Travel Tips

On yet another interminable flight, where I've read my book too fast again, I began to cook up these south east asia travel tips:
• always book check-in luggage weight for the return journey if flying the budget airlines. Inevitably you will buy some oversized souvenier, too many clothes or be given a gigantic carving by your sponsor child
• Pack toothpaste. It generally doesn't taste right in other countries.
• For girls, the occasional fake wedding ring could be useful. Be prepared anyway to answer the questions "how old are you?" and "are you married yet?" within the first few sentences of a convo with ANYBODY.
• It really helps to get around if you know how to ride a motorbike.
• Do not pull faces or make friends with small children on flights. You can't keep it up for the next however many hours and they'll keep staring. And they are loud.
• Just cave in and buy plane food if it isn't provided on a budget flight. It is overpriced but in the end your ticket is probably still cheap.

"Thankyou God for sending us Pi Jasmine to lead worship for us today even though..."

Last Sunday I intended on going to visit my friend Gade's church. So I turned up on time according to her directions and walked into church to find barely anyone there but a frazzled church leader. She was missing her guitarist (he had gone to Laos) and it looked like it was down to playing bad mp3's for worship so I offered to play. After breaking a string trying to tune their guitar, I even went home to get my own.
Then the congregation arrived- mainly village families from Maejo. The songs were all in Thai and so I only survived playing by having a small boy standing next to me singing and running his finger along the lines so I could guess where the chord changes were. In fact the families were so excited to have a guitarist they kept calling out more songs, so I was originally only meant to play 3 and ended up sightreading 7 songs. And still no sight of Gade.
Finally I finished playing and the church leader prayed "Thankyou God for sending us Pi Jasmine to lead worship for us today even though she meant to go to the church two doors down..."
I thought "WHAT!!! I'm at the wrong church?! And you knew?!!"

The Attrition of the Heart

This attrition of the heart is somewhat horrible in overseas missions. Either you're missing people from your home country, knowing you're not there for major and important parts of their lives, or you're at home missing friends from the mission field. And after a while, parts of your heart are spread out all over the world and even though globalisation and cheap airlines are drawing us together more often; there is simply no substitute for lives intertwined in daily rhythm.
B, I'll miss you.

Rest & Stability

The main message at church today was to rest in God rather than just work for Him. It made me realise how much my perspective has changed. I'm over 'doing' church and into 'being' church. I'm actively avoiding religious duties and no longer believe in putting on a program just because we should be doing something. I'm into organic community and just being with people- flaws, absurdities and all. People over programs every time.
The other major mental gear shift God has changed was my idea of where my stability came from. Frankly, coming into the middle of this year I was getting tired. I have changed continents every 6 months for the last three years. I'm always leaving my friends or they're leaving me and who knows how many years will pass till our next meeting (heaven?). Then I start over afresh in every new place with new people and sometimes a new language (or accent). I just needed a home. So seeing as I know I will be here in Chiangmai for a while, I began to look for a more stable living situation. Hilariously, while I was thinking this, I have had at least 5 good friends and 3 flatmates leave and moved house twice already. One of my closest friends here is leaving on a jetplane in a couple of weeks, don't know when they'll be back again. Driving me, in desperation, to the realisation that my stability is in God and that must be enough.

Thai Plumbing

This week all our plumbing problems came to a head. Nearly a fountain head. The upstairs toilet had been leaking for a while all over the floor and the butt-sprayer would not turn off if we tried to flush but hey it was a slow flood so we told the landlord's representative, stopped using it and weren't too worried about it. Then in the space of 24 hours, the downstairs sink broke so all water went straight through to the floor, the upstairs shower knob was missing so my housemate cut herself on the rusty thread sticking out and the upstairs sink tap broke and would not stop shooting water full force. Part of my morning was spent alternating turns in holding down on the tap to stem the flow so that the other person could continue getting ready for work.
All fixed now, but what a morning! Is it possible there's some sort of synchronised built in break down date on thai plumbing?

Adaptation

Last night I could not sleep and decided to have a midnight milo. I went into the kitchen without turning the lights on and reached for the jar. As I opened it up and went to put my spoon in, I realised that my milo smelt a bit damp...and there seemed to be a streak of black in there. 'Probably water leaked in' I thought as I flipped on the light.
A dead gecko lay with it's head buried in the milo.
This was a real dilemma...milo is my treat, but that was the damp gecko blood I had smelt.
In the end I tipped half the milo powder, and the gecko, into the bin and then continued on making myself a hot milo out of the same jar. Ahh... how I've adapted to the life of a missionary.

