Black suit - Bamboo floor - India

I sat down on the bamboo floor on the outskirts of the group...

My computer was set up on a table and there was a video playing.

The video was of me playing my senior piano recital...

I wanted to show the video to the students at J.E.M.M.S. (Jason's English Medical Missionary School) because all they ever saw me playing was a keyboard, so I figured they should see the real thing!

I was curious to see the reactions of these students who had never seen a real piano.

And the most interesting reaction I got was this... One of the students said:

In America you were living in a much higher class, and you come here and live in the jungle and sleep on a bamboo floor. Why teacher?

I'd never really thought of it that way before. True, I was wearing a black suit playing on an expensive piano, in a really nice church...

But going from that to sleeping on a bamboo floor, didn't seem like a big difference...

At first...

But as I tried to think of it from their perspective, I could see the contrast...

Yet I didn't really question the decision to sleep on that bamboo floor... to live in the jungle... to help the people... to share Jesus with them...

I found way more joy serving God in the jungle, than I ever did from wearing a black suit, and playing a nice piano.

----

That took place 3 months ago.

Shortly after that I returned to the US to be at my brother's wedding.  (It was a beautiful wedding, you can see some pictures on Beth's blog.)

And then I returned to work with Jesus for Asia...

----

Shortly after I arrived in Thailand last June, I wrote a post entitled "Why?"

And now that I've returned to America, I want to share a few things that I learned...

-

In the absence of technology, life takes on a much deeper meaning...

I love the jungle...

Riding on a motorbike for 400 miles in one day is a fool-proof way to get saddle sore...

God takes care of His children...

I should be dead right now... It's only a miracle of God that I am alive right now... (Look for that story in another post)

God is an ever present help in trouble...

Working for God is the only way to have true joy and peace...

-

Now that I'm in America I wish I was in Thailand...

But I'll be going to that part of the world before too long!

March 18 is the day that we fly!

Myself and 3 other guys will be going to India to visit several Jesus for Asia projects and shoot documentary films of the work that is being done, and the work that needs to be done.

I'm excited about our trip! We'll be gone for about a month and I believe that God is going to do great things.

Please join me in praying for our trip, that God will provide everything that we need, and make it a very productive trip.

Unwilling student

It was time to teach my 1st and 2nd graders...

And as I began to teach, I was having great difficulty keeping their attention...

From all outward appearances, they didn't want to learn English at all!

It seemed to me, that they were far more interested in trying to be naughty, than in learning anything from me...

As I was thinking about what I could do to capture their attention...

A thought came to me, that instantly stopped the complaining in my mind...

Not only that, it was a sound rebuke...

How many times does God want to teach me something...

But I just don't want to learn...

Or He asks me to surrender something...

And I just don't want to...

Far too often, what I want is the first consideration...

But what we too often forget, is that...

Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. ~ 1 Corinthians 7:23

Christ died to save us from our sins...

What right have we to follow our own path and do our own things, when Christ payed the price for our sins?

This is my prayer...

Teach me thy way, O Lord, I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. ~ Psalm 86:11

(And for all you teachers who are reading this and have tons of ideas of how to keep the attention of 1st and 2nd graders... why don't you come and put those ideas to work, because God hasn't called me to be a classroom teacher... I came, because no one else would...) 

How will they hear?

I was sitting in a minivan ready to start the trip… 

In the row of seats in front of me sat an older Thai lady…

This particular town had a number of large idols set up beside the road…

And as we passed, this lady respectfully bowed to each one in worship… 

And throughout the trip wherever there was a shrine set up on the side of the road, she bowed to each one… 

Now, let me ask you a question… 

Was she bowing to those idols, because she wanted to, or was it simply because that’s all she’s ever known? 

Has she ever heard the name of Jesus? 

I don’t believe she ever has… 

What about the many hundreds of people who were in the bus station? 

Maybe a few of them have heard, but the large majority have never heard about Jesus… 

What about the millions of other buddhists who have never heard of any other way? 

What about the 2.9 BILLION people in this world who are completely unreached by the gospel? 

How will they learn about Jesus? 

——

Romans 10

Verse 13: For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 

Verse 14: How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 

Verse 15: And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things! 

Verse 16: But they have not all obeyed the gospel… 

We have neglected those people who are dying without Jesus… 

Jesus said, “GO ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) 

Friends we have disobeyed Christ’s command… 

We have failed God…  

Jesus asks us the same question He asked Peter, do you love me? (John 21:17)

If our answer is yes, then we must do what Christ commanded Peter…

“Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.” 

——

I want you to imagine a little scenario… 

Instead of being born in a 1st world country, you were born in a 3rd world country… 

Instead of growing up in a loving family, your parents died of aids and you’re living with a group of orphans in the local landfill. 

