The Journey Continues Outside of Thai borders July 22, 2009

Many of us returned back to the US borders but for some, the mission trip continued on. Jenny and Mom left for Laos after our Thailand mission trip.  Steven tagged along for a week but  would later on leave for Burma to be there for a month. The following posts are email updates from the two of them.

 

 

JULY 1st:

 

Hello everyone,
 
        We just wanted to let you know that we are in Laos right now. Passing the border was a complicated ordeal, but we got through even though many dollars were leeched out of us. The country in general is very underdeveloped, and we got a chance to visit all of Jenny’s relatives in the countryside. The houses were dilapidated and open to the air, though for some reason there seems to be more flies than mosquitos here. Also, instead of stray dogs on the streets, there are goats, herds of them! The weather here is cooler and less humid than Bangkok going down to about 70 degrees fahrenheit at night. We are now at the shopping place (don’t compare it to Siam Paragon) at the Internet Cafe. Most of you have heard that Steven’s grandmother on his Dad’s side suffered a stroke just two days ago, so he is cutting his trip short to Laos and then heading to Burma in two days. Please pray for Steven’s grandma for healing and for Steven to be able to convey the Gospel message well in Burmese to al his relatives. The pastor from Burma also invited Steven to give a testimony and a message to his church. Steven isn’t ready to preach. Steven is also hoping to meet up with Dr. Anupong from Udon Thani on the 4th who if you remember leads the Christians in Udon. (This is Steven typing and I don’t know why I am writing in third person). Ok, here’s Jenny.
 
       HELLO! From land of the Lao! It is quite interesting here. I have met family members that I have never met and I still don’t know how they are related to me half the time. Okay, maybe most of the time… Hmmm, Laos is not as bad as Steven described. I did see a huge spider but this was towards the boonies of Laos. Still have yet to discover the capital and see everything Lonely Planet tells me to. My mom has been evangelizing and sharing all her testimonies to all her family members and friends that we have come across. Most of them have never even heard the Gospel EVER so she is going at it non-stop. Even waking up I heard it….and Steven is helping a lot by praying in Lao… haha Lao tongues. JK…
 I am speaking to people in Lao and I can actually do that without feeling stupid like TRYING to speak Thai. Waaaaahahahhh, yay.
 
I have the leftover crafts/gifts from the children’s center from Pattanakarn and will be dispersing such things to the kids here and explaining what it is… and WHO Jesus is. Okayy!!
HMMHMM,
Thank you for reading
 
To Pastor Tyson: Jenny and I ate khaopiek (the rolled Lao noodles and goodies) just now. It was super delicious. Next time Jenny’s mom makes it, she’ll invite you.
 
Peace and Love in Christ,
 
Steven & Jenny

 

 

 

Steven with puppy at Jenny's home

Jenny trying her hand at weaving

Steven with Dr. Anupong and P'Suthonaa at Ban Chiang World Heritage Site

Steven with the Christians in Udon Thani

Steven with Dr. Anupong at Ban Chiang

flickr link July 20, 2009

a few photos

Revival Service

Hello there!

This is Rachel M and, no, I’m not in Thailand anymore. We all have just been so busy returning and all : ) that we haven’t had a chance to talk about the most crazzzzy experience of all during our mission trip–revival service!

So, lets backtrack to Saturday, the first revival service. We had had a very, very full day starting off with a visit to the HIV rehab center and the opening of the gospel hut (we got to do the skit twice and share the gospel with a bunch of parents who, we were certain, had never heard it. So cool. : D ). Anyway, by the time we arrived at the hotel (so pretty), we were rather tired but excited for what could occur that night kept us going. It would be the first time to perform the new skit and expectations were high. What would God do???

Okay, I don’t know where to start but, when we arrived we had an awesome reunion with everyone from last year–Ps. Noom and Ps. Anne, Justin’s cousins, P’ Chim, P’ Boy, Mook, and a score of others we had served with and who had showed us around last year. Yet, this was a new year and, of course, this year was gonna be waay different from last. Already, it seemed to me that the place was more packed than the previous revival service. Unfortunately, hunger was knawing as we had yet to eat dinner for today and we moved to the designated staff area (yes, we felt special to be considered staff. Lol.)

