New Generation for Christ update

Hello
Just wanted to send a quick update about the "New Generation For Christ" ministry that we helped start with our friend Art in Chiang Rai, Thailand. The ministry is a Christian Discipleship Dorm for Akha teenagers started in 2007. There is much more info on it on it's website, www.akhadorm.blogspot.com , or check out this video.

Just recently, it was accepted to be part of YWAM (Youth With a Mission), a well known mission organization. YWAM will provide organizational support, mentoring & leadership to Art, and help raising financial support. New Gen is growing, and more and more Akha teenagers are hearing about the dorm and wanting to stay with Art. Many of these teenagers live in small villages in the mountains with little opportunity for education past 6th grade or work, which often leads them to go to the "big city" alone where they end up in gangs or addicted to drugs or even worse. The dorm gives them a place to stay in the "big city" where they can be mentored, learn to adjust to city life, and grow in relationship to Christ as well. These students have also been making an impact on their friends by being positive role models in the community. Of the students who have stayed with Art, several have come to faith in Christ from Animist (spirit worship) backgrounds, some have gone on to Bible School, most have participated in outreach to Akha villages, and all have participated in Bible studies, worship, 1 on 1 mentoring, and school/work.

I want to ask you to consider giving financially to the dorm. I cannot think of a place where your money will be used more effectively to make a difference in the lives of people. Art has proven to us and to his peers that he is responsible and that his heart is following the "way, the truth, & the life". Students contribute to their housing, but they come from the poorest of families and a subsidy is needed. Ashley & I will continue to support Art however we can, through prayer, financial support, encouragement, and visiting him (hopefully soon). Will you join us in helping show Christ's love to one of the most physically & spiritually oppressed peoples in the world?

To make a tax deductible contribution, mail a check payable to YWAM to:
YWAM
501 Blacktail Road
Lakeside, Montana 59922
Ph: (406) 844-2221

*do not write anything in the memo line of the check, but do include a note in the envelope that says "support for project #3672, New Generation for Christ ministry in Chiang Rai, Thailand".

You may want to send me an email as well so that I can follow to ensure the money gets transferred to Art. If you would like to make monthly contributions, let me know & I will get you the form for that.

Good News and a New Generation for Christ Video

Art's ministry, New Generation for Christ is now a certified ministry of YWAM (Youth With a Mission), and so we can make tax deductible donations to him through YWAM (more info on that coming). We also have a video of our friend Art's ministry to teenage Akha guys in Northern Thailand. It's a quick overview of the Akha people in general and Art's goals for this ministry. There is more info on his website, www.akhadorm.blogspot.com.



Here is a recent email from Art about what has been going on at the New Generation for Christ.

The students here they are doing well. They are growing in faith and understand more the love of God. They are learning how to please God and what is the right attitude of worshiping God. I’m so glad to see them growing and walking in him. I’m so glad that God guides me in this way. I really want to be his tool that he able to use me to bless other people. I just want to say thank you so much for being apart of Gods ministry. I can’t do this with out the part of body Christ. They will take exam next week and school break for three months so they think that maybe find some job to make money, and next term about three more students coming to live with us.

( Apa) one of our student here will graduated this term so, he will be going to Chiness Bible college near by Chiangrai. So please pray for him and about new students that coming in.

The helper ( Lawpee) is going back home today for getting identity card, Hey! God is answering our prayer, he can get ID card. (LawPee has been praying for a Thai ID card for many years so that he can travel freely. He has spent many days in prison because he does not have one. Many akha in Thailand do not have an ID card because they recently immigrated from Laos or Burma because of oppression.) God helps him walk through this kind of hard situation by the grace of God. Lawpee share that he had learned a lot from God especially about trusting God, God has a good plan for each of us even though some time the way is look like so hard but if we trust him with the whole heart; he will come in the right time. Do not give up even the situation make us down sometime.

I’m glad to see him growing and can be blessing to other students.