Where did you recieve your call?

Interestingly we just took a survey in ywam staff meeting and only 2 people recieved their call to missions while at their home church. 8-10 people recieved a call to missions while on a short term mission trip. Most people recieved their call between 20-30 years old, a few people knew as kids they wanted to be missionaries and 1 person after 50 years of age.
So hey, next time we send some young adults off overseas and wonder what they could do, just remember if even only one of them decides to go into long term missions and the rest just come back with a greater understanding of missions...its worth it!

Last post of outreach

So hilariously, the rest of our filming became so exhausting that I didn't manage to write again.
Here are some photos of the process though:




One of our locations we filmed in...beautiful areas.




The 'older brother' acting out a scene where he explores meditation as a way to relieve his guilt.




On the last day of filming the headman's wife asked if we could pray for the family, the village and the Shan people. They had only 1 son left alive out of 4 children.




Then we had a big dinner with all people involved and they laughed themselves silly watching a trailer we'd made on the fly.
All together it was extremely hard work but extremely fun too. However, i caught some unidentified fever on the last day and am still recovering!

Radio & Formulas

Last week I was interviewed on radio about my faith and missions. Overall it was a good and comfortable chat and I thank God that I was able to get clear phone reception out in the fields we were filming in.
But, like many public presentations I've done, I was kicking myself later about one answer I gave. Ross Clifford, the interviewer, asked me "what does the gospel of Jesus mean? For my radio listeners." Now, admittedly I am standing in the mud of a rice paddy in a small village and am having trouble picturing the average Australian listener at that moment, but really that is no excuse for the jargon and ramble about love, salvation, hope and heaven that came out then.
Peter says to be ready at all times to explain faith, and after all this I should certainly be able to do that. Yet, currently I am reading a Donald Miller book, 'Searching for God knows what', and in it he says that we sell Jesus short by trying to present the gospel as a set of theological ideas or 5 step formula.
And while I do believe in knowing clearly what you believe, I think in half hashing through formula on radio is where I went wrong.
It caught me off guard. In reality, the person of Jesus and all that He means to me is too hard to fit into sentences, although I'll try now.
Jesus is the great holder of my hand as He tugs me wildly through this adventure that is my life. And although we career together into crazy and unfathomable places, He will never let go, even if I might sometimes, until we reach the final eternal holiday beach resort in heaven where every tear is wiped away and all the kids I've met suffering from HIV are playing in the sand. Till then I will try to introduce more people to Jesus and see His influence spread, because through watching suffering I have branded on my soul the realisation that only His kind of love and reign can heal the world...because only God can change the heart of men.
Ok, I love you Jesus and that was a way better attempt to explain that!

"Have you seen my brother?"

Today we are filming in a Shan village the story of a young man who sets out to find his brother as the dying wish of his mother. The search takes him back into Burma, where his family had originally fled from, and where his brother was last seen trying to revenge their father.







A flashback shot of the brother.

Filming has been fun... Villages and fields, myself running around madly dressed as a Shan woman in a village on fire scene, swordfights and 4 wheel driving late at night.

Reality TV

Last week, 4 friends and I were in a truck seeing one of us flying off and we were joking that I should make a reality TV show about our lives because they are so strange. There's B, my neighbour who is missing the front bumper to her truck that we were in because it was used to rescue a tribal leader in danger of assassination by the Burmese and on the way back they stopped to pull another truck out of an avalanche and so the bumper was lost.
And then there's K, who randomly gets offered rides anywhere by men who are definitely not taxi drivers, R, who just left for 3 weeks of village filming and I, who will soon join her. This morning I patted and bathed a baby elephant at a farm run by an ex-Hell's Angel bikie.
Our lives would seem so completely unbelievable if people at home knew what happened to us each day.

