If You Love The Lord

Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light shines on the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.-Psalma 97:10-12

This morning, I want to ask you a question. Do you love God? If so, how much? And do you ever say to God, “I love you”? When we love God, he loves us back more. The truth is God loves us first, otherwise, we would not know what love is.

The Bible says in I John 4:10 10: This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Let those who love the Lord hate evil. Why should we love God and hate evil at the same time? Because the two are completely opposed to each other! There is good in the world and there is evil. God is good and even beyond good. He is love. And He hates evil and if He hates evil He also wants us to hate evil.

I heard it said a long time ago that if we have no hatred for evil then how can we love that which is good? So it seems reasonable that if we love God who is totally good then we will also hate that which is evil.

This morning, we will learn what will happen to us if we love the Lord. What we will enjoy if we truly love God.

God Will Guard Our Lives (v. 10)

10 Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

This verse clearly says that God will protect our lives. Because God saves us he will keep us safe. Those who love the Lord will have the assurance that God will protect us from evil and the enemy could not hurt us.

He will not only keep us safe but he will save us from the hand of Satan and will keep us by His side until we enjoy his presence when we die or when Jesus comes again.

A little boy was afraid of the dark. One night his mother told him to go out and bring her the broom. The little boy turned to his mother and said, "Mama, I don't want to go out there. It's dark." The mother smiled reassuringly at her son. "You don't have to be afraid of the dark," she explained. "Jesus is out there. He'll look after you and protect you."

The little boy looked at his mother real hard and asked, "Are you sure he's out there?" "Yes, I'm sure. He is everywhere, and he is always ready to help you when you need him," she said. The little boy thought about that for a minute and then went to the back door and cracked it a little. Peering out into the darkness, he called, "Jesus? If you're out there, would you please hand me the broom?”

Are you or were you ever afraid of the dark? Or something in the dark? Call on Jesus! It’s always smart to call on the Lord no matter what you fear or whatever you need in life. Are you afraid to go to far places to share Jesus? Don’t be afraid because God promise that he will always be with you. Are we afraid to stand up here and proclaim how Jesus saves us? Pray to the Lord and God will be the one who will speak for you.

God Will Make Our Light Shine Brighter (v. 11)

11 Light shines on the righteous and joy on the upright in heart.

Would you agree that we are living in a very dark world? The Bible makes it clear that the world is full of darkness. Our world is full of corruptions, sin and selfishness. People are thinking only about themselves. Satan knows that if he can give people material things, they will be under his power. WE are living in a very dark world.

But Jesus is the light of the world and if we believe in him, we became his light. But if we love the Lord, he makes our lights shine brighter.

Have you ever went inside the Tham Luang Cave? Three years ago, we went inside the big cave. If you are inside the cave and you don’t have light, the cave was totally dark. You cannot see anything. So sometimes I wonder if you go deep inside the cave and lost your light. I imagine you can get lost and maybe you may not find your way out. It is so scary.

It is so depressing to live in darkness. We are living in a dark world. If you watch the news on TV you see more corruptions, crimes, shootings, rapes and murders. But the good news is it only need a small light to make this dark world becomes light. If only each of us will love God more, we can make this word, our community where we live in a brighter place.

God Will Bring Joy to Our Hearts (v. 11b-12)

….and joy on the upright in heart. 12 Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.

If we love God we will have joy in our hearts. We find joy in the Lord and in our relationship with Him. This joy last forever and will not end in the passing of time. To many people, being happy is a matter of what is happening. So if good things happen they are happy, and good things do not happen, they are not happy. That is the way of the world.

Many of us who are older realise that lasting joy is not happiness based on what is happening in our lives. Most of the time, money, new car, new house, new phones, new gadgets make us happy. The Bible says that material things will not make us happy forever. It is only temporary. There is only one way we can have joy in this life forever, and that is through having Jesus Christ in our lives.

