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)