Karena's Last Thailand Reflections

Our last days in Thailand were really busy as we wanted to use our time there to the fullest so I didn't have time to blog but I wanted to tell you about 2 other opportunities I had. Our last Friday morning there Ashlyn and I had the opportunity to go to the Lorenzo orphanage with Carmen and the team from Parkview MB (Hillsboro, KS). It is run by wonderful Catholic nuns and it is where the ALH boys came from. We had a wonderful time doing a kid's club and playing with the kids. At the end the kids sang a couple of songs with motions for us. Then in the evening Carmen and I went to a ladies night out that the TLC women had organized. They wanted something different so they made chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and salad. Then they were going to watch Facing the Giants. Previously Carmen had helped organize these nights but this is the first one that the Thai women had put on by themselves. It is exciting to see the Thai Christians move into leadership roles. Thank you to all who prayed for us and helped make this trip possible financially. We had such a great time. A big part of our goals was to encourage our missionaries and friends. Thank you for helping make that possible. I had been wanting to go to Thailand for several years but after being there a short time it became apparent that this was God's perfect timing. Kelly was able to help Andy with questions concerning getting church leadership in place and other staff stuff. Kelly was also able to help with landscaping the tent area. Through long talks Carmen and I had several opportunities to pray together, encourage, and inspire one another to live a life trusting our Lord daily. Our children also had a great time (there boys are the same age as our boys). And for those of you who are wondering, the kids loved Thai food! (Bradyn was fine as long as there was meat available.) We also had KFC, McDonald's, and pizza occasionally to break up the Thai food. The kids favorite Thai place was the place across the street from the church that was nicknamed "Bob's".

Francis Chan

I continued south toward Simi Valley after visiting a church in Bakersfield Sunday morning. I was extremely excited about attending a 5pm service at Cornerstone Church. Why? Because Francis Chan, who has long been one of my favorite speakers, founded the church. Francis is a radical and a non-conformist. He tired of playing church games and is not afraid to say the hard things that Christ followers need to hear even when they aren't popular and fly in the face of popular western thought. Despite the wealth in Simi Valley, the church is remarkably simple and basic. From what I hear, that stems from their intentional decision to invest half of their yearly budget back into their community and world. They now run 4 Sunday services in a building smaller than the gym at Neighborhood and are very cramped for space. In response they entered a building campaign. Interestingly enough, after deciding that 50% of all commitments would be invested back in their community and world, they also decided not to build a large, expensive worship center. Instead, they are looking at building an outdoor amphitheater that will be a fraction of the cost. Granted, they are blessed with Southern Cal weather, but I mention their decision as an example of their desire to turn outwardly and reveal the love of Jesus to those outside their church family. Back to the service- Francis and his wife Lisa spoke on I Corinthians 7:29-35, a passage normally aimed at single people. However, their message was also about marriage. If you are putting a lot of time and effort into your marriage but your spouse just isn't who you want them to be, let me encourage you to listen to the message on-line (you can find it on http://www.cornerstonesimi.com/ under the quick-links to the sermons- "Christ Centered Relationships Part 1"- July 27th).

