Our time here in Trichy, India has been extremely fruitful. The people has been very responsive to the teaching Mark and I have presented and the women have loved what Edie has done with them. We are so thankful. On Thursday I taught on our identity in Christ from Romans 6-8 and on God’s design for marriage. Afterwards there was a time of testimony from those attending. A couple of the older pastors gave impassioned responses. One said that in 50 years of hearing preaching at conferences and elsewhere he had never heard teaching like this. One older man hugged and kissed me almost in tears as he expressed appreciation for what he had learned. The people here have treated us like celebrities in spite of our protests. Little do they know that we are little, unknown people that God has chosen to use to teach them. We count it such an awesome privilege to serve in this way.
We are investigating whether further training here in the future will be possible. We do not just want to do conferences, but would like to train nationals to train others. There may be some real possibilities here as the leaders have contacts in 6 – 8 cities an hour or two surrounding this city. We could train teams here and send them out to these cities. We will see what happens.
It has been very hot here but bearable since we have air conditioning at night. The food has been equally hot in a spicy way and we are ready for something a bit milder. Edie heads for home tonight and I press on to Uganda and Kenya. I will miss her and her faithful encouragement deeply. But I am looking forward to meeting new brothers in Uganda. I have no idea what to expect there either in terms of the level of understanding, education or even the accommodations. I fly all night and wait for my training partner until about noon their time and then we travel by car 4 hours to the training location. Who knows what that will be like. Once again this role proves to be an adventure.
Al
We're Al and Edie, who are serving with ReachGlobal. We're engaged in Biblical and theological training for pastors around the world.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Strength in Weakness
The verse that keeps coming to my mind is from Ephesians 3:20, "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us." As some of you knew, the program for the women was never really addressed so I planned to go with what I had done in Africa with some tweaking. I was told to expect 20 women. The day before we left the US I received a note saying the women have advanced education and are accustomed to in-depth teaching. Also 30 women were signed up. With the help of Amy, my mom & Nicole, I quickly made 12 more craft kits. I had to redo the notebooks by buying the folder type instead of the larger ones. This last minute note required me to cast myself on the Lord once again for wisdom and assurance that He is with me. Needless to say I asked the Lord for how I could make the teaching a little more in-depth, and He gave me a slightly different outline with increased notes to go with it.
Sunday morning Al did a powerful message at the church where the conference is being held. That night the three leaders of this conference came to say that the women want to hear Al's teaching. The plan was for me to teach while he was and the women would be with the men in the afternoons for Mark's teaching. So they were willing to adjust some timing and of course Al is very supportive and cut back on his content. Well... you can imagine how the devil delighted in taunting me with all this (as well as seeing in my mind that black ugly spider staring at me before his demise as mentioned in a previous post). But once again I returned to the truth of God's word and His love for me and just waited to see what would happen. He did more abundantly than all that I asked! The women loved my "different program". I began with a "Drawing Near" time, then the teaching from the Word and lastly a fellowship time. One lady said to me today this is so different from anything we have ever done that they will never forget you! Ha. My prayers have been for rapport with the women...and it has been INCREDIBLE! They are so warm and engaging, and enough speak some English to make my contact with each of the women easier.
We are having to make 6 more craft kits. Praise God, with a great shout of joy! I have a translator who is working as one with me (another answered prayer). We are having such a good time that I know it has to be a witness to the other women. She is going shopping to find some fabric to make more kits. It was a first for many of the women, but they caught on despite the fact they are sitting on a floor crammed into this small room next door to the church.
Al and Mark are also having a great time with the pastors. They have asked Al to repeat the teaching he did in Bangladore where we first met these guys on Romans 6,7,and 8, so he will probably do that Thursday morning. They also want Al to teach on marriage so pray for all the scheduling issues. Tonight we have been asked to meet with a couple who are Hindus that have come to Christ recently and are having spiritual warfare problems and family problems. Another God-sighting: I have asked the women two questions, "How has a woman encouraged you?", and "Share a short version of how you came to Christ." One woman who answered these two questions was a Muslim that recently came to Christ along with her husband. She then later said no woman had encouraged her. Today I talked to her and she said she was very happy and had been encouraged. I took the opportunity when she spoke to tell the woman to be encouraging each other this week as an assignment. I think they must have.
