Austins in Thailand

There are approximately 27 million slaves in the world today. As a Christian from a denomination with roots in the American abolitionist movement I’m compelled to do something. Here is one simple thing you can do:

This July the Free Methodist Church of N.A. will meet and among other things consider various actions on various resolutions for changes big and small in the Free Methodist denomination. One resolution - number 711 - concerns modern slavery. Log on and add a comment. The websites link is: www.freemethodistchurch.org/users/gc07/resolutions.

After doing this pray that the Free Methodist denomination will act boldly, wisely and with love to free prisoners physically as well as spiritually.

Another great place to learn more is: www.freetheslaves.net

My wife Natelle teaches 1^st grade at Grace International School. It’s a Christian school with mostly Christian students, but there are some Thai kids who attend that are Buddhist. A couple of weeks ago Natelle was teaching the regular Bible story when one her students blurted out that she hated Jesus and loved Buddha. Her classmates weren’t too happy about this told her so which made her cry. Natelle comforted her and corrected the student’s behavior. Since then Natelle has continued to be a sensitive, loving teacher and has continued to tell stories about Jesus. She has also continued to pray for her students that don’t know Jesus.

Recently, because of Holy Week, Natelle has been telling stories about Jesus suffering, death and resurrection. The little girl who said she hated Jesus and loved Buddha has listened and has been affected by the stories. She’s even cried during some of them. I don’t think she hates Jesus anymore.

One life changed at a time. This is what it takes. In Thailand the going is rough. Obstacles are huge. Sometimes there seems to be so little hope, but then people change – God breaks through. There is hope in being able to touch one life at a time. Natelle is touching more than one life - she is spending an entire year with twenty or so 1^st graders and is teaching more than math and reading. By her witness, her love, her patience she is making room for little boys and girls to love Jesus.

Recently my spirituality was given a great boost by reading works outside the Evangelical Christian camp. I have always enjoyed and benefited from reading Catholic and Orthodox literature, but had, until lately, never read much written by Liberal Christians and Jewish writers. In particular I have greatly enjoyed, and would highly recommend reading Thomas Cahill and Bruce Feiler.

Their insights are razor sharp. Their writing styles a joy to read. I received insights that I thought were perhaps no longer possible after years of study.

See the posts on the webpage to find out more information about the books. . .

Enjoy!

Prophecy is “God’s word spoken into a particular situation with power and creativity which awakens people and propels them to act.” Watching Babel was a prophetic experience for me.

The movie weaves four distinct, seemingly random places and people together into a tapestry which does what good art is suppose to do - it awakens, stirs the emotions, teaches in a new way and leaves the “entertained” with some serious questions which if answered will propel us into action. Prophetic. There is heartache. But there is also hope.

It’s a movie for thinking adults. It’s not entertainment in the mindless sense. I don’t think my children are ready for it, but someday I would willingly engage them with mutual dialog. Some scenes are emotionally disturbing, but there is nothing gross or erotic or used for the sake of titillating any part of us.

The biggest prophetic word that came to me as I sat stunned at the end was that every culture and every people are completely lost. We are broken, shamed and in desperate need of salvation. But there is also hope in the movie. Hope that some of us can find reconciliation.

Other movies that have affected me similarly are movies like Syriana, Traffic, and The Black Robe.

I recommend it!

Recently I was sharing a meal with some Thai friends. We were in the country, surrounded by beautiful mountains. I was admiring the view when I noticed that wild fires were starting to spread on several of the mountains. I was alarmed. I asked my Thai friends what was happening, if we should alert someone to put out the fires. They just shrugged it off informing me that people set fire to the forest this time of year in order to help the mushrooms grow.

Then I remembered one of our Thai pastor’s dream for Thailand, “. . . Churches springing up like mushrooms.�

I put the two together.

In order to have mushrooms, the old and dead must be burned. It’s violent. It’s dangerous. Does this apply to church work as well?

I believe it does.

Please pray that God will set fire to Thailand. All the old, useless things must to go: old ways of doing things, past sins, old mistakes. God needs to come prepare the ground by cleansing it and purifying it and lighting fires in our lives and hearts.

Yes, it will be dangerous. But we are at war and war is costly.

Pray also for our protection. We want churches springing up like mushrooms, not homes and lives ravaged by wildfire.

Thailand is fertile. Mushrooms are everywhere. This is what we want for the church. Churches everywhere.

One day at language school, while on a break, I overheard two missionaries discussing their dissatisfaction with visiting churches in the United States. They hated fundraising. They didn’t want to visit churches and ask people for money. After several minutes of overhearing their complaints I walked away shaking my head thinking they were missing the whole point.

Of course missionaries need to raise funds. We can’t serve as missionaries without raising funds. But if this becomes the focus of our relationship with our senders our ministries will, in the end, not succeed.

What we seek is partnership. We are seeking people who are passionate about seeking and saving the lost. We are searching people who want to invest time, money and energy into reaching the unsaved in Southeast Asia. We are looking for people who’s hearts break for the people of Thailand.

If you are already partners - Thank you! If you want to know more about how you can partner with us, please write to me.

The last time I was in Bangkok I noticed that everywhere I traveled I was hearing jazz music - in the Western restaurants, at the mall, live bands. When most people think of Thailand, they don’t usually think of jazz.

The King of Thailand is a great man. One of his outstanding achievements is that of being a world class musician. In the 1950’s and 1960’s jazz greats from around the world traveled to Thailand to play with the King.

One of the my favorite pictures of the King is one where he is sitting in the front of a long tailed boat playing a trumpet. He is accompanied by a man playing accordian. Can you imagine being a farmer, walking your cow down to the creek and here comes the King jammin’!

One of many surprises in the Land of Smiles.