THE REST OF THE CHINA STORY- A SAD ENDING

Thanks to so many of you who followed my blog regarding the adventure we had with Jesus in China recently. I know I sort of wrapped things up in a neat bow on my last update but in reality things did not end quite that way. In fact we ended up having what I called at the time an "interaction" with the Chinese officials. I did not dare write about it after this interaction because I had to assume that everything was being monitored closely.

So here's the rest of the story. In our first two visits to the M People village we had made some crucial contacts with the elementary school, assessed the immediate needs and took the children some school supplies. But, the greater need was for each child to have a pair of shoes and a warm coat. So, we ordered the clothing from a larger city about 5 hours from where we were staying and a few days later they arrived by bus. We loaded them up and headed back to the village where we had a wonderful presentation letting the children know that in the boxes in front of them were coats and shoes for all.

It was lunch time and the kids were about to head home to eat so we retired to a building behind the main schoolrooms for a lunch prepared by the school staff. We had a delicious lunch and just as it was coming to a close, our interpreter came in and said: "We have a problem." The local communist officials had received a report that there were foreigners in the village and they had come along with a  policeman from the PSB to inspect. In fact, they were irate insisting that we were in violation by coming to the village without permission and in giving away articles without the proper permission/documentation. They insisted that we leave immediately and we promptly complied. We jumped into our van and waited while they continued to harass our sweet interpreter. Finally, he joined us and we drove immediately back to the city where we were staying. We had no sooner got to our rooms than we were contacted and told to bring our passports to the front desk. There, the government officials took them. THAT'S WHEN THE PRAYING BEGAN IN EARNEST! They made copies and returned them the same day which was a huge relief (without them...you don't go home!)

The next day I was talking with our interpreter, a delightful 22 year old college student who is a sold out follower of Christ. I told him I was so sorry that we had allowed him to become involved in this kind of controversy putting on the governments radar screen. You see, we don't worry about what might happen to us or our team...we are Americans and the most they would do is to ask us to leave. But, we try hard not expose the Chinese nationals to this kind of scrutiny because the persecution for them can continue long after we are home. I will never forget his reply. He told me not to worry about him that if ever he was persecuted for being a follower of Jesus Christ- it would be a privilege.

Immediately I had this thought: "This is a far different brand of Christianity than I often encounter back home...you know the kind that gets offended because someone sat in their seat in the sanctuary.

A SAD ENDING! I am heart broken to report that we received an email in the last few days informing us that the Chinese government went back out to the school in the village and confiscated all the shoes and coats we gave to the children.

Really though, this is not the end of the story. When we asked our Missionaries if they regretted counseling us to give these gifts without going through the government their answer was absolutely not. You see- if we had sought government approval they would have simply told us to hand over the money and they would see to the matter. Then, even if, the clothing had been purchased- it would have been given in the name of the government instead of being given in the name of The Most High God. So, we did what we were called to do. And though we are saddened by these events we know that because of answering that call, God will work all these things together for good. He will write the end to this story.

Southeast Asia 2013 Update-Day Ten

All my days are kind of running together right now but one thing I know for sure. This is the day we come home!

I am always so thrilled when Father calls me to go but I am equally happy to come home. And that's because I have such a wonderful wife and three awesome boys that I love spending time with more than anyone on the planet. And speaking of my wife I want to take this opportunity to say that for 28 years now she has been faithfully supporting me in anything Father calls me to do. I was already doing these overseas ventures starting in 1992 and continued to do so even when my boys were very small. She has carried the load without complaint and never asked me not to take on anything I felt I should do. She has been the quiet hero of my ministry. Thanks Trinetta, I love you.

LAST NIGHT HERE ENDS WITH A SURPRISE APPEARANCE AT THE RESTAURANT!

After a very long travel day yesterday we finally arrived in the big city and got checked into our hotel. Then it was a very short trip to the market to pick up things for family and back to the hotel for dinner. 