Please continue to pray for him that he will love God more than yesterday, pray for the wisdom that he able to share the love of God to students. Pray for finance cause he doesn’t has from any. He really has the heart of serving God.

This year we have been praying together with the students here about the land for the ministry. So, we pray that we want the land for the ministry because we do not want to rent the house any more, we do not want to lose money for renting house (and they would like to farm rice, vegetables, fruit, and fish to make the ministry more sustainable). And if God wills we want to have some.
Please pray for this, Thank you so much for being a part of God’s ministry.

Missions Blog #2

How many tribes, languages, peoples, and nations are there? A lot. There are over 2500 “people groups” in India alone. The world is typically divided into people groups.

For strategic purposes, a people group is the largest group through which the gospel can flow without encountering significant barriers of understanding and acceptance. There are 15,900 people groups in the world. An unreached people group is a people group in which less than 2% of the population are Evangelical Christians. There are 6,721 unreached people groups.

Another way to divide the world is into 8 Cultural People Blocs.

1. Christian: 2.3 billion people, 97% personally know a Christian,
2. Hindu of India: 1.054 billion people, 3200 unreached people groups, 6% Christian, 14% of Non-Christians personally know a Christian, 1 missionary per 179,636 people
3. Muslim: 1.326 billion people, 5,500 unreached people groups, 3% Christian, 14% of Non-Christians personally know a Christian, 1 missionary per 306,238 people
4. Buddhist of Southeast Asia: 378.3 million people, 1500 unreached people groups, 4% Christian, 15% of Non-Christians personally know a Christian, 1 missionary per 176,000 people.
5. Folk Chinese: 400 million people, 300 unreached people groups, 7% Christian, 15% of Non-Christians personally know a Christian, 1 missionary per 132,857 people
6. Tribal peoples: 230 million people, 2000 unreached people groups, 12% Christian, 41% of Non-Christians personally know a Christian, 1 missionary per 17,126 people
7. Non-Religious: 946.7 million people, 100 unreached people groups, 10% Christian, 28% of Non-Christians personally know a Christian, 1 missionary per 70,041 people
8. Others: 146 million people, 400 unreached people groups, 10% Christian, 67% of Non-Christians personally know a Christian, 1 missionary per 35,405 people

How are the Unreached currently being reached? Good question, and the answer truly brings glory to God.

• There are missionaries who have followed the example of Paul and have gone out to the unreached peoples, learned their language and culture, and are using many different strategies to draw people into a relationship with Jesus Christ. These are not just people from America, but from everywhere.
• There are other missionaries who support these efforts by translating Bibles and literature, making videos and music, etc.
• Many people groups are making efforts to reach themselves. There are many stories of tribal peoples who have risked it all to go to other countries to share the gospel with others from their same tribe. The Akha in Thailand is one such story, where several Akha churches have given money to Akha Christians to go into Laos, China, and Vietnam where the Akha have not yet heard of the one true God. Vietnamese Christians, despite severe persecution and risking their life and possessions, are making many efforts to share the gospel cross-culturally with tribal peoples who have not yet heard the gospel.
• God is making himself known to others in miraculous ways. Have you heard of an entire group of Muslims who dreamed of Jesus being the true son of God, and then woke up to hear that many others in their community had the same dream. This entire group came to believe in Jesus as the Son of God without any outside influence. There are many other stories similar to this. God’s heart is for His people to know Him, and He is more than able to draw people to Himself. We get the chance to be involved in this great redemptive work He is doing.
• The unreached have come to us. Did you know that there are at least 60 unreached people groups represented in the United States. People have come to the US to study and work from some of the largest unreached people groups in the world. Over 5 million Jews, 4 million Muslims, and 500,000 Buddhists from unreached people groups live in America full-time, not including those temporarily here for exchange study programs. Many of these are from countries where Christians are persecuted and missionaries are not allowed such as China, Vietnam, Myanmar, the Middle East, and India. Did you know that 80% of foreign visitors never get invited into the home of an American? Did you know, that these people probably go home telling the world that Christians are unloving because noone made an effort to get to know them. Did you know, you may see someone from an unreached people group when you go to Walmart or eat at a Thai restaurant?
• Prayer- people around the world pray for the unreached. Prayer is well documented as the beginning to the spread of the Gospel. Paul’s missionary journey began as the Christians in Antioch worshipped and fasted (Acts 13:1-3). When missionaries were kicked out of China in the 1950’s, they thought all hope was lost, but they kept praying for the Christians in China. And God worked on their behalf, causing the gospel to spread in an underground “house” church movement in a way no one could have ever imagined. Pick up any biography of a missionary and you will see that they not only lived a life of prayer, but also built a team of people from their home who were dedicated to praying for God to work.

