The Journeys of Janine

A little hostile, but funny stuff.

2011-10-08T17:39:00.002+08:00

A paraprosdokian sentence consists of two parts where the first is a figure of speech and the second an intriguing variation of the first. They're used typically for humorous or dramatic effect. Enjoy these!

- Never argue with an idiot. He'll drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
- The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list.
- If I agreed with you we'd both be wrong.
- We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.
- Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
- The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
- How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?
- Dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand at the edge of a pool and throw fish.
- I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
- A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
- You don't need a parachute to skydive, but you do need one to skydive again.
- The voices in my head may be fake, but they have good ideas!
- Hospitality is making your guests feel like they're at home, even if you wish they were.
- I scream the same way whether I'm about to be eaten by a shark or seaweed touches my foot.
- Some cause happiness wherever they go, others whenever they go.
- There's a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can't get away.
- You're never too old to learn something really stupid.

Check out the Professional Hair Drier in the Background!

2011-08-11T09:27:00.005+08:00

A friend wrote this article:

Go Where the People Are

The Spotlight English Club in Kernersville (NC) is growing…but only after sponsors decided to move the meeting place to where the people are!

In January 2011 the North Carolina group launched the Spotlight English Club for immigrants who want to improve their English. They began holding the club meetings at their church, but only one, two or three people came. Marco Segovia, one of the Spotlight English Club coordinators, said, “We had approximately 16 team leaders and volunteers. We realized that this program would be steered by God and we were prepared to take this journey no matter what it took!

The journey took the club to a hair salon owned by a Hispanic businesswoman. “We realized the church location was not meeting the needs of the people in the community,” explains Dinene Crater, another North Carolina Spotlight Club leader.

“We asked what we could do differently and what we should be focusing on when spreading the word that we were offering this service,” adds Marco. “Our volunteers and core leadership team did not give up hope that people would soon come.”

Marco kept talking about the club with several people in the community, encouraging them to come to the Spotlight English Club, but realized that timing and location was holding them back. He also met with a local Hispanic businesswoman who offered hold the club at her salon, Peluqueria Y Estetica II. “I knew God had truly provided and guided us to our new location,” he testifies.

The participation and response was amazing! The club now averages between 15-20 students at each meeting. They began offering the club once a week instead of monthly. The leaders decided to incorporate tutoring and educational activities for children, and currently have 12-16 children attend each week.

“We are using our faith and love to help these children in school and grow a bigger support network for them in the community,” says Marco. “Our students love the Spotlight programming. They find it easy to understand and are learning English in a non-traditional fun way.”

Marco adds, “Our team leaders have found the lessons and worksheets extremely helpful. I keep telling volunteers, ‘You do not need to be a teacher to help with this program. It is so easy to follow you just need to speak English!!’ Our Spotlight Club nights have given both the student and team leaders an opportunity to bond. Both are learning a lot from one another about culture, language and God's grace. It is wonderful. God's love and guidance has been amazing!”

Marco and Dinene also appreciate the support the group receives from their sponsor, the Fountain of Life Lutheran Church and their local community. He says, “I cannot begin to express how grateful we are to Spotlight for providing us material to teach from. We are excited and look forward to continue being God's instrument in assisting our neighbors learning English, the American culture, and God's Love.”

Thank you to those of you who support the Spotlight English Club ministry. Your giving helps many to learn, not just English, but also the amazing love of God. And if you are interested in starting a Spotlight English Club in your church or community, contact Janine at info@spotlightenglishclubs.com

What an Outing!

2011-06-15T16:06:00.008+08:00

I'd been in Thailand for two years and not stuck a toe in the ocean.
My friend, Jane, planned a Saturday outing and it included sitting on this beach!!!

Jane is the blond and the outing included Shirley, another of her friends and now one of mine. It was great to get to spend time with them both AND it included this incredible restaurant!

The table top was glass. The dinning room was built out over the ocean. As we sat down our legs under the table dangled over the water.

FYI, these Asian fish love rice!

This was the view from our table. Now you are probably thinking, how could a missionary afford such a restaurant? Well get a load of this, the meal I ordered was $7 U.S. and then Jane treated on top of all that!! What a blessing! A day enjoying God's great creation and great fellowship.

Forks and Spoons

2011-06-15T16:00:00.003+08:00

Jack educates me to the fact that Westerners may have invented forks and spoons but they don' t know how to use them properly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgYKcDYibc4

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A Bangkok Rain.

2011-06-15T15:54:00.003+08:00

This is taken from the window of my apartment. Umbrellas aren't always useful in this kind of rain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24bQ1SuK-ac

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A Testimony from a Radio Station.

2011-04-27T11:09:00.000+08:00

"I was in a difficult life situation because of the deception by my friend's business. I had many people chasing me for money. It was because of this that I planned to commit suicide. But that night I tried to listen to the radio through my mobile phone. I could only capture one radio station. I was very interested in this radio station because the motto is ‘Making Life Better’. The first time I heard the radio, I heard the prayer program and I captured one sentence. This was “in every problem there is a way out ....” the words kept ringing in my ears. I fell asleep and when I woke up, I realized that I had no desire to commit suicide. I continued to listen to the radio for a week. I then sent a text message to the radio station. Soon after I was invited to come to the counseling center. It was there I meet with a counselor and his wife and they began to counsel me and then they asked would I like to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior and I said "Yes." After they led me to accept Jesus, and prayed for the problems I faced, I returned to home. When I got home, God had done a miracle. All the debts were paid off!"

What a Beautiful Wacky World!

2011-04-16T19:37:00.014+08:00

An incredible door opened for me to visit a creative access location.

I got to see some incredible sites! The beauty of God's creation in a place that has seen a lot of man's inhumanity to man.

I learned that innoculations for Rubella lessen the symptoms but you can still get it. As demonstrated by this new friend. She was not sun burned.

Then another friend showed up with Typhoid. She also had had the innoculation. Have I told you how I had been told to get a polio booster. But they didn't have the booster available in Ecuador so I meant to get it in the U.S. but I managed to forget. I remembered it when I was standing in a fair trade shop in Asia. When I asked who made the crafts for the shop I was told polio survivors. I made a bee line for the hospital to get my booster.

A Couple of my Favorite Songs - Enjoy!

2011-04-05T06:43:00.004+08:00

This first song was written while the band was on a mission trip to Thailand. You can read about that story at: http://www.therieslands.com/2008/09/24/god-of-this-city-story-behind-the-song/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d61LamkXfwk

This song is by Kathy Troccoli, a woman who's music always encourages me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlmYxZAgrGI

My last time on Home Ministry Assignment my sending church used this in their service and I haven't gotten it out of my head yet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnlHIz9AfnE

Bugs and a Prophetess?

2011-02-24T19:41:00.004+08:00

So you travel out to do training and your team gets excited about having a Thailand experience. So would you give this one a try if you were here?

Cheeseheads are Celebrating Tonight!

2011-02-07T21:04:00.004+08:00

What fun!! Jean, a Wisconsin friend that works up in China was down in Bangkok for the Super Bowl. We were invited to join a group from the English fellowship in BKK to watch the Super Bowl at one of the pastor's home. We got up at 5:30am Monday to get there in time for the live kickoff. Amy, our pastor's wife put on a breakfast buffet. Jean and I probably had the most fun because we were the only born in Wisconsin Packer fans in attendance. Did you hear that when a baby is born in Wisconsin that a nurse from Greenbay comes down and gives the baby a shot that makes them a Packer fan for life? It doesn't matter how far away they move. These photos were taken of the TV screen.

Come to Lunch with Me.

2011-02-07T19:43:00.012+08:00

I regularly work with three Thais. They often invite me to join them for lunch. A part of my New Year's resolution was to fall in love with Thailand. I figure the best way to do that is to get to know it better.

So off we go to the Golden Dome. Looks pretty snazzy doesn't it?

Well this is the kitchen. This master chef makes a really great noodle dish and soup!

Here is the dining room.

This little visitor came and sat at my feet.

Dish washing happens close by.

This food stall is typical. The signage is not. This stall is actually in the parking lot of a Burlesque Theater. I was given a cultural education during lunch this day.

That old saying, "Ignorance is bliss", I agree.

My cousin Kathy went to be with the Lord.

2011-02-02T10:41:00.002+08:00

WAUPUN - Kathleen Jo Dykstra Gumm, 53, died peacefully at her residence Wednesday Jan. 19, 2011.

She was born March 7, 1957, in Portage, daughter of William and Mauneen Dykstra. She attended Portage High School and, after her marriage to Michael Gumm, made her home in California. She recently moved from California to Waupun. She was a dedicated mother, an artist and talented poet who enjoyed spending time with friends and family. Hobbies included horseback riding. She loved being outdoors.

She is survived by her children, Brittney (Dustin) Dionne and Michael Peter Gumm; grandchildren, Everlynn Griffin and Ethan Dionne, all of California; parents, William and Mauneen Dykstra of Randolph; three brothers, Michael (Patty) Dykstra of Clearwater, Fla., Dan (Mary) Dykstra of Waupun and Steven (Jackie) Dykstra of Rio; and many nieces and nephews who loved her dearly.

The family is working with Smith-Vangen Funeral Home in Rio. A memorial service will be held at First Reformed Church of Randolph on April 30.

What a Week!

2011-01-10T07:39:00.003+08:00

Did you know that what is said on an airline's web site about over weight bags and what they really charge are about 4 times greater?

And did you know that a 24 hour flight without a movie seems longer?

At midnight in Bangkok it takes an hour to get a cab from the airport.

I got back in my apartment to find the electricity hadn't been turned on again as it had been scheduled. It was dark and warm. Everything was covered in that white powdery mildew.

My phone number was re-sold while I was gone.

The shop that sells the Internet cards was closed for the holidays. What with having jet lag I was awake and went to church later that morning. Without Internet I'd forgotten what time the services were. So I ended up there plenty early.

I sat at a table with a young Thai woman. We introduced ourselves and she asked about what I was doing in Thailand. She exclaimed that she had just been praying about what she could do to minister to people she worked with. She said they were always asking her to help them with their English. We exchanged contact information.

Slow but sure I got everything worked out and cleaned up.

Then I got pick pocketed. Didn't even feel it! I had decided on the plane over to fall in love with Bangkok the way I did Ecuador. I actually had the thought that this was going to make that difficult. So after praying for the thief (that was a God thing) I went home and canceled my U.S. debit card. Got in a cab (only because a friend rescued me and loaned me money) and I headed to the Thai bank to cancel that debit card. The first bank was closed already so I headed to one at a mall. On the way my phone rang. A Thai man tells me that he thinks he has my wallet with my bank cards and Thai commuter train cards back at the market (I'd also had some of my business cards with my new phone number hand written on them in the wallet). So off I go. Sure enough it's my wallet without the money but everything else! The thief had run by this vendor's shop and tossed my wallet in a bowl. The man who called me wouldn't even take a reward for returning it.

Then I got an email from Ja, the young Thai woman I'd met the previous Sunday, to ask if I could train her to use the Spotlight English Club material. So we got together after church this Sunday. She's going to start a Club at the International airport this week. I'm feeling rather positive towards Thailand because of how God has arranged things. :) Even the struggles He's used to accomplish His purposes. That's probably because so many of you are praying for me. THANKS!

This is Ja. She asks that we pray for her as well as those who will attend her Spotlight English Club.

A Prayer the President of HCJB Global Sent on to Us.

2011-01-05T07:21:00.000+08:00

Sir Frances Drake, the first Englishman to navigate the globe spoke these words in prayer:

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves.

When our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little,

When we arrived safely because we sailed too close to shore.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,

To venture on wider seas

Where storms will show your mastery;

Where losing sight of land

We shall find stars.

We ask you to push back

The horizons of our hopes;

And to push us in the future

In strength, courage, hope and love.

Sir Francis Drake, December 1577

This was so funny!

2010-12-21T10:15:00.002+08:00

HCJB Global has a technical center in Elkhart, Indiana. It's a facility that is vital to putting in radio stations around the world. In fact I have a suitcase with a station antenna traveling with me on my return New Year's Eve. Well as you can imagine, a stateside ministry has a rough time raising funds, so they made this video. Just to clarify, when they talk about putting in the RV pad and hookups that's because they are always in need of more human resources. So retired people with the skills they need often volunteer. All that to say, this made me laugh.
Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jW2P1k27gs

What's That Smell?!

2010-12-07T00:43:00.004+08:00

More than 10 years ago I was a part of a small prayer group. This past weekend they very sweetly got together to pray for me. But first we had to call 911. We met at Jill and Ed's home and just as the first people were arriving, their son ran up stairs from the basement and said there was a funny smell in the basement all of a sudden. Down we went and sure enough...something was burning...but where was it? It smelled like plastic or maybe something electrical. The 911 operator said to get out of the house, that the firemen would be right over.

