Wednesday/Thursday June 28,29 - We left LA on time for the flight to Osaka and transferred to another flight to Bangkok. Many of the parents came to the airport to see us off. However, even before we left, we experienced our first answer to prayer. We were all to meet by 11:30 AM at the Bradley terminal, but by 12:30, about an hour before flight time, John Ngai and Taver Chong were still missing so we had not checked in as a group yet. A small group of us huddled to pray for their quick arrival and saw God answer our prayers as we finally were able to hear from them on the cell phone that they were caught up in traffic congestion at the airport entrance. We arrived at Bangkok around midnight and were met by Ching and Thang Ngaihte, the OMF missionaries who arranged out trip, Taver’s dad, Ming, who was vacationing in Thailand, his friend who drove a big multi-passenger van, and Phanida, Vida’s sister who also drove a van. We were able to reach the church who were hosting us, the Tai Romprakun Church, Baptist Student Center (BSC for short) about 2 AM, so we all went to sleep after about 24 hours after leaving LA.

Friday, June 30 - In spite of going to bed at 2 AM, we were all up before 7 AM and had our first Thai breakfast of delicious congee (or rice porridge, we had that almost every morning). This is a time adjustment day for us, so we walked down to the local bank where some of us exchanged money and to the local supermarket where we stocked up on needed supplies like toilet paper and drinking water. We practiced a little and learned to adapt to the heat and humidity. We heard from Elder Praxit, who is the founder of this church and a successful lawyer, how God led him from being a poor farmer who found Christ at a youth hostel, so he uses BSC to house many students (including us) and reaches them for Christ now. We learned Pastor Lo did not arrive from Hong Kong on Thursday and prayed for his safe arrival.

Saturday, July 1 - Today is the first day of our ministry here in Thailand. We left in the morning to visit a slum area by the river to pass out tracts. Unlike our experience in London, the slum people all gladly took our tracts and read them on the spot. Because we could not speak Thai, we only prayed as we passed out the tracts and observed the poor conditions they lived in. In the afternoon, we went to the OMF house where Ching and Thang Ngaihte lived. Close by is also another slum area and we were joined by a different set of Thai Christians we went with us to pass out tracts. We were then joined by Pastor Lo, who arrived a day late. There were about 30 neighbors (some from the slums) who attended the meeting that night at the Ngaihtes. After we sang and Pastor Lo preached, one man raised his hand to become a Christian. Another lady who was out of work for 9 months and feeling suicidal, was really touched by Becky's testimony about how she trusted in God even though she too was looking for a job. We then went back "home" while Ching spent more time with this lady.

Sunday, July 2 - We sang and Pastor Lo preached at the church we were living at. About 150 attended the service. We then led a Sunday school class where we shared about Vision. After lunch, we split up into 4 groups, elementary kids where we played games, a high school group, a young career group and and adult group, where Pastor Lo spoke again. Then we joined the church members in a neighborhood tract passing. We then led worship, sang, and Pastor preached at the evening English service. Serveral responded to renew their minds for the Lord.

Monday, July 3 - Today is our off day and we all (except Taver) joined a tour group. We visited a Thai floating market, saw a snake exhibition, a handcraft center where we observed furniture makers at work carving intricate drawings. After lunch, we went to an elephant exhibit, an alligator training exhibition, and a Thai cultural center where we saw Thai dances and Thai matial arts. We then went to a fabulous Japanese dinner sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Lock for their daughter, Debbie's 17th birthday celebration. Things are going well. No one is sick (seriously) and we are seeing the Lord working. Continue to pray for us.

Tuesday, July 4 - Today we resumed our missions work. We visited Ramkhamhaeng University, located reasonably close to the church. We first found a passage between buildings where we sang and passed out tracts, or at least, we did until the campus police showed up and told us to stop. By that time, we had passed out several hundred tracts. We then moved to a sidewalk just outside of campus and continued to sing and pass out tracts. In almost no time, we ran out of tracts (even though we had started with about a foot high stack) and were left only with English Bibles. This forced us to talk to the students and find out who could converse in English and gave us a chance to share with several of the students. This seemed to be a new experience for the Thai locals with us. They are used to passing out tracts but not sharing directly and talking with people about Christ. After lunch at the church, we headed out to ABEC or Ascension University, a Catholic school. This time we asked permission to pass out tracts and sing but were refused permission. Instead they asked us to send a formal letter requesting permission and they would grant it. We asked about coming back on Monday, our off day to do this and were promised that we could then give a concert on campus. We returned to church an wrote a letter which was hand-carried to the University the next day. God can open doors we do not expect.

