God is GOOD!

Well, the count down (or should i say in Thai-english - 'cow-dow') is well and truly on. With only 9 sleeps to go, i have now officially finished work, have had my commissioning service at church last night and all that i can think that is left to do is get my visa, say bye to family and friends, pack some bags and go to the airport. Too easy :)

In the past few weeks, as i have been catching up with friends and sharing all the ways that this whole trip has come together, i can't help but be in awe of how good God really is. Time and time again, i've experienced how God is so in control of all things and how gracious he has been to me to make this transition to Thailand such an 'easy' one. As mentioned in the last post, from the ways that he has provided the financial support i require and a great bunch of supporters back home, as well as continuing to provide ministry opportunities in Thailand, and that's before i've even made it over there. But what i've really appreciated of late is how he has made the leaving of Sydney as easy as possible. Unlike most missionaries as they head off, i will not have to say goodbye to all my friends and family at the airport and then be in tears, all alone, as i go through customs, sit on a plane for 9 hrs and arrive in a strange new country. Instead, i get to fly out with 15 fellow team mates from my church and embark a 3 week mission trip in Thailand. By pure coincidence, my parents are also on the same flight as us over to Thailand too (they're not coming on the mission trip, they're just visiting my sister), so it's not even like i'm leaving them behind either. It's more like i get to see them off at the other end. And the best part about flying out with all my friends and family is that i'm not restricted to 25kg of luggage. if i'm severely overweight with my luggage, then i have plenty of people to distribute that weight between (heaps cheaper then shipping stuff over) :) hehe. Then i get to 'ease' into the Thai culture for 3 weeks with a bunch of friends, before they finally leave me behind in the care of my sister. Surely it doesn't get any 'easier' then that when starting out on an overseas mission!

Then the question of what am i going to do with my car for the year while i'm away? Well, God again came up with a perfect solution which is just awesome. i've got a friend who is taking a year off work to go to Bible college next year. Unfortunately (or should i say fortunately) she has a company car, which means she has to give it back for the year she's not working. Put our two 'dilemma's' together and there is God's perfect solution.

So my conclusion in the matter: 'God is Good!' But even if things weren't falling into place as they have been, i still know that God is good! One thing i haven't shared about is how i have been really challenged by God's amazing grace through a sermon series we've just finished at church where we looked at 5 different aspects of God's grace. A couple of the big things i've been challenged by is how much God does in fact love us and want for us to be in relationship with him despite our total depravity. And how much of an honour and privilege it is for us to be taking part in His work in sharing the good news of how Jesus has come to pay the penalty we deserve for rebelling against God. Surely that demonstrates more then just goodness!

After i left work for the last time last friday, i suddenly realised that i am now officially unemployed. A very weird feeling for me. But I was kindly reminded by a friend that technically, i'm not actually 'unemployed', i'm just working for God. I'm just not sure how i write that on the visa application. :)

Random Thoughts

Over the past couple of weeks a number of amazing things have happened which i've wanted to share with you all, but unfortunately i've lacked the time in doing so. So here's a quick mish mash of things that have happened recently.

1. i finished my first christian book in a long time - and this one didn't even take 7 years! (check out my video on why i'm going to Thailand if you want that to make more sense). it actually only took me most of this year :) hehe The Unheeded Christ is a collection of sermons by David Cook on the book of Matthew, which was really appropriate at the time i started reading it as we were doing a sermon series on Matthew at church. But the timing and message by the end was also really appropriate as it finished with Matt 28 and the 'great commission' with the challenge to be going out and making disciples. There was the challenge to be going out to every nation with the gospel so that God may call his disciples. A great encouragement indeed for me to be reassured once again of why i'm going. (If you get a chance to read it, i'd recommend it - and it's an 'easy' read too, it just lacks pictures :) hehe)

2. God's constant provision in providing all of our needs. There are have been so many ways that i've seen this in action of late - from a new replacement at work, to so many friends and family partnering with me as i head off next year, to God providing the finances that i require to be in Thailand next year through many of you as generous supporters. i've been so humbled, overwhelmed and awed at God's goodness and timing. I think i've said it before, but the more i let go of trying to be in control, the more i see the amazing things that God can do, and this journey so far has been just that. and i haven't even left yet! (keep reading to point 4 for today's 'out of the blue' story)

3. I've also been really challenged by the urgency of people needing to get into a relationships with God. i guess this really hit home a couple weeks ago when a young 17 year old boy committed suicide outside our work. In amongst a whole lot of emotions, it really made me think how many people are out there who feel they have nothing to live for, that life is SO bad that the only solution is to take it, rather then know that they can have true life in God and that the problems of this world really are only temporary. What if this kid knew God? how would that have changed things? i don't know the answer to that, but the short of it is, we need to be taking every opportunity we get, cos we never know if it will be our last.

