Merry Christmas from Thailand!

Sawatdii khrap/kha! Sabaaydii may khrap/kha? Praise God! We can’t believe that it has already been over two weeks for us in Thailand and over a month and a half since we left the States. Although there have been a few difficulties along the way with the transition (homesickness, culture shock, etc…), God has been very gracious and faithful to us. Our stay in Singapore was especially difficult, but God used that interim time there to help us adjust to overseas and to strengthen our calling to obey through missions.

During one of our debriefings within the first few days of arriving to Lopburi, Thailand, our language/orientation training director asked us how we were feeling. We must admit that the first word that came to mind was, “helpless.” You see, back in the States, it was so easy for us to undertake simple tasks such as grocery shopping, ordering food at a restaurant, or getting a haircut. Now, it seems that all that is familiar and easy have been stripped away. In essence, we are re-learning how to do everything again. It gives us a greater appreciation for how our parents must have felt as first generation immigrants to the States as well.

It is said that most people avoid or resist change. For us though, change has been something that we have had to get used to, whether we like it or not. We have shared many times with people, “Be comfortable with the uncomfortable,” but now we are living out that phrase ourselves. We are getting used to the heat and humidity (although it is actually quite comfortable in Lopburi right now). We are getting used to the traffic and weaving through it on our bicycles to and from language school (Dave has mastered riding a bicycle with both Caleb and Caden on it at the same time!). We are getting used to our dip-and-flush toilets (there’s definitely a technique to it!). We are getting used to Thai food and the kids are getting used to no McDonald’s (although there are frozen chicken nuggets at the larger grocery stores). And we are getting used to homeschooling our kids (teaching them Bible, history/geography, & math in the mornings and reading & writing in the afternoons).

            Perhaps change is not always bad. It is helping us get to know ourselves better, forcing us to rely on God more, and teaching us to extend grace to each other. Most of all during this season, it is reminding us that our Lord came into this world as a helpless baby to bring good news to all the earth. Thank you for your prayers and support, and we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Early Christmas in Singapore

Adjusting to Thailand

We are slowly figuring our way around the city. Praise the Lord! Now we know how our parents felt as immigrants in the US (haha). We purchased cell phones and bicycles already (perhaps the 2 essentials for us right now). The weather has been fairly comfortable at around 70-80 degrees F (though there are still lots of mosquitos). The boys are starting to get used to Thailand as well, and have started making friends with the neighborhood kids (perhaps this will open doors for us to get to know our Thai neighbors better as well). We wanted to share the following photos (a photo journal of sorts). Enjoy!




Caden getting some rest on Mr. Elephant.
Do you know why the elephant is so important in Thailand?

 



Caleb & Caden's first dinner in Lopburi. They looked famished!
No more chopsticks! We'll have to get used to only forks & spoons.

 



Town center of Lopburi. We call it the "Candlestick".

 



Caden's new bike.
The boys couldn't let daddy & mommy get away
with being the only ones buying bicycles!

 



Caleb's new bike. So flashy!

 



Mommy's dream bike (Hello Kitty).
She didn't get it by the way (hence the "dream").

 



Caleb with some of the neighborhood kids.

 



Caleb & Caden enjoying their new bedroom,
and getting ready for bed (or at least they are suppose to).

 

A Few More Pics of the Flooding

The drive out of Bangkok to Lopburi earlier this week was not as frightening as driving in (since it was during the day instead of at night). Here is a video clip of a part of the drive out:

Here are a few more photos that we took:

The following link is another great video that was made about the flood in Thailand: http://vimeo.com/30832048

Just a quick comment that even though Thailand has been getting a lot of media attention in regard to its physical crisis (i.e. flooding), there is a spiritual crisis as well. Please continue to pray for the country and its people.

Arrived in Thailand Safely

We arrived in Thailand safely, but had to drive through about a foot of flood waters to get to the field office. Quite surreal and a bit scary as well. Didn't get a chance to video tape the drive in, but here are some photos taken today from some of the surrounding neighborhoods.

No McDonald's

We learned that there is no McDonald's in the city that we will be moving to in Thailand. What? No McDonald's? We realized how Western we are. We guess there are still places in this world that have not been conquered by McDonald's. Okay, that's all.

Here are a few pics from our time in Singapore:

Joyful Suffering

"For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him,"

Philippians 1:29

During group bible study today in Philippians 1, the leader/facilitator made a comment that the above verse is one of the first verses new Chinese Christians memorize. Can you imagine if we asked new Christians or new church members in the West to memorize that? (Maybe many would refuse and leave the church.) But perhaps we should do that. The saying goes, "Salvation is free, but discipleship is not." Bonhoeffer also said in The Cost of Discipleship, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." Ultimately, if you look at the Great Commission from Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20, he does not call us to make converts. He calls us to make disciples.

