Participants:
Series Code: JFAN
Program Code: JFAN000125S
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00:01 (uplifting music)
00:21 - Hello and welcome to Jesus for Asia Now. 00:24 I'm Natalie Wood and my husband, John, is joining me today 00:27 as we share with you about a Bible worker in Thailand. 00:31 Hello love. 00:32 - Hi darling, how are you? 00:33 - I'm doing well. - Awesome. 00:34 - I'm looking forward to our stories. 00:36 - Yes. 00:37 - Of course, I always look forward to stories. 00:38 - You do, with good reason. 00:41 - Right, and this is exciting because we watched Blet Jhaw 00:44 over the years and we've seen his work ethic 00:47 and how much he cares about the people that they're serving. 00:51 And what he goes through. - Yeah. 00:53 - To work there. 00:54 - Yeah. 00:55 And who is Blet Jhaw? 00:57 - Blet Jhaw is Gayle's Bible worker and translator. 01:00 - Okay. 01:01 And been her faithful help, sidekick, 01:03 whatever you wanna call him, 01:05 driver, he's the chauffeur, he's the translator, 01:08 he does all sorts of things. 01:10 - Yes. 01:11 But he really, really cares 01:13 about the people that they're serving. 01:14 - He does. 01:15 - And that's the best part. 01:17 - Yes and we've gotten to spend a little bit of time 01:18 with him over the years 01:19 and he's a very gentle, kind, thoughtful, 01:24 person that plans ahead and makes good decisions. 01:27 A wise person. 01:28 So we really appreciate him. 01:30 So when we mention about somebody being a driver, 01:33 certain picture comes into our mind. 01:35 - Yeah, but it's not accurate. 01:37 Not in the case of Blet Jhaw. 01:39 And what he goes through with Gayle. 01:42 - Yeah, they have really steep mountain roads, 01:45 steeper than appears on pictures. 01:49 And the mud is super, super slippery 01:52 and gets really deep during the rainy season. 01:55 So here's the truck in the mud. 01:57 This is being stuck. 01:58 They're waiting for somebody to pull the truck out. 02:01 You can see the very deep ruts there. 02:04 Almost impossible to get through some of these places. 02:07 I don't know how they carry all this stuff 02:09 on their motorbike, 02:10 but this is a typical day. 02:13 There's two backpacks, 02:14 one would go on Blet Jhaw, one would go on Gayle. 02:16 And that big case that has all their medical supplies 02:19 and everything they need to go and visit a village. 02:23 And here is a closer up view of some mud in the front wheel 02:27 and some more mud in the back wheel. 02:30 (chuckles) Here's Blet Jhaw. 02:32 It is super, super slippery. 02:34 The mud is like somebody sprayed WD-40 all over it. 02:37 And I've seen him in there trying to dig all that mud out 02:41 so he can go a little bit farther. 02:42 And they'll actually put chains on the back wheel 02:44 to get a little more traction, 02:46 but it still kicks up with mud 02:48 to the point where it's almost impossible to move. 02:50 And so these are the conditions that Gayle and Blet Jhaw, 02:53 both happily and willingly endure 02:56 to reach the people that they love so much. 02:58 - Day after day. - Yes. 03:00 Well, we've got a short video 03:02 with him talking about his life and testimony. 03:05 - Okay. 03:06 (gentle music) 03:09 - I grew up knowing God, going to church. 03:16 Okay, Sabbath is Friday sunset to Sabbath sunset. 03:20 I know 10 Commandments, I think pretty well. 03:25 But about Sabbath, 03:26 I know that I shouldn't do regular things 03:31 that I will always do in other days. 03:33 Not on Sabbath. 03:34 Watching movies or listening worldly music. 03:39 No, I never feel that is a bad thing or sin, 03:43 except if I listen worldly music on Sabbath 03:47 and watch TV on Sabbath, that would be very bad. 03:51 I know that is bad. 03:53 But as soon as sun set, 03:55 now we can watch TV or sport, 04:00 or you can listen music. 04:02 So I grew up kind of like that, 04:05 but I know I shouldn't be stealing or killing, or adultery. 04:10 I know that is all bad. 04:13 (gentle music) 04:15 I was thinking, "Okay, someday I will go to Maela Camp. 04:21 I'll go there. 04:22 And my ambition was, 04:26 from there sometime later, 04:30 I don't know when, but I will go to, 04:32 who knows? America or Australia, 04:35 or another the country." 