4. Another 'Godincidence' occurred just today. As part of my work over the years at TVS/Anglican Media has been on the Auslan Bible project (the Bible in sign language). This week I sent an email out to all the people i've had worked with over the years to let them know that i will be moving on and i got a reply from a guy who i worked with on this project in Australia to hear that he is currently in Chiang Mai where there is talk of doing a similar project in Thai. Sounds like my details have already been passed on - so who knows what will come of this one. i'll keep you posted once i get there and find out what the story is. But God truly is amazing in how he orchestrates things to happen and people to be in the 'right' place at the 'right' time.

The Days are Numbered

Whilst it's really exciting that there's just over 3 weeks to go before i leave for Thailand (and i REALLY can't wait to get there!), a couple weeks ago, i had a bit of a reality check where i realised that i can now count on just one hand the number of church services and Bible studies that i'm left to attend where i'll actually be able to fully understand and be challenged by the message that i hear. Not only that, as i've been catching up with friends over the past few weeks, i've also come to realise that i'm also going to miss having the opportunity to be meeting with and having great discussions with like minded Christians. At one stage i thought that maybe it would mean that i might pick up on my reading of Christian books, but on second thought, i'm not so sold on that idea. i think i'll just have to download lots of talks on mp3 from the DPC and SydneyAnglicans websites :)

So, while i am away, please do keep me updated on things that you're learning and are challenged by, and please be asking me what i'm learning and challenged by from God's word. i think it will be easy for me to get caught up in the busyness of learning a new language, meeting new people and settling in so that i don't 'have time' for Bible reading, so it'd be great to be kept accountable challenged by you guys.

Farewell Picnic 1st December

If you're free on the 1st December, please do come and drop by Brett Park in Drummoyne. It would be great to see you at least one more time before i head off to Thailand. I'll be there from 10am-2pm (or probably later). Snackage will be provided, but if you want to eat more 'substantial' food, please byo. If it's raining, we'll head up to Drummoyne Presbyterian Church. Hope to see you there

Business Opportunities, Christian TV, more relationships

And the list goes on with the possible opportunities of what i can be doing in Thailand. For this next installment, i though i'd share about Boonchu, CBN Siam and other Thai friends.

Boonchu & her husband are a disabled couple that Denise and John have been working closely with in the past year. They are a non christian couple who have their own business in making painting thai designs onto various wooden articles, however because of their disabilities, they have never been given a 'fair go' by society. Boonchu is unable to walk and in a wheelchair, and her husband only has 1 arm. Unfortunately in Thailand, the perception is that if people are physically disabled, they are also mentally disabled, so these guys, while really able in many senses of the word, are just never given a chance. Denise & John have been working hard to help them be able to start their own shop. There are lots of possible opportunities to be helping them with their new shop with regards to fitouts, merchandising and displays, marketing and promotion as well as teaching them english so they can help serve english speaking tourist who come into their shop.

It's a great opportunity to be a part of their lives and start building relationships with them. Already, it's really exciting to hear how through Denise & John's relationship with them and helping them, Boonchu & her husband have expressed an interest to come to church. There are also some great opportunities to build relationships with Boonchu's sister who is also a single girl about my age. A new opportunity that i'm really excited about.

CBN Siam
One of the most ‘out of the blue’ opportunity that fell into my lap was on the second last day that I was in Thailand last July. I met a girl called Gao who works for CBN Siam – the Christian Broadcasting Network in Thailand. For those who don’t know I currently work at Anglican Media and part of what I do is video production and I’ve been involved in producing some of the TV programs that I do at. She was really keen to get me to go to her work and wanted to introduce me to her boss and all the guys involved in production over there.