Instead of going to school and then college and getting a good job, you’re forced to pick through the trash looking for anything of value, hoping you can make a little money to buy at least one meal for the day. You will live this way the rest of your life, because there is no opportunity for you to have a better life. 

Instead of being born into a Christian home and believing in Jesus, you’re a Hindu, not because that’s what you chose, but because that’s all you’ve ever known. You have an empty feeling but have no idea what’s missing, or how to fill it. 

What if that was your life? Would you want someone to come and tell you who can fill that empty spot in your heart? Would you want someone to come and tell you about Jesus?

“And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” (Luke 16:31)

——

I’m going to ask two very specific questions… 

And I want you to think about them… 

Because they have eternal significance, either for you, or the people you could reach if you did go as a missionary. 

How will they hear if you don’t go? 

Who will go, if you don’t go? 

——

“The very life of the church depends upon her faithfulness in fulfilling the Lord’s commission.” DA 825

——

BE a witness… 

BE a missionary… 

Bridge Collapse!

It was really just going to be a hike in the jungle...

Up the trail we walked...

Then we got to the creek...

With a bridge across it... a bamboo bridge! (it looked kind of old, even though it was built only 9 months ago.)

We took off across the bridge... Jason in front, then Hannah, then Sarah (she was holding Destiny) and then me, and a couple students behind me...

Then we heard it...

CRACK!

The bridge started to sway a bit...

And then make steady movement downward!

And the bridge came tumbling down!

We rode it down and it stopped right above the water.

Sarah had grabbed the railing with one arm and Destiny with the other and just rode it down.

Within about 5 seconds Jason, myself, and one of the students were all reaching to get Destiny.

Jason got Destiny, one of the students on the other side helped Sarah up the slippery bridge and I followed.

No one was hurt except for a few scratches...

God is good! And the rest of the hike was fun as well!

Just another day in the life of a missionary!

And then I got to thinking about it...

Sometimes God asks us to go over bridges that look impossible to us...

But we have to trust him completely...

He doesn't promise that the bridge won't collapse...

He promises to be with us. (Matt 28:20)

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. ~ Proverbs 3:5-6

The lowest part of where the bridge fell is where Sarah ended up. 

Instant idea

For the second week in a row, halfway through class…

I ran out of things to do to fill the time… 

So I sent a prayer to heaven… 

And I got an instant response… 

An idea for how to fill that class time… 

And for the second week in a row… 

It worked… perfectly! 

I’m learning more than I’m teaching, which is the way God planned it I think. 

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

Darkest Night

Due to motorbike problems we couldn’t finish the trip before it got dark… 

Which means we finished after dark… After traveling for more than 2 hours over muddy roads (raining much of the time) we finished the first part of the trip. 

We then set off into the inky darkness to hike the last portion of the trip home. 

It was raining pretty hard…

I was very thankful for my tall rubber boots, because most of the trail had water running down it… And all of it was very muddy. 

The batteries were almost dead in the flashlight I was using… 

I stumbled on a root but managed to not fall down… 

The trail got steeper, the light got dimmer… 

Then a vine caught my foot and I almost went tumbling… 

I was soaked to the bone, and pretty miserable… 

Then I did fall down… 

“I wonder what could be worse than this darkness.” I mused… 

Then I realized what’s worse… 

The darkest night is one without Jesus… 

“I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12 

I want to walk with the Jesus, so I can be with the Light of the world… 

What about you? 

Jungle Adventures

I got to the jungle a little over two weeks ago and I’ve had many adventures since then. 

When I first saw the boat I knew I was going to have an adventure on my hands. It’s a long tail boat! Basically the propellor is out on a 6ft pole that you have to push into the water to propel the boat forward. This is no ordinary outboard motor! Jason taught me how to drive the boat in about 3 days. The actual driving the boat isn’t very hard, (although it is a 45 minute continuous upper body workout!) the hardest part is remembering where all the logs and rocks and other obstacles are. But 6 roundtrip times up and down the river in 6 days have me pretty comfortable with it now. 

Living in the jungle without any link to the outside world has been different for me. But it’s really quite peaceful! One of the Karen students taught me how to split bamboo to make flooring and wall material. It requires good aim to split it just right, but I enjoy it. 

I’ve started teaching here in the Thai school. It went quite well as far as I can tell, the students and teachers liked it. Each grade has between 7 and 16 students. Please pray that I’ll have wisdom to know how best to teach. 

Here are some pictures of what it's like over here. 

 There's the boat

 The prop and rudder.

 The long tail.

 The handle that steers the boat. 

Yep, just wind that cord around there like so and pull! 

 "Mango Hall" This is the building that the mango tree fell on. 

 That's like the best shower ever! High water pressure! 

The Sharon's House.