Those firemen found the smell coming from an old appliance in the basement. When I took this picture they told me if I put it on the Internet I was to say that all of their names were Dave Austin. Dave must be a great friend of theirs for them to want all the credit for rescuing us to go to him. :)

Well how often do I get to take a picture of some of my friends in front of a fire truck that we called? Especially when they can keep smiling because nothing too horrendous happened. The home owner had run out for pizza. When he returned there were so many emergency vehicles around one of them had parked in a driveway across the street. So he didn't know it was for his house. Well we did get around to praying in spite of all the excitement. Of course we praised God for such an adventure and His hand of protection.

Indonesian Disasters

2010-11-19T21:17:00.004+08:00

Ty Stakes, our new regional director wrote:

“These are wild and wonderful times in our corner of the world; thanks for walking with us!

First the wild: Two of our partners in Indonesia are responding to natural disasters near their stations (earthquake/tsunami in Mentawai and volcano near Jogjakarta.)

A church building has been converted to a clinic. Please pray for partners as they serve their communities and seek to demonstrate the love of Jesus. Pray for a harvest as folks look for answers in the midst of deep trouble.

Solar-powered radios have been sent to both the earthquake/tsunami and volcano locations.

See You at the Cafe!

2010-11-19T03:20:00.002+08:00

So how often do you wonder what missionaries are doing when they are home? Well I've been working on Spotlight English Club materials, the web site, promotion, partnership development and seeing family, friends and supporters. But there was one more element. My sending church has a Cafe that they call the Mission Cafe. Everyone that works there volunteers their time and all profits go to support missions. It's very much like a a Star Bucks. What a great place to volunteer and meet folks from my church....only one thing. I don't drink coffee so how am I going too be able to make it? I've had to learn everything from the 'grounds' up. Pun intended. It's turned out to be great fun. I've met scads of fun people. Mark and Kelly are just two of those fun people working at the Mission Cafe. Did I say fun enough?

My Vote was Counted!

2010-11-06T00:21:00.003+08:00

I haven't been in the states during elections in 10 years. Did you know that unless an election is really close they don't count ex-pats votes? When I lived in Ecuador I found it interesting that by law everyone had to vote. It wasn't a privileged but a responsibility. The country would shut down for one day, usually a Sunday, and everyone would vote. And people would have to travel back to where they were born to cast their votes. Hmmm, that has a familiar ring to it. Oh, no, that was a census.

Clubs and More Clubs

2010-10-11T20:18:00.002+08:00

Clubs are starting to really take hold. There are more than 40 registered Club Coordinators around the world. There are now Clubs north and south of the equator and in the east and western hemispheres. Amazingly there are a dozen Clubs between the United States, England and Canada meeting the needs of the foreigners.

Deuteronomy 10:17-19For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.

Please pray for Clubs Coordinators and their volunteers around the world.

Team Building

2010-10-03T05:16:00.005+08:00

Team building...you know how there are meetings that include a team building exercise. The part we were best at was the drama fall that so many soccer players do. :)

Billy Graham's Suit

2010-07-07T22:34:00.000+08:00

Billy Graham is now 90 years old with Parkinson's disease.

In January 2000, leaders in Charlotte , North Carolina ,
invited their favorite son, Billy Graham, to a luncheon in
his honor.

Billy initially hesitated to accept the invitation because he
struggles with Parkinson's disease. But the Charlotte
leaders said, 'We don't expect a major address. Just
come and let us honor you.' So he agreed.

After wonderful things were said about him, Dr. Graham
stepped to the rostrum, looked at the crowd, and said,
'I'm reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist who
this month has been honored by Time magazine as the
Man of the Century. Einstein was once traveling from
Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the
aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger. When he
came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He
couldn't find his ticket, so he reached in his trouser pockets.
It wasn't there, so he looked in his briefcase but couldn't find it.
Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn't find it.

The conductor said, 'Dr. Einstein, I know who you are.
We all know who you are. I'm sure you bought a ticket.
Don't worry about it.'

Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued
down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to
move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great
physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his
seat for his ticket.

The conductor rushed back and said, 'Dr. Einstein,
Dr. Einstein, don't worry, I know who you are. No problem.
You don't need a ticket. I'm sure you bought one.'

Einstein looked at him and said, 'Young man, I too, know who I am.
What I don't know is where I'm going.''

Having said that Billy Graham continued,
'See the suit I'm wearing? It's a brand new suit.

My children, and my grandchildren

are telling me I've gotten a little slovenly in my old age.
I used to be a bit more fastidious.

So, I went out and bought a new suit for this
luncheon and one more occasion.

You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which
I'll be buried. But when you hear I'm dead, I don't want
you to immediately remember the suit I'm wearing.
I want you to remember this:

I not only know who I am ... I also know where I'm going.'

If you need a smile...

2010-06-25T09:36:00.002+08:00

....below is a note from a Thai Club Coordinator running a Club for kids literally in the street. I had told him that our material was really geared for people ages 15-35 but he wanted to try anyway so that he could build relationships with the parents in the neighborhood. He started his Club last year in July. The kids that come are ages 5 to 13. He works hard to make it interactive and fun for the kids.

By the way, writing in a second language is a difficult skill to learn, especially when you aren't using the same alphabet. Both his speaking and writing have improved since he started running a Club.

To Janine

Date of last Club:19 /6/2010

Number of listeners in attendance: 15

Date of next Club: 26/6/2010

Testimony, if you have one: clubs going werywell alot of chrildrene attendjng

Our teams feel good becaurse the club help us to have time to tolk with there familys.

Jambee

Got This From a Thai Friend

2010-05-21T20:07:00.001+08:00

Please do not listen to CNN, as their reporters do not give a true report on Thailand.

The Case Against the International Media’s Report on Thailand

This is going to be a long note, but I want my overseas friends to understand what has been happening here in Thailand. You would only see the soldiers' shooting scenes or injured people being carried away on international TV channels for 30 seconds, but never got to know about the background. The truth is, the Thai government has been too accommodating by withholding the use of force since the rally started 2 months ago (with the exception of 10th April event, when the soldiers were ordered to move in without live weapons and subsequently got slaughtered by unknown gunmen shooting from the 'Red Shirt' protesters).

The majority of us support the government in dealing with the terrorists hidden amongst the protesters. It held talks with the rally leaders and offered peace solutions to them 10 days ago. The Prime Minister publicly urged the protesters to disperse for fear of violence created by the terrorists. But the plan wasn't accepted. So, it's time to block food and water supplies entering the center of the protest. If the protesters were peaceful, they wouldn't rush out to throw rocks, firecrackers and even bombs at the soldiers' barricade -- thus, causing the soldiers to defend themselves by firing rubber bullets and live rounds.

It has been very frustrating for the law-abiding citizen of Bangkok -- we even voiced our dissatisfaction at the government for its failure to uphold the laws. The situation was like Bangkok was being held for ransom. A lot of businesses got affected because it's right in the middle of the major commercial area.

Again, think what your government would do if there were a large group of protesters blocking all traffic at Orchard Road in Singapore; Times Square in NYC; Ginza in Tokyo; or Knightsbridge in London for two months. They set up barricades to search through personal belongings of everyone travelling through the area. Also think what it would do if those protesters invaded a nearby hospital, causing doctors & nurses to evacuate patients -- some of whom are newborn babies in incubators and those in ICU -- to other hospitals. And most important of all, think what it would do if the protesters were found to have large stockpile of M79 grenades, M16 & AK47 assault rifles.

Do you think your government would be as tolerant as the Thai government?

Reungvit Nandhabiwat
Business owner, Bangkok, Thailand
15 May 2010

Palestinian Israeli Conflict

2010-05-12T10:56:00.002+08:00

Hey Friends! Have you ever wanted to better understand the Palestinian Israeli conflict? I recommend you pick up a copy of 'Son of Hamas' by Mosab Hassen Yousef. It 's his personal story, but he explains things so simply and clearly that it's like getting an education about the Middle East at the same time. Let me know if you read it.

Please Pray for Our Club Coordinators

2010-05-10T22:42:00.003+08:00

This was a church van that was being driven by one of our Spotlight English Club Coordinators. Fifteen youth were headed to an event. Pastor Alice asks for prayers for their Church and Club. Praise God everyone escaped injury!

Another Club Coordinator had to stop running her Club when her husband suddenly died and she had to take up running the family business.

One of our Club Coordinators was hospitalized for H1H1.

The pastor that coordinated a training session for 120 Sunday school teachers was hit by a motorcycle as it traveled on a sidewalk (one of those motorcycles I keep dodging). When the doctor told him he needed to stay in the hospital another week, he told the doctor he couldn't. He had to finish up for the training he was planning.

Please pray for the others running Clubs. Club Coordinators are precious to me.

OOPS

2010-03-17T15:46:00.003+08:00

If you are one of those that watch international news, you may have heard about the political protests going on here. Our embassy sent out emails recommending that we stay away from the areas where the protesters are gathering. Because I almost always do what I'm told, I've not seen much happening. Then today I had a doctors appointment and walked out into this. Don't tell me that you wouldn't stop for a moment and take a video. We've been warned that things that are meant to be peaceful can turn ugly, which is why we shouldn't hang out nearby. But these folks looked like they were having a blast. The parade took up miles.

Heads Up and Down and Back and Forth.

2010-03-08T09:42:00.013+08:00

I've got a crazy schedule for the next couple of weeks. Two flights and two road trips to do training and get my visa. When I booked the flight south, it was cheaper than the shorter trip to the north east. When I asked why they said it was because of the bombs. Not to make light of the insurgent violence in the south, but the law of supply and demand comes into play when people feel at risk, so the demand is lower.I don't live in that kind of danger on a daily basis. I will be flying in one night and out the next. Teachers are the target. Please pray for their safety.

I on the other hand have little daily risks that I'd appreciate prayer for. Like not tripping on the uneven pavement I walk each day.

Or not getting my head tangled (electrocuted?) in the wires that hang at head level. I duck under these as I make my way to meetings. Loose wires, tree branches and metal posts in the middle of sidewalks make walking a proactive activity.

Or burning my lips on the hot food that gets served here. What I've been told is that if the sauce is green it's the hottest, red is next and yellow is considered mild. My lips swell with the red, I can't imagine the green.

Or hit by the motorcycles that, when it gets busy on the streets, take to the sidewalks taking me by surprise. That happens every day. I'm getting good at dodging them as long as they aren't coming up from behind me. By God's grace I haven't been hit.

Or on a train having a woman wearing this style of shoe stumble and tromp my foot. She was ever so sorry and embarrassed. She didn't draw blood, so I was fine. I've been know to stumble myself when the train takes off, but I've learned the train travel stance.

Saturday I traveled out to the Listeners' Club that is held in a street for the neighborhood children. The pastor and a friend start out with songs. Can you make out the English? Please pray for Pastor Jambee. He, like so many Thai Christians, stretches himself to impressive limits in all that he does to spread the gospel and with very few resources. Half the kids were off at a camp through school but it was still fun to see how the rest of them were doing. There was a five year old that amazed me! He was able to read the flash cards in English and match the opposites!! What a "human resource" tucked away in a little village.

I went out for lunch with a group of friends from church after service yesterday. What a delight they all are! I felt refreshed for the week ahead.

WEB SITE PRAISE! The new and improved web site for Spotlight Listeners' Clubs finally launched. It has a registration feature so that we know who is using our material. Praise God we found out there are four Clubs we didn't even know were running! Three in the U.S. and one in Cambodia! Please pray for these dedicated people.

Happy Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T13:48:00.006+08:00

I'd forgotten the laundry tradition of Singapore. This is a shot out the window of the first place I stayed during my two week stay in Singapore. The building is fixed with removable poles that you hang your clothes on and then hang the pole on the outside of your apartment. It makes for a colorful Saturday.

It was a wildly productive time in Singapore. I flew back to Bangkok and got in at just after midnight this morning. I came back with samples for the mobile phone project, thanks to co-workers Lisa, Ty and Mike. Please be praying about this outreach. It looks like it has a huge potential for outreach, however the idea of using mobile phones as a media for ministry is all new to me. I'm learning as I go. The way I'll measure the "success" of all this effort will be how many people get funneled to Listeners' Clubs being run by the national churches here. If it works, we'll also hold English speaking events. Maybe English camps or a monster Listeners' Club for mobile phone users. One of the nationals that is helping with this project wants to use the Listeners' Club concept as outreach for his church plant.