Each evening we are having dinner in someone's home. Our stomachs are set on fire! But we are thankful to have them introduce their culture to us. Thank you so much for your love and prayers for us. God is so faithful with us in the trials and on the mountain tops.
Edie
Sunday morning Al did a powerful message at the church where the conference is being held. That night the three leaders of this conference came to say that the women want to hear Al's teaching. The plan was for me to teach while he was and the women would be with the men in the afternoons for Mark's teaching. So they were willing to adjust some timing and of course Al is very supportive and cut back on his content. Well... you can imagine how the devil delighted in taunting me with all this (as well as seeing in my mind that black ugly spider staring at me before his demise as mentioned in a previous post). But once again I returned to the truth of God's word and His love for me and just waited to see what would happen. He did more abundantly than all that I asked! The women loved my "different program". I began with a "Drawing Near" time, then the teaching from the Word and lastly a fellowship time. One lady said to me today this is so different from anything we have ever done that they will never forget you! Ha. My prayers have been for rapport with the women...and it has been INCREDIBLE! They are so warm and engaging, and enough speak some English to make my contact with each of the women easier.
We are having to make 6 more craft kits. Praise God, with a great shout of joy! I have a translator who is working as one with me (another answered prayer). We are having such a good time that I know it has to be a witness to the other women. She is going shopping to find some fabric to make more kits. It was a first for many of the women, but they caught on despite the fact they are sitting on a floor crammed into this small room next door to the church.
Al and Mark are also having a great time with the pastors. They have asked Al to repeat the teaching he did in Bangladore where we first met these guys on Romans 6,7,and 8, so he will probably do that Thursday morning. They also want Al to teach on marriage so pray for all the scheduling issues. Tonight we have been asked to meet with a couple who are Hindus that have come to Christ recently and are having spiritual warfare problems and family problems. Another God-sighting: I have asked the women two questions, "How has a woman encouraged you?", and "Share a short version of how you came to Christ." One woman who answered these two questions was a Muslim that recently came to Christ along with her husband. She then later said no woman had encouraged her. Today I talked to her and she said she was very happy and had been encouraged. I took the opportunity when she spoke to tell the woman to be encouraging each other this week as an assignment. I think they must have.
Each evening we are having dinner in someone's home. Our stomachs are set on fire! But we are thankful to have them introduce their culture to us. Thank you so much for your love and prayers for us. God is so faithful with us in the trials and on the mountain tops.
Edie
Monday, July 25, 2011
More Pictures from Thailand
Here are some pictures of the Lahu man named Don that I told you about in a previous post. We begin teaching here in Trichy, India tomorrow and expect around 50 pastors. Pray that we will connect well and be a blessing. Edie will have about 30 women to teach.
Al
Al
Traveling Adventures
Whew! What a unbelievable last few days! We left Thailand for the long trip to Mumbai, India on Friday evening. Our flight started out late and then on arrival had to circle for an hour, getting us on the ground around midnight. Then we had to wait 2 hours for our bags. We do not know why, as you know they have had some bombings in that city recently and perhaps that is the reason. We heard that there had been a threat at the airport. At any rate we were tired when we reached the hotel at 2:30, or 4 am Thailand time. We were up at 7 am to eat and head to the airport to go to Trichy. We mistakenly had our driver take us to the international airport because we did not know that there was a separate domestic terminal. About an hour before our flight we found that out and had to rush over to the other terminal, about 15 minutes by taxi. We made it on time and had a good flight. On arrival we collected our bags and went outside to meet the pastors who were picking us up, but they were not there. We were surprised but waited patiently for about 30 minutes. Finally we thought maybe they were at the international terminal in that city and I walked over to see, it was only a few blocks. No one at all was there. When I returned, they still had not come. I went over to a cab company office and asked if I could use their phone and called the pastors. The person at the office spoke in the language of the area and I could not tell what the conversation was but I assume she asked them where they were. They were at the airport waiting for us, just not the airport we were at, not even in the city we were at. We had flown to the wrong city! They were 440 Kilometers away. The names here are so long and difficult that we had failed to notice that we were headed to the wrong place. We had to rent a car to be driven to the right city, about 8 hours away. We were going to get to tour a large part of South India, something we had not planned on. On the way it started to get dark and I felt a critter crawling on my neck. I grabbed it and flipped it on the floor of the car. We turned on the light but could not see it. About a half hour later Edie had the same sensation and she gets a little more excited when things crawl on her in the dark. She flipped it off and this time we saw it, a large spider. We were able to kill it and no harm came to any of us but the spider. Edie actually maintained pretty good composure given the circumstances. The highway we were on started as a winding two lane but eventually connected with a very good divided highway. Still, occasionally we found others driving on our side of the highway in the wrong direction. It tends to make you a little nervous when it is a truck or bus coming at you. But by God’s good grace we arrived in Trichy around 9:30 safe and sound.
