Soi 107 09/28

Meanwhile, at Soi 107, we are giving the kids a break for several weeks from their English lessons. Today, we had a play day. Almost fifty kids showed up and I can not explain how excited most of them were over the simplest of games. Remember, some of them do not attend school, so they may never in their lives have had the opportunity to be involved in something like this before. The cheering and carrying on was amazing. For many, it is a day they may never forget.


Tony (below) is definitely operating in his area of gifting when he 'emcees' something like this. He is so high energy and positive, and the kids adore him.

A race, moving little snack balls from a plate to a cup using chopsticks.

Ja Rurat 09/28

Sundays at Ja Rurat were becoming pretty routine. Every week we sing a song or two, I teach a short Bible story and the kids color on a coloring book page using the same theme as my story. I told Vee last week that if we didn't do something to change things up, the kids were going to get bored and quit coming. He agreed, but I know he has been far too busy to do much about it. So, I went out and got some scissors and construction paper and glue sticks and we tried something a little new today. We sang songs, as always, but then I talked to the children about how prayer is just talking to God and that God longs for us to talk with him on a regular basis. Then we had the kids trace the outline of their hands in a "praying hands" posture, and cut that out and glue it to a second sheet.

It went well. The biggest problem was that it was just Vee and me today. No one else could go with us. We had our hands full, but the kids had fun and several parents watched closely and seemed to really approve.

San Lang

San Lang is the lady whose home we meet in front of when we work with the children of Soi 107 in the slum area. She comes to church every Sunday, a very, very long bus ride from her home. I had told Vee several weeks ago that I was eager to hear her story and learn from her how she came to be a believer and how she connected with Immanuel Baptist. I finally got her to sit down and tell me her story through Rin and Jenny (Jenny is a career missionary with Pioneers who works with the Immanuel team each Sunday). What San Lang told me was fascinating.

Left to right: Rin, San Lang, Jenny.

San Lang said that seventeen or eighteen years ago, "I was a drunk." She was an alcoholic who spent her time wandering around the slum areas drunk. One day a woman from Immanuel Baptist who lived in a community not far from Soi 107 was walking through the community looking for chances to share the gospel with people. She came across San Lang and could see she was drunk, as she usually was. This woman asked San Lang, "Do you want to quit drinking? I know how you can."

San Lang blew her off that first time, but a week later, they met again. Again, San Lang was drunk. This time, though, the other women shared the gospel message with her and told her, "If you are serious and really never want to drink again, I want you to go home and pray to Jesus and ask him to set you free." Late that night, San Lang did pray that prayer. She didn't feel any different at all and assumed nothing had happened, but when she woke up the next morning, she had no desire to drink for the first time in many years. She has never had a drink since.

That was an act of grace on God's part because San Lang still did not fully understand the gospel, nor did she fully believe. Finally sober, she decided to apply for a job, and she decided to test Jesus. She said, "Jesus, if you are real, please get me this job." She was 48 at the time, and in Thailand, it can be very hard to get a new job at that age. Now, testing God is not a good idea for believers, but he honored San Lang's request, and she got the job.

For her, though, something was still missing. She had started getting rides to Immanuel an attending church and a church friend told her she should follow the Lord in baptism and she agreed. On the day she was to be baptised, standing near the baptistery in the church, she began to weep. She had no idea why. She wasn't sure if she was happy or sad. The pastor who was baptising her was thrown off by the sight of her crying so hard, but he went ahead and led her into the water. San Lang said he asked her if she had received Jesus into her life as savior and Lord, and she said she had. He lowered her into the water, and she said that as she came up out of the water, it was as though she was a completely new person. She felt clean for the first time she could remember.

What an amazing story. And it is made more so by the fact that she wants so much for the rest of her community to know the hope she has. She asked Immanuel to please come out and start some kind of church to reach the lost, which is where the whole children's ministry started and where the idea of a new church plant, which is now being planned out, first started.

I am also touched by the thought that this other woman would go out by herself to meet and share with others. Because she was faithful, she met San Lang. Because she met San Lang, literally hundreds of lives may well be changed for eternity.

During the course of my stay here, I have come in contact with many career missionaries, both Baptist and otherwise. They have all been just wonderful folks. One thing that I keep thinking about is that each one of them, at some point in their life, came to a point where they laid their entire lives at the foot of the cross and said, "I give you my life, I give you everything. Use it as you will." I have no words to describe my awe at and appreciation for that kind of commitment.

