Saturday, December 7, 2013
Chiang Khong Health Seminar
Aw, sweet rest! I'm sitting on my bed, eating some papaya, in the center that Leading to the Light Ministry has up in Chiang Khong, Thailand. Leading to the Light is the Rawlings ministry. They are renting a place to do the health work up here. Unfortunately, when we first got a here a few days ago, the first night I didn't sleep very well because the bedspring was very hard with no mattress. I woke up all through the night and when I got up in the morning I was in soo much pain because I had knots all over in my back from the hard surface! I think that was part of what took my immune system down. I then started not feeling too good. I may have gotten the flu or just eaten the wrong soup, that, by the way, was really spicy! Anyways, I have been in bed the last day or two just trying to regain my strength. Right now it is Sabbath evening and I am feeling a lot better now! I was able to be up a lot more today and walk around without feeling very dizzy!
Now, for the more interesting part! We are up here doing a four day health seminar in Chiang Khong District! They have already done 8 health seminars up here but this is the first one that we are working with the local government. The local government clinic opened the doors of its lecture hall above the clinic for the meetings and Supot Wicha, who is the director of the clinic welcomed us and introduced us to the locals as "Ambassadors of Health".
Of course we want to be more than just ambassadors of health down the road but there are a few more steps for these people than in America, where most are already Christian. Now you can see how powerful the Health work is as the "Entering Wedge"!
The district leader also stopped by to welcome our team and shared how this was one of the first times someone had come from outside the district to teach the people about health! He was very excited to see us here! The seminars have been going well so far! The people are really enjoying it and one of our local Adventist workers up here said she would follow up and visit the families that were at the seminar to make contact with them and start befriending them!
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Festival of Lights
We went to the Festival of Lights several weeks ago at Maejo University in Chiang Mai. They have a mass lantern release, where they release several thousand lanterns at the same time! It was breathtaking and really got me thinking! We are to let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven! It almost seemed like an object lesson to me, where we are the lights! When the lights are lighted they can't help but rise higher into the sky. The higher they rise the more they can be seen. I saw many lanterns that had lost their fire later that had plummeted back to earth. They were useless when on the ground but when their fire was rekindled they would rise again into the sky! When you have Jesus in your heart you can’t help but shine out to those around you! Let Jesus love burn in your hearts today!
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Long leg of the trip - Nov. 4
Later that morning I hopped on the plane, ready to leave the country. Farewell to the United States of America! I'll speed things up now, hopefully, so I can catch up to where I am now! When boarding in San Fran there was a group of young men all in blue. I started talking with them and found out they were a group of Hispanic Christians from Spain, I think and they were on their way to do some mission work somewhere in Asia. It was really cool to run into some other missionaries like that! We were on the same flight so I saw them off and on all the way to Singapore. I got an amazing picture flying over the Golden gate on the way out! This was probably the longest stretch of the trip. Roughly 20 hours over the Pacific ocean! It was really weird because we were moving almost with the sun, so the day streeeetched out and the night finally caught up to us a few hours out of Korea. There was a short layover in Seoul, South Korea in the middle of the night where we basically just got off the plane and then back on. From there it was a few hours to Singapore. We got in at about 1 or so and my next flight wasn't till 8 so I found a somewhat quiet corner and curled up to sleep for a few hours. I was awakened by the airport security, I guess just to make sure I wasn't a homeless person trying to blend in as a traveller. I was able to get some good sleep though and felt a bit more rested when I awoke. I went exploring for breakfast and found a good vegetarian Indian food place which had some awesome, spicy Samosas! Once done there I headed for my terminal. On to Thailand at last! It was clear as we cruised over Thailand headed straight for Chiang Mai! We got in after a few hours and Mr. Rawlings picked me up at the airport. He had to do a shopping trip so I got a pretty good tour of most of Chiang Mai. The Rawlings just got back to Thailand probably a week before I got here. We stopped at a really good vegetarian restaurant and had some lunch. Boy was it delicious!
