Heading to Huntsville....

To tell the story again. I just want to say...I really love support raising. We get to talk about what God has done in our lives, what He is doing in our lives, and what we pray He will do in our lives and in Thailand. Then we invite the church to be the church....in other words, to support missions.

Pray for us as we travel, as I preach, and as Kiki and I share about our ministry in Thailand.

Umm....Milk?

I think that its supposed to say "Yumm!..Milk", but they botched it. Actually, this place (ChokChai Dairy), is quite 'yumm'...great milkshakes and fatty burgers. A great occasional break from rice.

Missions in Hymns

From "Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness" by Nikolaus von Zinzendorf

O, let the dead now hear Thy voice.
Bid, Lord, Thy banished ones rejoice
Their beauty this, their glorious dress
Jesus the Lord, our Righteousness.

Oh, that the dead would hear His voice. That's the hope of the missionary, whether here or in a foreign land.

Leadership Bio: Jane

In 2009 Kiki and I took about 10 students to Bangkok to work with MTW Thailand, mainly doing campus ministry for 2 months. During our trip, we all lived in a big house together near the university, and as the summer progressed, more and more students would simply drop by and stay for a few hours. Around the time of our campus retreat we met Jane (in the pic to the left) and she began to spend time with our group and with the Thai believers at New City Fellowship (our church in the Ramkhamhaeng II area of Bangkok). Jane continued to spend time with the missionaries and Thais after we left, and some time during the fall of 2009 she came to believe in Christ.

Pray with us as we pray for Jane. She is a young believer who is growing in her faith and learning to be who God designed her to be. Pray that God will protect her from doubt and fear and that her family will come to Christ through her witness. Pray that she will continue to spend time with believers and that she will grow through fellowship, the Word and prayer. Pray also that God will use her to draw others to Himself and that one day soon Jane will be a great disciple-maker for Christ and a key part of the spread of the Gospel in Thailand.

Holding the Rope: Giving

How Can I ‘hold the rope’?

Or, in other words, how can I support a missionary? A little background for some who might not be familiar with the process and concept...support raising is the way that missionaries go overseas, sometimes the denomination does it and sometimes the missionary does it. Like a pastor in the US, most missionaries must rely on the financial support of fellow believers to take the Gospel to the unreached.

Here are some practical ways that you (and yes...I mean you) can ‘hold the rope’:

• Students: personally, when I was a college student, one of the most meaningful things that I did was to commit to support a missionary. I decided that I could shave $35 per month from my personal budget and give to missions...and it taught me that no one, if they are careful and intentional, is unable to partner financially with a missionary. $35 may not be doable for every student, but consider putting aside $5 per week to give to missions...which could translate into one less trip to the coffee shop.

• Singles and Couples: Consider foregoing one nice dinner out per month and doing something at home instead to be able to give $50-$75 (or more) to send us to Bangkok. Some great cheap dates are picnics, pizza and a movie at home, board games and puzzles, reading your favorite books aloud to one another or taking a long walk together.

• Everyone: if you are connected to a church, consider being an advocate for us as we seek for partner churches. One friend of ours simply talked to his pastor and gave him our information. After sending a letter to this pastor, we are most likely going to attend and share at that church’s missions conference. This is a great way to find financial and prayer partners.

Just as we need people who will pray for us while we take the Gospel to Bangkok, we also need people who are willing to give financially to send us...people who are willing to 'hold the rope' by investing in the Kingdom with their money.

Tea, anyone?

Thai Tea Time from Charita Patamikakorn on Vimeo.

I went to a parenting conference. . .

No, we are not pregnant.

I went because my favorite professor was speaking at our church on parenting. I had already read his book Loving Obedience, by Dr. Bill Richardson, and had sat under his teaching for the last two years, so I knew the conference was going to be great.

I was right. At least I thought it was great and the feedback from other parents seemed similar. So, I now have a lot of tools for parenting (or babysitting), but more important for the present time, I have more tools to pass on to my clients. One of the most profound tools he spoke about is not just for parenting but for all relationships: notice and tell others what you like about them. It is possible to do this for strangers and we sometimes do: "I like that bag." "Where did you get your haircut." "You have a great smile." But it is often harder to notice these thigns in the people we love because they seem so mundane, and it is sometimes even harder to say them if life is busy or you are tired etc. Anyway, I felt challenged to offer more "truth in love" that is positive and not just the hard to hear truth that we usually think about.

The Real Pad Thai

This guy is a hero of mine. The only reason I can give is that he makes some of the best Pad Thai I've ever had. I'm not even a Pad Thai kind of guy...its generally too sweet for me to eat a whole plate of it. But I have no trouble downing a plate of this stuff.





Just down the street from where our short-term team stayed this summer, across the street from the King's Park, and all decked out with plastic chairs and folding card tables, this guy sets up each day from about lunch until late at night and he works his magic. Can't wait to see him again, and this:

OH HAPPY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I knew that I could live in Thailand after my first fried chicken and sticky rice breakfast, but THIS just seals the deal! I'm not quite as happy as I was in this picture, but I'm pretty excited.

Missions in the OT: 1 Kings 8:41-43

I love the Old Testament. I'm growing more and more fond of it by the day, it seems. Not that I ever hated it or anything, but as I've been pretty aggressively reading through the Scriptures again and outlining each book, the Spirit is awakening me to just how much we need the OT.

In 1 Kings 8, just after Solomon built the Temple and brought the Ark of the Covenant up to the Most Holy Place, he prays a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving and praise to God. In the midst of the prayer, as he prays for the people of Israel, Solomon prays this:

Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name's sake (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.

In the OT, God had the same plan that He has now (we're in NT times, by the way). As the King and Creator of the earth, He chose Israel to be His ambassadors, proclaiming the message and kingdom of God to all nations. The goal of Yahweh was never to be a local deity; He was and is King of all the earth and as the nations saw what He did for a small, unlikely band of nomads, they saw that He is "a great God, and a great King above all gods" (Ps. 95:3). The Temple itself, among other things, represented the established kingdom and presence of God, and Solomon here prays for the foreigners who will come to worship, that they may know and fear Yahweh, the true God. We can pray the same thing...except that now, the Temple has been replaced by Christ Himself. The nations don't have to come to a specific location to worship (read John 4); now the ambassadors go to the ends of the earth. Pray that the nations may know and fear our God, the same God that Solomon prayed to, and pray also for His ambassadors who go to the nations.

Upcoming Schedule and Events

These next few months will get busier and busier for us as we set up meetings with churches and individuals and as we attend and speak at missions conferences.





Pray for these events...that many people will partner with us both financially and in prayer:

• October 6...Coffee meeting with missions director of Highlands PCA in Jackson
  
• October 10...Missions Conference at Redeemer PCA in Travelers Rest, SC
• October 11-13...in ATL area, hopefully meeting with a few pastors/elders
  
• October 24...preaching at The Village Church PCA in Huntsville, AL
• November 5-7...MTW Global Missions Conference in Chattanooga, TN
• November ???...Missions Conference at Northgate Presbyterian in Albany, GA

Pray for us as we travel, speak and share our love for the Thai people over the next few months.