This would be the first time that the entire group would be going to dinner without our translator. Since he lives close to the market, he took a bus on home and instructed our drive to drop us at the hotel. This was not really a problem because our Chinese language prodigy TW has been able to navigate pretty well. But, it has been so nice to have someone fluent to help us avoid the extra hot and spicy food that can be laced with powerful peppers. So as some of the team were gathering in the lobby for dinner they met a Chinese man who asked if they had eaten dinner yet...and he asked in very good English! They told him they hadn't and he informed them that he was the manager of the hotel restaurant and would be honored if we would eat there. The rest of us arrived and we went to the second floor dining room where he proceeded to order for us.

The meal was wonderful with beef and vegetables, sweet and sour pork and dumplin' soup. After we had eaten he came and sat down beside me and we began to hear his story. He learned some English here in China but went to study international business in India and that is where he became so well acquainted with the language.

As we talked we discovered that we both love guitar and he asked me if I could sing some music from the West. I said yes, and he asked me if I would be willing to sing in the restaurant for all the guests. I agreed and went to my room after the guitar. I don't know when I have had more fun than that evening. I knew from previous trips that they like old songs, John Denver songs, really anything in English. So, we went from Country Roads to Amazing Grace and everyone had a wonderful time. It all ended with our entire team being photographed with the manager, the staff, and most of the people in the restaurant who just started jumping in and handing their cell phones off to get in on the fun.

Please talk to Father about this, I am trying to set up lunch with him today to share the reason behind the joy in our lives and in our music. 

Southeast Asia 2013 Day Nine

CH^RCH THE ASIAN WAY

This Lord's day was filled with unexpected blessings. Not that we didn't enter the day fully expecting God to be at every turn. But, you just can't imagine in your mind's eye the kind of stuff He has in store. I'm reminded of this in Ephesians: "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,..." And I've been told I have an overactive imagination. Still when you walk into a ch^rch  in this part of the world, it's hard to explain what you feel. 

You see humble members enter without saying a word and just sit and pr^y quietly. I was struck by the contrast of the very humble building that seats maybe 30 or so with tile and stucko but with a hi tech video projector mounted from the ceiling.  We watched in amazement as the electric screen rolled down into place for the service. And even though we did not understand a single word of the songs being sung- still our hearts were in tune perfectly with the spirit of G*d indwelling the pr^ises of his people. I hummed loudly just because I was so stirred up to w*rship by the heartfelt pr^ises being offered. The same was true of the message. This man, we had met with several times is normally a very meek, almost shy soul. But when he stepped up to proclaim the word, he became animated and enthusiastic about the truth of H*brews 2. We were immensely blessed. This little church is a government sponsored church but because they have a p^stor that loves J*sus- they are moving in the right direction.

After service we grabbed some lunch and then loaded into three "red chariots" (which are motorcycles that have been converted into three wheeled buggies) to get to another church at which we had been scheduled to speak and sing with the children and youth. We caught the tail end of the service at this church that although it is here in the larger city, is mostly comprised of M People from surrounding villages. This was not a total surprise to us since we know that there is a migration of M People toward the cities and some of them have been ev^ngelized and have ended up in ch^rches. However, one very important thing to remember is that when we say there are no churches among the M People we mean...no ev^angelical churches. The ones we are speaking about are government sponsored and are by their very definition not ev^ngelical. 

There was one curious feature of this service- the choir seated up front in their choir robes! That's right, they were wearing simple white robes which were made from a muslin type material and each had a bright turquoise collar. The service ended and we met the church leaders all of whom were women. 

Please lift this fellowship up to Father because they were once a vibrant group of almost 300 but have now dwindled to a few dozen. It was of particular note that of the 40 or 50 members there on this Sunday- not one man was present.

SO WHAT'S AN ENGLISH CORNER?

Father has opened some wonderful doors with some key people in this city over the past few years as CHFBC members have come on short term teams and developed friendships. Today we continued to reap the benefits of those teams as we were invited to do a program with the English students at the local government high school. A school with an attendance of over 3000, it ranks as one of the best schools in this part of the country. 