Wed., July 5 - Today was an full day of visiting different OMP missions work supervised by Ching and Thang Ngaithe, who planned our trip here. We visited a total of 5 ministries, of the 15 the Ngaithe’s are responsible for. We first visited a church within walking distance of Rankhanhaeng University. A year ago, it was growing to 90 students, but due to a church spit, they now only have 30 attending. Like the church we stayed in, it is a boys hostel, so student boys can live there relatively inexpensively while they attend college. We prayed for the church and sang a short song to bless the Pastor there. Then we headed to a church which grew from a work to take care of run-away boys who live on the streets of Bangkok. This work, started by a German missionary, and strongly supported by European churches, consists of finding couples who are willing to adopt up to 15 boys who live with them. The concept is much better than orphanages or foster homes, since the children really grow up in a family atmosphere. Most of the boys become Christians, and volunteer when they grow up. We met a young German couple missionaries who just started work there after a year of language training. They have adopted two boys already. There are over 30,000 homeless boys in Thailand. This ministry has great needs. After lunch, we then visited a church run by an OMF missionary who teaches English to Thai students. Their terms are 10 weeks and she and 4 teachers will be teaching a total of 23 classes next term starting next week. There is much work to do and bvery few workers. Pray the Lord of the harvest will send out laborers. We then visited one of the older churches started by OMF, 19 years. They have only 60 members, and hope to raise $50,000 US to build a new building. A little money goes a long ways here in Thailand. Finally, we visited one of the more successful Thai churches, Huamark church. This church started 3 or 4 branch churches, including the one we are living in and hosting us. We had dinner with them and a short meeting with some of their members. We sang a few songs and enjoyed our time of fellowship. Tomorrow, we are leaving for the retreat. We expect 11 students to attend along with some English teachers and us. Please pray for this retreat.

Thursday to Saturday, July 6,7 and 8 - We drove out about 3 hours to the East of Bangkok to the country estate of Elder Praxit, the founder of the church we are living at. Along with us were 11 Thai students and 3 Thai teachers (all the teachers were missionaries to Thailand from the Philippines), so there were 33 of us since we had been strengthened by the addition of Vida and Jon Eng. The site is in front of a lake in a house which by Thai standards must have been deluxe, but had only one indoor bathroom. The 6 outdoor “baths” had squat toilets, a hand-held shower, and assorted spiders, ants, frogs, and other visitors of nature. We all slept on hard tiled floors on a thin mat like a tatami. Blankets were really unnecessary since there was no AC. It was an interesting cross cultural experience and taught me how spoiled we are in America with our living standards. The students all were adults, ranging in age from a College freshman to a 50 some year old judge of the Court of Appeals. It turned out he was one of two Christians among the students and he thoroughly enjoyed the camp, saying it met all his expectations in learning English and the Bible. We played a lot of games, had for sessions in which Calvin Liang, John Ngai and I preached (twice for me). We also had 6 small group sessions in which we learned about ONE Body, Spirit, Hope, Lord, Faith and Baptism, using Eph. 4:4-6 as our key verse. All in all, we had a wonderful time with the students. Praise God one young lady and one young man came to the Lord and several more showed real interest. But I have to conclude that it was difficult to convert these students. They were fully saturated with the Gospel these past two days, and only 22% accepted, but it was a start and we were blessed for doing this.

Saturday night, we were invited to Vida’s parent’s home for dinner (where Pastor Lo, Victor and Lucy Chen are staying). There were about 150 guests at dinner, another missions group called Extreme (8 people), and ladies choir, men’s choir, and youth choir from their church, plus assorted guests. We sang a couple of songs, Extreme did a wordless skit, and their ladies choir also shared a song. We will be attending their church and singing twice on Sunday. Meanwhile, Pastor Lo and Victor and Lucy have been ministering at the Asian Institute of Technology and at Baptist Theological Seminary, both with music and testimony. It is wonderful that as a team, we can do so many things at the same time.

