reach strategically

Whoa, it is the time for GI retreat already! That's mean that we have been here for about 6 months. Time flies way too fast! Well, me and the team went to Hua Hin, Southern Thailand to meet our leader and another team from South East Asia. Oh it's a great joy for me to meet them because they speak my language!! This is what awesome about being Asian... ha ha ha Well, we have class from 9-12 with the awesome Mr.Paul Hartford and we have team and individual meetings and stuff. But we also have some free time, ah, that was the best. Not that the team stuff wasn't good, it was very good actually, but when you are in the beach, don't you want to do something other than sitting in the class? :) So I bike all over the place, took a bunch of pictures and stuff. Get some tan on my skin... which is very unusual for an Asian, but who cares, I want to be out in the sun. Oh I miss the beach and the sand... even though you can't really compare this beach with the beach back home,...

So, if you have been on my Facebook page lately, you might find that I just posted a bunch of pictures from the village. It is quite a shame that I don't know what is the name of the village. But anyways, let's move on. So we drove about 3 hours North-East of Chiang Mai to get to the village. At first, I was thinking you know... the village, no electricity, cold bath with a bucket, no toilet paper, hot and hard mattress, yeah no. It was actually a pretty good shaped village (I couldn't find a better word to describe it), I had a house with western bathroom in it and yeah, a mattress in the floor, but it was pretty nice actually. Well, first night was fun, we didn't do a lot of stuff, and most people there went to bed at like 8 o'clock, so we kind of go with it. But we wake up at 6 am to go to the market, and eat breakfast at 7 in the morning. And I am not talking about small nice breakfast, you know. It was a serious breakfast... it was sticky rice (every morning), ...

This are some of the pictures from the Lighthouse Ministry that we already did, or our future target. Please be praying for them. Me and some of our friends, they visit us from Texas. Enjoying the missionary life. One of the biggest gathering center in Chiang Mai for Thai people, especially tomboy and lesbians. One of the bars in the city. View like this are everywhere in Chiang Mai. Me and some of the people that we are trying to minister too. The middle one with short hair is Emmi, she is my leader from Lighthouse. Us, getting together with the ladyboys. Making friends and sharing the love. Big lunch with a team from Adelaide, Australia. Anna, Marina and Me. We have been making such a good friendship with him. Please, continue to pray for these people and continue to pray for our ministry. God bless!

I know I have not been faithfully updating this blog, so this is some pictures for you on behalf of my "thousands of words..." :)

I got this from a mailing list Why Did Jesus Fold the Napkin? Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin. Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, 'They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!' Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple out ran Peter and got there first. He stopped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the lin...

I had a meeting the other day with the ministry that I joined with, and as we share our hearts and what are we thankful for, and this one girl, a good friend of mine says... "I give thanks to the Lord for giving me a lot of strength. I thank Him for saying "YES" when I always say "NO" to his calling. I thank God that he trusted me enough and know that I am gonna finish this race." And that really encourages me a lot. I mean, how many times people gave up on the mission field or failed on their ministry? I thank God that he say YES and he knows that I am gonna finish this race with him, and it's gonna be glorious. I mean, of course the glory go to HIM, but I get to be a part of bringing the most glory to Him, that is an honor. I have been somewhat successfully made some good Thai friends from the church and some people from the bars and stuff. But I know that this is not the end, I am not even close to the end, this is just a beginning of everything. Do...

It has been a while. Yes it has and I am really sorry about this. So, ministry has started, yes it has. And it's been a good day yesterday and today. There are a lot of obstacle here and there but God is good. Like, for one, my camera broke. Yes, the new Canon is broken and now is sent to Bangkok to get it fixed. God had already provide the money though, but it's just mean that I couldn't use it for about 2 weeks. Bummer! Yes, but good things are happening! There are some door opening in the bar that I work with. The situation are not too pretty now, but I can see that they become more open to me now that they had before. Just keep praying hard. I've been doing some stuff with the people from church and we went to Mae On to make friends with some students and help them learn how to dance and meeting with young Koreans trainees. They're so much fun to work with... and we're building a great connection among the believers and the kids can see that. So please keep ...

Hullo!! It's been kind of a while since I blog, so after having a long day today, why not blog, eh? Well I have been hangin' out with some of my friends here in Thailand, hard to say but they're a transvestite. And I really want to build good friendship with them so that I will be able to share the Gospel with them and let them know about the love of Christ. Well I come to this realization, after 1 month long of friendship with all of them. It's going to take time. And I really need to let the Holy Spirit do His job, of conviction, planting the truth and setting them free. I thought about how would I let them know that soon or later, they need to find their true identity in Christ. Yes, Jesus love them just the way they are but at the same time I need to understand that when the truth enter to their life, the truth will do its work and it will set them free. But in order to set them free, they need to forsake their old life and follow Christ. And I know it's not gon...

