Memorizing the Book of John

Posted on May 21, 2024 by admin

In this video, Larry and Josh Summers demonstrate how to memorize a keyword or verse from the 21 chapters of the book of John. You can also download the visual outline here.

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Bible Outline Memory

Posted on April 25, 2024 by admin

Here is an interview Larry gave on the Bible Memory YouTube channel. It highlights the 1189 chapter outline that Larry memorized over a 6 month period.

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Law of the Seed

Posted on January 7, 2025 by admin


This post was originally published on January 17th, 2017.

For over 40 years Dr. Henry Breidenthal (52 years with OMF) has gone to a public park on Sunday afternoons to hand out gospel tracts. I had the privilege of watching Henry in this ministry at the Lumpini Park in Bangkok thirty years ago when I was a new faculty member of the Bible school he directed. Now I’m Henry’s director and he teaches in our school, so what a blessing it is for me to join him once again on Sundays in his tracting ministry.

Henry reminded me that Jews for Jesus in New York City handed out 1.3 million tracts in one year and had only 2,000 responses. Yet from those 2,000 came 200 professions of faith from a resistant Jewish population. A few years ago Henry’s Thai church handed out 20,000 tracts and got only 5 responses back in the mail. Yet, such statistics do not discourage Henry, because he knows that many of the tracts are indeed read and that 70% of those who come to Christ in Thailand are influenced by Christian literature. This reminded me of the admonition I received from David Pickard (OMF Thailand director at the time) back in the 1980s, that percentage wise one needs to share with a large number of Thai to get even one convert. He thus encouraged us to cast our nets broadly and sow the gospel seed as wide as possible. An apple tree can have up to 500 apples, each with an average of 10 seeds. Why so many if only a few trees germinate? God knew that most seeds never grow. So to see the gospel seed germinate among the Thai, we will need to be persistent sowers. My son-in-law just got a new job, but he had to send out 60 resumes to various companies first. My eldest son used to sell vacuum cleaners door to door. He probably had to knock on 50 doors before he would get a sale. Josh McDowell dated around 300 women before he met his wife Dottie (fortunately my number was much lower). The bottom line is that successful missionaries are those who persevere in sowing; they know what it takes to see a single gospel seed germinate and grow.

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Everyday Stories

Posted on January 7, 2025 by admin


This post was originally published on September 13th, 2016.

Before making a one day visa run to Bangkok, I prayed that I would have an opportunity to share Bible stories with the Thai I encountered that day. The first was a retired civil engineer in his early 50s who was going on vacation. The story I told to him was the Tower of Babel with an emphasis on the shoddy construction materials they used and the scattering of the nations.

The next was on the way to the Labour Department with a taxi driver who had never heard about the resurrection of Christ and so I told him both the crucifixion and resurrection account. The return trip gave me an opportunity to share with my 64 year old chauffeur. As often happens when they hear me speak Thai they say, “Oh, so you must have a Thai wife”. I revealed to him that I am a widower and have lived in Thailand for 30 years, and he inexplicably replied, “I had a wife, with also 3 minor wives in the past … but now I’m down to just one.” I ended up telling him the story of David and Bathsheba with all the repercussions that flowed into David’s life afterwards.

Finally, I sat next to a tall 27 year old Chinese/Thai business man named “Boat.” Boat grew up in Bangkok but had studied in China and now ran an export business to China. He showed me pictures of his beautiful Korean girlfriend who he has visited four times a year for the past seven years (he said they communicate in Mandarin). I asked him why he hadn’t gone ahead and married her and went on to show him pictures of my family and a bit about how my children had found their mates. I decided to tell Boat the story of Isaac and Rebecca, because it seems to be the clearest story in the Bible about the “dating” process.

In each meeting with these men, I handed out a gospel tract and encouraged them to pursue more stories and information from the Bible. Some had Christian friends and I urged them to talk directly with those who were believers.

My basic approach is to seek to start a winsome conversation and then insert a Bible story that fits their felt need or situation. Of course, in an hour long conversation we end of talking about lots of things and I am sometimes led to use a more apologetic approach. But mostly I go through my database of Bible stories and ask God for the one that fits best. My goal is not to force the entire gospel message into the conversation, but to at least present the Word of God accurately (which will not come back void ..my own words do not have that same guarantee).

