Participants:
Series Code: JFAN
Program Code: JFAN000074A
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00:01 (inspirational music)
00:21 - Hello and welcome to Jesus for Asia Now. 00:23 Today, I am your host, John Wood 00:26 and today I have a special guest, Leroy Sharon 00:29 all the way from the mountains of Thailand. 00:32 Leroy, when are you going back to Thailand? 00:36 - Tomorrow, morning (laughing) 00:38 - Early in the morning? 00:40 - Quite early, 6:00 o'clock in the morning. 00:42 - And when did you arrive, 00:43 when did you come here to America? 00:47 - Well, I arrived here in Tennessee 00:53 on Friday about four or five o'clock. 00:56 - And this is Sunday. 00:58 - Yes 00:59 - So you're here in America for two days. 01:01 - That's correct. 01:03 - That's a little unusual isn't it? 01:04 - Yes 01:06 - So, what's your special occasion. 01:08 - Well, you see, the last of our sons 01:11 was married today - Wow 01:15 - And so, - You had to be there. 01:17 - I wanted to be there (laughing) 01:21 - So how many sons do you have have? 01:23 - I have four boys. 01:26 Benjamin, Andrew, Jason, and Travis. 01:29 - Wow, and so where did Travis meet this young lady? 01:35 - Travis met Becky in the mission field 01:39 at our place. 01:42 - Ah, so Becky's been living with you guys for? 01:45 - She came about three and a half years ago 01:48 and was helping us in our mission work. 01:52 - And so you guys know her pretty well. 01:54 - Quite well yes. 01:56 (laughter) 01:57 - That's nice, that's awesome. 02:00 So, you have four boys, do you have any girls? 02:02 - Well, since we have come to Thailand 02:06 we have acquired some girls, yes. 02:09 - Mm-hmm (affirmative) how does that work, acquiring... 02:12 - Well, you see it was very soon after we got here. 02:19 I had to make a quick trip to America 02:21 to set our house in order so that we could be 02:24 permanently in Thailand 02:26 and then there was a little baby girl 02:32 14 months old that was handed to my wife one day 02:35 - Wow 02:37 - And so I first heard about this little girl 02:40 when my wife called me and said I really, really 02:43 want this little girl, can I have her? 02:47 - Wow, did the parents die? 02:52 - Well, this little girls father was a soldier in the Army 02:57 and the mother had left the little girl alone for some time 03:03 and so he could not take care of her 03:07 and so he wanted to bring her and give her to us. 03:10 - Wow, amazing. 03:12 So how many times did that happen? 03:16 - Well, that particular situation only happened once. 03:19 (laughter) 03:21 We've had six children that we have accepted into our home 03:26 as our children. 03:27 - Wow 03:29 - And each of those have been girls 03:32 and the oldest one now is married 03:36 and has two children of her own 03:38 and the youngest one is seven years old 03:43 and we acquired her when she was six days old 03:46 so we are her only parents that she knows. 03:51 - Wow, so when you accept a little child into your home 03:53 this is all legal of course 03:57 but you're looking at how many years 03:59 dedicated to raising that child? 04:05 - Well, I am looking at 20 years to raise that child up 04:10 to where she can take care of herself in this world. 04:14 - But then that's 20 years out of your life. 04:17 - Yes (laughing) 04:19 - 20 years where you're stuck in a foreign country. 04:24 - Well, that depends on your perspective. 04:26 - Okay 04:27 - Stuck in a foreign country 04:29 or you get to enjoy being in a foreign country 04:32 doing God's work. 04:33 - Really? 04:36 - Yes, taking care of children that do not have parents 04:40 that can take care of them. 04:42 - So, you find this enjoyable? 04:44 - Yes - Really? 04:46 So, when you went over there the first time 04:48 to Thailand, it was for how long? 04:51 What was the plan? 04:54 - Okay, the basic story goes like this: 04:58 My son went over for a three month trip 05:05 to help you set up radio stations in India 05:10 and he stopped off here in Thailand 05:12 and saw the plight that the Karen people were going through 05:21 where they are persecuted and killed in their own country 05:24 so they come across into Thailand 05:28 and they have to be in refugee camps 05:33 or run the risk of the law taking them 05:39 and discipling them for not being in refugee camps. 