04:37 So finally in 2008, 04:39 I left my family in Myanmar and then I came to Thailand. 04:46 One day Pastor Shem asked me, 04:49 "Can you teach or help 04:51 in one of the Karen schools for a year? 04:54 I said, "Yes, of course, I can help." 04:56 So I went there and because of the war 05:01 and Burmese will come in that area, 05:04 so we have to cross to Thailand side. 05:07 And soon after that, yeah, 05:09 I met Gayle at the school 05:10 because she came to the school and helped. 05:14 When I was younger, one point, 05:16 I was quite close to God too, 05:17 because I go through a lot, but grew up, 05:22 and then I was pretty much lukewarm. 05:26 And the thing that made me closer to God, 05:31 I can safely say, 05:33 one of the main thing is Gayle, okay. 05:37 You know? 05:38 I've learned a lot from her. 05:40 I've learned a lot from her. 05:41 Because we started here from nothing, nobody really know us, 05:46 and we just came here by faith, 05:50 and then things grow, grow, 05:52 and then God is blessing us with this and that, 05:55 and so many, and he's using us. 05:58 So I see that. 05:59 And even to build this house is a big miracle. 06:02 I really see that God is real, that he's leading. 06:10 I don't really have goal 06:13 that I would be working like six years with her, 06:17 being a missionary. 06:20 I don't really have that goal, 06:21 but after I came here, 06:25 I was happy because I was useful, at least. 06:29 Like, I translate for Tharamu Gayle, 06:33 and then after one or two years, 06:36 I know that God is using me. 06:39 I'm clear that God want me to be here 06:43 and work for him. 06:45 (gentle music) 07:02 (speaking foreign language) 07:20 (gentle music) 07:24 - Little bit of backstory. 07:26 He was born and raised in Myanmar. 07:29 And the war that he refers to, 07:31 is the longest standing civil war in the history of mankind. 07:36 - Right, and it's still going on. 07:37 - Yeah. 07:38 And when he talked about the Burmese army coming in 07:42 and they had to flee, 07:43 they came in and burned a lot of villages, 07:47 killed a lot of people, 07:48 and a lot of human rights atrocities, 07:50 and a lot of people had to flee. 07:51 So he was the one that had to flee from his village. 07:54 And he came, the Maela Camp that he mentioned in the video 07:58 is a massive refugee camp. 08:00 With like 60, 70,000 people there. 08:04 He was asked to teach, 08:05 and that is when he met sister Gayle. 08:08 Now, Gayle, remember her story? 08:10 How did she end up going to Thailand? 08:12 - It was almost an accident. 08:14 She was gonna go for three months 08:17 and then God made it clear that she was to stay. 08:20 He made it clear that she was to go to Thailand 08:22 with her two boys and help at the school. 08:25 And then he made it clear that she was to stay there. 08:28 - Right. And so three months turned into? 08:31 - Wow, 10 Years. 08:33 - Yeah, at least, yeah. 08:35 - More than 10, actually. 08:36 - She was called to go over there for the three months, 08:38 as a nurse in a small school with about 150 kids. 08:42 - Right. 08:43 - And from there she saw the need up into the mountains, 08:46 there is so little knowledge of God in the mountains 08:50 that she just felt called to go up into those mountains. 08:53 Even though they were dangerous. 08:55 She's in her 60, and yet no one else was going. 08:59 And so she decided to go, 09:01 and she prayed, and prayed, and prayed, 09:02 and one of her prayers was, 09:03 if she is to go, then God send her somebody 09:07 that can translate for her, 09:08 because she couldn't speak the language. 09:10 - Right, right, she speaks a little bit, 09:13 but it's very hard for older people to learn the language 09:16 most of the time. 09:19 Until God gives the gift of tongues. 09:20 - Right. 09:22 And so Blet Jhaw was one of the answers to her prayers. 09:23 - Right. 09:25 - He was the person that could do the translation, 09:27 could help with the driving, 09:28 and she was afraid to drive in those mounts. 09:30 Cause I mean, in the videos and the pictures, 09:33 it looks like maybe this deep. 09:35 - Yeah, but it's not. 09:36 - But in real life, it's like that. 09:38 And it's curvy and got big drop offs, 09:41 and it's dangerous and scary. 