Participants:
Series Code: JFAN
Program Code: JFAN000153S
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00:00 (uplifting music)
00:21 - Hello and welcome to "Jesus for Asia Now." 00:24 I'm Jon Wood, and today we have a special guest 00:27 on the set with me. 00:28 His name is Harvey Steck and he's coming all the way 00:31 from Thailand. 00:32 Hello, Harvey. How are you? 00:34 - I'm fine. - Good. 00:35 - Happy to be here. 00:37 - Happy to have you. Is this a first time on our show? 00:38 - Yes. - That's awesome. 00:40 So you live in Thailand. 00:42 How long have you lived in Thailand? 00:44 - Almost 12 years. - 12 years. 00:46 So what did you go over there for at the beginning? 00:49 - Well, we knew another family that was running a school 00:52 over there and they came to our church a couple times 00:56 and they told our church what they were doing. 01:00 And the second time they came to our church, 01:02 they visited our home and they said, 01:04 "We really need some people to help at our school. 01:07 We need a principal." 01:08 And they needed some other helpers there. 01:10 And we hadn't expected this call. 01:13 It wasn't something we were looking for particularly. 01:16 And so we saw many things where the Lord 01:20 seemed to be indicating this was his call. 01:22 And so it's been a blessing to our whole family, 01:25 having been called over there and the experience 01:27 that we have had over there. 01:29 - So you had how many children? 01:31 - We had two daughters. They were just out of homeschool. 01:36 Finished high school level. 01:37 And so they were able to help teach in the school. 01:41 And my wife could help with the sick. 01:44 She's a nurse and so she was able to be the school nurse, 01:46 village nurse. 01:47 - Okay. 01:49 - And I was able to help in the leadership of this school. 01:53 And I was able to see how, in many ways, 01:55 God gives us wisdom to do things that we don't feel 02:01 like we've had any training to do, 02:03 but I had never been a teacher or a principal before. 02:07 And here I'm asked to do this, and I told them, 02:09 "I know other people that are better qualified," 02:11 but they said, "We know you. 02:12 We don't know your friends. We're asking you." 02:16 And I've always, for a long time I've heard the phrase, 02:19 "God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called." 02:23 And I do believe there is an important place 02:25 for training and education. 02:27 But I also believe that if God calls us to do something, 02:29 that there's a time to step forward in faith and trust God 02:32 that he will teach us what we need to know 02:35 on the job, you might say. 02:36 - Right. Right. 02:38 And if you hadn't stepped forward, 02:40 that would've remained empty vacancy. 02:42 - Yeah. That's right. - [Jon] Right. 02:44 - And our family would've... 02:46 I mean, I don't know what would've happened with our family, 02:48 but I know that we've been greatly blessed 02:50 from the experience. 02:51 - So where are your daughters now? 02:52 - Well, one of them married another missionary 02:57 and is working, continuing to work in Thailand. 03:02 And our older daughter just finished her education 03:07 in college, Washington Hills College. 03:09 She graduated with a education degree. 03:12 So God willing, she'll be going back to Thailand 03:15 to work as a teacher over there. 03:16 - So her heart is still in Thailand. 03:19 - Definitely. Yeah. 03:21 - So then, after you left the school, 03:24 where did you go to then? 03:28 - For about three to four years, 03:30 we helped other missionaries that were working in Thailand 03:34 with different projects, and kind of intermixed with that, 03:37 we enrolled in a language school in Chiang Mai 03:40 and studied the Thai language. 03:42 - And then after that period of time, 03:44 where did you start working more recently? 03:47 - Coming close to two years ago, we attended the dedication 03:51 of the Love for Asia Studio north of Chiang Mai. 03:55 And we were happy to go back there 03:58 and be there for the dedication. 04:00 And while we were there, you asked if I would take over 04:04 directing the Love for Asia Foundation there in Thailand. 04:09 - And so what was your thoughts about that? 04:12 - God's timing is always right. 04:15 And we had been working with some other missionaries 04:18 and it was clear that we were coming to a time 04:22 where there would be a transition and we would need 04:24 to be finding another place to go. 04:27 And so it was right at that time that you talked to us. 04:30 And so it was a real answer to prayer, that it was clear 04:33 that God was showing us the next place to go. 04:35 - Okay. Did it require a move for you? 04:38 - Yeah, rather than using moving trucks to move, 04:41 we actually moved the majority of our things on the train. 