Sunday, July 9 - We were picked up by two church vans and driven to Maitrichit church, were Vida’s parents and family attend and who were also hosting Pastor Lo, Victor and Lucy. This is a large Chinese church and in comparison to the Thai church, very wealthy and prosperous. It is over 100 years old and their large building built in 1935. We found a huge cloth banner welcoming us as we drove into their courtyard. Posters advertising our evening concert was plastered all over the buildings. We sang and Pastor Lo preached in the morning worship service. Over a dozen responded to Pastor’s call. After resting a Vida’s home, we went back to the church for dinner and the English service. We sang a full concert with testimonies and skit. Auntie Lucy led the worship singing. Phoebe, though somewhat down with the stomach flu, gave her testimony, Jon Eng, Chris Chien and Becky Pang also shared while Marshall gave a short message. Pastor Lo than closed the meeting with a call to follow Christ and dedicate ourselves for Christ. Two people responded out of the couple of hundred who attended. We were each presented a small gift to bring home to LA. We were treated like honored guests and celebrities. I hope we don’t get swelled heads when we go home.

Monday, July 10 - Today is our off day since ABEC rejected our request to visit them and sing on campus, so we are spending it at Vida’s home and swimming in her pool. Mr. Lo, from the Maitrichit church, invited us for lunch at a fancy Japanese restaurant, an all you can eat buffet. This was clearly the best food Vision ever had on any of its tours. After lunch, we went shopping at a large mall in downtown Bangkok. Three of Vida’s friends joined us so they could help us bargain, because if the merchants knew we were foreigners, they would quote us higher prices. We were originally suppose to meet where the vans left us off but later changed it to meet at a 5:30 PM in front of McDonald’s after we broke up, but at the appointed time, one group was late coming back. We left John Ngai to wait at McDonald’s while the rest of us headed off to the van, but we went to a different location instead of the original van position. On route, we met up with the late group, and dispatched Wiley and Calvin to fetch John. However, these three did not know the new van pick-up location, so we spent about half an hour searching for them and finally decided to send one van home with most of the group while Vida, Lucy and Victor went to look for the missing three some more. After about two hours with no word of success and everyone getting quite worried, we started to pray as a group. Amazingly, God heard us whle we were praying and we received a phone call while we were praying that the van driver had found the missing three. This was something like the sixth prayer we received a direct answer for in prayer on this trip! Praise God!

Tues. July 11 - We met up with Pastor Lo, Lucy and Victor at the Baptist Theological Seminary after we had our daily devotion time. We sang to this group of young men and women and Pastor Lo delivered a short message during their chapel time. We had lunch with them and then headed out to Watana Christian School, an all-girl’s school from K through 12th grade. We sang for the 9, 11, and 12 grade classes, over 600 students and their teachers and gave testimony of Christ’s meaning to us. This is a Christian school with about 20% of the students Christians and was easily the largest crowd we sang to on this trip. Then we returned to where we stayed and joined in teaching our first English classes. Everyone enjoyed the teaching experience and had a great time interacting with the students. In only the second year of English school at this church, they have already over 900 students and something like 46 class sessions each week, Tuesday through Saturday. This is a terrific outreach ministry to the students.

Wed, July 12 - Today, we went to visit the disabled children’s home in Bangkok. This is a government run series of building that houses disabled and abandoned children from babies through adults. We first stopped at the Christian Foundation for Disabled Children, which is located close to the government facilities. This foundation provides a lot of volunteer care to the children, and finds children who can be adopted by Christian families all over the world. A lot of the disabled children only have minor things wrong with them, like a cleft lip, which can be easily cured by surgery. They also help teach the disabled to manage for themselves. Visiting the children’s home was a heart-breaking experience, so see hundreds of children in various state of disabilities, unwanted by their own parents. Being a Buddhist country, the parents view their disability as punishment for something they had done in their previous life, so they abandon them to an early death and maybe reincarnation in a better state. As Christians, we see them as souls the Lord died to save, so we care for them and love them. After this, we went to the OMF headquarters in Thailand, a place of rest for many of the missionaries. We prayed with Ching and Thang Ngaithe, especially as they get ready to move to the Philippines, that God would provide a replacement for them here in Thailand, and bless their ministry and provide for their needs in the Philippines. Because there are only a few English classes, we started our debriefing that evening, because we had decided to teach all day Saturday, but we did meet with the English teachers and found out all of them taught in order to reach Thai students for Christ and did this voluntarily.

