I was my pleasure to participate in a recent group blogging project put on by www.bibledude.net where we were able to each review a chapter of Pastor Dino Rizzo’s new book Servolution. This book has really got me thinking about what a revolution of serving looks like here in Thailand. Here is my review of Chapter 8 of the book. Be sure to pick up a copy for yourself and let’s see a Servolution take place together!
Chapter 8 of “Servolution”
“Unlocking the Need- There’s a Great Treasure Inside”
I am honored to be able to review this chapter of Pastor Dino Rizzo’s new book “Servolution.” Being a native of South Louisiana myself, I know first hand the reputation of Healing Place Church as a church that doesn’t just talk about serving, but actually does it. read more…
The New Language of Online Communication
There are so many new tools that make missionary life more connected than it was even five or ten years ago. Nothing will take the place of the basics of cross cultural work and the principles involved, but there are some great online tools that can add a new dimension to community life and work overseas.
As believers we should be tuned into the new ways people are communicating in the 21st century. The world is becoming increasingly more connected and there are fewer and fewer places where there is not at least some type of internet access available.
Here in many parts of Asia, most young people are more connected than their Western counterparts. In America, more churches are moving into the online world while others are getting left further behind.
I want to continue to learn about emerging ways of online communication and expression because I have a strong desire to communicate the message and take people along with me in my journey. Therefore when it comes new ways people are connecting, I want to be a student and not a critic. How about you?
Here are a few basic tools I personally use on a regular basis and how I use them. A simple little guide for “the rest of us.” read more…
I’m going to be transparent with you and share a few of the hard earned lessons I learned today. I am going to make myself vulnerable for our mutual edification with a true story, so be gentle ok? I hope you can learn something from this like I did.
It was time for dinner and I just wanted to get it and get back home quickly. Here in Thailand, its much cheaper to eat at the market than to cook, so I usually go out for the family and grab a few things for dinner every so often. I guess I was distracted or maybe not thinking to deeply, but Brayden and I took off on the scooter and headed down the highway without much thought or preparation on my part.
I near the entrance to the University off of the major highway I was on and realize that my engine is beginning to sputter. I look down and suddenly realize that I’m out of gas. The light turns green and all of the other bikes and cars have to pull around us as my engine dies! I take a deep breath and calmly tell Brayden that we are going to have to walk across the highway to the other side. ”Dad, what’s wrong?” he asks a little frantically. I reply, “Dad should have got gas at that last station and he didn’t so we are going to have to walk. Mai pen rai” which means “no problem” in Thai. read more…
A giant of Missions work and thinking, Ralph Winter, recently passed away after a battle with cancer. He was 84. Time Magazine listed him among the 25 most influential Evangelicals in America in 2005. He has been a huge influence on my life, ministry, and thinking. Much of my understanding concerning world missions and unreached people groups has come from his ministry vision. We also share the experience of both being US Navy veterans.
His story is an amazing one. According to his autobiography, he started the US Center for World Missions without backers, no denomination, not even a single congregation, no mailing list, and only about $100 in cash. They went from this to a $40 million dollar set of properties that are free and clear and a global impact that will never fully be understood this side of eternity. The university he founded enrolls in various programs over 6,000 new students a year, drawing upon over 900 teachers/professors all over the country, teaching in over 130 places in the U.S. alone, are active in many languages with half of the staff either at regional centers in the USA or in similar activities around the world!
I am so thankful for his heart which has been transferred to a younger generation like me. The Perspectives on the World Christian Movement Course reader was one of the books created by the USCWM that captivated by thinking and helped me to understand God’s mission from Genesis to Revelation. I chose to take that information and do something with it and that’s why I am here in Northeast Thailand today among the Isaan people.
The passing of Ralph Winter represents the passing of a generation. We, my generation, is now responsible to take the torch and run with it to the nations. My prayer is that Ralph Winter see more spiritual fruit in death than he ever saw in his lifetime through those of us who have been impacted by the force of his message and life. His influence will not be missed for it will continue through the countless lives that his vision has touched.
