I am Sam Wise, the brave.

This is cross posted from Missions and Theology. I started cross posting because Jared is now considering deleting this blog for obvious reason (he feels nobody read this blog anymore). In case he might do it one day, you can still read the posts on the other blog. Now for the good news, we have a pet. Read this.

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's Birthday

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!!!

Loy-Krathong Festival

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

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.

Comments and Prayer Requests

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English Club Revival

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.

Happy Birthday Reuven!

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.

Flash Flood and Coup

We woke up Wednesday morning, feeling that something was not normal. It was definitely not normal because it had been raining non-stop for four days. I was thinking if we were in the Philippines we should be swimming inside our house right now. Fortunately enough Thailand have a good sewage system. Although other areas were already flooded this was inevitable because the river could not contain the water caused by too much rainfall.

We had an inkling that the Learning Center was deep in flood, so we went there despite the heavy rains. Our feeling was confirmed as we saw the children and the teachers upstairs watching helplessly the flood raged along the street. Evidently, some Burmese migrant workers had to work and left their children to the care of the teachers. They had to work in spite of the rain and flood.

Another reason that make this day felt unsual was the coup that apparently started late Tuesday night. The only clue we had that something was amiss that day was the local television channels were showing videos of the king of Thailand. In those videos, the accomplishments of the king were showcased. The great things that he had accomplished were flashed before our eyes that made me admire the king. He is indeed a good man and a great king. A song was played again and again, and the song went:

He is the greatest king of kings
The heavenly gift to all mankind
He is the sun, moon and the stars
The greatest king, King Bhumibol

My 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?

My poor command of Thai language did not help either because I could not ask my neighbor what was happening. I checked my email and there I found out. A friend emailed me that Thailand was under coup and we, living hundred of kilometers away from the capital did not know what was going on.

The coup was peaceful and it looked like the people were happy. I think they are happy to see the Prime Minister go. He is not right for the country. Perhaps the Thais believe that if they could exorcise the ghost of the deposed Prime Minister then things would change for the better. Perhaps they are right. I received an email from a friend at the peak of the coup that expressed the sentiments of the Thai majority.

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.

Changes in this Blog

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.

Rainy Days and God's Faithfulness

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)

The Cross and the Spirit Houses

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.

The Centrality of Resurrection in Mission

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