At Mekong, and off we go again

Sorry, no time to waste, we got into ChiangMai last last night, had our Mekong orientation again and we were told we are off again. Pray pray pray!!! We are heading into the mountains this afternoon to the Hmong people group.

Pray for us, spiritual attacks already. Kim's pack got caught in the elevator and exploded. Cover us with prayers.

Hmong Daw, White Meo of Thailand

Off to Chiang Mai Tomorrow

We are heading off the Chiang Mai tomorrow, to the headquarters of OMF Mekong.

Pray for our journey. We were supposed to take the overnight sleeper train straight from Lop Buri to Chiang Mai tonight. However, due to the flooding of Northern Thailand, parts of the tracks are underwater. So instead we are taking the day train and hop on the shuttle to bus around the flooded regions. It will be a long day, 13 hours train ride. Pray for strength for tomorrow.

Off to church with Ulrich today at a church plant 50 minutes from Lop Buri. Looking forward to that.

Lop Buri - Day 6 - Free Day

Today marks the last day of our language training and orientation. I'm am now pretty comfortable running around town and speaking the language at the market or ordering food. But I would not know exactly what I have ordering until the food arrives.

Shannon is nowhere to be seen, and we have the afternoon off. There was a refreshing thunderstorm in the afternoon so all of us ran outside and danced in the rain. Then we went downtown and ended up playing with some monkeys on the streets.

It was a horrible day for me; it started with a wipe-out when we were dancing in the rain. In the evening after dinner I knocked over a lamp post on the street – yes, you can actually knock over a street lamp in Lop Buri, go figure. And as we continue to walk home, I walked into a protruding pipe. Luckily it clipped me right under my left eye. An inch higher it would have shattered my glasses. Now I have a cut under my eye, luckily no bruise, but feeling a bit woozy.

However, to make things all better, Ulrich bought us durian when we got home. :S But for once, I ate it. It is not bad. I wouldn’t say I love it, but at least I can eat it now.

Lop Buri - Day 5 - Celebration of 60 years reign of the king of Thailand

Today, we went back to the Phra Narai Ratchanivet. It is the celebration of the 60th year reign of the king of Thailand. Break out your yellow shirts!!! We attended a mix religious service at the king's palace, in attendance were the Buddhist, the Muslims, the Catholics and the Christians. It was such a great opportunity for other to hear about the Gospel. However we know the spiritual warfare will be furious so our team covered the whole event with prayers.

In the evening Shannon abandoned us due to some emergency, so we went to the market to practice our Thai and got some unknown food. It was very yummy, but we have no idea what we are eating.

Prayer for the situation Shannon is attending to, and for us as we are alone running about in this town.

Lop Buri - Day 4

This afternoon we went to the Phra Narai Ratchanivet (Somdet Phra Narai National Museum). It was nice to get to know the history of Thailand and learn about King Narai.

In the evening we went to the night market, and Scott, Tyler and Kim had bugs. :S

Lop Buri - Day 3

Yeah, clean laundry!!!

Yesterday, Fiat went over the Thai customs with us, in Thai, and Ulrich translated. For lunch we Songthaewed to the LOT (Learning, Orientation and Trainning) house and Peter, a long time missionary in Thailand, briefed us with the history of OMF in Thailand. Then the 7 of us (without Shannon and Fiat) dropped by the Big C for some A/C and coffee before heading back to the Serve Asia House. At the Serve Asia house, Kim, Tyler and I took on the task of landscaping so that future missionaries staying at the house can enjoy a beautiful front yard.

But the most exciting news is we got our visas into the other country. And we have a rough idea of what we will be doing there. So we are going to fly out next week. We will be visiting new “members of the family” via radio. We are heading over to feed them milk for the first time.

I cannot wait. Keep us in your prayers.

Running About Town

Yesterday morning, Ulrich, the Serve Asia Thailand coordinator, gave us introduction to Serve Asia Thailand, and almost more importantly a crash course on transportation and getting around in Lop Buri. Hmmm… motocycle taxi sounds fun, and dangerous. :P But the best part of the morning is the language and phonics lesson by Fiat. It is like back in kindergarten again, making funny faces with producing weird sounds. At least I can now proper greet the local and ask them “How much?” Hahah.

Lunch was awesome, Fiat took us to a little dinner and I had the best Pad Thai in my life. Yum yum. Afterward, we rode the Songthaew and the Disco bus to downtown. The Disco bus was the best, the high school girls were all over Tyler and Scott. Boy, am I glad I’m Asian. For some reason, Tyler and Scott decided to sit by themselves in the front of the bus, and the high school girls in the middle of the bus were all giggling and fixing their hair. Then all of a sudden, they all took turns running up to sit with Tyler and Scott. One even asked for Scott’s cell phone number. The rest of us had a blast watching from the back of the bus and taking pictures.

