Living in Thailand, I have talked with a few people about the idea of karma as it relates to what happens when you are “reincarnated.”  Buddhists believe that what is done in this life will affect your quality of life in the next.  For instance if I am wealthy and able to travel in this life, I may have been an angel in my past life.  If I suffer hardship, disease, poverty etc. in the life it was because I did not acquire merit in my past life.  If this is not a true representation of karma teaching, it is at least “street theology” from a smart Thai person who considers themselves a Buddhist.

In contrast, Christians believe that we have one life which will soon pass then we will stand before God our creator for judgement.  Humans stay human always and only come around once.  We don’t believe it because it pleases our ear the best, but because we believe it is true. (Hebrews 9:27)

As I was talking with my friend one day I asked her why most of the rich and globally mobile people of the world were not Buddhists?  I didn’t say none of them were, but most are not.  Many are a variety of other faiths or have no faith at all.  My reasoning went like this, “If I lived a good life in the Buddhist way, gaining merit for myself by doing various good deeds specified by Buddhism, and I came back as a rich Westerner who has no faith in Buddhism or who doesn’t live in a Buddhist majority country, isn’t that counterproductive?

Shouldn’t karma automatically know that I would not be thankful enough to come back as a stronger Buddhist, even as a Buddhist teacher or monk.”  Why did I get to come back as a flaming capitalist living in America or Europe or a Saudi Muslim oil billionaire?  Of course, I ask these questions “tongue in cheek.”

My other question was, “Isn’t harder to have compassion on someone who is suffering if you believe they actually deserve what they are getting because of their bad deeds in a former life”, to which my friend had no reply except for acknowledging that it does seem that bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people in this life and that it didn’t really make sense.

Finally, I wanted to know if Karma is true then why has the world’s population continued to grow every year?  Where are all of the new souls coming from?  With all of the bad in the world continually growing and less people turning to Buddhism globally for the help needed to gain a better life next go around, you would think we would have more animals and LESS humans!

Think about the monks who recently got caught up in sex scandals (see article below).  Clearly in the Thai Buddhist mind they were well on their way to gaining Nirvana, but then they broke their vows and essentially wiped out their “merit bank account” practically guaranteeing that they come back as an amoeba, a protozoa, or some other sub creature!  Now they have to start all over climbing the karma ladder when they were oh so close!!

To be fair, Christians do believe in what we call the “law of sowing and reaping” which basically says that we will reap what we sow, whether in this life or at the judgment of God.  If we sow to the sinful nature we will reap death, but if we sow to the Spirit, we will reap life.  This article sums up the Bible’s teaching best:

Job 4:8 says, “As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.” Psalm 126:5 says, “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.” Luke 12:24 says, “Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!” In each of these instances, as well as all the other references to reaping and sowing, the act of receiving the rewards of your actions takes place in this life, not in some future life. It is a present-day activity, and the references make it clear that the fruit you reap will be commensurate with the actions you have performed. In addition, the sowing you perform in this life will affect your reward or punishment in the afterlife.

This afterlife is not a rebirth or a reincarnation into another body here on earth. It is either eternal suffering in hell (Matthew 25:46) or eternal life in heaven with Jesus, who died so that we might live eternally with Him. This should be the focus of our life on earth. The apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 6:8-9, “The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

We must always remember that it was Jesus whose death on the cross resulted in the reaping of eternal life for us, and that it is faith in Jesus that gives us this eternal life. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Therefore, we see that the concept of reincarnation and karma is incompatible with what the Bible teaches about life, death, and the sowing and reaping of eternal life.

To me, this is what makes sense.

What about you?  How do you view it?  If you have a belief in karma determining your lot in a next life, how do you answer my honest, though tongue in cheek, questions?

The Thai people have been dealing with Buddhist monk scandals for a while now.  But scandals involving alcohol, drugs, sex, and these men of the orange cloth have been popping up with more frequency lately.