You know what amazes me most about this project? It's how many people have volunteered to help. There are Thais but there are missionaries from the U.S., U.K. and Singapore offering their talents to make it happen as well. Isn't that exciting? I need ALL of them. This is a God sized project. Pray I keep it all straight and don't waste God's resources.

Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day are being celebrated in Singapore. The city is all decked out in red. Here is just one of the shops that was selling all the holiday paraphernalia. OK, this is going to sound weird. But it felt good to use the word paraphernalia. Working with English language learners has really diminished my vocabulary. I speak at such a low level these days to be understood. LOL

Here is a picture of our team here in the Asia/Pacific region. Our time together was really a sweet time of fellowship and encouragement.

Eyes in the Back of Your Head!

2010-01-22T22:30:00.010+08:00

This is the street I live on. It's really only wide enough for one car at time so there is a constant pulling over to let vehicles (cars, trucks, taxis, motorbikes, bicycles and tuk tuks) from the other direction get through. The pavement is rather broken up and the sides are lined with food carts and vendors (see below).

Walking can be hazardous to your health. Today for instance a truck was passing me as it came from behind. The rear view mirrors were sticking way out and without ducking I would have received a nice blow to the head.

Well it hit me (an idea, not a truck) that we all need eyes in the back of our heads. Something is always coming up from behind us. Culture, technology, age, change etc. We need to be paying attention to what's coming and not be caught by surprise. The biggest challenge is not to be investing in only one way of reaching out to people and wake up one day to find that no one cares about what you are doing. You've been left in the dust of the passing parade.

Years ago HCJB Global started looking at the ministries it was doing and attempt to change with the times. That meant we ended up doing more FM Radio planting than shortwave radio.

Historically HCJB broadcast in English. We moved from broadcasting in English to English speakers to helping non-English speakers to learn English. And now we are looking at what technology to use to do that better.

Here in Thailand the country population is about 66 million. 16 million of them have Internet access. 62 million of them have a mobile phone!

That is due in part to mobile phones being a more affordable technology. Hmmmm. How can we use mobile phones for outreach?

We're going to try offering the Spotlight program as a mobile phone download for those people learning English. We'll include in the download invitations to Spotlight Listeners' Clubs, events and for folks to be connected to English speaking pen pals. So if you want to help, please consider being a pen pal with someone that is learning English. Just contact me. We hope to launch in March. More details need to be worked out than you really want to know. But if this works, we're hoping to share Christ's love through helping people to learn English from their mobile phones.

Autopsies

2010-01-02T08:59:00.005+08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

So we all know that any day of any year we can start fresh. BUT, there is something about the New Year that moves us to make resolutions. I don't make New Year's resolutions every year, but I have this year.

In the realm of ministry I'm starting out with an autopsy. Fourteen Spotlight Listeners' Clubs started in Thailand in 2009 and five have already shut down and a couple more are at risk of shutting down. They started out with folks attending but instead of growing, each of them diminished in numbers until they finally had no one attending. Hmmmm. What went wrong? So it's my hope to meet face to face with each Club Coordinator to see if there is a common theme to their demise. Then I plan on meeting with the Club Coordinators that have thriving Clubs and find out what they are doing differently.

I was told early on that the material needed revising, so that's being done each week and all the Clubs here get the same material. All the Club Coordinators got the same training. Not all the Clubs have the same audience. Clubs I thought would die early on are going strong. One is at a foundation that holds it's Club for handicapped street people. Another is a Club being held for grade school children - not our normal audience.

While some Clubs have closed, others are starting up. So please pray for Divine inspiration as I work with the material and with the national church as to what God would have me do to help those churches running Clubs would be effective.

Boating Anyone?

2009-12-28T09:48:00.009+08:00

For about 15 cents you can take a river taxi if you need to get to another location along the river. I love boats so I'd be up for living closer to the river. But for today I don't and so I use the underground train.

There are floating markets around here. You can go in a boat or walk along the side of the canal. These are literally 'shops' where you can buy hats, coconut pancakes, groceries etc.

This is one of the king's boats in the Royal Barge Museum in Bangkok. These boat/barges were used in war, private travel and ceremonies.

Have any of you ever read John Ortberg's "If You Want to Walk on Water, You Have to Get Out of the Boat"? It's a good read.

Oh and there is another good book with a story about a boat:

Matthew 14:22-33

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, ²⁴but the boat was already a considerable distance^a]">[a] from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

²⁵During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.

²⁷But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

²⁸"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."

²⁹"Come," he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"

³¹Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

³²And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Sent to me by my aunt....very interesting!

2009-12-15T14:21:00.001+08:00

A palindrome reads the same backwards as forward. This video reads the exact opposite backwards as forward. Not only does it read the opposite, the meaning is the exact opposite.
This is only a 1 minute, 44 second video and it is brilliant. Make sure you read as well as listen…forward and backward.

This is a video that was submitted in a contest by a 20-year old. The contest was titled "u @ 50" by AARP. This video won second place. When they showed it, everyone in the room was awe-struck and broke into spontaneous applause. So simple and yet so brilliant. Take a minute and watch it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-09T09:47:00.006+08:00

Forgive me for being neglectful of my blog. I'm not that good at getting it done when I'm traveling. And the truth is, I've been so busy with administrative type things, it's hard to think of anything you would like to read about. I'd hate to bore you.

This will be my first Christmas in Thailand. A family from the U.S. has invited me to spend Christmas with them. In the meantime the Christian Businessmen have been busy putting together Christmas Outside. They have organized various churches to hold their Christmas celebrations outside in a public square. Then every Friday, Saturday and Sunday the month of December people get to see how Christians celebrate Christmas and what it means to us. This beautiful tree was designed by a Thai friend here and set up along side an outdoor night market when they hold the celebrations. Folks from the churches are around to answer questions anyone might have. I hope to hit this one this weekend. By the way, that tree is about 3 stories high, the picture doesn't do it justice.

Right now I understand that Wisconsin got hit with about a foot of snow. It's winter here too. In the 80's. It cracks me up because the Thai think this is cold and that they need long sleeves!

Below is a picture I took in a park. Thailand will probably always be filled with surprises for me. They're kind of like God's Christmas presents to me.

Cell Phone Prayer Lists.

2009-11-03T22:47:00.011+08:00

I was sitting in a small group in Singapore (yes that was over a year ago). One of the women was talking about praying for the lost. She is a tremendous prayer warrior. At one point in the conversation I asked for prayer for my Dad. She whipped out her cell phone and asked me his name. I thought, gee that's a long distance call my friend. When I realized that what she was doing was adding my Dad to the prayer list she kept on her cell phone. What a great idea! So I started a Cell Phone Prayer List too. Do you know what gives me the greatest joy? Removing someone from the list of those who were on the list; "pray for salvation". (Some of you know who you are - LOL)
I got to Quito and find that I can take my friend Lilly off that list (I moved her to the praise list). I knew that something had happened in our emails but hadn't heard her whole story. She committed her life to Christ last year. What fun! No surprise, but it's added a richness to our relationship.
I ran into Augusto in church. He was the first person from the Club that came to Christ. What an encouragement to me. Clubs starting in Thailand are really struggling. So seeing Augusto has spurred me on to learn what it is that the Thai Clubs need from me to help them be effective. I know two of the issues. One is that Thai is tonal. Most Thais learn from a teacher for
whom English is a second language. So they learn "tonal English". The problem with that is that they can't understand a native English speaker. That will get in the way of the usefulness of learning English. They won't be able to use their tonal English for International business, studies or travel because they won't understand or be understood. That is why the Spotlight audio program is so key. However, the second challenge is the tendency to avoid losing face in Asia. If they come as a learner that believe they are advanced only to find out they can't track a native speaker, they don't come back. Please pray that God inspires me as to how to work through these challenges.
While I was in Ecuador I got to attend the Spotlight Listeners' Club there. What a delight. And I found out that one of the Latin women is using the Club material at her job and someone there has already come to Christ! I think I'm recharged! Yippee!

Let's Go Shopping.

2009-09-08T09:31:00.007+08:00

Yes, there are super markets similar to the U.S. in Thailand, but this type of market is still very common. I've seen some pretty "interesting" food that I've been able to resist...even though I'm in a faze of not resisting much.

Mushrooms are a common ingredient in many of the dishes here. So take your pick of the many varieties available.

Fried pork rind is a popular snack.

Then there are the fried insects.

An you can top it all off with a very "natural" after dinner smoke if you like. Hand rolled cigarettes no less.

What an Experience!

2009-08-10T11:18:00.016+08:00

Sorry to take so long to update you on my trip up north and now I'm getting ready for one to the north east. It was full of sites and sounds. Can you tell what this picture is of? It's the aisle of the sleeping train. Behind those blue curtains are two bunks, one upper and one lower every 6 feet. Luggage goes up and down the aisle and the little ladders are spread around for getting into the upper bunk. Now they call this a sleeping train, but it beats me how anyone could sleep on this train. It is like a roller coaster ride and every piece of metal rattles to make a symphony with an incredible volume.

We had two great training sessions in two northern cities. On the Sunday between the two sessions we took the afternoon to go up to the highest peak in Thailand. It was 1,000 feet lower than Quito is BUT the wind was blowing, a cold rain was falling and for the first time I got cold outdoors in Asia! I was laughing like a lunatic. I took this self portrait in front of the sign as evidence of my being there. You can't tell, but the wind was so strong that a moment after this photo it caught my umbrella and turned it inside out. That poor umbrella will never be the same. As you might know, Bangkok is a major metropolitan city with a population of 10 million. So going outside of that city into the countryside was an adventure for me. You know how I love adventures. I learned that the what looked like upside down baskets for sale were actually used to keep chickens in. Here is someone's fighting rooster. My friend, Aey, told me that the owner probably treated that rooster like a son and loved it as much as his son.

I ate off a menu that reaffirmed my ministry. The English translation read:
Fired Rice (in the economic downturn I get that)
Chicken Soup Poignant
Fried Prok with Garlic Paper....yum!

Maybe the Soup was Poignant because someone's beloved rooster ended up in it.

Up on the side of a hill I spotted this Buddha. You don't get the feel for how huge it was until I tell you that we maneuvered ourselves as close as we could get by road, I used all the zoom on my camera and those are tree tops that look like bushes around it.

I'm finding that I'm starting to not be surprised by some of the things I see. That means for sure it's starting to seem like the norm. But this huge Buddha....got my attention.

Then there was this Santa at the door of a restaurant. First off all it was July when I saw it and about 95 degrees with 90 percent humidity. What do you think it's made of? Condoms! The restaurant is called Cabbages and Condoms. It's managed by the Population & Community Development Association of Thailand. The restaurant's income help fund population control, AIDS awareness, and other rural development programs. I didn't eat there but was told that instead of an after dinner mint, you get a condom with your check! No I didn't check out the menu but if I do go (there is one in Bangkok) I promise to blog about it.

Have I mentioned that within a week of the first training session a Club was started? It was one started for the staff of a company. Now we are talking of starting a Club at the company of one of the Christian businessmen that recruited me here. It will be available to his staff and to neighborhood companies as well. That would be one I could actually volunteer at when I'm in town. It's in my neighborhood.

Back to restaurants. I'm sitting with a small group after one of the training sessions having dinner. In walks this elephant! Well he tried to walk in. His owner actually carries around food for him and lets the tourists buy the food to feed his elephant. Enterprising! I wonder if I carried around food for me people would want to buy it to feed me...not so much fun for the tourists I guess.

Before we boarded our return train, we visited Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep Rajvoravihara. I am still trying to understand the basics of Thai Buddhism. What I do know about humanity is that when we aren't thinking we are in control we desperately want to know that someone greater than us is in control. Please pray along with me that those that are seeking will find the one true God....they might be surprised to learn He is not man made.

Thailand Waterfall

2009-07-30T16:20:00.002+08:00

Boarding an Overnight Train.

2009-07-20T10:31:00.009+08:00

I'm headed up to the north of the country. But don't worry, I have a Thai going with me and another that will meet us there and travel on with me. We go to train 14 churches in one city and 7 in another. If you have been following my blog for a while you know that I did the overnight train thing in India. Actually there it was a 24 hour trip. This one is supposed to be 12 hours. I'll let you know if that is what it really is when I get a chance.

I took a road trip last week to meet up with a pastor and his wife. When we arrived they were working on their church, literally. In the states when a pastor says they are building a new facility, that usually means they have hired experts to come in and get the job done. This pastor and his wife, were doing much of the work themselves. He cuts and sells bamboo to put food on the table. He has a small congregation that is made up of folks this pastor is teaching not only from the Word, but he literally teaches them how to farm!