In many Pac Rim countries, missionaries have to keep their identities and real roles guarded because they are not welcome. Here in Thailand, that is not the case, and in fact each of these folks have blogs, I believe.

Below are David and Claudia Johnson, who work with the International Mission Board of the Baptist church. They have been in Thailand for over twenty years and are truly wonderful people. They are from Alabama, and even had me over for some southern biscuits and gravy and grits last weekend! David will coordinate any short term mission trips involving my home church, Pleasant Valley Baptist, working with Immanuel Baptist in 2009.


Greg and Chris. Greg is new to Thailand, having moved here just a few weeks ago. He works through Pioneers, an interdenominational missions organization. He'll be working in Bangkok, helping plant new churches. He also comes to help the Immanuel Baptist team with the slum ministry at Soi 107. Chris is stationed about three hours west of Bangkok, nearer to Burma. Sent by his home church, a Calvary Chapel church in California, he is pretty much independent, working with villagers and trying to find ways to share Christ. Chris has been in Thailand for two years. When he comes to Bangkok, he heads for Immanuel and considers it sort of his 'home base' here. I appreciate so much that Immanuel welcomes people from other church backgrounds to partner with them in their ministry efforts, and that people like Chris and Greg are eager to do so.

Boy

This is Boy. He's the young man who invited me to Immanuel Baptist. Boy is a young man with a deep, simple faith. He speaks very clear English and feels called to ministry. In fact, he has initiated contact with Midwest Baptist Theological Seminary in KC.

It hasn't been easy for him. Boy's father passed away when he was very young. His mother is a school teacher, and teachers do not make much money here. He's had to do without a lot.

Today, my Sunday School teacher related a story to me about Boy that was pretty incredible. The teacher often starts class by asking everyone what God has done in their lives over the previous week. Two years ago, he asked that question and when it got to Boy, he said God had done something special for him. Boy said that he had never had a birthday party or a birthday cake or even a birthday gift. He said his mom loved him a lot, but she was very busy and well... he had just never had his birthday noticed. Anyway, Boy said that one night that week he had gone to sleep and had a dream and in his dream Jesus came to him holding a birthday cake with candles burning and said, "Happy birthday, Boy." Boy said he then woke up and realized it WAS his birthday. He hadn't even thought about it. Boy said he knew it was God's way of saying HE knew and that He loved him.

9/14 in the Slums

Today at Ja Ru Rat, we had twenty five kids and it sent really well. After we sang a few songs, I told them the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand with five small loaves and two fish. I stressed that he got the food from a 'lek puchai' (little boy) in the crowd. Afterward, we gave then a coloring book page that went along with the story. I was amazed that almost all the kids could answer all my questions about the story. (It was fun to see their faces when I told them there were twelve baskets full of leftovers!)

It is also encouraging that there are more and more adults hanging around the edges to watch and listen. That's the idea... to reach the parents through their children.

I made a fuss over one child's picture and took her photo. Suddenly EVERYONE wanted their photo taken, and they all wanted me to draw a star on their pages.

As the last of the kids were leaving, Vee asked a group of them to come stand with me for a photo. They were more than happy to oblige.
At Soi 197, Tony's fan ministry started today with a couple of people from the community bringing broken fans in for free repair. Tony knows his stuff. He had one motor torn apart, soldering stuff and next thing you knew, it was working like new! I'll be interested to see how this ministry goes. What a great example of 'finding your niche'!

Worship at Immanuel

I know there is a LOT of curiosity about the worship services at Immanuel, so here is a small taste. The words are usually in both English and Thai on the screens. Note the man in the grey shirt on the front row. That is Pastor Winit. He plays the violin and usually picks it up and joins the band on most songs. Enjoy.

Teaching English video

A look at the English instruction in the slum at Sukhumvit soi 107. This is just one of the groups, after we have broken them apart by ages.

Street Images, etc.

Wanna buy a broom?


Buying guaytiaw naam gai. Noodles with chicken. This is just a few yards from my condo. The lady has a mesh basket in the end of the pole, which has the noodles in it as she swirls it around in a vat of broth. Behind the glass hangs a chicken and a slab of roasted pork she cuts up to put in with the noodles.

Carry out, Thai style. The noodles go in one bag, and the broth in another, with a bag of sauce to add to the broth and a small bag with fish sauce and chilis to use on the rice with sliced pork in the background.
The finished product at home. This is true Thai fast food. There may be a half dozen or more noodle shops withing two blocks of my condo. And trust me, this stuff is good!