09:43 - Yeah, it's even scary in dry season. 09:45 We went there when the roads were completely dry 09:48 and it was still scary. 09:50 Because of the big drop offs, 09:52 and how close the cars have to go together 09:55 when they're passing on the road in some places. 09:57 And we stopped at one place when we did mission track. 10:00 Some of the people that have watched mission track 10:02 will remember that we stopped at one place 10:04 and they showed us where the truck almost went over, 10:07 but God held onto it. 10:08 It was a total miracle that it didn't go over. 10:11 - Right, and so... 10:12 - And Blet Jhaw was the driver. 10:13 - Yes. 10:15 And so Gayle's been very thankful for him. 10:17 - Yes. - Yeah. 10:18 And so we have a video of him 10:20 talking about witnessing to a strong believer 10:23 in another religion. 10:25 - Okay. 10:26 (gentle music) 10:31 - Since we came here, 10:33 I'm pretty sure very soon we met Jaw Saw. 10:38 He lives in the village next to us in Wah Suh Tah village, 10:42 and he is a young man, and he does not smoke, and drink, 10:46 and use drugs, like few other young people. 10:50 He got married and he had two boys. 10:53 Before, when Duh Peh was alive, 10:58 we asked, 11:00 "Do you mind if we come to your house 11:02 and have a Bible study once a week at least?" 11:05 Okay, he invited us, 11:07 and then we went there and give Bible study once a week, 11:11 whenever we are here. 11:13 And so we talked about God and also our beliefs, 11:19 and Jaw Saw and his wife, 11:23 they came to the meeting, 11:25 not every Bible study, but quite a few times, 11:30 quite a few times, quite a lot. 11:31 I don't know what was he thinking, 11:34 and how Holy Spirit is working in his heart, 11:39 but he heard about our church, 11:42 and he wondering about the Sabbath for sure. 11:48 (speaking foreign language) 11:52 About exactly a year ago, 11:53 he told us he wants to join our church, 11:57 and it was COVID time, 11:59 we can't have a church service in the church. 12:02 So he told us, and then with other church members, 12:06 one of the Sabbath, 12:08 he wanted us to go to his house and have a worship, 12:11 and he would announce that, 12:13 he would become a Seventh-Day Adventist. 12:17 And then we went there, and then Gayle preached. 12:23 And then he announced that, okay, 12:25 he will join our church with his wife, you know? 12:28 And he said he wants to study Bible, 12:32 he wants to know more about God before he got baptized. 12:35 He came with his wife and some other people, 12:40 he came and then we have Bible study with him. 12:45 (gentle music) 12:48 But the problem came, 12:50 his father-in-law and mother-in-law, too, 12:54 didn't like it, 12:56 I believe his wife believed what he believed too. 12:59 They were together, 13:00 but with the parent giving pressure and other relatives, 13:05 she decided not to join our church. 13:08 But Jaw Saw still, "I will get baptized." 13:12 He still determined to get baptized. 13:16 He really had a hard time. 13:18 His father-in-law said, "Oh, you're making life harder." 13:23 And then, "If you come back, 13:27 I will stop smoking and using drug, you know? 13:31 We will be together united." 13:34 But that wasn't the point for Jaw Saw, 13:37 because he know the truth, 13:39 and then he already told us he would get baptized. 13:43 And we had evangelist meeting. 13:48 He only came like two nights out of five. 13:52 We were quite concerned about him. 13:55 We were praying for him quite a lot, 13:57 because not sure, 13:58 we know he had a hard time, very hard time. 14:02 And his parents said even they will move, 14:06 they won't stay in the same village, same place with him. 14:10 And so he really had a hard time. 14:13 Before that, he came to church. 14:17 And one of the worship that I talked about 14:23 when we promise to God, it's better to keep your promise. 14:29 And then I also talked about Ananias and Sapphira. 14:30 So he said, after that, he really thinking about himself. 14:35 He already made a promise to God, 14:37 and then he doesn't want to break his promise. 14:41 And then finally on the day to get baptized, 14:45 he came on Sabbath, and then he got baptized. 