by the way - that 12 hr trip was only 150 miles... avg speed of 13mph?
this is our last entry before we hop a plane back to island #1 and then back home later this evening. a couple of things:
we've been asked if american believers are always sharing their faith, and i am ashamed. if these who are paying such a price knew what the american bride does with our freedom i think they would be shocked and angry. or just grieved.
yesterday we met with a group of locals who are reaching out in this area. they told of us healings and exorcisms taking place. also about insults and abuse. one girl began to share how she is the only believer at her university, and then just broke down sobbing. the tears and the fears are real. but they are still determined to shine the Light.
let us not forget to remember these heroes of the faith to the Father.
thank you again for standing with us on this journey. safe to say it has been extremely eye-opening and significant, and we four will never be the same. if you ever get the chance to come here to the ends of the earth, you must...
now4then...
Friday, May 6, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
a 3 hour tour...?
ok. that was the WORST road i have ever traveled on. twelve hours of bumps and stops and all of us crammed in that little old SUV. that included a one hour delay while we waited on a mountainside for a landslide to be cleared away. one truck had even rolled off the road and almost down the hill when part of the road gave way. so when we finally made it to city #2 on island #3, we just headed straight for KFC... :)
i was reminded how a pioneering worker was asked one time by a potential worker about whether or not there was a good road where he was, to which the veteran replied, "we're not looking for people who will come if there is a good road. we're looking for those who will come if there is no road at all."
for our team it was a great picture of what our friends and their local partners are willing to do on a consistent basis in order to bring good news to these ones living in darkness. 12 hours. pretty much the remaining peoples who are still unreached are that way because they are the harder groups to reach.
i'm hardly able to take 12 minutes and go reach out to my neighbor. how am i doing?
as we drove into the city last night, we were driving around a large bay. it was pitch black - the darkness of the water stretched out as far as we could see. except for a few scattered lights that were actually out in the water. turns out it was people fishing. and it struck me that this was a perfect metaphor for these people. the darkness is everywhere. everyone we met today made a point of telling us that all people in this group are of the same religion. 100 percent. they are quite adamant and proud about this. and a handful of people - at great personal risk and effort - are faithfully fishing for souls.
once again - such a privilege to see what our friends have been a part of in this area for some 20 years. and again, we are grateful for your prayers. this area we are in now in particular has been very resistant and hard on workers. one more day here - we meet with some of those who are actually engaged in this area tomorrow - and then we head back to island #1 the next day to fly back.
just one or two tummy issues in our group, but other than that things are good. we found magnums - excellent. ask me to tell you about that sometime... :)
now4then...
i was reminded how a pioneering worker was asked one time by a potential worker about whether or not there was a good road where he was, to which the veteran replied, "we're not looking for people who will come if there is a good road. we're looking for those who will come if there is no road at all."
for our team it was a great picture of what our friends and their local partners are willing to do on a consistent basis in order to bring good news to these ones living in darkness. 12 hours. pretty much the remaining peoples who are still unreached are that way because they are the harder groups to reach.
i'm hardly able to take 12 minutes and go reach out to my neighbor. how am i doing?
as we drove into the city last night, we were driving around a large bay. it was pitch black - the darkness of the water stretched out as far as we could see. except for a few scattered lights that were actually out in the water. turns out it was people fishing. and it struck me that this was a perfect metaphor for these people. the darkness is everywhere. everyone we met today made a point of telling us that all people in this group are of the same religion. 100 percent. they are quite adamant and proud about this. and a handful of people - at great personal risk and effort - are faithfully fishing for souls.
once again - such a privilege to see what our friends have been a part of in this area for some 20 years. and again, we are grateful for your prayers. this area we are in now in particular has been very resistant and hard on workers. one more day here - we meet with some of those who are actually engaged in this area tomorrow - and then we head back to island #1 the next day to fly back.
just one or two tummy issues in our group, but other than that things are good. we found magnums - excellent. ask me to tell you about that sometime... :)
now4then...
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
day 7
we're about to head to the other side of island #3 - normally a 6 hr trip on bumpy roads but apparently recent rains have made the roads even worse...! woohoo!
several highlights to share from the past couple of days:
-we had the chance to visit a local market. lots and lots of stalls crammed next to each other under low tin roofs. we went in after a heavy rain and the ground/floors were pretty wet/muddy. as it turned out our point of entry was the meat section. it was late in the day, and what was left was some chicken and a bunch a fish, all covered with flies. nasty. our friend who led us in there stopped and began chatting with one of the sellers and next thing we knew she turned to us and and said, "ok, they're ready to hear a story..." as in a testimony. dick was the bold one, and started telling his story to this lady while our friend translated and added contextually appropriate commentary. before we knew it a dozen or so folks came over and got to hear dick's story of faith. amazing. one woman in particular was standing close, holding her hands together over her heart and smiling and nodding as she listened. we didn't get her name however...