Dr. James Dobson of the Focus on the Family Ministry says, “Although I am not rich, I have tasted most of the things people want for. I had new cars, beautiful home, gadgets, devices which promise to set us free. But the truth is they can not give us satisfaction. On the contrary, I found out that the things you own will eventually own you.”

I agree and I look at people today buying a lot of things that they think can make them happy and will give them joy. But they become a slave of the things they bought. We spend so much time making our house beautiful, repairing our car, using our phones instead of spending time with our families and spending time with the Lord and his Word.

Conclusion

There is one way we can be assured of God’s protection, shining our light and have a lasting joy and happiness in this world. That is through believing in Jesus Christ and to love him with all our heart, all our mind, all our strength, all our soul.

Thankful for Prayers

It’s been a month since Narlin suffered from deafness and vertigo. She was diagnosed with Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL). It has been a rough journey for her. The doctor requested an MRI to make sure that her deafness was not caused by tumor. We are relieved and thankful that the result indicates that everything is normal. However, the chance of her hearing will return is 50 only percent. The best that the doctor can do is to prescribe medicines for the dizziness (so that she can do things normally) and to give nutrients for the auditory nerve.

We are overwhelmed by prayers and encouragements from friends. Since we don’t have any health insurance, Narlin’s hospitalisation, MRI, medicines and treatments have been a financial burden for us this month. But we trust that the Lord will provide for this particular need.

Growing Challenge

The children are growing up and taking care of them is getting to be more challenging. We found out that the boys were sneaking out at night to play online game at a nearby computer shop. Jennifer discovered about it when Narlin was hospitalised. A heart to heart talk followed and we emphasised that they need to follow the house rules while they are living with us.

We expect more challenges with the girls in the near future. Please help us to pray for all the children. That the Lord will give them wisdom and obedient heart as they grow up. Pray that the Lord will provide love, patient and wisdom in raising up these wonderful kids.

Religious Camp

Most Thai school have religious day camp. This is the day when all the students are asked to join Buddhist rituals. We had been thinking of holding a separate religious camp for Christians.
Mae Sai Municipal (Wat Poweehan) is the school close to our heart. The director is our good friend and her assistant (who was just a head English teacher when we first met her) is one of Narlin’s best friends. Last year Teacher Pu, a new English teacher joined the faculty. She is a Christian and she becomes our close friend too. She sometimes stays in our house and goes with us to the church.

Teacher Pu insisted that the Christian students would not participate with the Buddhist religious camp. She pushed for a separate camp for Christian students. So we requested the YWAM-Borders to host the camp for Christian students. Twenty-six students (including our children) attended and fifteen of them have made commitment to follow Jesus.

We are thankful to the Lord that believers are now being recognised in the school. We are praying that this will be an opportunity to share the gospel to the other teachers and students. We are also considering that our ministry in the school is coming to its conclusion and YWAM-Border will take over. We believe that God is directing us to minister to village schools. We don’t know how it will happen but God promised that he will make a way.

New Life Garden
In our nine years of living in Mae Sai, we had been part of the beginning of new ministries. This year, we are blessed to be part the New Life Garden (Ban Suan Chiwit Mai). A new ministry that seeks to help young women and children from human trafficking. God has given us the opportunity to help connect people, introduce it to the community through English camp, to help in creating English Kid's Club, and English tutorials for young people and adults.

Eventually, we hope to hold training skills and provide shelters for young women. We also coordinated to make the New Life Garden to be a member of Network for Children and Women Under the Same Sky Association (NCWSA). Please pray for this ministry. We don’t know yet how long we will be working in this ministry but we hope that God will use it for his glory and advancement of his Kingdom.

Family Update

We are missing our children. Jared finished his studies and is now teaching in a private school. He will take the teacher’s board exam on Sunday (27 September). Please pray that he can pass the test.
Jillian is on her last year of studies and doing practice teaching at a local school in Baguio. Reuven is freshman taking up psychology. Please pray for protection (we are not there to look after them) and provisions (school expenses and house rent). We hope to be reunited with them in the near future.

