Participants:
Series Code: JFAN
Program Code: JFAN000129S
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:21 - Hello, and welcome to "Jesus for Asia Now." 00:24 Now I'm Natalie Wood and my husband Jon is joining me today 00:27 as we travel to the northern plains of Thailand, 00:29 to hear stories of lives being changed by God. 00:33 Hello love. - Hi darling, how are you? 00:35 - I'm doing well. - Awesome. 00:37 - Yeah, and I'm looking forward to hearing the stories 00:39 that we have to share today. 00:40 - Yes. 00:41 - Stories of lives being changed. 00:42 - Absolutely, fresh from the front lines. 00:45 - Now, before we start sharing the video segments 00:48 that we have and some of the other stories, 00:50 what is the need that this ministry 00:53 in particular is answering? 00:55 - Well, we're looking at children's home 00:57 in Northern Thailand. 00:59 And the children that they bring in 01:01 are from broken backgrounds, broken homes, 01:04 very negative kind of environments 01:08 that these kids were growing up in. 01:09 Some of the kids were physically harassed by evil spirits, 01:14 subjected to all kinds of abuse, physical, emotional, 01:18 spiritual, every kind of abuse you can imagine 01:21 these kids, they grow up with that. 01:23 And they grow up with people telling them, 01:25 you're never gonna amount to anything. 01:27 And so these are the kind of kids 01:28 that fuel the flesh trade in Thailand. 01:32 And there are some ministries that go in 01:34 and try to rescue people from the flesh trade. 01:37 But we have a friend that has done that. 01:40 It's kind of a losing battle, 01:43 because once the ladies have been in there a certain number 01:46 of years, they don't wanna leave. 01:48 And it just drains them, it drains them of who they are, 01:52 it drains them of any self-respect, 01:55 it drains them of a position in society. 01:57 It just drains them to the point where they're chewed up 02:00 and they get sped out, 02:01 and they get to an age where they either have AIDs 02:05 or they have some kind of disease. 02:06 - Some other disease, yeah. 02:07 - Or they're no longer beautiful, no longer desirable. 02:11 And it's just a really, really sad situation. 02:14 And so their advice to us was if you can save the kids 02:18 before they get into that trade, 02:22 then you've saved a life. 02:24 And so that's the power that I see. 02:28 I mean, just the fact that they are in an environment 02:32 where they're being taken care of, 02:35 they're not being abused, 02:36 they're being shown that they're valuable- 02:41 - The love of Christ, 02:42 because that's where our value comes from. 02:44 - Absolutely, this whole thing of everybody's created equal, 02:50 that's a Christian value. 02:52 A lot of people may not realize that, 02:55 but when you go around and you see other societies, 02:57 even the way other religions operate, 02:59 this whole concept of all people are created equal 03:02 is absolutely Christian. 03:05 There's no other source for that concept in history. 03:10 And so even just seeing a group of kids 03:12 in a safe environment like what we're gonna see today, 03:14 to me is a major victory in and of itself 03:17 because it is battling against the flesh trade. 03:20 That is just that many kids that are no longer susceptible 03:23 to the flesh trade. 03:24 And that just makes me really happy. 03:27 - Yeah, it's really beautiful to think about that. 03:30 The opportunities God has given us 03:31 to snatch them out before- - [Jon] Absolutely. 03:34 - More damage is done. 03:35 I mean, some of them have been damaged to an extent that 03:38 it takes years to completely come out of those damages, 03:43 but God can heal. 03:45 That's the beautiful thing we see from stories like Mary 03:47 in the Bible. 03:49 How many times did He have to cast demons out of her? 03:51 How many times did He have to tell her that 03:54 she was forgiven? 03:55 - Yes. 03:56 - How many times did Jesus have to call her? 03:58 How many times the Spirit have to whisper 04:01 to draw her to Himself. 04:04 - He didn't give up. - No. 04:05 - And we can't either. 04:06 That doesn't mean it's a quick fix every time. 04:10 - Absolutely, and this started with Josh and Chitti Bower, 04:13 working in the slums of Thailand, 04:15 and realizing that these kids, 04:18 even though they might be help 'em, 04:20 everyone else is telling them, 04:22 "You're not gonna become anything. 04:24 You're just gonna end up a prostitute. 04:26 You're just gonna end up on the street. 04:27 You're just gonna end up a drug user, drug dealer." 04:30 And they had to get them out of that. 04:32 And so they sent two kids up to the North, 04:34 to our Adventist academy, 04:36 and one of them was Prao, 04:38 and in her own testimony, she says how she knew that 04:42 what she was doing was bad, 04:45 but she just didn't see any other option. 