Again, we mounted the three wheeled chariots and raced across town where we met with over 150 students in a breezeway at the entrance of the school. They worked so hard to learn the words to some simple english songs like: I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy. We then used the students to act out a "proverbial story from an ancient manuscript". They were the characters in the story of the Good Samaritan and they loved it. Finally we ended the program by dividing the into two groups and giving them lots of english letters on posters. Our team member TW did an awesome job of getting them involved and it turned out to be a great competition. The teachers were thrilled and are interested in using our story telling and game techniques at the school to help bolster student's English skills.

Afterward it seemed like every student wanted a picture with us as they whipped out their cell phones and snapped away. 

Again, it is difficult to get a crowd like that together and not pr*ach the g*spel but you could tell that these students were deeply drawn to the difference in our lives. They are wandering spiritually but they are wondering now and that's where it all begins.

One day we will return to this area and see a thriving ch^rch planting movement and we will remember these humble beginnings.

 

Southeast Asia 2013 Day Eight

Did Donnie Drink the Wine?

So in my last update I shared that I had an appointment with a young man who's mom is suffering from acute kidney failure. So, about 6p.m. my interpreter and I headed out for this meeting. We walked through the city and finally arrived at what was really more than an shop than a home. Right off the main street we walked into a shop that clearly used to be a food shop of some kind. I presented the gifts I had brought (which is traditional in this culture) and sat and visited with the family. It was at this time that I was informed that they had prepared a special dinner for us.

We moved to their tiny table and sat in "miniature" chairs that are very similar to the ones in our kindergarten rooms at schools in the U.S.  All was going well until the grandfather, the elder of the home, came in and poured us each a glass of rice wine. Then, very quickly he raised his glass to a toast and there I sat...glass in hand. 

In that instant two conflicting principles raced through my brain. Principle 1- the missionary code I had learned many years ago: "where Father leads I will follow, and what they feed I will swallow!" Principle 2- honor your Father and Mother. You see, I am fully aware that the bible does not teach "thou shalt not drink at all...even one sip...ever." But as a very young man I made a promise to my Father that I would not drink. And to this day I have kept that promise. The question now was whether keeping that promise to my Father would insult this precious family at a dinner in my honor.

A verse came to mind. One that I had my boys memorize when they were still quite young. Acts 24:16: "I strive daily to keep my conscience clear before God and man." 

I knew that God would not be angry with me if I took the wine. But I have worked hard to honor the commitment I made many years ago and I knew it would offend my own heart to partake. So, through my interpreter, I asked for a moment to explain one of my family's beliefs. I explained how that in my family we had made vow not to partake of alcoholic beverages. I made it clear that I was not calling them into question but merely following a family commitment. So, I was given water and we all drank.  I've always heard: "all's well that ends well" and I think it ended fine because as we left they wanted pictures taken with us and they insisted that I come again.

After dinner I had been asking Father to help me discern whether or not to tell this new friend of my own story of faith. The answer to that came quickly when he stated that he had a driving job he had to leave for immediately. I would ask you to continue to pr^y for a divine appointment with this young man.

Today we had the opportunity to become real students of the culture. We toured the M People Museum and it was wonderful to see the history, culture and religion on display. Every opportunity we have understand our people group is a chance to see how we can better reach them with the g*spel.

Southeast Asia 2013 Day Seven

Understanding Our Role Here

It's not hard to explain why we raise funds and pray hard and take time off and fly 24 hours to a place like this...it's all for the glory of God. It's because God is deserving of praise from every person in every corner of the globe. It's because God's heart has always been for all peoples. Even as far back as Abraham God told him that he would make a covenant with him and that "though you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed."

It's not hard to say why we're here on this mission trip.

It IS however, hard to explain sometimes why we're here and not preaching the g*spel on every street corner. Let me give it a try:

If you know me you know that I will sing or pre^ch the g*spel in any foreign country at the drop of a hat. (and I've been known to drop my own hat.) So, with a heart that beats EV it's taken me a while to see the big picture here. Here's the truth, we don't come into a country where open EV can cause persecution for national believers and decide to just go for it. We are here to show God's love and to tell clearly that we are believers in the Most High God as a way to open doors for national believers to do the EV. Then, when the national believers do share the g*spel, they have been the ones to step across the line into possible persecution. In addition to this, they will be the ones here long after we are gone. They are the ones who will disciple those who come to faith.