This is one of the Thai Volunteers, Aey, that does so much to help me. Here she is leading the Spotlight Listeners' Club at her church. This weekend she'll be translating for me as I train others on how to start Clubs at their churches. It was at this Club that I had an eye opening experience. I was speaking very slowly and clearly in a small group. I'd asked a simply worded question. The young man I was speaking to didn't understand a word I'd said. Then another Thai asked to try something. He repeated what I'd said word for word, however, he turned on a very distinct Thai accent. And the young man understood him! The Thai language is what's called a tonal language. A tonal language uses pitch to signal a difference in meaning between words. So you can say the same word, but change the pitch and you've changed the meaning. Like I did when I was trying to say 'left' but instead was saying 'heart'. Because so many people learn English from a native Thai, for whom English is their second language, they get used to hearing it spoken with a Thai accent. So the Spotlight audio program is going to be a tremendous asset for those learning English. If they can't learn to understand and be understood by a native speaker, their English would be pretty useless to them.

I went out for a pineapple juice. They decorated the glass with an orchid! How beautiful and the juice was delicious too!

Things are Happening...Quickly

2009-07-10T09:24:00.008+08:00

This is the second group of folks that churches sent to learn how to be Club Coordinators.

This is an English Volunteer Training for a Club that is starting August 1.

This is Jack, my friend and co-worker, at
Club #2.

This is Club #3 and yes indeed it was held on bamboo mats laid out in a neighborhood street.

This is a small group from Club #4 held near a university.

This is a handicapped adult from Club #5. This is an unusual Club in that it's held at a foundation that ministers to handicapped people from the slums.

And then one Sunday after church I went with some Thai friends out to an "island" on this boat. The island is formed by the river splitting in two and running around some higher ground. This is Jack getting an ice cream from a vendor on the island. Can I point out that the ice cream bucket is decorated with orchids?!

My Niece Needs Your Prayers Please - Here's the Most Recent Email

2009-07-01T16:16:00.004+08:00

Dear Praying Friends and Family,

Once again, thank you for your prayers on Summer's behalf.  Dale and I do so appreciate you.  Please know that each one of you is loved!

Here is what we finally found out.  The rehab center did not want to admit Summer because of her frail heart condition.  They wasted a lot of time, pretending that the insurance company was stalling, but finally this afternoon told Summer the truth.  So tomorrow, Summer will be back at square one with the insurance company to get permission to go somewhere else.

Summer's addiction is serious and life threatening.  She gave the cardiac nurse permission to speak to us.  The nurse has told us that the defibrillator has already had to shock her heart back into rhythm after meth use very recently.  The Holy Spirit will lead you as to what to pray for.  

God bless you and your families,

Diane and Dale

Update on my Niece Summer

2009-06-25T07:37:00.003+08:00

I just got the below email from my sister and brother-in-law. Hopefully in-patient treatment will help her.  Please pray.


Summer is supposed to go to inpatient rehab tomorrow June 25th.  Praise God that she got the insurance company to agree and please pray that she doesn't spend the hours before she goes either drinking or using drugs.  She is notorious for not following through, so pray also that she actually checks in to New Dawn recovery in Sacramento.  Thank you all for your prayers for Summer in the past.  I know that those prayers kept her alive.
May God bless you all,
Diane and Dale

So You Wanted a Tour of My New Apartment...

2009-06-24T12:49:00.011+08:00

...this is the first place in over 2 years that was mine. I've unpacked my bags. A couple of people have loaned me some things until I can get my own. So let's take the tour!

This is my spacious open air kitchen! I have a space saving fridge under the microwave pictured on the right. The green plaid dish towel is where my dishes are drying and it only takes up half of my kitchen counter space! Not owning too many dishes leaves the cupboard space for the toaster oven and crock pot. If I broil hotdogs in the toaster oven with the window opened, it's like holding a barbecue in the house. :)

Here is my living room. Stylishly appointed with (as I saw on a tag here) 100% genuine imitation leather. What's so nice about this is that stains don't show if I should decide to eat that hotdog on the couch.

The wonderful thing about Asian bathrooms is that they don't foolishly put electrical outlets in the bathroom because when you use the hose to clean you'd short them out. REALLY! There is a little hose down along side the toilet for hosing the place down. That is a very nice hot water heater there in the shower. Not every place has one of those. Not that water manages to get very cold here in Thailand. HA

On to my bedroom. That's a pretty patriotic bedspread don't you think?! This picture doesn't show it, but that bed is 6 foot by 6 foot! I've only been woken up a few times by the springs. A family that is moving here from Singapore has an extra bedroom set they are going to loan me. Stuart Briscoe one time asked for prayer for comfortable beds during his travels. I get that now.

Here is my walk-in closet. You walk in and there is the closet. HA. I use the top for suitcase storage.

Then on to my office. Hmmm, it's a mess. That's because I don't have any drawers in this folding table.

So I have a desk on order. It's being made of wood to my specifications. I can hardly wait to have a little space to stash my files and office supplies.

Well let me give you the BIG picture.

I know that by McMansion standards, it's not big, but it's PERFECT for me. I love it! Not to be ungrateful but I will be changing that bedspread when the loaner bed gets here.

The First Spotlight Listeners' Club Started in Bangkok!!!

2009-06-08T17:08:00.010+08:00

I'm so excited I could bust! It started last Saturday and it was run by nationals, I just observed. Here is Beer (yes, that's her nickname) going through basic flashcards. There were nine listeners/students. The church hadn't formally advertised it yet but they are making up fliers to hand out around the area.

There was learning, laughter and the love of Jesus all over the place. Two more Clubs at other churches are scheduled to start and I have another training session Thursday for 16 more churches interested in starting Clubs in Bangkok. Don't worry, Bangkok is a city of 10 million. We won't ever have too many Clubs here.

There are 6 churches in the north of the country that would like training. Today the young Thais that are helping me and I got together to figure out a budget to travel up there. The young man, Jack, was telling me that we could get a very inexpensive room, but it wouldn't have a bathroom. Then the young woman, Aey, jumped in and said that maybe one of the churches would let us sleep in the church. Would that qualify as going to 'Church camp'? Anyway as Jack was telling me that outside down a ways from this really inexpensive room was a public bathroom, my eyes noted that to travel by bus was 10 hours. By plane for about $40 more per person and we'd be there in 45 minutes. Hmmmm, time is money. On one hand that's a lot of time. On the other, that's a lot of money that we could save for the next trip. What to do, what to do? If I've learned anything this past year it's that I'm bound to figure out a better way AFTER the first trip. So we'll pray and head out and see how we survive. If I just pack some Diet Coke I'm sure I'll survive whatever conditions we find ourselves in. This trip will happen sometime in July.

Speaking of conditions. I'm loving having my little studio apartment. I am actually to the point where I wake up and don't wonder what country I'm in! I've unpacked. I'm getting a real desk. I'll take pictures for my next blog.

Here's a surprise....turtles in the bathroom. They are Jack's pet turtles. He's had them for 12 years and they started out the size of a fifty cent piece. He said if he takes them outside they start the trek back to the bathroom right away. The sight of them tickled my funny bone so I thought I'd share them with you.

Those Mountains are Burma

2009-05-27T16:37:00.008+08:00

I arrived in Bangkok on a Saturday and on Sunday I attended an International church. May is their missions focus month so they were announcing that there was not going to be a church service May 24 but that the church would be doing service. They had sign-up for 5 different service opportunities for church members to go out and "do church" out on the streets. I signed up for a weekend service trip to work with Burmese refugees. We left Friday night and drove through the night. Saturday started out with, Becky, a girl from the church, and I giving about 35 children treatment for head lice.
The kids thought it was great fun to have us washing their hair. It lost it's luster when they found out I would be putting medicine on their scalps and hair that had to sit there for a while and then do it again. But they were good sports about it. We went to the community well and a couple of the kids kept us supplied in rinse water. By the end of it, Becky and I were feeling a little buggy so we gave ourselves a treatment. Yes, I now know that one treatment won't cure a case of head lice, but it made us feel better. LOL You have to have the treatment 3 times over the course of the week for it to be effective. So we gave instructions and the medicine to an adult that promised to follow up the first treatment.
Then I moved on to being the pharmacist/assistant to the doctor we had with us. This little one may have a very serious condition and in fact may need a tube put in his head to drain brain fluid. A couple from the church are going to follow up on this child and plan to pay to get him in for an evaluation. Then we'll see what can be done. His whimpering is pretty constant. The doctor with us suspects that the fluid is causing a constant headache. At 2 and a half he can't yet stand on his own and doesn't speak. If it's what is suspected he won't develop and if he goes untreated he'll die. Please pray that the doctor is wrong or that he gets the treatment he needs.

This gentleman came to us complaining of back pain and weakness. When the doctor asked him some questions it turns out that the labor that the man does would cause anyone to ache. The doctor asked to listen to his heart as long as he was there. When the man opened his shirt it was covered in tattoos. He felt that they would protect him.

We're going to go back. So much more needs to be done and these people need to know that Jesus loves them. Pray we can show them that love.

Unexpectedly we were asked to come to a funeral and participate in the service. The man who had died was a Christian but his son, a monk, was not. We sang 'Amazing Grace'. God's grace IS amazing, isn't it?! It was a wonderful weekend of ministry and getting to know some folks from the church I'll be attending.

When Did I Become a Connoisseur of Brooms?!

2009-05-22T16:34:00.003+08:00

The Conference was my first week here in Bangkok. My second week was apartment hunting and trying to catch up on work. By my second weekend I was in my new little studio apartment. I haven't had a place to call home in over 2 years. I've either been subletting, room renting, traveling or making a nuisance of myself in the homes of whoever I could convince to take me in. Without a visa in Singapore I wasn't allowed to rent an apartment. So here I am in my new nest and I'm loving it. Since I haven't had a place of my own I find that an old suppressed nesting instinct has come to life. Because the place is a studio apartment, I can't get carried away with filling it up, there just isn't room. So when did I become a broom connoisseur? Since I don't have an extra inch of space I found that I don't want to make any mistakes in what I purchase. There I am checking out brooms like they were a major investment! LOL Actually I did finally find one that I'm pleased with and no, it doesn't look like anything you are used to in the states. My other big purchases included a trash can, a dish rack, a Crock pot and a toaster oven. My new place has a tiny sink and a little refrigerator but no stove or oven. So creative cooking with the crock pot and toaster oven will be my next challenge, though I've always loved cooking chicken in a crock pot.

I leave in a couple of hours for my first get away weekend. I'm going with a group from the church I started attending here. We are headed up to a safe house for Burmese refugees. There are folks going to do construction, cleaning, painting and playing with orphans. They had also wanted a few medical folks to go along but only had one doctor sign up for the trip. I offered to be his assistant. So we've been told that we'll be treating pink eye, lice, worms and skin rashes. I'm really excited to do something that isn't related to my regular ministry. Please pray for safe travel as we're going to travel through the night in two vans to be there by morning and start our return Sunday night and travel through the night so we can all be back to work on Monday.

OH I ALMOST FORGOT! Yesterday I held my first training session for the folks here that want to start Listeners' Clubs. About 13 churches sent folks over and a couple of young women came from a university. They are involved with Campus Crusade for Christ and they came already to start their Club on June 21. Please be praying for the ministry that will go out through the national believers here in Thailand. I'm so excited. In fact I have said "I'm excited" since arriving here that I need someone to come up with another thing for me to say to express that. I'm sounding like a broken record.

I"ll post pictures next week when I'm back from this trip. Please pray that my email account comes back - it disappeared today. I still need broad band Internet in my studio so I can work from home instead of in Internet cafes.

What a Conference!

2009-05-11T21:53:00.011+08:00

I am so very excited to be here and to be a part of what God is doing in Thailand. I arrived on Saturday evening, May 2 and started to work on Monday at an Evangelical Conference. The Thai church holds this conference once every 5 years and this was Congress #7. The first Congress had a couple dozen in attendance, this one had over 4,000! Folks from all corners of Thailand traveled to be there. Their grand opening ceremony included traditional music and dances from around the country. It was beautiful!
It was held on a University campus so many of us rented dorm rooms to stay in. I had a plumbing disaster one day so got out of my room late. The shuttle buses had already stopped running and it was at least a mile to the venue. Along came a motorcycle and the driver
offered me a ride. The women here ride side saddle. I didn't attempt that. It was one adventure after another....let's not tell my Mom that the last day of the conference I rode with my luggage on the tailgate of an over packed pickup truck....OK, back to the really important stuff.

