Sunday, January 25, 2009
We're not in Kansas anymore, Todo
I think I'm in the land of the poppy fields. It's that place in OZ where the witch has cast her spell, and it slows our journey as we stop to do nothing. It feels like I've been watching grass grow for weeks. I'm so bored, so trapped. We're waiting, waiting on money mostly. We aren't currently involved in any real ministries and have virtually no social life, and it's killing us. It's like cabin fever to the max.
I know, I should live in the moment. Seize the day! Life is ministry! Be in the now! But my heart and mind just aren't here. I never really left Thailand. God has shown me where He wants us. I am only physically here taking care of physical things. Watching the clock, watching the calendar, waiting for the sale on the house to close, waiting for the tax return, getting things in order.
There's also something about being back in your parent's house. Even though they don't live here, I still feel like a dependent. Often, when I sleep, I am a child in my dreams.
Is there a fast forward button we can push to get through this transition time?
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Update from Ahtapa
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
January 15, 2009
Greetings to you in the name of Jesus Christ. I hope you all are doing fine as our good Lord is watching over you. Leah and I are doing fine. The Lord has blessed us so much this year. Our kids have grown up and we praise God for their good health. We also thank God for watching over us and providing us everything we need and reminding always that He is the source of life and sustainer.
We pray for you and think of you very often. We enjoy reading every letter you write to us. We are excited to hear about your family and your activities and the changing of seasons. You have very beautiful seasons. White snow in the winter, green in the summer, and beautiful falls. We can just think and have picture of your beautiful countryside. We remember driving through miles and miles beautiful farms. Sometimes we saw buffalo standing out in the field; we thought they were just statues but they were not. It was good that we did not stop and go out to pet them. I do not know how much snow you have this year. I hope you all had good Christmas. Leah and I hope you had great time with your family and friends in celebrating the Lord Jesus. I think you are the happiest people of God with the Love and Joy of the Lord in you. We pray for you that you have good health.
We thank God so much for the brothers and sisters in Christ we have and knowing that many people are praying for us all the time. That gives us so much encouragement. We also realize how much God loves all of us and hears our prayers. He has opened opportunities for us to serve Him and to see His Great Kingdom and many, many people being added into His Kingdom. We met Doctor Garry Weedman of Johnson Bible College the other day at the Golden Triangle Christian Leadership seminar. It was my privilege to meet him in person and to serve him as his translator. He is a man of God and he is a humble man but filled with spiritual wisdom. Leah and I also were blessed to meet Jose Garman. He is known as missionary to the prisoners.
It was a good seminar and it was a real blessing for me to meet Brother Ken Odor, a son-in-Law of Lavern Morse, a long time missionary in Asia. Ken is following the steps of his father-in-law in that he personally is getting very active in the mission work, with deep passion. It was a very big honor for me to translate the greetings he brought from Laverne Morse to brothers and sisters who came from the countries around Golden Triangle. Laverne is father to these mountain evangelists. Laverne is father to many national Christian preachers. Hearing words from him brought back many good memories. This is a man of faith and a man of Love for the Lord and for the lost souls out there. He would go to bring the gospel out to people caring less about circumstances and cost. His name in Lisu is Joseph. He has lived the life up to that name. He is a man of vision and he is a man of good planning and strategy. He cares and will work until his last breath to bring the gospel out to the lost, and he is making sure that God's flock gets fed with spiritual food. There are many missionaries and great preachers but there is only one Laverne. LAVERNE is loved and respected by many. I am one of them.
Up there I also met with brother Russell who is so gifted in language. He is speaking Burmese and Thai as well. He is a new Missionary from Las Vegas working with the unreached people in Burma. He and I became friends very quickly. We both have the heart for spreading out the gospel. We love languages and cultures and we love organic farming. This was a God appointed time and place to meet these men of God, the ordinary priests of God.
Leah and I pray that we will be able to come back to visit USA again in this coming May. We will come to our son Christopher’s high school graduation in Alabama. We look forward to seeing you again and Pray that we will a blessing to you. I hope to visit you while passing through and ask you assist me on my journey after I have enjoyed your company for a while.
God has been so good to us with our work here. The kids are learning the Bible very well, and the home school is going well. We are calling ourselves the Asian Gospel Academy. We have eight kids that study English every day. They make A’s and B’s with very few C’s. The smaller ones are going to public school. There are many kids who want to come to enroll already. We are working on the school status right now. Please keep us in your prayers.