Thurs, July 13 - After devotions, we left to visit the Rahab Ministry, a ministry working among the women prostitutes in Bangkok. Their ministry is located right in the middle of the red light district. For the prostitutes, the ministry offers a hair setting service a lower prices than competitors, so the young ladies can come in and get their hair done and make-up on. This gives them the opportunity to tell them about a way out of the prostitution racket. For girls wanting to get out, Rahab teaches them how to make greeting cards to sell and earn money. I was very impressed with the creative ways they reach out to the women of the streets, many of whom are trapped in the buisness or sold by their families into the trade. Unfortunately, they did not expect our group to show up, so we did not get a detailed visit, but we have a video tape of their ministry which we brought back to America. The rest of the day, we continued our debriefing and taught English in the evening.

Fri, July 14 - We went to the Bangkok Christian School and College today. This is an all-boys school (in contrast to the all-girls’ Watana Christian school we went on Tuesday). Taver’s dad attended this school in his high school years. We presented our program from noon to 2 PM for their 5th and 6th grade classes, which was over 800 students. This is an all-time largest audience Vision ever had. Calvin, Vincent, and Martha gave powerful testimonies and I had the joy to follow up the concert and give an simple invitation to those who had never accepted Christ before. Thank God, at least 100 raised their hands to accept Christ that afternoon. This was truly an unexpected harvest which many had worked, probably for years, to prepare. We praise the Lord that we could be privileged to see this kind of harvest. We continued our debriefing when we returned.

In the evening, we returned to the runaway boys’ home church (see July 5) and met with the families and about 50 boys. We sang and had a good time with these kids. Most of them are bright, talented youngsters, who also sang for us (in Thai). I saw so much potential in these kids whose lives might otherwise be wasted. May God send more people with hearts of compassion for these (and the women of the streets too).

Sat, July 15 – Most of the day was spent teaching English, a total of 4 sessions with 6 classes per sessions (about 500 students total in one day). We met many of the students from the retreat. Since one of the regular teachers was sick, Meiring and I actually taught two class sessions. For those of us who speak English, it was really very easy to teach and the Thais really appreciated mimicking our speech. We also spent part of the afternoon presenting a program to the students, part of the outreach ministry of the church. Since Taver’s grandmother invited the whole team for lunch, we actually missed teaching the second session but stuffed ourselves instead. Meanwhile, Pastor Lo has been speaking at the Deacon’s retreat starting Friday at the Maitrichit Church. Before that, he and the Chens were in Chiang Mai, so we had not seen them for a few days.

Sun, July 16 – While Pastor Lo and Lucy ministered at Grace Baptist Church (Taver’s grandmother’s church), we drove about an hour north to the Asian Institute of Technology where a group of foreign English speaking students met for worship. We sang a short program while Thang Ngaihte preached to a group of about 70 students and professors and administrators at the University. After lunch, I shared with their men’s group while Vision had their devotion time. We then returned to our host church for our farewell meeting. Prior to the English service, the church gave us some gifts and we sang for their English worship service. The missionary who started Lydia House preached and we enjoyed our final night there. We are leaving early on Monday, with all in reasonably good health. Wiley Chow, Jon Eng and Martha were a little sick but seem to have recovered in time to go home.

In summary, we had a wonderful time. God showed us more ministries than we believed possible and we thank God for His creativity in reaching the lost through many different Christians. At our debriefing time, several of the Vision folks felt God’s call for full time or tentmaking ministries in the future. Thank you for your support and prayer. We needed them and God answered so many of our and your prayers. Praise Him!