Thailand has a population of 68 million and there are just over 4,000 Christian churches. I think I heard that the average church has 20 members. I'll double check that when I get a chance. Anyway with this being an Evangelism event I had a booth to share with churches about using Spotlight Listeners' Clubs as an outreach. Pictured here are Lee (in the black blouse) and Aey (in the brown t-shirt) who came alongside me and jumped in to help answer the many questions that church leaders had. We had about 60 sign up for training. I'm guessing that about 40 are truly going to start Clubs. The rest are individuals that would like to improve their English and only hope that their churches would start Clubs. Either way I think I'll be busy. We are contacting everyone in the Bangkok area and will be training them on May 21. Then I'll go to each church and walk them through their first couple of Clubs. One of the Thai Christians told me that they need to see me do it first and then they will be confident to take over. He actually said, "Monkey see monkey do". Now that is a man with good English as a second language! The Christian businessmen that asked me to come are pictured here. They are providing a venue for the training, translators to help me through the pages of requests that were written in Thai and one of their wives helped me apartment hunt.
The focus of this Congress was unity and these men are dedicated to seeing the churches of Thailand work together to evangelize their country. It was inspiring.

I have a big prayer request from Emily. She met an abused woman. In talking with her over the last few months she made the offer that if this woman ever needed a place to get away, that she could call Emily. Well the call came in. Emily has this woman and her two children moving in today (which was actually your last night). Please pray for this woman and Emily. Emily sees that God has brought a mission field right into her house and she wants this to be a loving, welcoming and supportive time. She'll be inviting her to church. They'll be living in very close quarters. Please pray that it would be a sweet memory for Emily and not one that makes her shudder. This will be a great growth opportunity. Pray for the spiritual, emotional and physical health of this woman and her children. And while we're at it, this little family is going to need a permanent safe residence. Please pray that they find just the right place.

I Escaped the Quarantine

2009-04-16T05:56:00.010+08:00

Please forgive me. I was in the states for a short time and wasn't able to connect with many of you. It was a full trip. More about that later.

Let me tell you about my return to Asia. During a stop over in Tokyo, a team of medical people boarded the plane and started checking passengers for swine flu. Two suspected of having the flu were quarantined along with the dozens of people sitting near them. I missed being quarantined by two seats and an isle, but because the check took 3 hours I missed my connecting flight. They even brought police onto
the plane while they let some people off the front of the plane to make sure there wasn't a stampede from the economy class.

Fortunately I was on a flight with a bunch of folks that didn't get all crabby and negative. We were all put up in a nice hotel and shuttled to the airport the next morning.

The Duty Free shops had a different look to them. These looked like pretty good sized barrels of Sake!

OK, here comes the long update. For those of you who only want the latest, you can stop reading after this announcement: I'm boarding another plane today for my move to Bangkok.

So that is the big announcement. Since last you heard from me I visited Bangkok and met with a group of Christians that have come together to work towards reaching Thailand through putting in radio stations and church planting. They see Spotlight Listeners' Clubs as an great tool to bring radio and church planting together and have asked HCJB to partner with them in their efforts. I'm wildly excited to work with this group and they are offering to help me through the visa process and help in finding an apartment. I will still work to start Clubs in other parts of the region, and in particular Cambodia and India, but now I'll be based out of Thailand.

I'll need to learn a bit of the language. Please pray for me because Thai is a tonal language. Being slightly hard of hearing and not a gifted language learner means I'll have a lot to overcome. I wouldn't be surprised if God uses my own struggles with language learning to refill me with compassion for those who are learning English. Hmmm, I might even come up with new ideas to help others because of my own struggles. :)

While in the states I attended an ESL conference put on by Wheaton College and Moody Bible Institute. It was a very encouraging time meeting with other people that get excited about helping people learn English. There were about 300 people there interested in learning how to better reach out to the many immigrants right there in the U.S. There were workshops and booths. Robin, a partner from The Back to God Ministries that produce the Spotlight audio portion, and I manned our booth and shared Spotlight Listeners' Clubs with those that were interested in how they could use our material in their churches. We each got to attend a couple of the workshops to glean more insights into how we can improve Spotlight Listeners' Clubs. One of the most useful tips I came away with was that people that are not literate in their native language don't need to be taught the ABCs before starting to learn English. None of us learn our native language by starting with the ABCs, we start by repeating what we hear and actually speaking in fairly complex sentences before learning letters and how to read. Though adding an ABC component is a part of the future plans, it's nice to know that we can start helping people today that aren't already in their own language.

I also had the privilege of presenting the ministry to folks in Waupaca, Wisconsin at Shepherd of the Lakes Lutheran Church. My sister and brother-in-law attend there, so that was the connection. What an on-fire church! It was a delight to share there. The interest in the Spotlight Listeners' Club was encouraging. Three people from the church took information to pass on to others folks that they thought might want to use the material.

Another encouragement came from my sending church, Elmbrook. An outreach ministry called, James Place, is starting a Spotlight Listeners' Club on May 11. They already have a group of about 15 volunteers that got together to learn how to run the small groups. If you are like me you wake up some days and wonder if you can make a difference in God's kingdom. It's groups like the folks at James Place that remind me that each of us can make a difference. We don't have to be wildly famous evangelists. But one by one building relationships and helping to meet needs (like helping an immigrant learn English) is how God chooses to use many of us. What a joy!

I also got some great cuddle time with my granddaughter, Adrianna. She turned 3 in March. What fun she is. Then I also got to see my niece, Summer. Her health is very delicate, but she staying clean. Please keep praying for her. It appears that a heart transplant is still in her future.

Throat Infection, Dead Computer, Wrong Bus....

2009-03-16T12:39:00.004+08:00

I'm not a happy camper. I can usually handle what comes my way, but if I'm sick everything seems a bit overwhelming. I'm back in Singapore, which I think is a good thing for computer shopping. By God's grace the back up drive did it's job and I saved all but about 8 hours of work and a bunch of email and my email address book. I am glad I hadn't cleaned out my sent file because that is going to be invaluable if I need to recreate my address book. But I'm not going to be able to bring up the lost email. So if you've written and I haven't answered....sorry.

In Cambodia one of the doctors purchased this dried beef. On reading the contents he discovered that it had an ash content of 7%. Yum......NOT!

Sights and Sounds

2009-03-08T07:01:00.005+08:00

As you walk the streets here, you might think that someone has left the house in their pajamas. But you would be wrong. What we sell in the states as summer weight pajamas, Cambodian women will wear as summer weight "suits". Western influence is seen frequently. Children will give you the peace sign whenever you bring out a camera. I'm guessing that is left over from the Vietnam war. The greatest influence we could bring would bring Christ to this nation.
After some time here I am reaffirmed in using English to help do that.

Here is my first attempt at posting a video. It's not the greatest, I should have taken it while crossing the street. You have to just step out and watch for cars but count on the motorcycles parting like the red sea as you cross. It's an interesting feeling. Street lights are not the best place to cross because no one really obeys them, drivers often turn into on coming traffic and then make their way across that lane into their own. The good thing is that pretty much everyone drives slow, but it's still exhilarating to step out into that much traffic.

You Know You Are in Cambodia When...

2009-03-05T12:26:00.007+08:00

you are recording a children's English program and the producer who is translating it turns to you and asks, "Did that boy want the dog to eat or to play with"? Yes, indeed, when translating the sentence "The boy wants a dog" you need to clarify whether his 'want' means as food or as a pet to play with! I got a good laugh out of that.

I've added a couple of pictures here for you to see what other things they eat here.

No I didn't try the crickets. Well supposedly they are just crickets but I saw some in there that looked suspiciously like another insect.

Maybe they just make it up that they eat bugs and tell foreigners that to see if they can get them to eat them. They probably use them for fish bait.

Here we have 'chicks on a stick'. I was prepared to see the grilled tarantulas on a stick to eat, but I didn't find any to be able to send you a photo.

I may be having more technical difficulties. I sent out 128 emails and 90 of them came back failed. I'm all healed up from my fall and I still have my purse but now I 'want' my communications to get through.

The Internet cafe I'm in at the moment just started burning incense to their "gods". It's giving me a headache. I'll have to come back later.

A Day in the Life of Me in Cambodia.

2009-03-04T12:23:00.009+08:00

I went to meet Josephine (seen here) to explain how to use a Spotlight Club as outreach for the church she is working in. We met up in a cafe so when I packed up to go I had to have my laptop and cell phone and of course I don't go anywhere without my camera.
Chanthy, is my tuk tuk driver. He gets me around town and speaks a bit of English which is a great blessing. When I first got here, he warned me that I should make sure to hang onto my purse and sit in the middle of the seat because of purse snatchers that use motorcycles. They come up behind the tuk tuk and pass quickly and reach in and grab whatever they can. Well I took his advice to heart. But of course I wanted to take some pictures along the way to let you see a bit of Cambodian life. Suddenly I feel a yank on my big old purse that has my "life" in it. I had it wrapped around my arm and gave the guy such a yank back that the motorcycle almost crashed into the tuk tuk. He let go and took off.

I have to admit I had some un-missionary thoughts about the would be thief. But just a second later another motorcycle was along side and the man driving was asking if I was OK. He'd seen the whole thing from a few lengths back. So...back to some sights along the way.

As you travel along you'll see a large number of monks. What I've learned is that almost every family will send a young man from their family to study as a monk for a couple of years. This brings good luck and prestige to the family even though there is no plan that the young men would become monks for a lifetime.
I thought this was in interesting way to display your wares for sale.

Do you see the "platform" that these women are sitting on? Many homes have them right outside and they become a meeting place. A way to be out in the air but not sitting in the dust. Kind of like the Cambodian version of our front porch. I've seen whole families with visitors enjoying one anothers company and maybe having something to eat while visiting on these "platforms".
But if you aren't hungry maybe you'd like to just dance on yours. Clothing optional.

Or maybe your playmates will come over and you'll play a game. What looks like a gray bucket is actually a ceramic cook 'stove'. They burn wood in the bottom and their cooking pots go on top with all kinds of things I don't recognize in them.

Then back to the office for more meetings. I arrived without any further incidents. Praise God!

Boat People

2009-02-27T14:22:00.007+08:00

Vietnamese Boat People. Did you think that the last we heard of them was after the Vietnam war? Well so did I. But they are living on a huge lake and up and down the Mekong River here. After the Vietnam war, when the communists came in, they started imprisoning and or executing the Vietnamese that had been in service to South Vietnam or helping out the U.S. So along with all the other places the Vietnamese escaped to, thousands escaped into Cambodia. The thing is, when you are running for your life you don't always stop and pick up a copy of your birth certificate or passport. Well that made it impossible for most of them to return. But they aren't Cambodians, so they don't have the right to education, land ownership or health care here. For some reason, unknown to me, they are allowed to live in boats and to even own them. So they live on the lake in house boats and a large number of them fish for their living. Some of the boat houses have been fixed up and even include flower boxes! They have to move three times a year. The houses you see here will move next month or find themselves on dry ground. When the rainy season starts again, they'll be back.

Hammocks appear to be the bed of choice. Coffee clutching goes on. Well maybe it's coffee they are drinking. I didn't get close enough to ask. There are organizations that are trying to bring education to the boat people. I had dinner with a couple of missionaries that run a floating learning center. They have even started to try to teach English, but their student population is illiterate in their own language so they are all learning their ABCs in two or three languages. Vietnamese (their native tongue), Khemer (the language used in Cambodia) and English (with hopes of improving educational opportunities). I'm pretty sure that our Spotlight material is too advanced for what they are doing, but offered them the basic activities to use when the time is right.

One NGO even had a floating gymnasium out there. It's almost basket ball court size with baskets on either end and completely screened in so you don't lose your basket or volley ball.

The group of doctors I was with started dreaming about whether or not they could start a floating hospital using one of these gymnasium type of boats.

A very encouraging sight was this floating church put in by a group of Korean Christians. It wasn't Sunday so this was up docked at the shore. I'd be curious as to how many services they hold and how far they travel around the lake. I've been told that the lake covers an area of 2,700 square km. during the dry season and up to 16,000 square km during the monsoons. It's debatable whether or not Cambodia is the second or third poorest South East Asian country.

I left my time in the north of Cambodia thinking of the tremendous blessings God has poured out on me. It also left me wondering where I am to settle next and if Cambodia is a part of God's plan for me. Please pray about that with me.

Coffee and Optimism!

2009-02-20T12:36:00.004+08:00

How do you like the Cambodian version of Starbucks? I was out looking for an Internet cafe and ran into this place. No they don't have Internet available but they do have coffee of various varieties. I however, am not a coffee drinker so I had some kind of natural orange icee. It was delish and really cooled me down. Cambodia is in the midst of it's dry season but some days it's blazing hot.

You might think that this vehicle is a lost cause. But it is being worked on. I call this optimism! So if any of you are feeling like your car isn't in the best shape, take heart. It could be worse. I imagine that most of you have rear wheels still attached to you vehicle.