We hope to send two more young men to the Philippines for supervisor training. They will be going on February 28, 2009. The training will last for two weeks.
We will be very busy from now on with our outreach program, and God knows what we need. Our two trucks are getting in bad shape and God has blessed us with brothers and sisters in Christ who donated money toward a new truck. We got $9000 dollars last Sunday from the Church in Roger Heights, Michigan. We are praying that we will get another $20000.00 for a new 4x4 Toyota pickup truck. For the kind of work that we are doing, we need a truck that we can depend on in season and out of season. We have to go on mountain roads where it is very muddy, slippery, and steep. We are still helping people out in the delta area of Myanmar where thousands and thousands of people are still in need of food. There are 72 kids who are under our care right now. Most of them do not have parents. Some have a mother but no father. Family members and parents were killed by the storm. I looked at pictures of dead bodies and my heart was torn. I do not like to send pictures to friends because they look so bad.
I have to stop for now. I pray that God will continue to bless you all with his wonderful blessing. Mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.
With Love in Christ,
Your brother and sister
Ahtapa and Leah
Please pray for our new missionary Brian Menefee with his preparation. Brian and family are from Kentucky, USA and Racky Burgos is from the Philippines.
January 15, 2009
Greetings to you in the name of Jesus Christ. I hope you all are doing fine as our good Lord is watching over you. Leah and I are doing fine. The Lord has blessed us so much this year. Our kids have grown up and we praise God for their good health. We also thank God for watching over us and providing us everything we need and reminding always that He is the source of life and sustainer.
We pray for you and think of you very often. We enjoy reading every letter you write to us. We are excited to hear about your family and your activities and the changing of seasons. You have very beautiful seasons. White snow in the winter, green in the summer, and beautiful falls. We can just think and have picture of your beautiful countryside. We remember driving through miles and miles beautiful farms. Sometimes we saw buffalo standing out in the field; we thought they were just statues but they were not. It was good that we did not stop and go out to pet them. I do not know how much snow you have this year. I hope you all had good Christmas. Leah and I hope you had great time with your family and friends in celebrating the Lord Jesus. I think you are the happiest people of God with the Love and Joy of the Lord in you. We pray for you that you have good health.
We thank God so much for the brothers and sisters in Christ we have and knowing that many people are praying for us all the time. That gives us so much encouragement. We also realize how much God loves all of us and hears our prayers. He has opened opportunities for us to serve Him and to see His Great Kingdom and many, many people being added into His Kingdom. We met Doctor Garry Weedman of Johnson Bible College the other day at the Golden Triangle Christian Leadership seminar. It was my privilege to meet him in person and to serve him as his translator. He is a man of God and he is a humble man but filled with spiritual wisdom. Leah and I also were blessed to meet Jose Garman. He is known as missionary to the prisoners.
It was a good seminar and it was a real blessing for me to meet Brother Ken Odor, a son-in-Law of Lavern Morse, a long time missionary in Asia. Ken is following the steps of his father-in-law in that he personally is getting very active in the mission work, with deep passion. It was a very big honor for me to translate the greetings he brought from Laverne Morse to brothers and sisters who came from the countries around Golden Triangle. Laverne is father to these mountain evangelists. Laverne is father to many national Christian preachers. Hearing words from him brought back many good memories. This is a man of faith and a man of Love for the Lord and for the lost souls out there. He would go to bring the gospel out to people caring less about circumstances and cost. His name in Lisu is Joseph. He has lived the life up to that name. He is a man of vision and he is a man of good planning and strategy. He cares and will work until his last breath to bring the gospel out to the lost, and he is making sure that God's flock gets fed with spiritual food. There are many missionaries and great preachers but there is only one Laverne. LAVERNE is loved and respected by many. I am one of them.
Up there I also met with brother Russell who is so gifted in language. He is speaking Burmese and Thai as well. He is a new Missionary from Las Vegas working with the unreached people in Burma. He and I became friends very quickly. We both have the heart for spreading out the gospel. We love languages and cultures and we love organic farming. This was a God appointed time and place to meet these men of God, the ordinary priests of God.
Leah and I pray that we will be able to come back to visit USA again in this coming May. We will come to our son Christopher’s high school graduation in Alabama. We look forward to seeing you again and Pray that we will a blessing to you. I hope to visit you while passing through and ask you assist me on my journey after I have enjoyed your company for a while.
