Was he sick? Why were they showing these videos? Why was it abnormally quiet? Why were our neighbors' kids were not going to school? Why were the borders closed?
The heavenly gift to all mankind
He is the sun, moon and the stars
The greatest king, King Bhumibol
The coup situation is a very good one, people are happy to see the change, no gun shot, no bloodshed. We have a great king who cares for his people, and knows how to handle the situation. The person he appointed to look into the corruption is a fine Christian, every thing will be OK soon, we will have a temporary prime minister for about a year which already being named.Perhaps the coup is something that God allowed to happen for his glory and for the advancement of his kingdom.
There are changes in this blog for some reasons. A well meaning friend advised me not to put too "much" in this blog. And I believe he is right. I removed some of the page elements and pictures. Rest assured the updates and stories of God's faithfulness will continue. We want to thank our friends and people who emailed us and told us that they were blessed with some of the stories. I guess they still have to learn to put their comments on the blog. Thanks for the encouragement and appreciation. We know that we are not alone as we struggle culturally, emotionally, financially, physically and spiritually in the field. Thanks again.
Also I want to thank Jim Cortrill for featuring this blog in Missionary Blog Watch . Honestly, I wasn't expecting that this blog will be featured in his site much more my other blog. It's just feel good to know that we are not alone in the field and that we are part of a global effort (by God's power) to share the love of God for those who otherwise would have less chance of experiencing it.
We are experiencing a dark and rainy mornings here for a week now. Yesterday, when we were preparing to go to the church and as I was putting on my rain coat, it happened, a tiny tear from the neck decided to go all the way down to the bottom. The rain coat proved to be unusable. I had no choice but to go in spite of the strong rain. I drove our 10-year old Honda Dream 100 with my wife holding a big umbrella at the back and my 8-year old son at the front holding a smaller umbrella; we negotiated the road to our church up to the mountain. It was a difficult and dangerous drive. The drop of rains pierced my eyes and face like millions dumb needles. It was painful. And I was thinking I had to do it again for I had to come back for my other two children.
My friends who are also missionaries always tell me that I need a vehicle—a car or a pick-up truck that I can use for our ministry. But to be completely honest I really do not have the desire to owe one although it may be a real need for mission work. I believe a motorcycle will do the job. However, God knows our needs and not our wants. I don’t want to have a car but if God saw that it is what we need then perhaps God will give us a car.
I’m not trying to trick God by saying I don’t want it but we need it to so that He will give it anyway. We had a similar experience before with God when I was studying at the seminary. I was serving in a church as an interim pastor on the weekends while studying in Baguio for the weekdays. The church is a 3-hour drive from the seminary. I thought we did not need a car because we can commute every weekend to our place of ministry, but of course with much difficulty. We were satisfied with that arrangement because that was our way of life for almost a year and we got used to it. But God knows our needs more than us that after almost a year in that situation, He did provide and gave us a vehicle we can use every weekend. Now it made me think… God would provide our needs if it will help us become more effective in His ministry and because He loves us. For me… it is a clear application of this verse: …for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:8)
I saw these spirit houses in a shop for sale. I did not know if the shop owner is a Christian. Perhaps the original owner of the house converted to a shop was Christian because of the cross design on the wall. The picture represents the different religious pattern of the different people groups here in the Greater Mekong Subregion. The first religion is Buddhism which is the dominant religion represented in the design of the spirit house. The spirit house itself represents animism. This is the dominant religion before Buddhism came to Thailand. The first inhabitants of this place are tribal peoples. The cross represents Christianity which is today is the minority religion even smaller compared to Islam.
The spirit houses play a very important role in the worship of the Buddhists. This small highly-decorated structures can be seen in many buildings. No Buddhist house is complete without the spirit house. The spirit house should be kept clean and nice than the main house so that it can attract the spirits. This is the home for guardian spirits for a house, gates, gardens, etc. The family should offer food, flowers, candles and incense. It is necessary to provide a living place for these spirits so that they will live in the main house with the family. This belief is obviously animism that is being integrated with the dominant religion.
However, Buddhist "theologians" teach that these beliefs and practices that are accepted as important part of Buddhism do not fit with the Buddhist principles. Rites and practices like this completely obscure the real Buddhism and its original purpose. They claim that the real Buddhist teaching is about attaining liberation. It is about examining things closely in order to come to know and understand their true nature. Then people have to behave in a way appropriate to that true nature. Buddhism depends on reason and insight not superstitions and magic. It demands that we act with what one's insight reveals. A person should not believe other else's opinioin. He must first listen and examine then verify if it and if it is reasonable he can accept it at least provisionally. When I looked at Buddhism closely it seems to be very philosophical rather than cultic.