Drive safe!

Cambodia is an Adventure and a Learning Experience!

2009-02-16T08:44:00.006+08:00

Say hello to Veasna. He's with a partner ministry here and he's been a tremendous help. It helps that his own testimony includes coming to Christ while learning English. So he is sold on the concept of Spotlight Listeners' Clubs for Cambodia.

Veasna shared how education here in Cambodia is so very limited because they have so few text books in the Khmer language. So learning English is the one way that Cambodian can further their education and open themselves to new ways of thinking. Which after the years of the Khmer Rouge trying to take the country back to the stone age, the educated being executed, books burned, they have a long way to go.

I heard that a university professor at the beginning of the year assigned each of his students the task of translating a chapter from an English text book into Khmer. That is how the students basically created a text book in their own language. But there is a short supply of students with English advanced enough to translate. I wonder what they ended up learning from the translated text.

I was impressed with this motorcyclist's balance.
A good strong wind and he'd be on the pavement.

This tent is where they celebrate weddings. This is the dry season so there are weddings happening everyday around the city. The bananas are painted silver and gold to represent wishes for health and prosperity. This tent was set up outside the apartment I've been staying in. They really rock and roll once the celebrating starts!

By the way, I'm living with a woman named Patricia. She's from England and is ministering with FEBC's local Christian radio station. She's been a tremendous networker and encourager for me.

No I'm not praying in this picture. Those are my hands after my fall. The one in the left of the picture is the hand I sprained. I'll spare you the sight of my lip. In fact my lip is completely healed already. My hand is taking longer. I made the mistake of doing laundry - and I irritated it again. Ever notice how when you hurt yourself you realize how much pounding your body takes on a regular basis?

You might be wondering why I don't go to a doctor. First of all, I wasn't hurt bad enough. But secondly, would you go to a Doctor Ouch?

I've Hit Cambodia....literally

2009-02-08T15:10:00.004+08:00

I arrived safely in Cambodia. I'd had to get up at 3:30am to catch my flight so decided to take a quick nap and then go for a walk to stretch my legs. A woman that has lived in a developing country with uneven sidewalks should know better, but I took my eyes off the sidewalk and BANG, my face hit the pavement. I split my lip but am grateful I didn't lose any teeth. I now know how Angelia Jolie gets that puffy lip look, she must smack her lips with a brick. I just have to figure out how to do it without splitting them open. LOL

I've ridden the public transportation of Singapore for a year now hauling a book along to redeem the time spent commuting. Well the cute girl pictured here has changed all that. Darcee handed down her old ipod to me. The a co-worker showed me how to download sermons onto it. I LOVE it. I get to listen to Stuart, Jill and Pete Briscoe, Andy Stanley and lessons from the Grammar Girl while commuting to and from work. Not just while I'm in the bus or train but even as I walk along. It's been a huge blessing. So if you are resisting owning an ipod, you might want to reconsider. Loaded with the right stuff they can be very refreshing!

It appears I won't have to worry about not making connections here. Tuesday and Thursday I'll be doing Spotlight Listeners' Club training. Church this morning I ended up seated next to a couple of people interesting in learning how to use the material. Over lunch got an invite to travel north to the see how it might fit in with an ethnic group in a remote area. Please pray as I train, travel and learn. Especially pray that Spotlight Listeners' Clubs would be embraced by the national church and used to further God's kingdom.

It appears I may have limited Internet access, but when I do I'll post updates.

I Caught My Breath.

2009-02-02T08:59:00.003+08:00

I was walking to work this morning and this gentleman, probably about 80 years old, was walking in front of me. That orange thing is his umbrella if that gives you any idea how thin his legs are. I've been struggling with my weight. The sight of him has left me speechless and more than a little ashamed.

Happy Lunar New Year!

2009-02-01T16:02:00.006+08:00

Did you know that it's the year of the Ox on the Chinese Calendar? This is this year's rendition of an Ox. Last year was the year of the rat and they used Micky Mouse. Of course I was too new to the city and just thought they were crazy for Micky. LOL

I went down to China town with a Chinese woman named May. She told me that she happened to be born in the year of the Ox, so this is "her" year. She said that people born under the sign of the Ox are out going and friendly. She certainly was. She could strike up conversation with anyone.

Grace, pictured here, is our Singaporean receptionist. She brought in the lotus pods that she uses to make a centerpiece during the Lunar New Year. The Chinese celebrate the lunar New Year by visiting family and friends and delivering a pair of oranges. They believe 2 oranges given by a friend brings good luck in the New Year. The Chinese also go about what we call spring cleaning. They get their hair done, buy new clothes, shop for special holiday treats that are only available for the New Year. Like our eggnog at Christmas.

Everywhere you go you'll see the traditional red lanterns. The government only allows two days off for the holiday but the festivities go on for 15 days.

The god of prosperity goes up in the center of China town. The people born under the year of the Ox are told not to lend money this year because they won't get paid back. The drumming goes on all day long as the lion dancers come in to scare off the evil spirits. Pray for the people of Asia that they will search for the One True God that offers them eternal salvation and not just comforts for today.

It Looks Like the United Nations Over Here

2009-01-24T16:42:00.006+08:00

A friend of mine invited me to come help out at his English Corner at a local University. It was like visiting the United Nations. Students from China, Korea, Brazil and Iran were there. One of the other English volunteers was of Chinese heritage but grew up in England...doesn't speak a word of Mandarin. Her husband, far right, is from Greece.

And if that wasn't enough international flavor for the day I took a swing by the Brazilian Embassy with my friend Rosaria. I'm thoroughly enjoying the many different people that live in Singapore. It's a melting pot.

God Always Answers Prayer...

2009-01-19T09:33:00.002+08:00

and sometimes the answer is "no". I will not be getting a visa in Singapore. The new president in the U.S. is talking change. Hmmm, me too.

So you are probably wondering what that means to me. What will that look like? To start with I'll keep living like a nomad. I'll spend this year in 3 or 4 countries learning about culture, country infrastructure, preparing Spotlight Listeners' Club material appropriate to those countries and networking with nationals to get the material into the hands of those that can use it. Then it will be time to reevaluate and choose a place to call home base.

OK, I know that most of my female friends are going to ask me if I'm nervous. Well to answer that today, the answer is 'no'. That is either because I am naive OR I am experiencing the peace of God, which transcends all understanding (Philippians 4:7). I'm sure it's both. I'm choosing to live in this day only, plan for this year but stay flexible to God's leading. Sometimes that's easier said than done, but that's my choice today.

Sunday during worship we sang The Potter's Hand. The verse that really jumped out at me said this:

Beautiful Lord, Wonderful Saviour
I know for sure, all of my days are held in your hands, crafted
into your perfect plan
You gently call me into your presence guiding me by Your Holy Spirit
Teach me dear Lord to live all of my life through Your eyes
I'm captured by Your holy calling
Set me apart, I know you're drawing me to yourself
Lead me Lord I pray

Please join me as I thank God for His answer to the prayer about my visa and as I step out into a bit of the unknown as I do my best to follow Him.

SIGNS

2009-01-12T14:42:00.011+08:00

English, Chinese, Tamil and Malay are all languages spoken in Singapore. So their many signs have all four languages posted.

So in order to make sure everyone understands, they sometimes post a picture instead. You know how a picture is worth a thousand words? What the picture doesn't tell you is that the monkeys seen here can be aggressive. At first I was afraid they'd run off, but no, sit down and they'll come try to dig through your purse.

Some signs are easier to understand than others. The gun speaks volumes here.

They say that Singapore is a fine city. They fine you for all kinds of things. This was in a park.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-07T14:50:00.002+08:00

I recovered from walking pneumonia over the holidays.
I got to speak to my niece. She was in good spirits. One month down, 5 to go to qualify for a heart transplant.
I've made some contacts here in Singapore for Spotlight Listeners' Clubs. Please pray that some Clubs get started right here.
I've got my plane ticket for Cambodia. The station there that started playing the program last July is ready to have people trained on how to run Spotlight Listeners' Clubs. Please pray for my preparation.
Please pray for my visa application.
Next week we have the new president of HCJB Global visiting our region. Please pray for my presentation to him.
This year I want to be more intentional about not only having a head knowledge of grace, but being changed by it.

Celebrating Christmas in Singapore!

2008-12-24T10:30:00.004+08:00

Each different faith in this country is allowed a national religious holiday each year. The Christian community celebrates Christmas. So the entire country will be off tomorrow. Because a number of churches got together there is a display that celebrates and shares the Christian faith with the city. They've got this Ark, Angels and this tremendous nativity. There are teams of Christians manning the display sharing the Christian faith with the crowds that surround the scene. It's a delight to hear the the choirs singing out Hark the Herald Angels.

Have a Merry Christmas filled with Holy moments that remind you of our Savior's love!

And there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. Luke 2:8-9

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

I'm Locked Out of My Email!

2008-12-17T12:14:00.003+08:00

Once again I'm having technical difficulties. I can't access my HCJB email account. Lot's of work is probably piling up. Oh well, I decided to do the paperwork side of things. I ran across these when cleaning a draw out and decided to share them.

This first one was a framed poem at my Grandmother's when I was growing up.

Said the robin to the sparrow
"I should really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
rush about and worry so."

Said the sparrow to the robin
"Friend, I think that it must be
that they have no Heavenly Father,
such as cares for you and me."

Nice reminder today when I feel panicky about not getting the things on MY agenda done.

Then there were these two that made me smile and no, they weren't framed or hanging in my Grandmother's house.

When you get to heaven you're gonna look back and say, "I'd have enjoyed that a lot more if I had known I was going to survive it."

God can use anybody - He's got no standards.

When God uses me I totally agree with that last one. I sometimes think how sad it is that He's so desperate that He'd use me. :)

A Passion Update from a Radio Station in Tonga.

2008-12-16T15:37:00.005+08:00

This is one of our ministry partners on the Radio side of HCJB Global. I'm not going to correct the English in this letter. It would spoil it. The initial letter below was sent a few weeks ago and is followed by some more recent information.

I would like to share few testimonies of what God is doing here in Tonga. Last night I have a normal programe from 8pm to 10pm, and something unusual happens.
I was sharing from the story of the bleeding women who touch Jesus by faith and Jaris whom God raised his daughter to life.

This story touches the listeners that the presence of God was so strong at the Radio and through out the Kingdom. People begun to share on-air of how they are being blessed by the word. Tears was shed from every listners. There were no time for music as the phone rings one after another.

People shared that they were awaken while sleeping and something just promt them to turn the radio and the programe went all the way to 1.00am in the morning. Young people asked forgiveness to all the elders on air, people prayed on air after they hear someone who shared any of their struggle without me asking them. Drunkers call in weeping and asking what shall they do.

I can’t even hold my tears. MY wife was listning that she even call me and ask what is happening to the people, she haven’t seen anything like this before, and it was as if Jesus is just about to come in the morning.

When people cry it was not a normal cry it comes from the heart that stirs another listners to weep. I just cant explain this experiance, students studying for exam end up sharing that God speaks to them that they just can't go on studying but just weep as the presence of God was so strong in their place.

I think about more than 100 people call and most of them are their very first time to call and shared on air , young people just weep and weep and weep and mothers cried as they listen to the young people sharing asking God to touch them and fathers you cant hear them clearly as they tried to hide their tears.

It was amazing.
It was like the people of Tonga is coming for repentence.
I have to stop here because I cried as I write.

PLEASE TELL THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD WHO IS PRAYING FOR TONGA THAT THEIR PRAYED HAS BEEN ANSWERD AND IT IS JUST THE BEGINING
HALLELUAH

Willy
Kingdom of Tonga

More than a week after this initial letter Willy says:

Many listeners are still phoning in with tears of repentance and joy
10 to 20 people a day are making a public commitment over the radio, to follow Jesus Christ
Listeners are going to Willy's home looking for help
Some community leaders and their family members have been phoning to pray on air or tell about their personal faith in Jesus Christ
The government TV station interviewed Willy and Setita. (I met Setita in prison a few weeks ago. A guard called her "The one woman crime-wave" and her testimony of how she came to Christ in prison, through our ministry, helped spark this revival.)
The government TV station is broadcasting a program every afternoon this week to highlight the ministry of Letio Faka-Kalisitiane 93FM

It's Mycoplasma.

2008-12-12T17:31:00.002+08:00

If you were curious as to whether or not a diagnosis came back, Mycoplasma is the official name here for Walking Pneumonia. The doctor was a bit surprised because I'm not running a fever and my lungs sounded clear. The symptom that got me in to the doctor was how tired I am. I must be pretty hardy because he said that the level of bacteria I am carrying is the highest on the scale that the blood gets tested for. Two weeks of this antibiotic and I should be as good as new.