More Prayer Concerns

• Most of the children will go to Bangkok to compete for national English drama competition. Pray for safe travel.
• School break is just around the corner. Pray for the children’s activities during the break and provisions for another school term.
• We cancelled all our English teaching (when Jennifer left) to give Narlin a break and time to heal. Please pray our regular students that can come back when she resumes teaching.
• Preaching is a part of our regular ministry. Please pray that God will use this as channel to share God’s blessing to the Thai people.

We are certain that God has called us to serve him here but without your love, support and prayers, we know that we could not stay here a day longer. We thank the Lord for using you to fulfill his calling in our life. You are a huge blessing to all of us and the people we are helping.

In the Name of Jesus

What does it mean to pray in the name of Jesus? I am pretty sure that you can find a good explanation from the pages of the Bible. I think Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkeegard has given us a good insights of the theme.

To PRAY "in the name of Jesus" may perhaps be explained most simply in this way. A magistrate orders this and the other thing in the name of the King. What does that mean?

In the first place it means I myself am nothing. I have no power, nothing to say for myself—but it is in the name of the King. Thus to pray in the name of Christ means I dare not approach God without a mediator, if my prayer is to be heard, then it will be in the name of Jesus. What gives it strength is that name.

Next, when a magistrate gives a command in the name of the King it naturally follows that what he commands must be the King's will, he cannot command his own will in the King's name. The same thing is true of praying in the name of Jesus, to pray in such a way that it is in conformity with the will of Jesus. I cannot pray in the name of Jesus to have my own will ; the name of Jesus is not a signature of no importance, but the decisive factor ; the fact that the name of Jesus comes at the beginning is not prayer in the name of Jesus ; but it means to pray in such a manner that I dare name Jesus in it, that is to say think of Him, think His holy will together with whatever I am praying for.

Finally, when a magistrate gives an order in the name of the King it means that the King assumes the responsibility. So too with prayer in the name of Jesus, Jesus assumes the responsibility and all the consequences. He steps forward for us, steps into the place of the person praying.

Kierkeegaard, Soren, Journals, trans Alexander Dru (1938), pp 974.

Test Post

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He Will Bring Health and Healing

“Do you have insurance?” The nurse asked us after Narlin signified that she was so dizzy to stand up and may need to stay in the hospital for the night. She was complaining of deafness on her left ear. She had vertigo and suffering from nausea for almost two days.

Although she was given medication for anti vertigo, we decided to go to the hospital in Overbrook Chiang Rai for a thorough diagnosis. After several tests, the doctor’s diagnosis was that she is suffering from Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL). We are asked to come back to the hospital on the 5th of September to assess if the medications are working.

We don’t have any insurance but God. The cost made us think twice about buying a plan. The children’s needs and education are our priority. Regardless, we believe that God will provide, keep us safe and preserve our health.

This reminds me of couple of familiar verses from the Old Testament, Jeremiah 33:3, 6:

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know…. Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security.”

We trust that God will completely heal Narlin’s sickness, he will protect us in every situation and he will provide for all our needs. Thank you so much for praying with us and for being part of God’s answer to our prayers.

Thanksgiving

We are thankful for our friends who prayed and encouraged us by sharing their experiences similar to Narlin’s sickness. We are thankful for doctor friends who gave us medical advice.

We are thankful for Jennifer whose presence become more indispensable when Narlin was confined in the hospital. She looks after the children when we are away. She will be leaving on the 14th of September. Please pray for traveling mercy and provisions.

We are thankful for God’s provisions for Reuven’s schooling. We were able to get his credentials from Philippine Embassy in Bangkok, his certificate/records from Mae Sai Prasitsart School which cost us some money. He is now enrolled in a university in the Philippines.

We are thankful that God has given us the opportunity to help more children. Whether it is through teaching English or taking care of them may it be short or long term. Please that we can help a couple more kids this year.

