Born Again

I can not imagine being able to share better news with all of you. Rerk has most definitely crossed that line of faith and placed his trust in Jesus.

As many of you know, we have been reading and discussing The Purpose Driven Life together. Last week, we were talking about "The Reason for Everything," and the necessity of a real relationship with Jesus. He admitted that he had prayed to invite Christ into his life just before we left for Khao Lak. Funny, but I had told someone I would not be surprised to find that he had made that step in his heart, even if he had not prayed "the prayer," because of the differences I saw in him each day. Sure enough, that is what had happened. He knows about the call to follow Jesus in baptism and felt that once he told me (and others) he would want to be baptized soon, and he wanted to wait for that until he knew his friends from university could attend, because he very much longs to see them come to church and, more importantly, come to faith.

I can not tell you how thrilled I am. Rerk is a pretty incredible young man, and God has really built a bond between us quickly. To know that bond will last for all eternity is amazing and wonderful.

One thing that made me so pleased is that Rerk spoke about how amazed he was when he first came to Immanuel about how people like his friend John Tessalee and others among the Young Leaders and in church reached out to him and just showed him love when they really didn't know him yet. That's how this church thing is supposed to work!

Rerk has chosen to wait for his baptism until early February, partly because he feels his friends are more likely to be able to attend then, and partly so that Jason and his family can share in the moment. He has spoken with J on the phone and there is a special connection forming there, too.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank all of you who have prayed for Rerk in recent weeks, and I ask you to continue to do so. He is trying to figure out his future plans as he nears university graduation in late February. Right now, he is interested in studying abroad, possibly in Australia. Please ask God to guide his steps. And pray that his friends WILL be able to attend his baptism and will be touched by the obvious and wonderful impact the love of Christ has already had on his life. May they look at Rerk's life and say, "He has something I may not understand yet, but I want what he has!"

And for my U.S. friends who have been praying, you may not have the chance to travel to Thailand and meet Rerk, but one day, you WILL meet him and he will have the chance to thank you, himself, for your prayers.