Missions Blog #1

Why do we have missions?
The simple, common answer is Matthew 28:19, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” There are many other verses and themes in the Bible that point us toward missions as well. God’s heart for missions can be seen in many Old Testament stories such as Abraham being blessed, “and through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 22:18). God was showing Himself to the world as a powerful and loving God in the stories of David, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and many other stories. Jesus ministered cross-culturally with Samaritans, Romans, etc. Paul traveled throughout the Middle East and Europe, sharing the “good news” and trying to start a movement of Christ-like followers everywhere he went. In Romans 10:14-15, he specifically relates the need for people to be sent out, “How can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?...” And we see in Revelation 7:9 that in the end this “good news” will spread to all peoples, “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.”.
We have “missions” because 1. God has been making Himself known to all peoples from the beginning of time and 2. Jesus, His disciples, and the early Christians made significant efforts to share the “good news” to men of all nations as well.

What is the task of world missions, the goal, the thing we work toward?
There are many definitions, but some of the most common are: 1. an evangelizing, discipling church movement for every language, culture, and people. 2. A church for every people and the gospel for every person. 3. Reach the Unreached people of the world.

I’d like to clarify a few words in these. Church- does not mean a building or any specific denomination. In the New Testament, “church” is used to describe a community of people who believe and trust in Jesus Christ for their salvation, who gather regularly to seek Him and praise Him. These meetings may or may not: be on Sunday, have a pastor, involve preaching, and be in a church building. Gospel : This cannot just be the Bible translated into every language. More than 86% of the world is illiterate, and many languages are not yet written down. Not everyone in the world learns the way we Westerners do. Some pass on “stories” through songs or storytelling, some use different art forms (dance, painting, drawing, dramas) to illustrate their stories and assist in storytelling. For these peoples, the Gospel must first be translated into their language and then be “told” in a way they can understand and remember and then pass on to others.

The thing we work toward is to fulfill this Great Commission to “make disciples of all peoples so that all men (and women) will know the love of Christ”.

Check back soon for more on "How many tribes, nations, and tongues are there", "what are the unreached" and "where are they".

A Blog on Cross-Cultural Missions

In the last 2 years, we have learned a lot about what missions is, why it exists, and different ways to be involved. Since returning to the US, we have met many people who have an interest in missions but do not feel like they can be involved for many different reasons. We have also heard many different questions about what missions really is. So, since I have some free time (thanks to a booming economy), I thought I’d write a little on What missions is and why do we have it, What are the “Unreached”, What are we doing to reach them, How can I get involved, Why should I get involved, and What is the Good News. I’ll also share a few real life stories as well. First, if you’re interested, watch the little video I made called “What if you didn’t know the Good News”. Hope you like it, and if not, no worries, keep checking in cause we’ll write other stuff as well. And, if you have any questions you'd like to ask, feel free to ask it in the comments or in an email. Thanks and may God Bless You.

What if you didn't know the Good News?