05:45 So, he saw what was going on and he called us up and said 05:51 mom and dad, I cannot come home. 05:55 - Really? 05:57 - I cannot come home to live in luxury when I understand 06:02 that this is happening on the other side of the world. 06:05 - Wow 06:07 - And so he committed to staying here to help these people. 06:11 So, that was okay for me because we had raised our boys 06:17 to be young men, to make their own decisions 06:19 and even though he was only about 18 at this time 06:24 he made his decision and after two years he came back 06:30 and recruited two of his younger brothers. 06:33 - (laughing) but not the youngest one. 06:34 - Not the youngest one. 06:37 So, those two boys came and found places here 06:39 in the mission field where they were able to do Gods work. 06:43 - Wow 06:44 - And then one year after that 06:47 Lisa, myself, and Travis came 06:51 for a three and a half month mission drum. 06:57 We began to see what was really taking place 06:59 with our own eyes and in a short time, 07:06 Travis told us I don't want to go back home. 07:09 - Wow 07:11 - And that was okay because he was old enough 07:13 to make his decisions so but then my wife began to tell me 07:19 that she did not want to go back home 07:24 so that kinda hit close to home for me (laughing) 07:29 so I talked to her about it that if we could find a project 07:35 that we could do here in Thailand for God 07:39 then I would be game. 07:43 I would go back to the United States, put our house in order 07:48 and we could go as full time missionaries. 07:49 - Wow 07:50 - So, that is exactly what happened. 07:54 While I was gone in America, 07:57 this little baby was handed to my wife 08:00 (laughter) 08:01 so I heard over the phone 08:04 please, may I have this little girl. 08:06 - Wow, and the first thought was 20 years. 08:11 - Well, yes, I understood 20 years 08:13 - Okay 08:15 - But my first thought was 08:16 well, how can I make that decision? 08:18 I'm in America, you are holding the baby. 08:22 You have to make the decision. 08:25 - Wow 08:29 - So, I asked for her to make the decision 08:34 and we have a little baby girl. 08:38 - Wow, so you were in America when your family 08:41 received this daughter and what was your first thought, 08:46 what was it like when you got back to Thailand 08:50 and held, how old was the child? 08:53 - This little girl, we have named her Hannah, 08:57 and Hannah was 14 months old 09:01 at that time she was given to us. 09:05 - You mentioned that being in Thailand 09:07 is an enjoyable experience. 09:09 What are the things that you enjoy about being, 09:13 is it being in Thailand or is it being in Gods service 09:17 full time and how does that interact? 09:20 - Well, it's definitely being in Gods service. 09:23 Being free to do Gods work 09:27 as He directs me to do personally. 09:30 - So then, we've grown up in a country with lots of light, 09:37 lots of resources, what kind of resources are available 09:40 for the villager living in your village to learn about God? 09:45 - There's not a lot of resources. 09:47 - Okay 09:47 - Many of the people cannot read 09:51 so we can give them a Bible 09:53 and they actually cannot read it. 09:56 So, the best resource is the living Christian 10:02 that can go amongst the people and live the life 10:07 that Jesus would have them to see. 10:11 That's the best resource. 10:13 - So they're oral learners and visual learners. 10:17 They see what you do and they hear what you say. 10:21 - Yes, that's much how they learn. 10:25 They are a people that relationships 10:30 mean a lot to these people. 10:33 You can talk to them 10:36 but they will not really absorb very much 10:40 but when you become their friend 10:42 and you can really talk to them, 10:45 you can really show them what Christ is like. 10:48 - So there's still a place for the human, physical, 10:52 warm body missionary in the mission field of today? 10:58 - There is definitely a place. 11:00 - Okay, because I've been told, I've heard 11:04 that the gospel is covering the world, 11:07 95% of the people in the world have access to the gospel 11:11 and Jesus is almost ready to come 11:13 because there's so much progress of the gospel commission. 