As I awoke this morning and grabbed my bible for my private worship time. I held the black ribbon book mark and let it fall open to the book of Acts. Father had impressed on me to go through this missi*ns narrative while on this short term trip. So, it happened by God that my chapter for today was Acts 16.

I was so moved by verse 6 I could hardly move past it. It reads: "Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia."

There it was! There was a time when the great missionary Paul wanted to come into Asia (hello...that's where we are!) and just let lose. But, they weren't allowed to preach the word...forbidden by the Holy Spirit. 

Yes, I know about all the interpretations of this passage and about the global migration of the gospel in waves and regions and blah, blah, blah. Still, it all boils down to this. We fit into God's plan. We do not try to get Him to follow ours. The Spirit of God has led our team, the nationals and the company M's all to agreement regarding the work here. 

I have personally sat across the table from a national pastor already on this trip and heard him ask us to pave the way but to let the EV be done from Asian to Asian.

But, that doesn't mean we are not sharing the love of Jesus and giving him the glory for us being here. 

Just yesterday we went to the home of the most senior elder of the village to bless he an his daughter. He is well into his 90's and suffered a debilitating stroke just over 6 months ago. As we gave them a gift to bless his family we stated clearly that the only reason we had come...the reason for the blessing was that we are followers of the Most High God. We have already communicated with an Asian believer who has a heart for this family and they will be following up with the g*spel.

And...tonight I have an appointment with an Asian man that I met on this trip and with whom I have found a real connection. I am going with him to actually pray over his mother who is suffering from acute kidney failure. Afterward I will tell him my story of how I came to faith in the Most High God and then- I will be handing it off to an Asian believer who is going with me to serve as our interpreter and he will share the g*spel.

Please Pr^y that he will hear and understand.

Southeast Asia 2013 Day Six

Children of the M People Blessed by CHFBC Children

Months have passed since VBS but today we saw more fruit of how impacting it can be in San Antonio and around the world. Each evening in VBS children visited our M People booths. They learned fun facts about the M People, saw pictures and even a video of their culture. Each evening they also brought their pennies, nickels and dimes and dollars and were told that their offering would help children on the other side of the world...children of the M People.

Well today we were able to walk into the classrooms of 183 children at the poorest of the M People elementary schools and give each of them a beautiful pencil pouch, one pencil, a pencil sharpener and a notebook. As I sit back at the hotel, their beautiful faces are imprinted on my mind. With pitch black hair, rosy cheeks and in many cases front teeth missing, they were so grateful that you would have thought it was Christmas morning.

Little do they know that since those pennies, nickels, dimes and dollars added up to over $1100, there's money left for each of them to receive a jacket and a pair of shoes before the cold winter months hit. (These are ordered and are being shipped as we speak from the nearest big city).

We have come to understand that after so many years under atheism that it's not enough for them to just hear about the love of the most high G*d. They need to see it in action. So, on your behalf we are ministering to the least of these in the forgotten village at the poorest school. It is a wonder to behold.

Both the school principal and the area education supervisor were present for the distribution and then we gathered all 183 students. They stood in the courtyard in neat single file lines and sang our song back to us in English, phrase by phrase. According to the principal they are so remote that for many of them this was their first time to see a foreigner of any kind.

Thank you again for your faithfulness in pr^ying, in giving, in sending us here. It is true that for every person who takes the good news to a foreign land there must be a hundred who stay behind to support them. We are happy to be on your team.

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words



One of the Father's most beautiful creations.



Sometimes you get more than you expect...I got the whole claw in my rabbit stew at this meal!

Ladies who know how to ride around in style...

This teenager came up and sang with us and then wanted his picture taken!

Southeast Asia 2013 Day Five

THE VEIL OF DARKNESS I have pr^yer walked through a Buddhist Temple before but never when their false worship was in full swing. The fact that 15 false priests were chanting on wireless microphones (nice ones I might add...with an awesome thumping system) made the veil of darkness in that place seem incredibly thick. Our hearts were heavy as we approached but we had stopped outside and readied ourselves for spiritu^l warfare. So as they chanted loudly over the city, we prayed aloud that G*d would expose them as false witnesses and free those who were there bowing over and over again in front of the huge gold statues. The air was thick with the smell of incense as we kept climbing higher and higher on the side of this mountain until we reached the top where they had erected a black statue of their false prophet that rises over 50 feet from the top level of the temple.