In our spare time we made a little video of some of our pictures from Thailand and China to kind of give an idea of what the people there believe and how that is different from the Good News. Please check it out, I think you'll like it. Feel free to share it/use it with whoever you want. Let me know what you think. It's called, What if you didn't know the Good News? It's kind of based off of an idea from II Corinthians 5:17-6:2

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you."I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.

We're Home

The last few months have been a crazy whirlwind of coming and going, filled with many good memories, happy hello's and sad goodbyes. We visited Kansas City and Hermann Missouri, getting to spend much time with Ashley's family for Thanksgiving. We then visited North Carolina for Christmas, and finally, after being homeless vagabonds for almost 2 months, we moved into a nice little apartment in Boulder Colorado on New Year's Eve, 2008. Please check out our pictures for more info.
We're settling in nicely at our home in Boulder. It was great to be reunited with all of our old clothes and things from our storage shed. We realized that we gave away a lot of stuff before we left, a few things we wish we would have kept. We've been reunited with many old friends and are starting to get caught up with all that's happened in the last 1.5 years. Friends are now marred, engaged, have babies, new jobs, and some friends have even moved away.
We're now looking for jobs and volunteer opportunities to keep us busy. We have been blessed with good job opportunities, even in this hard economic environment. In addition to looking for jobs, we're also cooking a lot of thai food for friends to try out and also trying to remember how to climb, run, bike, and breathe at altitude.

So, How's Re-entry to America?
This is a common question for us. We'll share a few stories from our reentry to the crazy american culture.
1. Taxi ride- a 10 minute taxi ride from the airport, in thailand would cost us $6. Here, it cost us $35.
2. After months of hearing family worry about all the dangers in Asia and hoping we will make it home safely, we made it (of course), only for Jonathan to get bitten by a spider in his first night in America. Apparently, a brown recluse made a home in their unused bed and didn't like his return.
3. After leaving America in great economic prospects, we came back to a failing economy. It was a little depressing to think about looking for a job in these times. Sometimes it caused us to worry/plan a little excessively, but God reminded us to "be anxious for nothing, but with everything through prayer let your requests be made known to Him, and the Peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:6. We have found this to be true, to not get caught up in worrying about the future, but to just live each day trusting that He will provide our every need. And His peace has been comforting, allowing us to enjoy our free time here and use it to reconnect with friends and family.
4. COLD weather - After not wearing a jacket for the last year, we came back to below freezing temps in Missouri. This took a little time to get used to.
5. Saying Hello, in thailand we were trained to "Wai" every person we met (a little head bow with your hands together at your chest/nose), and we found this as a hard habit to get out of. Instead of waving or shaking hands or giving a hug, we often found ourselves doing an awkward "wai" which we tried to turn into a wave/shake/hug.
6. At Chipotle, for some reason Jonathan instinctively tried to speak thai to the cashier.
7. Thai Time - Even though we have no jobs, we still find a way to be late everywhere we go. It's just the thai way of doing things. Whatever you are doing now, whatever conversation you are in or work you are doing, is more important than getting to your next meeting on time. We're having trouble remembering that it's not the same in the US.
8. US sizes - Ashley felt much better shopping for clothes, realizing that she is no longer the biggest size that the store sells. It can be a little depressing to try on an XL in thailand and still need something larger.
9. Toilet Paper - In thailand, you throw your paper in the trash can, not in the toilet. This habit created us several dilemmas as we searched the stall for a trash can to no avail, and then realizing that we can just throw it in the toilet.
10. American Food - it's great, but so is thai food. After getting used to eating fresh food that is light and easy to digest, we had a few problems as our body tried to deal with a plate of cheesy lasagna or greasy pizza. Thai's don't eat much cheese or milk, so this took us a little time to get used to.
11. Dry climate - after moving to Colorado, Jonathan's lips were so dry they cracked and bled for 3-4 days. We both woke up early in the mornings with a throat so dry, we almost couldn't breathe.
12. Missing Friends - One thing that we hope to not get over, is a longing to see some of the friends we made in our time in Thailand. God truly blessed us with friends who looked after us, cared for us, and spent time with us. It would have been a much harder 1.5 years without those friends, and we hope to get to reconnect with them soon.

