Participants:
Series Code: JFAN
Program Code: JFAN000078S
|
00:00 (dramatic music)
00:21 - Hello and welcome to Jesus for Asia Now. 00:24 I'm Natalie Wood and I have a special guest with me today 00:27 and we will be talking about God's work in Thailand. 00:31 Welcome to the show Gayle. 00:32 - Thank you. 00:34 - We've had you on before, so our viewers may recognize you. 00:36 But, I know there's some stories that we want to hear 00:39 this time that haven't been shared before. 00:42 So, let's get started. 00:44 What people group are you working with? 00:47 - Well I working with Karen people and they are mostly 00:50 from Burma, at least the ones on that side of Thailand 00:54 and they migrate into Thailand to avoid the tyranny 00:57 and the torture of the Burmese soldiers, 01:00 who fought against them for 65 years. 01:03 - Okay. 01:04 - So consequently they flee into Thailand, 01:05 they're in refugee camps along the border 01:07 and it's been going on for 65 years. 01:10 So during that time they all, many filter up through 01:13 the mountains all through the jungles. 01:15 They're little villages all around and the people 01:19 are living like they lived in Burma a hundred years ago. 01:23 So very primitive. 01:25 - Right, there are a lot of challenges with that then. 01:27 They're living in the jungle, they're living like 01:30 they lived 100 years go, so there's not a real understanding 01:33 of the need for hygiene or running water 01:35 or some of these things. 01:37 - No, they are just steeped in their own traditions 01:41 and customs and they cannot read or write the adults. 01:45 The young people are going to school and they learned how 01:49 but the adults cannot. 01:51 And when you try to explain the Bible to them, 01:54 they don't understand the way it's written 01:56 because it's written on the Burmese side. 01:58 So it's a different tongue on that side 02:01 and it's filled in with Burmese words. 02:03 And where I am in the jungles of Thailand, 02:05 it's a different tongue and it's filled in with Thai words. 02:08 So you have to be very simple and it's harder 02:12 reach those people and talk to them on their level 02:14 than it is intelligent people here because 02:18 you really want them to understand the gospel 02:21 and everything. 02:23 - Right so the simple gospel like Jesus talked about 02:27 children understanding. 02:30 - [Gayle] Yes, yes, exactly. - It's very important. 02:33 - Exactly, they are like children in more ways than that 02:37 in that they don't look, project in the future. 02:40 They only see their present life, 02:42 and like a child if you say, do you want a dollar now 02:45 or $20 next week, they would take it right here and now. 02:49 So for them to prepare for heaven, which is something 02:52 abstract to them what is that. 02:54 - Yeah and in the future somewhere else 02:57 and in the future doesn't make sense. 02:59 Wow, and they're also animist in this area, right? 03:03 - Right, and it really reflect devil worship. 03:06 To me, there's no difference, they worship the devil 03:10 and they try to appease the spirits and they believe 03:14 that if somebody gets sick it's because their spirit 03:17 has left them and if it goes too far away, they die. 03:23 So, they have different rituals and chants 03:25 and many things to call the spirits back. 03:29 - Wow. 03:30 - I've seen it, it's really sad. 03:32 - Yeah, and you want to share, there's a different way, 03:35 there's a truth, there's a real God that loves you. 03:39 - Takes a long time to get anywhere to see any change. 03:46 - Wow, okay, so let's get started with your pictures 03:49 because I know that physically where you are 03:52 is a bit of a challenge. 03:54 How far as you from a main road? 03:58 - Well, we're actually probably close to 40-some 04:01 kilometers from the main road, but parts of it 04:03 have been cemented through the years, a little more 04:06 each year, so it's easier for us. 04:08 However, if we can't take the shortcut that we have 04:13 to go two and a half extra hours around. 04:16 So soon as there's at least hint of rain we can't take 04:19 the shortcut and so we have to go around. 04:23 And, you know the roads are already bad basically 04:27 because they either very steep or treacherous 04:30 with a precipice and when the rain starts in June, 04:35 it lasts four or five months and we have to kind of program 04:41 our truck as to when is the last trip 04:43 we can bring supplies in 04:44 and when can we, do we have to get that truck out. 04:47 So we have something to drive when we get out. 04:50 We go to our motorbike after that. 04:52 So, this rainy season last June, it was the 16th of June, 04:58 we'd had the truck in two long. 05:00 We had brought fruit trees in and I wanted to preach 05:03 my last sermon there. 