04:44 - On the train? 04:45 - Thailand has a train system and you can put things 04:48 on there for very low cost. 04:50 And so we're able to box our things up 04:52 and even our refrigerator and stuff like that you can put 04:55 on the train and it's really inexpensive. 04:58 - So in working with staff at LFA, 05:02 what percentage are foreigners and what percentage are Thai? 05:07 - My wife and I are the only foreigners. 05:09 Well, right now, I guess I should say 05:10 there is one other foreigner working with us there. 05:13 But for most of our time there, up till recently, 05:18 we've been the only foreigners working there. 05:20 - What's it like working with Thai staff? 05:22 Are they difficult to work with? Are they gentle? 05:26 - Thai people in general are pretty easygoing. 05:31 They'll do actually almost anything they can 05:33 to avoid confrontation. 05:35 And they're really good to work with. 05:38 I think they really have a burden for their work 05:41 and they really try to do their very best 05:45 in what they're doing. 05:47 - I know that you're part of the administration, 05:48 so what does that mean? You're... 05:51 - Right. 05:52 So I try to, as much as possible, I try to be there 05:58 when we have our staff worship and just fellowship with them 06:03 during the worship and participate with that. 06:05 And then there's opportunities sometimes to talk with them 06:09 about new projects that are coming on board 06:11 and discuss how we'll accomplish those and how the manager 06:17 and those that are working under him 06:19 can manage the organization. 06:22 And basically our work of our Thai staff is divided up 06:27 into two categories. 06:29 You got some staff that are working on producing videos 06:33 that are put on Facebook and YouTube, 06:36 and then others that are doing written translation work. 06:39 And actually some of the translators are translating 06:43 into video as well. 06:45 - Okay. And then what is the purpose of Love for Asia? 06:49 The foundation that you work at? 06:51 The Love for Asia, which is basically like a wholly-owned 06:54 subsidiary of Jesus For Asia. 06:57 - I would probably put it into two major categories. 07:00 One is to employ Thai staff in doing that media production 07:05 and translation work, because both of those areas, 07:08 we don't see a lot of that kind of production 07:11 happening in Thailand. 07:14 And the other aspect is that, because this is a foundation, 07:20 it's a little bit like a nonprofit organization in America, 07:23 and foundations aren't allowed 07:27 to have a profit making business, 07:30 but they can have volunteers from foreign countries. 07:34 And so it makes it possible that this foundation can write 07:38 a letter to somebody who's interested in serving in Thailand 07:43 and say, "We are inviting you to come here as a volunteer," 07:46 and they can bring their family and do the work 07:50 that God is calling them to do. 07:53 Almost anybody can go there for a month or two. 07:55 I mean, yeah, basically any foreigner can visit the country 07:59 for a month or two without any special visas. 08:02 But if you wanna be there more than a few months, 08:05 it's really very difficult. 08:07 Especially if you're not of retirement age. 08:09 - What do you see the average term of the missionaries 08:13 that come over with LFA and Jesus for Asia? 08:17 Are they short-timers? 08:18 Like a year, two years, or five years? 08:21 - When we accepted the call to go to Thailand, 08:25 I was telling people, "I think we need to be committed 08:28 to at least two or three years minimum." 08:31 But our family's never felt like we're gonna go somewhere 08:35 for a set period of time, 08:38 and we just want to go where God wants us to be 08:41 until the cloud moves somewhere else. 08:44 - That's really interesting. 08:45 You were planning to go for at least two to three years 08:47 and now it's been 12. 08:49 I know one missionary was, or a couple missionary families 08:52 were gonna be there for three months 08:53 and they're there 13, or more. 08:56 What is it that keeps you in the mission field? 08:59 What is it that that keeps drawing you back there? 09:02 You feel like God has called you there, 09:05 that his place for you is there, instead of coming back 09:09 to a place that you grew up, 09:11 where everybody speaks your language. 