Shan people briefing

Today we have a long term worker teaching us about the Shan Burmese people. Here's some of what they face.
They are 5-6 million Shan, persecuted heavily within Burma due to the fighting of the state of Shan against the Burmese military ruling junta. They want independance, and they were promised it years ago... But it hasn't come.
In the name of Burmese buddhism, a chedi was built in the area above Mae Hong Son, and 6 people including one little girl were incarcerated alive inside. Their screams could be heard for ages and the mother of the child has gone insane...
The Burmese army are using rape as a ethnic cleansing weapon against the Shan. Gang rape is so common.
The Shan are seen as even more Buddhist than Thai! Shan monks recieve a lot of respect. Social life revolves around the temple. Festivals are buddhist, becoming Christian means social ostracism.
Funeral rituals are extremely important to the Shan, a church has disintegrated because people left as they thought the church conducted funerals as if they were for animals. Christians need to work out how to do a good honoring funeral. A shan buddhist funeral has a cremation around noon in the forest, the guys have chopped wood, girls have made paper flowers, after the burning the drinking and gambling begins till late into the night. One of the first things a Shan person wants to know is what will happen to their physical body after they die.
They are buddhist fundamentally with an animistic overlay. For monks, the more precepts they follow, the more spiritual power they have. The spirit shamans say they get their power from Buddha.
The majority of people come to Christ after seeing a power confrontation between God and the animistic spirits- such as exorcism or healing. But after it, they still have Buddhist worldview at their core- so they may go to church to make merit now, instead of the temple.
The Shan believe suffering is life, a gospel without dealing with suffering would be of no interest to them.
They believe spirits are dead bad people wanting incarnation...interestingly they fear going out at night when a Shan dies unless they're Christian because they say the Christian has no spirit who will haunt them.
Effective sharing must be relational evangelism, if you argue apologetics and win publicly you have made them lose face and shamed them.
One pillar of Buddhism is detachment, you aim to have a cool heart always. You will become what you worship and if you worship a statue with eyes that can't see, hands that don't feel...the possibility of true relationship available in Christianity is attractive.
Pray for:
Protection for immature church plants
100,000 Shan of Chiang Mai- they are often illegal immigrants

Www.surehope.net
Www.shanland.com

Nupo cont'd

All this was before 9am. At 9 bible school began. One man had walked 6 hours from his village within Burma to come to the meeting. He was a type of Karen even the Thai pastors had never seen before. We shared short testimonies with the bible school after they had taught.
Then we walked down to the Nupo Refugee Camp. No one stopped us entering and actually it felt a lot like a village - except that the population of 20,000+ can't leave. It was an eye-opener, and this is one of the nicer camps.

Nupo Bible School

After a bone jarring pothole slamming last stretch of road we skidded to a stop beside a bamboo hut- the Bible School. We slept on the bamboo stage under mozzie nets and it was relatively comfortable even though Jenny had turned into a baby zombie by that time.

In the morning, the village rose with the chickens and we could hear the muslim prayer call echoing from the valley as well as see the orange robed Buddhists monks chanting as they walked in single file. Josh was difficult to wake and I could hear the villagers say to the Thai pastors, 'oh your poor friends must be tired from the travel'.
After breakfast of noodles, we went to pay a visit to the village cheif. He was surprisingly young- the Karen elect their cheifs based on education among other traits- and he was the only born-again Christian in the village he led.

We heard some of his struggles, he invited my church to return and partner in ministry there and we prayed for his family, especially his new baby. Fairly important meeting, I thought.

Burmese Refugee camp- on the road.

On monday Jenny, Josh and I- the triple j team are going to a camp. It is 4-5 hours drive to Mae sot and then another 4-5 up the mountains to the camp where displaced Karen people live.



Ive heard the road up there has 1992 bends in it so I've packed drammamine!

New digs

Due to a sudden shuffle in the office accomodations, I suddenly found myself with a week to find a new place to live. Thanks be to God, provider of last minute accomodations for impoverished females, I now have a cute little townhouse I'm sharing with two others.
Amazingly, a flood of gifts has also ensued and almost all my plates & cups were free, thanks to Albert who moved back to the States, and Jeow, my Thai friend who just loved this brown ceramic set so much she bought too many and has given me the extra.
The house is still kind of bare, but we have extra mattresses for visitors to crash out on!





And backyard i share with my neighbours who happen to be my friends already.

Cornerstone language school in difficulties...