The cross of course is the most prominent and the most important symbol of Christianity. If a cross is seen in the building around here, it is assumed that the people who are using are Christians if it is not a church.
It is interesting to study this further. I will devote more time to study its significant from Christian perspective that would be useful for missionary works. This will the subject of my next post.
A Christian faith that is not resurrection faith can therefore be called neither Christian nor faith. It is the knowledge of the risen Lord and the confessions to him who raised him that form the basis on which the memory of the life, work, sufferings and death of Jesus is kept alive and presented in the gospels. It is the recognition of the risen Christ that gives rise to the Church’s recognition of its own commission in the missions to the nations. It is the remembrance of his resurrection that the ground of the inclusive hope in the universal future of the Christ. The central statements of the primitive missionary proclamation are therefore: (1) God has raised the crucified Jesus from the dead (Acts 2:24, 3:15; 5:31; 1 Cor. 15:4; and frequently elsewhere. (2) “Of this we are witnesses.” (3) In him is grounded the future of righteousness for sinners and the future of life for those subject to death.
Jurgen Moltmann. Theology of Hope. From Religion-Online
For sure there will changes on visa regulation for foreigners staying in Thailand. The only good thing about this is that Filipinos are not singled out as the one of the reason why changes are necessary. Foreigners of other nationalities are speculating about the reasons for the relatively abrupt changes on visa regulation. The only reason they could think of is that Thailand no longer wants those unwanted aliens in its country. Here is the latest update:
News from the new regulation:
This is coming from the Chief of Immigration.
1.Retirement Visa extension. If you have a foreign married spouse who is a dependent they will be able to get this dependent visa now. ( change of what has been happing the last couple weeks)
2.Retirement visa extension: If you have children under 20. They will no longer be able to get a dependent visa based on you having an extension of stay on retirement. They want these kids to get it based on education so they go to school.
3..Investment Visa extension: Will no longer be available after Oct 1st for new applicants on 3 million Baht.
4. Investment visa extension. For existing extension of stay holders of 3 million Baht, we are now being told this will now be grandfathered in and they will be able to get the extension forever as long as they renew. (Yes I know reversal from several hours ago but the government is aware that people bought condos before on this scheme and now will allow it.)
5.Now the news for frequent visitors: We have checked this upwards and backwards all day and it has been confirmed by a copy of the new regulation we have. If you have a visa on arrival more than three times in six months, you cannot come into Thailand without a visa from an Embassy/Consulate. When you enter Thailand, even if you are here just 1 hour, this counts as 30 days. If you come back 6 weeks later for 2 days, this again is 30 days. If you arrive a month later for 4 days, still counts as 30 days. When you leave, you cannot enter Thailand for 3.5 months without coming back with a visa. The reason is to force people who are supposed to have work permits to do so and pay tax.
Another example; you arrive for a week, this counts as 30 days, One month later 3 days and its 30 days, two months later and its for a two week period, still another 30 days. You can reenter Thailand in 6 weeks without having a visa.
6.On extension of stay based support of a Thai national (Marriage visa), before if you applied for this extension of stay, you would get a 30 day consideration stamp. Once you return in 30 days you would get the one year extension. Now it will be the same as an extension of stay based on business with the norm of three 30 day consideration stamps. Immigration will go out and check to see if it’s a real marriage or a sham before issuing the one year.
7.On an extension of stay based on being a Monk. No dependents will be allowed to get an extension of stay based on being a dependent.
Everybody can say that after seven months of staying in a new place, you can consider yourself no longer a stranger. The sights and scenes become familiar. You wake up everyday and the moment you put your head out of your door, your neighbors smile at you and mutter words of greetings that you still understand but know what those words mean. The one place we consider our refuge is our home in familiar place, with familiar neighbors who become our friends.
We continue to experience God's faithfulness after a seemingly long seven months. We are thankful to the people who are actually supporting us and those who are willing to support us financially. However, we are in the situation right now when our money in the bank is not enough to pay for our house rent for this month (and our house rent is cheap). God in his graciousness provides us a "big" house, a 3 storey row house where we welcome short term missionaries and accomodate Filipino Christians almost every month. They come here to renew their visa. This is one of our ministries here--a place where people can stay for free. This is our home but most of all a home for all God's people.
