The Red Shirts are coming...the Red Shirts are coming!

It has been almost three weeks since the Red Shirts arrived in town. The staging area for the initial protests was centered near the Parliament building but, when things didn't go as planned, the Red Shirts began to parade around town, causing massive traffic jams and forcing businesses to close for days at a time.

A couple of times we have found ourselves in the middle of a protest march - not by our own doing - and we hurried to find a hasty retreat from the area. We live a couple of hundred yards from a major thoroughfare in Bangkok and the Red Shirts have not been shy to march down this particular avenue to try to get their message across. There are thousands and thousands of people here for the demonstration. Most have come from the smaller provinces around the country and there doesn't seem to be any kind of rush to try to get the situation resolved - either from the side of the government or the protestors.

However, I sense something will be coming to a head fairly soon. Either (1) the prime minister will dissolve the Parliament and the red shirts will win, (2) the red shirts will give up and return to their homes, or (3) there will be some kind of physical confrontation which will precipitate violence. Scenarios 1 and 2 do not seem very viable. However, there is a chance the red shirts will suspend the protest next week and take it up again at a later date. A very important Thai holiday is coming up next week and I imagine most of the Red Shirts will want to celebrate the holiday with their families. One other scenario which seems rather remote would be for the prime minister to relinquish his position so, I would assume, new elections must be held. This would allow both sides to save face - which is so very important in Thai socieity - though this possibility doesn't seem very realistic.

In any event, the protest, up to this point, has been mostly peaceful. There have been a few grenades and bombs and some minor skirmishes between individuals but, for the most part, the protests seem to take on a party atmosphere. But, as time drags on and patience becomes thin, the possibility for expanded violence becomes more of a possibility.

All of our company personnel are safe and take extreme caution to try to not place themselves in a situation near protests that could escalate and become uncontrollable. Pray for the country and the leaders of both groups that clearer heads might prevail. Millions of people are suffering heavy, heavy monetary losses and there is no doubt that it will take a long time for the country to regroup and become united again. It is our hope the Father would somehow use this opportunity to show Thais that are living in the darkness how much freedom there is to live in the light.

Alpha Class Retreat

Let me take a moment to share with you an experience from our Alpha Class Retreat last weekend. It was truly a God-inspired experience.

During the Saturday night training session, one in which Tuktaa was the leader, we had 16 young men and women from Cambodia attend who are working at the resort where the retreat was being held. Tuktaa started off by speaking to these people first, sharing a little bit of the gospel and how Jesus had died for their sins. Then she transitioned into the regular teaching, How to Know the Holy Spirit is Working in your Life. As she taught the information, I was struck with the knowledge that these beautiful people from Cambodia didn't need to know as much about the Holy Spirit in their lives as the simple message of the gospel of love in that, as best we knew, none of them knew Jesus as their Savior. The odds are that many of them had never even heard the name of Jesus before.

So, not wanting to try to interfere with our leader, I simply prayed, 'Lord, if You'll give me the chance to speak, I'll be bold and try to share the simple gospel story.' About five minutes later, Tuktaa said, 'Aachan Robert, would you please dismiss us in prayer.'

I walked to the front of the room, praying as I went, 'Okay, Lord. I promised You I would speak. Give me three words to share with these people.' And, immediately, three words came to my mind - special, love, and plan. So, I asked Tuktaa for permission to speak directly to the Cambodians and she graciously gave me additional time. I then asked one of our group, a Cambodian, if any of the people understood Thai. She responded, 'No.' So...I asked Tuktaa to come stand by me and asked Suphaap to stand by Tuktaa. I would speak in English, Tuktaa would translate the English into Thai and then Suphaap would translate the Thai into Cambodian. (Suphaap does not speak English.) I shared an extremely simple gospel message of only 5-7 minutes using the three words the Lord had given me. Understand that these people are common, manual laborers, workers in the fields. When I finished, I understood why the Lord had given me the first word - special - for, in these people's lives, there is nothing 'special' about them. They are at the bottom of the social ladder. However, they are so very special in the Lord's eyes and that was the focus of my sharing.

When I finished sharing about the Lord's love for them and God's plan for their lives, Tuktaa shared a little more with Suphaap translating for her. Somewhere in the midst of her sharing, she asked a question and, immediately, all 16 hands shot up in the air. She had asked how many wanted to become believers in Jesus Christ. It wasn't like one hand was raised and then another and then a couple of others. When she asked the question, every hand went up simultaneously! Then I heard her ask a question, using the Thai word for 'Bible.' Not a single hand came up. Then another question about 'phrakhamphii' - Bible - and, again, all 16 hands went up. (Later, I found out her initial question was asking how many had Bibles and her follow-up question asked how many would like to have a Bible.) Somewhere in this process, Tuktaa led them all in the sinner's prayer.