We are thankful for the opportunity to work with teams, schools and villages in ministering to the children. We are looking forward for another team to come and help in the near future.

We are thankful that our children have the opportunity to participate in drama competition in Bangkok. Although we don’t expect to win anything this time, we just want to give glory to Jesus’s name for all the blessings and experiences they will be enjoying.

We are thankful that in spite of the big amount we spent in our children’s schooling this month (August), the Lord has provided us enough amount for Narlin’s hospitalization.

Most of all, we are thankful to God every time we remember your partnership with us. We appreciate your love, support and untiring prayers.

The Book of Jesus

The Book of Jesus: A Treasury of the Greatest Stories and Writings About Christ edited by Calvin Miller. Here is a book I wanted to read for a long time. Surprisingly, I found it in our library, one of the books I mindlessly picked up during one of the conferences held in Chiang Mai last year. The book is edited by Calvin Miller. He is a pastor, speaker and professor. He is the bestselling author of more than thirty books including the enormously popular Singer trilogy.

From the blurb, it says that The Book of Jesus is an essential volume for every Christian library: an all-embracing collection—in style of the The Book of Virtue—of the best stories, poems, essays, and songs about the life of Jesus Christ.

“No two people know quite the same things about Jesus or see him in quite the same way,” says Calvin Miller in the Introduction to this monumental work. “Some see him as judge, coming to scourge the nations. Others see him primarily as a lover of children. Scholars tend to see him in scholarly ways. Poets see him more poetically. Preachers see him as a preacher, teachers as teacher. Carpenters like remembering he was one of them.” The Jesus of Scripture, Dr. Miller says, “is only finished in the individual hearts of those who believe.” In compiling The Book of Jesus, Dr. Miller’s goal is to bring together some of the most fascinating, original observations on the life of Jesus Christ, and the result is truly wonderful.

The Book of Jesus contains hundreds of selections drawn from every era of history, presenting a spectrum of contributors from Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Dickens, Hemingway, and C.S. Lewis to Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Billy Graham, and Desmond Tutu. This broad, eclectic volume also includes works by contemporary Christian writers such as Max Lucado, Elisabeth Elliot, Charles Colson, and Eugene Peterson, and other poems, songs, and essays, traditional hymns, and verse from the Bible.

The selections in this indispensable book, when taken together, present “the Christ of universal reflection, “for many thousands of people who see to find out exactly who is this most important man.

The Lord is My Shepherd

Three days before we hadn’t the slightest idea that we would be in the Philippines attending the funeral of Gavs. We were all shocked by his “untimely” death caused by brain aneurysm. He was a funny and humble man, a good father and a loyal friend. He was our nephew but more than that he was like a son to us. He never knew his father and her mom got sick when he was little. We took him in our young family then. He spent many years of his life with us. He was 30 years old.

Just before his body was put into the ground, the Pastor recited Psalm 23 and uttered a comforting prayer for the bereaved family.

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Although this Psalm is considered to be part of the funeral liturgy, we believe that God’s promises in this passage are being fulfilled in our lives on daily basis.  Thank you for being part of God’s fulfilled promises to us and our children. We are thankful to the Lord for using you in our ministry to help children, youth and women in the community.

English Camps

It is a joy to watch a group of young people sharing the gospel to more than a hundred of students through songs and Bible Story in an English Camps. We thank the Lord for the YWAM team composed of youth members of Faith Family Church (Illinois) who came last week that helped us in a 3-day English camp at Tesaban 1 Wat Proweehan School. These young people shared God’s love to the students.

We have another YWAM Team that came last Friday and will help us in another English Camp in Suntard Village School. This is a small village school that the government is planning to close down if the student population will not increase. We want to help the school to have more students next year so that it will continue. Together with our friends who live there, we are praying that the presence of the YWAM Team teaching at the English camps will help the school. We also hope to get volunteers to teach English at the school on regular basis.

