Just a quick update

The Lord gave us the calm assurance of your friendship and you do include us in your prayers. Thank you so much for your love and generosity. Please include us once again in your personal and church prayer time. Here are our immediate prayer concerns.

We thank the Lord for the opportunity he had given to us to be part of the consultation in a conference of well established NGOs, Foundations, and Religious organizations who are doing similar program for women and children. We were able to present our ministry in the conference. The conference were beneficial to us in several ways: (1) We were able to share our ministry and hence gained recognition from like-minded people and organizations. (2) We learned about the rights of the children under our care. The Thai government recognizes the right of the children regardless of ethnicity, citizenship, or economic status. (3) We had the opportunity to expand our network. The organizers talked to us personally and told us to consult them if we are experiencing difficulties in getting our children to school.

We thank the Lord for our fellow missionaries who left their vehicle for us to use while they are home. We are using this vehicle in bringing the children to and from the school. This is convenient for us because of the heavy rains we are experiencing now. It also gives us the chance to have the old van repaired.

Please pray for our need for a new vehicle. The van is very old that the mechanic refused to do a body repair. The roof is pull of holes that the water leaks when it is raining. Narlin and I will do the body work so that we can use it a little bit longer. I will write another story about the fund-raising we are doing for the new vehicle.

Please pray for Ma Eng, our hardworking, kind and reliable helper. She had been staying with us for two years. She was extremely helpful with our ministry with the children. She needs higher salary because she is supporting her mother and sisters in Burma. She was offered a job in Bangkok. We were sad to see her go but she has a big need that we cannot afford to provide. Please pray for her safety and that she will not become a victim of human trafficking.

Pray for our children shelter ministry. We took in another two little girls aged 4 and 5. They are both totally orphaned. We also took in a baby girl of nine months and her mother. The husband got involved with human trafficking and now in jail. They don't have a place so they are staying with us in indefinite period of time.

Pray for our visa and work permit extension in July 14. Pray for provisions and safe travel to Chiang Mai. Please pray also that the process will go on smoothly.

Thank you so much and God bless.

Blood and prayer

It was the eve of Narlin's birthday when she received a text message from our friend. It says in effect, ‘the father of our worker is sick and he needs blood.’ Our friend is the director of the agricultural Foundation and he has several workers. This particular worker he was referring too is also our friend.

However, Narlin phone's battery was dead that night and it was only in the morning that she had read the message. She asked me, ‘are you willing to drive to Chiang Rai to donate blood.’ Chiang Rai is about 45 minutes to one hour drive from our home depending on the timing of the traffic lights. If all those traffic lights are green then we'll be there sooner, but if they happened to be all red then it will take an hour or so. But I digress.

Anyway, I agreed to donate my blood. In fact, I already missed doing it. I had been donating blood before that I could no longer remember how many times I have done it. Giving blood is scary. I know many people who are really afraid to give blood and I perfectly understand it. But when you overcome the fear, it is as easy as giving someone a drink, only there is a little pain involved.

So Narlin and I drove to Chiang Rai Hospital. Upon reaching the hospital, we called up our friend on the phone and told him that we arrived and I am ready to bleed. He met us at the lobby of the hospital and brought us to the ward where his sick father was. He introduced us to his father, brothers, sisters and nephews. He told them that I am a Pastor and a missionary here in Thailand. Then he asked me to pray for his father.

I wasn't supposed to do this. I expected to go the laboratory and give my blood and then just move on. At any rate, I had prayed for the sick on a hospital bed many times. And I was happy to do it.

My batting percentage in praying for the sick is very low my wife reminded me. It means many of those whom we prayed for didn't make it out of the hospital alive. Nonetheless, I prayed for him. This kind of prayer is the most fulfilling experience for me. Because I'm not uttering empty words, offering pretentious comfort for the sick and his family. I'm praying and I'm giving my blood and it is the least that I can do.

After the prayer, I uttered some words of encouragement to the sick. I then shook his hand and to my surprise he kissed it. I knew it was to show his appreciation either for praying or for donating my blood. But I surmised because I did both.

Faith without faith is dead. Likewise, prayer without efforts or at least an intention to be part to the answer of the things you are praying for is, for me, an insincere prayer.

