Chiang Mai Orality Network

Recently I have sat with a number of missionaries who have had to leave their mission station unexpectedly due to persecution by government officials. As an open country, Thailand ends up receiving a number of these missionaries, many of whom are planning to set up a new base for outreach in Chiang Mai due to its strategic location. Some will end up ministering within Thailand, others will regroup and go elsewhere. As I am teaching through the book of Acts this semester, I am reminded often of the numerous incidences of persecution in that book. In John Stott’s commentary on Acts he describes what happened to CIM missionaries back in 1949 when they were forced out of China: “Six hundred and thirty-seven China Inland Mission missionaries were obliged to leave. It seemed a total disaster. Yet within four years 286 of them had been redeployed in South-East Asia and Japan, while the national Christians in China, even under severe persecution, began to multiply and now total thirty or forty times the number they were when the missionaries left.” Just as in the book of Acts, the persecutors of the Faith thought they could extinguish the church, but instead ended up pouring oil onto the fire. Could it be that a similar thing is happening today? Do pray that OMF workers who are being redeployed will have a clear understanding of God’s leading and that the church they are leaving will expand exponentially.

I first brought my family of six to The Pines over 20 years ago. Recently my adult son and I had a nostalgic trip to this beachside OMF Holiday Home on the Gulf of Thailand. Just like most ministers in the West, we missionaries find it very difficult to get proper rest and relaxing on our mission stations. Regular “Sabbaths” are a valid goal, yet many find it very difficult to maintain. That is why our family always took at least two weeks at The Pines: the first week to unwind and the second week for more complete rest. The Pines was always a family favorite due to its isolated location, family style meals, laundry service and all the amenities: swimming pool, skatepark, 600 Movie DVDs, 160 jig-saw puzzles, 1000s of books, weekly worship service as well as loads of family outings in the area. We always left feeling that our physical, emotional and spiritual batteries had been fully recharged as we got ready for the next season of intense ministry. Do pray that those of us on the field will find creative ways to work through the needed ebb and flow of work and play that is necessary to have a well balanced wholistic ministry in this country.

Recently I heard a Thai evangelist explain the gospel with this introduction, “If you are born once, you will die twice, but if you are born twice you will die only once.” After giving a summary of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John 3, the evangelist started to make comparisons found in that chapter with the changes that take place in the life cycle of a butterfly. He said, “A ugly, crawling caterpillar is born from an egg and immediately begins to destroy vegetation. The caterpillar then enters a kind of “death” in a self-made coffin called a chrysalis where he seemingly lies lifeless for weeks. Then through the process of metamorphosis this “dead” caterpillar is transformed and “born again” as it emerges from his tomb as a gorgeous butterfly. Of course, after a few weeks that butterfly will also die. The evangelist then went on to explain how all men are born once into this world as sinners and although physically alive they exist within a cocoon of spiritual darkness and death and eventually face permanent death just like every butterfly: born once but will die twice. Then using the positive analogy of the butterfly, the evangelist went on to say that although all mankind starts out like a caterpillar, it is possible to experience a complete metamorphosis spiritually by becoming “born again” through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and what He accomplished on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. The person who places his trust in Jesus is changed internally and receives eternal life and although he or she may die physically, God has promised that there is a day coming when that person will be changed into a glorious form which will never die: born twice, but die once.

I was teaching a class on missions at my Thai Bible school when on November 17th news came of the death of John Chau, a missionary who was seeking to reach the Sentinelese tribe in the Andaman islands. My students had a number of questions concerning Chau’s death and his decision to contact this tribe. Many have commented on this event, but what was highlighted for me and my class was the inherent risks that are part and parcel of most any mission endeavor. The first time this fact came “close to home” for me was in 1981, after I had been in Central Thailand only a couple of months. I got word on October 25th that an OMF worker named Koos Fietje had been martyred the night before in a neighboring province, in a village called Khao Din. Only a week before Koos’ death he had addressed a group of new missionaries with, “We should live to live and not live to exist. It is for this reason God has created us. Today I will live to glorify God … I will live each day as though it were my last. I am ready to go home at any time.” The afternoon before he left for Khao Din, he told his wife, “If anything happens to me, I’m leaving my watch and ring in this drawer.” Koos knew the risks. He knew that this next trip might be his last. Many missionaries had died in Central Thailand before Koos, but he was the first to die a martyr’s death.

