September Bangkok

With the conclusion of the meeting in Manila, my mode had to shift from one of educating and training to one of gathering information and understanding. The next leg of our itinerary took us to Bangkok. Bangkok is an interesting city. It is large and continuing to grow rapidly. No matter which way you look, you are likely to see a large construction crane. And you are just as likely to see an old Buddhist temple, the old and the new coexisting in the same area. What impressed me the most about Bangkok was not the architecture or the layout of the city, but it was the people. These are a people who value service to their fellow man. I have never been anywhere in this world where I felt better cared for, or more sincerely cared for, than in Bangkok. It is a part of who they are.

This spirit of service is not just applicable to a bellhop or waiter. It is also applicable to those doing ministry work within Thailand and her neighboring Southeast Asian countries. Each person we worked with, either a ministry leader or an expert in Christian children’s media, had a sincere heart for reaching the lost in their communities. This heart shone through as they talked about the greatest needs of the children and youth in their country.

I was especially touched by the missionary from Cambodia who joined us. He is a missionary from the Southern Baptist Convention who is there to do a “good works” ministry, but for whom God has opened the doors to do great evangelism through media. His stories of difficulty in Cambodia echoed what I had heard the previous week in Manila from our Book of Hope Cambodia national coordinator. This is a country with very little in the way of infrastructure. It is also a country whose people have very little understanding of the Christian world view. To them, Jesus is just another one of the “pick of the day” gods that they can call on. The concept of one true God and redemption from sin are totally foreign to most Cambodians. This missionary’s approach to the issue is through one-on-one evangelism. We hear the term one-on-one evangelism used frequently in closed countries, because it can be done quietly. However, Cambodia is not a closed country. It is open and there are many opportunities to minister to the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual needs of her people. The greatest impediment to effective ministry is not the lack of a message – the Word of God is the greatest message. It is not for lack of desire – the people of Cambodia are open to hearing and understanding the truth. No, it is a lack of laborers; laborers from both within Cambodia and from other countries. Cambodia is a difficult place to live and work. After years of killings and oppression, relationships have to be nurtured before the message of love and acceptance from Jesus Christ can be received. Please pray for Cambodia. Pray for the Lord of the harvest to call up laborers from this nation, from this region, and from around the world to come to Cambodia to bring the good news to a people who desperately need to hear it.

I also ask that you pray for Myanmar, also know as Burma. This country has existed under decades of military rule, with fierce oppression to anyone who advocates democracy. It is a predominantly Buddhist nation, but with a growing Christian and Muslim presence. Evangelism is difficult and is strongly discouraged by the military junta. Therefore, our labors in this land must take other creative approaches to presenting the gospel. They must work in areas that meet the social needs of the youth of this country in a way that does not raise undue attention by the government. And they have been very creative in doing so. For obvious reasons, I will not detail those ways here. However, I do ask you to keep our laborers in Myanmar in your prayers. Pray for their safety and protection. Pray that their public work gives them favor with the leaders where they work and with the youth with whom they interact, so that their private work can move forward undeterred.

Our team members from Indonesia were a joy to work with. They really helped to bring to bear the special focus that needs to be in place when ministering in Indonesia. This nation of over 17,000 islands, located south of Thailand and the Philippines and north of Australia, is home to over 120 million children and youth. It is also the most heavily populated Muslim country in the world, with 88% of her 245 million citizens being Islamic adherents. This makes doing ministry in Indonesia very different than anywhere else in the Asia-Pacific region. In fact, as we were doing our planning work, the phrase most frequently spoken by the participants was "Except Indonesia!" As we reviewed the issues and discussed the needs for Asia-Pacific, many of the ministry options would work in every country, except Indonesia. However, in spite of the difference in approach that must be taken in this very large country, the heartfelt needs and social issues that her children and youth encounter were very similar to those in the other countries throughout the region. And the bottom-line answer was the same. They need to know Jesus and the hope that comes by way of salvation through faith. Pray for our laborers in Indonesia. Pray for effectiveness as they reach out to all the inhabited islands. Pray for their safety as they reach into some of the more difficult areas. And pray for strength as they carry out this very difficult work, often times with little in the way of outside support. Finally, pray for laborers from within Indonesia who will go into every island and every village and every neighborhood to take the good news to all the people.

There were other countries represented at this meeting. However, due to the political situations that exist in those lands, they will not be mentioned here. Nevertheless, I ask that you pray for them. God knows who they are. Pray for their safety and for strength to carry on with the work that the Lord has given them. And pray for laborers to come along beside them and support them.