Reflections

Well I haven't written in a very long time, but this entry was actually supposed to be written shortly after I got back from Thailand. Ah, apathy. I just wanted to mention a few things that came to me as I reflected on my time in Thailand....
-----
When we got down south, Ricky Sanchez gave us a tour of some of the hardest hit areas of Southern Thailand. He took us to the Wat where they had brought hundreds of dead bodies, to be identified. (A Wat is a Buddhist place of worship). It was there I thought, wow, they brought the dead to the Wat. The place that housed death spiritually, was now a place that housed death physically.
-----
Team life was really cool. We were from all over North America, brought together by a common purpose and a common faith (and a common denomination). What made it especially unique is that we came as individuals. And because of that, we got to know each other far better than if we were within the context of our families. For myself, I could approach people on the team without feeling like I was infringing on a family unit or "couple time". I think we got to know each other far better than if we had been there with our families. Don't get me wrong, family is a good thing, I just wanted to point out the uniqueness of the experience.
-----
I was really struck by Ricky's persistance in prayer. He knows prayer works because he's seen it happen over and over again (praying for people until they come to Christ). That is really cool, and it encouraged me to pray for my unsaved friends.
-----
When I was in Bankok, checking in for my flight home, the passport reader wasn't reading my passport. It read everyone else's passport, and my passport is good condition but it wouldn't read mine. I thought to myself, "I know if I pray it will work". Normally I always have some skepticism about the prayer working, but this time I just knew God would answer. Sure enough, I prayed "Lord please let it read my passport", and right away it read my passport successfully. I said to myself "Wow, that's so cool. Thanks God!" Prayer does work.

Jon

Going Back

I'm going back to Thailand! Before I left Thailand in March, I already wanted to go back, and now it has become a reality. I just purchased my tickets in faith that I will be able to raise enough money to cover my costs there. I leave 3 months to the day.... January 11, 2006 and return May 17th. I will be up in Chang Mai, Northern Thailand for the first 2-3 months and then I'll go down to Chonburi, central Thailand for the remainder of the time.

What will I be doing? I don't exactly know. That's probably not the answer that potential supporters are looking for, but it's the truth. I'll probably be teaching English, learning Thai, doing any computer/technical work that needs to be done, including creating promotional videos (camera work and video editing) for the missionaries, and also just generally helping out in whatever. I am going as a servant. I am there to work, not to relax on some beach.

Russel Schmidt and his family are working amoung the Kamu people in Northern Thailand. I will be primarily working with him for the first couple of months. We'll see.

When it comes to a giant step of faith like this, I am the first to be very critical of the entire trip: The people you work with are your mission field. What about all the unsaved people in Canada? Why don't you take care of your own country first? Are you sure you were called to Thailand? Are you sure this isn't just an excuse to quit your job? You're an introvert, do you really think you have what it takes to be a missionary and lead people to Christ? They've already got technical people over there, what they need is people who love people. Your prayers are puny, maybe you're not as spiritually prepared as you think you are. I could go on....but you get the idea. These are the things that cloud my mind. I actually believe (most of the time) that these are just attacks of the Enemy, trying to discourage me from going.

The one I really struggle with is "Are you sure you were called to Thailand????" I pray that this is God prompting me, because it doesn't make sense. Missions feels so out of character for me, yet God planted this trip in my heart before the previous trip was over. Philippians 2:13 says "for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." I think God is working in me. The other assurance is that even though I don't really know what I'm getting myself into, I have peace about it (and there's been plenty of opportunity to not have peace about it :-)

Please pray that God's will be done and Name be glorified through this trip.

Jon