I mention these adventures not to complain, although we were tempted to do so at times. I mention it to show you what missionary life is sometimes like. These were not really ministry days, just travel days, but still they were a part of what it means for us to travel in order to do ministry. I spoke this morning in the church here and used this adventure to illustrate to them that God does not always take away all of our problems, but is always with us in them. At the conference my supervisor had said in a message he preached that we should not ask, “What is God trying to teach me?”, when we encounter troubles. Instead we should ask, “What does God want to show through me to others?”. Hopefully we are showing trust in an almighty great God who loves us even when we go to the wrong city!
Al
I mention these adventures not to complain, although we were tempted to do so at times. I mention it to show you what missionary life is sometimes like. These were not really ministry days, just travel days, but still they were a part of what it means for us to travel in order to do ministry. I spoke this morning in the church here and used this adventure to illustrate to them that God does not always take away all of our problems, but is always with us in them. At the conference my supervisor had said in a message he preached that we should not ask, “What is God trying to teach me?”, when we encounter troubles. Instead we should ask, “What does God want to show through me to others?”. Hopefully we are showing trust in an almighty great God who loves us even when we go to the wrong city!
Al
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
A Good Day
We had a great day today. My interview in front of the group went very well and I had another great lunch appointment that shows real promise of more training opportunities. I remain amazed at the opportunities that God is opening up for us. My seminar went very well also, with several asking for samples of materials. One missionary in transition asked about the possibility of joining our training team. All in all it was a very fruitful day. Tomorrow I present the seminar once again and have another lunch appointment. Thanks for continuing to pray.
Tonight we had the privilege of traveling about an hour out of town to a training center ReachGlobal partners with that serves the Lahu hill people of Thailand. They have about 35 churches and about 3,000 believers in the group. At the center they train young people for ministry. Many have to learn to read and write and do the course work, all in three years. We were so impressed with their hard work and the joy that seemed to accompany their efforts. I had the honor of saying a few words of encouragement to the group and praying for them. My translator was a very small man, probably 1/3 my size. We had some fun playing that up together. I picked him up once and he later leaned against me and rubbed my belly. The whole place roared. What a joy to rejoice with a brother from a totally different culture. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera, everyone who knows us will not find that surprising. But some others got pictures so we will try to get some and post them if possible.
Al
Tonight we had the privilege of traveling about an hour out of town to a training center ReachGlobal partners with that serves the Lahu hill people of Thailand. They have about 35 churches and about 3,000 believers in the group. At the center they train young people for ministry. Many have to learn to read and write and do the course work, all in three years. We were so impressed with their hard work and the joy that seemed to accompany their efforts. I had the honor of saying a few words of encouragement to the group and praying for them. My translator was a very small man, probably 1/3 my size. We had some fun playing that up together. I picked him up once and he later leaned against me and rubbed my belly. The whole place roared. What a joy to rejoice with a brother from a totally different culture. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera, everyone who knows us will not find that surprising. But some others got pictures so we will try to get some and post them if possible.
Al
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Encouraging Opportunities
We are praising the Lord that Edie is feeling much better today. She is pretty much back to normal except she is having some challenges adjusting to the time change. We can go to bed easily but wake up around 2 or 3 in the morning and then can’t go back to sleep. Such is life on the other side of the world.