-yesterday we had the chance to meet several of the national workers who partner with our friends here. their stories are amazing. one of the guys told how as a 9-yr old boy one day as he was attending to his prayers he heard a voice tell him to read the red holy book. the very next day he saw that one of his infidel friends had a holy book with red letters in it. he asked to borrow it and his friend gave it to him. later that next night he was wondering where to start and a voice told him to read john 14.6. that very night he began following the One Who is the Way. two of the other workers told us how they left their families to marry infidels and in the process of becoming believers had been subject to repeated beatings and abuse and torture by their families. these precious faithful servants have become our heroes. the price they pay is beyond anything we can come close to.
-we also got to visit the local house of worship where the leader wanted to be sure that we knew that theirs is a religion of peace. such irony.
-one other story: we had the chance to visit a local village and observe some local customs and rituals. as we sat there watching, one of our friends began chatting with a couple of kids and started telling them a crafted story from the Book. it wasn't long before she was surrounded by more than 20 kids, all totally caught up in the story. the expression on their faces was priceless. with parents close by she couldn't go very far, but as we left we were struck with how open these people are, especially the kids. so many villages and towns with not one believer - who will tell these ones, these little ones?
please remember us today as we travel and as we continue to visit with local workers. they tell us that it means so much to them that we have come so far to visit with and encourage them. thank you...
several highlights to share from the past couple of days:
-we had the chance to visit a local market. lots and lots of stalls crammed next to each other under low tin roofs. we went in after a heavy rain and the ground/floors were pretty wet/muddy. as it turned out our point of entry was the meat section. it was late in the day, and what was left was some chicken and a bunch a fish, all covered with flies. nasty. our friend who led us in there stopped and began chatting with one of the sellers and next thing we knew she turned to us and and said, "ok, they're ready to hear a story..." as in a testimony. dick was the bold one, and started telling his story to this lady while our friend translated and added contextually appropriate commentary. before we knew it a dozen or so folks came over and got to hear dick's story of faith. amazing. one woman in particular was standing close, holding her hands together over her heart and smiling and nodding as she listened. we didn't get her name however...
-yesterday we had the chance to meet several of the national workers who partner with our friends here. their stories are amazing. one of the guys told how as a 9-yr old boy one day as he was attending to his prayers he heard a voice tell him to read the red holy book. the very next day he saw that one of his infidel friends had a holy book with red letters in it. he asked to borrow it and his friend gave it to him. later that next night he was wondering where to start and a voice told him to read john 14.6. that very night he began following the One Who is the Way. two of the other workers told us how they left their families to marry infidels and in the process of becoming believers had been subject to repeated beatings and abuse and torture by their families. these precious faithful servants have become our heroes. the price they pay is beyond anything we can come close to.
-we also got to visit the local house of worship where the leader wanted to be sure that we knew that theirs is a religion of peace. such irony.
-one other story: we had the chance to visit a local village and observe some local customs and rituals. as we sat there watching, one of our friends began chatting with a couple of kids and started telling them a crafted story from the Book. it wasn't long before she was surrounded by more than 20 kids, all totally caught up in the story. the expression on their faces was priceless. with parents close by she couldn't go very far, but as we left we were struck with how open these people are, especially the kids. so many villages and towns with not one believer - who will tell these ones, these little ones?
please remember us today as we travel and as we continue to visit with local workers. they tell us that it means so much to them that we have come so far to visit with and encourage them. thank you...
Sunday, May 1, 2011
island #3
yesterday we had an adventurous and somewhat grueling 7-hr journey from our friends home island to a neighboring island where there is some encouraging work taking place. we had a long, slow ferry ride sandwiched between two bumpy trips packed in their small minivan. arriving long after dark, we barely managed to stay awake log enough to force down some dinner.
we WERE able to make the most of the journey itself. as we drove through village after village our friends knew whether or not there were any believing communities there and we would pray for the village as we drove through. only one village had a believing community in it...
this morning we awoke on a beach. the bungalows we will call home for the next three days are right on the water. breathtaking. the guys took in a quick snorkel before team time and then we headed out to meet up with some local workers for lunch. cold showers - don't get too envious.
