Traveling

Perhaps I sound like a broken record, perhaps not.

But it becomes more real every day... 

God, is SO good! 

The fact that He is good, is an eternal truth... 

But how often do we really just sit back and take awhile to reflect on how good God is? 

And I'm not just talking about the blessings He gives to us on a daily basis... (Life, breath, air, food, etc. etc.) 

What about the greatest gift of all, the greatest sacrifice ever made. How often do we contemplate the love of God in sending His only son to die for you and me? 

I know for me in my own life, I get caught up in the hundred and one things that I think I need to do, when in reality, I need to spend more time in communion with the One who gives every breath that I breath. 

--- 

On a side note, I'm traveling! 

I'm in San Fransisco, about ready to fly to Beijing and then on to Bangkok. 

I will try to post updates as often as I can.

Please keep me in prayer! 

God Bless! 

God is Amazing!

Mans extremity, is God’s opportunity. ~ J. B. Phillips

— 

Extreme is probably an accurate word to describe my situation, at least when compared with mainstream Christianity in North America. 

Having a plane ticket to Asia but not having the equipment necessary to fulfill the purpose of the trip, is somewhat of a precarious situation. If you look at it from a human perspective that is… 

But that’s just it, what you and I see, really doesn’t matter! Because this is God’s mission, and He has promised: 

Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you. ~ 2 Chronicles 20:17 

—

God has been working very visibly this week… 

He has provided more than $7,000 for the much needed video equipment that will allow me to effectively and efficiently show the work of God in Asia. 

Can you say Praise the Lord? 

I'm so excited about how God has led, and how he will continue to lead. 

When God is in charge, we have nothing to fear...

Because God is able, and God is faithful… 

Be Stretched - Be Still

I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea… 

But the least I could do was look… 

—

Jon (The president of Jesus for Asia.) had just said that I needed to get a plane ticket, today! (If you're wondering why I need a plane ticket, read this first.)

So I began looking at flight prices… 

$1400…

$1200…

$1049…

$1300… 

$895… - That looks more workable, I thought.

I checked another website, and found it at $855… 

When I told Jon, the first words out of his mouth were. “Get it!” 

So, I got it! Even though I didn’t have the money. 

I felt stretched… 

Now I had a plane ticket without any of the equipment that I need, and without any money to get the equipment! 

—

The next morning, the Lord woke me up earlier than usual, so I went downstairs to pray… 

I prayed for an hour, but I didn’t hear anything, I didn’t feel anything, or even sense His presence… 

But praise the Lord, feelings are not the foundation of our faith! 

As I opened my bible it sort of fell open to Psalm 46. 

So I started reading, and when I got to verse 10, it sort of jumped off the page at me. 

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Wow… 

I don’t need to worry about the equipment, I don’t need to worry about the money, I need to be still, and trust… 

—

God has since provided someone to pay for my airfare, and even though I don’t know where the money will come from for the equipment, I need not be concerned, because, “…My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:19) 

—

From my last trip to India. 

My flights are booked! I fly out of Atlanta on Feb 7! 

For those of you tech gurus who are wondering what equipment I’m needing, Here’s a short list. (Sony A7s II, 15 inch Macbook pro, Shotgun mic, wireless lav mics, backpack, light, Zoom H5, etc. etc.) 

If the Lord impresses you to support this project, please click here.

Foreign Correspondent!

Has it really been 10 months since I posted last?

Time flies!

To be extremely brief…

Last march I was in India for a month shooting videos for some Jesus for Asia projects. (Here is one of them.)

In June I decided to run a marathon and started a project called Run for the Orphans to raise funds to help build a new dorm building for the orphanage we visited in India. So I ran my first marathon in October and so far we’ve raised over $12,000! Praise the Lord! (Run4theOrphans.com)

And before I tell you the most exciting news… A little background.

––

Ever since I was about 10, I wanted to be a missionary, so throughout the years since then I’ve had my long-term sights on the foreign field.

But when I was in Thailand in 2014, my perspective changed slightly.

After I first got there, whenever a trial would come, or a difficult time, I would remind myself that I was leaving in 5 months. I had a ticket out! I could endure anything for 5 months.

But as my departure date got closer, I realized that something was changing.

I didn’t want to leave.

I really didn’t want to leave.

I really really didn’t want to leave.

And it was then that I realized that even though for 10 years I’d wanted to live overseas, this was the first time that I didn’t want to live in America.

But I was so conflicted!

I wanted to go right back to work with Travis in the jungle. But I didn’t feel like I could do that, because God has given me a talent in media for a reason, and I don’t want to bury it…

So I began praying that somehow, someway, I could live overseas and still use the talent that God has given me for media.

––

Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:4-5

––

The door has opened, and I’m super excited about the potential!

Jesus for Asia has asked me to be a foreign correspondent/filmmaker!

Ultimately, the goal is to create videos and share stories that connect mission projects and the needs in Asia, with people in North America. Because I believe there are a lot of people who would be willing to help if they saw and understood the need.

I will be living in Asia travelling to the different JFA projects and getting stories and shooting films to send back to share the vision and the needs and the joys of service to the King of Kings.

This is like a dream for me, because I get to live overseas and use the talent God has given me for the furtherance of His work. I’m hoping to launch the second week of February.

Please join me in praying that God will provide the equipment and funds needed for this project to go forward.

If the Lord impresses you to help, click here.

The Key

He's a servant of God...

He's a frontline missionary...

He's working alone in the mountains...

He's doing the best he can...