A Church Visit to Bakersfield

After a few days of adjusting back from Thai to California time, I resumed my church research part of my sabbatical. This morning I drove down to Bakersfield and attended Valley Bible Fellowship. They ranked third in growth among churches in the United States this last year and I wanted to see what the draw was. As many of the other churches I have attended on my sabbatical, their campus and church buildings were basic and versatile. Many were basic steel buildings. Being in a pastoral position, I often catch myself having a critical spirit when I attend other churches. I asked God for an open mind and the ability to learn some things He was up to in Bakersfield. As I took my seat in their auditorium and looked around, the first thing I noticed was the demographic of people attending. I noticed a lot of working class people. Some would say a "little rough around the edges" (bikers, those with tattoos, gang style clothing, etc.). I also noticed a high percentage of males around me which is a little unusual in a typical American church (about 65-70% female). The pastor wore jeans and a collared shirt and sat most of the time during his conversation style message. It was obvious that the pastor was very passionate about VBF being a hospital that cares for "sick" people. A category that we all fit in one way or another. VBF has started a satellite church in Vegas and two other cities (soon to be 3). I've heard powerful stories of the ministry that the Vegas church has with prostitutes. I walked away from the service still trying to figure out why they draw the kind of crowd they do, but at the same time thinking, "this looks a lot like Jesus to me". Jesus' ministry was messy and most of the time it wasn't aimed at the upper/middle class professionals. What would it look like if NC became messy? What if we were intentional about loving homosexuals, homeless, unwed mothers, drunkards, and ex-cons? How would the majority of our church family react? Would they leave and go someplace "comfortable"? Yet, I wonder if Jesus really wants us to be "comfortable". I absolutely love our partnership with Houston school, yet on our recent church survey there were a few (a small number) of people that highly disagreed with our desire to make an impact in our community. "We should focus more on ourselves", they said. What do you think about that? I'm excited about what God has already started at NC, but also long for the day that as a church family our heart would beat collectively and passionately for the "sinners" that Jesus spent so much time loving.

Home: Safe, Sound, and Tired

We're back in Visalia! We arrived home safely this morning at 1:30 PST. We'll take the next couple of days to recover from jet-lag before I continue my reading list and visit a few more churches this weekend. Thanks for all your prayers!

Church Under the Big-Top!

In one of my earlier blogs, I mentioned that TLC had put up a tent in order to accommodate their growth. I took a short video that you can watch giving you an idea of what their services are like. They are located along a busy street so they get a lot of people passing by and stopping to see where all the noise is coming from. As we were singing a song in Thai (that I also knew in English) I couldn't help but smile as God gave me a small but powerful glimpse of heaven- "After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the lamb." Rev. 7:9

Payton and the Crocodile Egg

Hey this is Payton again and this time I'm still holding an animal but I'm also helping it get out of its egg. When I first heard I was going to help a crocodile get out of its egg I was a little nervous. When they gave me the egg I started peeling and then I saw the eye. I thought I was going to hurt it. It was so cute with its little head poking out. After I peeled it for a little while, it started to try and climb out. So then a zoo keeper had to help me so the baby crocodile wouldn't fall out. After it was out I got to cut a part that was connected to the egg. When I was done my hands were all bloody and had pieces of the egg on my hands. He then gave it a bath and I got to hold it. After I was done holding it I let my brother, sister and my friends hold it.

Baby Tigers--Ashlyn

At the Tiger Zoo we got to take a picture with a baby tiger. The tiger was so cute and was as small as a kitten. I was very lucky to get to hold it, probably because I was the most excited to.
(people in picture, left to right: Karena, Conner, Bradyn, Kelly, Ashlyn(me), Payton, Isaac, Carmen and Sam)

Payton and the Orangutans

Hey this is Payton! So, you can see me sitting with Orangutans. When I first saw the Orangutans I said to my mom, "Can I take a picture with the Orangutans!" She replied, "We have to do a couple more things first." So while we were doing the other things first, I still thought about the Orangutans. When it was time, I sat down on the bench and then the Orangutans came and sat by me. One was holding my hand and the other was putting his arm around me. Their hairs on them were not as soft as I expected. Orangutans are my favorite animal. I got my wish touching an Orangutan. I love Orangutans! (This picture was taken at the Tiger Zoo)

Mountain Farming

Similar to what happened to the American Indian tribes, the Khmu tribes of Northern Thailand were kicked off the good farming land. Although it's hard to see, the crops being raised on the hill include corn and rice. Some of these hills are very steep and all the crops are planted and harvested by hand. Not an easy day's work.

Gardening Sins

Although I haven't seen many "intentional" flower beds, the lush tropical weather allows for many some beautiful scenery. I know all my fellow "green thumbers" can relate, but when I saw groups of Zinnias growing wild all along the road, I must confess, I coveted.