09:13 - After spending time in Thailand and hearing stories 09:17 also from other countries as well, it's become more clear 09:20 to me that there is still a lot that we can contribute. 09:24 We take a lot for granted of the light 09:27 that God has given us, that a lot of local people 09:29 just haven't really had the opportunity. 09:32 Being able to be there in the country 09:35 and encourage the local people and to help them 09:41 in different ways to grow in their understanding 09:44 and also to multiply, 09:47 but we want to help them to grow to be more effective. 09:50 - Okay. So then the need is what really keeps you there. 09:55 - Yeah. 09:57 Most of them have never even heard the name of Christ. 09:59 So many, especially of the, we say the Thai-Thai. 10:04 The ethnic Thai may be another term that could be used. 10:08 Many of them have not... 10:10 There aren't as many Christian churches in their communities 10:13 and Christian missionary work efforts in their areas 10:16 as there has been among the hill tribes of Thailand 10:20 and Myanmar and so on. 10:22 And so, especially in the bigger cities, 10:25 very little Christian work that's being done compared 10:28 to what is available to people here in America. 10:32 And so a lot of these people, like you said, 10:34 it's not a willful decision 10:35 that they're rejecting Christianity. 10:37 They may not even know the name of Christ, 10:41 let alone what a Christian is really all about. 10:44 - Wow. Wow. 10:46 - It really is a sad approach because they deserve 10:50 the opportunity to have peace of mind and joy and happiness 10:55 that only God can give us. 10:57 All these other religions just don't... 10:59 It's a self-works oriented religion that doesn't really 11:03 offer any hope and true peace of mind. 11:05 - So what is it like for a Thai to live their life 11:10 on a daily, regular basis without knowing Christ, 11:14 with their religion, with their beliefs? 11:16 What's the experience? What's their experience? 11:19 You said without hope and without joy. 11:23 Is that how you see them living their life? 11:27 - So many of them, yes. 11:29 I mean, how are you gonna find true happiness 11:34 if you believe that your life is pretty much the outcome 11:37 of maybe your past life, 11:41 if you believe in reincarnation and so on. 11:43 - Do they? - Yeah. 11:45 - They believe strongly in reincarnation. 11:46 - [Harvey] Yes. - That's their worldview. 11:48 - That's right. 11:49 And so, if I messed up in my past life, 11:53 I may not even know what I was in the past life, 11:56 but it's assumed that if I have an accident 11:58 or if I get sick or something like that, 12:00 or if my business goes bankrupt or whatever, 12:03 it's not because I made bad decisions, 12:05 it's just because in my past life I did something 12:08 and I got what I deserved now. 12:10 - Wow. 12:11 - And so that impacts so much in society. 12:15 To me, it's one of the reasons why people don't even 12:18 think so much in that country about cause and effect. 12:21 What might be causing us to get sick or whatever. 12:25 It has nothing to do with what you ate, 12:27 it's just you had bad luck. 12:30 Or if you... - Or you deserved it. 12:32 - Yeah, that's right. - Wow. 12:34 - If you got in an accident and you're a paraplegic 12:37 or something, well, too bad, you must have had it coming. 12:41 - Wow. Wow. 12:42 - It's really tragic. And so it affects a lot in society. 12:46 - So when you bring Jesus in and the worldview of Christ 12:53 and the great controversy, there's a beginning before sin 12:55 and a time when there's gonna be no more sin. 12:58 - [Harvey] That's right. 12:59 - How do you see that changing their outlook on life 13:01 and their experience of life? 13:03 - You have a living God that hears your prayers 13:08 and he cares about you, he answers prayer too. 13:11 He doesn't just... You're not talking to a God that's made 13:15 of concrete and a little bit of gold on the outside, 13:20 but it's a real living God. 13:21 And not only does he care for you and answer prayer, 13:24 but he actually can forgive you for the wrongs you did. 13:27 You don't have to make merit. 13:30 Merit is a big deal as well in their religion. 13:32 - What do you mean, make merit? 13:35 - You do good things to try to make up 13:38 for the bad things that you did. 13:40 And you wanna make the spirits happy 13:43 so that they don't get angry with you 13:46 or so that in your next life you don't have to suffer 13:52 to pay for the bad things that you did. 13:54 So you might offer gifts to the monk 13:57 and maybe make a very sacrificial donation to the monastery. 