In the age of the internet and video, what was once confined to a local village issue is not being broadcast throughout the country and even the world.  Most Thai’s are deeply embarrassed by these stories, but they are also beginning to question the motives of the ones who are looked at by many as the examples of morality and spirituality in the kingdom.

The two most recent stories coming out may have rocked the faith of many even further given the grievous nature of the incidents.

• The first incident involved a monk who was caught on video having sex with a woman at the local temple.  As it was related to me, a local news channel set up a hidden camera and caught the monk on video.  When confronted with the video, the monk still denied that it was him.  Since coming to Thailand, I have heard stories personally related to me by friends who have known girls who have slept with monks.  When asked how the monk could get around not keeping his vows, they told me that one monk in particular said, “Everything is an illusion and transitory anyway.”

• The second story happened just a few days ago in a village in Northern Thailand where a 67 year old monk was found unconscious in a field near the temple after having intercourse with a female dog. Villager found him after they heard the dog yelping as they were walking through the field searching for vegetables.  The story was reported on many national and local news outlets along with pictures of the monk being hauled away unconscious on a stretcher.  It was said that a cell phone video of the scene of the crime scene was also put on the internet.  The monk was later found to have had a heart attack and died.

Other stories of monks caught on video by police doing drugs and heavily drinking alcohol have been recently reported.  Many of these role models can be seen walking down the street enjoying a cigarette even as they are fasting all food after noontime.

I wonder what the effect of these ongoing revelations of the behavior of these “holy men”, who are revered and supported by most Thais, will do to the state of faith in the country?

I acknowledge that each faith has its own villains that could be pointed to as aberrations and not the norm, but as these stories continue to abound in the Thai media they are giving many concerned Thai Buddhists something to consider.

Sources:

Thai Daily News Online

webboard.mthai.com

Talkystory.com

Warning or Censorship?

We have finally transitioned into our new home and have wi-fi…woo hoo!  It only took about a month.

Alot of my time has been spent making this new house a home for my wife and boys and I feel like I have accomplished that goal… (three pats on the back for me) I can honestly say that even though our new place is not like our former home, there is much more peace here.  After four moves in seven months, I am glad to just finally be done with all of the lifting, painting, purchasing, cleaning, and organizing.

I am taking it all in stride though.  Everything in this first year has been a lesson for me.  I can see the hand of God in all things these past few months, even in what seems to be like delays and distractions.  I am really learning alot about myself, trust, patience, perserverance, faith, and all of those other life lessons we might love to skip out on if possible.

What always keeps me pressing forward, besides the grace of God and my awesome family and friends, is the cool things that are happening in the lives of Thai people around us.  Here are a few recent things:

-New believers are being baptized,

-People are hearing the Gospel for the very first time…ever,

-University students from other nations are being saved,

-Prisoners are experiencing the freedom of Jesus,

-Doors of opportunity are opening in new villages,

-Wisdom for new outreaches is being received,

-Thai People are testifying of God doing miracles for them, and

-Underground believers in a restricted nation are being encouraged in practical ways.

So for these reasons and more, we continue to press on for the hope what is yet to come for this place.

What is it that has motivated you and driven you through the difficult times of transition in your own life?  I would love to hear…

“To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.  I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich!…Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. Revelation 2:8-10

While in Laos I had the privledge of meeting a man who suffered much for the name of Jesus Christ.  I gave him the nickname “Lao Job” because of all of the things he went through.

“Lao Job” was put into prison by the communist government because of his work in spreading the Gospel to many people. While he was in prison the officials worked overtime to get him to sign a document renouncing his faith in Jesus Christ.   Despite the intense pressure and suffering he would face, he would not turn his back on the One who had called him.

One day word came to him in prison that his wife had died.  The officials coldly told him that he should renounce his faith in Jesus Christ so he could go and take care of his children and his mother.  He refused.