05:04 So we were late getting the truck out 05:07 and it had rained a lot. 05:08 So of course, we're taking the long way. 05:10 We have 23 kilometers of pure mud and that truck 05:15 and I'm flying out the next day to come to America. 05:18 - So you have to get out. 05:20 - Yes, but we got stuck five times, which was really, 05:27 it could have been more but if we didn't have the wench 05:29 we'd probably still be there. 05:31 Because the truck doesn't want to stay on the high places 05:35 it falls in the ruts and if it's not deep mud 05:38 that goes to the body of the truck, 05:40 it's gonna be like ice and very slick 05:42 and the camber of the road is always tilted toward 05:45 the precipice or toward the deepest ruts 05:47 and that truck goes where it wants to. 05:49 - [Natalie] Wow. 05:50 - So, we pray. 05:52 - Yeah, you pray a lot and we praise the Lord 05:54 that he brings you safely. - Every time. 05:56 - On such bad roads. 05:57 Now, I know that you talk about the roads a lot 06:00 and can you explain to us because some people 06:04 they have a mission post and they go to that mission post 06:07 and they're there for a while and then occasionally 06:09 they'll go out to town for supplies or something 06:12 and then go back to the mission post. 06:13 Do you do a lot of driving? 06:16 - Well, I would safely say a third of my time 06:19 is spent driving, we travel a lot 06:22 because not only do we have the clinic there in Beota, 06:26 in our village but we go to a different village 06:29 three days a week to treat the sick and to give them, 06:32 teach them about God. 06:34 - And then if somebody is really, really sick 06:35 and they need a hospital. 06:37 - So many times we have to take them to the hospital. 06:40 - All that long way. 06:41 - Yes. 06:42 - All the way to the hospital, okay. 06:44 So traveling is a huge part of your work. 06:48 - Yeah, it seems like endless pathways I must admit. 06:53 (both laugh) 06:55 - So once, it's too muddy for the truck, 06:57 then you have to use the motorbike. 06:59 - Yes, then we use the motorbike and that motorbike, 07:02 it's surprising we can get it through the worst of things, 07:05 but I'm sitting on the back so I'm always like the tail 07:09 wagging the dog and it just seems a whole lot more 07:12 dramatic on the back, 'cause your hanging on, 07:14 you only got a little bar behind you to hang onto 07:17 and it gets really steep. 07:18 So you need to put your weight forward, 07:22 so you don't do a wheelie. 07:24 - [Natalie] Flip over. 07:25 - But your body is just falling back and then going downhill 07:29 you need to scoot back but whenever you wreck 07:33 or hit something you're gonna flip forward. 07:36 - Wow. 07:36 - So, it is a constant struggle. 07:38 On a nice day, I'm very at home on the back of that bike, 07:40 but I have totally flipped off the back three times 07:44 head over heels and not been hurt. 07:47 But the motor bike is better with chains on it, 07:51 but after a lot of rain when the mud is deep, 07:54 it starts looking like that really, just caked up 07:57 and you have to keep stopping and dig all the mud out 08:00 and of course the next turn of a wheel it's back on there. 08:03 (Natalie laughs) 08:04 And then you can hardly push it, 08:05 so many times on the slippery downhills or things, 08:09 I just wish I were walking, but it's faster sometimes. 08:15 - [Natalie] With wheels. (laughs) 08:15 - Yes. (laughs) 08:17 - Well, I know that there's a lot of hazard on the road 08:19 itself and then there's hazards to the people 08:21 that you're trying to help. 08:23 Many times you got someone that's on the verge of dying 08:25 as you're driving them to the hospital. 08:28 - Yes, indeed we have a clinic of course 08:32 and we treat the sick. 08:34 We've treated people from 97 different villages 08:37 and the few days a week when we go places 08:40 we bring the medicine and we treat the sick some more. 08:42 And we take to the hospital and it seems like 08:45 our primary focus is taking care of the sick 08:48 but it is not because that's our bridge to reach 08:51 the hearts of the people and when you help them get well, 08:55 then they want to know the god you worship. 