11:19 - It is true that the gospel is going around and around 11:24 and around the world but I think 11:26 it's missing most of the people. 11:29 - Wow, are there other areas that you know of 11:32 that have no witness for the gospel? 11:35 I mean, true, true gospel. 11:38 - Well, for the true gospel, yes 11:41 there's many, many areas. 11:44 Now, what do we mean by that? 11:45 There are many different churches that are being represented 11:52 in these mountain villages. 11:55 But they're not being converted. 11:57 The people are not leaving off the sins 12:03 and becoming close to Jesus Christ. 12:07 - Okay, so they might be adding that belief in. 12:10 - Yeah, they will call themselves of this religion 12:14 or that religion but they are still wearing the bands, 12:18 the devil string bands 12:21 - That's represents - That represents that they 12:24 are afraid of the spirits okay. 12:28 - Okay 12:29 - So, they need to wear these to protect them. 12:31 - Wow 12:33 - So, we see this all the time 12:37 where they're calling themselves Christians 12:39 they are still drinking alcohol, 12:42 they are taking drugs, 12:47 they are doing all the things that sinful people do. 12:49 - So, they're not finding victory in their lives. 12:52 - That's correct. 12:53 So, is there a place for the true Christian witness? 13:00 Most definitely, yes. 13:01 - So, there's a place for more besides you and your family? 13:05 - Oh, yes. 13:08 - Okay, all right. 13:10 So you've been there for how long now in Thailand? 13:11 - We've been in Thailand for over 10 years. 13:13 - 10 years, do you think that you're in a place 13:17 where you could maybe mentor people 13:21 that wanted to come and learn how to do ministry in... 13:24 - Yes, we are in a place now where we could. 13:30 In fact, I am wanting to go out and do evangelism. 13:36 Let me tell you just a little bit about it. 13:37 - Okay 13:39 - About a year and a half ago and further back 13:42 I was going into a refugee camp 13:45 and I was teaching English 13:48 and I was teaching English through using Bible story books 13:56 and the students and the school was really enjoying it. 14:02 In fact, I had Buddhist young people come to me 14:07 and say they wanted to learn more about the Bible, 14:10 about God and so wonderful things were happening 14:17 in this school but there was some influences that 14:24 brought about the situation where I was not able to go 14:27 into that refugee camp anymore 14:32 so at that time, I began thinking, 14:35 this is working very well in this refugee camp, 14:39 it will also work in the villages 14:42 teaching through Bible story books 14:47 and in a very simple manner 14:49 and so I began to think and to plan for doing evangelism 14:58 and a year and a half of preparation now 15:01 I feel that we are getting to the place 15:04 where we could have Tai speaking, Karen speaking, 15:10 and also English speaking people come 15:17 that we could integrate into evangelism 15:19 into the mountain villages. 15:22 The focus is people who have a walk with God, 15:27 a walk with God such as Enoch, such as Moses, 15:31 such as Daniel... 15:33 - So, that's your goal. - Yes 15:35 - Okay 15:36 - I would like to share with you and our audience 15:41 something that God brought to my attention 15:46 when I began to teach English 15:49 so I would like to read this to you. 15:51 I think you will recognize many of the things in this. 15:54 - Okay 15:55 - It's titled By Beholding We Become Changed okay. 16:02 If you want to teach English, 16:06 you need to surround your students with English right? 16:10 - Okay 16:12 - They need to study English, listen to English, 16:15 talk English, walk English, live English, 16:19 sleep English and eat English. 16:24 They will learn English right? 16:25 - Right 16:27 - In my home, I have a very clear example of that. 16:30 My little girl was given to me. 16:33 She's a Karen girl. 16:35 She does not speak Karen. 16:37 She speaks English and I read to her from these 16:42 Bible story books, some of them have very difficult words 16:48 and she will understand most or all of those words. 16:52 She has learned English. 16:57 But now, let me share something with you. 17:02 If the English is pure, 17:07 they will learn pure English. 