Later word came to him that his mother had died.  The officials pressured him to renounce his faith and return home so that he could care for his children.  They cut to his heart even deeper said, “Why should your children be without their father”?  Yet he refused to turn his back on the Lord.

In final gut-blow he was informed that his children had died.  His pain was unbearable.  In a final act of desperation, the officials pushed him to renounce his “foreign god” and return back to the local way of worship (animism). He said to them, “I have paid much too high a price for my faith.  Why would I turn my back on Jesus now?  If I do, I will have lost even more and gained only hell.  I will never do it.”

I never fully understood how of them died, but I got the feeling that it wasn’t from natural causes.  The brothers seem to imply it, but actually saying it seemed to bring up too much emotion.  Many stories of this type of horrible modern day persecution, of going after the families of Christian leaders in order to get through to the leader, continue in this part of the world.  It is nothing short of diabolical.

Eventually the prison officials released “Lao Job” because of increasing pressure from outside international organizations demanding that religious prisoners be set free.  He left prison with no earthly possessions and only the help of a couple of his brothers in Christ.  They helped him find a place to live and start a new life on his own.

Eventually he began to raise water buffalo as a way to make a living.  Not too long after, the entire herd died of a disease.  His fellow villagers came to him and asked him why he would continue to believe in God since God was obviously not helping him.  ”God is not with you”, they taunted him, and they again tested him to renounce his faith.  He again refused.

One day he was hunting for some food and saw a monitor lizard.  Many Laotians prize this meat and if they didn’t eat it themselves they could sell it and make a good bit of money.  So he chased the lizard up a tree.  As he climbed a nearby tree to reach for it, the tree snapped and he fell a long way down landing on his hands where his right collar bone snapped in half.  The pain was immense for a very long time.  Without proper medical care available, he would suffer much in front of his fellow villagers.  Again they taunted him.

“Why do you still persist to believe in this Jesus?”, they said.  ”He is not with you.  He does not care for you.  Why bother?  Just renounce him and move on with your life.” Again “Lao Job” refused.  With each trial he faced his faith grew even more precious to him.  He kept his eyes fixed on Jesus and longed for the day when his glory would be revealed.  He knew that despite the suffering he was enduring, God still loved him and Jesus was still faithful.

To this day he continues to testify of God’s faithfulness and goodness despite all of the excruciating trials he endured.  He is now remarried and has a child, maybe two.  He leads over eleven families in his small village and is responsible for traveling his surrounding area to encourage between four and five hundred other believers.  He does all of this on foot since his motorcycle broke and he did not have the money to repair it.

I was able to meet him in person.  The lump on his collar bone from his bone never properly resetting emphasized the story the Lao brothers had just finished sharing with me.  As we prayed for him, his family, and the believers that followed his leadership; I wondered to myself what it would be like for him to finally meet his Savior face to face.

I also wondered about what it would be like for me to stand next to these “nameless faceless” leaders of the Church who have sacrificed so much for the name of Jesus.  What kind of faith story would my life tell?

Jesus says that there are those who are poor and afflicted now, but they are in fact rich.  They suffer, are put into prison by the devil, and suffer harsh persecution in this life.  Instead of allowing these things and calling his people to remain faithful, why doesn’t Jesus just deliver them and blast their enemies into dust?

Although we may never fully know the answers this side of eternity, I began to see a glimpse of the wisdom of God through some of the other testimonies I would later hear in person.

I will share these things in my next post.  Stay tuned.

During one of our stops, we were clandestinely brought into a home where a group of believers meets. There we met with a group who had been faithfully meeting for some time.  Their desire was to eventually be recognized by the government as an official church, so they made an application.  They had not heard anything as of yet, but they told us that they had been working hard to demonstrate that they were a group that could be trusted in their community.  Our Lao contact felt that while this was certainly to be respected, he encouraged them to stand firm in their faith no matter what the outcome.  They were already a “church” that had been accepted and received by Jesus Christ.  They were accepted and authorized by Him!