14:50 But he still have very hard time until this time. 14:53 But I'm very thankful, 14:58 and glad, 14:59 and blessed 15:00 to see him that he is probably the only one 15:04 that got persecute this much around here since we came. 15:10 Some had some hard time, 15:11 but Jaw Saw is one of the worst 15:14 and still this point, his wife and parent in-law 15:20 give him hard time, but he's still strong. 15:22 He came to church and he's still true to God. 15:27 (gentle music) 15:33 - That's beautiful. 15:34 - Yeah. 15:36 - Yeah, even though he is getting persecuted, 15:37 he still stays strong to God and to his belief in Jesus, 15:41 and the Bible. 15:42 - Right, and the fact that he had said, 15:45 "I'm going to be baptized." 15:46 He saw that as a promise to God. 15:48 And that was more important than any other relationship. 15:52 - Yeah. Yeah, that's inspiring. 15:56 - Right? - Yeah. 15:57 - And challenging too. 15:58 - Yes. 15:59 - Cause how many of us take that? 16:01 You know, take our baptism that seriously. 16:03 - Yeah, and in Thailand and Asia, 16:05 the family relation is so important. 16:08 It's almost a sin to go against your parents' wishes, 16:12 and so for him to make that stand is very rare. 16:16 And so he praises God for that. 16:18 In fact, the very first baptism that Gayle had 16:21 was like six years after she moved to Thailand. 16:25 But it reminds me of William Carey, 16:27 you know, the father of modern missions. 16:29 His first baptism was six years after he moved to India. 16:33 Sometimes it takes a long time to sow the seeds. 16:36 - Right, and you have to not just throw them out there. 16:38 You can't just throw out the seed and see fruit. 16:41 You have to nurture, you have to, you know... 16:44 - You have to water it, to nurture and grow that seed 16:47 to the point where, you know, baptism, 16:48 we often think as baptism as the end result. 16:51 Baptism is just the step. 16:53 - One of the steps. 16:54 - Heaven is the end result. 16:55 - Right. 16:56 - And we're not there yet. 16:58 - Well, even here they say, 16:59 "You have to hear something seven times." 17:01 - Right. 17:02 - And sometimes it's more than that. 17:04 - Yeah, yeah. 17:05 - And you have to hear it in a variety of ways. 17:07 - Right. 17:08 And so these are the challenges that we have, 17:10 especially with, you know, planting the gospel 17:14 in a foreign field, isn't just information. 17:18 You know, it's a whole lifestyle, 17:21 a whole different way of thinking, 17:23 a different worldview, you know? 17:25 We may see things black and white, 17:27 they might see things yellow and green, 17:29 or 20 different colors. 17:31 And so, you know, 17:33 I remember walking down the street 17:34 and my translator in Bangkok talked to a young lady 17:38 at the side of the road, says, 17:40 "If you believe in God, then you can have eternal life." 17:43 And she says, "What is God?" 17:45 Not even enough awareness of God 17:47 to know that he was a being, 17:49 just didn't know what his substance was, 17:51 what he was made of. 17:52 And so you come from a very different worldview, 17:57 and it takes a lot of work, 17:59 takes a lot of sewing of the seed. 18:01 However, 18:02 my word shall not return unto me void. 18:05 - Right. That's a promise. 18:06 - Yes. 18:07 - All right, we've got one more video about their work. 18:09 - Okay. 18:11 (gentle music) 18:13 - When God gives you a work to do, 18:15 he gives you what you need. 18:17 He supplies you with all your needs 18:18 to get the job done the way he wants it done. 18:21 For me, he's given me Blet Jhaw. 18:23 I praise the Lord for him daily because he's my translator. 18:27 I haven't mastered this language. 18:30 And so every prayer, every worship, every sermon, 18:34 comes from his lips. 18:35 And I have the confidence that he has interpreted it 18:40 to the best of his ability, 18:42 in order to reach the hearts of these people here. 18:44 So it's a huge blessing. 18:48 And not only does he in interpret, 18:49 but he has become the best driver on the motorbike 18:54 in extreme situations. 18:56 We've wrecked very little 18:58 compared to what we should have wrecked, 19:01 and also the truck. 