I’ve got no idea what opportunities might lie in that, but who knows if there might be opportunities to help provide them with some content from TV shows we’ve produced in Sydney, or use some of the show ideas for over there. There might be really good opportunities to build relationships with the producers over there and by sharing with them some of the things that we do, sharing my life with them, help influence some of the content that they broadcast. I really don’t know. It might be that there’s nothing that comes of it. But in some ways, even though it’s not about me, it’s about God an his work, I’d like to think that lots of the skills that I’ve learnt over the past 5 years at Anglican Media would be able to come in useful over there too.

At the end of the day, i think it will be wishful thinking to think i can fit all these opportunities in, and i'm sure that there will be plenty more things that will emerge from the woodwork when i arrive. I think no matter what, there's plenty of work to be done there and things that i can be involved in. I'd really appreciate your prayers for wisdom in deciding what to do and how to spend my time.

Bethany House Orphanage and Church

For the second installment of what i'll be up to in Chiang Mai, i thought i'd share about the orphanage and church.

Bethany House Orphanage
Last year when our STM team went to Chiang Mai, we were lucky enough to go visit an orphanage called Bethany House for a couple days. It’s a small orphanage run by 2 sets of parents who take on about 10 girls each aged between 3-15yrs. Each of the orphans come from really tough backgrounds – of physical, sexual abuse, parents on drugs or both parents have committed suicide.

The thing that excites me about this orphanage is that it’s not just a place that looks after the physical needs of the kids – in providing food, shelter, education, but a place that also looks after the spiritual needs of the kids. The parents of this place are Christians who know that ultimately their greatest need of each of these kids is to know Jesus. they take them along to church each week, and they’re taught about God’s love for them. It’s exciting to see so many of the girls who have never known what it means to be loved, to come to understand God’s love for them. They’re shown love in a practical and spiritual way.

I’m looking at working with one set of parents of Bethany House called Ratree & Niphon. They already have 3 kids of their own, yet they have pretty much ‘adopted’ another 10 girls to care for. Not that I’m a parent, but I’ve seen how tough it is for those of you who have even 1 kid, let alone 3. Imagine if you had an extra 10 girls who have really special needs that you also had to look after and provide for – financially as well. Niphon, the husband works full time in order to help support the family and the girls, so it leave Ratree to basically be a mother to 13 kids – she has to do all the washing, cleaning, cooking, help with homework….you name it. You can imagine it’s pretty tough. I'm not 100% sure what i'll be doing with them yet, it could be anything from helping Ratree, to helping the kids with their studies, in particular english or other possible new business opportunities.

Just recently, they have moved location of their house which means that their rent has also had to increase. They are keen to look at starting some kind of business venture that i see can serve several needs:
a. To generate some additional income into the orphanage to help pay for the rent
b. Give some of the kids some work experience (as they need to leave the orphanage when they hit 15yrs old)
c. If successful, to possibly give some work opportunities for the kids who need to leave (as many don’t want to leave as it’s the only family they know and have).

Personally, i think it's a massive leap of faith for the orphanage to even think about pursuing a business opportunity, and from when i've spoken to them, they don't seem to be the most business minded people. I’m hoping that if it is something that they want to pursue, that any of the business knowledge and contacts that I’ve acquired over the past few years will come in handy so that I can help them make it a successful venture. It’s something that I’ll definitely be keeping you posted on.

Church

One of the things i will do is be involved in church in Thailand however i can. This will mean obviously going to church, but also being part of a bible study group and maybe even part of the music team and whatever else is going on. I realise that it's going to be interesting and probably very frustrating at first not being able to understand everything that's going on, but my hope is that by being a part of a bible study group and being involved, it might help me to improve my language quickly, but more importantly, i'll be able to build relationships with people from the church.

I'm not 100% sure which church i'll be going to yet. there are a couple options i'm thinking of - 1. Grace Church 2. Lana International Church. I honestly don't really know too much about Lana about at the moment as i've only visited it once. But it is the church that Buu works at so I'm keen to ate least visit a couple more times to get more of a feel for it, and hopefully meet more of the church members there. For those praying, it'd be great if you could be praying for wisdom in deciding which church to get involved in, and once i've done that, for opportunities for me to get involved.

Building Relationships and Learning Thai

Many have asked me, 'so, what are you going to be doing next year when in Thailand?'

Well the short answer is, I'm not exactly sure.

Sounds crazy I know, but there's a perfectly good explanation for it.