As we spoke with them, we could not help but overhear a loud wailing coming from outside. The members seemed to try and ignore it, but it was nearly impossible.  As our friends talked in Lao and Thai, we were getting a little lost in translation. Eventually we were able to hear the story of what was going on.  We came to find out that one of the ladies in the room is married to the man making all of the noise outside.

From what I understood, he had been a part of their meeting at one time and was coming around to believing in Jesus, but I don’t believe he had made the commitment yet.  His wife tells us that while visiting a local Buddhist temple, he ate some food that had been offered to an idol.  After this incident, he became severely demon possessed and has almost completely stopped eating.  He howls and growls and has no rest day or night. (This is the second time I have heard a story similar to this…the other time in Thailand)

Eventually the members brought this man into our meeting area.  Our Thai contact moved over to meet the man and commanded the spirit in the name of Jesus to be quiet.  The man came and knelt down before him.  As the Thai contact spoke to him, the man began to “wai” him in the traditional way.  It was a way of showing respect, but as the Thai contact went on in speaking to the man, it became apparent that he was not being respectful but mocking.  Our Thai friend spent awhile talking with the man and commanding the spirit, but the man remained unmoved.  Both Freddy and I were getting anxious to help, but we did not feel like the brothers were opening the door for us, so we stayed back.

Eventually, after all of us praying for the man as a group, he remained calm, but the wild stare remained in his eyes.  We continued to wait patiently, not wanting to force ourselves into the situation.  Our contacts began to explain to us that they felt that this man was not yet free because it was the responsibility of the group to fight this battle, not ours.  God would get the glory when this man was set free by this group, not by us.  They must pray and fight so that when this man is free the whole village would see it as a miracle.  We could see the point, but we did not agree that it meant we should leave him this way and go.  If at all possible, we must continue to fight in Jesus name.  Our friends were wanting us to eat with them, but how could we eat when this man remained in this condition.

If we had more time here we wanted to use it to pray.  Because we felt the group transitioning back to what seemed like normal chatting, we finally asked our contacts if we could pray for this man as well.  We looked at his wife and asked her through the interpreter, “You want your husband to be free, don’t you.”?  Of course she said yes.  Freddy began to speak about how Jesus healed and set free all who came to him.  “He came to destroy the works of the devil.  He wants this man to be free.  We are going to believe together for him to be free.”

We moved in close to the man together and began to command, “In the name of Jesus Christ…”  As we spoke, the man lunged forward with a loud growl.  He was clearly not liking that name spoken in that way!  He stretched his neck forward and his eyes bulged in their sockets as we continued to declare the Word of God over him. Some of the brothers grabbed his arms so that he could not swing them.  Freddy looked into the man’s eyes and spoke to the spirits who had taken control of this man’s life.  It was time for them to go!  One time the man spoke clearly in perfect English, “Stop, Stop.”

Eventually, the man began exhaling deeply over multiple times until he fell face first and went limp.  We continued to speak the Word of God over him until at once he came to himself and realized that strangers were around him and he was on the floor.  From what I could tell, he was embarrassed as he walked out of the room and back to his home.  His eyes were definitely more clear than they were before, but I could tell that this was just the beginning of what would be needed to help this family find complete freedom.  This one would need the combined efforts of their community through fasting and prayer.

This was not an expected part of the itinerary, both for us and for our contacts, but it was one that we believe God wanted.  It reminded me of the fact that as much as we try as believers to be respected by our communities, and in this case the government, the ministry of helping people find freedom in Jesus can get messy.  People’s lives are not always clean, quiet, and nicely packaged.  There are many people who are suffering because of ignorance and disobedience.  They don’t need a good speech or someone to explain their problem, they need power to get free.

We continued on our journey that day, not rattled by what we experienced as much as the thought of what would become of our friends and their group.  As our Thai contacts initially said, it would be up to them now.  I just hope that we were used to give them a large dose of momentum in the right direction.