He needs your help...

---

Travis Sharon is working alone in a remote village, and he has a seemingly impossible task ahead of him.

He needs to build a new school building before rainy season makes the road impassible...

That is probably going to happen in less than two months...

---

Travis needs someone to go and help him...

But whether God wants you to go or not, there is something that each one of us can do.

"...prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven's storehouse, where are treasured the boundless resources of Omnipotence."

The key is in your hand... will you use it?

---

---

In Exodus 17, the Israelites were being attacked by the Amalakites, and so Joshua led the able bodied men into battle, and Moses and Aaron and Hur, fought in a different way.

"With arms outstretched toward heaven, and holding the rod of God in his right hand, Moses prayed for the success of the armies of Israel. As the battle progressed, it was observed that so long as his hands were reaching upward, Israel prevailed, but when they were lowered, the enemy was victorious. As Moses became weary, Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands until the going down of the sun, when the enemy was put to flight. (Patriarchs and Prophets p 298)

This is an example of the power of intercessory prayer.

And that, my friend, is the key that you hold in your hand...

YOU can pray for Travis... and you can pray for someone to go and help Travis...

"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16

Are you willing to pray for Travis?

I'm not talking about just saying a prayer... I'm asking if you will pray, for Travis?

Specific things to pray for: Strength, wisdom, and courage.

Join me, in praying...

---

This video shows some of the realities of what it's like for Travis...

--- 

And this video is about the school itself. 

If you'd like to learn more about the work Travis and his family are doing, please visit: Sharonfamily.org

http://stockarch.com/images/abstract/concept/hand-holding-big-iron-vintage-key-6826

Travis, Travis! Wake Up!

This story took place last October while I was in Thailand. Truly a life changing experience...

---

I thought I had a clue what I was getting myself into, but really I didn't.

600 miles on a motorbike is a long trip... 

We were going to visit Travis's school, and I knew it was going to be a trip unlike any other...

But I had no idea how different it would be!

We started off in the evening and drove till midnight...

Then we stopped in a Songthow stop to sleep for a few hours. (Essentially it's a few benches with a roof over it where people can wait to ride on a truck called a songthow. It's one of the most common local forms of public transportation.)

At 4:30 AM we took off down the road again...

We drove for about 12 hours, and then stopped to spend the night with one of Travis's friends.

After supper, they laid some pads on the floor for us, and we promptly went to sleep...

And then life got interesting!

I woke up, sat straight up and became aware of a severe pain on my back.

Instinctively I vigorously brushed my hand across my back hoping that the pain would stop...

But it didn't!

So I brushed my hand again, and the pain stopped...

I realized at that moment that something had bitten me!

I heard it moving away from me and I knew I needed to figure out what it was, so I grabbed my flashlight and shone it where the noise was...

And then I saw it...

A small snake moving very quickly away from me!

I only saw it for about a second, so I couldn't identify what kind of snake it was...

There are some really poisonous snakes in Thailand, and as the realization came to me that I just got bit by a snake, I couldn't help but wonder if I would die in a few minutes.

What would you do in that situation?

I prayed a very short, concise, desperate prayer... And then decided it was time to wake up Travis.

Trying to not wake up the other people in the house, I said... "Travis, Travis! Wake up!"

He didn't move a muscle or even stir in his sleep...

Very shortly I realized that that wasn't working, so I decided that vocal and physical stimulation was needed, so I started poking him, and telling him to wake up!

That worked better.

He opened his eyes and looked at me, and then he closed his eyes again...

So I decided to pull out all the stops...

"Travis! I've been bit by a snake!"

That worked!

He sat straight up and said "WHAT?!"

I asked him to look at my back and see if he could see the bite marks...

So I pulled my shirt down from the neckline and he looked, and then said that it wasn't poisonous...

Phew! That's good!

And then he said, "Actually I didn't see any bite marks, I think you're just feeling things."

I assured him that I felt the snake bite me and there was no mistaking it!

So I had him look farther down my back, and sure enough there was the bite mark.

Thankful for confirmation of the bite, I sat there wondering if the shooting pain I felt from that area was in my imagination. (It felt something like a bee sting only worse.)

Travis started looking under his pad to make sure there weren't any more snakes hanging around, and then stated that we should go back to sleep!

It took awhile, but I finally did go back to sleep.

The next morning I woke up and the first thing I thought was: "I'm alive!" What a wonderful feeling!

When Travis woke up I asked him to look at the bite location again to see what was there.

He looked and saw two fang marks.

That means it was a poisonous snake!

I looked at Travis and said: "You mean to tell me that I was bit by a poisonous snake last night and I'm still alive?"

There isn't a human explanation for it.

I was bit by the snake, I felt venom going in, yet there was no swelling, and no lasting ill effects!

My best explanation is that God sent some angels to plug those fangs and only let a little bit of venom in...

Just enough to make me realize that it's a miracle...

It is only because of God's power that I'm alive right now, which means that He has a plan for me...

If satan had his way, I'd be dead... But God's not through with me.

And because God saved my life for a reason, the only thing I can give in return is myself...

---

What about you? You don't have to have a near death experience to serve God...

Jesus died on the cross to save you from sin! We all are bought with a price, the magnitude of which, we can't even comprehend!

Jesus gave His life for you, what are you willing to give for Him?

I have found that the only way to find true joy is to follow Jesus...

And I don't know about you, but I certainly don't want to exchange short-term pleasure, for eternal joy and peace... 

Which will you choose? 

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.