That's all. God Bless You all.

Goodbye Thailand, Hello USA

Hello from Hermann, Missouri. After many tears and sad goodbyes to many friends who feel like family to us, we left Thailand on Nov. 7. We were in Thailand for 1 year and 3 months and are amazed at how much has happened. Please check out our pictures for more info as well.

• We completed a YWAM Discipleship Training School, growing in our personal relationship with Jesus Christ and experiencing and learning many unique things.
• We worked at the Lopburi Youth House, reaching out to students aged 14-22 with the love of Jesus Christ in many different ways.
• We visited beautiful waterfalls, climbed, biked, motorbiked, took 12 hour trains and buses, and slept in a Buddhist temple as we explored all of Thailand and even visited Laos and China.
• We taught English and we learned Thai language.
• We experienced it all, fun times, hard times, challenging personal growth, seeing God working in our lives and in those around us. Through it all we have seen that He is truly faithful to those who follow Him and that every step of faith we took was rewarded by Him. We want to encourage you to seek Him with all your heart and to trust Him with all your ways. Even in these hard economic times, to remember that He gives strength to all who hope in Him. Now is a good time to remember that it is God who we trust, not money.
  
  

Last week we visited Ashley’s Dad in Kansas City. We cooked lots of food, cleaned the kitchen, ran and climbed together, and prayed together. Even in this very difficult time for them, God has blessed them in many ways. We continue to pray that He will provide strength for each day.
Now we are visiting Ashley’s Mom for Thanksgiving. It is great to be reunited with family and to share our stories from Thailand and catch up on all that we missed.
On December 8 we will visit Jonathan’s family in North Carolina.
As for what we’ll do next, we know that we should live each day as Christ’s Ambassadors, sharing Christ’s love with those around us. We are also reminded to “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, make your requests to God. And let the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Christ.” Phillipians 4:6
We pray that you have a blessed Thanksgiving. Click here for pics of our time in the USA, and here for our pics of our going away party in thailand

Climbing and Kwan's wedding in Chiang Mai

After Chiang Rai we went to Chiang Mai to visit some old friends and vacation a little before leaving Thailand. We stayed at our friend Emi's Lighthouse Guesthouse, a great Christian environment in a good location. Anyone visiting Chiang Mai should check her out.

Climbing!!!

We finally got to go climbing in Chiang Mai at the famous Crazy Horse area. Our friends Carolyn and Charles came along with us. We were not disappointed as the area had enough easy climbs for us to play on for the day, and also had a nice quiet and friendly environment with beautiful views. It was great to get out in the wilderness again.

Kwan and Jeremiah's wedding

We met Kwan during our YWAM DTS. She is from a Lisu village in Chiang Dao (Northern Thailand) near the border of Burma. The Lisu culture is very different than thai culture, often leaving us feeling out of place as white faces who speak a little thai, but no Lisu or Burmese or Northern Thai. It was a lively atmosphere as the family and friends gathered to prepare for the ceremony and to prepare food for the HUGE wedding feast. Hope you enjoy our pictures and say a prayer for Kwan and Jeremiah as they start their lfe together, that God will guide them and bless their relationship with love and perseverance. They are both talented and hard working with a desire to worship God with their lives, but they come from poor families with little opportunity.

Pain in the Butt (mtn biking with Art) and other adventures.

This last week has been a whirlwind as we went to bangkok for our friend Em's engagement party and then came to Chiang Rai to visit Art and the New Generation Ministry. Many stories to tell, but little time. We'll pick just a few, including mountain biking for the first time in a long time on uncomfortable bikes which has a tendency to cause a problem in the bottom area. Make sure to check out our pictures also.