Again we pr^yed for G*d's power to reign on that very ground and on the way down the steps some of us began to sing praise songs like: "You are not a G*d created by human hands..." THE CHINA ALAMO Coming down from the side of the mountain JH remarked that it sure would be nice if he could show us the Southeast Asian version of the Alamo that they had seen on a previous trip. And in one more show of a simple favor, we took a short cut back to the hotel down and alley and at the intersection there is was. (It reminded me of how my Father used to bless us as kids in simple ways like a quarter for a gum machine, not expensive but something to put a smile on your face). Truly, it looked like the front of the Alamo and in the center was a Texas star! If you've been here you know how completely foreign this type of architecture is. (Pictures coming if we can ever get the internet to agree) MARKET RESEARCH PROJECT Some friends of ours in another city a few hours away from here has opened a Pizza joint as a way to bless nationals and build a business here that can make an impact for Father. They have worked hard to provide a great product and tremendous customer service with mentoring from teams that have visited here from Chic Filet executive trainers. They heard there was a pizza place in the city we are staying in and asked if we might be brave enough to try it (italian food attempted in Southeast Asia can be brutal enough to be to end up on a man vs food episode). We were all in so we located the place and it was incredibly close to our hotel. We each took note of the taste of the pizza which had some very strange cheese and was garnished with things like peaches, and mystery meat. Anyway, the hope is that Father will help them bring a location to this city and with the current menu and an hour wait for a few personal sized pizzas, I think they are going to be huge hit. VBS CHILDREN'S OFFERING IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE While we were in the M People village yesterday we saw that the children at their very poor school did not have sufficient school supplies. Knowing that we had brought the VBS offering from our kids, we called immediately and ordered the needed supplies. Today it all came in and once again Father graced us because the store was located just one block from our hotel. We went over to pick it up and the sweet ladies that worked there offered to put them in packets for the each kid. We reminded them that meant making 183 packets but they pitched right in calling people from other departments to help out. We took over the whole electronics departments for almost an hour. It was so fun to work side by side and see that many hands did make for light work.

Because your children brought their pennies, nickels and dimes, each child will receive a brightly colored pencil pouch, a new pencil, a very cute pencil sharpener and a notebook. We cannot wait to load this stuff up tomorrow and make the trek out the winding and very bumpy road to the village. More to come on this in the next installment. ENGLISH TEACHERS AND PRINCIPLE SHOW UP TO SPECIAL DINNER It's hard to overstate the importance of tonight's dinner. Teachers who attended our presentation yesterday at the high school were very impressed at how we reinforced their English skills using music and drama. So, they came together tonight for a dinner in our honor. We visited with them, took pictures with them and established some very important relationships that will bear fruit for years to come in this school of 3000 students that is roughly 1/3 teenagers from our M People group.

And, although this is a very busy week with the school hosting a conference the principal made a point of coming by the thank our team personally. Our day ended with another meeting with the local p^stor who is very excited about partnering with us to reach the M People for Father. These are incredible and strategic moves by Father. He does...and always has...had a heart for the nations. (See Psalm 67)

Southeast Asia 2013 Day Four

TIME WITH FATHER Like every morning of this trip this day started with a rich time of prayer. (o.k. well it technically started with Uganda Tea and a pop tart in my room but after that...it was on to daily devotion.) Seriously, the prayer times alone have been worth the travel to this side of the globe. We are so blessed to be under the guidance of a mature M team from the company. They have kept the focus on Father and finding His plan for people He has led us to. I HAVE FINALLY BEEN THERE! After morning devotion/prayer time, the P*stor and his wife we visited with yesterday came to our hotel to travel with us to an M people village. I was so excited I could hardly wait to get on with it! Our driver came and we loaded up into the small van for the one hour ride to a village where I would meet my first M People in person. We pulled up and almost immediately I saw an open doorway and there he was the cutest little tiny M person. 