Post continued: Grand Opening @ Gospel Hut July 8, 2009

Chachengsao Gospel Hut Grand Opening

We arrived to the site with Paul and P’Mai’s brother bearing gifts for the community and crafts for the children. We greeted Ps. Da and Ps. Fon with lots of hugs once arriving and got ready to welcome the community to a new center that has been built for them — for the children to come and do their homework as well as families to come and enjoy the hut. We performed a puppet show as well as the Everything Skit (we decided to perform the adult version rather than the children’s version seeing that many of the buddhist parents of the recently saved children had come). Pastor Da cut the ribbon for the official opening of the Gospel Hut and food was served out for everyone. Afterwards, we did crafts with the children. They were all really cute and kept asking  Jenny and I how to spell out their thai names in English. It was kind of funny because we realized that we really had to think about how to spell out their names carefully because it was likely that that was how they would spell out their names for a very long time; meaning, even though the name might sound like “Nieuewwww” or something, that’s probably not how we should spell it out to them 😛 Crafts-time was very valuable as we got to know each one so much more better. We had so much fun with the kids and wished we had more time with them.

 L: the children greeting us at our arrival

 

R: Puppet Show, arrival of Raccoon and Rabbit. P’Mai’s brother translating

 

 

L: Getting ready to perform Everything Skit

R: Ps. Da cutting the ribbon for the grand opening of the Gospel Hut 

 

 

 

 L: members from Streams of Blessing handing out lunch for everyone

R: Crafts with the adorable kids. They had a lot of fun!

 

L: Pastor Da, Nina, Rachel, Jenny and the kids

R: Steven, Eric, Jenny and kids being silly 🙂

 

 

Amidst all the hubbub, you can see two beaming faces of the owners of the land that the Gospel Hut was planted on. I had heard a bit of the husband’s story and sought him out to tell him “It’s a happy day” with a smile. While doing the puppet show and the skit, his smiling face glowed and struck out from the crowd as he sat among the children and as he greeted the parents.

The couple are around their 30s, and became Christians 5 years back. The husband is a teacher, and many of the children from the community come by for homework help or to just be around the couple (As we were talking, one of the young boys wandered over to say hi and when he left, the husband told me that that boy came to their house every day after school because his father was an alcoholic and would beat his mother). Over time, the couple shared their hearts to the children about Jesus and many of the children became saved. They are very, very young in faith but God sent this couple to continue to grow them I believe.

About 10 years back, while he was still in his studies in a university in Bangkok (A well-known one, I just can’t remember the name at the moment), he got into a terrible car accident. It left him paralyzed on the left side; he can’t really use his left arm and walks with a slight limp. Because of the accident, he wasn’t able to finish his schooling. His family had to take care of him, and later on his wife too when she became very ill. The two became much of a burden over the years because of it and his family became disgruntled and bitter.  When they became Christian, that was the last straw. They were kicked out of the house and shunned from the family. To this day, his brothers and sisters still refuse to talk to him. I was surprised to hear, when he told me, that his family’s house was right next door! This is because the whole time the team has been shoveling and planting in the area, right next to the gospel hut is a large idol. We kept praying that it would fall down as Christ’s power and sovereignity fell over the place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, God is a good God. As I saw his face light up with such smile, I was overcome by His grace and the words “How Great Is Our God” kept coming to mind. His wife was miraculously healed by God and now the church has come together and built this beautiful gospel hut that will help him to minister to the community. Before he had nothing, disabled, kicked out of his house and disowned by his family. But now God is using him for His kingdom. I wish everyone could’ve seen the joy on that man’s face; it really was a reflection of how good our God is.

Lots of Praise Reports June 30, 2009

Jenny is sitting next to me (Nina) and just posted a new post few minutes ago…  but she’s right! There’s so much to say and so much that has happened since we last posted our updates~ it’s all overwhelming but all in a good way =)

Here’s some of the things that has happened:

Sakaew Revival Service

We (mission team plus Paul =) ) left P’Mai’s house in Bangkok with P’ Chim and P’ June for a four hour car ride down to meet up with the rest of the team for a revival service in Sakaew. Ps. Lao, Ps. Da, P’ Note, P’ Roung, P’ Gina and P’ Veera and others were there (we were soooo happy to see Ps. Lao and Ps. Da!!!!! ❤ ) and the people in Sakaew welcomed us with lots and lots of good food. Service started with worship and we were so impressed by the youth there, who were so enthusiastic and in love with God~ they shouted praise, jumped, smiled and cried tears of joy. It was very contagious for the rest of the congregation. P’ Note led an amazing worship and even though it was foreign words to some of us who didn’t know Thai, God’s presence was definitely there.

After worship team, our mission team split off to hold a short youth service. We did songs with them (lots of dancing with the kids =D) and the puppet show about the Holy Spirit. It was pretty funny with P’ Note translating. Steven, I mean, Raccoon dropped the keys to his heart a few times and ended up setting off the alarm of P’Note’s car. Also, a bird was lost and was in the room and ended up having a conversation with Raccoon (Racoon only speaks in chirpings and squeaks…). The kids were a lot of fun and interactive. We passed out the goodies to them and we all headed back into the service.