God has been so good to us with our work here. The kids are learning the Bible very well, and the home school is going well. We are calling ourselves the Asian Gospel Academy. We have eight kids that study English every day. They make A’s and B’s with very few C’s. The smaller ones are going to public school. There are many kids who want to come to enroll already. We are working on the school status right now. Please keep us in your prayers.
We hope to send two more young men to the Philippines for supervisor training. They will be going on February 28, 2009. The training will last for two weeks.
We will be very busy from now on with our outreach program, and God knows what we need. Our two trucks are getting in bad shape and God has blessed us with brothers and sisters in Christ who donated money toward a new truck. We got $9000 dollars last Sunday from the Church in Roger Heights, Michigan. We are praying that we will get another $20000.00 for a new 4x4 Toyota pickup truck. For the kind of work that we are doing, we need a truck that we can depend on in season and out of season. We have to go on mountain roads where it is very muddy, slippery, and steep. We are still helping people out in the delta area of Myanmar where thousands and thousands of people are still in need of food. There are 72 kids who are under our care right now. Most of them do not have parents. Some have a mother but no father. Family members and parents were killed by the storm. I looked at pictures of dead bodies and my heart was torn. I do not like to send pictures to friends because they look so bad.
I have to stop for now. I pray that God will continue to bless you all with his wonderful blessing. Mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.
With Love in Christ,
Your brother and sister
Ahtapa and Leah
Please pray for our new missionary Brian Menefee with his preparation. Brian and family are from Kentucky, USA and Racky Burgos is from the Philippines.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
God has already called us; now we need to call on God
The AG magazine, "TPE," published a great article of an interview with Greg Mundis, the Assemblies of God Regional director of Europe.
"We need a sovereign act of God, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit,... These things are not generated out of a strategy room in some missions agency, but out of the very throne room of God."
"[Such a move] must come from God, but man works together with God as He moves. We need a church that is praying, a church that is humble, and church that is repentant, and a church that is reaching beyond its own paradigms and borders to touch the lost."
"We need a sovereign act of God, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit,... These things are not generated out of a strategy room in some missions agency, but out of the very throne room of God."
"[Such a move] must come from God, but man works together with God as He moves. We need a church that is praying, a church that is humble, and church that is repentant, and a church that is reaching beyond its own paradigms and borders to touch the lost."
Thursday, December 25, 2008
the breastplate of Patrick
I know, it's not very upbeat, and it seems I have my holidays mixed up, but I found this today as well. ~~Good Stuff~~
"He [St. Patrick] was ordered to appear before the King, and as he made his way there, began to chant a hymn now known as the breastplate of Patrick, or the lorica or Deer's Cry..."
http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/ids/medieval/celtic/celtic.shtml
"He [St. Patrick] was ordered to appear before the King, and as he made his way there, began to chant a hymn now known as the breastplate of Patrick, or the lorica or Deer's Cry..."
http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/ids/medieval/celtic/celtic.shtml
St. Patrick's Breastplate
( the Lorica or Deer's Cry)
| For my shield this day I call: A mighty power: The Holy Trinity! Affirming Threeness, Confessing oneness, in the making of all Through love ... For my shield this day I call: For my shield this day I call: strong power of the seraphim, For my shield this day I call: This day I call to me:
| From evil enticements, Around me I gather Against knowledge unlawful Be Christ this day my strong protector Christ beside me Christ in my lying, my sitting, my rising For my shield this day I call |
the journey inward
A friend recently suggested I Google "Celtic Monasticism." I'm glad he did, and though it has put me to sleep several times today, I'm finding the study quite intriguing.
"...the Celtic saints were travelers who journeyed far and wide, leaping into their tiny coracles and setting sail on the sea, often without oars or sails, and often without a specific destination, content to let God take them where God would...
"...the Celtic saints were travelers who journeyed far and wide, leaping into their tiny coracles and setting sail on the sea, often without oars or sails, and often without a specific destination, content to let God take them where God would...
Their love of travel was motivated by their love of God; their journey was undertaken in order to come closer to God. Theirs was a journey in which oars or sails were not necessary, for that for which they were searching was to be found not without, but within: It has been said that, "The longest journey is the journey inward" (Dag Hammarskjold). The peregrinations of the Celtic saints were ways of expressing outwardly a journey which they wanted to undertake inwardly...