19:04 (motor groaning sound) 19:09 Everywhere we go, 19:10 we've got a ukulele for the long trips on the motorbike, 19:13 and we've got the guitar as a background for our music, 19:16 and singing, and worships. 19:18 It adds so much. 19:21 And he's just his on fire with love 19:23 to win these people, as I am. 19:25 So, I feel very privileged and thankful to God for him. 19:32 (gentle music) 19:34 Through the last 11 years here in BeYoTa, 19:38 he has stuck with me, he has stayed, 19:42 he feels God calling him here, 19:44 maybe just as much as I do. 19:46 - God was calling me to be here, 19:49 and then he never tell me, "You should go somewhere else." 19:53 Sometime I might feel that, 19:54 "Oh, maybe I want to go there." 19:56 Just only want to, not real thing. 20:00 So I know if I go, maybe I'll be like Jonah, 20:04 you know, end up in the fish stomach, 20:08 I may never come out! 20:10 So this is the place that God still can use me, 20:16 and he's using me and still can use. 20:18 And that he never tell me, "You should go somewhere else 20:21 and do something else." 20:22 So I believe God is still calling me and using me here. 20:27 (gentle music) 20:29 - I've gone to America every year, except for COVID, 20:33 now it's been two years. 20:35 So, when I go to America, he's the only one. 20:40 And he wants to carry on the work. 20:43 So really every other weekend he comes, 20:46 and he can treat the patients. 20:48 Simply he has treated one day 55 patients in a day, 20:53 all by himself, 20:54 and preach the sermon and carried on the work here 20:59 while I've been gone. 21:00 So it has really, really been a blessing 21:04 for me to know that he's still in touch here. 21:08 And also it's a blessing to him for he gets rewarded 21:12 from heaven for doing it also. 21:16 (gentle music) 21:19 He is a great husband and father. 21:22 He has two boys, and age five and seven, right now, 21:28 and they love me, I am their grandmother. 21:32 And also even before they were born, 21:34 Blet Jhaw became my son, 21:36 because we work so closely together all the time 21:42 that he's always looking out for me, 21:44 always giving me the best place to sleep, 21:46 always making sure I have what I need, 21:49 that I'm spoiled. 21:51 And I'm mostly spoiled because I'm in their family now. 21:55 I'm a family member. 21:57 (choir singing in foreign language) 22:01 - God is calling every one of us to work for him 22:05 in different way. 22:08 You can be a good witness for him. 22:10 You might not feel that you can do it, or you don't want to, 22:15 but when God call it, do it, 22:18 with my experience, 22:21 he give you the strength that you need. 22:27 And then he provide you the thing that you need. 22:33 And more than that, you can be sure salvation is for you. 22:39 So it's all worth it. 22:42 (choir singing in foreign language) 22:45 - That smell, that sweet smelling essence smell going up 22:48 represents your prayers and our prayers, 22:51 going up and its smelling so sweet and lovely to God. 22:56 (choir singing in foreign language) 23:08 - I love how he was saying that God called him there. 23:12 And he was gonna be there, 23:14 until God called him somewhere else. 23:16 I might not get out of the fishes mouth. 23:19 It's so funny, but it's so true, you know? 23:22 We need to be where God has use for us in his vineyard. 23:26 - Right? Yeah. 23:27 - We need to be where God wants us to be, 23:29 and not be casting about for where we should be, 23:31 but for asking God where we should be. 23:33 - Now, a lot of people might think that following a lady 23:36 and helping a lady in her 60 might be pretty easy. 23:39 (chuckles) 23:40 - They haven't met Gayle. 23:41 - No. 23:43 - This lady runs two miles every morning, rain or shine. 23:46 - And then? 23:47 - And then they go to different villages. 23:49 - Yeah. 23:50 - And if they can't go by truck, they go by motorbike. 23:53 And if they can't go by motorbike, they go by walking. 23:56 And she has sent us video of walking through huge mud, 24:00 and losing her shoe and all sorts of things. 24:03 - Yeah, hopefully we can get this little video 24:06 of her just laughing in the mud, 24:09 because of her love for the people. 24:10 She doesn't see it as sacrifice. 