A Christmas of options

The past 2 Christmas we have been in Thailand. This year we are glad to be back in America with our family and friends to celebrate this special time of the year. However, we feel that the commercialism of Christmas here is getting to us. There are so many choices in the stores and at the malls to buy gifts for your friends and loved ones. In Thailand our choices for gifts were limited.

What is Christmas really about? We say lets bring back the true meaning of Christmas but are we doing anything about it? I believe there is a strong spiritual battle here in America, but it is not so "in your face" because Satan is cleaver and has disguised it so well. The spiritual battles we face in a "non Christian" country are so apparent, so "in your face". We see it; it's the carved idols, spirit houses, temples, monks and incense sticks smell in the air every where we go. This helps us realize that we are in a place that is without God. There are people there who need to know God.

We don't notice the oppressed spiritual battles here in America as much. There are churches, Christian bumper stickers on cars, people wearing shirts with Christian logos and sayings, radio and TV programs about God. So, we naturally assume that God is here with us. We are blessed to live in a nice big house, to have all the toys we want and have the freedom to worship. But are all these so call blessings a disguise set up by Satan to cause us to be blinded to the real truth. All these things that we are privy to here in America can hinder us from truly serving God. The spiritual battles are real here as it is everywhere else in the world. I pray that the Holy Spirit will open our eyes to see it.

A doctor once told me that he thinks that Christmas is to commercialize here. I think he is right. Commercials has a way of taking our attention away from what is real and taking your focus off of something important to something that is temporary and superficial. My prayer is for all of us to see the spiritual battle all around us no matter how cleverly Satan has disguised it. May our spiritual eyes be open and that God's Holy Spirit will get our attention back on the real reason for this season and not the commercialism of it.

Matthew 7:1-5

Matthew 7:1-5 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Have you ever been frustrated, irritated, or upset at someone? Some times a situation comes up and we need someone or something to blame our problems on, so that we can feel better or at least have a path to let our emotions out. This is even more prevalent when you have to work with people everyday. How did Jesus do it? How was he able to hold his "cool" when so many could of upset Him? He looked at himself and towards his Father for wisdom and understanding.

Matthew 7 verse 1-5 came alive to me this past week. We are trying so hard to do the right thing here and yet we forget to examine ourselves. Our we doing what we think we ought to do because God told us to do it or are we doing it for selfish reasons of our own? That is the million dollar question. Once we can answer that question with honesty, then we will have the peace and wisdom and understanding that comes from God.

May God's wisdom be with you in all situations.

Why Traditions

Sometimes I wonder why we do things the way we do. Don't you? Being in Thailand we ask that question a lot, but this time it's why do they do the things they do. We still have a lot to learn about the Thai culture and customs. One thing we have figured out is that the younger Thai generation do things out of traditions and don't even know why. Not to say that the kids in the US know why they do things the way they do either. But I think in order to reach the youth of Thailand we have to ask them WHY? If they worship Buddha just because their parents and grand parents did I believe it is up to us to ask them WHY? When we ask that question it makes them search for the answer and we are at the same time able to share our beliefs. Hopefully in the end we will be able to pray together for the right answers to be reviled in their lives. Please continue to pray for us as we serve here in Thailand. As always you can send your gift to our ministry at http://www.cten.org/. God bless you and your family.

Victory at Cornerstone

Victory Bible College students lent a helping hand to help build a children center at Cornerstone Church. We were bless with their hard work and talents. We even took a day off of the construction to minister to four local schools. It was such an honor for us to work side by side with the Victory team to do God's will.

Corner Stone Church Hua-Hin

This is a church in Hua-Hin where Flora and I feel God has called us to serve. Corner Stone Church (no relation with the Corner Stone Church in the US) has been here for 10 years. They have about 40 members and 15 children attending each Sunday. The main building was constructed just over 3 years ago and they are in the process of building a children center. We are praying that Venture maybe apart of this building project.

The pastor is a native Thai and went to bible college in Bangkok. He has no staff and has to do everything on his own including the maintenance of the building and grounds. Please pray for God's direction for us and how he would like us to serve his people at Corner Stone Church.

In His service!

Doing laundry on the bus!

What an adventure we had in Phuket! It was a 9 hour ride from Hua Hin to Phuket in a mini van and an 11 hour bus ride back to Hua Hin the next morning. Before we left we prayed that God would give us confirmation about serving here in Hua Hin. Boy, did he ever! God has shown us that Hua Hin is where he wants us to serve him.

Once we got off our mini van in the north end of the island of Phuket we knew right away that this was not the place for us. There were Tsunami warning signs posted every where. We were all scared and could not even sleep that night. We caught the first "tour" bus back the next morning. That bus ride was an experience we will never forget. There were laundry hanging to dry and the air conditioning unit was leaking water on to the seat. The worst part was the motion sickness of riding in the back of a cramp bus with zigzag roads through the mountains. Eve through up 3 times and we all try to sleep as much as possible so we would not get sick.

If you want to experience how the locals travel then I would recommend this bus ride other wise hire a personal mini van.

Fist week in Thailand

We made it! Praise God we are now in Thailand. It was a smooth 20 hour travel time from LAX to Bangkok International Airport. We spent the first few days in Bangkok at my aunt's house. We visited ECB (Evangelical Church of Bangkok), it's a mega church here and has hundreds of members. We also went to New Song Church. This is the church were Santosh ministered when he was in Thailand.

Our first week was filled with mixed emotions as we get adjusted to the time change and jet lag. We are now in Hua Hin. Most of my family live here and we will most likely plant and settle here. We meet with a Corner Stone Church (no relation to the US Corner Stone) pastor and we feel that this is where God wants us to serve. I will give more details on this later on.

Tomorrow we are headed down to Phuket (an 8 hour drive from Hua Hin). We are going to see Calvary Chapel at the Bridges. They have a ministry there for the tsunami victims.

Please pray for our sponsorship. We are not fully funded yet, but I know God will provide the right people to come along side us. Pray for us to get adjusted to the Thai culture and custom. And pray for God's direction and protection for us as we travel to visit the many different ministries here in Thailand.

In His service!