04:47 There was no other way, no one to help her. 04:51 And now that she has a new mom and a new dad 04:55 in Josh and Chitti, she has hope, she has a new identity. 04:59 And God does that to us, He reaches into us. 05:01 He sees that we've done bad things, we've really failed, 05:04 but He sees, "That's not who you are. 05:07 You're the son of a King, you're the daughter of a King 05:09 and you have value." 05:11 (both laughing) 05:13 - And it's so neat to see how Josh and Chitti 05:16 have been pouring that into Prao. 05:18 And then into their other kids 05:20 as God has given them other children. 05:22 It's just so neat, and the kids are calming down. 05:26 They're learning and growing in God. 05:29 And it's just beautiful. 05:30 - Yeah, when I visited there a few months ago, 05:34 I could see these kids they valued the worship time 05:36 and they rent it themselves. 05:38 And there's this feeling of peace. 05:41 You got seven kids, many of them teenagers in a house, 05:44 you don't always feel peaceful (laughing). 05:48 But these guys, I sensed that peace. 05:49 There was order, they knew what was going on, 05:52 and they felt safe, and it was just a beautiful thing. 05:55 And so, the place we're going today is an outgrowth 05:57 from Josh and Chitti's, that ministry. 06:01 The Norton Family were called to Sukhothai Thailand, 06:07 to be the first Adventist presence in that entire city. 06:09 But they always had a heart for kids and they always knew 06:12 that God would probably call them into taking care of kids. 06:16 - So we have some videos today, 06:18 and the first one is talking about changes in the kids. 06:22 - [Jon] Awesome. 06:23 (gentle music) 06:26 (children chattering) 06:36 - So we have 11 Thai children right now. 06:38 And several of them came to us because their parents 06:42 were in prison. 06:43 Others came to us because their parents were fearful 06:47 of what would happen to them if they stayed 06:49 in their living situations 06:52 where there were very young teenage pregnancies 06:56 and just various circumstances 06:59 that their parents wanted them out of. 07:01 They all pretty much came to us with habits 07:05 that you don't really want to see in children. 07:08 And so the process of trying to teach them new habits 07:14 and new ways of speaking, especially when we don't speak 07:17 the language (laughing) very well. 07:21 Honestly in so many ways, it's been beautiful 07:23 to watch them grow and change. 07:26 And our initial goal was, 07:29 we built a little schoolhouse in Chapel, 07:31 and we have a teacher. 07:33 And so we thought we'll have a little school here 07:36 and we won't send them to school. 07:38 And so far, God has not opened that door. 07:41 However COVID happened 07:42 and so most of this year we've spent with the kids at home 07:45 and Oshen has been working with them and teaching them 07:50 tremendous growth during that period. 07:52 And then in November, Thailand opens back up 07:55 and the school's open back up and their back in school 07:58 and we're just like, "Oh no... 08:01 All this time, we're just praising God 08:03 for the fact that they're home and now they're not." 08:06 (gentle music) 08:20 Shortly after school opened, 08:22 the kids started coming home and asking for Bibles, 08:26 to take into the school to share with their friends. 08:30 And Wen one time took a Bible and gave it to his friend, 08:34 and then his friend's mom works at the school 08:37 I guess, cooking the meals. 08:39 And he ran and took it to his mom and she kept it. 08:42 They have been singing Jesus loves me on the playground 08:46 with their friends, and they come home 08:48 and they share about it. 08:49 And they're like, "It was so fun to sing that with them." 08:54 (gentle music) 08:56 - At school, there was a situation where one of the boys 09:00 got really angry cuz one of the school kids pushed him 09:04 or something like that and he retaliated. 09:08 And another one of our boys walked up to him 09:12 and put his arm around him and said to him, 09:14 "Now, that doesn't show what Jesus wants us to do." 09:20 And it made him think about it. 09:21 So he went and apologized to the kid that pushed him. 09:24 And I was just like, 09:27 "That's what we want these kids to learn." 09:30 And so it's been awesome to see them trying their best 09:34 to instill the love that Christ has within themselves 09:39 and seeing them get it most of the time. 09:43 It's been really cool to see. 09:47 (gentle music) 09:50 - Just the excitement that they have, 09:52 the enthusiasm for what they're learning about God. 09:56 No matter how small their understanding of Him seems 09:59 to us sometimes, the fact that they're taking what they have 10:02 and they are taking it into the schools. 