Over the last few weeks I've noticed a few symptoms that my language school is in financial distress...but it was only last week via an email communique that I found out that they are trying to sell assets to clear debt and pay the teachers. Today I started up classes again and last time I spoke with my Khruu (teacher) before I went to China she was trying to enrol in university for a master's course. Today I asked her how it went and she said it she had passed the entrance exam but could not afford the fees (about $1000). She thought she would have enough, but then she wasn't paid in time so she's says 'mai pen rai, next year'. I went to speak with another Khruu who I am good friends with and found out that the teachers haven't been paid for two months or more...it puts quite a bit of strain on their families.
There's been a lot of history with this language school. It was opened by the same guy who opened Grace International School (the major international school for missionaries in Chiang Mai) because he saw two reasons why missionaries were leaving Chiang Mai - lack of schooling for kids, and lack of cultural adaptation (especially language).
For a while it operated with Thai Christians teaching foreign missionaries and apparently teachers were becoming Christians e.t.c Then it was sold/handed over and here the problems seem to begin and the view gets muddled. Though the new owner claims Christianity, it seems many actions & business deals have caused people to doubt it.
Since I don't know anything about what really went on behind the scenes I can only say what I see now...that many old staff have left, many of the students have left, and some teachers have taken the curriculum and are now teaching it on their own (which is copyright infringement)...leading to my teachers now not getting paid.
Seems a little unfair that the teachers have to suffer for management mistakes of the past. If ever there was a business as mission opportunity ready for take over, this would be it.

Relationships- talk by Dean Sherman

Just to explain, i went to Solomons Porch church and heard this talk so I took notes on my blog app. My note-taking style can be pretty cryptic though.
Love is usually thought of as confusing- linguistically, cross-culturally etc. Actually, its clear- 1 John 3:16 -this is love, jesus laid down his life for us, you do the same for others...
Heart of Good relationships: the cross.
The problem is not that we are only human, its that we are selfish.
The answer to selfishness is service- not withdrawing yourself to try work it out.
You can get along with anyone- you just both need to be humble.
Unity is corporate humility.
The truth: If you have trouble maintaining relationships, check your truth meter. People don't want to be near someone who speaks love and acts otherwise. NT truth has 2 meanings- what is right & what is real. Jesus was the truth-he was real.
Romans 10:9 love must be sincere. Relationships are only as deep as they are open & transparent. Sex is the symbol of intimacy & transparency, our culture mistakes it for the actual intimacy.
The world says truth is defined by love- they love each other so it's ok. But love is defined by truth.
1 John 3:17-18 actions speak louder than words. Love chooses the highest & best. Love is a choice more than a feeling.
God will never tell you to marry someone you don't love...He is the author of romantic feeling. Marriage is not a gamble or only hard work...God who can keep you from falling can keep you married. Keep commited by choice and feelings will follow. Choose what is love to the other person (except with kids, you got to do things to kids that they don't think is love).
Choose what is appropriate for the occasion. 15 yr olds can love deeply but its not appropriate, you can love a non-believer, but your household will be torn...its not wrong, but its not the best for you or them.

Images of Hong Kong

Ladies market in Mongkok- note the classic HK facemask




Yay HK yum cha!









Mid level escalators...covering half a mountain with so many cool lanes coming off it.





Our delicious nepalese dinner spot. End of only day of sightseeing.

Repenting

Khalafie was a high level leader in Ywam, he was in PNG with Tom Hallas and Dean Sherman, and one of the pioneers of frontier mission in the Asia-Pacific. Decades ago he fell into sin quite spectacularly and walked away from the Christian faith. Today he publicly repented. The other leaders gathered around him and forgave him...it was like a family welcoming back a stray member.

Reminiscing in YWAM

Dean Sherman remembering the days in the 70's when Ywam was just starting in Goulburn, Australia. He wanted to get a team to Papua New Guinea. A young Tom Hallas was the first application in. Later the trip had to be cancelled due to 10 of the 12 dropping out. When Dean tried to call Tom he was told Tom had already quit his job and bought the flight. So when Dean finally told Tom the trip was off, Tom said 'God's told me to go, so if you don't mind I will go anyway.' So basically he got a one hour Ywam orientation at the airport and lived in PNG for several years. Today he's the Asia Pacific director and the guy who developed the 'Father heart of God' teaching which is taught worldwide. He's had 40 years in Ywam.