After helping the school, we are praying that we can start the ministry with young women in the area with our friends. We also hope that we can share the gospel and a community of believers will gather to worship in the village. Please pray that God will use the English camp as a channel of God’s blessings in that village.

Visa Extended For Another Year

As far as I can remember, this year holds the record for the smoothest visa extension we ever had. We drove to Chiang Mai to visit the immigration office to have our visa extended. We noticed right away that there were fewer people at the immigration office even though we went there on a Monday. We learned later that the place is being used solely for visa extension and the 90-day appearance, re-entry permit and such like transactions are transferred to another location. We are thankful that we don’t nee to come back after a month. The office granted us one-year visa in just one visit. Thank you for including this concern in your prayers and for your contribution to our visa expenses.

Little Family Update

Although we are mourning, our visit to the Philippines also made us happy. We were able to spend precious time with our own children for 4 whole days. Those days were the happiest days for us in a while. We have many wonderful things to be thankful for. Jared is already working as teacher in a private school. Jillian defended her thesis last week and she will graduate next year. Reuven will be enrolled in college soon. Please pray that the certificate from Philippine Department of Education for his passing the ALS Test will be given soon. We are praying that he can enrol this August. Thank for helping us in praying for our children. Please pray for God’s provision for their studies.

More Prayer Concerns

• Please help us to pray for the following concerns:
  Pray for the ministry in Suntard Village. Pray for our friends, Wayne and Jeen, who live there and want to spread the gospel to their neighbours. Pray for Larry as he works out the details of our plan for the ministry to the young women that will be based in that village.
• Pray for our ministry at Pantamit church. Preaching, training and teaching children in Sunday School.
• Pray for Jennifer, our friend from Ireland who has been helping us immensely with English teaching ministry, English Camps, music and caring for the children.
• Pray for good health for all of us specially the children during this rainy season.

Thank you so much for your prayer and support. We sincerely appreciate your love and generosity. We pray that God will continually prosper and bless you. The Lord honors the sacrifices you made in helping us in our ministry.

Love Within the Body of Christ

Romans 12:9-10

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

I remember in our church every time we had finished taken the the Lord Supper, we would read the Church Covenant and there is a part there that says:

“We moreover engage that when we remove from this place, we will as soon as possible unite with some other church, where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word.”

These words remind me that wherever we go as family, the first priority for us to look for a local church where we can serve God. So it makes me sad that many people claims to be Christian but do not want to be part of a local church. It just doesn’t make sense. In order for us to have a clear understanding of or passage, we have to read it in its context. In verses 1 and 2, Paul talks about spiritual worship and in verse 3 to eight, he talks about our humble service to the body of Christ by using our spiritual gifts. We need to understand that Paul refers specifically to the local church because every believer should commit to serve God through a local church.

Some believers would make excuse that it is not necessary because they are part of the universal invisible church. Warren Weirsbe tells a story of a free-lance missionary that visited a pastor friend asking for financial support. "What group are you associated with?" his friend asked. The man replied, "I belong to the invisible church." His friend then asked, "Well, what church are you a member of?" Again he got the answer, "I belong to the invisible church!" Getting a bit suspicious, his friend asked, "When does this invisible church meet? Who pastors it?" The missionary then became incensed and said, "Well, your church here isn't the true church. I belong to the invisible church!" His friend replied, "Well, here's some invisible money to help you in your invisible church!" God called us to serve Him in a local church through our worship (12:1-2), our service by using our spiritual gifts and then by loving our brothers and sisters in Christ.

 This morning the word of God challenges us to follow Jesus command to love one another. We follow Jesus example when he demonstrates his love when he died on the cross to suffer in our behalf. He did not do that because he wants to do something nice for us but because of his obedience to the Father. By following Christ’s example, we are commanded by the Father to love every person in the body of Christ.