Then Tuktaa asked if any in our group had anything to share. Five different people in our group came to the front and shared their personal testimony about what Jesus had done in their lives.

Then, she asked the Cambodians if any of them had anything to share. One young man, almost sheepishly, raised his hand and was invited to the front to speak. In essence, he replied that he felt like God was calling him to be the leader for this particular group - to be responsible for learning about God and then sharing what he learned with the new group of believers. Holy mackerel!!! How remarkable is that. Whenever God has a purpose, He always has a way!

The next morning, we discovered another one of the Cambodians is adept at playing the guitar so he met with our worship leader and she helped him with some basic songs for them to sing during their group time until some other materials could be sent to them.

I asked Tuktaa what would happen next. She responded that someone from their church would return, probably on several occasions. This person would bring Cambodian Bibles and discipleship materials which could be translated into their heart language. In a short while, after this group has developed a good understanding of what becoming a Christian really means, they will baptize them and then this group will become a new church start.

What an exciting weekend this was. We went expecting to learn about how the Holy Spirit works in people's lives and, instead of just learning about it, we saw it first-hand. What a glorious experience it was. Praise His name.

I apologize for not staying up-to-date on our blog. Time just kinda' slips by but I promise not to let it happen again!

We just celebrated Chinese New Year. A friend and I went to Chinatown in Bangkok to celebrate the occasion...with about 250,000 people and I think I bumped into every single one of them. As I scanned the scene in front of me, all I saw was a sea of black hair. Again, I was reminded why we are here.

I have been working and teaching some with the Alpha Class at our church. It is a class for searchers - people who have little or no idea of who Jesus is. We are going on a retreat this week-end. Hopefully, several of the participants who have been coming to the class will be able to attend. Join with us that it might be a 'fruitful' weekend.

Kay and I have befriended a young soldier who has been coming to our Sunday Morning English-learning Bible Study group. As we were having lunch, he looked at me and asked if I would explain the gospel to him. Trust me - that hasn't happened very often in my life! So, I shared some very simple elements of the good news and then asked Baap, another good friend who is a strong believer, to explain the gospel again just to make sure Don had understood it. He is not ready to commit his life but is genuinely interested so, in your prayer time, pray for the light to shine in Don's life.

Kay and I both are coming to the end of our language acquisition journey. We'll keep you posted about our plans. They should become clear in the next couple of months. Plans now are to move to Hat Yai, where we will stay for about a year. Then we'll move to another city in the south where we have no company personnel...but that is quite a while away.

Until next time, blessings and enjoy the journey.

Random thoughts

Last night, Kay and I went to a Mexican restaurant in the middle of Bangkok. Whenever we go places, we always try to speak Thai, if at all possible. So, with that in mind, I ordered my dinner using the best Thai that I could. The server just looked at me with a confused look on her face. So...I tried again, changing up the sentence to say the same thing in a different way. Again, she didn't say a word but just stared at me. I was at a loss as to what to do. I felt my grammar and sentence structure was okay and I could not think of a reason she should not understand me. I was beginning to feel somewhat desperate.

Finally, she looked at me and, in perfect English, said, 'Uh, I can't understand you. I don't speak Thai. I'm from the Phillipines.' Whew...I ordered my beef Tex-Mex enchiladas (using English, no less) and we all had a good laugh.

Let me share another experience that has haunted my memory this past week.

There were about a dozen songs in our music library that the Celebration Singers could sing on a moment's notice. They were songs that we loved to sing and were practically memorized by the choir. I called them 'sugar daddies.' I could pull one out and go over it one time and it would be ready to sing for worship the following Sunday. Each one was special to the choir in its' own way. One of these songs was People Need the Lord. Last week, while walking down one of the large, main streets in Bangkok, an experience we had brought the words of this song back to my memory.

As some background information, when walking down a street, if one should meet a Thai coming the opposite way, seldom will the Thai speak first. They will almost never make eye contact, usually just a quick glance and then they'll look back down at the ground. (As bad as the sidewalks are, everyone always looks down to avoid stepping in a bad spot in the walkway! If you've been to Bangkok, you know what I mean.) However, if you speak first and smile and say hello, they will always smile back and most respond with a verbal hello. But prolonged (key word) eye contact with a stranger is never experienced...unlike New Mexico where you can carry on a 10-minute conversation with a total stranger and, by the time you part, you know just about everything in regard to the person you met just 10 minutes earlier, children, job, religion, political party affiliation, etc.