I know expectations are what get us in life but I just thought I would meet a little old man coming in from the rice field or a lady carrying water for her family but, how cool is it that it was this little tiny baby boy that could barely walk. I grabbed my camera to capture this moment (pictures are forthcoming when we get enough bandwidth to load them) and suddenly the grandmother appeared and picked the little boy up and with a toothless grin let me know it was o.k. to take a picture. As we began to tour the village we realized a strange thing...kids were running down the road like crazy-they were everywhere. We were then told by our driver that they were out of school for lunch! Each day the children go to school from 8 to 10:30 and then run home for lunch and come back to finish the school day from 12:30 to 3:30. We toured the school and found it to be one of the poorest in the area with children struggling to even have the basic school supplies needed for class. (Tomorrow we will see what we can do to meet this need and bless them through the love offering our own children gave to CHFB VBS.

After touring the school, we were introduced to the village leader who insisted on taking us on a walking tour of the village.

As we walked through town we began to attract a following of beautiful children (imagine that!). By the time our tour was complete they were laughing and running circles around us mostly brought on by JW giving them a huge stash of tangerines he had brought to eat as a snack lunch. We ended our tour where it began in front of a huge 100+ year old tree with guitar in hand and kids squealing as we sang "Walk, Walk, Walk in the Light." It does not get any better than this!...or does it? Here's what we realized really happened to make this all a reality. The P*stor that we will be working with in this area had told us that he would accompany us to a certain M People village so we could see them and meet them first hand. Then the M couple called and hired a certain driver that our team was familiar with to drive us to this village. On the way, we find out that this driver grew up in this very village and was taking us to his own people! Only a Father as great as ours could work this out! As our guide said today: our Father plays three dimensional chess! HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH CORNER GOES BANANAS! We came back from the village ecstatic about the way Father had answered our pr*yers and led us to the M People. We ate a quick lunch and then it was on to do an English corner we had been invited to by a teacher one of our teams had met on a previous trip here. An English corner is basically an extra curricular club like the Latin club that is dedicated to helping student become proficient in English. We have done these same English clubs at Universities in the past and I have seen as many as 60 or 70 kids show up. At this particular event somewhere between 300 and 400 students showed up. We sang some songs we had designed to help them learn English and they laughed hilariously as we taught them the motions. We ended by pulling kids from the audience and telling the story of The Prodigal ("from an ancient manuscript") while they each acted it out. It was so hard not to preach but, we had agreed not to do so. Still, the picture they saw of a loving, forgiving father is something we believe Father will use in the future to draw them to Himself.

Southeast Asia Day Three

When in doubt just wave your hands and look confused! Well it is 10:16p.m. and I am sitting in my hotel eating grape nerds... ready to hit the sack. It's been a long but very fruitful day. We headed out early this morning in search of some breakfast. TW is such a little overachiever so she had been working her way through her English to Asian language dictionary and had located key words such as "bakery" and "breakfast." So JW and TW and I are walking down this busy street with office buildings and shops all around stopping people and pointing excitedly to these key words followed by shrugged shoulders and both palms pointing heavenward. (we were almost sure that this was the universal sign for "where?" but I will have to ask Linday B to be sure :) . An Amazing Man of G*d Our group met together for another very moving time of talking to Father. We then split our team into two and one team went out to walk through the town asking Father for the city while our team went to meet with a local P*stor. It was a very important time since we have been asking Father to guide us to the local man of G*d that can lead us forward in reaching out to the M People. WE BELIEVE WE HAVE FOUND THAT MAN. A very humble man, who is well educated in the word with great compassion for the M People. And, he has actually been ridiculed somewhat by the religious leaders of the city for being to "conservative in doctrine." Now that's a CHFBC kind of guy. We will spend some time talking to father about this but he seems like just what Father ordered. This is the second largest evangelical congregation in town and they run only about 20 in their service. Impromptu Concert at the City Square I have never used a guitar on a trip to Southeast Asia. Not sure why, it's almost a trademark everywhere else but it just hasn't seemed to be a fit. But this time, even in our preparation meetings we knew it would be important. So, I borrowed one from one of our company people here, quickly restrung it and we headed out tonight to see what Father might do. Each city in this part of the world has a huge square where the local government puts on programs in the evening. We arrived to find it filled with thousands of people who watched as the local policemen's choir did a stately concert. We found a corner just far enough away and started singing any "western music" we could think of. We had been informed today by locals that the officials would be there so all the music had to be filtered so as not to arouse suspicion. Especially since I would be leading out and I already have a limited VISA. So our repertoire included everything from "It's A Great Day to Praise The Lord " (with words changed to It's a Great Day to Be Alive) to John Denver's "Country Roads", (No word changes needed.) It took a while to get a crowd around but eventually it became another night I will never forget. Over 100 nationals were gathered around us singing what they could and doing the motions with us. There was such laughter and good will in the air. That is what we were asked to do. In the end, there were children lined up to take pictures with the Americans and kids and adults alike were shaking our hands. And, as only Father could do, he worked it out for several local high school teachers to be there which resulted in an invitation to sing at the school tomorrow. DOORS ARE OPENING AND WE ARE WALKING THROUGH!