So, today is my first time doing rock climbing! Yippeee!! It was crazy fun! I was really intimidated at first because I have never done it before, even the inside and now I did it on a real cliff in Thailand. It was so much fun though! I went with the people from my church here. So we went to San Khampaeng and there is a place called Crazy Horse, where the cliffs shaped like a crazy horse from a distance. At first I was really intimidated by the heights of the cliff. And then I saw some of the girls done it and I was thinking, "Okay, if they can do it, I can do it too. You know?" So, I keep up the courage. And they told me that this one area that we're climbing is one of the easiest. So I tried this one cliff, and the first 4 meters was awesome. Nothing had happen, but then I was up to the point where everybody seems to have a hard time, and I just couldn't bring my self to do it. I could not find a good grip and I watched people fall from that edge 2 times already. B...

"FREEDOM" When I say that word, that the first thing come to your mind? Philosophically, it's the idea of being free. (Wikipedia) Politically, it's the absence of interference with the sovereignty of an individual by the use of coercion or aggression. (I don't understand it either, it's ok) And so many people try to define freedom through many different things. They describe it through sports, through art, music, people, songs, speech, and many others. Since being in Thailand, I would really want to know what freedom means to Thai people. They call this land the land of free, I start searching and really want to know what freedom means to them. Because if this is the land of free, why am I seeing many slavery and people are under the chains of money trying to crawl out and screaming that they want their freedom. This is not a free country after all. And it is sad, because I think they don't even know that it is not freedom that they're getting, but a m...

I just make a recent video, so check it out! http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=606874428&ref=ts#/video/video.php?v=217674215592&subj=643225592 hope you're blessed!

Yaak maak!! In Thai language it means "very hard!" Yeah, there's a lot of hardships that I need to endure while I'm here. Nothing too major though, but I definitely need God's grace to survive here. I mean, who doesn't right? Anyways, I make some friends from one organization named "the Lighthouse Ministry". They are affiliated with YWAM Chiang Mai and they provide guest houses. And I get connection with this one girl that work in the bars and she have some good friends that she introduces to me. So I thought, AWESOME! right? Yeah, so I went to the place once and get to know couple people there (can't really give much details, sorry) and really felt like this is what the Lord want me to do. I prayed about it and I really feel that the Lord is giving me peace to do this and He gave me this verse about, "This is the path... walk ye in it." So I was so encouraged and really starting to get excited about this ministry. But the program that ...

I have been really busy this last few days and I haven't been processed a lot of things that happened. I am kind of frustrated a bit, but I think it's a normal thing to have when you are in another country and live with a bunch of westerners, so it's like a double culture-shock. Praise God that His grace is sufficient for me! Anyways, last night I went to the Night Market, which is a really popular thing here in Chiang Mai, I mean tourist, and people are just sucked in to that place, because they sell pretty and cheap stuff. Anyways, this is my second time going to that place, not a very great place to be I have to say, since there's a lot of bars and "karaoke" where the women are all outside and wait for men to pick them up. Very sad picture. It never got to into me before and I am not sure why is that. But I've seen many-many woman with a man that are not their husband, and I feel like it's a reality and getting all emotional about it is not going to...

"Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over cummin; caraway is beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a stick. Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever. Though he drives the wheels of his threshing cart over it, his horses do not grind it. All this also comes from the LORD Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom." Isaiah 28:27-29 God has been pondering that verse into my heart in these last few days. As I am reading "The Hinds Feet on the High Places", the Lord really teach me about this verse. Not everything will go as easy as I want it, but the most impirtant thing is that my Lord is in the control. Hardships and difficult time will come and eat you alive if you let them. And each one of us will be proccessed differently than other people. You don't proccess bread the same with the cummin. Just like us, one person has a unique pe...

Sawatdee-ka!! Greetings from Thailand, the land of smile. After a week we are being here, we finally got some wi-fi in our house. Thank God for technology! So, here is not much different than home, it's hot and humid and the food is cheap. We start learning Thai language, just some simple sentences so we're able to say hi and ask where is the bathroom (yeah, that's important). And we went to one of the greatest Buddhist temple called Doi Suthep,and they're right on top pf the mountain. That was pretty cool. A lot of my friends are still adjusting with the Asian culture. So please pray for them. We're on our orientation week for these two weeks, and then we're going to do language study for 12 weeks, 3 hours a day. Yep, that's gonna be a little intense, but I'm sure we're going to enjoy it. My newsletter is coming up soon. This is my picture with my team-mates when we're up in that temple. Kob-khun-ka! (Thank you!) God bless you. Beholding His glo...

