Khao Lak January '09 - Part 2

Just a few more strong images from the weekend...

Ah Jan Acharaa. She works herself to the bone, teaching two or three small groups a week, Wednesday night and Friday Night services at the church, the Sunday morning service, and she oversees a school for kids preschool through second grade. Until this yer, the had three full time missionaries helping her, but the tsunami crisis is seen as a thing of the past, so groups are recalling their missionaries. Her biggest need is for help in handling the day to day ministry of the church.

J speaking on "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest."

Vee and Son visiting with a man who had not walked for a very long time.

Just to let him feel that sensation again, they helped him take steps to the roadside and back. It was a lot of work, but he was so happy.

One day after giving their lives to Christ, our new believes showed up for Sunday services in the 'church bus.'

Forever friends. The best kind. J, Vee, Son.

The sun sets on our last day in Khao Lak.

And J will leave forever changed.

Khao Lak January '09 - Part I

Another "Wow," experience. Guess I should be getting used to those. Thursday night, J arrived around midnight. Jason Hinckley is a pastoral intern at Wellspring Community Church and a young man I have mentored for many years. By email, I introduced him to my buddy, Vee, and they have been very anxious to meet and work with each other. That day finally arrived.

We picked J up at the airport and went to my condo so he could unpack and change. By 3:00 a.m., we were on the road for a nine hour drive to Khao Lak, the village in Southern Thailand that I visited with a team from church two weeks ago and earlier in October. This time, we went with a bare bones team. J, Vee, me, and a dear young brother from church named Son. Because Vee had school obligations on Monday and Son had to work, we could only be there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, returning Sunday evening.

This time, we worked with another church Immanuel supports, Pak Ping Christian Church, and their pastor, Ah Jan Acharaa. (Pak Ping means 'hidden in the rock.') Although we were only there for three days, we packed in a ton of adventure!

J has been looking forward to this trip for months now. He had little or no interest in doing the typical 'touristy,' stuff, but wanted to roll up his sleeves and do real Kingdom work. He was not disappointed. Over the three days, we went to four small group meetings, where we took turns haring our stories or leading Bible studies. We visited several church members in their homes and encouraged them and prayed with them. Because it was the weekend for Thailand's national Children's Day, we put on special activities for two groups of children. And at the main service at Pak Ping on Sunday morning, we each shared a brief worked of encouragement and J preached the sermon. By the time we headed home late Sunday, driving through the night to arrive in Bangkok at 5:00 a.m., we were utterly exhausted, but so filled with joy... J, who had never been outside of the US, had, in three short days, fallen in love with Thailand, had his heart overwhelmed with excitement for missions work, and had made two new friends for life in Ah Jan Vee and Son.

Sharing with a family at their rural home.

One thing you can be sure of on these trips is that you can not be sure of anything. You are certain to be asked to preach or share your story with less than five minutes notice. The plans will change in an instant. Saturday, Ah Jan Acharaa decided that, since we were there and willing to do anything, and since it was Children's Day, we'd put on a special activity for the children in a community she ministers to. This community is one where the small homes were built by the government and all the people there lost everything they owned in the tsunami. With just a couple of hours to get the word out, we had no idea how many kids would show up. As you can see... many did. More than fifty, I am sure. Son and Vee led them in games and songs, while J and I went inside with the adults and we had a small group-type meeting with them. At one point, Vee came and got J and they stepped outside so J could share his story, about growing up in a broken home and making many many bad decisions before meeting Jesus several years ago. Just a wonderful night.


As I said, while Vee and Son were outside with the kids, J and I went in and spoke with the adults. J and I are in the top row with Gai and Dto, two fishermen who love Jesus. This small group is amazing. The men had worked for a big fishing company, but it required them to work on Sundays and miss church. The church helped them find organizations that donated small fishing boats to them, so there are four fishermen in this group with their own boats now. They go out separately, but they pray together before each trip, and they stay in contact by cell phone and check on each other's safety regularly. Fishing has been bad recently. The fishermen have to buy baitfish and sometimes new hooks for every trip. If they catch no fish, they have no money to buy baitfish for the next trip. They had a plan to put together a small fund of 5,000 baht (about $150) that could be used by any of the four, if they caught no fish that day, but would be repaid the next time they did catch fish. They had the thing all planned out and were just hoping to be able to save enough to start the fund. Well, hello, Holy Spirit! Shortly before J left the US, one of his church members approached him and pressed a hundred dollars into his hand, saying, "There will be someone over there in need. You'll know them when you see them. Use this to bless them." Before we left that evening, we gave them a 3,000 baht start on their fund. Their gratitude to us, and to God, was a beautiful thing to see.