Southeast Asia Day 2

We started out this L*rd's day by w*rshiping at an apartment that is rented by the company for use in equipping leaders. We have not yet arrived in our destination city but that is one of our main tasks to accomplish today. It was a beautiful day and the courtyard leading up to the high rise building was lush and green with flowers everywhere. This province get's more rain than most and it's climate is one of the things that makes it one of the most beautiful parts of this country. I thought of how much Trinetta would have loved these well manicured gardens. J and YL are with the company here and will serve as our guides both to lead us to where we need to go as well as leading us in the best way to accomplish our work. J is from the U.S. but YL his wife is originally from here. They met while she was living in the U.S. but she is also a citizen here and this gives them an amazing open door to people who seem to receive them quickly. Hearing YL weep over the M People during our club time was so convicting to me as the Father whispered a question to me: "when was the last time you wept over them?" After singing songs of praise and a devotional, we received some very important training that will help us to move in lock step with each other and the Father as we work this week. After this, it was Sunday lunch. The food was very good and not too spicy (which seems to be important to all our team except JH) but had it's interesting aspects, I was the lucky one that got to eat the chicken foot. The whole fish was delicious too, and yes it was laying there looking at us...at least until JW ate the eyeball!! After eating we checked out of our hotel and went to the bus station to catch a bus to our final destination, L City. The bus was a very nice charter bus and so we loaded all our luggage into the bays and boarded for the 5 hour trip. It was actually pretty nice except for the war movie and the crazy sci fi flick they showed with the volume cranked to somewhere just beyond the capacity of the little speakers in the ceiling. WE ARE HERE! It's hard to believe that it was 8 years ago that I heard the call from Father to reach a people. It's amazing to look back on the journey that has followed and to realize that today, for the first time, my feet have touched the ground on which they walk. In case you can't tell I'm a little excited. Talking to the father on our behalf is very important right now. The next few days will turn another key, opening another door. We are confident of this.

Southeast Asia Day One

Well, we are here...safe and sound. But only the the hair of our chiny chin chin! After the 15 flight from the U.S. to our country of destination we only had an hour to make our transfer flight. This meant going through immigration/customs leaving the terminal to catch a bus (that showed up really late) and then running through the airport like headless chickens. And honestly, we didn't make it but unlike the states, they actually called the plane and held it at the gate until we could board. The Father graced us unusually on this one and we were so thankful. It is Saturday night at 8:30 as I write this and we are running on 3 to 4 hours of "plane sleep"...if you know what I mean. Not exactly like being in your bed. We arrived in country and met our contacts from the company, a delightful couple who have lived here over 10 years and who truly have a heart for the people. We had a traditional meal of fried dumplins, hollow tube greens (like spinach), spicy rice with pork and now we are about ready to hit the sack. Long day tomorrow so we need you to talk to Father on our behalf. We will board a bus with backpacks, suitcases and a borrowed guitar to get to the actual location of our people. Soooo excited to actually be there after talking to Father about them for so long. I am hoping we will have good internet where we are going despite it being a little more remote. If so, I will keep the updates coming.