10:05 And so they're going into this very dark place surrounded 10:08 by people who know nothing about God, 10:11 and they're sharing Him. 10:12 And our oldest is 14, 10:17 and at a totally different school. 10:19 And during the first week, she didn't know anybody. 10:22 This was her first week at the school period. 10:25 She made a friend and she immediately 10:27 started telling her about Jesus. 10:29 And so she comes home and she says, 10:31 "I was telling my friend stories about Jesus 10:34 and she was really listening, and I do you wanna know more?" 10:38 And she said, my friend said yes. 10:43 And she was telling us this asking if she could take a Bible 10:46 to school. 10:46 And we said, "Sure." 10:48 And then we forgot to give her the Bible that night. 10:51 And so she went to school the next day 10:54 and her friend reminded her that she told her 10:57 she was gonna bring a Bible. 10:58 And so she came home that day and she asked us again, 11:01 "Can I please take a Bible?" 11:03 And she did, she took it to her 11:04 and her friend eagerly accepted it. 11:08 And so it's incredible to watch these kids come 11:12 knowing so little and yet embracing progressively 11:17 as they're learning more and more who God is 11:20 and instinctively, they're wanting to share Him. 11:24 (gentle music) 11:47 - It's so neat to think about what God is doing 11:49 in their lives. 11:50 How they're seeing the love of God 11:52 and they're recognizing in themselves the things 11:57 that need to change or the things that they can share 12:01 with their friends at school. 12:03 An, that's really neat. 12:05 - A lot of this is very revolutionary to them. 12:08 It was so neat, I wish I could take all of our viewers 12:10 to their place. 12:12 I was only there overnight, 12:14 but in the evening, I saw everybody heading 12:16 in a certain direction. 12:18 It's like, where's everybody going? 12:19 And then I realize, oh, they're going to have worship. 12:21 So I go in there and everyone's singing, 12:24 everyone's sitting there, everyone's listening, 12:27 the day's work is done, there's peace there. 12:30 And then, it wasn't Robbie or Kasey leading out in worship. 12:33 It was the kids leading out in the singing, 12:36 and then one of their staff led out in the worship. 12:38 And they read a little bit, discussed it, 12:40 and each person read a little bit from the Bible, 12:43 and it was just a feeling of peace 12:45 that you don't usually get in foreign countries. 12:49 It was just a beautiful thing 12:50 and I don't think we realize how impacting those moments 12:55 of peace are. 12:56 Cuz once a person gets a taste of that kind of peace, 12:59 there's nothing else in the world that can come close. 13:02 - That's true. - And so these kids, 13:04 after they leave maybe in the future, 13:06 who knows what their life plans are, 13:09 what God is calling them to be. 13:10 But when they leave, they're always gonna have that memory. 13:13 And so there are heroes, they're my heroes. 13:17 They may not feel like much, in fact, 13:19 Kasey and Robbie have told us 13:21 that they're the worst missionaries out there. 13:25 But, to me they're heroes. 13:28 Because they're taking care of Christ's kids. 13:32 - And they're recognizing their weakness, 13:34 they don't have it. 13:35 They're not all that. 13:37 However you wanna put it in today's vernacular, 13:40 they don't believe that they have what it takes. 13:43 But they know somebody who does. 13:45 And they lean on Him. 13:47 And they cry out to Him, 13:49 and they look to Him, 13:51 and they study His Word and they pray. 13:53 And this is why there are lives being changed. 13:57 Because of the connection that they're maintaining 14:00 with God. 14:01 - Yeah, the biggest hindrance to true missionary work 14:04 is when you feel like you have 14:06 something to offer (laughing). 14:08 - Yeah, it brings a lot of pride in, 14:10 and not a lot of willingness to sit at the feet 14:12 of the locals and see what we can learn from them. 14:16 Because there's always something we can learn about God 14:18 from other cultures and other peoples. 14:20 - Yeah, and sit at the feet of Jesus, 14:22 to hear what He wants us to do. 14:24 - So we wanna look now at some of the stories 14:27 of their staff. 14:28 - Okay. 14:29 (gentle instrumental music) 14:37 - We hired (indistinct) Sonai and Wao, 14:39 who came with two children. 14:41 So, they went ahead and moved here with us, 14:44 and Wao started cooking for the children. 14:47 And Sonai started doing the maintenance stuff. 14:50 And it's been a huge blessing having them here 14:54 because this property's big. 14:56 And then as busy as I am going from here to town 14:59 to distribute the food and then come back 15:02 and or do the shopping, it keeps me on my toes 15:05 just running back and forth. 