This journey was a journey in which one achieved stability of soul, a constant striving after God in which one might remain in a single place while nevertheless being constantly on the move. On the other hand, one might stay in a single place and nevertheless be on a journey of intense transformation. Celtic monasticism is a world in which journey and stability of place are not at odds at all, but expressions of one spiritual ideal...
...the constant peregrinations of the saints were not an effort to find God, as the hymns tells us that if you can't find God where you are, there's no need to go anywhere else looking for him. The Celtic saints were deeply aware of the omnipresence of God, beside us, beneath us, above us, all around us and within us and all creation. Celtic monasticism full of such peregrini who, in their constant wanderings, spread monasticism throughout Ireland, to Scotland, and Northumbria, and later to continental Europe."
http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/ids/medieval/celtic/celtic.shtml
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Update from Ahtapa
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Dec. 17, 2008
Greetings to all of you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and our eternal King. We are sending you our love and best wishes for the celebration of Christmas and remembrance of our Lord who came to the world and die for us on the Cross. By Him and in Him we have hope for eternal life. We would like to Thank each one of you for praying for us and we especially thank you for praying for our country as we have faced some political conflict in our country. We were concerned that our brothers from Michigan would not make it on time for Northmen meeting, but they made it earlier than the original arrival time. We have been blessed so much with their visit. We had a good Northmen gathering. The messages from all seven speakers were great. There were five American speakers, two Lisu, and one Hmong. We had 50 people all together. Most of them stayed the whole time, some had to leave earlier. We are very thankful to you all for praying for us and God was so good to us in making every possible for His children to live in peace and security. Right after the Northmen, we had a big thanksgiving feast waiting for us. It was so good to have many friends in the village come to participate in this service. The Ahka and the Lisu in the village and a nearby village and some people came up from Chiangmai to celebrate with us. Yabota, Ahlu, Nana, and many other friends from the Night Bazaar came up for thanksgiving. This was very special. We were so happy that they came to hear great sermons and great songs.
We were very busy and the Northmen team worked very hard. We got a new door and stairs to the learning center. Nick and Norm took a special trip up to Ahlemi’s village to see her parents and got the wedding lined up. Many people came to the wedding. Ahlemi was very beautiful and Nick was very handsome. As parents, Leah and I were overwhelmed with joy to see them in their most happy time. Leah worked very hard in the kitchen and make sure everything would turn out perfect. Ahlemi's mother was happy that Leah was there to help her. I could not sleep for many nights. I was so excited for their wedding. We helped the two line-up their honey moon trip to Huahin beach in Southern Thailand. On their way back, they will go to the American embassy to get their marriage certificate so Nick can get a Marital visa. Please pray for them as they travel back to Chiangmai.
We took a quick trip to KhunKlang. Xai Xong called us to come to help him get some warm clothes to Mae Vark village. The Hmong villages were having difficulty with the cold winter. We got several boxes of used clothes. It took us about 3.30 hours for 19 kilometers of road. Scott could not go because he was still sick from the previous village trip when we went to Lishiya's village. The road to Lishiya’s village was much better than the one to this Hmong village. It was good that Scott did not go. Xai Xong's clinic was good place to rest. There were no roosters to bother him. (Mike said that one night at Xai Xong’s he was getting away night from roosters but they ran into scooters running all night.)
Dennis and I took the Northmen team from Michigan to the airport yesterday morning. It was very difficult for us to say good bye. The kids did not want them to leave. We stayed with the team till the last minute before the boarding time. When we came home we felt very strange. Everybody was very silent. When the smaller kids came home they also were quiet. Some came to me and threw their arms around me and told me how much they missed Papa Mike, Papa Norman, and pee Scott. Once again the kids have to adjust their emotional volume.
Dennis is going to leave on December 21. As for now we do not want to think about his leaving. It is hard to handle this. Dennis is working hard to finish the left over project of building the scoring stations. We finished painting the door and the stairs today. They look very good. The color is attractive, a Chinese favorite color (Red). We wanted mahogany but it turned out a little red. This is fine for us.
The kids are practicing songs and dancing for the Christmas gathering. They look forward to this event. We also plan to have a special party for the kids on December 31. Lishiya and the folks will come down to join with us if there is no other problem to interrupt the plan.