In addition, we need to pay for our visa extension before the end of the month. We are going to the Thai Immigration office again to extend our visa to one year. The cost for the visa is 1,900 baht for each one of us (total for five person is 9,500)and 3,500 for the working permit (all in all approximately U$360). This is the last time we will do it at this time because after this we only need to renew our visa once a year.
God is always on time. We just got our non-immigrant visa last month just before the Thai government changed its policy about 30-day tourist visa. I will quote what the immigration officers said regarding this:
'Under the current rules, people from those countries can stay in Thailand as long as they want. Some even stay here for one year,' another bureau official said.God is indeed faithful!
The bureau had learned that a growing number of foreigners from the 41 countries worked illegally in Thailand, Suwat said, adding many were employed in bars and restaurants in the popular seaside resort of Pattaya, east of Bangkok.
'Tourists are taking advantage of the visa exemption law. Instead of sightseeing, they are doing business here,' Suwat said.
From October, tourists from the designated countries can still enter Thailand without visas and stay for up to 30 days, but their entry stamps will be renewable twice at most for a maximum stay of 90 days.
Tourists who stayed for 90 days must leave the kingdom for at least 90 days before being permitted to re-enter Thailand, Suwat said.
After seven months in the mission field God gives us a clearer direction on what path to walk on in our ministry. He is giving us a focus. As Filipino missionaries this is crucial. We neither have a team nor an organization here who would tell us what to do nor would just give us a position in a well structured organization. Given this situation it is easy to lost focus. However, we believe that in situation like this that God would certainly reveal His will to those who are fully dependent on Him. I believe God put us in a position where our ministries will have a greater impact on the local community.
Narlin’s Christian Education Ministry
It is very clear for us that Narlin is most effective with her ministry with the children. She has a very important role in the children ministry of Grace International Church. Besides teaching the children, her position gives her the opportunity to minister to non-Christian parents and lead them to a saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The strength of her ministry lies on her ability to make friends and make people feel they are important—both for the children and their parents. Her training community health training gives here the ability to care for the children who are sick.
Furthermore, the church voted unanimously and give here task of training teachers . She is given the position to be the Sunday School director or something like that. She will be in charge of the entire Christian education of the church. Training teachers for Sunday School and leaders for children worship. This will include organizing English camps and Daily Vacation Bible School during the summer.
For some this may look easy, but as a foreigner working in disorganized church and working with people of different worldviews and cultures makes the task doubly difficult.
However, we believe that here is where she is most effective and where she will have a bigger impact in the community in terms of evangelism and empowering local people to minister and evangelize their own people.
Joey’s Theological Education and Training Ministry
Joey preaches regularly and considered to be the Assistant Pastor of Mae Sai Grace International Church. He is given full responsibility for the program of the morning worship service. Together with Pastor Shin Maung (the church’s senior pastor), Angela (co-worker) and Narlin, he helped organized the international congregation which is now well attended and perhaps preferred by Christians who happened to visit the place.
He is also instilling the vision among fellow Christians and missionaries to be united in reaching the unreached people groups in the region which is of course plenty. A coordinated effort and a fervent praying for one another are certainly needed and indispensable in the mission field.
In addition, Pastor Shin Maung is deeply concern with the theological education of the pastors and church leaders from both Thailand and Myanmar. Together we envision a church- based Bible school which is accessible both to Thais and Myanmar people.
We know that this undertaking is not possible without a working partnership with an established institution. This program will be done in partnership with Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary being coordinated through its current president, Dr. Joyce Abugan. Theological education will be done through Seminary Education by Extension (SEE). We will start the training as soon as the textbooks are available.
We believe that this ministry would also have a greater impact on making Christ known in this region. It will train local leaders in their biblical and theological knowledge, who in turn can transfer their knowledge to local Christians who obviously are more effective doing these things than foreign missionaries.
Because of the lack of qualified theological teachers, we are praying that we can extend this effort in other parts of Thailand using different means and methods of teaching that includes the use of the internet. We pray that these trainings will be a venue for a dialogue to make the gospel—the story of Jesus more understandable and acceptable to the Buddhists in the community.
We are pleading for you to pray for us without ceasing. I hope that the words of the apostle Paul in Phil. 1:4-6 may also be true in our lives
In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
As a Pastor’s wife, I supported my husband in his ministries and considered his calling includes me and my children. God had called him to pastor three churches. In those churches, God had put the burden in my heart to minister to women and children. Usually I end up teaching the children in Sunday School and set up a children learning center that ministered to the community.
