Participants:
Series Code: MTK
Program Code: MTK000007A
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00:00 (joyful orchestral music)
00:05 - [Mary Ann] We've grown up in the church 00:06 and have always been somewhat involved in outreach. 00:10 But how can we get involved in missions overseas? 00:13 My name is Mary Ann. 00:15 - [Lilyann] And I'm Lilyann. 00:16 We wanted to find out. 00:18 Join us on our journey to discover the culture, 00:24 the lifestyle. 00:25 - [Mary Ann] The need and the mission. 00:27 - [Lilyann] In two of Southeast Asia's 00:29 least reached countries. 00:31 - Welcome to MissionTREK. 00:37 Hey, we're so glad to see you again. 00:39 - In the last episode, 00:41 we visited Gayle Habercam 00:43 and saw what life was like for her as a nurse 00:45 in the mountain jungles of Thailand. 00:46 - Another challenging thing that happened 00:48 while were at Auntie Gayle's 00:50 is our producer James got sick. 00:53 - So we had to head back to Bangkok without him. 00:55 But James flew down the next day with his mom. 00:58 - We went back to Bangkok because we wanted 01:00 to go visit the slum church and meet up 01:02 with some friends of ours, the Whitsetts. 01:06 We're in the Nasa Vegas Hotel. 01:08 - It's very big. 01:09 - It looks really nice, 01:10 but the rooms. 01:11 Like it's not actually that nice. 01:14 It just looks really nice. 01:15 It's really cheap though. 01:16 So we left Auntie Gayle's. 01:18 - [Lilyann] Thursday morning at like 6:30. 01:20 - And we drove out. 01:21 Took us about 2 1/2 hours. 01:23 We we went a shorter way. 01:25 We weren't sure we'd be able to leave 01:26 because James was sick. 01:28 - He had some kind of stomach bug 01:29 and threw up 12 times on Wednesday. 01:32 So he got an IV at Auntie Gayle's 01:34 and all kinds of fun stuff. 01:36 - Stop videoing. 01:37 - We managed to get out. 01:38 We got all the way to Mae Sot. 01:41 Then we had to take him to the hospital. 01:42 And then at the hospital he got another IV. 01:45 So he's doing better now, 01:46 but we left him in Mae Sot. 01:48 And we came to Bangkok on the bus. 01:51 It took us like 10 hours. 01:52 And then today we're going to church. 01:54 It's Sabbath so we're going to church at the slum 01:56 with Dot Wells and the Bauders. 01:59 - [Man] What do you expect to do there? 02:01 - Interact with kids and do some outreach stuff. 02:05 - This afternoon they're passing out cookies. 02:08 So we'll probably end up going with them. 02:09 That'll be fun. - [Man] Sounds awesome. 02:12 (gentle music) 02:23 - So we just got here at the slum. 02:28 The kids are getting here and stuff. 02:33 When we arrived at the slum, 02:34 Joshua Bauder greeted us 02:35 and showed us into the building 02:37 they are renting for church. 02:40 (speaking in foreign language) 02:45 - To do what the word says it will do. 02:47 (speaking in foreign language) 02:54 - Josh met Chitty after he had moved to Bangkok. 02:57 They worked together to help children 02:59 find a way out of the slum. 03:01 Because today was Valentine's day, 03:02 they had baked some cookies 03:04 to give out to the community. 03:05 (foreign language) 03:41 - We asked Josh to tell us how 03:42 they started to connect with the kids, 03:44 and he told us this little girl's story. 03:47 (foreign words) 05:06 (lively instrumental music) 05:11 - We just passed out the cookies for a Valentine's thing. 05:16 We made cookies last week and packaged them up 05:20 and passed them out. 05:22 We said (foreign words). 05:31 - Happy day to give love, that's what it means. 05:35 But it's supposed to be Happy Valentine's Day. 05:36 That's their best translation of it. 07:03 - Just like wow. 07:08 - Really sad, yeah it's really sad. 07:13 I think that what they're doing is really, really good. 07:18 I think we need more people doing what they do also. 07:22 - They're really good with the kids 07:24 and their personality, they get along with the kids 07:27 really well. 07:28 They said they've seen a lot of improvement 07:30 in the kids' behavior over the last year. 07:34 So that's good, progress is being made. 07:38 - She was sitting with Mary Ann and she was asking her 07:39 how old was she? 07:42 She said she doesn't know how old she is 07:43 because she doesn't have a birth certificate 07:45 and her parents don't know. 07:47 (mellow instrumental music) 07:55 - We're going to the slums again, we're gonna pick up trash. 