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Part 2 - Sharing Truth
I went over to a different part of the terminal and finally found a place to plug in my computer and charge it so I could work on writing everything down. Where I sat down they had desks that people could use with plugs behind them. There was an older lady sitting at the one next to me. I was setting my stuff up and not to be rude said hi. You could almost tell she was looking for someone to talk to. We are IN the time of the end, friends! People WILL be coming to us! We chatted for a little bit and the conversation somehow started turning toward spiritual topics and she appreciated that I did not reflect much of the youth of today and I began to share with her why and the importance of a proper understanding of truth. She asked questions from time to time and one of them was about the catholic church as she shared that it didn't seem christian. I told her about the beginning of the church with the story of Constantine and the transition from Pagan Rome to Papal Rome. She was very interested! I shared with her also about the French revolution and how they took down the leadership as a revolt against the overpowering power of the church uniting with the state. Also how the atheistic thought process of the Enlightenment era had led to this.
I told her how the french revolutionists tried to create a 10 day week but how it utterly failed because God created the week a perfect length with a perfect day of rest. In passing I mentioned that only one of the ten commandments began with the word Remember! I asked her if she remembered which one it was but she couldn't. I told her to look it up later and she said she would. I shared with her that with the way things are happening in this world time is very short and Jesus is coming very soon! She could see the truthfulness of what I said and was listening! As I was sharing all this with her I realized that much of what I was sharing was the skeleton of the Great Controversy! I got her one of those GLOW tracts about the economy and showed her on the back where it showed the GC. I told her about the Great Controversy and how it actually covered much of what I shared more in depth and covered much more as well and of the blessing it had been to me. It was getting close to time for me to check my checked baggage in, so in finishing up my conversation with her, I remembered that I had a little booklet with me called "Alone With God", So I left it with her and had a prayer with her before heading to the checkin. after checking in I walked back by but she was gone. She was nowhere around the area we were at earlier. God says, 'If ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me!' Perhaps she was an angel but most likely just one of God's children put there at just the right time to see the beauty of following Christ!
I told her how the french revolutionists tried to create a 10 day week but how it utterly failed because God created the week a perfect length with a perfect day of rest. In passing I mentioned that only one of the ten commandments began with the word Remember! I asked her if she remembered which one it was but she couldn't. I told her to look it up later and she said she would. I shared with her that with the way things are happening in this world time is very short and Jesus is coming very soon! She could see the truthfulness of what I said and was listening! As I was sharing all this with her I realized that much of what I was sharing was the skeleton of the Great Controversy! I got her one of those GLOW tracts about the economy and showed her on the back where it showed the GC. I told her about the Great Controversy and how it actually covered much of what I shared more in depth and covered much more as well and of the blessing it had been to me. It was getting close to time for me to check my checked baggage in, so in finishing up my conversation with her, I remembered that I had a little booklet with me called "Alone With God", So I left it with her and had a prayer with her before heading to the checkin. after checking in I walked back by but she was gone. She was nowhere around the area we were at earlier. God says, 'If ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me!' Perhaps she was an angel but most likely just one of God's children put there at just the right time to see the beauty of following Christ!
Part 1 - To San Fran!
Alas, I have been busy and getting settled in that I haven't taken the time till now to update you guys! November third, Sunday, Dad and I went to the Portland airport and he dropped me off. The witnessing opportunities started as soon as I got into the airport. as I was going through the TSA checkpoint I began chatting with this gentleman standing next to me in line. He was hispanic I believe and into martial arts and so we talked a little about that and other things as well. It was a really neat experience and we got to our gate just about the time to board and so I said a few last things to encourage him and left him with a GLOW tract about the economy! It was a nice, quick flight to San Francisco and my mom and Cousin that lives in South San Fran picked me up. It was such a blessing to have the best deal I could find on a ticket be such that I would have a 22 layover overnight as well in San Fran and get to see my mom before heading to Thailand. She has been at Weimar taking the HEALTH program which trains people in how to be medial missionaries in their home town or overseas! I spent the night and got to visit with my mom a little bit and the next morning my cousin dropped me off at the airport on her way to work so I had several hours to wait for my flight to come in.
I found a bench to relax at for awhile and eat my breakfast. There was a lady a few seats down on the same bench when I got there and as I was sitting there and looking at the bag of food that my mom had brought for me from the Weimar Cafe, I started chatting with the lady and offered one of my granola bars and an orange. She would have taken it but had to get to her terminal soon. We chatted about several things and made friends with her. She shared that she was traveling to Germany for work. She was repacking her bags which she hadn't touched since her last trip. She gave me some hand sanitizer and some other stuff that she had doubles of in her baggage. We had an interesting conversation and towards the end I found out that she was going to give a lecture about devices used in the treatment of Cancer and that she was a professor at Stanford! I left her with a GLOW tract as she set off for her gate. I was thankful then that I had some quiet time to rest and write down the experiences that I had had already, but alas that was not to be! When you are in a public setting like this, especially traveling by public transportation you will naturally be closer to people and they often seem to be more receptive, probably because the Holy Spirit is softening the heart!