Please pray I haven't passed it on to anyone. Especially anyone I saw while in the states - like my daughter or grand daughter - or the folks I live and work with here. I'm especially worried about my grand daughter, I kissed her a lot! Everyone else should be fine.

November Blew Past Me.

2008-12-06T11:09:00.010+08:00

In fact this year blew past me. I'm hearing Christmas carols in a country that is hotter than I can tolerate without wilting. It's kind of strange to hear traditional English Christmas carols on this side of the world when Christ is known by such a minority. But here just as in the states, shopping is the center of it all, even in today's financial climate. It makes the celebration of Christ's coming all the sweeter for me. What a privilege to know what the True meaning of Christmas is and it urges me on to what I've been called here to do.

I'm encouraged by the doors that God has led me through this year. Not that I haven't kicked and screamed along the way at times. But looking back I can see His guiding hand, protection and the blessing of serving Him. Thanks to all of you that have held me up in this ministry. I know you hear it all the time from me, but I could not do this without you!

I've recently returned from the states and a mission festival that turned out to be an incredible time of networking for ministry for this side of the world. Who would have thought? It also gave me some sweet time with my family and a few of you.

I was sick with something or other the entire time I was in the states. If a bug flew by I caught it. I even had laryngitis for my two minutes of "fame" at the missions festival. But how could I complain when I had such a great nurse to come home to at night.

I love the Creator's creativeness. Here are some photos I've taken of flowers in the places I've been this year . Please pray for the seeds planted in each of these countries. There is still a lot of work to do but I'm feeling encouraged.

In Cambodia this tree was covered in some kind of flower covered vine.

Indian flower growing on a tree in the city

Singapore orchid

Wisconsin - makes me homesick for a Wisconsin Christmas. Makes me think of Bing Crosby's "I'll be home for Christmas - If only in my dreams".

An Email I Sent My Ministry Partners

2008-10-28T17:23:00.003+08:00

Subject: Do You Ever Need Encouragement?

Well I do. I plug away wondering if anything I do is going to be used. Today I got emails from both of the new Clubs that started in September in the U.S.
So please wallow with me in the joy of knowing we are helping people in their efforts to further the kingdom of God. :)
Blessings,
Janine

MICHIGAN CLUB

I am a friend of Mary Lynn C and am helping coordinate the Spotlight program at our church. It's been an exciting journey so far. We are meeting once per week (just completed our 7th today) and have an average of about 25 women, plus 8-10 conversation partners each week. We also have a childcare program that can accommodate 12+ babies/toddlers. Our population is primarily Japanese with a few Korean and Arabic women. It’s been great to see relationships growing.

Thanks and Blessings to you in your ministry!

Doris T

NORTH CAROLINA CLUB

I am so sorry it has taken me so long to respond - The Spotlight Club is going absolutely GREAT!  It is truly amazing.  We are going to have our 8th week tonight (we meet once a week)  of course some of the students have asked for more nights but for right now I think I am going  to have to try to stay with just 1.  We have had some wonderful volunteers and each week we have any where from 8 to 16 'students' come to the club.  We can see it gradually growing and it is wonderful.  I am so thankful for all that you and many others do to make this program available for us to use.  Again - Thank you for everything you do!  We are so excited and can not wait to see where this program goes and how many lives are and will be touched thru this.
Joe M


Please do pray that Clubs would start in Asia as well as the U.S. and Latin America.

I'm Packing My Bags!

2008-10-25T18:02:00.003+08:00

I'll be heading to Wisconsin later this week to attend my sending church's missions festival. I'm wildly excited because that gives me the opportunity to see my Dad, daughter and grand daughter! Yippee!

By any chance does anyone have one of those 10" electronic photo frames I could borrow?

When I returned from India this spacious cube became my new office. I like the lived in look, can you tell?

Did you know I am a thief?

2008-10-22T15:31:00.002+08:00

When I first got to Ecuador I got to work with a wonderful woman named Anne. Today I got a prayer request from her and her husband Dave (see pic). They asked for prayers for "life-giving times in His presence that overflow into life-giving relationships with others". I want that. So I'm going to steal their prayer request and ask that you would pray the same thing for me. Feel free to pray for them too.

I have another Anne story. In my first year on the field in Ecuador I got to a very low point in my attitude. I told Anne that when I was working in the secular world, in sales, I didn't take it personally and it rarely bothered me when people seemed to criticize and make ridiculous requests. The customer was always right and it was my job to make sure that they were satisfied and that it was a win-win for both the company and the customer. However, on the mission field I found myself wanting to spit on my brothers and sisters in Christ when it seemed to me their criticism or demands were ridiculous. I wanted to know where THAT was coming from. I was so ashamed but I shared that with Anne. She told me that first of all, Satan didn't want me to be on the mission field and he'd be working to make me leave - but secondly and even more impacting to me, she quoted Elaine Coontz, a missionary years ago. Elaine Coontz said, "When you go to the mission field the scum of your character rises to the surface." I felt so normal after hearing that.....but here I am still working on some of that scum.

A Full Moon

2008-10-16T15:16:00.002+08:00

I think that October 13 was the official full moon here in Singapore. But even this morning I walked to the bus stop under what looked to be a full moon. It's kind of breathtaking. This morning my boss and I were talking about those moments when you are in awe of God through His creation. In Ecuador is would be the site of a snow-capped Volcano out my kitchen window. Here it's the full moon in the morning sky.

Anyway, not much exciting to write about. I'm busy as all get out, but it's all that email follow-up, research, program prep, presentation type stuff that does not make for interesting blogging. For instance, this week I learned how to use Power Point and prepared a presentation for our November regional meetings......zzzzz. WAKE UP! It was important. I will be at my sending church's missions festival and can't attend the meetings in the region. I needed to report to them about my first 10 months in Asia.

Yesterday one of the things I did was an on-line survey for the mission. The purpose of the survey was to make sure that we are all doing ministry that is justifiable before our board (accountability) and that we are being good stewards of the financial resources (that so many of you are a part of). Good stuff, but again not great blog material.

Today I went down to Air India to purchase a ticket for a partner that is coming here. Well I took a very long bus ride (read about m-learning to educate/entertain myself), finally found the place, was told that I need a copy of their visas, which I didn't have, to be able to purchase the tickets, wandered the streets to find the right bus back, found that my new umbrella (less than 6 days old) died an early death. Some days you can't win for losing.

Now I've used two idioms in this blog. My friend, Ruth, always laughed at me and asked where I got them. The New Zealander in the office today thinks I'm making them up. Can you find them? Have you ever used them?

Back to work for me. Somehow I have to redeem the day.

Did You Miss Me?

2008-09-28T11:10:00.004+08:00

OK, I'm back in Singapore! Can't say I've taken any interesting pictures since I've been back, so I'll throw in a couple you hadn't seen yet. This one is of an ant hill that the ant's abandoned and then the cobras take over as housing. The Hindus string it with flowers and burn incense to the cobras as gods. Fortunately I never was present when the cobras came out. When they do - and these are wild cobras - the worshipers anoint them with milk and ghee (a semifluid clarified butter made especially in ). I saw that on the news one night while in India and was amazed that no one was bit. Below is a picture of a stream in one of the rural places we went. We had to drive a while and then walk a while to get far enough out to not see any people. I heard that Stuart Briscoe had once said he wanted to visit India, but it was already full. He actually arrived in India the week I was leaving. The team he brought was down in the south ministering to national pastors.
What I've been up to since coming back is unpacking into my cube in the new office. They did a great job turning a warehouse space into our office space while I was in India. I've worked with Steve (our office computer geek) to get a new tracking system for where and who I've presented or trained for Listeners' Clubs. Presented to another global mission organization that has it's offices here in Singapore. They will be sending our material to their staff around the world. Started training Lisa, a Canadian with HCJB, that is interested in being a part of the ministry. Yippee! That's a huge answer to prayer. And speaking of prayer, would you pray for my visa and living arrangements? I learned while I was in India that there are some complications that may mean I will make a change in the country I'll be based out of in Asia. Could I also ask that you would pray (without a big long confusing explanation from me) for God's clear leading for Curt and Jeff (leaders in the mission) concerning my ministry. There is no question that Spotlight Listeners' Clubs are what I will continue to do, but mission structure, ministry finiances and my location are all in the mix of decisions that need to be made.

I'm Back in Singapore BUT...

2008-09-15T16:42:00.003+08:00

I got this email from Christopher and Dolly, my hosts for the past two months:

Thank God for Skype! We would have been in one of the following….

Saturday afternoon planning to go the market for buying some things for the wedding. Seeing that Jan was on skype Dolly called her . After Skyping Dolly went to her room to change for shopping, not hearing her come out I went to check seeing her lying down I asked what happened? She said that she was not feeling well and wants to rest. And she went to sleep without wasting time!! and in the next 7 to 10 mts Dad called and asked where we were and asked us to watch TV news. We would have been either in Karol Bagh or Connaught place!

We think God sent her to sleep .

Thanks Be to God, Please continue to pray for injured and people who have lost their loved ones.

Love you all.

C&D

This pic was taken the night before my flight out of Delhi

Multiple blasts rock Delhi, 18 killed

Once More With Feeling!

2008-09-06T13:13:00.008+08:00

Check out this group of young folks willing to spend their Saturday night learning about Spotlight Listeners' Clubs. I wasn't as up for it as they were. I was not the least bit upset when the contact for this group couldn't be reached by phone and it looked like everything might be called off. So when they started showing up, I had to ask for the energy and motivation to be divinely delivered. And He did. They came from 5 different churches and seemed to be the most excited group we've presented to so far. They asked questions about things no one else has asked. They asked permission to change things up and promised to send what works and what does for them.
This morning, I misread the clock thinking it was 6:15 when in fact it was 9:15 which meant 15 minutes to get moving and ready to leave for church. Please cut me some slack, I was reading the clock from a slant and it had been a sleepless night. So being the low maintenance woman that I am, I was ready in time. Well, OK, I didn't look that great, wet hair, wearing what I did the night before...but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. While at church there was a "getting to know you" coffee afterward. The gentleman I ended up chatting with is working in a University.
As it turns out many of the students are keen to learn English. We had a nice little chat and exchanged emails so that I can get information and materials to him.
I said to Dolly as we were leaving that a person could stay in India forever and there would always more to do and more people to meet with.
However, my flight leaves early on Wednesday so we have no more meetings scheduled.
This will be my last blog from India but probably not my last blog about India. It's clear that I'll be back.

I've learned so much during my time here. I feel like a sponge that's soaked up more than it can hold and is dripping all over the place. Pray that what I have learned 'sticks' and that I make good use of it.

Outdoor Jobs Available

2008-08-29T13:45:00.013+08:00

If you are sick of sitting in your office, I want to make you aware, via photos, of some of the outdoor job opportunities that are available here. Putting on sunscreen might be something you'll want to add to your morning regime.

One of the biggest challenges to the Listeners' Clubs here is the limited broad band Internet and in one area even computers and printers were unavailable for some of the people. So how do we get around it? For those with computers but no Internet we've prepared culturally appropriate material and put it to CD. This includes the audio of the program that they can play in a CD player as well as the activities and conversation starters for them to print out. For those without computers, perhaps computer sharing through a local church. It's something we're still pondering.

Learning what is culturally appropriate (or safe for use) , then putting it to CD and networking to get it into the hands of those that can use it has taken up the largest part of my time here. I'm leaving behind CD's with 6 months worth of Club material and have begun work on the next 6 months. Now don't get too excited. We have only just presented the Club concept and no one has started a Club yet. This is a long process. In Latin America it would take about a year from presentation to the starting of a Club. We're praying it will go faster here.

The enthusiasm generated at the training presentations encourages me but there is still a long way to go for them to get Clubs started. It's come clear that I am going to need some help in this effort. It's a God size job. Not one that can be done without passion and perseverance or without being present for the long haul.

I've struggled with much of what I've seen here. It's not a trip that one can take and ignore the vast numbers of people in a myriad of different conditions, economically, physically and spiritually.

I've had to question my ability to love in whatever condition I meet someone. I wonder at who can possibly meet all these needs and there is only One. But He works through us. I believe it is the nationals of this vast country that will demonstrate the love of the One True God to the people of this nation. Please pray with me that Listeners' Clubs can be used to do a tiny bit of that.