Do pray that those that are reaching the Thai, both missionaries and nationals, will be willing to take calculated risks based upon the promises of God and like Paul be able to say, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

“You need to be able to preach, pray or die at a moments notice,” was a phrase I heard while training in seminary and has become especially poignant in Thailand where I am sometimes called upon to preach in Thai and often pray without any prior notice … fortunately I’ve not had to respond to the third aspect. Recently I flew to a Bible school in NE Thailand and on the way sat next to two 17 year old Thai high school students. As we talked, I thought about a story that would relate to these youth and decided to tell them from memory the entire prodigal son story from Luke 15. This prompted a good discussion, sharing of a tract based on Luke 15, as well as an evangelistic app. The previous day I had been informed unexpectedly that I would be speaking in chapel to 35 Bible students for an hour. I decided to tell them the story of the paralytic in Mark 2. That evening while eating a meal with the director of the school and a number of friends, he asked me “Do you have something from the Word to share with us tonight?” In the past thinking of a spontaneous message in Thai for such an esteemed group would have made me go into diabetic shock.

Fortunately, I’ve made it a goal of having many Biblical stories in my heart pocket for just such occasions. I immediately started telling the story of Mephibosheth from 1 Samuel 9. Incidents like this reminded me of Paul who was often called upon to speak at the spur of the moment, such as the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, “After the reading of the Law and the Prophets the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, “Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it” (Acts 13:15). Do pray that our O missionaries here in Thailand will have a good “word of exhortation” and “say it” accurately and powerfully to the Thai as God opens up divine appointments for ministry in this land.

The OMFer who recruited me in the states encouraged me to do a research paper on the Bangkok Bible College with the possibility that I could teach there after my language study was finished. So, at the end of one year I went to David Pickard, OMF’s director and asked him when I might start at BBC. David chuckled and said, “We have no policy to send new missionaries to BBC, you’ll need to do church planting up-country first.” Seven years later I did start at BBC and now I find myself after 30 more years still teaching theology to the Thai. My favorite class is Psalms and here is why: 1)It is probably the most read book out of the 66. 2)Every student is required to write daily in a journal that they then share during class (150 days of devotionals). 3)They write a one page reflection paper each week to turn in. 4)They memorize passages from Psalm 1, 23, 51, 100, 127, 139. 5)Tests and outside reading round out the course. After teaching this course numerous times you begin to see just how impactive this section of scripture is for the Thai. Psalms touches on most all human emotions and addresses heart felt needs at a deep level. Pray that all the OMF teachers in academic settings here in Thailand as well as our national team members will be able to be Ezras to their students … “For Ezra prepared his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statues and ordinances in Israel”(Ezra 7:10)

One aspect of the miraculous cave rescue in Thailand that the press failed to emphasize sufficiently was when the British diver popped up and asked how many were on that ledge. This was the first time we heard from a resilient 14 year old that knew enough English to say, “Thirteen”. Adun Samon grew up in a Burmese refugee camp on the Thai border and with the multi-lingual skills he attained there could have replied in Burmese, Wah, Chinese or Thai. Adun’s parents are believers and encouraged him to live at a church near Mae Sai where he enrolled in the Compassion International program and learned to lead worship.

Adun said that one day he wanted “to be a doctor and a famous professional soccer player for the Chiang Rai United Club.” What most impressed me about Adun was that on July 24th when the other 11 players were shaving their heads and participating in a Buddhist ceremony, Adun chose to worship God at a special thanksgiving service at his church where he was instructed by his parents to give special thanks to the family of Sgt. Unan who gave his life trying to bring oxygen to Adun and his teammates.

Statistically,  1 out of 12 amounts to 8%, which is 7 percentage points more than the .7% ratio of Christians to the Buddhist majority that we have here in Thailand. (We remain at that low figure despite 190 years of missionary presence here.) Pray that as we share the gospel that many more Aduns will be identified and nurtured in the faith so that the percentage of Christians will grow expediently.

While in the States, I routinely shell out up to $15USD for a simple haircut. The other day I kidded my barber in Chiang Mai about his raising the price of my haircut from $1.30 to $1.60USD. What is interesting is that I could also get my ears cleaned in Thailand if I added just another dollar or two. Thai barbers seem more like a dentist when they pull out their arsenal of tools for a typical ear cleaning session. They use a variety of spoons, spades, hooks and feathers on their customers. I’ve read that you shouldn’t even push a Q-tip into your ear canal, so up to now I’ve deferred from having my auditory system scrubbed down to the eardrum. Yet many Thai enjoy the procedure and no doubt would claim that their hearing improved after just one session. I’ve often thought of how nice it would be if one could “clean out” the collective spiritual wax build up which have kept the Thai from hearing the clear message of the gospel for the past 185 years of missionary involvement in this country. Jesus quoting from Isaiah 6 commented on the Jews of His generation, “For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them’ (Matthew 13:15). Pray that Thai ears would be unstopped by the power of God’s Word and Spirit and that they would not only hear the message of truth but embrace and believe it.