November Reflections

November has been an interesting month. I thought I would spend most of my time in Wiang Pa Pao because I had no business to attend to in Chiang Mai, but I ended up splitting my time in both places for various reasons.

One of the reasons being there was a huge festival that occurred in the beginning of the month called Loy Krathong. The whole purpose of the festival is to celebrate Buddha and it’s also a time where Thai people atone for their sins by placing it on floats that flow down the river or on sky lanterns (think of Chinese lanterns that have the ability to float like a hot air balloon) into the night sky. As I got to partake in the festivities, it was a sight to behold to see thousands of lanterns filling the night sky and fireworks going off to the left and right of me. It was a lot of fun to rub shoulders with Thai people and tourists alike as they were enjoying themselves in the festivities. At the same time I couldn’t help but think that there was something flawed in the whole festivity. If it were only that easy to atone for our sins, and ironically the lanterns eventually fall back to the ground, and the sins that these lanterns are carrying don’t really float away. I’m not trying to bash the festivity or the culture because like I said, it was a sight to behold and I enjoyed it myself. Plus, through this festival, you have an understanding that the Thai people have a concept of sin, which is a good starting point. Similar to a person who understands that they are sick and need help, than with the person who has an illness, but refuses to acknowledge it or receive any help. The festival is underpinned by this desire to be free from sin, and there is one who conquered sin, and offers us a way out, so it convicts me even more that Jesus needs to be shared here in this country.

Apart from going back and forth from Chiang Mai to Wiang Pa Pao and visiting new parts of the country like Pai and Nan, I feel myself being easily distracted these days. When I’m in Wiang Pa Pao, I have a lot of free time on my hands, and I’ve gotten lazier in some senses, and I’ve also having a harder time focusing on missions. I think it’s compounded by the fact that I’m nearing the last portion of my mission trip, it’s the holiday season, so I’m really starting to miss home, and I’m worried about the things I have to do when I get home (i.e. apply to schools). At the same time it hasn’t hindered me on what needs to get done like setting up for the JK Foundations first ever praise and worship contest in Wiang Pa Pao (I’ll blog on that separately), helping the Jasper Kids with their homework in the evenings and teaching skits and body worships in preparation for Christmas ministries. It seems that I haven’t given it my all, and in turn I’m not giving God my all. The whole month of November has been like that, trying to get used to going from having a structured schedule at GIS to more free time at the JK Home, and dealing with all the distractions. Fortunately, God has reminded this week, why I came here in the first place, and has given me a heart check.

As I was praying this week, I was compelled to read Psalm 57, and one portion of it stuck out, and it comes from Psalm 57:9-11 (ESV), “I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!” As I was reading it, I was reminded of the verse I used on my brochure, Psalm 67:1-3 (ESV), “May God be gracious to

us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!” He reminded me that I’m still here serving His purpose, not my own. Also, I need to continue to exalt Him and praise Him and let it be known that He is to be praised. In the midst of forgetting my focus and purpose, God through the Word brought me back to what I need to do. It was a much needed gut check, hopefully and prayerfully, I’ll live out my final months here exalting Him and letting the nation of Thailand know who God is!

Alright I think I’m all caught up with the blog. Thanks for your patience, and I’ll resume blogging once a week on everything that goes on. With the Christmas programs starting this weekend, there will be a lot to cover, so stay tuned. Please pray for the ministry that God will reign over it, and that He will be the focal point to everything we do. More of Him less of us.

Pictures after the jump

Newsletter

November Newsletter has been posted, check the link on the right side of the blog to see what I've been doing the past month.

October Redux

Ok, it feels good to make some progress on the blog, especially when there is 3 months worth of experiences to pore over. Alright here goes reflections for...

October

October was a whirlwind month, I ended my volunteer term at GIS during the second week of the month and that same weekend helped out at a medical clinic up in the mountains. The following week, Pastor JJ, Junya, and I participated for one evening at a youth camp for Karen kids, which most of the Jasper Kids attended. Then I helped out at a retreat/youth camp for missionary kids (high school and jr. high combined around 500 kids), and during the last week of October, Pastor Gil and the family (the Suhs) came to Chiang Mai for some family vacation time. Overall the month didn't lack for excitement or things to do.