Ps. Lao preached powerfully, it’s so different to hear him preaching in Thai compared to back home. Very annointed and very powerful, truly, truly. Even Ps. Da! When we were at the Glory of God Church, it was such a blessing to hear her preach. In the states, we get the rare treat of hearing her preach and when she does it is full of grace and encouragement. But at Glory of God Church, she taught on the heavenly language and the move of the Holy Spirit and each word was taught with power (and still full of grace and love 🙂 ). Every person was prayed for and laid hands on afterwards. People were laughing all the way through the night. A lot of the youth were laughing and drunk in the Holy Spirit for a good few hours (hehe).

There was one point when the service was starting to wrap up when a very elderly woman and another elderly woman in a wheelchair were getting prayed for. The elderly woman started to laugh (she’s so cute!) when Ps. Lao prayed for her. P’ Gina and another usher fell down laughing and the whole room burst into laughter. It’s an image that I will carry with me for a long time because it makes me think about how in the world, the children and the elderly are looked at as unimportant but God sees them with such love. Ps. Lao once taught that we are carriers of His Spirit and when we laugh in the Holy Ghost, that river overflows and touches other people. The elderly lady opened up those gates and the Holy Spirit used her to touch every single person in that room. Just a simple old lady =) In the same way, God can use you! No matter who you are and how old you are, it doesn’t matter. Love God and He will use you to bless others.

Addiction Treatment Center

AMAZING. Simply amazing. This was an evangelism outreach and once we got there, the Holy Spirit fell on us thickly. We felt such love from God for these people and how much He wanted to free them from their addictions and bondages.

Streams of Blessing Church have been coming to this place for 6-7 months to evangelize. They used to come once a month but now the last few months they have been going 2x a month on Fridays to hold services in one of the rooms in the building. The 2nd Friday of the month are usually people who are in the first period of their treatment and the 4th Friday of the month are usually people who are almost done with their treatment. This door of opportunity opened up because one of the brothers at Streams of Blessing used to be a patient there but has recovered fully and is now working  honest living. Usually the people at the services, half are newcomers  and have never heard the gospel before because new people are always getting admitted into the hospital. The people there suffer from all sorts of addictions–drugs, alcohol, gambling, stealing, vandalizing.

We performed the Everything Skit and Ps. Pla preached and laid hands. Jenny’s mom and Jenny also shared their testimonies!

About 2/3 of the room stood up to be prayed for for the laying of hands. So many people were looking around, alarmed or intrigued when they saw people fall under the power of the Holy Spirit. We hear a lot of stories of how people encounter the fire of God for the first time and are like “what’s going on????” but this was the first time for some of us to witness it. The boys catched while the girls prayed and interceded during that time. It’s hard to explain how much God really moved in everyone’s hearts especially for our team, except we were on our knees, praying with sweat and tears for Him to touch them deeply and to free them. The room was so divided, either the people accepted the fire of God and of Jesus in their hearts fully and wholeheartedly or others were ridiculing the scene asking “Is this for real?”. There were some who did not stand to be prayed for and sat on the sidelines, looking disturbed. I mean this in a good way, as if the whole scene shook them and caused them to ask themselves questions. It’s a good disturbance =) Shouldn’t that be how it is? In the bible you always see Jesus cause a riot, hehe. No grey area, he causes uproar in the religious and the unbelievers but those who find him and love him are so blessed and in praise.

That day about 40 ppl was saved and we believe that for the others who were there and did not accept, seeds were planted. I smile thinking about those who looked disturbed because the whole team has faith that it won’t be long till God will become Lord and Savior of their hearts and lives!

HIV center

This was a crazy day! This Saturday we needed to come to this center and then to the Chachengsao Grand Opening and then straight to Revival Service in Bangkok! Loved it though =)

The story of this center is that a nurse who works there was saved. People at this center need to go to her for their medications. And when people went to her, she would always share the gospel and pray for them. They all ended up being slain in the Spirit or receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit! So many people got saved! Streams of Blessing then came in to hold services for them at the hospital once a month. The hospital used to hold services for buddhist monks to come and pray but the people didn’t change or get better. But the hospital then noticed that people attending the church services were actually starting to get better and be changed! So then the hospital which is a government hospital decided to SPONSOR THEM!!!! All the services we hold there are paid for BY the Thai governement because they acknowledge that many of the patients are getting better! Isn’t that such a big praise report??? =)

We arrived to the center quickly and introduced ourselves and the skit. We performed the Everything Skit. It touched a lot of people and people stood up to share what God spoke to them through the skit. It was very encouraging! But we were crunched for time and had to leave right after the skit for Chachengsao….