It's tough to be away

So much things has been happening to us these last couple of months.  And we are thankful for you for helping us through your prayers and support. As I’m writing this, I am sitting down in front of a study table trying very hard to finish writing the dissertation ahead of schedule so that I can go back to Mae Sai sooner and continue on with the ministry there. Narlin is having a tough time working alone.

We need your prayers. Narlin has been struggling financially back home. Our visa expenses and our two trips back to the Philippines have taken its toll with our ministry funds. Yes, people helped us with the airfares and we are immensely grateful for that. However, travel expenses are not only about airplane tickets and bus fares. Narlin emailed me that she suddenly found herself unable to pay the monthly bills and provisions for 15 people in our house. There are only a couple of thousand pesos in our bank.

We completely trust the Lord’s provision for this. We have been in the same situation before and God never failed to provide.  Your prayers give us assurance and comfort that we are not alone in this.

Once again, please accept our heartfelt gratitude for your love and prayers.

I am writing the big D

I am now in Asia Baptist Graduate Theological Seminary campus somewhere in the Asia-Pacific region writing dissertation. After four years of working in the mission field, finding it difficult to think much more to write anything, I was asked to go home and finish it once and for all.  I was blessed to have been granted stipend for my travel and for my house and lodging. 

I thank the people who believed in me that I could do it, even when I stopped believing in myself that I have what it takes to write something as big as this long time ago. Having said that, I am broke and my family who I left somewhere in the Mekong region for three months. We suddenly found ourselves financially limited. I want to finish this so that I can go back home and resume the mission work as soon as possible. Thanks for your prayers.

I hope to resume theology blogging after this.

Blog resuscitation

In spite of inactivity in this blog, this blog's number of visits really never went down. Although it is not really that high. I have also been receiving emails expressing gratitude for the blog. Evidently, some of the posts have been very helpful to theology students. It seems also that some of the stuff I put in the sidebar had helped theology students with their papers and home works.

Furthermore, I received encouraging testimony from missionaries who have similar struggles with regards to contextualization of theology. Also, a student expressed that this blog and some of my experiences posted here had encouraged him to pursue further theological education. It is very encouraging.

This is my first blog and I started it when I came to the mission field and did not know anything about blogging. So it was a "hit and miss" experience for me then. This blog also has my name stamped on it. So I decided to resusucitate this blog and hope I can post more regularly. I also need to update my sidebar and put more resources that will provide materials for both missionaries and theologians.

Year two and thanks to Ben!

This month, this blog turns two. I would say that the best thing that happened to this it being linked to Faith & Theology and it resulted to being linked to other theology blogs and actually visited by more readers. For some time this blog was also linked by Jim when I was still have the time and energy to write sensible posts.

Interestingly, this blog is linked with other from missionary blogs. Some of them became our friends and one of them; Jonathan actually came to work with us after learning about our location and ministry from this blog. He is still here teaching in the Bible School and doing street evangelism.

Ben has done something special not only to this blog but also to me personally. His friendly appeal solicited incredible response that I now have a good collection in my library. In addition, Megan (our fellow missionary who went home to the States last July) left her bookcase to us upon when she saw those good books.

A “passing post” about a need for a spare laptop after I had a disastrous computer crashes. I admit I have not recovered emotionally since then after losing half of my dissertation. However, the good news is somebody gave me a PowerBook G4 Mac Laptop. My theology professor in the seminary sent it to me. The laptop which apparently was donated by somebody whom I don’t know personally. I don’t even have an idea if that person is reading F&T but just the same I feel I need to thank Ben for that.

Reconnected and it feels so good!

Our Internet was reconnected last week (support money finally came). I might be able to post more regularly now. However, our hands are still full preparing the facilities for the Bible School. We hope to start classes on second week of August. YWAM (Youth With A Mission) volunteers are helping us in painting the dormitories. Four of the students from Myanmar came to help. Three of them are staying in our house.

The children’s home is ready to be occupied. We are praying for 8 children that God will give to us. We still need a lot of furniture like beds, tables, chairs and if possible a couch. The house is still bare at the moment but we know that God will use people to fill up these needs.

I had been spending a lot of time with my sons lately (one of the benefits of not having Internet). We played a lot of basketball last week. This is not possible to do in the last two weeks because of constant raining.