14:04 It's all enriching the priests and the monks and so on. 14:08 But it's not so much out of a spirit of generosity, 14:12 but out of a desire to make merit hoping 14:15 that I'll have a better life in the next life around. 14:18 - So the origin of that is fear more than love. 14:22 Is love even a part of? 14:24 - I don't think most of them understand what love is about. 14:28 Either love to God or love in the home, 14:31 many homes are really sad. 14:34 They don't understand what love is about. 14:36 How can we really understand what love is about 14:39 if we don't have a model of selfless love? 14:45 And Jesus is the ultimate model of that. 14:47 They don't have that. 14:48 - Yeah. Wow. 14:49 So I've seen a lot of, when driving down the street, 14:51 you pass houses right and left and you see little houses 14:55 on pillars out in their front yards. 14:58 What is that all about? 14:59 - As I understand it, those little houses, 15:02 they're called spirit houses. 15:04 And that is part of the animistic religion, 15:07 which most Buddhists are animists as well. 15:10 And so that's your little shrine 15:14 where you put your offerings for the spirits. 15:20 And it's so ironic because on the one hand, 15:24 if I'm a animist, I'm afraid of those spirits. 15:27 I'm afraid of what they might do. 15:29 But on the other hand, in this little spirit house, 15:32 I have a ladder so that the spirit can get 15:34 from one level to the other. 15:36 And so many things, on the one hand, indicate 15:39 that the spirits are very weak and have no power. 15:42 But on the other hand, there's a lot of fear involved. 15:44 But that's where they make their offerings, you know? 15:48 And honestly, if you don't own your own house, 15:51 sometimes it can be very challenging to find a house 15:53 to rent that has no spirit house. 15:55 Some owners are very reluctant to remove 15:58 those spirit houses if you're a Christian. 15:59 - Right. 16:01 Now, you watched a family come in and move into a city, 16:07 Sukhothai, in which there was no Adventist presence. 16:10 And you watched them buy property just outside of town 16:16 to adopt children from slum backgrounds, 16:20 from off the street. 16:21 They had a spirit house. - [Harvey] Yes. 16:23 - Tell us about that, 'cause I think there was some incident 16:26 happening on their property, and they kept happening 16:31 until the spirit house was removed. 16:33 Tell us about that. - Yeah. 16:34 - Some of the children, as I understand, 16:36 were having trouble with spirits 16:39 or with Satan harassing them. 16:41 And so one time my wife and I were visiting there 16:48 and they were sharing a little bit about that with us. 16:49 And the spirit house was there on the board of the property. 16:52 And we really wondered, does Satan have a foothold here? 16:59 Is he seeing this as a way that he can still harass them? 17:03 And so we talked to them a little bit about that 17:05 and we encouraged them, 17:07 "Maybe it would be good to take down that spirit house." 17:10 And so they invited us to help them with that. 17:13 And we worked together on it, 17:15 and with sledgehammers and everything. 17:17 And in this case, it was a large piece of property 17:21 and so it wasn't just a small spirit house made 17:24 of little sticks and wimpy concrete or whatever. 17:30 But yeah, it took a sledgehammer to knock the stuff down, 17:33 but we were able to demolish it. 17:36 And as I understand it, 17:37 those children had no more problems after that. 17:39 - [Jon] Wow. - Yeah. 17:41 - So if they believe that there are spirits, 17:44 have you ever seen approach of talking to them 17:48 or introducing our spirit, the Father? 17:52 Jesus says in John 4 that the Father is a spirit 17:56 and they that worship him should worship him 17:58 in spirit and truth. 17:59 Have you ever seen that connection where somebody finds out 18:03 that God is the true God, the real God, the strongest God, 18:08 the strongest spirit in the universe, 18:10 is kind and loving and generous. 18:12 Have you seen that transformation in people's lives? 18:15 - I have worked with many young people that have come 18:17 from Buddhist homes where there was no Christian influence. 18:21 And it's been encouraging to see their lives transformed 18:26 when they learn about the loving God 18:28 and they don't have to be afraid of the spirits. 18:32 Admittedly, sometimes it's hard for them 18:34 to put some of those fears behind. 