When I think about all that happened in October, there are a couple things that stick out. In my time in Thailand, I have met some amazing people and worked alongside some awesome people. In October, God has given me the opportunity to do the same. Before, I helped out at the youth camp, the JK Foundation partnered up with Doctor Hume (friend of Pastor JJ's during his time in China) to run a medical clinic up in the mountain villages. Watching Doctor Hume run the clinic with his wife, Debbie, was incredible. Throughout the day it was very relaxed, and you could tell Doctor Hume loved the Lord in the way he was treating each patient. The greatest part of it was, was that a few came to know Christ on site at the clinic, and we were able to help the local pastor make inroads for the Gospel in this village. To catch you up to speed about this village, it is close to Mae Chang Khao, where a lot of our Jasper Kids are from and there is a good number of Christians there. Because of that fact, the other village we were ministering to, did not have good relations with Mae Chang Khao, where the pastor there wanted to reach out to the neighboring village, which is also where he spent his childhood. For whatever reason, the village had this us against them mentality, and the pastor could not make any progress. Now that your up to speed, because of the success of the clinic (all props go to God) the pastor of Mae Chang Khao is able to build relationships in this particular village and hopefully will be able to share the gospel soon.

The clinic showed that God is able to use whoever and whatever for his Kingdom. If your a doctor, he'll use your skill set, if your an auto mechanic, he can use your skill set. It isn't merely just preaching the Gospel, but you can show people the Gospel by living it out and using your profession and skills that God has bestowed on you. Just depends on whether you will let him.

After the clinic, I got to meet a fun group of people from Hume Lake, California. They were in Chiang Mai, running the youth camp, and they come every couple years to do so, and they run camps every winter and summer out in Hume Lake, California. You can check out there website here and also for pictures from Hume Lake Thailand here. The way they ran their camps, and to run back to back camps for both high school and jr. high kids, knowing how exhausting it is...I give them much props. Everyday they were pouring out the love of Christ to the missionary kids, and that challenged me to do so too, even when I was exhausted as a counselor. Having the opportunity to be a counselor, I really got a chance to get to know a lot of the high school and jr. high kids from GIS. While I was working at GIS, I didn't have much of an opportunity to do so, because I was working mostly with elementary students. Most of the high school or jr. high kids that I hung out with were a good bunch of kids. Some of them knew and loved God, and some of them didn't, it wasn't any different than being in the States. It made me realize, even missionary kids need to be reached out to, and what Hume Lake was doing was meeting that need. After it was all said and done, it was sad that at the end of my time at GIS, I finally got to know some of the secondary students. I can't help, but feel shorted that I built these relationships, but I can continue to foster those relationships as a volunteer at school. At least there is facebook (the beauties of social networking and the interwebs!)

Finally, my time spent with Pastor Gil and the family was a blast! We actually got to hang out a lot, went to the mall, went bowling, stopped by an elephant camp and visited the JK Home. It was like as if I was hanging out with them in the States, sans the elephant camp and the JK Home. Personally, it was encouraging to talk to both Pastor Gil and Joyce about life and missions. It was doubly good to hear about the progress that God has made through them in Cambodia, and also the needs of Cambodia. Plus it's always good to get sage advice from a pastor. We all need wise men and women in our lives to be examples for us. Shoot, I mean, even Paul told his fellow Christian brothers and sisters to follow his example.

What put the whole visitation over the top was being able to hang out with David, Isaac, and Mary (Pastor Gil and Joyce's kids). They have grown up so much since I saw them last year, and they're still oh so adorable. I was humbled that they wanted to hang out with me and play with me because back in the States, I rarely ever did, something I regret now, because they are a lot of fun being around. Oh and if your reading this Jessica aka Ji Young, Mary misses you, told me herself.

Ok, this post is getting way to long, I'll just end it with this note. October was filled with a lot of activities, but the biggest impressions made on me were not the activities in it of itself, but the people. When people give themselves up to God, God will use them. I saw that in Doctor Hume, the Hume Lake staff, and through the Suh's, and I continue to see that in my time here. On top of that, I am building up friendships left and right, and I thank God for every one of those opportunities, and I can't wait for who I'll meet in the final three months that I'm here. Alright now for some picture time.

My last day at GIS, and the people I worked with in the Special Needs Dept.

More pictures after the jump...

September Redux

I have neglected this blog for too long. It's been three months since I lasted posted anything. Part of it was due to busyness and a lot to do with laziness. Also the longer and longer I waited to post, the more and more I racked my brain over what to blog because I didn't want to make blog posts too long, which in turn would make me give up posting at all. Once again, sorry for not being on top of things.

