It's not the sort of thing that makes headlines, even in Christian circles. But it is the heart of story after story in the Bible. The heartbeat of God's kingdom throughout the world. A simple walk of faith. A commitment to serve the Living God and His Son, Jesus the Messiah, and extend the Kingdom of God on earth.
I want to mention a few more of the men and women of faith—true faith—that make up the Body of Christ worldwide. Echoes of their stories are found in the Bible (as in Hebrews Chapter 11) and scattered in all the continents of the world. I featured two families of pastors I know in the Philippines in some recent posts (Extended Family and Fruit). These are men I've mentored over the years. This post is more or less a follow up to those posts.
Extended family living under the same roof is common in many cultures. It hasn't been so common in America the past few decades, but that's changing because of present economic realities. At Rainbow we have an extended family on one compound under a few roofs. On special occasions (Christmas, weddings, despididas [farewell parties], we see other members of Rainbow's extended family join us.
Susan and I feel at home when we travel to the Philippines to rejoin our extended Rainbow family. It's a community of young and old (we're the old ones now). Each person has a place within this community, this family. This is what God intends for His family, the church, the Body of Christ [1 Cor 12:12, 14, 18, 25-26]. Seeing God's extended family, the church worldwide, is a great blessing for cross-cultural missionaries.
Michael came to Rainbow Village with his younger brother when he was three years old. His story, like many others, has it's own sadness, which is why he was brought to us in 1992. This past week we had the blessing of seeing Michael and catching up on what's been going on in his life. Seeing him after so many years is an amazing encouragement to everyone at Rainbow.
Michael arrived at Rainbow this past week as Susan and I were leaving the US. He was smothered with love and acceptance by the ya-yas (the local dialect term for childcare attendants), his family at Rainbow. A few of the women remembered when he and his brother first came, and they accepted and loved them both into our Rainbow family. This week he got to experience a family reunion.
Last weekend—in between huge shopping days, Black Friday and Cyber Monday—small businesses were spotlighted on Small Business Saturday. That's pretty tough competition. How do you compete with a stampede of "blowout deals" and stay-at-home shoppers who don't have to pay sales tax?
Last Sunday I visited a good-sized local church who were featuring a well-known, multi-million dollar international mission. From what I know, this mission is a good organization doing a good work in the name of Jesus. I laud the church and pastor for their enthusiasm and commitment in support of this kind of ministry.
This past month I had the privilege of teaching several young people in two courses at a Bible college. The study and work the students do is quite demanding. I helped one group learn how to study parables, and we studied the Book of Daniel in the other course. Daniel was a man whom God showed the future, and I was reminded that students like these are the future of the church.
I also enjoyed visiting with many alumni during the school's annual Founder's Day conference, and several others in a second meeting before I left. They naturally look to me for guidance as their former teacher, but it's they who encourage me when I see their faithfulness and vision for ministry.
This week I was blessed with the opportunity to teach in a cross cultural setting while here in the Philippines. Although most of the students were Filipino, I also had a few So Korean students. The Koreans want to learn English as a Second Language (ESL), as well as the Bible. A couple of my Filipino students are from the province (more rural areas), so their English skills are not as well developed as other students.
Once again I was reminded how communicating and teaching in a foreign (cross-cultural) setting is both a challenge and an opportunity. It's a challenge because words carry meanings and ideas, but these meanings and ideas don't travel well across different languages within their own cultures. This is the reality all cross-cultural missionaries face day in and day out. But it's also an opportunity to grow and develop, and hopefully be fruitful.
On my first solo journey to Thailand I experienced a genuine sense of isolation. I traveled to other countries before and lived in the Philippines for many years, so being in a new environment didn’t bring this isolation. My family and I resided in the Philippines where English is spoken often, but I didn’t understand the Thai language. I moved through the Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports smoothly because many signs were in English and most of the staff spoke broken English. But the airport was an international island within Thailand.
This week I was blessed with the opportunity to teach in a cross cultural setting while here in the Philippines. Although most of the students were Filipino, I also had a few So Korean students. The Koreans want to learn English as a Second Language (ESL), as well as the Bible. A couple of my Filipino students are from the province (more rural areas), so their English skills are not as well developed as other students.
On my first solo journey to Thailand I experienced a genuine sense of isolation. I traveled to other countries before and lived in the Philippines for many years, so being in a new environment didn’t bring this isolation. My family and I resided in the Philippines where English is spoken often, but I didn’t understand the Thai language. I moved through the Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports smoothly because many signs were in English and most of the staff spoke broken English. But the airport was an international island within Thailand. 