So they honoured him pacific style



And also gave love gifts tongan style- by oiling him up and then sticking money to him.

Mark Anderson on humility

1974 Dr Ralph Winter presents paper on unreached people at the Lausanne conference. 1975 Bill Bright & Loren Cunningham get the idea of spheres of influence...which missiologists are now recognising as the integrated approach to missions. Thomas Wang in the 1990's called people to unreached people missions with the Ad2000. Now the latest burst in mission is likely to be tracked in history as call2all.
Mark Anderson, Call2All Leader:



He's been crying this morning because of his awareness of the work ahead.
Matt 5, beatitudes. People on stage were torn as they looked at the crowd this week. On one hand, the chinese were fervent and had sacrificed so much (sold land & fridges) to get there, and they arrived at 5am to pray and stayed all day...on the other side were westerners who were more concerned with networking and breakfast, even if it was good & for ministry. Mark sees that within himself, and now he can't stand it. Now he cries when he meets people from a broken background. He's also grieving over the arrogance of America. He's calling us to an intentional humbling. He's sensing the grace of God for a broken heart.
YWAM is entering a higher profile stage and so we need to spiritually prepare. As we build it's like Zerrubabals plumbline- ours is to be the beatitudes.
I have the feeling he thinks persecution is coming. Mark ends on saying God is looking for the meek & humble, so he is too.

Ywam Asia Pacific Morning

Loren & Darlene Cunningham




Darlene's uncle clare had been a missionary in China, so she has childhood memories of praying for China, so she's excited to see the beginnings of the fulfillment of those prayers.
Loren says world leadership is shifting to Asia, and so is mission leadership.
In the bible leaders called people to them specifically, like Elijah with Elisha and Jesus with disciples. Thats cause they imparted their spirit, not just knowledge.
Like England was the catalyst for american multiplication of missionaries, so in this century Koreans are the catalyst for Chinese missions.
In 1961 he challenged the Africans to be missionaries, but another missionary came to him and said that he couldn't do that- africans were natives, they (white people) were missos. Loren said the Africans had the same bible he did.
Loren had two calls- all nations and mobilising youth.
Ywam has always been pictured as a wave, but a prophetess from Columbia drew two waves, one coming out of the original ywam wave that was higher. It has to do with Ywammers who are specifically called to the 7 spheres- family, church, education, media, entertainment, executive, judicary & legislative govt., economy
17 major missions are on the leadership of Call2All, but they asked Mark Anderson who runs a major Ywam ministry to lead them. He turned them down 3 times, on the 4th time he was going to refuse again but prayed and had a 3-4hour visitation from God who basically said Ywam had better be imvolved.
85% of the world missionaries come under these 17 mission networks. They asked Ywam to offer training, but we are not ready to train business, hollywood etc. We are behind except for the Koreans who have developed Ywam training for businessmen. Basically Loren realised from Call2All that Ywam has to run to catch up.
Darlene again, romans 12 - we need radical faith & obedience. We are having our minds transformed, and we are rethinking what we see as a missionary as YWAM moves into the secular spheres of influence. But we will know what God's will is if we obey & are transformed.
Respect the gifts of God in each other, live in unity. We often end up in front of Kings & Prime Ministers and we have grown a lot and gotten more organised, but we need to keep sober judgement.
Btw, the latest american idol is a YWAMmer.

Celebrate!

The chinese prayer running across the map of the world.




























I think she's korean








Praise time afterwards..I danced Jewish style in a ring with several Mongolian women, they had no idea but were enthusiastic.
And more prayer...i enjoyed seeing chinese pray for white people, its rare to see because its often white missionaries over Asians.













This is two Vietnamese pastors and a German.

Commitments in mission

The 2000+ organisations here have collectively commited to establishing 118000 houses of 24/7 prayer, each unengaged people group has had several groups choose to adopt them. They are aiming for 2 million churchplants and 1 billion new christians.
If even half of these are followed through by 2020 every unengaged (no missionaries among them) mega-ethnicity will have people working among them to share the gospel.
Hilariously people who were unfortunate enough to book into the same hotels as conference attendees have had the gospel shared with them...one couple who had come on a romantic getaway, came to Christ, were invited to the night meetings, were last seen praying over the world map on thailand where the wife is from and now they've flown already to Thailand to share with their family.
I saw one of the chinese pastors with his bible out sharing with one of the waitresses at this convention centre...Ahh, what happens when you collect this many evangelists in one place.
When I first saw the goals that this conference had committed to, I must admit I was a little sceptical...but then I thought about the huge populations of India & China and how they are now sending missionariea and planting churches. When you look at the church of Acts and how rapidly the gospel spread from just a few with the Diaspora of the Jews, it doesn't seem so unlikely...because they were up against much worse odds.