08:58 So, we feel like the Lord is helping us because so many 09:04 people when I walk through the villages, 09:05 I know would have died if I hadn't been there, 09:07 both you and old. 09:09 - Wow. 09:10 - So, it's real exciting and I'm really thrilled 09:13 to be doing the medical work. 09:14 - Wow, so now we're gonna talk about more 09:17 of the spiritual experiences or the spiritual rewards 09:22 I could say of your work. 09:24 - Yes, when things happen and you see people coming 09:28 towards God, it's worth all the leeches, all the mud, 09:32 all the sickness, whatever you have to go through. 09:35 It's more than worth. 09:37 This story is about the man in the striped shirt, 09:40 his name is Blee. 09:41 And Blee is over 70 years old. 09:44 He is in a distant village that we seldom go to 09:48 and he is a head elder of the Baptist church 09:53 in that village. 09:55 Now, the man on the end with the white t-shirt, 09:58 his name is Chapo and he lives in Wasata, 10:01 which is close to Beota. 10:02 He was baptized two Decembers ago, left the Catholic 10:06 Church to get baptized in Theeza and he is a real advent, 10:09 Seventh Day Adventist, but slow to learn like all of them 10:13 and not too sure of how to tell others about. 10:18 They don't know. 10:19 So, he was visiting Blee one day in Modokey Village, 10:22 that distant village. 10:24 Now Blee's wife is his cousin, so once in a great while 10:28 he'll go there. 10:29 So he went and he came back and found us and said, 10:32 "This man wants to learn more about the Bible 10:35 "and can you come and do worship in his house? 10:38 "Because I don't know." 10:39 I told him, "You know, you can do it." 10:41 because I didn't know how to explain. 10:43 So, we were thrilled and we went 10:46 and we talked with this man. 10:48 Well, he had just built, 10:50 he'd been 20 years in that village. 10:52 He's from Burma but he can read the Bible. 10:55 He has a Bible, and not real well but better than anybody 11:00 else, which is why he's the head elder, there's no pastor 11:02 there because Americans start it 11:04 and leave it up to the people in the village. 11:07 So, he is on fire and so he is in charge 11:10 of this Baptist church and he just built a small church, 11:13 it's in the background of the picture by himself. 11:18 And he had just completed it. 11:22 And yet, something is telling, the holy spirit is telling 11:25 him, I must keep the Seventh Day before I die 11:29 or I won't make it to heaven. 11:30 Because the Bible tells you, you gotta keep the seventh day, 11:34 he knew that and so he wants to ask us more questions. 11:38 And so we go and meet with him, he shows us this church, 11:41 everything that he's built but he doesn't want anymore 11:44 to do with any of it and he will not be able to lead these 11:47 people anymore unless he tells them what he really believes, 11:51 which I hope he does. 11:53 And so we started going routinely to his house. 11:55 Well, he doesn't eat the pig, he learned this. 11:59 This is how people can learn with just the holy spirit. 12:03 And I say, just but the holy spirit will do it 12:06 and he's already quit eating unclean food, meat, 12:10 and he doesn't drink and he doesn't use opium, 12:14 but he smokes. 12:15 So at the time he tells us, I know I need to stop smoking. 12:19 He knew, and I'll do that. 12:23 And so we just talk about the Bible 12:25 and try to go every Sabbath. 12:27 One Sabbath we got him, his daughter and his wife, 12:30 three different motorbikes went and brought them to church. 12:33 - Nice. 12:34 - But he, because of him, his two daughters want to join 12:37 our church also and the father Blee, he decided 12:43 he's quitting smoking, so he quit. 12:44 But during the next week, he decided he wanted 12:47 to try one out and so to us that's a disaster 12:51 but he didn't want his daughters to see because he had 12:54 told them he was quitting, so he didn't want them to see 12:56 that he was trying a cigarette. 12:59 So he went out in the jungle with this cigarette 13:01 and tried it out. 13:03 He says, "You know what, it tasted horrible." 13:05 And he threw that away and he was quit smoking. 13:08 So the next time we get an ordained pastor in our village, 13:12 I believe he and his two daughters will be baptized. 13:16 His wife is in a very bad mood. 13:19 She's, what he calls heartbroken, 13:21 because her family and her friends that she's there 13:25 with all these years are Buddhist and she doesn't want 13:29 to change. 13:31 So she's very sullen and very unhappy, but I really love her 13:34 and so we're praying extra hard for her to join her family 13:38 because her daughters even say, okay, even though 13:42 mama doesn't do this, we're gonna follow dad. 13:45 And even after dad dies, 13:47 we're gonna keep doing the right thing. 