9-27-2009 Slum work

You can be pretty sure it is going to be a good day when you find out Rainy is leading worship at church.







This little fellow is Cambodian. He speaks no Thai. Hard enough to learn your R's when you are a Thai speaker. Double tough for him. He is awfully small for his age, too. Tiny little hands.

Ohm and his buddy help me out with telling the story of the rich man and Lazarus.

Showing off his artwork.

Noom helping out.

Posing.

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A big day on several counts. Our four Bible College students are back for a three week break. So great to see them and they are thrilled to be home for a while.

Noom

Jumnean

Bee

Peace

Styling and profiling

After the Bible study the guys took my camera and went to work. They are an image conscious lot.

Ting and Ohm with the serious look.

Ohm. Actually, a good photo.

Same for Ting.

John with his contemplative look.

And Ohm just being silly.

Thursday Young Leaders

Thursday is fast becoming one of my favorite days. The young leaders Bible Study met again this evening and it was fantastic. The guys really opened up and shared as we talked about dealing with pressure to do what we know we should not do. A great evening.

Dtang and Boyd look at the Word together.

Pai follows along.

Ting being Ting.

John and I listen as one of the guys shares.

Woot! Ohm joined us tonight!

And the drama of the year award goes to...

The Criminal

A heartwarming tale of loyalty and sacrifice.

Starring Sontaya as the Judge...


Sanit as the tough prosecutor...

and introducing Ohm as "The Criminal!"

If you can't tell, we put on another little drama this weekend, to illustrate the point of my sermon on substitutionary atonement. Oh, played a young man accused of stealing a neighbor's television set. After a short trial, the judge sentence him to ten years in prison, but just as they are leading him away, a friend stands up and begs the judge to allow him to take the punishment instead. To Ohm's amazement, the judge accepts this sacrifice and as the friend is lead away, Ohm is freed to go. It actually went over pretty well. And Ohm had a great debut performance. He is a natural actor.

Afterward, Boyd translated as I spoke on atonement and Jesus making the payment that satisfies God's system of justice, on our behalf, so we don't have to.

Slums 09-20-2009

Thirty two kids at Ja Rurat this week. Down a bit from recent weeks, but I was told that one of the better known members of the community had died and several families had gone to the funeral and taken their kids, which might explain part of it. And it was HOT Sunday! When it is extra hot, our numbers seem to be down a bit as folks don't want to get out and do anything.


This week, I talked about the prodigal son. The kids were really young this week, but most paid attention and could answer questions well afterward.

The real blessing was here. At the end of the area where we teach, a group of adults always congregate. They visit and sometimes gamble. For some reason, this story seemed to grab their attention. I was amazed to watch them all stop what they were doing and turn and stand silently all the way through the story of the prodigal son and how the father rejoiced when his son came home to him. We bring a small portable sound system for just this reason, so the adults can also hear the day's Bible lesson clearly. We are praying that somewhere in that group, The Holy Spirit is stirring something in some hearts.

I obviously kept the kids totally captivated.

Big C does some coloring, too.

At the Bearing slum area, the kids pray at the close of their activities.

These pics kind of speak for themselves.

Afterward, the team settles down for a meal together like we do each Sunday. Today's menu is fish, the famous meat on a stick (in this case, beef, which we seldom eat), and on the left, one of my very favorites, and one of Thailand's most famous dishes, som tum, or green papaya salad. Looks innocent enough, but this stuff is fiery hot when made right, and I love it!

The evening ends perfectly. My friend Eddie shares a devotional with the team. He used Matthew 6, and Jesus encouragement not to worry about tomorrow, and he talked about the fact that he enters the military in November. Eddie is NOT the military type, and he has been so worried, but this passage has really helped him a lot. This was the first time he has ever shared like this and I was so proud of him, and so thankful to God for what he's done in Eddie the past few months.

Raising Leaders

Bamboo Pai is in the house and ready to learn!

Pai brought his friend Jang, a fellow student at the University.

Ting prays.

Sontaya eats.

Boyd translated. He brought his friend from school. Boyd goes to Bangkok Christian College, almost directly across the street from me.

Talking about knowing right from wrong and choosing to do the right.

Boyd

John showed up. Very cool.

Got to watch a little boxing afterward!

Eddie, Ting, and Tank. Eddie is the reason we are doing this. He heads to the army November 3rd. Everyone loves Eddie. We just wanted to do something to encourage him and maybe strengthen him to stand firm in his faith.

Making plans

Eddie (second from the right) is entering the military in November. You may remember, he was chosen in the draft lottery late last Spring. I wanted to do whatever I could to help him be as prepared as possible, so I asked if he'd be interested in having a weekly time of prayer and Bible study at my condo until he goes in. He thought that sounded like a great idea. Wednesday, Ting and Son, and Eddie and Greg Brown came over and we had pizza and talked about this. Every Thursday, beginning this week, we are going to meet to pray together and to study what it means to be a godly man. Pai is going to join us, as is Boyd. The guys invited several others, so we may have a dozen. Watch for photos late this week!

09-13-2009 in the slums

37 kids today at Ja Rurat. And just me, Vee and Note to work with them! We think they know when we are going to be short-handed and all show up those days on purpose.


Little Cambodian girl. There have been more and more Cambodian kids coming to Ja Rurat. They are even poorer than most Thais. Some are being trained by their parents to be street beggars.

Ohm being Ohm. He was in the parking lot waiting for us today.


Looking through his new Thai/English dictionary. If only he could read either one.

Another new comer today.

Yet another little Cambodian girl. What a darling. But she doesn't speak Thai, so teaching her is a major challenge.

At Bearing, Son helps kids with their English lessons and picks up some pointers of his own.

Everybody loves Ting.

Thanee, being his normal, animated self.

Son and Eddie chowing down.