Then I pray that the gospel tract I leave with them will be read and they will follow up on my admonition to talk with a Christian they might know, search for information on the internet or attend a church. If I sense genuine interest then I may try to arrange another meeting with those that live near me.

There are many unreached people in Thailand. Telling Bible stories is one way for Thai Buddhists to learn who Jesus is and turn to him in repentance and faith.

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Demon In the Air

Posted on January 7, 2025 by admin

This post was originally published on October 8th, 2015.

Larry Dinkins was tired. His two-week ministry trip to Thailand had been fruitful, but intensive. He’d led 10 one-on-one counselling sessions, attended three church services and 5poke at several seminars.

Now, he was on the plane headed home. His plans for the 13-hour flight from Taipei to Los Angeles included relaxing and watching a few in-flight movies. Larry was pleasantly surprised when he was given a seat in the bulkhead with extra leg room. This was going to be a quiet, peaceful trip.

Or so he thought. Halfway across the Pacific Ocean, Larry noticed a dishevelled woman sitting in a cubby hole next to the bathrooms in the bulkhead area. The woman, who was visibly upset, apparently had an altercation with her seatmate and was asked to find another seat. Since all the seats were ful1, the woman settled in the cubbyhole near Larry.

Larry soon noticed the woman’s bizarre behaviour. As passengers gathered near the bathroom, she would shoo them away, saying.”Get away! Can’t you see I am sitting here?” Larry discerned that this was no ordinary case of cabin fever.

As the stewardesses brought her a meal, she took the foil off the entree and used It to cover her feet. She then took her knife – international flights allow metal knives for meals – and began to aggressively eat the food in gulps. As she did, she would growl like a dog and bare her teeth. Seeing the woman’s strange behaviour – and the knife in her hand – two of Larry’s seatmates fled to the back of the plane. Larry began to pray against the demon in the woman.

He then decided to gently speak to the woman and try to comfort her. As he looked into the woman’s wild eyes, she threw a piece of sausage and scrambled eggs at Larry, hitting him in the chest. Larry, however, had an unusual peace. He knew it wasn’t the woman, but the power controlling her. He contemplated standing up and confronting the demon, but in this age of terrorism, thought it would be more prudent lo keep talking to her and wait for the stewardesses to come.

After their arrival, the woman reluctantly agreed to move to another seat. However, as the plane landed, the possessed woman got up and rushed to the front of the plane, with two of the stewardesses quickly following her. Finally, she returned to her seat and Larry’s eventful trip came to an end.

Larry says the experience taught him that, as believers, we must always be on guard against the evil one.

“Satan takes no holidays,” he says. “He is truly like a roaring lion seeking to devour. During my counseling, I encountered one tribal lady who was oppressed by Satan. Yet, on my plane trip, I was reminded that it isn’t just the animistic tribal peoples of North Thailand that are controlled by Satan, but my own countrymen. Satan is usually much more subtle and deceptive in the west, but sometimes he raises up his ugly head in direct confrontation. We must know our authority in Christ and be willing to use that authority. Greater is He that is in us than He that is in the world.”

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7 Dangerous Days and 7 Passionate Days

Posted on January 7, 2025 by admin

This post was originally published on April 21st, 2017.

It seems that every year during the Songkran Festival in Thailand a new record is broken. If it was a new record for the most water throwing revelers in the same place it would be acceptable, but instead it represents the high number of deaths and injuries on the highways and byways of Thailand during a week which has become known as “The 7 Dangerous Days of Songkran”. From April 11-17 there were 390 deaths and a record setting 3,808 injuries with 7,500 vehicles impounded.

This year Songkran week and Passion week virtually overlapped. The contrast between these two weeks was brought home to me as I was asked by a church to summarize the events of the Passion week by telling orally 11 Bible stories that occurred from Sunday to Sunday. I started with the Triumphal Entry and ended with the story of the two disciples on the Emmaus road. The 7 days of Passion week are all centered on the death of Jesus and his subsequent resurrection. The 7 days of Songkran center in on fun festivities and especially water throwing during this, the Thai New Year and yet is always followed by sobering statistics of death and carnage on the roads. Pray that the church here in Thailand and the missionaries that seek to support them will get the message of the gospel and meaning of the events of Passion week out to the 67 million Thai before it is too late.

