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Bible with fairy tales

Do you believe the Bible is a fairy tale? I noticed the shelf location of this Bible recently in a Bangkok bookstore. More and more bookstores in Thailand are stocking Bibles as Thais become more and more interested in it (though it’s normally located in the religion section). Why? Because, like us at OMF Thailand, many Thais are starting to realize that it is God’s Word for people for today as it has throughout the ages – that it records God’s interaction with humankind, most importantly of which being Jesus’ life, teaching, death and resurrection on earth.

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Category: Life in Thailand
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(or “Three reasons not to take short cuts when considering cross-cultural mission”)

 

tiredI recently read the blog of a student at a theological seminary. The title of the story was, “Three Reasons Why Cross-Cultural Mission is so Hard”. I was eagerly waiting to read about how this person struggled with cross-cultural adaption, contextualising the Gospel in a way that the local people could whole-heartedly receive it without losing the truth, as well as the spiritual battle that goes on as Satan fights every advance of the gospel tooth and nail.

Instead, the writer shared the following:

  1. Language was a big barrier.
  2. Friends kept changing all the time.
  3. Lack of time and resources.

As I read in more detail, it became clear that this missionary didn’t go with an established mission organisation and had to meet each need as it came up. I realise that this is a common theme in this day and age. Many young adults feel that joining up with a mission organisation would lock them into a certain type of work or a certain way of doing things and wouldn’t give them the freedom to serve the Lord in the way they want to.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

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Category: Preparation for Mission
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brownie medium pictureThere has been a serious lack of good brownies available in South Thailand..... So, when, Somjai, one of our Thai church leaders needed a job, we started a brownie baking business using my favourite old recipe that I have baked for years. I taught Somjai and young lady called Goy, to bake the brownies.  We used some funds from Aussie friends to buy a big oven and other equipment.  The building that we rent to use as a church building in Pak Phanang isn't used much during the day so it has become our bakery during the week.  

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Category: Serving in Mission
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Jeff Bin NathanNext week our eldest son finishes high school.... how can that be?  It seems like not so long ago that we arrived in Thailand as new missionaries with one small,  smiley, one and a half year old!!!!  It's been a road of lower lows than we had hoped for but also of growth, blessing and joy.

The hardest thing for me was seeing our son go away to board in an OMF dorm and attend school in Chiang Mai when he was nearly 11.  He felt he was ready and we all knew it was time but no one is ever really ready for that.  A short while before he went I was at an OMF conference and an older missionary lady spoke about her life and sending her kids away to school.  What stuck with me was when she said, "I realised that I had a choice to make.  I could be jealous of all the people who got to spend so much time with my kids when I didn't or I could be grateful for the wonderful people God brought into thir lives,  I chose to be grateful."  After hearing her talk I decided that I too would choose to be grateful.  That simple choice made such a difference in me.

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Category: Personal Reflections
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A while ago we were watching a movie about Australia. After a while we decided to put on subtitles...the Australien accent was to hard for us to understand. As English is our second language, we sometimes find some of the English accents difficult to understand.

My husband went to watch a movie at the cinema the other day: unfurtunately no subtitles, just Thai.  Being in Thailand over two years now, it was still too difficult to understand most of what the characters were saying.

I was talking to a friend the other day and I realized that life would be so much easier if everyone would talk with subtitles appearing underneath the face...

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Category: Language Learning
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I’ve never been so happy and thankful to see clouds in my entire life. This summer’s temperatures in Nakhon Si Thammarat city have averaged around 36-37 degrees Celsius without the humidity. There has also hardly been any clouds in sight or rain for over two months, until yesterday when we felt a few short ‘sprinkles’ (not enough to be called a drizzle) of rain.

 

For ST blog

 

However we are thankful even for the huge clouds which form a shielding barrier between the harsh sunlight that soaks into the concrete jungle of the city. It reduces the temperatures by one or two degrees and makes it much more bearable. Reminds me of the words found in Isaiah 4:5-6

New Living Translation (NLT)

5 Then the Lord will provide shade for Mount Zion
and all who assemble there.
He will provide a canopy of cloud during the day
and smoke and flaming fire at night,
covering the glorious land.
6 It will be a shelter from daytime heat
and a hiding place from storms and rain.

A wonderful reminder of some of His gentle mercies that we often take for granted each day.

 

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Category: Life in Thailand
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Recently I was privileged to be able to attend Project Paul, a training seminar based on the book of Acts. This seminar aims to equip people with skills that are based on Scripture and can be applied to church planting within the context you find yourself.

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Category: Personal Reflections
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