When we got to downtown, Shannon and Fiat all of a sudden decided to abandon us and told us to find our way back home after spending the afternoon in downtown. So visited the monkey temple (lots of monkeys). I found it interesting it the monkey temple for it is a mix of Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism and Confusianism. Afterwards, Scott and I ran around the market, each got a coconut milk, and attempt to bargain prices in Thai. We were hit by a crazy thunder shower, but we all made it home via the red Songthaew.

For dinner, Shannon, Liana and I went to the market to pick up food… mmm… fresh fruits and cheap food.

Lop Buri

We arrived in Lop Buri yesterday by train. I love traveling by train. We got to enjoy the scenery of central Thailand while observing the customs and habits of the locals.

I was told that in between Ayuthaya and Lop Buri there is not a single church. Truly the harvest is plenty and the workers are few.

I really look forward to this week in Lop Buri, where we will undergo an one week orientation and language training. We will also have more freedom to explore the city on our own.

Lop Buri is a much smaller city compared to Bangkok, therefore it is not as intimidating. We, the boys, at staying at the PP S Guesthouse (more or less a motel) all by ourselves while the girls are about 1 km away at the Serve Asia house.

For the Love for God

The 7 of us did not want to attend the international church yesterday and overwhelm the small community there, so instead, we held our own service at the OMF Home. We looked into the story of Luke 5:17-26, of the friends lowering the cripple from the roof to see Jesus. We are not sure of every detail of the story; we are not even sure how much faith the cripple had. But one thing for sure is that the friends of the cripple had incredible faith. The cripple could not do anything but to let his friends lower him to Jesus – and he was saved! Can we have the faith to lower our friends to Jesus? The also echoes Ezekiel 37 that had been in my heart. The faith of the people around you may be like dry bones, but will you call out to them and let God put them back together? Have faith in the Lord, and let him plant faith in the people around us.

It was also a pleasure to have Daniel join us for service. Daniel is a missionary in Cambodia. However he is in Bangkok resting from his third bout with dengue fever. :( Dengue Fever Facts Poor Daniel, he is like skin and bones. He is so weak, and he is forced to return to Swiss one year early for his home assignment. What he shared with us touched all of our hearts. He said we are really weaker than a mosquito – a zebra striped mosquito can kill you. For Daniel, it almost killed him 3 times in two years. Yet in the Lord, you can see it in his eyes, he wants to go back out on to the field and continue God’s work. He reminded that we cannot take joy in our service and our ministry. Dengue fever, prosecution, what joy is there… but we need to that joy in the Lord. So we are here not just because we “want” to serve him, we are here because we LOVE the Lord.

During the service, we also shared among each other each of our stories. It is amazing seeing God’s plan unfold with each story. The postponement of the trip allowed Kathryn and Scott to join the group, allowed Michelle to have a successful trip to Alaska, allowed me to go back to Hong Kong first to be further equipped, and many more. It is amazing how God works! And our team chemistry is awesome. It is as though we knew each other for years. By the end of the night we were even picking food off each other’s plate. :)

For the afternoon, we took a boat cruise down the Chao Phraya River. It was a great time greeting the locals in the villages along the river. And on the way to diner, we got lost on foot and we ended up walking by the Bangkok jail. So we took the opportunity to do a pray walk at the jail and to give tracts to the jail guard so that he can pass them out to this inmates. Pray that God’s word to touch the heart of these people.

Getting our “other country’s” visa today and heading up to Lop Buri by train. Miss you all, praying for all of you.

Global Day of Prayer

Today is the Global Day of Prayer, join us in prayer for the nations.

Kaosan Road, Bangkok

Beautiful Sunday morning in Bangkok. The sun rising over the top of the trees, bathing me in God’s glory. I slept through the night again, PRAISE GOD! Only woke up once in the middle of the night, but went back to sleep right away. Tyler and Kathryn arrive last night, but I have yet to meet them because I was asleep by the time they arrive. Thank you all for your prayers. Shannon’s allergies are subsiding, the swelling in gone from her face but there is still redness under her left eye and on her nose. However, she is constantly drowsy from her medications yet she is still having trouble sleeping at night. Kim is also having trouble sleeping. Keep us all in your prayers.

Yesterday, we visited Kaosan Road. Liana from the Netherlands and Leah from California joined us. Kaosan Road is a backpacker’s heaven; filled with hostels and street venders. It was a great opportunity to practice the little Thai that I know. “Sawatdee, khrab.” “Khrob koon, khrab.” (Hello, and thank you) Funny thing is that when we travel about in a group or in restaurants, the locals will come up to me and speak to me first, because I am the only Asian in the group.