"Football" video

"Football"

After a kid's club (that included music, bible stories, and crafts) Payton plays "football" with some of the Khmu kids.

A pastor's testimony

The pastor of the Khmu village in the picture seen below sits with our group and shares the story about how his dad narrowly escaped death by jumping in the Me Khong river in the midst of soldiers firing at him during the Vietnam war. Notice the instruments in the back. Despite the primitive homes you see below, music has been an effective tool these new churches have been using to reach villagers for Christ.

Village Homes

Here's some homes located close to a church we visited.

Donated by Neighborhood and Christian Cinema

Karena and Carmen give some children's story pictures and videos (donated by Neighborhood and Christian Cinema) to the pastor's wife who helps run the children's program at their church in a Khmu village. She also runs a day-care for kids whose parent's work in the fields all day.

Me Khong River

We stayed at a hotel near the Me Khong river. It separates Thailand from Laos. Laos is a communist country and even though it has restrictions on churches, a number of church plants related to the churches we visited in N. Thailand have sprung up and are growing rapidly despite some persecution.

Elephant Rides

Along the way up to the churches, we had a chance to stop at a place that gave elephant rides. It was located in a village were 80% of the people had become Christians. That's highly unusual for Thailand which is 95% Buddist. Part of the reason for the high percentage has to do with the Thai culture. If the head of the village does something (like become a Christian) the rest of the people make the decision as well. Decisions are definitely "community" decisions. It's very different from the individualist society that we live in. What do you think? Are there advantages to this kind of community decision making process? Do you we see it in the Bible? I would love to hear from you. Oh, ya- back to the elephants. Our kids loved the rides and as you see in the picture even had the chance to feed them.

Rice Fields

This last Monday through Thursday night we traveled up to some Khmu villages in northern Thailand to see what God is up to in some of our church plants. Along the way, rice fields (and a lot of rain) were a common sight.

TLC Staff Meeting

The other day I had a chance to help lead a portion of TLC's staff meeting. I led a brief devotional on Ephesians 4 and then talked a little about what Neighborhood is doing in the area of leadership development. Team 2000 has developed a group of what we call "elders" as they aim to develop strong Thai leadership. They have recently begun to wrestle with what the staff and elder relationship might look like. I see huge potential that God has brought to TLC. Please pray for them as they work on developing these men and women into godly leaders. Oh- by the way- for NC staff that read this blog- their meeting only lasted about 1 1/2 hours. Much too short for Neighborhood's standards! Continue to feel "blessed" that we get to enjoy each others company for at least 3 hours!!!!

Break Dancing Ministry

After each Sunday service, there's a group of guys that get together to break-dance on the floor of TLC's main floor. After an hour or so of break-dancing, one of the guys leads a brief Bible study. It has become a very effective outreach with several guys coming to Christ since it started.

Cain and Abel Skit

Kelly and the King

I'm standing in front of a picture of the King of Thailand at a local hardware/grocery store. The King is a very admired and respected figure in this country. In nearly every house and store there's a picture of the King (very similar to what you see in the United States with Pres. Bush- oh wait, maybe not).

HIV Orphanage

Last night we visited the Abundant Life Home. It's an orphanage for kids with HIV and it was started by Team 2000. Some of you might remember that it was on Neighborhood's special Christmas gift giving last year. Our church family gave over $26,000. that has helped pay for things like medicine, care-takers, food, and housing maintenance. I can testify that the gifts are being well-used. There are 14 orphans in 2 houses (the boys and girls are in different homes) with a couple of full-time care-takers at each house. It's a very loving environment where Jesus is shared both in words and deeds. We celebrated a couple of birthdays and had a chance to play with the kids. As a part of Neighborhood's family, I just want to thank you for thinking beyond yourself and investing in ministries like these.

Organizing Curriculum --Ashlyn

Yesterday I helped organize some of the stuff for kids church. It was kind of like Neighborhood Church's resource room. We had to make it look and be organized like that. There were many different things to do. Other people were helping too. First, I arranged felt people and put them into bags according to their category. Then, I helped cut out stickers to give away as prizes. Other people(including my mom) helped by putting pencils in boxes, scissors in boxes, throwing away stuff that the children's ministry didn't need...etc.