13:49 We will obey the Bible. 13:51 - Wow. 13:52 - So it's all because of his influence 13:54 and next I believe you will see a baptism. 13:58 - Awesome, wow, that's neat. 14:00 So you have worships with people in their home sometimes 14:03 and then you go and do the medical work, 14:05 you have worships in the villages with them, 14:07 but you also have a church just below where your clinic 14:10 is, your house is. 14:12 So, is this church growing? 14:14 - Yes, it's just amazing, such a beautiful thing 14:19 because when we first went, the first four or five years 14:22 we only had four or five people come to church 14:26 and now, as I sit here before you I can tell you, 14:30 it's rainy season now but usually 50-60 people 14:34 come to church and some of them are very simple 14:38 and don't know anything and come with all their bad habits. 14:42 And others are church members. 14:44 So, we've seen the Lord do many wonderful things, 14:50 - Right and one of the amazing things you had a few years 14:52 ago was a special evangelism time. 14:55 - Yes, you know I was thinking, this was two Christmases 14:59 ago before that Christmas I was thinking what would 15:02 be wonderful to have evangelism here. 15:05 Because I just wanted more people to come in and prove 15:07 to our village people that more than just Blaja 15:11 and I are excited to obey God's commandments 15:14 and get ready for heaven. 15:16 There's so much joy to that I wanted them to see 15:19 that there's more people like this. 15:21 And so when I came to America that year, 15:24 I met Pastor Jimmy Shway and he is a Karen pastor. 15:29 He was in Thailand and Burma and he's acquainted 15:33 with all our villages, even my area he's acquainted with. 15:37 And then he moved to America and now he is over 15:40 all the Karen Adventists Churches in America. 15:44 So, I was very hesitant to mention anything about 15:50 evangelism to him because he's so busy. 15:51 But I did and he was willing to come and he actually 15:56 came two Decembers ago and during that time 16:00 he also brought another pastor 16:03 to help him with the preaching. 16:05 So we had two pastors and then we had people come 16:09 to do music and we had a piano brought, a keyboard, 16:12 for the first time in our church. 16:14 And something else for the first time I must mention 16:17 is Jesus for Asia put together a media van 16:24 to be able to drive, four-wheel drive truck 16:27 to bring the video equipment to isolated places 16:30 and record meetings so we can share it to other people. 16:34 They came to my village that year. 16:36 - Yeah, that's so awesome. - It's awesome. 16:38 - It was really right before that, a month before that. 16:42 - I climbed the mountain to call John and congratulate 16:45 him because he was there and finished that van 16:47 and I was just gonna joke and tell him, oh, it's done 16:50 just in time to come to Beota and do our evangelism 16:54 and I thought that would never happen. 16:56 - Yeah, that would be a joke. 16:57 - It's very bad out there. 16:58 Well yeah, he said, well, that's exactly what I was going 17:00 to ask you, we just need your permission to come 17:03 and I was like, ah. 17:05 - Permission granted. 17:09 So with Pastor Jimmy there, going and visiting people 17:12 and talking to them about what they learned about the Bible 17:15 and everything, you found out that more people 17:18 were ready for Baptism than you realized. 17:20 - Yeah, we been teaching to people a long time 17:23 and then in our sermons it had deeper and deeper 17:26 and more pleading and a lot of people were interested 17:30 in joining our church. 17:31 And Pastor Jimmy yes, he's full of enthusiasm. 17:34 He and some others went to all the villages 17:37 and we'd already invited all the people. 17:39 But when he went also, the people came and he had morning 17:43 and evening meetings for a whole week and the people came. 17:46 There was like 60 people came every time. 17:49 And then at the end of all those meeting, 17:54 16 people were baptized. 17:56 - [Natalie] Wow, what a blessing, down in the river. 17:59 - Yes, in the river just below the church there 18:02 all 16 people baptized and it was just so moving to me 18:09 all that we had gone through 18:11 to see these people get baptized. 18:14 Only two people had been baptized before that. 18:16 And so now so many and I just couldn't talk, just cry, cry, 18:24 cry, it was wonderful. 18:26 - Well, it a blessing to see the fruit of baptism. 