Big Plans

The slums ministry team has been doing a lot of praying and discussing future direction and there are some exciting things coming. One immediate thing is a new outreach to the community. Tony works for a school in town as a maintenance man. Most schools were closed part of last week, due to the political uprisings. Tony was still called in to work. One of the things he was asked to do was to fix some broken fans. As he was working on that, he had an idea. He decided he would like to invite people in the community around the slums at Soi 107 where we teach English to the children every Sunday, to bring any broken fans they might have for free repair. While they waited, team members could engage them in conversation and share the love of Christ with them. We'd be serving the community and sharing the gospel at the same time.

Today, we went out into the community with fliers announcing this new program. Folks were very pleased with the idea of getting anything at all for free. I'll be interested to see the response next week. Below, Tony, Vee, Greg and a local man who loves to hang out with us, hand out fliers to neighbors.

In addition to this new ministry, Vee is planning on opening a 'coffee corner' near where we teach, offering folks in the community a free cup of coffee and perhaps getting the chance to visit with them.

The biggest news, though, is that the team is beginning to lay plans for planting a church in the community. As one team member put it, even if the interest level of parents is not real high right now, when the kids were are reaching grow up, they'll need a church to attend. Tony and Vee will be scouting for the best location and begin negotiating for the land. The hope is to have a building and be open and going sometime in 2009! What an exciting thing to be part of and I hope you'll genuinely pray for this effort.

Incidentally, the American in the photo is Greg Brown. Greg is a native of Chattanooga Tennessee and a recent graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary. He has felt called to full time missionary service in Thailand and is serving with a misisons organization called Pioneers. Greg will be working with the slums ministry as well as other ministry work in the area. He's a great guy. I have posted his blog web site on the front page of this blog, in case you want to check it out.

Singing with the kids

Here's a short video clip of Tony and Vee leading the kids in a chorus as we got started this afternoon at With Sureat. Please excuse my clumsy photography. It's my first attempt with this camera and I thought I had stopped it before I actually did.

Better and Better

Today, Vee and I had help from Tony as we ventured out into the slums again. And we were a bit better prepared. I had been given enough warning that I knew I would be teaching a short Bible lesson, so I prepared to tell the kids about the widow and the lost coin. I found a coloring book page on line that illustrated the story and we printed off a batch to take with us. The kids really got into the story and loved that the coloring page had to do with the story we had just heard. Almost all of them could tell you the main part of the story, using their coloring page.

Good thing we were better prepared, too. Incredibly, there ended up being twenty nine kids at Ja Rurat today! The numbers have been growing very, very fast. And this afternoon, I noticed several parents sitting nearby watching with approval, so I am hoping we are seeing doors open with the adults.

The kids were very anxious to show off their work!



Well... MOST of them were.

Kids are kids the world over. This photo could be taken in almost any town in America. Boys being boys.

Tony lines them up to receive their snacks afterward. It looked like a sea of kids if you were there! Good stuff. God stuff!

We're being monitored!

Walking back along the khlong I noticed these fellows. I am guessing four feet long or so. Some kind of monitor lizard. The first one I saw, I assumed was an escapee from the zoo a few blocks away, but then saw the seocnd one several yards farther along. They keep the khlong near Dusit Park well stocked with fish, so it makes sense these guys would hang out there for the easy dinners. I just have not been around the khlongs enough to know how common the sight is, but I don't think I will wiggle my toes in the water from now on...

Big C's Day Off

I had the day of from work and wanted to go explore a bit. I decided to go see Vimanmek, the 'teak palace,' a palace built by King Rama V in 1901 entirely of golden teak wood. It is supposed to be amazing. Sadly, after a loooong walk, the grounds were closed, I suppose because of the state of emergency we are under. The palace is next to Dusit Park, very near the Government House where the protests are going on.

But I did still get some good photos.

Victory Monument is a major Bangkok landmark and Thais are quite proud of it.


Flowers along the khlong (or canal) net to Dusit Park.

The khlong.

The Royal residence. Not as gaudy as the Grand Palace, but a more practical place for the royal fmaily to actually live.

Life in the slum

At the Ja Rurat slum area, we meet the children at a kind of local community gathering area in the center of the slum. There is a crude wooden stage with a roof overhead. This woman is here at the corner of the stage every time we visit. Near as I can tell, she lives here. Note that she has a fire going to cook rice and some bowls and things on top of the 'cabinet' next to her. This would be no worse than many of the 'homes' here in this community. There are some straw mats off to the side on which I assume she sleeps.

Sometimes, the reality sinks in that, while I am going home later in the day, people like this woman LIVE here. It is all she knows.