Tent Revival

I had the opportunity to use my “green thumb” gifts in the beginning stages of a tent beautification project at The Life Center. In the past year, the church has set up a large tent right beside their rented meeting place. It sits out in an open field and serves multiple purposes. They use it a couple times a month to hold their Sunday service in (they have grown so much that their strip mall storefront is a tight squeeze). They also use it as an outreach to their community including basketball several times a week. To add to the attraction and the flexibility of the space, we picked up trash, “weed eated”, and sprayed Round-Up around the concrete pad. Later, we will install a gravel border, some picnic tables, and a planter bed. Gardening in 97% humidity is a bit different from the “dry heat” of Visalia but it sure helps to shed a couple pounds.

Teaching English-Part 2 (Ashlyn)

Yesterday my mom, my dad, and Carmen taught an English class at the church. There were about 15 kids there ages 6-20! They know some basic words like family words, places ...etc. They were very polite. We introduced ourselves and they said "nice to meet you" in English. The kids knew enough English that we could talk in English. First, we played hang man. The words were "mother, sister, cousin, Thailand, and children." They were divided up into 2 teams. Team 2 won by one point! After that, we showed them pictures of our house, school, church...etc. Then, we got into 4 groups. One group my mom lead, one my dad lead, one Carmen lead, and one group the original teacher of the class and I lead. We asked questions and had them work on there pronunciation of the words they had already learned. We had them ask us "what is your name", "How old are you", and "Where are you from." We helped them say it better. Then the class was done. I think they have an English class because a lot of people in Thailand speak English too.

Teaching English

We traveled about 1 1/2 hours today toward what the missionaries call the "slums". It's a very poor section of Thailand where most people do one of three things- Factories, Food, or Fish. We saw many rice fields and fish ponds. But interestingly enough, beside them were many factories. I talked with one of the missionaries in the area and he told me that the factories moved there because of cheap labor. Most workers make less than a $1 an hour. It was muddy from all the rain as we pulled into the school. The school was state run and consisted of mostly elementary age kids. The Thai government is anxious to have their kids learn English (they feel it gives them a shot at getting a better job and moving up the social classes). Ashlyn, Payton, and Bradyn all helped in acting out the story of Cain and Abel. Carmen Owen used the story to help teach the kids English phrases and I followed up the story with an illustration (using a shook-up Coke) of what anger can do if kept bottled up within us. Building off the relationships formed from the English classes, the missionaries have started a kid's club that meets twice a week in a nearby home.

Monkey Attack!

Last night we visited a zoo in Chon Buri with the Owens. We had planned a picnic and then a "night Safari" (they take you around in little shuttle buses and point out the animals with a big spot light). We had some time to kill before the Safari started so we bought a couple of bags of cucumbers, bananas, and beans to feed the animals. We started out feeding the deer with some beans. It was some-what of an "open zoo" so the deer had some freedom to roam around the place. They came right up and ate out of our hand. It was a wonderful experience for the kids. We then threw some cucumbers off a bridge to some awaiting hippos. I had saved some bananas for the giraffes and zebras. As we walked up to their area I noticed some monkeys walking around by us. I had been warned that they could be very aggressive, but as I looked at a couple, they seemed so cute. As they came closer I noticed them eying my bananas. Before I could say "killer monkeys," I had been surrounded by about 50 of them. It was me against them. I was determined to feed the giraffes and not them. Surely they wouldn't harm their close relative? However, when a big possessed male came up right in front of me and showed his pearly whites with a hiss, I quickly lost all bowel control and thew them the rest of my bananas as both families ran full-speed the other way. Obviously, because I'm writing this blog, we survived. But one thing is true, I will never look at those cute little demon possessed monkeys the same.