18:33 - And if, when you get to heaven, your joy is going to be 18:35 even more than that. 18:36 I'm glad that I'm going to have a glorified body, 18:39 because I probably couldn't bear to have any more joy. 18:43 - God is so good to let us see fruit in our lifetime. 18:47 - Yes, he knows that we need it for our character 18:51 and to get us and others ready for heaven. 18:54 - Right, and so recently you had another set of visitors. 18:57 - Yeah, we had more visitors this last year 19:00 than we've ever had, in fact, we haven't had. 19:02 So, this year another group wanted to come and visit 19:07 and they were going to do something at the border. 19:11 But they'd also, the president of Fountainview Academy 19:15 had seen a video of mine, I don't know which one, 19:17 but had shown it to the senior class at Fountainview Academy 19:21 in Canada and those students all wanted to come 19:26 to my village, but he wouldn't let them all. 19:28 And we probably couldn't handle them all, 19:30 although I would have done my best. 19:32 But 17 of them came and it was only for four days, 19:38 but it was the experience of a lifetime. 19:40 It was so precious and with that group came a dentist 19:45 and a doctor and the president of Fountainview 19:48 is also like a doctor, very, very, very intelligent 19:53 and was very helpful, just lovely. 19:55 I was really happy because all along you know 20:00 the Lord has helped me pull teeth. 20:02 And I held off as long as I could but then when 20:05 I didn't pull somebody's tooth, they cut it out 20:09 with a machete and it got infected and then came to me, 20:11 I can do better than that. 20:13 But as I prayed a dentist, you know Jack and Katie Hamilton, 20:17 from Alaska, they came and they gave me instruments. 20:23 I was using some archaic things and just learned 20:26 from the book where there is no dentist and pray. 20:30 And you know what you can do, the Lord can do. 20:34 And so because of God and prayer, I had pulled 30 teeth. 20:39 Then Jack Hamilton came and he gave me great instruments 20:43 and great instruction and helped me and we traveled, 20:46 they pulled teeth and it was so much better. 20:50 And he visited me again last year too. 20:52 - So, but you shared with me that while the people were 20:55 waiting to be seen by the doctor, by the dentist, 20:59 something special was happening. 21:00 You're right, we took all of them to Likelaw 21:03 another village in the truck, all of them. 21:06 And the dentist brought his suitcase, 21:08 actually we had two trucks we rented a driver from there. 21:12 The dentist brought his suitcase of dental work 21:15 and set it up in the village and people just came 21:19 because we hadn't really been to that village for a while 21:21 ourselves, so a lot of sick people came and it was a large 21:25 house that we were treating the sick in, 21:28 lot of people waiting. 21:29 So, in the meantime Fountainview Academy students 21:33 took all the people waiting to next area 21:36 and just started singing in their beautiful way, 21:39 I wish you could hear it. 21:41 And they did song after song, they even said 21:44 that'd run out of ideas, so they started singing 21:46 Christmas carols. 21:47 (both laugh) 21:49 And it was a beautiful atmosphere and a lovely time. 21:53 Just four days but we'll never forget it 21:57 and we will continue to remember them. 22:00 - [Natalie] Praise the Lord and this a group picture. 22:03 - This is the whole group with the dentist there 22:05 and the students and the president 22:10 is in the red Karen shirt, Michael Dunbar. 22:14 He's big blessing, a really big blessing. 22:17 - All right and the last story you want to share 22:19 is about hearing God's voice again. 22:22 - Yes, this is very special to me and also a bit personal. 22:27 But I thought to share it because I think it will help 22:30 others with their walk with Jesus and in listening 22:33 to his voice and depending on him instead of ourselves, 22:37 which we're all so apt to do. 22:39 You know last year when I came, I stayed with my mother 22:43 and she is very old now. 22:45 She was 95 then, almost 96 this year. 22:49 And last year I went through a real traumatic period 22:53 in my life to leave her. 22:54 I was here usually two months and then I leave, 22:58 but this time, every time you think that's going 23:00 to be the last time you see her and my mother 23:03 and my sister and I are very close. 23:05 She read, "Child of Guidance" through seven times 23:08 when she was training us and so the Lord just 23:11 has bound our hearts together in a really special way. 23:15 And it's really such a privilege to be with my mother 23:18 and my sister, but last year when I left, 23:21 I felt like it could almost cause my mother to really 23:26 get worse and maybe I won't see her again. 