24:12 And Blet Jhaw is right there with her to do all that. 24:15 - Right. 24:16 So they try to help people with their medical needs. 24:18 You know, if there's somebody that is having back pain, 24:21 she tries to figure out what's causing it. 24:24 If they need to go to a hospital, 24:25 they take them to the hospital. 24:27 That's one of the things that Blet Jhaw does, 24:29 all the driving for, 24:30 is taking people to and from the hospital, 24:33 and representing them at the hospital. 24:36 She gives vitamins and different things like that, 24:38 depending on what the needs are. 24:41 But also they have worships at these different villages. 24:44 They go to lot of different villages, 24:47 and so they don't just stay home all day, right. 24:50 They don't just stay home all day. 24:52 And you know, do their garden, 24:54 and then help anybody that comes to them. 24:57 They go seeking those that need help. 25:00 - Absolutely. 25:01 Now, do we have a lot of Bible workers in Thailand? 25:03 - We have a few. 25:05 And why is that? 25:06 - That's because there's not very many available. 25:08 - Right. 25:09 - In Thailand. 25:10 And this is what some people say to us. 25:12 They say, "You know, you shouldn't send missionaries, 25:15 it's cheaper just to enable the local worker." 25:18 And we totally agree. 25:20 We totally agree, 25:21 in the countries that have those local workers available. 25:24 There's so many languages in which there's no believer. 25:28 And many languages and countries 25:30 where there's very few believers. 25:32 And so we need that partnership in those places. 25:36 And so God has designed these latter days 25:39 to have these partnerships around the globe. 25:43 Wherever there's a need, 25:44 wherever there's an opportunity that we can partner 25:47 and help each other. 25:49 I mean, when in earth history, have we had a globe, 25:53 that's this small, that's so accessible, 25:55 with just an email, with just how many channels of chat 25:59 can we connect with people like that? 26:01 There's still the opportunity to go. 26:03 There's still a huge work to be done. 26:05 There's so many cultures, so many languages, 26:09 that still have no gospel representative in them. 26:14 So much to do. 26:15 And that sounds overwhelming. 26:17 It also sounds like, 26:18 wow, God has preserved something for me. 26:22 God has preserved something for you. 26:24 So a people group for me, a people group for you. 26:28 And that reminds me of Isaiah 54:3. 26:31 One of our favorite all time verses. 26:34 - Right. 26:34 - What does that say? 26:35 - Ask of me and I will give you 26:37 the hidden for an inheritance, 26:38 and the uttermost parts of the earth for possession. 26:41 - Right. So those that don't know Christ, 26:43 there are inheritance. 26:45 - Right. - Wow. 26:46 - Right. - Wow. That's cool. 26:48 - The people we get to be with for eternity. 26:51 - Yeah, that's awesome. 26:53 - Well, Blet Jhaw's experience is inspiring. 26:56 - It is. 26:58 - Because his dedication and his heart for the people, 27:00 it just, I love it. 27:02 - Yeah. 27:04 - And to know that he's there with our friend Gayle. 27:06 I feel a lot more comfortable 27:07 knowing that he's there with her. 27:09 Making sure she has what she needs 27:11 to keep helping the people. 27:13 And it's not just her work, 27:15 it's Blet Jhaw's work also. 27:16 And that's the great thing about these Bible workers. 27:19 They take seriously the eternal welfare 27:22 of the people around them. 27:24 And they recognize that the missionary, 27:27 when the missionary goes as a humble helper, 27:30 the missionary is there to help. 27:32 - Yes. 27:33 - The missionary is also seeking the eternal wellbeing 27:35 of the people around them. 27:36 - Correct. 27:37 - And it's really inspiring to me 27:40 to see them working together like that. 27:41 And if you would like to help Bible workers in Thailand, 27:46 you can contact us at Jesus for Asia, PO Box 1221, 27:50 Collegedale Tennessee, 37315. 27:54 Call us at (423) 413-7321, 27:59 or visit our website at Jesus4asia.org. 28:03 Make God richly bless you until we see you next time 28:06 on Jesus for Asia Now. 28:09 (uplifting music) |
Revised 2022-02-09