07:58 There's so much trash, we're not exactly sure-- 08:02 - What difference it's really gonna make, but. 08:05 - Hey, it's something good for them to do. 08:07 And we'll see how it goes. 08:14 - They're giving instructions about what we're going to do. 08:17 Basically we're going to pick up trash 08:19 for the next two hours. 08:20 They have little tong things for us to pick up trash with, 08:23 and gloves and stuff. 08:25 We're going to divide up into groups I think 08:26 and just kind of go around and pick up trash. 08:32 Who's the best? 08:33 You can't hear me, so we're gonna see who's the best 08:35 at picking up trash and who can pick up the most. 08:38 Clearly that's obvious. 08:40 - Me. - Me, me. 08:43 - The MissionTREK Olympics, 08:45 who's the best at trash picking. 08:48 (cheering) 08:50 (mellow instrumental music) 09:16 (mellow instrumental music) 09:46 (mellow instrumental music) 10:04 - [Lilyann] We filled three big bags and they went back 10:08 to get another one. 10:12 - I'm feeling better than I was a little bit ago. 10:15 I got really sick to my stomach, but it's been good. 10:20 She picked up more trash than me. 10:21 - So I won the MissionTREK contest. 10:26 Doesn't really matter, though. 10:27 - We're done actually. 10:29 - We're done? 10:32 - Good. - Awesome. 10:34 - No. 10:36 - Well then you're not done, pick up more. 10:38 (laughing) 10:39 - It was fun 'cause the action itself wasn't very fun. 10:44 It's not that fun to pick up trash. 10:48 - But just the people we've got to do it with 10:49 even though we can't understand what they're saying, 10:52 it's fun. 10:53 - And we're able to help some people. 10:55 - Yeah, the thought that you're helping to make 10:57 a small difference. 10:58 - Because some of them think that they're just here 11:01 to mess up Buddhism. 11:03 So they wanted to help the community out and show 11:06 that they care about the people and they're trying to help. 11:12 I think that we did pretty good. 11:16 I mean it's still a slum, but a little less, 11:23 three less bags of trash. 11:26 - From our group, there's four group. 11:28 So maybe 12 less bags of trash. 11:36 - I was in ministry before in the states. 11:39 I was a Bible worker in Idaho. 11:43 When I came over here it was to get involved in ministry. 11:47 But I thought it was only going to be for a year. 11:49 It's been three-and-a-half years later 11:52 and I'm still here in ministry. 11:55 - How did you start working in the slums? 11:56 - We were looking for a church and we kept hearing 11:58 about this church. 12:00 We really wanted to go but we could never find it. 12:03 So we found it, we finally found it. 12:05 And when we found it we went there one week 12:07 and we knew that this was the church that we wanted 12:10 to go to. 12:26 - It was almost immediately this was the place where 12:28 you go there and you have to get involved 12:31 because there's so much need. 12:34 If you're not helping then you can see other people 12:38 are in over their heads. 12:39 So as soon as we went there was got involved. 12:42 - That's when you guys decided to start a project 12:45 for the kids. 12:47 - I'd been looking for something to do 12:49 and I didn't know what to do. 12:51 It's so overwhelming in Thailand, there's so much to do. 12:55 There's so much that needs to be done. 12:57 But it's hard, it's like where do you start? 13:00 So we prayed and I fasted and I asked God 13:03 what do you want me to do? 13:06 How can I help these people? 13:09 That's when we came up with the ideas of after-school 13:11 programs, scholarships, and all these things 13:13 that we wanted to do. 13:18 - It was so cool how involved the church was 13:20 with the community. 13:21 I really enjoyed getting to experience that, 13:24 getting to help and show the people around there 13:27 that we cared. 13:28 - Yeah, I agree and I'd been to the slum before 13:30 when I was nine. 13:31 - What were you doing there? 13:33 - Well I was with my dad who was shooting another TV show 13:35 called I Want This City. 13:36 They were doing a rice giveaway at the slum. 13:39 There was one lady they talked to who had heard 13:41 the Ten Commandments when she was like a teenager. 13:44 - See that lady in the background? 13:45 That's Mrs. Watana. 13:47 When she was a child she went to see the Ten Commandment 13:49 movie with Charlton Heston and felt in her heart 13:52 that this was truth. 