Chachengsao Grand Opening

Revival Service

okay so there’s so much to say but it’s like 2pm and we still haven’t had lunch… or breakfast or brunch…..

will be back to tell all later! we love you much! please continue praying for us because there’s still a lot of spiritual warfare on our end even though “officially” our mission trip has already ended. So crazy but God is so BIG!

ooooh note to Kyla, we found the Thai Tea Lady and finally gave her the picture after all these times of forgetting the pic at the hotel. We all got delicious Thai Tea and tried to evangelize to her and gave her a tract =) God is good.

LOVE YOU ALL!

❤ the “Evangelizers” mission team

MISSION

ACCOMPLISHED.

there are no card readers for pictures

and i dont think i can upload any videos right now.

long process… will find some other time.

hmm, rachel m. and eric left for seattle this morning at 3.20am… being early!

…leaving for laos tmr morning and tara/rachel/nina leave july 2

guess correctly and you might win a prize June 23, 2009

IS THIS ERIC OR STEVEN?

Love Hut not Pizza Hut

This is the Chachengsao Sala Gospel Hut

Mosquito Exterminator Wanted

Hello everyone! It’s around 11 am and we’re at P’ Mai’s house after such a long day. We’re happy that we’re able to let people back home know what is going on =) We’re so tired that we’re going to put the updates in bullet form… =D

SUNDAY:

• The team went to Glory of God Church along with Pastor Da, P’ Gina and P’ Veera as support. We met lots of wonderful people and had a lot of fun =)  Steven and Nina gave their testimonies to the congregation for encouragement.
• We received a call from Jenny! YAY she’s HERE! However, the rest of the team (Tara, Steven, Eric, Nina, the Rachels) were at the Samphran Zoo and got to watch the Elephant Show and the Crocodile Show! We looked at the beautiful orchids and some of the animals there (ie: tigers, monkeys, albino fish!!). However, we didn’t watch for long seeing how depressing it is to see the animals in the small cages =*(
• We had dinner with people from church and were able to hear stories of how God moved in their lives. It was very encouraging!

MONDAY:

• We checked out of the Christian Worship Center. P’ Mai picked up the group and we had a quick lunch at MBK. We relocated to P’Mai’s beautiful home, dropping off our things before going off again for an hour ride.
• Passing out tracts at the Rachamongkol Rangsit University. It was amazing to see the difference of passing tracts in Thailand and in America. In the states, people are quick to decline and ignore but the students accepted the tracts. We were able to talk to some of the students, share our testimonies and pray for the students.
• While at the university, Streams of Blessing came to help evangelize as well. Near the end of our time at the university they told us “Oh, let’s go over there! I hear the youth is putting on a show!” We were curious and excited to see what when we realized that the youth they were referring to was the mission team. We quickly pulled out the props we did have, improvising with what we only had, borrowing left and right (hehe), we performed Everything Skit for the first time together. People came and watched. Rachel Miltenberger also shared her testimony to the campus =)
• We went to visit the orphanage, bringing gifts and crafts to do with the children. They were mostly middle school age and up. We broke into groups, did crafts and led thai songs to the children. Ps. Pla from Streams of Blessing preached a message to them and prayed for the young girls, laying hands for them to experience the fire of God. It was an amazing experience with the children at the orphanage.

TUESDAY:

• Woke up and ate breakfast around 9 AM at P’Mai’s house. Afterwards, Pastor Fon from Streams of Blessings Church picked us up to go to the Gospel Hut in Chachengsao. The Gospel Hut was built from the funds that we raised together. P’Mai’s mother, P’Suwanee, donated a ton of plants for the Gospel hut, but we also went to a local store to get more plants and flowers to beautify the area around the hut and also to build a garden. The hut looks great and very sturdy, and we learned that the couple (we forgot their names) that lives on the land by the hut helps tutor the children in the neighborhood and also shares the Gospel with them. All the kids came by today after school to help with the project. The were all so excited and helped us in digging and planting. The digging part was quite difficult, because the ground was made up of very hard clay, but we all worked together and got all the clay and rocks out. Although it was tough work with the boys sweating like water fountains, we all had unity and worked together with great energy, probably because we know that this project will have a huge role in all the children’s lives, especially in their relationship with Jesus. Towards the end, the kids started jumping in this murky pond in the back. The hut looked quite beautiful and inviting in the end with a cool sign in the front. We had dinner with Pastors Pla and Fon that night and heard their testimonies along with the story of how they fell in love <3. It was a wonderful day overall, and we feel very satisfied that God used our hands (some now blistered) to serve the people in Chachengsao. Tomorrow will be a day of rest.

Take care everyone. Time to go sleep. Says…Steven….Pretty Please

blurb June 21, 2009

guy helping me connect to internet: “where are you from?”

me: seattle,washington

dude: *happy gasp “do you know grey’s anatomy?”

me: hahahahaha