I found a bench to relax at for awhile and eat my breakfast. There was a lady a few seats down on the same bench when I got there and as I was sitting there and looking at the bag of food that my mom had brought for me from the Weimar Cafe, I started chatting with the lady and offered one of my granola bars and an orange. She would have taken it but had to get to her terminal soon. We chatted about several things and made friends with her. She shared that she was traveling to Germany for work. She was repacking her bags which she hadn't touched since her last trip. She gave me some hand sanitizer and some other stuff that she had doubles of in her baggage. We had an interesting conversation and towards the end I found out that she was going to give a lecture about devices used in the treatment of Cancer and that she was a professor at Stanford! I left her with a GLOW tract as she set off for her gate. I was thankful then that I had some quiet time to rest and write down the experiences that I had had already, but alas that was not to be! When you are in a public setting like this, especially traveling by public transportation you will naturally be closer to people and they often seem to be more receptive, probably because the Holy Spirit is softening the heart!
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Angel on my doorstep - July 16
I was just dropped off in a cul de sac and was going to my send door. It was weird because there were two girls also going door to door with candy and such, and as I went to my third door some of the kids standing in front of the garage said their mom was inside but asked why there were so many people going door to door which I told them I didn't know why those other kids were there at the same time. I went to the door and began canvassing the mom (Rachel) when she came to the door. She was very nice and open and she had a cross necklace on so I asked if she was Christian and I told her that I was too. She began opening up more and we talked a little bit while I showed her the cookbook as well as Peace Above the Storm. She really liked that one and so I upsold her with Man of Peace as well, which is Desire of Ages, as part of the Peace set. She was excited and said she worked as a waiter and might have enough to get them all! When she came back she was excited that she did have enough! I mentioned to her about the girls going door to door and she said she hadn't seen them, she said it must have been for a reason. I agreed with her and told her we call these Divine Appointments! I surveyed her and she was interested in the drop-off Bible Studies! I asked if there was anything we could keep in prayer for them and she said 'Family and Health' so before I left I had a prayer with her and she was so thankful! As I was getting ready to leave the last few words the she said that really stuck in my head were when she said I was like "an angel on her doorstep!"
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| Here she is, happily with her books! |
Thai for Thailand - July 16
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| Here she is with Naturally Gourmet! |
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Christian Grandma - July 7
My first Sunday canvassing here in Washington Youth Rush this year was crazy!!! It was a beautiful, sunny day. We were canvassing in Puyallup Washington and I had some amazing experiences. One of the first ones was an older lady and her husband that had just gotten home from church. Their van was in the garage and she hadn't gotten out of the car yet. I said hello and when she got out I started talking to her and canvassed her on some books. She was interested in one of them so she went in to talk to her husband and when she came back out she asked a little more and I shared more with her about some of the other books, but also shared more about myself and what I was doing. I could tell that what she was more interested in was what I was doing and helping me than getting the books. So I shared with her about planning to go to Thailand and many other things and she was very open and interested. She gave me a 5 dollar bill and said that's what they could help with but couldn't get any of the books. I made sure to leave a drop-down with them though, (a small copy of Steps to Christ), and for that she was very happy. Before leaving she actually offered to pray with me! It was SO encouraging!!! What a Christlike Christian she was! I also prayed for them and she was very grateful as well. Friends, be a blessing to those you run into that you will leave a favorable impression for good!!!!
Sunday, June 2, 2013
From HEALTH to Him!
A few weeks ago one of the current HEALTH students sent me a message saying she has really been wanting to learn how to canvass and she heard that I have done it before. So, we setup a time Sunday morning and met in one of the college classrooms for an hour or so and went over the canvassing basics. I tried to give all the important basics that I could. When we were done she really wanted to go out and try it so we set up a time in the afternoon.
We ended up going out for two hours and had some great experiences! I think she got out one set and I got out a set too. We met a really friendly australian couple that had just moved into the area and were quote open and interested in learning more about health and the wife really wanted to the cookbook. I told them about the cookbook deal and showed them some of the other books such as Peace Above the Storm and The Great Controversy and although the husband said he wasn't religious and such when he went to tai to his wife we were praying for their decision. Surprisingly he really wanted to read the Great Controversy!