The market experience is a great chance to soak in the culture and to get to know the team better. In the market I observed how superstitious the locals are. I saw one vendor take out a 100 baht bill and slap all her merchandise after every sale. And how almost every taxi is filled with buddha and religious items. Since I have been sitting in the front seat in all our taxi rides (being up close and personal with the traffic and expert driving), every time we drive by the New Life Church near the OMF Home I would point to the huge Jesus poster and say “Jesu” just to see what kind of reaction we would get. Many locals have yet to know who Jesus is, there is a huge need here.

Matthew 9:37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.

The are only about 50 OMF missionaries in Thailand… and this country is wide open. Where are the workers? Ezekiel 37 has been ringing in my head. Lord, rise up an army from dry bones, so that this army will proclaim your name. Lord, just like Ezekiel, I want to be that prophet who calls out into the valley of dry bones. Give me the strength and courage. Put words in my mouth.

Settling Down

First impression of Bangkok... I cannot believe I am alive. lol. People
Here are probably the best drivers in the world. They know exactly how big their cars are, know exactly what gap they can fit through, and can telepathically communicate with the other drivers on the road. The mere one day I am here, I have been in the worst traffic jams I have ever seen, and yet the taxis and tuk tuk drivers managed to find their way around. Lanes on the road are just a suggestion, so is the number of seats in a vehicle (or should I say the amount of flat surface on a vehicle).

But don’t get me wrong, this is a great city. So rich in culture. Temples everywhere. Our first stop yesterday was the Grand Palace. That place is massive (I’ll post the photos when I return to Canada). And the amount of work that went into this palace is impressive, and it is all for idol worship. I learn to appreciate that this is embedded so deeply into the culture of these people.

We are waiting for the rest of the team to arrive tonight, and on Monday we will leave for Lop Buri for orientation and training. In the meantime we will apply for our travel visas and then head up to the other country. Keep us in your prayers.

On the last note, PRAISE GOD!!! I got my first full night of sleep in weeks! I slept for 7 hours straight, 9 hours in total. Thank you for all your prayers!

Bangkok

Arrived in Thailand, staying at the OMF Home. God tested patience as soon as I arrived in the country. Waited in the airport for 75 minutes for Shannon, the OMF Home Office phone number did not work, Shannon's cellphone number did not work eiter. For a moment, I paniked.

What am I going to do? Don't know anyone, don't know the language, don't know where I need to go!

It was as soon as I calmed down and used this opportunity for a prayer walk around the airport terminal that I found Shannon. It was because she waited at the wrong terminal.

Remember us in your prayers. Spiritual attacks are furious. Shannon has a bad case of the allegies, her left eye, face, and arms swelled up and is covered with a rash. It turns out that all of us are having trouble sleeping. Pray for the safe arrival of Kathryn and Tyler tomorrow night.

Thank you for your prayer support.

Gives and Takes Away

Thank you, Lord, for giving me so much these past two weeks. You have given much beyond my expectations. Though there were times of weaknesses and doubts, but you have sent your Spirit to comfort and encourage me.

As You reminded me at Starbucks yesterday, the joy in the 'Great Pursue' (Gen 29), where as I remain in love with You tests in patience will seem like days. Sorry Lord for my lack of faith. Give me the strength to fight for what You have priomised.

Amazingly, I am completely at peace as I depart from Hong Kong:

Mark 10:29"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.

You have given so much, now, at least for the next few weeks, you have asked to take away. Lord, thank You for equipping my heart. I thought it would be difficult to walk through the departure gate today, but you have offered peace and promised a joy that is a hundred folds more than what You have given in these past weeks.

Thank You, Lord. Take whatever You want from me.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Hi everyone,


I'm in the Hong Kong International Airport, waiting for my flight to Bangkok. CX713, seat 31E... The flight is packed, so no window seats. Oh well, short 2.5 hours flight.

Feeling at peace, see you all in a few weeks.


Love in Him,

Joel

Off to the Harvest Field

This is most likely be my last post before flying out tomorrow to Thailand. I would have not imagine how hard this journey has been... and this is just the beginning.

First off, sleep... I'm still averaging about 5 hours of sleep every night and would wake about 2-4 times in a night, and it is taking it's toll on me. No matter what time I sleep, I would wake up at around 4:00a. It is demoralizing when retiring for the night, I know that I will wake up 5 hours later, still tired, but cannot go back to sleep... I would never imagine myself saying this, but I miss my bed... actually, I miss ANY bed. Been sleeping on the ground for 2+ weeks and will continue for the next month. Please pray for me.

Also, Gen missed his flight to HK... I was so looking forward to talking to him in Hong Kong before heading out tomorrow... :(

Otherwise... let's see what else God has in plan for me...