18:36 - [Jon] I'm sure. 18:38 - Especially fears associated with a cemetery 18:41 and things like that. 18:42 Sometimes those are... Or just a fear of ghosts, 18:45 things along that line. 18:48 But there's definitely a freedom and happiness 18:54 that comes from knowing that we worship a God 18:57 that is more powerful than the spirits. 18:59 - [Jon] Right. 19:00 - It's not that we deny or say that they don't exist, 19:03 but the God of heaven is more powerful. 19:06 - Do you find the Thais relationally oriented 19:11 or are they pretty isolationist kind of people? 19:17 - Definitely, relations are very important. 19:19 And relations, it's a very positive thing in many ways 19:23 because they're very close to each other 19:26 and they like doing things together. 19:29 It also has a powerful influence on whether a Thai person 19:33 chooses to become a Christian, because if they do, 19:37 their family may reject them or even disown them. 19:41 But there's many beautiful things about it. 19:44 I don't wanna say it's all... 19:45 It's not all negative because of that. 19:47 But they are very, very much oriented toward relationships. 19:51 And in fact, a method of disciplining 19:54 that's very common there is by trying to cast shame 19:57 on somebody. 20:00 Some would say it's a shame-oriented worldview 20:05 because shame destroys our relationships with others. 20:11 - So do you think that there's still a need or a place 20:13 for physical, flesh and blood missionaries 20:17 in the mission field? 20:18 'Cause we have the technology 20:21 to send the gospel around the world. 20:23 - One of the great blessings 20:26 of having missionaries physically there is the neighbors 20:33 and other people being able to see these missionaries 20:34 living the real life and facing real issues 20:39 and difficulties and how they handle those. 20:42 And especially if they have children, 20:44 one of the great needs over there is for people, 20:48 even within our church, to understand how to raise children 20:54 with godly discipline and loving discipline in a way 21:00 that actually the children learn to enjoy being obedient 21:03 and respectful to their parents, 21:05 rather than the children being in charge of the home. 21:07 - Amen. 21:08 Is there room for more missionaries in Thailand? 21:11 - Yes, there's really very few. 21:13 When you consider there's, what is it, 21:15 I think close to 70 million people in the country, 21:18 and there's so few missionaries in comparison. 21:25 - And there's no plan in place to put missionaries there 21:27 or plant a church or do anything at this point. 21:30 - Right. 21:31 - I understand you're working with a small school 21:34 on the border of Thailand with Myanmar. 21:38 - [Harvey] That's right. 21:39 - Can you tell us a little bit about that 21:40 and what the opportunities are there? 21:41 - The Emerald Hills School started 21:45 kind of in the middle of the COVID season. 21:48 There were a lot of young people from within Myanmar 21:52 that needed education, but there just isn't enough 21:55 Christian schools in Myanmar for the number 21:58 of young people that are looking. 22:00 And so they started a school there 22:01 with just wood and bamboo buildings. 22:05 And there were other mission organizations 22:09 that helped them for a little while. 22:11 And we were able to help raise some funds 22:13 for some of their building projects. 22:16 And to make a long story short, now they've asked us 22:20 to be the primary sponsors of that school. 22:23 Some of these kids have come from a long way 22:25 to come to the school because right now in Burma 22:28 there's a lot of conflict going on between the Burmese army 22:32 and almost all the other ethnic groups in Burma or Myanmar. 22:38 And so some of the typical schools 22:41 either have been destroyed or it's not safe for them 22:44 to be attending school in those areas. 22:46 So the area where this school is, is one of the areas 22:49 that's had the least amount of conflict that I'm aware of. 22:53 - So these kids, they live a pretty difficult life. 22:59 - Yeah, most of them may not look necessarily malnourished, 23:02 but they come from areas where it's very difficult 23:06 to grow crops. 23:08 A lot of times they have to find a lot of their food 23:10 in the jungle because the Burmese, 23:14 they're always feeling in danger that people 23:16 are gonna come through and destroy their crops. 23:18 And so it's very difficult. 23:20 - They feel in danger for good reason. 23:22 'Cause a lot of times that actually happens. 