Here are some quotes from other leaders about Ralph Winter
“Nobody in the area of missions had a greater impact on me.”-John Piper (Renowed Mission Mobilizer, Author, and Pastor)
“This is like one big star disappearing. It is doubtful whether a prophetic missiologist scholar like him can ever appear again.” –Pastor David Cho (Pastor of the Largest Congregation in the World)
“History will record Ralph Winter as one of the half-dozen men who did most to affect world evangelism in the twentieth century.”-C. Peter Wagner (World Famous Missiologist, Author, and Mobilizer)
“The death of Dr. Ralph Winter marks the passing of a giant from the scene of missions and GFA owes him a tremendous debt of gratitude for his influence on our ministry.”–Dr. K.P. Yohannan (founder and president of Gospel for Asia which serves multitudes of native missionaries in Asia)
Here is a video where he recently talked about unreached peoples
Since coming to Thailand, I have been working hard to understand in insides of the Thai culture and why things are the way they are here in the Kingdom. I want to let you in on some of the things that I am learning in the hopes that you will better understand typical Thai life.
One of the observations I’ve made has to do with the expectations that are put on young men when it comes to religious matters. Here in the Northeast, just about every young man is expected to become a Buddhist monk at some time in his life. By around age 20 or 21, in and around the time of college, they are expected to be a monk for a minimum of a few days.
Once the boys are “ordained”, they then ride around in a procession of pickup trucks in order to let the “spirits” know that they are now monks. Some stay longer than a few days and choose to live as a monk for many years. There head and eyebrows are shaved and they are expected to listen to a sermon and chant many ancient Pali texts. Once ordained, the boy is now known as “naak” or “naga” in English. This is a mythical serpent from Indian legends.
The story goes that one day the serpent disguised himself as a human in order to be ordained as a monk.When the Buddha found out, he told the naga that only humans can become monks. The naga agreed to leave the monkhood but asked the Buddha for one favour. He asked that in future, all young men who were about to be ordained be called “naga”. The Buddha consented. read more…
Since the “Miracles of Love” Festival there has been some interest on the subject of divine healing and how it works works in our lives and missions work in general. So I wanted to take a moment to talk a little about it here. Though this won’t be exhaustive, I hope it will give a little insight into divine healing, how it can work in a believer’s life, and how God uses it to bring people to Himself. read more…
The Miracles of Love Festival crew is back in Sweden and America now. They did an outstanding job and worked hard the whole time they were in Khon Kaen. The hit the ground running and didn’t let the jet lag, weird food, extreme heat, and long hard days stop them. Each day the teams split up into about five groups and did outreaches at least two times a day all over the city and campus. Each evening they hosted the Festival outreach and spent time with the friends they had met earlier that day. Many Thai people hard the Gospel for the first time and many were healed, saved, and baptized in the Holy Spirit. Johannes Amritzer and his team did a great job communicating the Gospel each night with passion, creativity, and power
We are gearing up for a huge upcoming outreach week here in Khon Kaen where we live and work! We need your prayers now! We have an unprecedented opportunity to reach the large Khon Kaen University as well as other parts of Khon Kaen and surrounding areas.
In just over a week, 120 volunteers are coming in from Sweden, America, and Thailand! These motivated young people will be sent out all over the city of Khon Kaen, the University area, and five surrounding villages. Last report, we have 8 other local churches involved as well.
During the day teams will be doing outreaches all week at various locations read more…
I like to play on Google Earth sometimes. It’s fun to be able to see the globe from space, to spin it around like a toy, and turn it from America to Asia in an instant. I like to use it to get a lay of the land from high above then gradually zoom into certain parts of the world. I pick a nation, like Thailand, and then eventually a city, and then I zoom into the center of town and began to notice the patterns of the landscape, the colors, the structures, and the roads. I can even get a pretty good view of streets and houses from above, but it is still always limiting. I can never see people’ faces and I certainly can never know what’s in their heart and mind.
It’s not until I am actually on the streets that I begin to experience the life of the city that the map represents. read more…
