Good Attendance

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.

Our Hands Are Full

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!

Compassion

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.

Missions Video Presentation

You may want to see this video presentation of our missions activities.

Grace Learning Center

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.

Homeschooling Blues

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.

Our Missions Update Blog

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.