What would you have done in this situation?  Would you have done anything differently?

Stay tuned as I share more in upcoming posts.

Remember Us.

*Update: This recently released news story from Compass Direct matches with the first hand story I just shared about persecution, threats, denial of medical care, schooling for children, etc:  Click Here to Learn More.

“One brother asked for us to come.  This brother NEEDS us to come.”  This is what our Lao contact said to us as we headed to our new destination to encourage a family that was facing real life persecution for being Christian.

The villagers had already shut off access to water and kept their son from attending school as a way to force them out of the village.  The boy was now very sick and needed to see a doctor, but the village doctor refused to see him and the drug store owner refused to sell the parents medicine.  As the parents searched desperately for a solution, they contacted their brother in Christ to come and help them.

This would be one of many real life dramas we would encounter on our journey throughout the countryside of Laos.

In just a couple of days we traveled well over 1000 kilometers and made over 20 stops.  At each stop, we encouraged and prayed for our brothers and sisters, listened to their stories, and helped where we were able.   Our going to these more remote places encouraged the people we met so much.  Each time we met with a new group, we greeted them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the name of our supporters, their brothers and sisters, from all over the world. We told them that we were so honored to have them as family and that we would be sure to let more of our friends know about their lives and stories.

During one of our first long stretches we picked up a brother and his wife who were leaders over many groups.  After some time together this brother began to tell us his story.  He told us of a time not too long ago when the government was working hard to round up Christian leaders and send them to re-education “classes” or to prison if they would not sign documents renouncing their faith in Jesus.  Many of his friends ended up in prison.  He himself was a newer Christian, but he found himself in a new leadership role as he had to go to the families of these brothers and encourage them to remain faithful to Jesus despite the intense pressure they were under.

He would take food to his fellow believers in prison and help them in any way he could.  Many times the government would not have ever charged these men with a crime and neither did they ever receive a trial.  If they did allege something, it had to do with being a traitor to the government, but in reality all they were doing was sharing their faith in Jesus with others.  These men were branded as key leaders of “the movement.”  Anyone who was thought to be a “propagater” of Christianity was fair game.

It wasn’t long before this brother found himself back at the prison, but this time it wasn’t to encourage the brothers from the outside, but now he would be encouraging them from the inside.  While in the prison, he shared stories of torture and of almost being starved to death on a regular basis.  One time he was in the stocks with both his arms and legs secured for 23 hours a day.  Many times he felt near death, but he held fast to his faith in God.  Eventually, these brothers were released due to outside pressure from foreign groups on the government, but the life many of them returned back to was already destroyed.

As our brother got to this part in his testimony, his voice began to quiver and his breathing deepened.  He told us that many of those who were in prison were not able to reconnect with their families.  They were “missing.”  Wives, children, and parents were no where to be found.  Property had been confiscated and the villages they used to live in were not places where they could return.  At this point, our brother stopped his testimony and tears streamed down his face.  This truck full of grown men sat in stunned silence as we tried to wrap our minds around what he had just shared.

Today this brother leads many groups of believers.  The intensity of the past persecution is behind him, but the scars remain.  He has committed his life to helping others come to know the amazing love and sustaining power of the Jesus he suffered so much for.  For me, his story was another wake up call to the very real spiritual battle that we are fighting in the world today, a battle between good and evil, ignorance and truth.  But most of all, I reminded of the scripture in Hebrews 13 and the reality of it’s very real application for us today.

“Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” Hebrews 13:3

This is God’s word to us who are able to live out our faith today in relative comfort and safety.  We are called to feel these things deeply and to understand the value of our common faith in light of these 21st century realities.  Remember these family members in your prayers, would you?