The brothers in Myanmar are going to have an all Churches of Christ and Christian Churches convention in Rangoon on December 21. I was invited to come to this gathering but I cannot go due to the work at the hostel and the trip that we have to make to the Lisu Christian Christmas convention at MaeKon village. I was invited to come to this one. The headman and leaders asked me seriously to come because my father and I helped them found the village way back in the 80’s. Saitun from the Golden Triangle also asked us to come to his place to speak. Please pray for us that we will be able to do everything for God's glory.
30 sets of water purifiers are on the border ready to ship to Yangon for the Nargis victims. Please pray that we will be able to send them over to Jay and help install them for the villagers.
Praise the Lord for Vilailuk and Praiwan that they make decision to join with Christ in baptism for the remission of sin. Pray for them as they are growing in Christ. Praiwan is a good boy and very active boy. He loves sports. He will have a contest in track tomorrow. Vilailuk has very good voice and she likes to praise God and lead the singing.
Pray for Nick and Ahlemi as they are travelling back home from their honeymoon.
Pray for Ahtapa and Leah. We plan to take a trip back to USA in May if God provides the funds for us. We would like to be with Christopher for his high school graduation. We also would like to visit our friends and supporters.
Pray for our school and our plan for relocate at Zion hill. Things are looking very positive. Right now the kidney bean is about ready for harvest. We will harvest next week. Brother Norm Miller showed us how to find water. There was water on the property but we did not know how deep and how much water is down there. Please pray that we will have funds for all the transition and for water drilling.
May God richly bless you and grant you joy as we celebrate Christmas and we pray that God will continue to keep your cup overflowing with the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
In Christ,
Ahtapa and Leah
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
It's not so much a career, as much as an adventure
"So were you born and raised around here?" I asked a new co-worker yesterday.
He promptly replied, "No, I'm from Green County. It's like a hundred miles from here."
With plans of moving in a few months, job hunting is a bit... awkward. Soon after coming to town, I started working for a handyman down the street, but after about a month, he ran out of work. So I quickly landed a job working for another local carpenter, but his work soon dried up after about a month as well. (Don't look at me. I like to think of it as if I just work so hard, I keep working myself out of a job.)
So last Tuesday I headed off to the big city of Lexington to find some temp work. I visited about a half dozen staffing agencies. Two took my resume, and only one had me fill out an application. I was feeling a bit defeated.
Wednesday I decided I might as well get some cash out of the day, so I went into donate plasma. Long story short, I ended up blacking out during the procedure. My pulse dropped down into the forties. I went into convulsions and dry heaves, but you better believe I walked out with my $25.
Thursday about 5:30AM, I found myself at a "work today paid today" labor staffing service, and by 7:30AM I was listening to five of the seven guys on my crew compare notes about their prison experiences. That day we unloaded about 350 pieces of furniture, and I went home with a wapp'n $50.
Friday, I was contract labor for a moving company (Excuse me, we are not "movers." We are "installers"). This company has hired me, and I've been working there this week. It's good work and pay considering my "career goals."
On a serious note, one of my new co-workers took advantage of a moment we were alone today, and he referred to me as "a man of God" and asked a very personal theological question. It made all of last week worth it.
He promptly replied, "No, I'm from Green County. It's like a hundred miles from here."
With plans of moving in a few months, job hunting is a bit... awkward. Soon after coming to town, I started working for a handyman down the street, but after about a month, he ran out of work. So I quickly landed a job working for another local carpenter, but his work soon dried up after about a month as well. (Don't look at me. I like to think of it as if I just work so hard, I keep working myself out of a job.)
So last Tuesday I headed off to the big city of Lexington to find some temp work. I visited about a half dozen staffing agencies. Two took my resume, and only one had me fill out an application. I was feeling a bit defeated.
Wednesday I decided I might as well get some cash out of the day, so I went into donate plasma. Long story short, I ended up blacking out during the procedure. My pulse dropped down into the forties. I went into convulsions and dry heaves, but you better believe I walked out with my $25.
Thursday about 5:30AM, I found myself at a "work today paid today" labor staffing service, and by 7:30AM I was listening to five of the seven guys on my crew compare notes about their prison experiences. That day we unloaded about 350 pieces of furniture, and I went home with a wapp'n $50.
Friday, I was contract labor for a moving company (Excuse me, we are not "movers." We are "installers"). This company has hired me, and I've been working there this week. It's good work and pay considering my "career goals."
On a serious note, one of my new co-workers took advantage of a moment we were alone today, and he referred to me as "a man of God" and asked a very personal theological question. It made all of last week worth it.
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