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Amazing Thailand

Posted on January 6, 2025 by admin

This post was originally published on April 4th, 2017.

The main motto promoted by the Thai tourism department is “Amazing Thailand”. The year 2016 was indeed amazing for our country, but none so surprising, especially in the area of sports, than the first place finish of Leicester City in the Premier Football League. The previous year Leicester had finished in 14th place and the odds that were quoted before the season began was 5,000-1. In fact, Leicester had never won such a title in the 110 years of their existence (The Chicago Cubs baseball team had not won the World Series in 71 years, but they were only 10-1 odds).

Leicester City is owned by Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, a Thai billionaire businessman who not only relies on his coach and players, but seeks to gain extra support from a particular Buddhist monk. Chao Khun Thongchai and seven other monks were flown often to England to bless the team before they entered the pitch. The Bangkok Post wrote, “Despite being a central figure in Leicester City’s remarkable success this season, Chao Khun Thongchai has little interest in what happens on the pitch – in fact he barely even understands the rules. ‘I will meditate during the match. I will concentrate and say prayers for the team. I will send them positive energy,” the senior monk said. ‘I won’t get excited about the result as I have to stay calm and neutral in order to send my blessings.”‘ This monk gave a gold fabric talisman with ancient Khmer writing called “Never Lose” to all the Leicester players, a lucky charm that is now being referred to as the Leicester talisman.

Suffice to say, Leicester’s success has only heightened Thailand’s interest in football which should serve as a good reminder to pray for all the sport oriented ministries that seek to use football as a bridge into the lives of Thai young people. The Sattha Sports Ministry, supported by OMF is one such outreach tool that seeks to give the true bless of the gospel by both playing games and teaching skills.

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Buddhist Creed? (OMF Thailand Facebook)

Posted on November 12, 2024 by admin

One of the first things our supervisor instructed us to do as church planters in Central Thailand was to glue a card with the Apostles’ Creed into the cover of every hymnal. Every Sunday we would have our small congregation of mainly leprosy believers memorize the creed and recite it in unison. They did not understand the historic development of this ancient creed, but as oral learners they enjoyed reciting it out-loud while gaining a major dose of scriptural truth. Here is a definition, “A Creed is a concise, formal, and authorized statement of important points of Christian doctrine.” Creeds begin with “I believe …” and stress doctrine along with supporting verses. The New Testament has a number of sections in creedal form (1 Cor. 15:3-4; Phil 2:5-11; 1 Tim. 3:16).

The closest to a creedal statement within Buddhism would be the affirmation, “I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Dharma, I take refuge in the Sangha.” The three refuges is the formal point of entry for the lay devotee of Buddhism and is repeated in worship and in various ceremonies.

A pioneer OMF missionary to Thailand, John Davis saw the instructional and liturgical value of creeds and set about to develop a creed, which would resonate with Thai people from a Buddhist background. His desire was to reaffirm core biblical beliefs but at the same time address religious and cultural issues within the Thai context. Recognizing the Thai as preferred oral learners, he designed the creed to be easily recited out loud by the congregation.

Davis’ Thai creed is broken into ten “I believe” statements:

I believe in God who is almighty and all-knowing, and who having created the universe, saw that everything he had made was good. All things did not come into being on their own, nor did ‘Ignorance’ create them.

I believe that all mankind has evil desires, is not righteous in thought word and deed, and consequently is both disqualified from, and incapable of, entering paradise, because it is a holy place.

I believe that mankind has no hope in self-dependence. Man is incapable of attaining sufficient merit to liberate himself and therefore, sowing what he reaps according to karma he must perish.

I believe that God, who is full of compassion and mercy, initiated and prepared the way of solving man’s problem by sending his Representative, Jesus Christ, into the world so that man may be delivered from hell.

I believe that Jesus Christ volunteered to come from heaven to be born of the Virgin Mary according to history, in order to be man’s ‘scapegoat’ by dying on the cross to receive the penalty due to man because of his sin.