17:11 Now this is the whole meat of this. 17:17 If I bring into my home movies, 17:24 music that is not of a Godly character, 17:30 what is my little girl going to learn? 17:32 - She's gonna learn that. 17:33 - What if I speak language that's not fit 17:37 to be heard in Gods temple? 17:41 - Right 17:43 - What is my little girl going to learn? 17:45 - She's going to learn that. 17:46 - They will learn pure English 17:49 if you speak pure English okay? 17:57 Now, lets put this very same thing into Christianity. 18:02 If you want to teach Christianity, 18:05 you need to surround yourself with Christianity right? 18:11 You need to have regular worships and Bible studies. 18:14 You need to provide Christian music, books, 18:18 movies and recreation. 18:21 Your conversation needs to be pure, holy, 18:25 uplifting, honest, transparent, basically Christian. 18:31 - Yeah 18:33 - You need to take your students only where God approves. 18:38 You need to live a Christian life. 18:40 You need to sleep a righteous man sleep. 18:43 What is that? 18:44 Honesty, when you are honest, you can go to bed at night 18:51 at peace with God, at peace with man. 18:54 You need to eat as a Christian eats. 18:59 How is that? 19:00 Anything you desire to eat? 19:02 No (laughing) but eat according to the Biblical diet. 19:06 - Right 19:08 - They will become like Christ 19:14 by your words and your life 19:19 or they will choose to separate 19:22 from the Christian environment. 19:27 If you are a Christian 19:32 and you do Christian things 19:35 all around you is Christian influence. 19:40 People who don't want Christianity will walk away, 19:44 they will separate. 19:45 I have seen this happen over and over again. 19:50 If the Christianity is pure 19:53 they will learn pure Christianity. 19:56 - Right 19:58 - So, in a nutshell, this is the theme or focus 20:06 of the evangelism that I want to do. 20:10 Now how can we achieve that? 20:12 It is only by being connected with God. 20:15 - Okay 20:17 - Yes, it is only by having the Holy Spirit 20:19 come into our hearts and to convert us. 20:23 - Yeah 20:24 - Yes, that's the only way. 20:27 - (laughing) So basically, your approach to evangelism 20:30 is to find ways to live a Christian life in front of 20:34 as many people as possible. 20:36 - It's necessary, yes. 20:40 So in very simple, we're going to go live with the people 20:46 - Okay - In their homes 20:47 - Okay 20:49 - We're going to ask the head man, 20:51 the leader of the village 20:53 who are the poorest of the poor in your village? 20:59 Who are the needy? 21:01 Who are the disabled? 21:06 We want to go and minister to these people 21:12 and so when he tells us and they agree that they want us 21:16 to come, we will go live with these people 21:20 and in respectful ways, we will live as Christians 21:25 in their home and as we become friends with them, 21:31 and they give us opportunity, we will open the Bible 21:33 and share in a very simple manner. 21:38 - That's awesome, that's amazing. 21:41 - Yeah so in a nutshell, that's what we're doing. 21:42 - Yeah (laughing) 21:44 - And it will grow from there. 21:46 - Right, so how can people get in touch with you 21:48 if they are interested or know somebody that might be 21:51 interested in coming and being a part 21:55 and doing this kind of thing? 21:56 - Yes, they can contact us through Jesus for Asia. 21:59 - Okay, we actually have a volunteer form on our website. 22:02 People can fill that out and we can forward that to you 22:05 and then you can connect with them and get involved. 22:10 That's awesome. 22:11 What other needs do you have? 22:14 Do you need a projector, that kind of thing? 22:16 Are you gonna use a projector? 22:20 - I don't think that we will use a projector. 22:24 What this is all built around is Christians 22:29 living as Christians. 22:32 Now, I'm looking for Bible workers that can stand up 22:37 and give evangelistic series when the time comes for that 22:42 but to begin with, a simple Godly person 22:48 that can live in a home and share Jesus Christ 22:51 on simple terms with people is who we're looking for. 22:57 - So it sounds like the time of the missionary is not over. 23:00 That there's a lot of opportunity for missionaries. 