As we traveled further on our journey, there would be many more stories to hear and experiences to have.  Stay tuned as I will share more soon in the posts to come.  To read past stories, click here

Once we decided to go to Laos, it seemed like everything tried to work against us to keep us from going.  My friend Freddy got a high fever and a very bad stomach flu the day before we were supposed to leave.  My landlady had also just told us that we would have to move within ten days which was only a couple of days after I was set to return from the trip.  It seemed that hell was breaking loose on us at once.  We came to the conclusion that this resistance was even more proof that we were doing the right thing in taking this trip.

The night before we our meet up, we prayed for Freddy’s healing.  He got up the next day and headed up to meet us in Udon Thani.  As he soldiered forward, he progressively got better.  Before leaving, I had talked with my wife about our situation and we both felt we would deal with the situation when I returned.  In some way, I knew that everything would work itself out.  And eventually it did.  After I returned, my landlady gave us another month and a half in the house before we needed to move which was just enough time to get into our next home.

Getting Ready to Cross the Border

Freddy came to Thailand from Cambodia with the intention of going into Laos.  When he mentioned the trip to me, I felt strongly that I wanted to go, so I began to make plans.  Freddy found our Thai contact through a friend of a friend from Cambodia.  This Pastor then connected us with our contact in Laos.  Freddy also invited an older Thai man who spoke good English to come with us as our interpreter.  One brother who was thinking of coming with us backed out at the last moment and it turned out to be a good thing.  We would not have had a seat for him in the truck we traveled in.  We later saw that if another one of us would have backed out of the trip, it would not have been possible for the rest of us to go.  Everything had to line up so that this trip could be accomplished.

Once we arrived at the border, our interpreter was only able to get a three day visa because his passport was within six months of expiring.  Another hurdle for us to overcome that cut our trip by a few days from our original plans. After we met our contact in Laos, our plans changed on the spot.  We were going in the exact opposite direction that we talked about going.  Not only that, but our ministry plans had changed and both Freddy and I were beginning to feel that we might have to separate and go our own way.

As the guys prepared for the trip, we talked and prayed among ourselves about what are options were if we still wanted to go in the direction we had originally planned to go.  We then discussed everything frankly with our Thai contacts and were just about to pull out from our trip when I decided that we should just go with the new plan.  I felt that I was willing to go along with the new plan even if at worse case we would be disappointed or even defrauded.  I saw that the potential of us pulling out could hurt not only our relationship with our new Thai contact, but also his relationship with our Lao partner.  As we headed down the bumpy Lao road crammed in the back seat of an extra cab pickup, we were unsure about what was ahead, but we worked to redouble our trust in God that we were here for a purpose.

To me there are so many lessons embedded in our experience…revelation, intention, resistence, connection, circumstances, flexibility, and trust.

Little did we know it, but there would be many more valuable life lessons and experiences to come…

I recently returned from a trip to the country of Laos where I was able to see and learn so much.  I want to invite you to come with me into this modern day story of those who are paying a high price for their faith in the Lord Jesus.

For the sake of protection I will be general in description of people, places, and timing.  It is my hope that you will be challenged and encouraged by these stories, and energized to pray for and support our brothers and sisters who live in this reality every day.

Let me start things off with a little background first.

Laos is a very diverse tribal country of over 6 million people with over 90 languages.  Over 80% of the population makes their living from subsistence farming.  The average income is only 1.3% of the median income for America which comes out to about $1.00 per day.

The forces of globalization and modernization have long left this country behind.  The majority of the people living know very little, if anything, of the modern materialistic life being lived out in the mega cities of the world and in the West.  Even the Northeast of Thailand, which is the poorest area of our country, seemed to be modern compared to what I saw and experienced in the countryside of Laos.

The country gained independence in 1954 when the French were defeated by Vietnamese and Lao communists.  The Communist party is still in control of the government to this day.  After the Vietnam War, Laos gained the dubious distinction of being the most bombed country in the world because of the ordinance dropped on it by the US, 30% of which was left unexploded.  The battles fought in Laos during the Vietnam War has come to be known as the “Secret War.”

