Ministry in Thailand & Myanmar (Burma)

I was able to set up some ministry in Northern Thailand with some Karen evangelists up in Mae Saraing, near the Thai/ Burma border, during the first week of March. The Karen are a people group in the northern areas of western Myanmar & eastern Thailand. It was set up through a missionary friend working in that area. The next week was spent in the (now former) capitol of Yangon, Myanmar (formerly Rangon, Burma), among another Burmese people group called the Chin (from northwest Myanmar).

The ministry time went very well in both Thailand & Myanmar. It was a blessing having Eric (Johansen) along & assisting with the ministry. Eric is a former student and staff, along with his wife, MJ, when I was working in the Philippines. They are now missionaries to central Thailand. We had good fellowship & fruitful ministry. It was also a blessing to have some time at his home in central Thailand, with his family & another missionary gal working with them. (See their blogs below)

http://www.centralthaimissions.com/ & http://www.centralthaiguy.blogspot.com/

North Thailand

Our time with the Karen evangelists was a blessing. It was a privilege to be serving them since they are out on the frontline in areas where we would be ineffective & (often) unable to go. I did several messages on the Essential Gospel that were well received, Eric had a great encouraging message for them & we did some Q & A, along with James (see below), that we hope was helpful. These brothers & sisters are very poor, isolated from other believers much of the time & often persecuted (treated abusively). Some came from Burma, others farther up north from our site (Mae Saraing), all of them reaching the unreached & under-reached in their areas.

We stayed with James & Bua Garwood who work under U-Turn for Christ & work alongside the Karen Baptist convention. We had a great time with them & another young missionary couple, Aaron & Michelle, who are staying with them. Of course, all the teaching had to be interpreted into the Karen dialect, which means it was quite a bit of work for our interpreters ("Papa" & Domo).

I was also able to preach on Sunday at the 2 churches Eric is pastoring in central Thailand (Sawankhalok & Samruang). Then we hopped on a bus for an overnight ride down to Bangkok & a flight on Monday am to Yangon.

Myanmar/ Burma

We arrived in Yangon just fine & spent the first day exchanging money (1000 Chat = $1) & preparing for the IBS/ Living Word Study workshop. They had the materials translated into Burmese, so we had to work out a schedule for 3 days, allowing for interpreting time. This adds, roughly, twice the time to the usual schedule. We broke up the workload between us & prepared accordingly. All those who came (41, though only 38 finished) were pastors & leaders of various churches & ministries.

The teaching went well & was received well. It was fun watching them get into discussions & work on assignments. It's a blessing to see them "get it". All of them appreciated the time & said how much they needed the training. Many of them have Bible college degrees, including some with master's degrees, so it was encouraging to see them applying the training.

I got together with several on the last day, after the workshop was completed, to talk about future plans for training. They were all very positive about the idea of more training & for them to be involved as trainers. I'm not sure when we can do it again, probably not till later in the year. I would also like to include Ptr Elmer & Ptr Jing from the ministries I work with in the Philippines, as they would be very valuable in further training in Thailand & Myanmar.

One last thing... Eric & I both noticed some similarities between Burma & the Philippines, culturally & economically, although the Burmese are under much greater economic difficulties, along with living under a very repressive & corrupt government. Also, this trip really confirmed for me the great need, & specific calling on my life personally, for equipping leaders. This is a HUGE need throughout most of the rest of the world. Without adequate equipping, We are very resource rich (people with experience) in America & I believe we (American believers) will be held accountable by the Lord for how we utilize and share what He has blessed us with. How I long to see more teachers going out to under-reached & unreached areas of the world to equip pastors and leaders who are longing for this equipping.

Please keep both the Karen people & the other people groups of Myanmar (like the Chin, Kachin,Shan, etc.) in prayer, since they are all impacted in very negative ways by the Myanmar military regime (read- tyrants). I read (& brought back) a government sponsored newspaper that was filled with cold-war style propaganda directed at those who might try promoting democracy. It was blatant & revealing of the actual situation the Burmese people face, something we only know about when the violence & suppression surfaces from time to time.