23:24 - That's right. - [Jon] Yeah. 23:25 - I think it was just this last school year, 23:28 the teachers were very concerned because they saw 23:32 a Burmese fighter flying over the school 23:35 and along the border there, and they were very worried, 23:40 especially for a few days 23:41 about whether they were gonna be bombing in that area. 23:44 - So I want to switch gears here a little bit and go back 23:46 to the studio that you're working at north of Chiang Mai 23:50 in Northern Thailand. 23:51 After that miracle story, God created another miracle story 23:56 with another studio in Meisad. 23:59 - That's right. 24:00 - And now you are overseeing both of those studios 24:04 and going back and forth between them. 24:06 First of all, how long does it take you to drive 24:07 between one and the other? 24:09 - It's about a six-hour drive from our home 24:11 to the other studio. 24:12 - Okay. And what's happening at the other studio? 24:14 What do you see going on there? 24:16 - We have eight staff that are there, seven full-time. 24:21 They started working on different projects. 24:23 I would say 90% of their work is video projects. 24:26 We have a studio that's almost finished construction. 24:29 It's really exciting to see that. 24:31 While the studio was under construction, 24:33 they couldn't really do filming in our temporary studio 24:37 in the house because there was too much noise 24:40 from the construction. 24:42 So they got creative and they decided to go outside 24:46 and visit other places and film testimonies of young people, 24:52 especially and others that have been converted 24:53 into Christianity from the Buddhist or Animist religion. 24:58 And some of those videos have really been amazing 25:02 how they have been appreciated by others. 25:05 Some of them, at least one of them, 25:06 has been seen over 400,000 times. 25:08 - Wow. - [Harvey] Yeah. 25:10 - 400,000 Times. - [Harvey] Yeah. 25:12 - Praise the Lord. 25:13 - And this young lady, 25:15 I had a friend of mine translate that video, 25:18 write out a translation for me. 25:20 - Into English. - Into English. 25:21 Because I wanted to know what is her story. 25:25 And essentially her story was that she had friends 25:27 that invited her to go to an Adventist school. 25:32 And she went there, 25:34 and just after being there a very short time, 25:38 she wanted to get baptized. 25:39 And the mother told her, I think, 25:40 "You can't be baptized until after I die." 25:43 And so anyway, the mother kind of changed her answer 25:49 each time that the daughter would ask her, 25:51 tell her, "I want to get baptized," 25:52 but never did the mother really give her approval. 25:55 And so she finally decided she did not wanna wait 25:59 any longer to get baptized. 26:01 She went forward with baptism, and we're just talking 26:07 about probably maybe less than a year ago 26:11 that this happened, that she was baptized. 26:15 She shared in her testimony that her brother 26:17 has cut off his support. 26:19 Basically the family has cut off their support of her. 26:22 But God has provided. 26:24 He, the Lord led people to pay her way 26:27 through an Adventist school there 26:29 that is training (indistinct) Bible workers. 26:32 And it's just really encouraging and I think many people 26:36 are encouraged by this testimony of a young person 26:40 who has chosen to follow Christ 26:45 in the face of rejection of their family. 26:48 And this happens over and over again. 26:49 - [Jon] The rejection. - Yes. 26:50 - Yeah. 26:52 Harvey, I just wanna thank you for filling the need 26:56 that's there and for being passionate about God's work 27:00 in that place and for being part of our JFA family team. 27:05 You get to be there. I'm jealous about that. 27:09 I get to travel through sometimes, 27:11 but I don't get to live in Thailand, 27:14 which is what I would love to do. 27:15 But I appreciate your contribution, personally, 27:20 and your wife, and also contributing two young ladies 27:25 that have been and are continuing to be a big blessing 27:28 in Thailand, and there's room for a lot more. 27:31 - Amen. Amen. - Yeah. 27:34 So I would like to invite you, if you would like 27:35 to learn more about Harvey and his wife Brenda's 27:38 ministry in Thailand, or if you would like to help 27:40 the Emerald Hills School up on the border, 27:43 please contact Jesus for Asia at PO Box 1221, 27:48 Collegedale Tennessee, 37315. 27:52 You can call our office at 423-413-7321 27:58 or visit our website at jesusforasia.org. 28:02 May God richly bless you until we see you again next time 28:06 on "Jesus for Asia Now." 28:07 (uplifting music) |
Revised 2023-07-19