When my husband was given opportunity to go to the seminary for further studies, I supported his decision to go. Even though we had no clear source of support we responded to the call and went to the seminary. Our going was made possible by selling our stuff that were still of use to our church members.
Our first few months at the seminary were really a struggle. Although my husband was granted scholarship, it was limited to tuition fees and other academic expenses. We had to have other sources of income in order for us to eat and buy our basic needs. The only option me and my husband had was to work in the seminary as work grant. My husband worked as security guard while wrestling with his academic works and ministry on weekends.
Me? I also had to work in order for us to survive and as we Filipinos would always say “para makakain kami ng tatlong beses sa isang araw” and my children could go to school. However, I was not qualified to work in the seminary as work grant if I was taking classes. And God provided me an opportunity to enrolled two very important courses that would prove to be useful in the future. These two courses were Crisis Counseling and Teaching English to the Speaker of Other Language (TESOL). Of course, I had to pay the tuition fees through my small work grant salary.
Eventually I was able to do some trivial works in the seminary from washing dishes at the canteen to cleaning the dormitory rooms. Until there was a need for a nursery teacher and I applied for the position. My experiences in teaching and caring ministry in my previous churches had become very useful. It was in addition to the fact that my major in college was elementary education.
I worked as nursery teacher for over a year. I enjoyed it and it became a ministry that gave me fulfillment. I taught and care for the children of the seminary students and faculties. I came to know the children and their parents and develop friendship with them. So that even the after my duty hours were over children would come into our small dormitory room to play, sing or just watch TV to wait for their parents to come home. The nursery was also able to minister to the community in Guisad. “Outsiders” also entrusted their children to me when they were out there working.
Presently, we are here in the mission field in the northern most part of Thailand. We are now ministering to the displaced people living in the borders of both Thailand and Myanmar. And one of the ministries that God asked us to do is to work in a Day Care Center. Yes, ministering to the children of these displaced people. I could never have imagined that the ministry that I had been doing in the Philippines is actually the ministry that God is preparing for me to do here in the mission field. As if God has arranged everything for me for this moment. Teaching and taking care of the less fortunate children of the unreached peoples in this part of Indochina. Through the Grace Day Care Center I have the chance to share and demonstrate the love and saving grace of our Lord Jesus to the poor and oppressed people.
We had a record breaking attendance in our morning worship service since we arrived last January. This can be considered good in a predominantly Buddhist country. The back of the church building were usually vacant was filled with people yesterday. The worship service was indeed a blessing to a mixture of believers who attended. People from different tribes (Karen, Chin, Shan, Wa, Kachin and Burmese among others), different nationalities (Americans, Singaporeans, Thais, Myanmar and Filipinos), different missions organizations (SIL, IMB, ARDL, PGM and Independent), different religions and denominations. A lady missionary from Singapore did the preaching through chalk-talk and her 12-year old daughter played the violin.
The English worship service was initiated with our senior Pastor. Pastor Shin Maung believed that it was a good idea to start an international worship when we came here last January. Since we can speak English, we helped in organizing the morning worship. We agreed that it will attract more Buddhist Thais and Myanmar people and at the same time missionaries who are looking for church to worship and to fellowship with.
The regular church members could not attend the morning worship service because most of them are working. So the evening worship is usually the most attended worship during Sundays. But now both worship services are well attended.
For us it is the grand vision of our Lord Jesus Christ for his church. It is the true unity of believers of different culture, race and religions. This unity indeed will draw people to Christ. As Robert Nash Jr. says:
Christians are to embrace people of other religious, theological and political persuasions. The purpose of the existence (of the church) is to overcome difference, not to create it. They of all people, are to be most aware of the cultural realities that divide human beings. They are to value what is good in their own cultural context. But, at the same time, they are to lift themselves above their particular context in order to point to a universal kingdom in which religious, theological, and cultural differences no longer exist.
God has been doing great things in our lives. Although sometimes I have this funny feeling that I can do things without God’s help but deep inside I know I just couldn’t. I have this growing perception that ultimately He is on top of things. Perhaps it is true that we can accomplish few things without Him, but in the end we realized that if God will not do his part on his end of the rope, what we accomplished on our end is actually good for nothing.
As a family in the mission field, we understand how awesome God is and how mightily He can do things for us. Firstly, we now have our non-immigrant visa and after three months this will be extended to one-year with working permit. Of course, this process takes a lot of money. God has provided people—family and friends who helped us and continue helping us.