We are going to Chiang Mai again this month for our visa extension. The visa is costing us a lot of money. Nonetheless, God is proving himself to be the great provider.

Cool change

If you are a regular reader, perhaps you notice the change in the design of this blog. My son helped me in changing it (and I am impressed). The content has been changing a lot as well. My intent, at first, was to blog primarily about my personal theological reflections related to mission works. But as I find myself most of the time away from the computer, I thought I could not sustain it.

I actually created another blog about our family’s personal updates, stories and testimonies for our family and friends back home. However, the longer I do it the more I realized that it is pointless and cumbersome to run two blogs. I closed the other one a few months ago and decided to do the personal and family blogging also in here, which I have been doing a lot anyway lately.

It is also a joy to know that many of my “real” (as opposed to virtual) friends and co-workers are now finding their way here. A couple of my readers came to Thailand and I had the chance to meet them personally and in that case, virtual friends became real. I am praying that what you read here will be a blessing. I know we will have disagreements but I hope that it will be an opportunity to learn from one another, just leave your comments in the comment section and I will wrestle with the answers.

Home again!

Three days in Phuket Orchid Resort and four days on the road either in the bus or waiting for it at the terminal was not an ideal holiday. The bus ride was so tiresome and we came home on the weekend meaning we had to extend ourselves for the church. The resort was fantastic and it was by no means cheap. But Narlin and I thought that it's all worth it.

We want to do this for our children. They had never been in a hotel before. While Narlin spent her youth working in what was considered to be the best five-star hotel in her hometown in Dagupan and I myself had stayed in a five-star hotel in Chiang Mai when I was invited to work with Asian Baptist Congress 2007 last May, as a family we never had the chance to enjoy staying in a hotel much more a resort hotel beside the beach. And the way life has been going four us right now, it seems highly unlikely that we can do it again in the near future. We neither have the financial resources and time. Time flies so fast and before we know it my children will have their own lives.

Again I want to thank Christian Hospitality Network for their well, hospitality. We met some wonderful people that hopefully will stay with us as friends. In the Bible, hospitality is one of the most important virtues that Christians should posses. Sadly, this is not true today. I never even had seen a church that has a true hospitality ministry. So for us, this is indeed a refreshing “cup of cold water in His name.” We want to thank the founder of CHN Paul Cowell and the volunteer staff who personally gave us words of encouragement. You all had been a blessing to us. We also want to thank personal friends who gave us money we used for our bus fare. We were worried because the money we had was not enough for the trip coming back. But God did provide through a good friend who was aware of our situation.

Somehow, after being away for over a week, we all feel glad to be backed home. We were surprised to find out that cold season had came to Mae Sai while we were gone. It feels good to be home.

Bits and pieces

I find myself unusually tired and busy this week. It’s Friday and I didn’t even notice it. I am teaching three hours a day and maybe I am spending the same hours in preparation. I am aware that my new job as bus driver is taking too much of my time. I am actually spending more or less 20 hours a week and it does not include the time I have been transporting people to the church and the midweek activities. Moreover, it is not that easy to drive a 21-year old van when the air-conditioning is not working without the help of power steering. Now, you may ask the question: why couldn’t I simply delegate the job to someone? The answer is simply because no driver is available. It so happen that in this community I am the only one who can drive. But Narlin and I are enjoying the company of the children who incessantly laughing, talking and singing while we are traveling the road to their homes. This is weekend, I was hoping for some free time and rest, but I know it is impossible. My works are actually doubled during the weekend.

All the same, I managed to finish a book edited by Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends. Here is the blurb:

Everyday theology is the reflective and practical task of living each day as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. In other words, theology is not just for Sundays, and it's not just for professional theologians. Everyday Theology teaches all Christians how to get the theological lay of the land. It enables them to become more conscious of the culture they inhabit every day so that they can understand how it affects them and how they can affect it. If theology is the ministry of the Word to the world, everyday theologians need to know something about that world, and Everyday Theology shows them how to understand their culture make an impact on it. Engaging and full of fresh young voices, this book is the first in the new Cultural Exegesis series.

In this book, Vanhoozer teaches us the methodology on how to read and interpret popular culture in the light of biblical/theological truths. This is a good read for theologians, pastors and missionaries. The method, I believe is applicable to any culture whether traditional or contemporary. This is fast reading and I hope to return to it and post a book review.