Love in the body of Christ must be sincere (12:9a)

The English word “sincere” comes from two Latin words meaning “without wax.” In Paul’s time, potters would sometimes take wax and fill in the gaps in broken or cracked pottery. Then they would paint over the wax and sell it. The only problem was that when someone bought this pottery and put something hot in it the wax would melt and it would leak. Good potters distanced themselves from this practice by saying that their pottery was “sine-cere,” meaning it was pure with no wax. Likewise, our love must not have cracks in it, or wax that is simply a cover-up. The Greek word that Paul uses means “without hypocrisy.” The word was used of the masks used by actors on the stage.

 During Paul’s time, the actors used the mask to show the role that he was playing not his true character. Paul says that our love for one another should be without mask, but rather should be real. We should truly desire God’s best for others. Now, I think the question is how we can love our brothers and sisters in Christ in the church, John puts it very clearly in 1 John 3:16-18, “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

Love in the body of Christ must be holy (12:9b)

Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. In order for love to be sincere, it must also be discerning. Love should know what is good and what is evil. It never endorses or encourages in others attitudes or behaviour that is evil. Rather it embraces what is good in God’s sight. God’s standard of what is evil and what is good does not change with the times or with different cultures. God reveals his holy standards of right and wrong in His Word. For example, when the Bible say that homosexual behaviour is sinful, then it does not changes even if public opinion polls or scientists say it is acceptable. If it is sin in God’s sight, then it is not loving to treat such behaviour as morally acceptable, because sin hurts people. Instead, the loving thing to do is to gently and with compassion, tell that person about his sin and point him to Christ so that he can be saved before his sin destroys him.

 Also Paul does not just say to avoid evil, we are to hate it. It is an strong emotional reaction against all that do not please God. Since God hates sin, we should also hate sin. We should not laugh at evil or be entertained by evil. The opposite of hating evil is to cling to what is good. The word “cling” is quite descriptive. It means to stick to something like glue; to hold fast, to join or keep company. It has the idea of tying ourselves to what is good. We must focus our minds on what is good and make sure that we keep company with people who will build us up, make sure we’re connected to church, and that we’re equipped to serve. We can flip it because they are really two sides to the same coin. The more you cling constantly to what is good, the easier it will be to hate what is evil. The word “good” was used of things that were morally good and beneficial or useful for a productive Christian life.

7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit. -1 Thessalonians 4:7-8

Love in the body of Christ must be brotherly (12:10a)

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Here Paul is challenging us to love as family members love. Here’s the deal. When we come a Christian we only get a birthday present called spiritual gift, we also become part of a new family. Each one of us is a child of God so we are a brothers and sisters to each other. The Christian community is composed of people from very different cultures. In the New Testament the church is composed of Greeks, Jews, Barbarians, Slaves, and free men and women but because of their faith they become one family in God.

 I believe it is not different from our present situation, we are all very different people but because of our faith in Christ, we become one family. Everyone of us has a family. There are times when we are not in talking terms with a member of our family. We fight, we argue and don’t talk with each other for a long time but we still love each other. The kind of love we should express within our families, is to be the kind of love God expects for us to express within the local Church: The church, is first and foremost the family of God, and each member of that family is important, with no distinctions, no discriminations.

Love in the body of Christ must be humble (12:10b)

Honour one another above yourselves.

The word “honour” literally means to put a “heavy weight.” It implies that we assign the greatest possible weight to a person in terms of respect by holding them in “high regard.” To honour someone is to measure his or her value on a scale and conclude that it is “heavy.” On the other hand, to “dishonour” means to treat someone as if they were “light or insignificant.” It would be used to describe a child that treats his parents lightly because he or she does not value them. We’re called to prefer others above ourselves. The idea is that we will take the lead in showing the honour that is due to each other in the family of God.