How to give communion to 3000 people?

Church-planting

International Mission Board - church planting principles
India- Jay & team who have planted 5000 churches already.
Church- planting: how do you get into it?
Realise the huge need
Seek out mentors
Take retreats to seek out God and evaluate
Work in teams- find forefront regional leaders, agree on actions
Strategise
Customised Training
Partner with other churches & missions

How to accelerate church planting?
You can do more than you think -Eph 3:20

Then they asked how many churches you
think your team can plant before 2020.
Kenya-100
Mongolia- 15-45
South America- 1000 hopefully (obviously some teams are bigger than others)
The vietnamese pastors on the table I'm sitting at are debating accountability etc
I'm pretty sure here church does not mean building, it means small meeting.

Jackie Pullinger -setting captives free

Said that someone earlier asked her what's the secret to her anointing in work with addicts...there is no secret it's days of awfulness & beauty
Someone asked her for advice on what's the next step in their ministry to prostitutes after making friends... Jackie says it's telling them you will be around for the next 50 years. They need a friend who sticks around for all the times they fall. And for their fatherless child and family pressure.
She says many people hear testimonies that they became Christian and instantly were delivered... But then they expect that the same will happen for them but they may fall...and what they need to hear is that God will be there for you anyway.
Jesus' solutions were individualised when people came to him. People who come to work with addicts realise they're in the same
Process of transformation.
2 samuel 13- tamar- covering her shame
100% of addicts start cause of hurt & shame. Later on they have shame of what they've done because of addiction- manipulation etc to get drugs.
So if some fall & others don't...Don't be judgemental, you have no idea what went into their lives before.




Now we're hearing testimonies...this kid is now 19, he's been in jail, sold drugs, he started taking at 11. His probation officer gave him a choice of prison or God's family. Now he's been living with them for 2 years.





This guy was given the same choice...and as he went through withdrawals they prayed with him in tongues and as he prayed the symptoms of withdrawal alleviated. The ministry prays for 10 days straight in tongues over addicts going through withdrawals.
Drugs aren't the problem, they're a symptom of heart problems. Addicts need a family, not just counselling. Root problems come often from parental neglect, demonic worship & cults, generational sin. Deut 11:27-28, deut 18, exodus 20.
A lot of male addicts have problems with unhealthy maternal relationships and being neglected & unbonded with their Mum.
Drug abuse can be triggered off by some kind of stress.
When a male addict is going through withdrawal, its better to have women around cause they're not a challenge to fight.
Western kids are taught to sit around & express themselves. Eastern kids do not have the culture or languge to express themselves. But as Christians in worship they will.
The silk road is also the opium road, so if we're going to walk the silk road we'll meet addicts.
Solutions: admit you have a problem
and need help. Ask God for healing. Need a safe place - no razors, ciggarettes etc. Need minimum 3 people to help- one to sit within touching distance of the addict, one to answer the door etc, one to sleep and this goes on for min 10 days. If the addict tries excuses to get out, don't talk with the old self, just distract them. Then they are moved to live in a family style housing. Later if they fall, and they admit it, its good that they are being honest. Its if they lie then there's problems.
What about boundaries? Jackie says let God determine your boundaries...people said she would burn out & those who said it have left. Take time out if you can, but if someone needs help then do it.

The New Mennonite Fashion

New Fashion

They issued facemasks today...

Another lighted map

Chinese representatives are standing on a giant map of the silk road where there are unreached peoples and they've lit glo sticks starting at Hk and ending in Jerusalem. They're walking and praying over it.



Now I think the chinese have all gone to find their hometowns to pray over it.