I am currently reading Globalizing Theology: Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity edited by Craig Ott and Harold A. Nettland. There are lots of good essays here about contextualization and third world theologies (and other topics I have yet to read) written by theologians, missiologists and anthropologists like Kevin Vanhoozer, Andrew Walls and Paul Hiebert. I will post some interesting insights from time to time.

Description: It is no secret that globalization is one of the most powerful forces in the twenty-first century. In nearly every realm--political, economic, cultural, ethnic, and religious--traditional boundaries are disappearing and people worldwide are more interconnected than ever. Recent decades have also seen the globalization of Christianity and the accompanying shift in the center of gravity of Christianity from the West to the southern hemisphere and Asia. As these realities take deeper root, scholars, students, and church leaders must grapple with the implications for theological reflection and method, not to mention missiological practice.

It is to this set of vital and complex issues that the contributors to Globalizing Theology address themselves in this collection of original and groundbreaking essays. Contributors include M. Daniel Carroll R., Lois McKinney Douglas, Paul G. Hiebert, Eloise Hiebert Meneses, James E. Plueddemann, Robert J. Priest, Vinoth Ramachandra, Steve Strauss, David K. Strong and Cynthia A. Strong, Tite Tiénou, Charles E. Van Engen, Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Andrew F. Walls, and Darrell L. Whiteman. A foreword by Wilbert R. Shenk is also included.

This international and internationally recognized group of scholars brings a multidisciplinary approach to the questions involved, including not only theological and missiological perspectives but also insights from history, sociology, ecclesiology, and anthropology. Part one examines the challenges for theology brought about by globalization. Part two focuses on methodological issues. Part three examines the implications of a global theology on various practical issues. Here is a vital text for courses in theology, missions, and cultural studies.

Monday was a happy day once again because another thirty-two books arrived in the mail. I was not home when the books came as I was teaching at the Missions Training Center. I think all the books are now here… but God is full of surprises, there are maybe more to come. The saying: so many books so little time has never been so true in my life until today. I am still overwhelmed by the number of books that the mailman is delivering in our front door. I guess by now the mailman is wondering where on earth those books come from.

Last week, we were surprised to be visited by one of the readers. Yes, a blog reader, a Christian Englishman living in Australia. He came to Mae Sai and got in touch with us and had a nice chat over a cup of coffee. When Narlin asked him how did he come to know us, he nonchalantly replied, I read your blog. I think it's amazing.

On the other note, my family and I are rejoicing in the Lord as we experience God’s provision this month. We are not having the same problem like the previous months when I have to “beg” for our friends and family to send some money to pay for our monthly bills. As the month of September begins, we see that our bank account have enough fund to see us through. We do not know who these people are yet but we want to thank God for them.

A Border Wedding

We were invited to attend a wedding by our friend, and she is actually the bride. She and her aunt are the first few people who become our closed friends. The ceremony started on time. The groom was evidently nervous. Of course, the main event for any wedding is the bridal entrance to the hall. Everybody was enthralled with the beauty of the bride, our friend looked very beautiful in her wedding dress. It is a marriage between a Thai-Chinese and an Akha lady from Myanmar. The ceremony was held in a Chinese Baptist Church. The officiating officer was a Thai Pastor who did the ceremony in Thai translated by someone in Burmese. I guess this is the normal way wedding at the border is done.

I love rain!

My children biking in the rain! They love it.

Rainy days are here. I love rain and enjoy the smell and the cleanness and freshness it brings. I love it in spite of the inconveniences it causes. I have a feeling that the rain will be less this year here in Mae Sai. Whatever! I love the rain!

Email from blog reader

Lately, I have been receiving emails from people who read my blog and most of them found this blog through Google referral. It is really a delight to hear from people who are total strangers but willing to become virtual friends. One email is from the webmaster of SiamPinoy.Com who have been living in the kingdom for ten years. As Filipino living in Thailand, I it is essential that I should connect with my countrymen here in the "land of the smile". Here is an excerpt from the email:

I saw your blog while searching for Filipinos in Thailand. We are building an online directory of Kababayans all over Thailand and I thought you might be interested to visit and connect to our site.