I have made several significant contacts with missionaries today and really see the Lord opening doors for future training opportunities. The need is great but many missionaries are a bit hesitant to have just anyone come and teach their people. These face-to-face meetings accomplish a lot in terms of helping them get to know me and my ministry. Tomorrow is a big day in that I will be interviewed in the morning before the whole assembly and then give a seminar on our training ministry in the afternoon. I really want to communicate our desire to serve them and be a resource for them rather than we are just coming with the latest new ideas. Thanks for your prayers for us.
We have had some opportunities to encourage some of the missionaries as we meet and hear their stories. They are just like all of us with family problems, etc., that we all struggle with, but sometimes their support structure is limited. We count it a privilege to encourage and pray with them. We are so often in awe of what these servants endure for the sake of Christ’s kingdom. It is a blessing to be here.
Al
I have made several significant contacts with missionaries today and really see the Lord opening doors for future training opportunities. The need is great but many missionaries are a bit hesitant to have just anyone come and teach their people. These face-to-face meetings accomplish a lot in terms of helping them get to know me and my ministry. Tomorrow is a big day in that I will be interviewed in the morning before the whole assembly and then give a seminar on our training ministry in the afternoon. I really want to communicate our desire to serve them and be a resource for them rather than we are just coming with the latest new ideas. Thanks for your prayers for us.
We have had some opportunities to encourage some of the missionaries as we meet and hear their stories. They are just like all of us with family problems, etc., that we all struggle with, but sometimes their support structure is limited. We count it a privilege to encourage and pray with them. We are so often in awe of what these servants endure for the sake of Christ’s kingdom. It is a blessing to be here.
Al
Monday, July 18, 2011
Safe Arrival to Thailand
We arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand safely, if not completely sound. We left Minneapolis around 9 am on Friday and arrived in Bangkok, via Chicago and Seoul Korea, around 9 pm local, or 9 am Minneapolis time, almost exactly 24 hours later. International travel is a bear any way you slice it. We slept well in an inexpensive but clean hotel near the airport and then flew on to Chiang Mai early the next morning.
The conference is going well. I am making a lot of good connections as the Lord puts me in contact with various missionaries on our Asia team. I think some significant opportunities to train pastors will come about in the future as a result. Thanks for your continued prayers as this connections business is not my strength but the Lord is helping me greatly. Unfortunately, by habit, Edie forgot and washed her mouth out with tap water after brushing her teeth and now has some stomach distress. Hopefully it will be short lived. Prayers for her health are appreciated.
Chiang Mai seems to be a beautiful area although we will probably see little of it. We had dinner at a restaurant not too far from our hotel and rode back with a couple from Japan in a Tuk Tuk, a three wheeled motorcycle type taxi. It usually seats only three but I sat on the battery beside the driver and hung on for dear life. We do have some fun with life from time to time.
We count it such a privilege to be around our ReachGlobal missionaries. They are a great bunch of soldiers for the Lord. Our faith is being increased. We always hear some great stories of God’s work. It has also been a joy to reconnect with some of the missionaries we have met in the past. The Lord is good.
More later...
Al
The conference is going well. I am making a lot of good connections as the Lord puts me in contact with various missionaries on our Asia team. I think some significant opportunities to train pastors will come about in the future as a result. Thanks for your continued prayers as this connections business is not my strength but the Lord is helping me greatly. Unfortunately, by habit, Edie forgot and washed her mouth out with tap water after brushing her teeth and now has some stomach distress. Hopefully it will be short lived. Prayers for her health are appreciated.
Chiang Mai seems to be a beautiful area although we will probably see little of it. We had dinner at a restaurant not too far from our hotel and rode back with a couple from Japan in a Tuk Tuk, a three wheeled motorcycle type taxi. It usually seats only three but I sat on the battery beside the driver and hung on for dear life. We do have some fun with life from time to time.
We count it such a privilege to be around our ReachGlobal missionaries. They are a great bunch of soldiers for the Lord. Our faith is being increased. We always hear some great stories of God’s work. It has also been a joy to reconnect with some of the missionaries we have met in the past. The Lord is good.
More later...
Al
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