It was very sobering in training today as we discussed about countries that are closed or restricted for missionaries to proclaim the gospel. There is always the possibility of imprisonment. There is always the possibility of death. Yet Philippians 1:21 says, "To live is Christ and to die is gain." We memorize it. We sing it in our praise songs. But do we really believe it? If I was honest with myself, I must say that I am not there yet. Why? Because when I think of suffering, I think of how awful a 28-hour plane ride with layovers feel (yet it took Hudson Taylor and other missionaries 7-9 months to travel by boat to China). I think of how awful it is to deal with humidity and that feeling of always being sticky. I think of not having my favorite foods around. I think of not having convenient appliances to use. I think of what the bathroom "conditions" will be like. But there are people who die for the gospel. That is suffering.

Now, I am not saying that I should deny how I am feeling or the culture shock that I will be going through when adjusting to a new place overseas.  I do believe that God wants us to be completely honest with how we feel before him (which is good for our emotional health as well!). But the point is that I simply don't have a good grasp on the theology of suffering and perseverance (and I don't believe that most churches in the West do either). If we did have a good grasp, I believe we wouldn't be dealing with issues like the prosperity gospel, but rather, we would be figuring out how to effectively mobilize God's people because every person who becomes a Christian would desire to undertake joyful suffering.

I just want to end by sharing about a newfound person I have come to admire. His name was George Stott. He had applied with CIM to go to China as a missionary but his application was turned down. He sought an audience with Hudson Taylor (who founded CIM) but Hudson Taylor turned him down as well. Why? The reason was because at age 19 Stott had an accident which necessitated the amputation of his left leg (and so he literally hobbled just to walk around). No mission agency saw him as physically fit to go into the field. In his final petition to Taylor, he said, "I do not see those with two legs going, so I must." That apparently persuaded Taylor, and so by faith he accepted Stott and allowed him to go to China.

Because the locals in the area he was trying to minister in were threatened by him, they at one point began to stone him and yell for him to run away. In response, he yelled out something like, "Look at my leg! I cannot run even if I wanted to!", at which the locals broke out in laughter. This was the beginning of a relationship that eventually led to a legacy. You see, the place in China where George Stott ministered in became the place which today can boast of the most Christians in China (10% of the 6 million inhabitants in the city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang province are Christians). Can you imagine if George Stott was not willing to joyfully suffer for the name of Jesus Christ?

Photo of George Stott

Living Legacy

We had a chance to meet this little old lady from England who was staying at the guest houses with us. Over breakfast a couple of days ago, she shared that she will be flying out that day for "home" in England and that this is probably her final farewell. We asked why, and she promptly answered that at age 88 she was getting too old to make these trips by plane overseas. It was sad to hear that. But at the same time, it was so amazing to hear her story. She joked that she was never good at learning a new language, and so her mission agency sent her to Singapore instead to minister and reach out to drug addicts and women in prison. She spent 45 years here in Singapore (the majority of her life), and so she delighted in coming to her "home" in Singapore to visit some of the people she had ministered to. What a blessing it is to get to follow-up with the lives you have touched, and to see how they are flourishing in the Lord several years later. To us, she is an example of a living legacy, of one who knew and loved Christ and in turn made Christ and His love known to others!

We wonder what kind of stories we will be able to tell at age 88, and what the fruits of our labor will look like as well. Of course, this is all by the grace and power of God, and so we daily walk by faith and obedience leaving the future in our Lord's hands.

Here is a couple of pics of Caleb & Caden in Singapore:

Transparent Homesickness

As Bill Cosby says, "Kids say the darndest things!" How true in the sense that kids are not really socially conscious (or status conscious) enough to really care about what those around them think or feel or judge about them. Sometimes, it can be rather embarrassing, such as when Caleb and Caden blurt out in public, "That person is fat!" Or when Caden exclaimed during our layover in Doha Airport in Qatar, "Look, there's Noah!" when he saw a Middle Eastern man in full Middle Eastern garb with a full beard.

In one sense, kids speaking their mind can be considered a sign of immaturity. But in another sense it can be considered a sign of unabashed transparency. Within the last few days, Caden has been exasperatingly stating, "I want to go home!" Or he will say, "I miss Ahma & Ahgon (Mandarin for Grandma & Grandpa)! I want to go home!" Last night, he woke up and kept screaming, "I want lemonade! I want lemonade! I want lemonade!" (probably because he remembers Ahma always making him homemade lemonade from fresh lemons).

Sometimes it is very sad for us to hear him say things like that. He is simply struggling with homesickness and being verbally transparent. Othertimes it is very frustrating for us to hear, and we wish that he would just adjust like a good missionary. But if we are brutally honest with ourselves, there are moments when we have felt exactly the same way the last few days. The difference is that we have been conditioned as adults to hide our feelings to a certain point. And especially as missionaries, there is an unspoken expectation that we simply need to be holier or "a cut above" in regard to being a Christian. But we are slowly realizing that supressing emotions or feelings can be rather unhealthy.