Role Of Prayer

International House Of Prayer
What role does prayer & worship have in the great commission?
(i missed the first half but I think he said something about intimacy & prayer leading us to see Jesus' true worth and then we can't help but go out to make him known)
We need the worship of Asia to join the saints...when they do they can double the missions force of the world in a day.
Revelations 14- when they see the lamb of God they can not help but sing a NEW song..
We work so that nations like Burma, Japan, Zimbabwe will see Jesus and sing a new song.
Revelations ends with the words 'come', 'maranatha' and any who see Jesus will come to Him.

Mongolian Pastors

This morning I was at a discussion table with an Indian Wycliffe guy, two Mongolian pastors and a HongKong businessman who also does prison ministry talking about most effective evangelism methods.
I found the mongolians most interesting because I hadn't met many before but they said there are over 400 churches in mongolia now all with one vision- 10% of the country being Christians by 2020. Their biggest need was leadership training so they could send out more teams.

Back to Jerusalem

Thomas Wang - leader of the Back To Jerusalem movement- important as he speaks for the vision of many chinese christians:
The great commission needs the East & West to work together and the two generations to work together. The Chinese intend to re-evangelise the West.
I hadn't realised he has been in talks with the major missions for so long..he quoted Billy Graham at the Lausanne Conference 'the whole church preach the whole bible to the whole world'

Can we finish the great commission in our lifetime?

Steve Douglas-campus crusade head honcho
Believes that yes we can:
- mainly because God commanded it so it must be doable
-since 1984 the church has stepped up worldwide in prayer with movements like Ihop, 24/7 prayer etc
- mission agencies are working together like never before e.g Ywam & Imb (southern baptists) are probably the most opposite in styles, but imb have offered Ywam all their church planting resources.
-ministries getting more fruitful e.g Wycliffe 10 years ago took 13 years to translate enough of the bible to start a church, now it takes 2 years

Hudson Taylors legacy

Now Mimi Taylor, wife of James Taylor of the 5th generation of the Taylor family is singing in chinese. It's been great to see that 1/3rd of this conference is mainland chinese. There's a giant map of the world broken down into unreached people on floor.



And some vietnamese pastors praying over their country.

Call2All Conference

Starting today, this is a massive missions conference in hongkong with huge names in missions speaking & i will be updating daily...
I'm watching a british business man now officially repenting to the large numbers of chinese present for the actions of the british east india company in the opium wars, the boxer rebellion & in introducing free- masonry to China. Powerful stuff. Chinese christian leaders are now accepting the apologising & sharing how some of them had hated foreigners and politicians after watching their parents treatment...till they became Christians.

Thai vocab...

Let's talk about language learning. I could rant for ages about the many difficulties in learning Thai, writing it is a near guaranteed headache, but I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It's come through changing teachers. Well, I liked my first teacher, she was an older christian Thai lady who was very sweet and teaches most of the staff here. Really, the problem's not with her, it's just that I couldn't concentrate for 2 hours straight in a one on one tutoring situation. So I would begin to visibly drift asleep by the end of the first hour, regardless of all my good intentions.
After 5 months of this, dreading every class more, I decided I needed to try a group class. With all the farangs (foreigners) around, you'd think this would be easy, but since I work a full day I was looking for night group classes, and no one seems to do that here. Do all of the other farangs have such easy schedules????
Finally I've joined in Cornerstone, taking lessons 3 days a week from 1pm-3pm, where I'm in a 'group' class with one other Korean man who has trouble with his 'y' syllables...and my thai slang is improving greatly! Basically the first day I came, I met Debbie, who is another missionary from Drummoyne Presbyterian in Sydney - I had heard of her from a mutual friend but we had never actually managed to meet up, and it turns out this is her language school too and she hangs out with the teachers - who are mostly young women in their 20's and 30's. My 'Khruu' (thai for teacher) is extremely cute with big eyes that widen when she's saying certain syllables and she bobs her head in the direction of the vocal tone so I never really have to work hard to guess which one it is...she looks about 16 but is actually 23. She's invited me to go to a party at her place in a couple of weeks...although everytime I ask what the occasion is, the only answer I get is 'big party'.
But the hanging out has opened to door to the final goal in learning Thai for me- being able to make friends with Thai people. Here's what I've learnt already.
khlang khlang = to tease someone
jing jing = serious
mai churr = I don't believe you
mai dii = you're naughty
mai jamben = that's not necessary (Debbie taught me that to say if they told me I needed to sit a test)
ourre= fat

You see what kind of vocab I will end up with?!!