Sunday Worship Service

Now that I (Karena) have a few moments a wanted to share more with you about church at TLC. TLC (The Life Center) is in a great location. It is on a main road that people take all the way from Bangkok to the beach in Chonburi. Huge numbers of people come down this street every weekend on their way to the beach. The church has a huge heart logo (If you haven't seen a picture of the church, we will try to get one on the blog later this week).
The service is in Thai but one of the team members translates into a microphone so if you want to listen in English you can sit in the back and use the earphones. The worship team was all Thai people and we sang Mercy is Falling (us in English and everyone else in Thai). That was fun. They also sang other songs that I didn't know. A few people stood up and gave wonderful testimonies how God was working in their life or something amazing He did. There was even a young lady who gave her life to the Lord during the service. Then the pastor dismissed us for Children's Church. Carmen and I and some other young ladies took the children upstairs and had our own time with singing, games, Bible story, scripture time, crafts (Popsicle stick/cotton ball sheep!), snacks. My kids enjoyed the game--charades, the words were animals--so the language difference was not a problem!
(The picture above is Carmen teaching with a young lady named Wow and holding up a picture of the story. These pictures were part of a ton of curriculum and resources donated by Pastor Jayne (Neighborhood's children's pastor) ---Thank you so much!!!)

Children's Church (Karena)

This is a picture of the Thai children copying Romans 6:23 from a huge chalkboard wall at the church. We also "jumped into the light" with a Jana Alayra video (thanks so much Christian Cinema!). It was beautiful to hear their little voices singing praises to Jesus both in English (along with the video) and in Thai.

Quote of the Day

This picture is of our son Payton and Connor Owen partaking of some tasty grubs bought at a local market. Quote of the day when Payton later ate a grasshopper: "These aren't as good as the grubs!"

The Grand Palace

We were told by our missionary friends, the Owens, that the Grand Palace (located in Bangkok) is the central representation of everything spiritual for the Thai people. It's the home of the Emerald Buddha which was carved out of a single piece of jade. There religious beliefs are deeply ingrained in the culture. It was a fascinating journey to explore the temple and literally see hundreds of people being sprinkled with "holy water" and bowing down to Buddha. It helped give me an understanding of the culture that Team 2000 works in as it continues to share the love of Christ with the Thai people. Later on in the evening we celebrated the 4th with some other Americans that were staying at the guest house. The Owens had picked up some sparklers for us to use. About 15 minutes into the "fireworks show" God provided some fireworks of his own and it started to lightning and pour down rain. Our kids were extremely excited about rain that was warm (a bit of a foreign concept to them since the only time it rains in Visalia is winter). They ran around and played in the rain until the tropical downpour passed. We spent some more time with the Owens and their kids today. As we experienced Bangkok's culture, we had the opportunity to hear more about their heart for the Thai people and how God is working in this beautiful country. Pray for us as we will be traveling to Chonburi tomorrow (their home base and where TLC is located) to help with their Sunday service.

We've Arrived!

Hi Everyone- just wanted you to know that we've arrived safely in Thailand. It started out kind of rough when we were delayed at LAX due to a bomb threat, but we end arriving at 1:40am on July 4th (we are 14 hours ahead of PST) in Bangkok. By the time we gathered our bags, went through immigration and drove to our mission's house, we ended up getting to bed at 4am Thai time. I'll write later with more details, but today we toured the city (including the famous Grand Palace). Happy 4th!

Payton's Blog

Wuz up, dudes I'm Payton. A few days a go my family went to San Diego. When we got to San Diego we checked into our hotel and then settled in. The next morning Ashlyn, Bradyn, Dad, and I explored our hotel while my mom was getting ready for the day. After awhile we went to Sea World. At Sea World we went to the dolphin, sea lion, and shamu shows. At the shamu show we sat in the soak zone but we barely got wet. We also got a little wet on the sea lion show. At Sea World we saw the Quinzon's.(who go to our church). The next day our family went to the hotel water park and pool. Then the beach. Once we were done we went back to our hotel while dad got ready to go to a church. But that night my whole family went to church. After church headed home.
Payton