We were reminded in this morning's prayer time and message from Luke 5 that even though God calls us to realign our priorities with kingdom priorities, missionaries struggle just as much as any other Christians. It's easy to say good-bye yet still continually strive to reclaim all the things that you have forsaken. The staff who shared from the Word this morning reminded us that the difference between a spiritually-minded person and a worldly-minded person is not that they think about different things but that they think about the same things differently. How true. It's not that missionaries are not allowed, for example, to think about money or comfort or security, but that we simply have to think about it (and go about it) in a different way. Jesus calls us to "leave everything and follow him" (luke 5:11), yet he is not blind or ignorant to our needs as well.

Perhaps it would do us (Dave & Lila) good as adults to be transparent with our homesickness. God does not desire for us to hide. God does not desire for us to pretend. He doesn't just want us to bring empty sacrifices. He wants us to bring our hearts. Transparent hearts. Hurting hearts. Honest hearts. Available hearts. Trusting hearts. Obedient hearts. And he will bring about fruit like the amazing catch Apostle Peter witnessed and participated in in Luke 5, which will draw us to our knees in worship. True worship.

Please continue to pray for us. Pray that we may process the transition with each other as husband and wife. Pray that we may process the transition with Caleb and Caden as parents and children. Pray that we may process the transition with our fellow missionaries here in Singapore as brothers and sisters in Christ. We are thankful that we have a team of prayer partners that we can openly share with, a team that is so supportive as is evident in the photo below with the outpouring of love and presence on departure day at the airport. The photo is so special to us that we have decided to make it our desktop background on our laptop. Thank you all. We are reminded once again that though we may feel lonely, we are never alone.

Worst Time or Best Time

As you may have read or seen in the news by now, Thailand is struggling with severe flooding (the worst they have seen in half a century). Some have mentioned whether now is really the best time for us to venture into Thailand. One close brother in Christ, whose family we had the opportunity to catch dinner with the week before our departure, mentioned that perhaps the tragedy will open doors for the hope of the gospel to enter in. Another sister in Christ just emailed us today with the following message:

I thought you were going to Thailand at the worst time... I told my mom that and she said "No, they are going at the best time."  People are desperate, helpless, many have lost homes... and their hearts will be open to the Lord.  We pray for much seed to be planted and harvested through your lives!!

God's timing is perfect. We pray that any inconvenience for us would only turn to a convenience for the gospel to be spread. As Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinth 9:23, "I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings." Please continue to pray for the lives that have been devastated by the flooding in Thailand. It was surreal to see the flooding first-hand from the plane as we flew into Bangkok en route to Singapore. The following is a video link showing the flooding in Thailand as of Oct 28, 2011:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2011/oct/28/bangkok-floods-evacuation-video

Video Greeting to NSCCC

To all our Chicagoland friends at NSCCC. In case you may have missed our video greeting shared during the service last Sunday, we thought we would share it here on our blog as well (see below link). Thank you all for your prayers and support!

http://vimeo.com/31005375

God's Faithfulness & The Power of Prayer

Praise God! We have finally made it to Singapore. There were so many things that could have gone wrong. The snowfall on the day of our departure. The worries that our luggage would be okay even before check-in (one bag started tearing at the zipper and the tape holding the plastic bins shut seemed flimsy). The confusion that our airline was shutdown because of a strike (by the way, we took Qatar Airways and not Qantas Airways). The realization that we were missing one plane ticket to Thailand during our layover in Qatar. The flooding in Bangkok that made it difficult for our check-in luggage to be picked up. The possibility of Caden's recurring bout with motion sickness and throwing up (the projectile kind). And simply the longest stretch of travel by plane most of us have ever taken.

Yet God remained so faithful and carried us all the way through to Singapore with no major issues. We are reminded once again of 1 Thess 5:24, which says, "The one who calls is faithful and he will do it." We are also reminded of the power of prayer. Thank you all who have been faithfully praying for us during our travels. We truly felt your prayers!

We end this first blog with 2 quotes. The first was spoken by the EM Pastor at NSCCC after they viewed our video sent to them (and shared with us by email through a dear sister and church member there). The second is from J.O. Fraser.

"You might think that raising funds is the most difficult, but I tell you that raising prayer support is the most difficult and most important. ... Prayer requires on-going time and effort. ... The devil has less ammunition against prayer than money, so he will try harder to keep you from praying than sending money." (P. Michael Lee)

"I believe it will only be known on the Last Day how much has been accomplished in missionary work by the prayers of earnest believers at home." (J.O. Fraser)