We are also building our list of Filipino profiles. One of our goals is to give our visitors ideas of what is going on with Filipinos all over Thailand. So if you are interested please let me know so I can send appropriate questions for the feature. This will be a good avenue also to promote your missions and to connect with other Filipinos in Thailand.

If you are a Filipino expat living in Thailand please visit the site SiamPinoy.com, register and let us connect.

New Year Notes

Sawat dee pee mai! Happy New Year!

The year 2006 (2549 for the Buddhists) passed by so quickly. My prayer right now is that 2007 will be a fruitful year for us as we live as “strangers” in a foreign land. At this point, I want to look back at the past year and note down here the significant events in our lives.

1. Our coming to Thailand exactly one year ago.
We came here one year ago to respond to God’s call to become harvest field workers. In spite of the hindrances and difficulties God made a way for us to come and work here. We are celebrating God’s faithfulness to us, he sees us through and he provided all we need by using people through out the year.

2. Our Visa struggles
We have been turned down once and we experienced difficulty in processing our non-immigrant visa. A lot of money was spent and we experienced physical and emotional stress. The problem was compounded by abrupt changes in the Thai immigration rules. But God was with us every step of the way.

3. Church family and ministries
We are blessed to be a part of a church family where almost of our ministries are done through its partnership. “We are on our own with God supported by our church, friends and families,” is the best explanation we can give to the people who asked us who sent us. Most of the missionaries here have a platform; they work as Christian Non-government Organization (NGO) or as businessmen with their English Language Center. We can neither claim the same because we don’t have the resources to do so. My wife is a volunteer English teacher and I do the work of a pastor-evangelist and theological educator through the church that have a big vision to preach the gospel to the different people groups here.

4. Our new friends
This morning my wife and I went to the market and I believe we are really blessed with friends. We were happy that the vendors in the market consider us their friends because we look like we need one. We look like them but could not speak their language. They are the vegetable vendor, the meat vendor, the fish vendor, the fruit vendor, the banana vendor, clothes vendor and our lady barbers. Our neighbors: the kapun (vegetarian noodles) vendor, the siopao vendor, our handyman neighbor and his wife who are ready to do everything in the house not expecting any payment. My children's Thai tutor and his husband with whom we really learn to share our lives with. Our Canadian friend, who went to Korea to teach English, entrusted us her house, 12 cats and a dog. And more Christian friends… we are blessed to have many friends in our one year stay here in Thailand.

5. My blog and blogging friends
I started blogging last July simply because I unexpectedly have an internet connection and a laptop given to me by a dear friend. I could not afford an internet connection back home. Here the connection is cheaper. Moreover, I didn’t expect that this blog would attract readers. Somehow it did, I began receiving emails and was linked by fellow theology bloggers, I really appreciate this. Blogging friends gave me theological books that I will not get anywhere or anyhow. They even paid for the postage. This is indeed a blessing.

We welcome 2007 with open hands, praying that we will accomplish greater things for God’s glory. New Year will never be complete without resolutions. Although most of the times they are never kept, it is good to make them. So as a family we want to:

1. Be used by God according to our gifts. My wife as a volunteer teacher and trainor, my children as they sing and play instruments in the church, and being friends to local children. Me? As Pastor-teacher-evangelist, and a servant to a local pastor.
2. Be good learners. My children in their home-schooling. My wife and I as we learn more of the culture and language.
   
3. Be more effective witness to Christ—telling them how he died and resurrected to reconcile the world to himself.
4. Be friends to someone. It doesn't matter if they need a friend or not.
   
5. Be focused in writing my dissertation. I am a postgraduate student and needs to finish my dissertation. I have a hard time finding the time to do so. I hope I could do it this year.

We need important tools as harvest field workers. Please help us pray for:

1. A motorcycle. We are using an old motorcycle lent to us by a friend. She might need it this year and may take it anytime. A motorcycle here costs more than $1,000.
2. A desktop Computer. The whole family is using the laptop. We all do our works here including teaching materials, church bulletins, emails, bloggings, etc. We are worried that this may breakdown anytime and we don’t have anything to use.
   

I should stop here, these notes are getting longer. In behalf of my family, I'm praying that 2007 will be a Christ-filled year for all of us.