we'll spend the next few days meeting a few of these national workers, praying with them, praying through unopened villages. so many living in darkness - such an amazing privilege to be here with our friends who have labored here faithfully for so many years. they tell us 61 ex-pats have come and left since they moved here - this place chews 'em up and spits them out. the most common thing we heard at our gathering yesterday was how hard it is to work here.
internet access may be scarce for a few days. we covet your intercession. a little greater sense of homesickness today... everyone's healthy, so that's been nice!
thank you for taking the time to read and to remember us...
we WERE able to make the most of the journey itself. as we drove through village after village our friends knew whether or not there were any believing communities there and we would pray for the village as we drove through. only one village had a believing community in it...
this morning we awoke on a beach. the bungalows we will call home for the next three days are right on the water. breathtaking. the guys took in a quick snorkel before team time and then we headed out to meet up with some local workers for lunch. cold showers - don't get too envious.
we'll spend the next few days meeting a few of these national workers, praying with them, praying through unopened villages. so many living in darkness - such an amazing privilege to be here with our friends who have labored here faithfully for so many years. they tell us 61 ex-pats have come and left since they moved here - this place chews 'em up and spits them out. the most common thing we heard at our gathering yesterday was how hard it is to work here.
internet access may be scarce for a few days. we covet your intercession. a little greater sense of homesickness today... everyone's healthy, so that's been nice!
thank you for taking the time to read and to remember us...
Saturday, April 30, 2011
lost my streak...
well, this morning's breakfast was the first meal i had had since leaving that DIDN'T have rice... but our friends have a woman who works for them and she made a wonderful cinnamon bread along with some scrambled eggs.
our plane to island #2 took off last night and then promptly turned around and returned to island #1 since a huge tropical storm had just come up on island #2. in the end we made it ok and enjoyed our first good night of sleep. until 4.30am - that's when the call to prayer woke us all up. i really need to find out if there is some cultural thing that i just don't get cuz really, the dude on the mic cannot sing.
we'll spend some time with some other ex-pat workers in worship this morning - dick is gonna bring the Word - and then head to island #3 - 6 hours of driving and a long ferry ride. there we'll spend the rest of our week meeting our friends' national partners, praying for them, and taking time to meet locals in hopes of possibly identifying some "persons of peace". those are people who like the woman at the well can open up whole families and villages to the Good News.
there is such darkness and blindness here. only prayer can penetrate - thank you for standing with us and with our friends...
our plane to island #2 took off last night and then promptly turned around and returned to island #1 since a huge tropical storm had just come up on island #2. in the end we made it ok and enjoyed our first good night of sleep. until 4.30am - that's when the call to prayer woke us all up. i really need to find out if there is some cultural thing that i just don't get cuz really, the dude on the mic cannot sing.
we'll spend some time with some other ex-pat workers in worship this morning - dick is gonna bring the Word - and then head to island #3 - 6 hours of driving and a long ferry ride. there we'll spend the rest of our week meeting our friends' national partners, praying for them, and taking time to meet locals in hopes of possibly identifying some "persons of peace". those are people who like the woman at the well can open up whole families and villages to the Good News.
there is such darkness and blindness here. only prayer can penetrate - thank you for standing with us and with our friends...
we made it!
well, team asia is on the ground and rolling after 10000 miles and 24 hours of flying...!
today we had the rare privilege of spending time with an american woman who has been here shining the Light for 58 years!
we also got an up close glimpse of a people who show an amazing gift of artisanship - streets lined with shop after shop after shop selling hand-made gifts - but who allso show the highest level of bondage to idols i personally have ever witnessed. heart-breaking, really.
we're about to board a short flight to the home island of our host friends.
we thank you for your prayers!
today we had the rare privilege of spending time with an american woman who has been here shining the Light for 58 years!
we also got an up close glimpse of a people who show an amazing gift of artisanship - streets lined with shop after shop after shop selling hand-made gifts - but who allso show the highest level of bondage to idols i personally have ever witnessed. heart-breaking, really.
we're about to board a short flight to the home island of our host friends.
we thank you for your prayers!
Friday, April 29, 2011
A definite miracle
Many thanks for your prayers. In spite of a late arrival in Seoul, a couple of angelic assistants have helped us make our connection. Next stop - destination!
Sent from my iPhone
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
misconnect?
ok - looking over our tickets, we only have a 50-minute connection time in seoul. if we misconnect we will most likely be delayed at least 24 hours. could you please pray with us and ask the father to let us make that connection? let the miracles commence!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
getting ready
please be remembering us to the Father and ask Him to give us one heart and mind as a team and to use a to be a blessing to our friends in SE asia...
thanks!
l to r:
dick, meri, marla, chris
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