Secondly, my children’s home schooling has finally being taken care of by the right people. The institution we tapped before for home schooling did it haphazardly and it didn’t work out as we expected. Parents’ biggest angst is their inability to provide good and decent education for our children. I know of a family who opted not to go to missions because of their children’s schooling and I think they made the right decision. We are thankful to God for friends and families who are not only praying but also coordinating and raising substantial amount to see that our children are given the best education. The home schooling will be administered by the School of Tomorrow—Philippines.
Thirdly, the project proposal I have written entitled “Community Health Program for Burmese Migrant Workers in Mae Sai, Thailand” for International Rescue Commission (IRC) have been initially approved. The project will be implemented by my church Grace International Church of Mae Sai. IRC will grant the church funds in US dollars. The church will use the fund to minister to the displaced and oppressed people from Myanmar of different ethnic tribes. This is indeed a strategic way to share the God’s love to the people.
God is great indeed!
Narlin is attending a Compassion seminar in a city 5 hours away. We are praying together with Angela that this seminar will be very useful for our children's ministry here.
I am left alone here in the house looking after the children and "supervising" their homeschooling. This time however, I found out that I can actually cook and wash clothes with Jillian.
Jared and I are still working to improve this blogspot. Uploading videos and experimenting on sharing some files we want to share to our family, friends and prayer partners back home. I hope we're doing it right. So far... so good.
Reuven got sick for a day with fever, colds and cough. I bought medicines from the drug store and I was thankful that the pharmacist there can speak good English. My training in Assist International Foundation is very useful in situation like this. What amazes me here is that the medicines are very chief. I bought three kinds of merdicine for only BHT120. Reuven is now doing well. Thanks for your prayers.
Within three months, the number of children we are taking care of increased from twelve to twenty five. We are glad to share that Filipino Short Term Missionaries from Pangasinan had done most of the work in developing the children’s center.
Dadai Dela Paz and Chriz Gaid worked fulltime in making the center conducive for learning and they taught English for almost two months.
We are thankful to the Lord that the parents are entrusting their children to us. Some of the parents are now regularly coming to the church to worship.
We are holding a regular Bible Study in the Learning Center every Wednesday. Parents gladly attend the gathering. The center caters Burmese migrant workers of different religions and ethnic origins.
The Learning Center is a ministry of Angela in partnership with us and the Grace International Church. Many have been blessed by the ministry. The children are celebrating their birthdays there and the parents are happy and grateful for this ministry.
Angela and Narlin were in Chiang Mai right now as they were invited by the Compassion International to attend their seminar. We want to thank the Lord for the opportunity that He has been giving us to serve poor people and to share the love of God with them. If you want to help us in this ministry you can email us.
Don't believe somebody who tells you that homeschooling is easy and will not take much of your time. My wife and I started homeschooling our children this week, and I tell you, teaching your own children will certainly used up all the patient you have been saving all your life. I even threaten to "kill" my son to get him going... but of course I was joking.
We came here in the mission field last January. My wife and I had a fairy tale fantasy of how good it is to homeschool our children. You see, before we came here, our children's experience of education waswith the government school. Unfortunately, my children had been taught by very old retirable teachers. This was the worst nightmare for parents who want to give their children the best education.
The thing is we really could not afford to send our children to International School here although most of them are Christian School because the cost is just too high. This the same with homeschooling. However, by God's grace, my sister and some good friends raised the fund for my kids' homeschooling. At this point, about 70% of the fund is raised and that would take care of the initial expenses and the first batch of the materials my children need.
We have three kids and the money we need for their homeschooling is "huge." I almost gave up that maybe they will not get their educaton here. However, God proves himself to us that he is there to provide. He is there to see us through each step of the way. Some people doubt the existence of God because they want him to fit in to their concept of what a "God" should be. If God does not act according to their expectations they question his existence or at least they stop believing that he is a God who cares. We have been serving the Lord most of our lives, and though there are times that it seems he doesn't care... almost always he proves that he never stops doing so, not so according to our expectations but according to his own way.
This blog will home our activity updates and prayer concerns in the mission field. We are inviting our family, friends and prayer partners to read and share their comments and prayer requests. We think that it is sensible to have a different blog for our missionary experiences and with Joey's theological reflections in the mission field. As a family, we hope to share our experiences, struggles and victories that could encourage other believers at home and fellow missionaries on the field.
