Of Caves, Monks and the Gospel of Jesus Christ

 We did a lot of driving around Trang Province.  Primarily this was for us to see the area..and the people to whom we hope to share the Light of Christ.  As in the last post, we did stumble upon a few places to enjoy the beauty of creation.  In this post, you will see pictures from inside a cave we happened upon, completely by "accident."  I put accident in quotes because I'm a firm believer in the Lord's sovereignty and I believe NOTHING happens by accident.  This cave was beautiful.  The pictures really don't do it justice.  It was tall enough to walk through, mostly.  There were a few spots where we had to stoop over but all in all, it had open rooms and were comfortable for walking.  As you'll quickly notice in the pictures, this cave also is a place of worship for Buddhists.  Every so many feet were idols of Buddha, with incense burning and places for the monk to kneel in prayer, making merit.  There was a bit of a temple like structure outside the cave.  There was one monk living there and tending to the cave...and I did see one Buddhist nun sitting in her little house.  The monk told us he had been tending the cave for 5 years and that he had been in the monkhood 15 years.  The cave was only found about 20 years ago.  You might also notice the light bulbs in the cave strung every so many feet to give light.

 Pictured above is a tree growing in the cave and Wilson filming.

 Here's a picture of the monk who showed us through the cave.  I know this picture looks like he's in jail, but I assure you, it was a doorway and he walking through.  I guess they had the bars on it to protect the cave from intruders or maybe even animals.

 Even though we were on Buddhist grounds, I found it interesting that this spirit house was also on the property.  Spirit worship actually comes from a pre-Buddhist era when Hinduism was the primary religion of Thailand.  The Thais have simply incorporated it all into their belief system.  So, this spirit house is there to appease the spirits of the property so that they'll protect and guard those who live on the property against evil spirits.

And, here's the last large room we visited at the cave.  It opened up into a huge open room...and the monk told us that the cave went on back but, of course, it was pitch black and told us we couldn't go back there. (Not that we wanted to!)
 As we walked through the cave, the monk mentioned how a family from France or a woman from Australia would come and pray (make merit).  As we were finishing up, he stopped at a place and asked us if we wanted to make merit.  I was at the back of the group so didn't hear his question but I did hear NaamFon answer him in Thai saying that we're Christians and can't do that.  He responded by saying Jesus and Buddha were the same...essentially, we're all good people and all paths lead to the same place.  NaamFon took his statement and corrected him by the Word of God and shared that we believe Christ died for our sins and we no longer have to make merit because Christ did it for us.  She was very clear, using Scripture and speaking to his Buddhism but with much respect and a heart of love.  I loved seeing NaamFon sharing the Gospel.  And the monk, still so gracious with us, led us the rest of the way out.  We prayed for that man, and I have continued to pray for him...for his salvation, for he is a man who has devoted his life to the teachings of Buddha.  He obviously is a seeker of truth, and I pray that the Lord would open his eyes to the Truth of Jesus Christ.  I am thankful that He is mighty to save, even in a remote village in Thailand!  I am praying that the words of Scripture and our assurance in Christ alone will speak to him.
As we left, I wondered how many Christians would have stooped and prayed, thinking it was okay to do that?   Would you have kneeled in prayer to an idol while thinking in your heart of your god?  I think it's good to ponder these questions.   Jesus Christ says in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."  Our culture tells us on every front that what's true for you is true for you and what's true for me is true for me and that it's all okay.  But this kind of thinking is full of errors.  If we carry that out logically what will result?  What if I think what is true for me is to pull a gun and shoot the person standing next to me?  Is that okay?  Where are the absolutes?  Many claim that there are no absolutes.  But by making that statement, they are still making an absolute statement.  So, I ask you again, you who read this blog regularly, you who may have stumbled upon me here...would you have bowed your head to an idol?  Would you have thought, "there's nothing wrong here as long as I am thinking of my God"?  Christ demands our FULL devotion.  This is why He asks us to count the cost before we bow in worship to Him. In Luke 9:23-26 Christ says, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever would save his life, will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.  For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."

John Piper Interviews Greg Livingstone and David Sitton on Desiring God

John Piper Interviews Greg Livingstone and David Sitton on Desiring God

Paul and I had the privilege to meet Greg and Sally Livingstone a few weeks ago. I do count it a privilege because this couple has worked for years with Muslim peoples and have a wealth of wisdom and experience to share. I wish I had an entire week to spend with them! This interview was incredibly encouraging to me as I look forward to the work to which God has called our family. A common theme in this interview is team. Please pray with us for God to raise a team of folks to join us in Thailand. As Greg mentions in this video and he said it when we met him too, we need to work in teams...one person/family can't do it all...and we're weak, we need each other. So, please for all of you who pray, pray to the Lord of the harvest for laborers to join us in S.Thailand. Thank you and if you have the time, watch this video!