 This passage means that we do not wait around for people to recognise what we are doing good and praise us. Instead, we should be alter to what others are doing good and honour them. We are not to seek honour for ourselves, but rather we truly rejoice when others receive honour and we don not. It is easily said but it is hard to practice. If we will keep this principle in our hearts we will never look down upon other people especially our brothers and sisters in the church because at the very moment we look down on them, we actually are putting ourselves lower than them.

 Let us think of this truth always if you heard someone who are putting down a brother or a sister in Christ consider other Christians as second class citizen, according to God’s Word he or she is actually lower than the person he is putting down. So when Paul says, “honour one another above yourselves,” he doesn’t mean that we should deny our gifts or knowledge. Rather, he means that we should have a true estimate of ourselves. We should not over-estimate ourselves and under-estimate others. As Paul says in 1 Cortinthians 15:10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”

Conclusion

It would not take you too long to live in Mae Sai to realise that some Christians lack commitment to a particular local church. And I cannot blame them, there are just too many local churches here. They have a lot of options. I know a village that have five small churches and two Bible schools. I wonder how much influence they have in the community. In fact, I know a Christian leader who moved here last year and in just a few months was able to start a new local church disregarding local churches that are already existing. I am not saying that it is bad, I even think it is good. But I believe if we Christians want to have a weight in this predominantly Buddhist nation, we should better get our acts together.

And we can start by committing ourselves to a local church: commit ourselves to Jesus Christ who is the head of the church and commit ourselves to the members of the local church we are a part. How can we do that? By keeping this verse always in our hearts: Love one another sincerely, hate evil and cling to what is good, be devoted in loving one another like a family and honour one another above yourselves.

 Before I close I want to read part of the church covenant: We engage by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love; to strive for the advancement of this church, in knowledge, holiness and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, and doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel through all nations.

 We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember each other in prayer, to help each other in sickness; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation.

Network for Children and Women Under the Same Sky (NCWSS)

During our early years in Mae Sai, God clearly impressed upon us that we will be working with children and women. So it is only logical that we are now working together with NCWSS. We are hoping to do more projects through NCWSS. Below is the document describing the organization's activities and projects. NCWSS is an orgnization who woks to help the child and women in the provinces of Northern Thailand like Mae Sai, Mae Fa Luang, Chiang Kong, Chiang Saen, Mong, Lampang and other places. Many children and women became victims of abuse, exploitation and human trafficking. These problems are real but the community seems oblivious to the increasing realities of these evil deeds being committed against children and women. Therefore, different organisations and individuals who are genuinely concern to fight against these problems work together to protect the right and welfare of women and children. NCWSS goals are as follows:

1. To provide accommodation and education for the homeless children.
2. To assist in the care of the orphans.
3. To help the children who are the victims of sexual abuse.
4. To assist in protecting the children from human trafficking.
5. To help women from abusive husbands.
6. To assist women and children from labor and sex trafficking.
7. To help women workers from exploitative employers.
8. To increase knowledge of the communities to enable them to have a greater concern for being part of the solving problems.

When there are several groups and organisations which have the same mission and vision, they can work together to achieve their goals. NCWSS has been established for the purpose of:

1. Unite together to help and protect children and women’s right.
2. Share information, problems and experiences for better solve the problems.
3. Coordinate with the government, community organisations and individuals to achieve the goals.
4. Educate and encourage community and individual to work together on solving these problems.

The organization is registered with Ministry of Social Development and Human Security as Network for Children and Women Under the Same Sky as a public welfare organization by Legal Principle Section 82 of the Civil and Commercial LA. In September 15, 2008 and was awarded a certificate from The Association Registrar of the Chiang Rai Province. Main activities of the association:

1. Annual meeting to update and revise policy for the members’ guidance.
2. Organised seminars to educate and train the members how to extend assistance to the victims and to be more informed about the law and regulations.
3. Help and assist the children and women who are in danger of becoming victims.
4. Educate community, individual citizens and schools about the problems confronting the children and women in the society and how to acquire help to solve the problem.
5. Encourage the citizen to have an active part in solving these social problems.
6. Help the poor children by donating food, clothes, medicine, school supplies, finances for school fees, etc.