Powerful!! God is still working in the hearts of the sincere in this sin riddled world today! Keep that couple in your prayers as well as Nicky, the girl from HEALTH that I worked with for God's leading in her life. May God bless each of you in refocusing on why we are here today!
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Getting out of my comfort zone again!
Sunday I knew I had to go back out. I packed my bag and got in car and prayed. I went less than a mile from Weimar. There was a small mobile home community just across the highway from Weimar that I went to for maybe an hour. The very first door I went to I started talking to the man of the house and canvassing about the cookbook so he said he'd get his wife since she was the one that would like it. When she came I canvassed her and showed her the cookbook and several others and she wanted to get the cookbook almost before I could describe it to her, she really wanted to help out and for what she gave I told her that she would really like 'Peace above the Storm' as well. She said she'd like to use it in the morning with her Yoga time. :) God has a surprise for her, I just hope she doesn't see it as cliche but something new and refreshing about God! Please keep her in your prayers, thank you!
The last door I was at was a really cool experience!!! It was an older couple and I started showing the cookbook which led me to the wife and I told her about it but she could't afford it so I showed her some of the others as she kept asking what else I had! That is one of the coolest things they will ask you! "What else do you have?" She was really curious about the Storytime children's book. She said they used to have a huge set of children's books and I showed her in the back of the cookbook and asked her if it was the Blue Bible Story books and she was excited to see that it was!! Found out they have Desire of Ages and have had connections with Adventism before and appreciate it. They know a little about Weimar but told me that the food there was kinda tasteless. lol I guess it can be sometimes. They didn't have much but decided to get Storytime for their current and upcoming grandchildren. The Lord always blesses! I am sure glad I decided to go out!
Note from a friend
Here is an encouraging note I recently received from a family I trained on the basics of canvassing a few weeks ago. Life is fun and interesting when you just step out and do stuff your not sure you can do. Challenge yourself! Honestly, I'm not the best teacher, but when I see a need or someone that wants the help, I can't help but step out and do it!
Hello Jesse,Hope all is well.Just wanted to let you know that the children went out for a couple of hours today to do their canvassing. They did well. I had thought of some other questions the neighbors may ask and was able to try to role play those this morning, but it was a learning experience and they still encountered some questionw will help them be more prepared the next time out.They were able to present 3 books and was successful mostly with the cookbook and had one obtain a Storytime. Others just gave donations.The kids were so excited and nervous all at the same time.They are ready to go again.
Thank you for jump-starting our new venture. We appreciated the time you spent with us, it was well spent, and I must tell you that my children said that your training was very helpful.
Have a good week.
I hope those of you reading this will take the chance to step out and do something different and bold in this new year and almost new month as time is short! It's making those memories and experiences that make life rich and interesting!
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Weimar California Canvassing
I am currently here at Weimar Center of Health & Education working in their media department. Last Sunday I got the chance to teach the basics of canvassing to a family from one of the nearby churches, and I was so pumped up afterwards I told myself I had to go out and do some canvassing. So I did!! I went out for probably an hour and a half just before sundown and canvassed a small gravel road and was able to get 2 books out, a cookbook, and several drop downs! I started talking to an older gentleman in his garage driveway and he turned out to be a catholic. I showed him quite a few of the books we had and he ended up deciding to get 'Seven Secrets' and 'Storytime'. and he said, "can I just give you a check for 40?" I said, "sure." He grabbed his checkbook then said, "ah, I'll just write 50." I ended up making 70 dollars that day. And I had recently been praying and worrying that I needed more money for gas to be able to keep going in college here, and the Lord led me out to get out there and just do it! So, the focus here isn't so much the money as the fact that the Lord wants to bless you when you get active and do your part. I also talked with a younger mom and showed her several of the books over her fence. She said she couldn't afford the cookbook so I told her she could get one of the smaller books for just 10 and she said she could help with that. So I waited and when she came back I had noticed a slight interest in 'Peace Above the Storm' so I pulled that one back out and told her a little about it then said we had another one that was quite similar and I pulled out 'Man of Peace' (Desire of Ages) and began to share about it and in the end she was so excited to get 'Man of Peace' and said she would be reading it. It is always exciting to share these books that expound the plan of salvation!!!
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