I believe Jesus Christ, who is truth and mercy, is ready to offer his own abundant merit to whoever will confess and forsake their sin with sincerity.

I believe that Jesus Christ has power over all people and all spirits in all ages and has demonstrated his power over them openly by the cross.

I believe that only Jesus Christ has had victory over death through his resurrection that he is now alive and is therefore able and ready to deliver mankind from the results of sin forever.

I believe Jesus Christ is the One who is to come according to prophecy to liberate all mankind. He will come a second time to establish his everlasting kingdom on earth, which will be filled with justice and righteousness.

I believe whoever puts their trust in Christ becomes a member of His Church and is therefore responsible to be obedient to His teachings which are written in the Christian Scriptures, and that by so doing he will not despise or destroy those beautiful parts of Thai culture which accord with Scripture.

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Riding on the Edge: Safety and Prayer (OMF Thailand Facebook)

Posted on November 12, 2024 by admin

If you ride a motorcycle often, you get used to this question: “Have you ever had to ‘lay it down’”? Invariably the seasoned biker has had at least one occasion where he or she has had to jettison the bike in a crash with resulting road rash to prove it. Once in Central Thailand I failed to negotiate a turn properly and went head-first down the asphalt. There were some construction workers on scaffolding nearby and when they saw I wasn’t badly hurt said in Thai, “Look guys, there’s a farang (white foreigner) taking ROAD MEASUREMENTS!”

In OMF prayer meetings, our requests often revolve around someone who has been on the wrong end of an altercation on the roadway. Last week a motorcyclist had a rear tire blow out in front of me with both the bike and rider going head over heels. I got there first and observed the typical contusions, burns and possible breaks that accompany such a spill. Then at our monthly prayer meeting a co-worker related how she was still shook-up from getting hit on the driver’s side by a speeding motorbike.

Thailand has more than 22 million registered motorcycles on their roads and “ … on average, over 6000 motorcyclists die annually, that is on average 16 deaths daily. Thailand ranks ninth out of 175 WHO member countries for road traffic deaths. In 2021, WHO estimates indicated 18,218 road traffic deaths, an average of 50 per day. The most affected were those aged between 15 and 29; and motorcyclists who accounted for 83.8% of all traffic deaths.

Many OMF missionaries get travel on motorbikes within Thailand. Do pray that God’s hand of protection will be over all of OMF workers and the all who are travelling in this country.

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Floods and Crickets (OMF Thailand Facebook)

Posted on November 12, 2024 by admin

During the recent abnormally high floods that hit North Thailand last month there were many encouraging stories of local Thai churches helping out their neighbors. A Thai pastor revealed another side effect of the floods that I would not have expected. During the floods this pastor was helping two church families, both of which had been long term members and had been baptised. However, when the floods rose their possessions were soaked and had to be brought out into the open to dry. The pastor noticed that there were a number of occult objects and idols that were revealed. When asked about these items the families tried to explain that they were heirlooms or belonged to other family members. He shared with them how he as a boy in Isaan would search for crickets in the fields and had a unique way of catching them. The first step was to find a tell-tale hole where a cricket might be hiding and then dig around it. Then pour water into the hole. The cricket fleeing the flood of water would then escape his hole and be caught. This pastor shared with them the cricket illustration as an opening to explain to them the scriptural principles of Hebrews 4:13: “And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” He shared with them that “These floods revealed much more than just our vulnerability to disaster but also the state of our hearts.”

Do pray that Thai professing believers will make a clear break with their past lives and be like those in Ephesus: “…those who were now believers came, confessing and disclosing their occult practices” (Acts 19:18).

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Book of Hebrews Outline in 10 Minutes

Posted on October 23, 2024 by admin

In this video, Larry and Josh Summers teaches how to memorize the outline of the book of Hebrews in 10 minutes. You can also get a free PDF of the outline here.

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More About Larry

Posted on October 3, 2024 by admin

In this interview Larry shares how he came to Christ, what led him to serving in Thailand, the loss of his wife to cancer and how stories and Bible memorization have impacted his ministry.

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