Oh, and I told them a story about me going fishing with a friend on the Grand River, back in Missouri, and sinking the boat. They laughed and laughed. And at the end of the evening, they seriously asked me to come back and go out fishing with one of the men for a day. You better believe I WILL do that!


One morning, Ah Jan Acharaa took us far from Pak Ping and to a place so remote, there were no roads or even car tracks that went back so far into the jungle area. There, we met with people in a tiny two home community. There were about seven adults and several children. Most of the adults were believers, but some had still not crossed the line of faith. We met with them in one of the homes. J shared his story and I did a short message on the Raising of Lazarus. Afterward, Aj Jan Acharaa asked if anyone was ready to take that step and give their hearts and lives to Christ, and two people did. (The man and woman on the left side of the photo.) We prayed with them and Acharaa spent a long time patiently and quietly visiting with these two about what this kind of decision meant and how they can be SURE in their new relationship with God. And angles in heaven were celebrating.

Me speaking to a small group about church, and how much Jesus loves the church and what 'doing church,' should look like, from the example of the early church.

Ever wonder?

Ever wonder where tofu comes from? Yeah, well, neither have I. Still, we went to visit the family of one of the church members from Zion Christian Center while we were in Khao Lak, and the father insisted on giving us the grand tour of his tofu manufacturing facility.

Kind of looks like a still, huh?



You can see blocks of tofu 'curing' or something.

A little clearer shot of some tofu blocks just about ready to go.

As a parting gift, each of us was given a block of tofu and encouraged to eat it up. I did eat about a third of mine. Like the one you see Ah Jan Phet holding, it had a yellow-ish rind. I wasn't sure if you ate that part or not, but figured it could not be worse than what would be inside, so I ate it, too. As tofu goes, it was OK. I've never really understood tofu. Almost gelatinous and tasteless. Other than filling space, it seems to have no use, but some folks really like it. Here, you sometimes see it fried up. Kind of like white SPAM, I guess.

Ja Rurat - First time in '09

After being gone for two weeks, it was GREAT to get back to Ja Rurat and the kids. Today, I taught a lesson about Ruth and Naomi. Afterward, the kids colored a picture of Ruth holding stalks of grain. After they colored them, we put some Elmer's glue on their pages and sprinkled some brown rice grains to add a bit to the lesson. The kids enjoyed it a lot and really remembered all the details of Ruth's story.

Vee had to translate for me this week, but we did have three new folks from church join us and help out with working with the kids, and that was great.

Ah Jan Vee quizzes the kids over their lesson.

At the request of some in my Kansas City small group, here are some more

close up shots of the kids of Ja Rurat... These are the same kids Jason

will be teaching in two weeks when he is here.

Ah Jan Greg

One of the many great blessings of my time so far in Thailand has been getting to know and work alongside some wonderful full time missionaries. Greg Brown is a great example.

Greg is originally from Tennessee. A recent graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, he has devoted his life now to church planting in the poor areas of Bangkok. Greg is working through Pioneers, a missions agency which is focused on church planting.

Greg has worked with the slums ministry team from Immanuel since his arrival in Thailand. I see him almost every week at Bearing (Soi 107). This week, he accompanied the Immanuel team to Khao Lak, and was a wonderful help, speaking at several of the meetings we held. He preached the Sunday morning service at Zion Christian Center and had a strong, meaningful message about the shepherds and the birthplace of Jesus.

Greg has a humble, servant heart, which endears him to the Thai nationals. His Thai language skills are far more advanced than mine, so he can converse quite easily in their language. He's a good friend and a terrific representative of Christ to the people here.

Ah yes, the old talcum powder game!

At each of the Christmas parties, Noom and Peace and Gai and Sumi would lead games for the kids. The biggest hit each time was a race. We lined up two sets of chairs. The kids ran to the first chair, where there was a paper plate with a mound of talcum powder. They had to blow all the powder off their plate, then run to the second chair where a soft drink and piece of cake awaited. They had to drink the soda and eat the cup cake, then race to the end and sit on a balloon and pop it. The kids cheered like CRAZY for this thing. It even went over huge with the preschool we visited. (While there, we got to share with the teachers, as well.)