Major persecution of the Christian church by the communists began after the pull out of 1975 and continues on to the present time. Although Christians number less than 2% of the population, Christianity has been declared the NUMBER ONE enemy of the state.  According to Open Doors, Laos ranks in the top ten most persecuted countries in the world for Christians.  On our journey, we heard first hand reports of imprisonment, torture, and murder.  I will share a few of these stories in my next posts.

Though the government allows a “registered” church to exist, mainly in the capital city; evangelism, church planting, and new building is against the law.  Most, if not all of these registered churches, were in existence prior to 1975.  Still many have been shut down and their buildings have been destroyed by the government.  Others have been infiltrated by government spies who report on any growth and “illegal” evangelistic activities.

Laotian Leader Praying With Us

Despite the heavy restriction of religious freedom, there is a growing underground movement led by indigenous Lao and tribal leaders who are taking responsibility to see that the Good New of Jesus Christ goes to their whole nation.  They carry the burden of their people daily and live to see them come to know the freedom that is found in Jesus Christ.

They carry out their mission in secret knowing that any moment they could be found out and suffer the consequences along with their families. Many have already been imprisoned, tortured, and lost their families because of their faith in Jesus Christ.

To me, they are modern day heroes of whom Hebrews 11:37-38 says, “the world was not worthy of them.”

Playing the "Kaen" and Slide Whistle

During this little gap between posts we; hosted a great short term missions team from Hawaii, purchased a white ‘95 Nissan Sunny, traveled to speak at Thai churches and groups, had a home robbery where we lost a good chunk of our tech stuff (sniff sniff), was asked to move out of our new rental home because of conflict over a “spirit house”, received guests at our home, traveled to a city a few hours south for outreach and reunion with four other families, nearly twenty kids, and two single alumni from our Bible School.  Lastly, I just returned from a week in the country of Laos meeting new contacts, serving with my friend Freddy, and learning about the work happening there.

Little Man w/ a Little Khaen

A few days ago, my oldest son (6) has started second grade homeschool and after only a couple of months of Thai lessons is already reading three syllable words in Thai script and has all of the alphabet and vowels memorized.  (We are so jealous!) Our other son Aslan is growing up seemingly oblivious to all that is going on around him for the most part.  He has started greeting Thai people with the traditional Thai greeting, the “wai”, which is palms places together touching just under the nose.  He will even tell them “Wadeekhap”, which means hello,…when he feels like it.

Before coming to Thailand, many seasoned people told us that it would take awhile for us to transition here, but I never wanted to believe it.  Other have told us that their first year of missions life was the hardest and that they wouldn’t want to relive it again!  Although their words have proven to be true in some respects, we continue to work through all of the highs and lows of this season of life and ministry with a focused diligence and the grace that only God can give.  He is teaching us so much as a family and we are working to embrace all of the lessons that we are learning together.

We have been blessed to have great friends here locally, both Thai and foreigner, to encourage us in our journey.  It has been a joy to partner with them in order to accomplish things together that could not have happened if they were done alone.  These partnerships in the Gospel make life here so much more sweeter.  I believe that the Father is pleased to see “brothers dwelling together in unity.”  We have also been encouraged by our friends who lift us up in prayer on a regular basis.  By their help we bust through all kinds of spiritual barriers and escape many pitfalls where we could easily fall prey.

So, now that we are a little more caught up, I will try to get back on the blogging habit and fill you in on my recent trip to that country just north of Thailand.  We saw and learned so much, so I look forward to sharing with you in my next few posts. Stay tuned.

I am finding that culture shock is real though I don’t really like the term.  Shock seems like such a harsh word.  I guess in some ways living in a completely different culture than your own can be a little shocking at times.  But it doesn’t have to be debillitating.  I prefer the term cultural transition.  When I think of shock I think of someone about to die.  I must get this from my medical background.  But culture shock is just a normal part of transition in missionary life.  It ebbs and flows and is stronger at some times more than others.  Sometimes, you don’t realize you are going through it until you look back and say to yourself, “Why was my emotion at an 8 out of 10 for that little incident?  Something is going on here.”