23:29 And I was so oppressed by the devil, 23:31 I started to lose my hair and everything. 23:35 And I prayed a lot but I knew God was sending me back. 23:39 But even people will tell you your responsibility 23:42 is here and try to tell you so it can shake you up. 23:48 But this year, I felt something even worse happening 23:51 to me because my mother had gone through a really hard 23:53 time and the only reason, really the reason I came 23:57 to America quickly this year is because my sister said, 24:01 if you don't come now you might not see mother again. 24:04 - Wow, so she was doing really poorly. 24:06 - Really poorly and so I came quickly and I didn't do 24:10 traveling or presentations in other states, 24:13 I came just to stay with mother and join up. 24:16 She was very ill coming and going and sometimes we thought 24:22 that she wasn't going to make it and then she pulled 24:24 out of it, so we're pivoting between despair and hope. 24:29 And so I feel myself getting really, really scared 24:33 and oppressed again. 24:35 And I know that's the devil, God doesn't do that. 24:37 But how am I gonna leave her? 24:39 So three days I pray about this, each day I'm more earnest, 24:45 I'm agonized with the Lord more. 24:47 Until the third day I just told the Lord, 24:51 you know I will do anything, I will never go back 24:55 to Thailand again, I'll stay if that's what you want 24:57 me to do and take care of my mother 25:00 or I'll go back for a short time and come back 25:02 or I'll go and never come back, but just tell me 25:06 whatever you want me to do and that's when God can 25:10 come to you. 25:11 And so after that night of prayer in the morning, 25:14 my mother gets up and she's still not doing too well 25:17 and she come to the breakfast table and as we're eating 25:21 there, she says, "I need to read you something." 25:24 So she goes into the bedroom and she gets her book. 25:26 She likes to read along with Balance Repository, Oswald 25:31 Chambers Devotional and it was the reading for that very 25:35 morning August the 1st and she sat at the table 25:39 and she read it to me. 25:41 And here's what it said, Something More About His Ways. 25:46 He comes where He commands us to leave. 25:50 When Jesus had made an end of commanding His disciples, 25:53 He departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities. 25:58 Matthew 11:1. 26:00 If when God said, go, you stayed because you were so 26:03 concerned about your people at home, you robbed them 26:07 of the teaching and preaching of Jesus Christ Himself. 26:11 When you obeyed and left all consequences to God, 26:14 the Lord went into your city to teach. 26:17 As long as you would not obey, you were in the way, 26:21 watch where you begin to debate and to put 26:23 what you call duty in competition with your Lord's commands. 26:27 I know He told me to go but then my duty was here. 26:31 That means you do not believe that Jesus means 26:34 what he says. 26:36 And with that mom and me, the burden just rolled off. 26:43 And it was just beautiful because God will take 26:46 care of them, better than I can. 26:48 The promise was for her and for my sister 26:51 that the Lord himself would be there 26:54 and mother tells me ever since then, now you know, 26:57 we will go and we will rejoice when you go. 27:01 We will not be sad and she says, "I'm the happiest 27:04 "mother in the world because my two daughters work for God 27:07 "and love God." 27:09 And so I'm just so thankful for my mother and the closeness 27:13 she has with God and the courage that she has 27:17 for the future. 27:19 - Well, that's a really neat way for God to lead 27:22 and to show both your mother and you that you need 27:25 to go back again. 27:27 - Yes, and the Lord has a thousand ways to answer 27:29 all our problems if we just take our eyes 27:32 off the crisis and turn them to Christ. 27:35 - Right, well thank you so much for being here 27:38 and sharing with us today. 27:39 - Thank you. 27:41 - Please pray for Gayle and Blaja, as they're 27:43 working for souls in Thailand. 27:45 If you would like to be part of their ministry, 27:47 you can contact us at Jesus for Asia, PO Box 1221 27:52 Collegedale, TN 37315. 27:55 Call us at 423-413-7321 or visit our website 28:01 at Jesus4Asia.org. 28:03 May God richly bless you, until we see you next time 28:06 on Jesus for Asia Now. 28:08 (uplifting music) |
Revised 2020-01-07