Love the World Tour March 4-6

This past weekend we were at Pinewood PCA's missions conference, Love the World Tour. It was an immense encouragement to once again see so many familiar faces and meet new ones. We enjoyed a packed weekend with these fine folks...and hearing good teaching from God's Word by Pastor Nic Batzig who is a church planting pastor in Richmond Hill, GA. (He is pictured at left with his wife Anna and Mrs. Tommy Parks (RUF at UNF).





We enjoyed a delicious meal Friday night where church members brought ethnic dishes from Thailand, Mexico, Ukraine, Indonesia as well as America! It was hard to choose what to eat because there was so much good food available! Pictured at left with Paul is Pastor of Pinewood, JD Funyak along with Kelly Loomis who traveled from Richmond Hill with Pastor Batzig (and who is a former member of Pinewood and a long time friend).



Pictured lastly is part of our fabulous Thailand Mission Impact Team. Eva Borko with two of her children pictured with the elephant they made for our display. Isn't it great!? Just want to share this great idea with all of you out there. Pinewood has decided to encourage it's members to sign up for Mission Impact Teams according to where they have missionaries. So, as people came through and learned about the different missionaries and their fields, they choose which area they'd like to pray for and signed up to receive prayer updates, info about the missionaries from that respective field. I think this is a great idea! As you can see next to the elephant we were also selling Napada Bags...and sold quite a few, too!
It was a great weekend. Thank you to Eva and her team of people who helped make the weekend so easy for us. Thank you Pinewood for your continued support and prayers and love for our family and for the Thai people.

Prayers and Requests

Dear friends,

We are finally home after a month of traveling and visiting. It was good and encouraging but we are glad to be home. We have hardly heard a peep from the kiddos since returning because they are busy playing with their toys they haven't seen.

This past month many reminders to pray and needs have been brought to our attention. I know right now is not a good time to ask this of many of you, but I would ask you to pray because God's economy is not ours and we know that when He calls He will provide. With that said, I would ask you to pray for two different ministries that involve people that we really love and respect.

The first is for the man who married us and his wife. John and Cheryl Boyte along with their children, JJ, Casey and Caleb, live in Anderson, SC where John is on staff with Reformed University Fellowship (RUF). God's hand has firmly been upon John's college ministry since it started back in the late 90s. About a year and a half ago, John and Cheryl felt God was calling them to RUF fulltime. Up to that point, he was doing campus ministry through his job at a local PCA church among many other ministries. John and Cheryl have a gift for mentoring and discipling those who come to Christ. They have been instrumental in many lives as they have encouraged, prayed and couseled many students and directed us to Christ. Paul and I (though I was never a student at Anderson University) were directly impacted by their love for Christ and their love for us. John is the person God used to get us to Thailand...and there are many other stories like that out there! Anyway, all of this is to ask you to pray for them as they continue to be in need of monthly financial gifts and, if you are able and as you pray, feel called to consider supporting them. If you would like to know more please email John at jboyte[insert "at" sign]ruf.org.

We also stayed with our teammate, Melanie Currie, on our way down the Eastern Seaboard. Melanie served with us for two years in Thailand and she has been approved to return to Thailand as a long term missionary. Our whole family loves Melanie. She's lots of fun and has been used of God to encourage us time and time again. Melanie has a real desire to serve those in the Maahaadthai Community of Ram 2 (where we worked). Maahaadthai is a lower income community...usually known as a slum but we try not to refer to as that! Melanie would like to return by this June. She now needs to raise more support and is at just over 50% of her need. Please pray, again for God to provide for her. Again, if you are interested in supporting Melanie, please see her blog on the right (Thai Currie) and contact her there.

In your prayer times, please keep these two missionaries in your prayers.. Please pray for encouragement for them and for God to grant His presence while they minister and wait on God to provide for their needs. Pray that worry would be far from them, knowing the God, who has called them, is faithful. Please pray that whatever happens with the economy, God's church would find it fit to keep giving to the work of worlwide evangelism. Let's keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, come what may and see what He has planned through all of this. Thank you for your prayers and for your generosity.