Futball in Khao Lak !

Kids in Thailand all play lots of soccer. It's a great way to build relationships with local youth. Over the past week, the team played soccer with several groups. Ah Jan Phet has a real desire to see a ministry with her church that reaches out to local youth, using soccer.

One day, we went to a local military base, where the boys on base play soccer almost every day. Phet has already been reaching out to them, so they were welcoming when we showed up and three down the challenge.

We meet the local team and challenge them to a match.
Notice the big fella playing goalie. Actually, we played three fifteen minute periods and finally scored our first goal in that last period. These kids were good!

After the game, we sat together and talked with the kids.

Each of us shared a brief testimony. Here, Noom tells his story to the guys.

The guys were really interested in what we shared.

And guess who showed up for the Christmas party at Zion Christian Center that evening!

Khaow Kho Koh Island

On Saturday, the team took a ferry to Khao Kho Koh Island, just off the coast from Khao Lak. We held a Christmas celebration for kids on the island. About ninety kids showed up for games and songs and a message about God's love.

Ah Jan Phet and I deck the halls!

The kids scramble for a seat in one of the games.

In the holiday spirit!

Traditional dancers from the island.

This is Not. I had noticed that he was hanging ion the edges of the crowd and not getting involved in anything we were doing. My Thai is not real great, and the folks here speak in a southern dialect, so I could not speak to him, but I was able to motion for him to come to me and showed him how my digital camera works. He caught on fast, and I made him my official photographer for the day. He took dozens of really good photos (most of the ones you see here) and had a great time.

Christmas at Zion - Khao Lak

One of our primary goals in making this trip to Khao Lak was to work alongside Ah Jan Phetmony (I am guessing on the spelling here) of Zion Khao Lak Christian Church in visiting people in the community and holding Christmas celebrations in various locations. Ah Jan Phet has a goal to see her church grow and thrive, although she now only has three or four adult regular attenders who contribute their time and energy to the church. I admire her greatly.

Over the past five days, the team has slept on the floors of Zion church and 'done life,' alongside this remarkable lady.

Ah Jan Phet, preparing Christmas presents for the children of one of the places we will visit during the week.

Na is someone very special. She became a Christian not long ago and her zeal for the Lord is contagious. She is so eager to see others find what she has. Her English skills are quite strong, so she translated for Greg Brown and I when we spoke. Here, she is translating for Greg as he preached at the Sunday morning church service.

Sunday evening was Khao Lak's community Christmas party. (Zion is a small store-front church along the main road on town.) Ah Jan Phet and her people prayed and planned for a hundred people and went around the community inviting folks. Here, the first people are arriving. So far, so good.

Oh my. When all was said and done, I lost count at a hundred ninety, so I can safely say there were over two hundred people who showed up. There were games for the kids and songs and food. A good time had by all.

I was asked to speak that evening, so I shared my own story with the crowd. (That's me up on the porch.) If only three or four of the adults in this group are reached, that could double the size of the church here! Ah Jan Phet was greatly encouraged, as she should be.

What kind of Christmas would it be without little girls dancing with coconut bikini tops?

The Ladies on the Team

Last week, I put the spotlight on some of the young men who are future leaders of the church. This week, the ladies get equal billing.


Rin and Mhuwey. Thanee and Vee's wives, and so key in all we do at Bearing. Rin oversees the 'curriculum,' and Mhuwey coordinates it all. These two families sacrifice so much for the Kingdom!

My hero, Nok. She goes with Vee and me as often as she can and when she does, she is my translator. What a wonderful young woman!

Sumit is a missionary from Japan who has come for several months. She works with the slum team, she teaches Japanese class with the Baptist Student Center, and works with an orphanage. Just a wonderful young lady.

Sunnit. She leads worship at the 8:00 a.m. service at Immanuel. She also helps lead singing in the slums. She has a wonderful servant heart and a great personality.

Dr. Nui and Ja. Dr. Nui is a pharmacist who teaches at a local university. She met Christ while studying at the University of Tennessee. Ja is the spark plug of our group. Always smiling and laughing and full of energy. She is an artist by trade, working in ceramics. I'll be bringing some of her work back to the States with me. You'll be impressed!