23:03 - Oh, they're everywhere. 23:05 I'm lacking people. 23:07 I have one worker whereas I want five to begin this program 23:15 and so I am searching for people right now. 23:18 - Wow, so what are the things that really excite you. 23:21 What really gets you going? 23:22 What keeps you enthusiastic about this work? 23:26 - I just spent a week teaching English 23:31 using Christ our Savior in my own home 23:35 to a Sunday keeping lady 23:41 that agreed to be my translator 23:47 and just before I came here I was told by 23:50 Jotipho my worker that she is asking 23:54 do I need to be re baptized to become 23:56 a Seventh Day Adventist? 23:57 - Wow 23:59 - Basically how it comes about is 24:01 I cannot speak to my workers 24:03 because they don't speak English 24:07 and so I need a translator so I found this translator 24:10 and explaining the Christ our Savior 24:14 what Christ did for us. 24:16 I have to explain it right 24:18 and the words, the meaning of them. 24:20 - Right 24:22 - And you can just see on this young lady's face 24:25 her understanding is really amazing. 24:30 But now she's my translator, she's on vacation 24:34 until I get back. - Okay 24:37 - But now is the really hard work. 24:39 I have one student, one student, 24:42 really hard to teach one student. 24:46 I need five students and teach them all the same 24:52 all at the same time instead of me having to teach it 24:54 over and over and over. 24:56 - But it's exciting. 24:58 - But it's exciting because 24:59 - When you see... 25:02 - I asked four, okay I'll go through, 25:05 I asked a Buddhist lady, she spoke really good English, 25:10 she agreed, I hired her and one week later 25:14 she emails me and says I don't want to back out 25:21 but I have to back out because my family 25:24 doesn't want me to come and she indicated two things 25:31 well, my wife wasn't there right okay, 25:34 she alluded to that but didn't actually say it 25:40 but she said basically the other thing would be that 25:44 they're afraid she'll be converted to Christianity. 25:48 They know there's power in the gospel okay? 25:51 - Yeah 25:52 - I wasn't bashful, I told her the bar is way up here. 25:57 You're gonna have to be a vegetarian. 26:00 You're gonna be keeping Sabbath when you come help me 26:03 because you're my mouthpiece right? 26:06 And so anyway, I held the bar way up 26:08 and she wanted to do it but she was held back 26:12 - By her family - Yeah 26:13 - Wow - And others also 26:16 but this lady accepted 26:22 and I know that God brought her. 26:23 - Praise the Lord. 26:25 - I know she's gonna be a Seventh Day Adventist shortly. 26:28 - Yeah, okay, well thank you so much 26:30 for joining me on the show. 26:32 It's the first time you've been here. 26:34 I know your wife has been on here, Lisa, several times. 26:36 It's really good to have you on here 26:38 and to hear some honest perspective 26:40 of what its really like on the mission field 26:42 as far as, I know I've heard people say, 26:46 actually we took one family to India, 26:48 we were there for a week and a half and she says 26:50 where's all the missionaries, 26:52 I thought there was lots of missionaries 26:53 in the mission field and they're not really 26:57 very many out there. 26:59 - There's not, no. 27:01 Well, thank you. 27:05 - And thank you so much for joining us 27:07 on this episode of Jesus for Asia now. 27:09 You can see that there's huge opportunities 27:11 for Gods work, for missionaries, 27:16 and there's a famous preacher recently that said 27:18 you can go, send, or disobey 27:21 and God's commission is for every believer 27:25 and we can either go, or we can send someone else to go, 27:30 the hardest part for us is to go 27:31 but that's really where the greatest joy is 27:34 and the greatest rewards are. 27:35 Remember, this life is very short. 27:37 If you'd like to get in touch with Jesus for Asia, 27:40 contact us at Jesus for Asia 27:42 PO Box 1221 27:45 Collegedale Tennessee 37315 27:49 You can call us at (423) 413-7321 27:55 or go to our website where we have the volunteer form 27:56 and ways to donate online at jesus4asia.org 28:02 May God richly bless you until next time we meet 28:05 on Jesus For Asia Now. 28:07 (inspirational music) |
Revised 2019-11-26