I’m thankful for the short time I had there, but hoping the Lord will open up the opportunity & provision to return for more ministry in the near future. TK

Reflections

The recent eclipse (Aug 28) reminds me of something I heard many years ago regarding the sun, the moon, and the earth. The man who shared it with me (and others) was an important mentor for me in my early years as a young man and believer. He’s now gone on to be with the Lord, but the illustration stays fresh in my mind many years later.
An eclipse is simply when the earth comes between the sun and the moon when the moon is at its full phase– usually when it’s dark. It’s quite a stunning, yet somewhat slow process.
As I was watching this recent eclipse I saw a further illustration based on what I had heard before. It has to do with God’s intended purpose for the moon as an illustration of the role of the church. The sun represents the Lord Jesus, the moon is a symbol of the church, and the earth would be the people in this world.
The sun is our source of light (and heat!) and its light reflects upon the moon. The moon’s light reflects upon the earth. The moon has no light of its own, it simply reflects the sun’s light. The moon is (generally) only visible during the night as the earth and moon move through the heavens, in their own orbits and their own rotations.
When the moon reflects the sun most strongly is during its phase as a full moon. Its beauty upon the earth or the water is extraordinary. So bright you can actually drive in an unlit, deserted area (like a desert!) and drive a car with the headlights off (I’ve done it and it’s fun!). Yet during this full phase, its brightest time, an eclipse actually dims the light so much it becomes nearly dark, as if it were a new moon.
In the book of Genesis, in the account of Creation on the fourth day (Gen 1:14-19), it says there were lights created and put into the heavens. These lights were the sun, moon and stars, and were created for particular purposes. The primary purposes being as signs for seasons, days and years, and to “preside or rule” over the day and night– the sun over the day and the moon over the night. An additional purpose was to “divide the light from the darkness”.
Nowadays we see great beauty in lunar eclipses, even in solar eclipses because they are stunning physical phenomenons. In ancient times, perhaps even today in some cultures which favor superstitions, lunar eclipses instilled fear in the hearts of many. In many civilizations over many centuries, it has been seen as a bad omen, a sign of bad things to come, because of these superstitions and fears. [See this link for more on that... http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/lunar_lore_000118.html ]
Although I can appreciate the beauty of an eclipse, as an illustration it causes me concern. Not because of superstition, nor religion per se, but because of what it represents.
The purpose of the church is fairly simple. To reflect the light of the Lord to the people in the world, whoever they are, wherever they are. Jesus expressed this by using the metaphor of believers being a city upon a hill, in Matthew 5:14-16, and telling the apostles (and other disciples) they were to be His witnesses upon the earth, to the people of this world (Acts 1:8).
An eclipse in nature is a natural phenomenon, but when the “world” interrupts the light of the Son, creating an eclipse effect upon the Moon (the church), it is an entirely different thing.
My concern is this– how much influence is the world having on the church? Are we (the church) reflecting the light of God, or the light of the world’s culture, values, opinions, etc.?
In short, is it the Lord’s light we are reflecting or the world’s darkness? Has our reflection been dimmed and muted? Are we dividing the light from the darkness or have we moved into the shadow of the earth’s darkness? Who’s influencing who and at what cost?
Looking into the western sky the next day, I once again saw a full moon as the night shifted to day. I was reminded and encouraged that God’s purposes shall prevail. And yet, lingering questions remained in my mind. He is faithful, but will we, the church– believers in the Lord Jesus, be faithful to Him and His purposes? Will we reflect the Lord’s light or be dimmed by the earth’s shadow?
So each true believer must consider the following questions– What gets in the way of the Lord’s light reflecting onto us? What comes in-between us and Him? What do we allow to take His place within our lives? Is this an infrequent or common occurrence? What will keep it from becoming frequent? And are we (you) even aware of it?
I’m reminded of several verse in the epistle of Philippians chapter 2 where Paul is exhorting these believers (and us!) to become– “blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life...” (Phil 2:15, 16) May it be so...

Are you moving beyond "the box"?
Beyond...

1. the moment... is it just an emotional response or a true commitment?
2. talking... is it just an opinion or the Truth?
3. study... is it just gathering knowledge or gaining understanding?
4. rhetoric... is it dogma and ideology, or the truth put into action and life-example?
5. walls... is it for a few or many, for a select group or the world?
6. borders... is it for one nation or all nations?
7. limits... is it just our own resources or reliance upon God?

My hope is to expand on the above and other thoughts in the near future...

So, what's the idea of "Beyond the Box"? The Box" is simply whatever limits our life and trust in God and within His Kingdom. So, this could relate to daily life things, attitudes, actions, words, etc. It could just as easily relate to anything and everything within the world. The question is are we/you willing to move beyond "the box", whatever that may be, since "boxes" are typically man-made?

Basically it's simple (I like simple!). If God, is God, and He is all-... powerful... present... knowing, then there really are no limits to Him, or upon Him. Now don't get off on the silly hypothetical arguments about creating a rock so big and heavy that even He can't lift it, etc... why bother?! The point is simply that it's we (people) who impose limits to God and His Kingdom. Most of these limits are based on our own, finite perceptions, imaginations, and so on.

The hoped for purpose of this blog is to consider ways of moving beyond the box we or others have created for God and/or ourselves and others. It is something I like to think about, but also something I want to do... that is, move beyond the box.