However, last week, I met some ladies who gave me prolonged eye contact and the words to People Need the Lord burst upon my mind. When walking down the street, we came upon some prostitutes looking for their next client. There were 8-10 in this one location right in front of Tony Roma's Ribs, just standing there...waiting...and, as I walked by, we made eye contact but, unlike most Thais that quickly look away, their eyes met mine and they continued with prolonged eye contact until I walked past. (I was very uncomfortable at the moment, to say the least.) They were all young women, every one of them in their twenties and the empty looks I saw in their eyes, coupled with the lack of smile on their faces, easily displayed the hollowness that I know is in the depth of their souls.

Every day they pass me by, I can see it in their eyes. Empty people filled with care, headed who knows where...

Bang!

All of a sudden, the words to that song blasted into my mind, searing themselves deeply upon my heart.

Here were some beautiful young women, each one uniquely created by God, needing to discover the freedom that can be found in Jesus. The awkwardness of the moment was more than counterbalanced by the realization of the truth found in those words.

Every day they pass me by, I can see it in their eyes. Empty people filled with care, headed who knows where...

I am happy to tell you that there is a vibrant, Christian ministry called The Well that was created and exists solely to minister to the needs of the thousands of prostitutes and bar girls in Thailand. If you would be encouraged by reading some of the success stories of how this ministry has literally helped take women off the street, here is a link to get you to the right place.

www.servantworks.com/well

A couple of nights ago, we were at Central Dept. Store. I stopped for a moment just to look around. To my left were some Hindu families from either India or Pakistan. The women were wearing brightly colored saris and had the tell-tale red dot in the middle of their foreheads. To my right were a large group of Muslims. The men were wearing the white, pleated hat and the women had on solid black burqas with a small slit as an opening for their eyes. There were also a number of shoppers from Japan, carrying large bags of clothes from the store. Surrounding us were dozens of Thai Buddhists, each one hurrying to get on with their life. And, of course, there were a few farangs (foreigners) usually from Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Indonesia, or any one of dozens of countries.

Yes, Dorothy...we are not in Kansas anymore... What opportunities continue to await us.

Bless each one of you for your prayers and words of encouragement. To God be the glory.

Back in the saddle again...

The past two months have been quite a journey for both of us but through the experiences have learned a great deal about ourselves and the Lord who supplies us with grace each day.

We returned to the states in late June to attend the wedding of our youngest daughter, Kara, to a fine, young, godly man named Zane. The wedding, the reception - everything was just perfect!!! After spending a few days with friends and family, I (Robert) returned to San Antonio with my mom and Kay went on to Amarillo to spend several days with her parents before we returned to SE Asia.

However, Kay slipped on a freshly mopped floor in the facility where her parents reside (no - there was not a warning sign), fell, and broke her elbow. Six days later we were back in Roswell to have a 2 1/2" screw put in her elbow. The surgery went well and we returned to BKK a week later with the left arm in a sling, not to be used for six weeks. At first, everything seemed to be going well but, after our six-week checkup, it seems that the bones may not be healing as fast as they should be. So...another six-weeks in the sling.

Besides that, her left shoulder has begun to hurt a lot and there seems to be no proverbial 'light at the end of the tunnel.' So, if you would pray for healing in her arm and shoulder. With all that we have on our plate, this truly has become a major distraction.

On a more positive note, I finished Module 5 (and decided to take it again for reinforcement) and Kay will finish Module 4 this week and begin Module 5. We are both on a good pace for our language study. In a couple of weeks, we will both take oral 'snapshots' of our language learning as we will record a conversation with a Thai friend to show just how far we have come. When we reach Level 5 (not Module 5), we'll receive the okay to head on to our assignment in the southern part of the country to begin our work there. (A Level 5 would be equivalent to how a 5th or 6th grade Thai student would speak. We relate to the TV show, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? In a few weeks, we'll find out!) It is important we do well in this assessment. Pray we'll have good ears to hear and steady tongues to speak on that day.

All else is moving along. We have continued to develop relationships with several Thai friends (as well as several from other countries around the world) who need to know Jesus. They are all an intense burden upon our hearts. Pray that, as our strategy coordinator said this week...'they would find Jesus irresistible!'

I'll do my best to update our blog on a weekly basis. Our schedules have been fairly complex these past few weeks.

Blessings.