I’m almost there… The countdown is on.. It’s just a week left before we fly to Chiang Mai. It is exciting time for me but also busy to get everything together. Things seem to be going as planned. I will be leaving at April 24th from Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and to Chiang Mai, Thailand. There will be five of us are going and we are excited about what God’s going to do while we all in Thailand. We will be staying at Chiang Mai until August 2010. It seems like a long time for me but I believe that it will goes by fast. A few things I want to share with all of you: 1. God has provided 100% of my budget! He is faithful, even when I am faithless. 2. I just got my visa to Thailand without any problem! Praise Him! 3. Please pray for Thailand, they were having some issues on the capital, Bangkok, few days ago. Pray that God’s peace will rest on that nation. 4. I am finishing my preparation! Please pray that God will give me the strength and also courage for my family and friends. 5....

It's getting there... I am coming soon! It's about one more week until I leave for Thailand for 16 months. Yep, that is coming right at me. I feel slightly unprepared, but things is starting to come together as the time getting closer. I've enjoy this last 3 months so much, I've never liked or enjoyed my home country like I did these days... I enjoy my friends and families more than I have before. Because I know the feel of losing them for one year and now I am paying it back. As you can imagine, it is terribly hard for me to say goodbye again. Many of my friends saying, "Man, it feels like you're back for good. When are you gonna stay here and not leave again?" I couldn't give an answer for that. It's all in His hands, I say. It really does, it's all is in His hands. I am just his servant, wherever he wants me to be and wherever he is, there am I. There are so many opportunities to serve here, there are so many needs, and yet the labors are fe...

"In all our technology, we have lost touch with the earth, our heaters and air conditioners robbing us of the drama of seasons, our cars keeping our feet from pacing the land, our concrete and our shoes and our carpet delivering us from the feel of unprocessed earth. We live on top of the created world , I think to my self, not in it ." Don Miller, Through Painted Dessert. Living in Jakarta, where you find traffic jam and air pollution, tall buildings side by side with the slums, it becomes really hard for you to appreciate beauty. What is beauty? In metropolitan it goes as far as fake eyelashes, high heels, expensive dresses, name brand purses and... photoshop! But when you look at the skies, the moon and the stars, the beaches, the sunset, the mountains and its splendor... they doesn't move you, for our perception of beauty is distorted. We are locked up in our houses with air conditioners, in our cars and in our expensive shoes. How many of us have forgotten how's ...

Two weeks ago, me and my family went to one of the most beautiful island in Indonesia, called Bali. It's so beautiful, the beaches, the weather and the people. I fall in love once again with that island... and we as a family had a great time together, talking and laughing and eating and diving! And when I went back home, I always want to go back to that island... why? because there, I don't have to worry about a thing... we eat, laugh and live. Sometimes, I thought... man, reality sucks! Why can't we live in a dream land? I've heard once, Don Miller says, "Reality is like fine wine... little children won't like it." I started to realize how easy it is to slip away and forget God for a moment. How easy it is to forget the cross that each of us need to bear and be rich and happy. It's not that we cannot enjoy life, but this place is not our final rest.. we will not enter his rest, until he call us home or until he returns. Every day, each of us is facing...

I HAVE RETURNED!! This is kind of crazy because I haven't been home for so long and now finally I am home. Not too much change, really, besides all my nieces and cousins have grown a lot without me. But I am happy, yes I am. Things kind of get a little out of control lately... not too busy, but overwhelming. There is a lot of ministries to do here and I want to spend time with my family and I have to do fund raising plus my Hebrews class online, that kind of overwhelmed me. I had this mixed feelings about everything... you know, old friends, new friends, families, vacation... all that great stuff, but yet, I felt like something inside me has changed. I am not the person I used to some years ago. It's a good change, I can feel it. But it feels weird to be here and I have to keep telling my self, "This is home... this is home." Maybe it's because I've been out from home for so long that I forget how's it felt to be home and save. God has taught me a lot, he ...

Many people have asked me about what am I going to do next. And I realize that I haven't update my blog in forever, so there it is. Ta-daa.... Hello everyone!! I am going to Thailand in about 3 months, yeaaahh!! I know most of you maybe already inform by me about that, but I just want to explain more about my trip, what am I going to do, and about what God has been putting in my heart. I have been growing a lot since I left Bethany College of Missions and as for now, I am still in the US and I soon will be going home. So a little bit about Thailand, Thailand has a population of over than 61.5 million people. And over 3 million of them are women in prostitution (women only, not counting men and transgender); they started at the age of 7 or 8 years old. Thailand is one of the largest countries that are known about their sex slaves and human trafficking. And Thailand is also known to be the strongest Buddhist country in the world. So why do I want to go to Thailand? Because I ...