Em's Engagement!!!
Our friend Em surprised us by bringing his girlfriend Kluay to Lopburi to meet us, and then inviting us to his engagement party the next weekend. Engagement party's in thailand are almost as big as the wedding.
The ceremony, in true THAI Style, took hours to prepare for and then lasted only a few minutes. We spent Sunday night making decorations, food, preparing the room. Then we woke at 5:30 am and ate breakfast at a nearby restaurant with Em's family and friends and waited around until 9am for the ceremony to start. Loud firecrackers started the ceremony, and Em led his family and friends into the building where Kluay's family and friends were waiting. Em presented the Dowry and other gifts to the family, the parents said a few blessings, and then it was picture time.
Ceremony - 15 minutes
Pictures - 45 minutes
Preparations- Hours
We did get to meet 1 of Em's friends (Klong) who is a strong Christian and is very good about encouraging and teaching Em in his faith. It was very cool to see these 2 young men standing strong in a world with values very different from theirs. They are truly a light in their world. Please keep Em and Kluay in your prayers, that their relationship will be blessed and that Kluay's relationship with God will continue to grow and continue to impact her life.

Akha Christian Youth Camp
In Chiang Rai, we got to see the yearly ACY camp which had 750 Akha Youth age 15-22 join. We taught English for an hour to 60+ students, and then sat back and watched this camp completely run by Akha men and women volunteering their time and money to reach their own people. It was a great sight, and amazing to see how well they put together a camp for so many people.

Pain in the Butt
Art also took us bike riding in the mountains near Chiang Rai. We rented 3 mountain bikes for the journey and loaded up a bag of snacks and water and set off into the unknown. The bikes were good, except that it felt like driving a tank and the seat had no padding whatsoever.
The trail at the start was great, it was a dirt road used by motorbikes over steep mountains with several stream crossings through beautiful rice fields and villages. Some hills were very steep and long, causing Art to throw up from exhaustion (not the first time Jonathan has caused a friend to throw up while bike riding). Several areas were very technical too, negotiating through rocks and mud and sticks. It made us miss Colorado.
We stopped for lunch at a small Akha village where Art quickly made friends who brought us out food and water. Their food was much better than what we brought, and they forced us to eat it, so we did and we gave them our food to eat later. We had a wonderful time resting, eating, talking, joking, and comparing "farang" (western) culture with the Akha culture. 2 old Akha ladies, when hearing we were riding bikes, exclaimed, "those farang are CRAZY".
Then, we decided on a shortcut the villagers told us about, which was very fun. It led us on the edge of cliffs, through the woods, and through at least 20 stream crossings. It was a awesome bike ride, but, left us with very sore butts.

New Generation Ministry
We also had a great time staying at the New Generation Ministry house for the week. We were very encouraged by what we saw and heard about how the ministry is going. We know many of you have supported the ministry with prayer and finances, and he wants to say a big THANK YOU for it all. The ministry is serving it's purpose to disciple young Akha men, give them opportunity to study at school, and train them up as leaders. We are very excited by what we see, and will update the New Generation Website with more info. God is truly blessing these kids through your support and prayers. And, if any of you are considering supporting a ministry, this is a great opportunity where your money will definitely be used wisely.

For Example, to pay for 5 students and 2 staff, the monthly expenses right now is around $300 including food for breakfast & dinner, rent, and utilities. The students are responsible to pay for their own lunch and school fees.

They cook and eat food together, play soccer, and then meet nightly to study the Bible, pray together, and worship God. God is blessing there relationships and is giving Art many opportunities to speak truth into their lives and to train them into leaders of the Akha community.

Invision Global Network
While at Art's house, we also met Tim and Cindy, 2 people from the US with an interisting vision ad mission. It was wonderful getting to exchange stories with them and hear about what they are doing. Anyone interested in organizing a short life changing mission trip with a group of friends or church members should check out there website. They have a very interesting and unique perspective on short term mission trips and how to take what you learn in a far away place and bring it home and allow it to change your life in a way that is honoring to God.