Through the years

Happy New Year! It’s a bit late greeting but we missed the opportunity to do it because we skipped sending you our January Newsletter.  We thanked the Lord for your continued partnership through out the years. Nine years to be exact.

We came to Mae Sai in January 2006 hence we are now on our ninth year here. This year, we were together in celebrating God’s faithfulness in our lives and ministries. We are grateful that Jared and Jillian were able to come to celebrate Christmas, New Year and the anniversary of our coming here in Thailand.

Team Visits

They came with a purpose to help the children at risk and we happen to have ten of those. Seven wonderful young ladies from YWAM DTS-Madison came to help us with the children and also with teaching English at the Municipal school. They stayed in our house for almost a week. We also took some time out to show them to few interesting places in Mae Sai. They came at the right time because we needed to go to the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok that weekend because Reuven had to take the Alternative Learning System Accreditation Equivalency (ALSAE) Test. We had people who looked after the children while we were away.

We also met with a 32-people team from South Korea through our Pastor friend. They were doing mission exposure in Southeast Asian countries. We were grateful to them for taking the time to visit our place and for encouraging us. We were able to help them in our own small way to look for an overnight accommodation.

We will also be working with YWAM Team from South Africa this month. Please pray for the school activities where these young people who will minister among the students of the municipal school.

Children Update

We thank the Lord for his provision for all the children’s school expenses. They are all doing good in the school. Being with them and seeing them 24/7 make us oblivious to the physical changes happening to them. We just noticed that their clothes are getting too small for them.  So we are again buying them new set of clothes and school uniforms.

Our own children are doing well in their studies. But Narlin and I think they need somebody to be with them to help them keep the house tidy and prepare food for them. Jared will be graduating in May and Jillian will be in her third year. The fact that they are in the Philippines in college is a miracle of God’s provision.

Reuven took this year ALSAE Test. If he passed, he will go straight to college in the Philippines. The test is specially difficult for him because the test is 90% in Tagalog. For someone who who live in Thailand for most of his life, written Tagalog is not easy to understand. Please pray that Reuven will pass the test this time.

HT Related Projects

Please continue to pray for us as we help our friend to start his ministry projects in Mae Sai that seeks to prevent young women from becoming victim of human trafficking (HT). We hope to find a place to rent to be used as vocational trainings centre (initially sewing for crafts like dresses and bags and maybe more courses later) and another place for shelter. Pray for our friend's health and pray for wisdom and provision.

During our last meeting with the Network for Women and Children, someone brought out a pressing problem. We are told that the Thai Immigration Office deported several young women who are working illegally in Thailand. Although these girls are from Burma, they practically grew up here. They couldn’t speak Burmese and they don’t have any idea where their family are located. Allegedly, they ended up homeless and raped by the police.

We are hoping to help provide solution to this problem by having people in the immigration office to look for the deported girls and provide them temporary shelter until such time they locate their family in Burma. This is a good opportunity to share God’s love to them.  Please for God’s guidance and provisions.

Members of Network for Children and Women (NCW) sharing problem on human trafficking and sharing ideas on how to provide solutions.

Thanksgiving

• We thank the Lord for another year he has given to us. We are looking forward for a fruitful 2015.
• We thank the Lord that our children from the Philippines were able to celebrate holidays with us.
• We thank the Lord for friends who are faithfully supporting and praying for us. We pray that God will bless you always.
• We thank the Lord for leading us to a local church where we can serve him.
• We thank the Lord for the opportunity to serve with the international community (who need spiritual feeding too) in our once a month English worship.
• We thank the Lord for the opportunity to teach English and the Word to the children and young people in the community. 
• We know it's still early but please help us pray for our visa and work permit this year. We are grateful that we did not have major difficulties in extending our stay in Thailand.