15:07 And so having Sonai here who's a steady worker, 15:11 doing the maintenance stuff without having to pause 15:14 or do anything, gets things done. 15:17 And so he works very well with me, 15:19 and then later on after they moved here, 15:23 we got his sister, Ma, as our cleaning lady. 15:28 And she started taking care of the dormitory. 15:31 She start taking the care of the chapel, 15:33 the bathrooms out here and all that. 15:36 And then she also waters the plants 15:38 and does a little bit of the yard work as well. 15:42 Shortly after she came, she showed up with her son one day 15:47 and he looked like a very angry young adult teenage boy. 15:53 He did not want to be here. 15:55 She was asking us to help him. 15:58 So we said we will try. 16:01 So he started working with our maintenance man, 16:05 and the two of them work very well together. 16:07 He's actually a very hard working young man. 16:10 He loves it here. 16:12 We can see a change in him that has been progressing. 16:18 Whereas before when he first got here, 16:19 he wouldn't join us for worship or anything like that. 16:21 But now he's there for every worship meeting that we have. 16:25 And he constantly tells our boys 16:27 that he wants to learn more about God. 16:29 (group singing) 16:32 We hired Oshen to be the full-time teacher. 16:36 COVID was here, and that shut everything down. 16:39 And the kids were having to do school here. 16:42 Kasey and I can't read Thai. 16:44 Our girls could barely read Thai. 16:46 And so to try to help them with their homework 16:49 was beyond our scope. 16:51 And so we put a flyer out through some help of some friends 16:58 and less than 24 hours later, this young man gives us a call 17:04 and says he wants to come to work for us. 17:07 And he said, he watched some videos 17:10 after we had talked to him of our ministry here, 17:13 and he realized this is not a job, this is a ministry. 17:17 And so it was really cool to hear him say that. 17:20 (instrumental music) 17:23 He has been a huge help in the translation 17:27 between our workers and us and through visitations. 17:34 And he has had a burden to start his own ministry 17:37 while working here as well. 17:39 And so every Sabbath, if it permits him to do so, 17:44 he goes into the local village 17:46 and he does the branch Sabbath School with the kids. 17:50 (upbeat music) 17:52 - One of the things that several of our staff have expressed 17:56 is their gratitude for the fact that they've been taken 18:00 from work situations and living situations 18:03 where it wasn't as easy for them to worship God as a family, 18:07 and through that process over the past year, 18:10 we've really been blessed to watch them grow as a family, 18:15 as individuals, their willingness to participate 18:19 in leading out in worships with the kids, 18:22 praying with the kids, 18:23 having an interest in the community, 18:26 taking part in the church service, 18:28 Oshen came to us as a brand new newly baptized believer 18:31 and we've watched him blossom as he's poured over 18:35 the scriptures, trying to search about who God is 18:39 and what God wants from him. 18:40 So, it has been inspiring. 18:43 It's been helpful that God has established this team, 18:46 but it's also been inspiring to watch how quickly 18:50 and eagerly they're latching onto this new experience 18:55 that God is giving them. 18:56 (upbeat music) 19:07 - So you can see how hiring people to be your staff 19:10 if they're open and willing, 19:11 can be a huge learning experience for them, 19:14 and a discipling opportunity for the leaders 19:17 of the ministry. 19:18 - And it's so neat that Oshen, their teacher, 19:21 has now started going and having a branch Sabbath School 19:24 in the local village. 19:26 It's like, "I've gotta do ministry too. 19:27 Not just every day in my interactions with these children, 19:31 but, there's other children." 19:34 And that's just beautiful, how the Spirit of God 19:36 gives that joy in ministry, in service, 19:42 and it makes you wanna do more. 19:43 - Yes, that's a beautiful thing. 19:45 So now we have a video where we get to meet the staff 19:48 and hear it from their perspective. 19:49 - Right. 19:51 (bright instrumental music) 19:59 - I grew up to be Buddhist. 20:02 And to be honest, 20:03 I haven't experienced Christianity 20:06 until I entered my college, 20:09 but on my second year I had that personal experience 20:14 with God, and He opened my heart. 20:17 So I slowly accept Him. 20:20 And then at the end of my college, 20:24 my advisor said that I had the potential 20:29 to grow spiritually. 20:32 So she offered me Bible lesson. 20:35 And not so long after that, maybe like two months, 20:38 she invited me to be baptized. 20:40 So I was baptized. 