1 Corinthians 13:3
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Here Comes our Train!

2008-08-25T23:35:00.006+08:00

And for the first time I can remember since I was about 13 I took a long train ride. Well sometimes I consider an hour on the commuter trains in Singapore a long ride, but this one was 24 hours one way. We headed to Bilaspur. We were scheduled to arrive about 4 hours before the presentation for the Spotlight Listeners' Clubs out reach. Well someone was transporting acid and the bottle started leaking and that brought the train to a halt for about an hour. The owners of the acid disappeared and the other travelers wanted everything to be checked out to make sure there wasn't more somewhere. Then another train had a power failure and we had to wait while they got towed out of our way. So we made it to our destination with about 5 minutes to spare. Can you say, "brush your teeth quick"? I'd made the mistake of not eating much on the train. Well maybe that wasn't a mistake. I'd seen the kitchen car and it put me off food during the trip. Anyway by the time I was standing in front of the group - about 30 folks that had come from all over the area - I was starting to feel like I might faint. It reminded me of standing up in a wedding on a very hot day. Oh yeah, it was VERY hot in this church. That didn't help. Anyway, Dolly was feeling the same way and she was to translate for me (why translate if it's about English you ask? Because someone that doesn't speak English can still coordinate a Club - they just have to recruit English speaking volunteers). Christopher wasn't feeling well and we found out later he was spiking a fever. Before I transfered to the Asia/Pacific region I had lunch with Stuart Briscoe. He was my pastor before I left for the mission field and since then he and his wife Jill have become missionaries-at-large. That means they travel all over the world at an incredible pace, encouraging missionaries and doing pastoral training. Well I asked him, "What do you do when you are just so tired you don't feel like you can go on"? Read this next sentence in a slow dignified British accent: He said, "Suck it up". So suck it up we did and there was tremendous interest, with about 60 people in attendance. Pray that Clubs spring up in some of these churches.
The funniest thing that happened is a potty story. They have those squatty potties here. You know the hole with a spot for your feet on either side? Well on the train you could see the tracks passing below. Christopher was really sad last night. He wasn't feeling well when he went in there, lost his balance and one of his new sandals went down the hole onto the tracks!!!! This morning he had on Dolly's other pair of sandals to be able to get home from the train station. Dolly told him he should have thrown his other sandal down so that whoever finds it has a pair. I took a picture of his feet in Dolly's sandals.

The pictures above are of a tribal pastor, his elder and son. Then a man that coordinated the seminar time and took great care of us. It seems that Indians are taught not to smile during a photo. I've figured out that if I take the first photo and before I put down the camera say something about not smiling they will ALWAYS smile then, so that's when I take another picture.....don't smile!!

Amazing Race

2008-08-20T00:44:00.003+08:00

Have you ever watched the Amazing Race? Did you see the one where they went through a part of India? One of the things they had to do was to make fuel from cow dung and straw. Here is a picture of that in real life. They plaster it on a wall to dry.
The other thing that the contestants on the Amazing Race had to do was haul chilis. I remember one of them saying that it was painful because the chilies made their eyes water. I get it now.
The challenge in the Amazing Race I am in, is to see if I can meet as many of the 1.2 billion people living in India. Well maybe not. Actually I want to meet as many of those who believe in Christ as I can. Then I want to convince them that they can use the Spotlight Listeners' Club to build relationships and share Christ.
When I watch the Amazing Race I am always impressed with the perseverance I see demonstrated. Please pray I persevere. Only three weeks left, tons to do. Friday we get on a train, travel for 24 hours, present the Club to a group of central India churches, sleep one night in that town, attend church there and re-board a train for the 24 hour ride back. This IS an Amazing Race!

A Big Fat Indian Wedding Being Planned!!

2008-08-15T21:35:00.008+08:00

Christopher, my host, has a brother getting married in September. Unfortunately I'll be gone by then, but I was here for some of the planning. It is SO very different in a culture that values community. We are so individualistic in our culture. We are very independent compared to a good portion of the world. Indian couples don't really plan their wedding. The family does. Here is the bride at the sari shop. She's the one in peach. Her soon to be sister-in-law pretty much picked out her wedding saris. There are two saris in a wedding here. The one the bride wears for the ceremony and the one she wears for the reception. In a Christian wedding the ceremony sari is white. For any other wedding here they would avoid white because that is the color they wear to funerals. So ladies, the bride doesn't go with just her Mom or her best friends. She goes with both families. The father of the groom pays for the bridal saris for the bride as well as the women in his family.

Then it's off to find a suit for the groom. I wish I'd gotten pictures of the whole group. Fathers, Mothers, siblings and cousins all go. It's a group decision! None of this what the bride or groom like best, the community votes! The groom will also pick out a change of clothes to something more traditionally Indian for the reception.

Not only that, but the grooms sister-in-law picked out their wedding invitations. Here is a family pow wow to discuss what should be written on the invitation. They also discussed the number of invitations (they decided on no more than 1,500 - which when they are for an entire family could end up being minimally 4,500 people), the food, the cake, a bed that need to be purchased for the bride and groom as they will live with the grooms parents, and finances. By the way, the bride and groom almost didn't speak a word. Even to one another and it's disrespectful to show interest or affection in front of your parents. I thought they were mad at each other at first.
So then I saw one more meeting. These men are debating and deciding on the decorations for the wedding - church and hall.
Can you imagine this happening in the States? The bride and groom make almost no decisions. In fact in some things they aren't even consulted. I kind of liked it myself. You just show up the day of your wedding and everything has been done for you. Just enjoy your day!

Great for the bride and groom, but the discussions between family members were not without plenty of emotion....kind of like home.

Great Meetings!

2008-08-12T12:09:00.007+08:00

We spent our last day in the south meeting with two different organizations. The first is a mission that has 150 missionary "units" throughout the country. We presented the Spotlight Listeners' Club to the director of this national mission. He immediately saw it as a possible answer to a need for some of their workers. They work in very rural areas of the country - perhaps even like you see here. He indicated that moving into a village raises the question as to why they are there. When what they've been doing is moving into areas and trying to become a part of the community, often without a means of meeting people. The Clubs would give them an opening for meeting the people of the villages, meeting a real need for the people (to practice speaking English) and to hopefully help them to meet Christ.

Our second meeting was with a group of Bible school students. They came ready to learn how to use English in their various ministries. They were a quiet group to start with. But once we got going they were very much interested and participated in the demonstrations. Fifteen of them signed up to receive the training DVD and resource CD.

Thank you for your prayers for these meetings. Please pray that Clubs would come out of them. Even more, please pray that there would be people coming to Christ that would not have heard any other way.

On the Road Again.

2008-08-11T00:13:00.007+08:00

We got up at 3:30 am to get a cab to get to the airport for a 6am flight. Zzzzzz

Anyway after flying south for 3 hours we arrived in Bangalore. We took a cab for an hour to Christopher's parents home to rent a car and stay for the night. Up again at 4 am we took off for a 5 or was it 6 hour drive to a remote rural area. Christopher's family had contacts within a church there that was interested in the Listeners' Club concept.

As we traveled along I began to wonder who in this remote area would be interested in learning English. As you can see from this picture the lifestyle can be pretty rustic. However I learned in quick order just how interested and important English is to the people of this area.

Anyone that is the least bit educated will have received some English classes. The struggle here is where to hear it fluently spoken and with whom can they practice speaking with?

Well the answers to both questions if at a Spotlight Listeners' Club. Sorry but I just love that about this ministry.

When we arrived in the community Dolly and I needed to stretch our legs so we went for a walk. We passed by a home where this little girl was out playing with her mother and grandmother. For some strange reason I seem to stick out like a sore thumb here. The immediate assumption is that I'm an English speaker. Blending in has always been a problem of mine.

Anyway this little one's mother saw me as an opportunity to teach her little girl some English. She immediately pointed me out and started saying, "Say hi". I did eventually get a "hi" out of her once she stopped hiding behind her mother.

You wouldn't guess it from this picture, but this group of kids were initially afraid of us. I'm sure it was partially the fact that we were obviously strangers, but my being so white may have had something to do with it as well.

It was funny to watch them. You could tell they were daring one another to come closer to us. Then they'd agree to walk towards us as a group and someone would get scared and run back to the road and they'd all get spooked. But after about 1/2 an hour of that, they finally came close and taking a digital picture of them and showing it to them broke the ice.

It turned out that they could recite the English alphabet, some poems in English and sing a song or two in English. Only one of them could really speak very much and she was called on to translate most of the conversation.

Then as we walked back home these young women called out, "Hello, how are you?". That was about all they could say, but they were thrilled to use what little English they had.

So I'm over wondering if people would be interested in English and it's viability as an outreach. Especially after meeting this group from the church. They were very enthusiastic about using English to reach out to their community. In fact by the end of our time together they were asking for some specific things they thought would work in their area and one of them is willing to write a program for us on AIDs awareness and prevention in India for a Spotlight program.

Please pray that their excitement and the Holy Spirit would carry them through to actually starting a Club. Please also pray for us as tomorrow we meet with 26 representatives from various churches, Bible study groups, schools and an Indian mission organization to present the ministry to them.

My Survival Tools in India.

2008-08-04T18:43:00.005+08:00

What you see here are my laptop and promotional discs. I've gotten blurry eyed getting programs ready to leave in country with hopeful Club coordinators. Thanks for your prayers. I've gotten more done that is humanly possible.
Then you see obvious things like good reading material. Everyone should read Death of a Guru. Excellent reading. The black strappy thing is a head lamp that can be used during power outages or in places where people don't have bedside reading lamps.
Then there is clinical strength antiperspirant. But I'm feeling right at home. Even the Indians are complaining about the usual heat.
There is my can of bug repellent and my racket.

Racket you ask? What game are you playing? Well the truth is, it's a mosquito racket. It's got a battery in the handle and it zaps them when you catch them in it. It's a very satisfying sound when one sparks and fries!

Then of course, my Diet Coke!! I'm not even sure what language that's printed in. I thank God I am here with people that speak about a dozen different languages between them.

They oversee the production of programs in 13 different languages that are broadcast here via shortwave out of Australia.
It also helps me to remember what it's like to want to speak another language and all that it takes to learn one. It revives my compassion and motivation to do what I've been called here to do.

Holy Cow? I Think NOT!

2008-08-01T19:07:00.012+08:00

What you see here is a talisman against the evil eye. This one was hanging outside of a market place, but they are all over the country in all forms. Why? Fear.

My Mom once told me that there are only two things that motivate us, one is fear, the other is hope. Give it some serious thought and you'll see that it's true.
The vast majority of the population
here is filled with fear.
Their only hope is that they will do enough to appease the gods and return in a higher life form. Well then the other major faith here hopes that they will earn their place in the afterlife - but no guarantees they will ever do enough.
There are millions of 'gods' here. What they put their faith in might make you laugh or cry, depending on the day. Here we have one of the venerated animals. This one is decked out for fund raising. Most of them just wander the streets, sleeping in the median, eating from garbage cans and being adored. When on the other hand the news tells us that 267 goats and 15 water buffalo were sacrificed for the wellbeing and stability of the government. It doesn't pay to be a goat or water buffalo in this country, but monkeys, rats, cows, elephants and snakes have it made.
It's my prayer that we are able to share the hope that is only found in Christ and the free gift of salvation He offers. Isn't a free gift harder to accept than earning our way? One takes faith the other works and we are so wired to earn our own way. So that makes it a bit more understandable how people get so lost.

This tomb is one of thousands that dot the countryside. Each still has it's corpse inside. I hope you know about the one tomb that stands empty today because of the power and love of God.

Today Dolly, Christopher and I were counting the days we have and there are only 40 left until I return to Singapore. So I'm going cross-eyed preparing the material to leave here that we hope will be used to bring others to saving faith. We will be making 3 more trips for presentations to churches and organizations. We'll go by plane, train and car. Please pray that each trip is fruitful for God's glory and ends with us safely home.

Gypsies

2008-07-31T15:05:00.005+08:00

There are gypsies along the side of the road that set up tents and simply start living there.

For more information about this people group you can go to: http://kcm.co.kr/bethany_eng/clusters/8007.html

A Typical Day

2008-07-28T12:36:00.007+08:00

Does NOT look like this for me. Unless I'm traveling down the road, I'm sitting in a typical Indian apartment wearing mosquito repellent preparing programs.

Yesterday I visited another church and met with it's leader. He can not be photographed for security reasons. There are real threats and it can be risky to be a laborer here.

Another practical obstacle to ministry here is the lack of Internet. That means that we need to prepare materials ahead of time and put them to DVD's for mailing. So I'm currently working on 35 programs and their resource material to be able to leave behind. That is about the same
number of programs currently on the web site, but for various reasons only a handful of those programs are appropriate for use here. So culturally sensitive material has to be prepared. That is exactly why I needed to come here. To see first hand and learn what is needed here.

Clicking on any of the pictures in my blog will make them bigger for better viewing.

Enjoy!