As I was thinking about what to blog, I didn't want to just go over what I've been doing the past three months because there is just too much to write about, so I'll just stick with reflections over each of the past three months. If you really want to know what I've been doing, you can always check out my newsletters which is linked on the left side of the page. So here we go...

September

Had the opportunity to work at Grace International School as a volunteer, but I had teaching responsibilities as I taught ESL on an individual basis with kids. To say that I wasn't overwhelmed in the beginning would be an understatement. As the month passed by though, it became easier and I felt more comfortable teaching. I really enjoyed working with both elementary students and secondary students. Most of all, I loved the environment at GIS. All the teachers and administrative staff were a pleasure and it was truly blessing to be able to work with Christians from different denominations, and backgrounds. I mean I worked with a Canadian-Filipino Christian who was charismatic, a conservative Texan Christian, Thai Christians, New Zealander Christians, an Englishman Christian (not British, got to make that differentiation because British can also mean Welshman, or at least that's what the Englishman told me...lol) and so on. The great thing about it all is, regardless of where we come from, they all were focused on two thing, offering an education for missionary kids while being Gospel driven, and helping these kids take ownership of their faith. People working together for Jesus, that's an awesome sight to behold, and here it was refreshing to see people being united in Christ, even if people were different in some ways.

Aside from school, in the month of September I got to go out to Payap Christian Zone Church for their cell group, and I got some much needed fellowship. Praise the Lord! It's a Thai church, planted by American missionaries, so most of the congregation speaks both Thai and English. I ended up going to their cell group because a lot of the staff I work with at GIS go to that church. What's been great about hanging out at this church is that it is thriving. God is using this church to spread the Gospel to the college kids in the area, and people are coming to know Christ. When I see a church like this, it gives me hope that even in a nation where less than 1% is Christian, God is working here using Thai people to reach their own. Even better the Jasper Kids Foundation was able to partner with Payap to run an English Camp, so we had a local church helping plant seeds of the Gospel in Wiang Pa Pao, again collaboration for the Kingdom work! In the month of September, God has been showing me the importance of collaboration with fellow Christians. We're in a spiritual war, and we can't be going off fighting alone.

Pictures from English Camp & no pictures from GIS because I wanted to be sensitive to the missionaries who do work in hostile areas and who's kids go to GIS, if you catch my drift.

Some Grace teachers and Payap church members

Playing some Family Feud

High School kids

Elementary kids

On a more personal note September has been a good month. I started listening to Pastor Soosang's (pastor of my home church SJNH) messages again after a summer hiatus, and it has been good. I felt like I was being spiritually fed, after a long time of not feeling like so. Nothing wrong with attending Thai worship service, but I could only go so long hearing a message in Thai and not understanding and leaving it at that. Anyways, I've been listening to these sermons and God has been using them to break me down! To elaborate, I've never felt or realized the deep sense of urgency of the Gospel to be spread until September. One thing I always struggled with throughout my walk with God was I had a hard time loving the lost. Whether it was volunteering at a family shelter in San Jose, or going on missions in Uganda, Africa, my heart was hard. Not that I didn't care for the plight of peoples, but I guess it didn't reach the deep recesses of my soul the extreme need for the Gospel for broken people. I definitely had the head knowledge as to why the Gospel was needed, but it didn't sink down completely to my core.

Then on one Sunday afternoon in September at the Jasper Kids Home, God showed me his heart. I had an opportunity to give a message to the Jasper Kids, and to make a long story short, I preached on the history of missions beginning in the book of Acts, and at the end I challenged the kids if they were going to be a part of God's kingdom work. As I closed in prayer, I mentioned how we were fortunate to be saved by Christ's blood, but there were plenty of others in Thailand who did not and were broken. At the utterances of those words, something clicked, something resonated, and before a crowd of kids, I wept (bear in mind, I don't cry during prayers and I hate bringing attention to myself this way, so this was a huge surprise) because of the mere fact that there are people who are broken out there and not saved. At that moment I understood the urgency of the Gospel, people are living broken lives, they turn to this and that for answers, but only the Gospel can give hope and salvation. Since then, I've been looking at my surroundings in a different light. We live for this Gospel and it needs to be shared, and it rings true for me more than ever. God has been good in the month of September!