20:43 But at that time, I still couldn't find any job. 20:48 And then one day a teacher from my college texted me 20:53 saying that there is someone here that would like 20:57 to have a teacher. 21:00 And she mentioned, additionally, 21:03 that is maybe a good opportunity for me to grow 21:07 because I am still new in Christianity. 21:10 So, I also think the same with that teacher 21:14 because I think it's a good opportunity 21:17 to work with Seventh-day Adventist, to grow in my faith. 21:21 So I contact Robbie back, 21:24 and that's how I ended up here. 21:28 (instrumental music) 21:32 (speaking in Thai) 22:35 (instrumental music) 22:39 (speaking in Thai) 24:09 (instrumental music) 24:11 - I would like to thank God that He brought me here, 24:14 that He gives this opportunity for me to come here. 24:18 Yeah, I don't want to leave this place. 24:20 I love this place so much (laughing). 24:24 - That's awesome. 24:25 - It is, it is so beautiful. 24:27 And to think about the fact that the one gentleman 24:31 was saying that we prayed a lot, and we came here 24:34 and let's remember that God chooses the way that's best, 24:39 and just how God took them there, 24:41 and the one young lady said, "God brought me here." 24:45 And it's just so neat to see that, 24:47 that they were praying for help, 24:49 and these other people were praying for a way 24:52 that they could worship God, 24:53 and not have the pressure to work on Sabbath 24:57 or the requirement to work on Sabbath, 24:59 and not be able to worship God and.. 25:01 It's just so neat. 25:02 - It is beautiful. 25:03 And the values that they show, 25:05 they value the spiritual things, 25:07 and not the financial things in life. 25:10 So, they're in a place where they can grow and who knows 25:13 in 10 or 15 years, where they're gonna be 25:15 and what they're gonna be doing. 25:16 - God can make it grow. 25:18 - Absolutely. - And grow more 25:19 than you would think it would. 25:20 - In some places in the world, it's easy to plant a church. 25:24 It's easy to fill a church, 25:26 but certain parts of the world, 25:27 places like Central Thailand, not so easy. 25:31 It takes a long time, and it takes a lot of patience, 25:34 and it takes a lot of planting and a lot of watering 25:37 before you seem to see anything grow out of it. 25:40 And I was just talking to Robbie and Kasey this week, 25:44 and they were telling me about the discouragements 25:46 that they face, it's not easy. 25:48 It's not an easy thing that they're doing. 25:50 And they are making sacrifices. 25:52 And so I got to encourage them 25:54 to help them look on the bright side, 25:56 because they're there every day 25:58 and they have to deal with the problems every day. 26:00 And we can see from the outside what God's doing. 26:04 I think easier sometimes than you can see when you're faced 26:07 and they've been hit recently with very, 26:10 everybody's gotten sick. 26:12 And so, (laughing) that takes the fun outta life 26:15 in general anyway. 26:18 - Yes, and one thing that we can remember from this, 26:20 is that it's important for us as those over here 26:24 that serve as centers, 26:26 to encourage them not to be like, 26:28 "Okay, when's your baptism? 26:30 Okay, how many people have you witnessed to today?" 26:34 That kind of thing, 26:35 to realize that they're doing life there 26:39 as missionaries. 26:40 And so it's like everything they do, they try to keep 26:43 the focus on, this is part of my work for God. 26:47 And yet it's not an instant, 26:49 it's not microwave baptisms, it's not microwave anything, 26:54 it's a long term investment. 26:56 And that's the way many places in the world work. 26:59 It's a relationships. 27:00 You have to build relationships with people 27:02 before they're even able to see a difference in your life, 27:06 something they might want, 27:09 or before they're willing to let you in 27:11 to share something with them when they're in a time of need. 27:14 - Yes, to build that trust, trust isn't earned overnight. 27:18 That's why the long term missions is so important. 27:21 - And that's ultimately the goal of the Christian. 27:23 Is representing God's kingdom 27:25 by letting His kingdom live in us, 27:27 so that His kingdom spills out to those around us. 27:30 - Absolutely. 27:31 So people can see what the character of God really is. 27:33 - Yeah, that's so true. 27:35 That's so true, and I would like to invite you 27:37 to pray for Robbie and Kasey, and for their staff there, 27:41 and for the sweet little children. 27:44 And if you would like to be a part of providing 27:46 for these children, 27:47 you can contact us at Jesus for Asia, 27:50 PO Box 1221 Collegedale, Tennessee 37315. 27:56 Call us at 423 413 7321, 28:00 or visit our website at Jesus4Asia.org. 28:04 May God richly bless you until we see you next time 28:07 on "Jesus for Asia Now." 28:09 (upbeat music) |
Revised 2022-04-07