I am finding that in missionary life there is always a mountain to climb, especially as you move through seasons of transition.  Each day has new challenges, some of which are harder than others.  Each day has its own joys and frustrations that are heightened by the amount of culture transition you may or may not be experiencing at the moment.  In addition to normal cultural transitions there are things that I call “pluses.”  These factors add to cultural stress and cause it to be intensified.  I will touch on a few that I have noticed recently in my own life recently.

In addition to culture shock that a new missionary faces, spiritual warfare is a real ongoing issue we face.  In our country, there is a constant stream of open and blatant idol and spirit worship.  Daily offerings are made at numerous temples and shrines throughout the city.  At our new home, our landlady had both indoor and outdoor altars where she made frequent offerings to the spirits.  Most homes and businesses here have these altars and “spirit houses.”  This constant worship causes the spiritual atmosphere to feel heavy and sometimes suffocating for the Christian living among it.

It’s one thing to just live or survive somewhere, but things seem to get even more intense when you are working and praying to bring the Kingdom of God to a place like this.   We frequently take authority over these things and sense the protection of God over us in the midst of great darkness.  Other times, we feel beat up on a little spiritually before we realize what’s going on and pray through.  Through it all we know that we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ!

In a country like ours, we also face stereotyping that causes additional pressures.  Most of the foreign men who travel to Thailand are here for illicit reasons.  Many times I feel as if people think they know why I am in the country, but their assumptions are totally wrong.  At the very least, these tourist men give all of us a bad name.  Just yesterday, I was in a cafe where a young man was openly soliciting Thai prostitutes over his cell phone and the internet.  I realized he was still an older teenager when his Dad showed up at the cafe to pick him up I waited until a moment when they were apart (dad walked outside) and told him what the boy was doing!  But there are many men his dad’s age that are here in Thailand for only that purpose as well, so the battle goes on.

In addition to all of these things, our family is somewhat of an oddity here.  Complete western families are hardly ever seen.  Most of the time, especially in certain parts of the country, the people have never seen such a thing.  The attention can be fun and useful but many times it creates intense additional pressure especially as strangers approach our kids to touch them or tease them.  Sometimes you go out to relax and get away but find yourself wanting to retreat home because of the stares and whispers.  This is backwards for us because we used to go out to relax when we lived in the States, but now we feel more relaxed when we are at home with each other or with close friends.

The last “plus” is time.  Time, being on time, doing what you say you will do when you say you will do it; all seem to be very fluid in this culture.  Lying is not seen as such a negative thing, but more of a technique for “saving face” and not causing embarrassment to oneself or making the other person feel bad.  Navigating through unfamiliar territory also causes things to take much longer than our Western minds think they should take.  Sometimes we don’t know the unspoken rules of the culture yet and this causes us to lose time as people wait for us to “get it” before action is taken.  Many times we just have to take a deep breath and let patience do it’s work in us.  Anyone who has a Type A personality knows that this is a real hard thing to do because we naturally have a tendency to be impatient.

All in all we have been doing very well in these last four months.  We have navigated through many cultural transitions and complexities of life as a missionary to Southeast Asia.  We know we have many more to go, but we have been so blessed to finally get into a new home and we are learning new things about the Thai culture and about ourselves every day.  We have made new friends and continue to press forward each day in learning the language.  We have good friends who love us and help us often.  Most importantly, we have people back home who support us and who pray for us regularly.

This makes climbing the mountain so much easier than it would be without the help.

As I finish this blog among the Thai people in this cafe I am listening to Johnny Cash sing a chorus of “Hallelujah” over the speakers and I am reminded of why I do what I do, why I am here, and why I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.