Grace Home Kindergarten Center

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.

Theology and Worship

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.

Muslim and Buddhist Holidays

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.

Prayers for Missions

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)

The Face That's Everywhere

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 are Grateful

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

Thanksgiving Sunday

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.)

We had a wonderful fellowship on Sunday in spite of the heavy rain. The people of God expressed a profound appreciation for the goodness of God. This attitude of gratitude echoed through out the community in a quiet way. That in spite of hardship, oppression, exploitation and poverty these Christians from different part of Asia were united in worship and in appreciation of God’s goodness.

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.

George's Blog

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!

Christians Should Never Outgrow Their Childlike Faith

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.