For those who don't know, i was able to head over to Thailand in early July, initially a trip to meet my new nephew, but one i also used as a survey trip to check out opportunities for next year. At the time, there were 2 main opportunities that I was keen to check out – 1. helping out at an orphanage and 2. working with a team who work with Uni students.

But God obviously had other plans for me. Somehow I don’t think I’m going to be the average short termer who goes over and fits into an organised ministry.

Instead of going over to Chiang Mai to confirm 2 good opportunities, I came back with about 7-8 REALLY GOOD opportunities. It was like every day that I was there, I’d meet someone new, or catch up with someone and a new exciting opportunity would arise. The scary thing is that most of the opportunities are also really diverse – which to be perfectly honest makes it even more exciting for me. The only problem is that most of these opportunities are ones that i can't confirm until i get back there.

So in many ways, it feels like the question now is not 'what will I be doing', but more like 'what will I NOT be doing!'.

For starters, i'll be heading over on a student visa to learn Thai at the Cornerstone Language School so that i can start to communicate with Thai's in thai while i'm over there. I realise that ideally it'd be great to be able to learn language full time so that i can hopefully learn faster, but given my initial time restriction in being there, i'm going to be studying the minimum amount i need to get the visa (which is either a morning or arvo 3 days a week). it's my hope that i'll be able to use the rest of my time meeting and spending time with thai people and building relationships with them, so i'll be forced to learn how to speak thai and that i'll improve quickly by being thrown in the deep end. Besides, I actually see that as a bonus as it's a much more enjoyable way to learn a language then sitting in a classroom with a textbook.

I also want to be building relationships with Thai's - both christian and non-christian, in whatever way i can. I feel really blessed to have already met quite a few Thai's who i have already started building a relationship with. There is one good friend Buu who i met last December while our church short term team was in Khorat. She only became a christian a few years ago, but has such a big heart for wanting other Thai's to also come into a relationship with God. She just finished a year of 'Bible College' in Bangkok in April and has since been wanting to work in Christian ministry somewhere. Just recently she accepted a position to work at her church in Chiang Mai doing all things from pastoral care, looking after the youth group, leading worship and admin. I caught up with her when i was last in Chiang Mai when she had just started leading the youth group, and as we were talking she mentioned that she struggled to know how to make teaching the Bible relevant and 'fun' to the youth, and she also struggled knowing what to best teach them. One week she taught them why it was important to do praise and worship at church, the next she did a topical on boy girl relationships, then next week what it meant to love as christian brothers and sisters. i'm so encouraged by her enthusiasm and genuine desire to see others grow in their understanding of the Bible, but i also know that she too is a young christian who also has lots to learn and has never really been taught or modeled how to read the Bible. For me, i can see so many great opportunities to be doing just that and hopefully also be able to brain storm and develop ideas with her in how she can be teaching the Bible to her youth group, even work with her in writing studies.

However, obviously language is going to be a major barrier here. How can i be modeling how to teach the Bible if i can't do it in Thai? I know Buu's english is good, but it's not that good. How much more helpful would it be for her if it could be done in Thai?

Well, the awesome news is that God has got it all under control, cos my next hope is to be working with likeminded missionaries who are already over there and have the language, who are also keen to be producing Christian resources for Thai's. Resources that are actually useful and relevant for Thai christians, which reach them where they are at in their understanding of the Bible. The Dickson's are already doing some of that and are really keen to be producing more resources and there are some great opportunities to be working with them in doing so. There are also opportunities to be trialling these resources with our thai christian friends, and by doing so can not only model how to lead a bible study, but also start to teach them the processes in how to be reading the Bible for themselves with the hope that they can in the future learn how to also model it to those under their care.

It's seriously really exciting to think about the possibilities of what can be done in helping Thai's understand the Bible more. At the end of the day, that's what needs to happen if they are to grow in their understanding of God and not be reliant on missionaries.

For those who are praying, here are a few prayer points:
- for Buu, thank God for saving her and for giving her such a big heart for wanting to serve God in her life. For wisdom as she leads her youth group, that she'll be able to teach the Bible truthfully, faithfully and in a way that is applicable to her Youth Group
- for Thai Christians, that they will grown in their understanding of the Bible
- for missionaries who are in Thailand, that they will be teaching the Bible truthfully and faithfully
- for continued opportunities in sharing the Gospel to those who don't yet know God

There are still plenty of other opportunities i hope to be involved with next year, but i'll save that for the next post.