13:53 The next time she heard the Ten Commandments 13:56 was 30 years later. 13:57 Her heart was again stirred and she requested Bible studies. 14:00 Volunteers began coming every week, 14:02 and now she's a baptized believer and a true light 14:06 in her community. 14:07 - And that's how the slum church got started 14:09 in that neighborhood. 14:11 It's amazing how it was just little things 14:12 like giving away rice can lead to something like that. 14:17 - You never know how far-reaching your actions might be. 14:20 It's so sad that that lady had only ever heard 14:22 the Ten Commandments twice in her life. 14:24 - Yeah, and there are some people who have never heard them. 14:27 - Many, but it was my favorite place that we visited 14:30 on the whole trip and I really enjoyed 14:33 getting to help people there. 14:34 - Yeah, it was a really amazing experience. 14:36 - Yeah it was. 14:38 - I can say it was my favorite as well because I really 14:40 enjoyed Auntie Gayle's place. 14:42 It was really cool. 14:43 - It was. 14:45 - Everyone should have an experience like that. 14:46 - Oh definitely. 14:48 - What do you think it would be like to actually live 14:49 in a slum like that? 14:51 - Well, it would be a huge difference from the life 14:54 that we live here. 14:56 It's so sad because they have nothing, 14:59 like literally nothing. 15:01 It's just tiny shacks all built on top of each other. 15:05 I can't even imagine living there, honestly. 15:08 - Yeah, and it was so dirty and it smelled. 15:13 - Even though our lives are so different from theirs, 15:16 Jesus doesn't see poor versus rich. 15:18 He sees us all the same. 15:20 - Yeah, and He wants us to treat everyone with compassion, 15:22 the way we would like to be treated. 15:24 - I reminds me of the verse, "Inasmuch as ye have done it 15:26 "unto the least of these, my brethren, 15:28 "you have done it unto me." 15:29 - And by treating others well it's like we're treating 15:31 Jesus himself. 15:32 - Yeah, so coming up we're going to be visiting 15:35 the Whitsetts, who were hired by the GC. 15:38 They work to study the differences between the Western 15:41 culture and the culture of the Thai people. 15:43 - What do you mean by the word, culture? 15:45 - Culture is things that you do that are unique 15:49 to a specific country or people group. 15:51 It's the things that you don't even notice 15:53 that you just take for granted. 15:54 - So some examples of culture could be the food, 15:57 clothing, like even how you greet people. 16:01 Like in America we shake hands and in Thailand 16:04 they do (foreign words). 16:05 - Also worshiping God, what God you worship. 16:09 Those are all examples of cultural things. 16:13 - Like in this culture we are raised knowing 16:15 that there's one God, one true God who's real. 16:19 In that culture they have Buddha, they have reincarnation. 16:22 They have all these different gods 16:23 and they don't understand. 16:26 - So here we dress up to go to church one day a week. 16:31 We sit in pews and all this stuff. 16:33 Whereas there, in the Buddhist culture they can go 16:36 to the temple anytime. 16:38 - So we visited the Whitsetts 16:40 to learn more about Thai culture. 16:45 - [Student] Pastor and Mrs. Whitsett work 16:47 for the General Conference, but their office 16:48 is here in Bangkok. 16:50 Their job is to study how to best bring the Gospel 16:52 to the people with a Buddhist background. 16:54 - The idea of where we come from is very different 16:58 for Buddhists than it would be for Christians. 17:01 We believe in a Creator who is apart from creation 17:05 and he created all of this. 17:07 Whereas with Buddhists there is no creator 17:10 outside of creation. 17:12 There are creators, many of them. 17:15 But they just create little things. 17:17 But they are of the same nature as us. 17:20 In fact, we could become a creator because the gods 17:24 are basically people who have really attained 17:27 a higher moral standing through meditation and merit. 17:31 So they can go to one of the heavens. 17:34 When they hear us talking about the second coming 17:37 and Jesus coming from heaven to take us back 17:39 to heaven with Him, they say which one? 17:42 Because they have 26 heavens. 17:47 So what heaven are you going to take us to? 17:49 Then we say well it's a beautiful place 17:52 and there's going to be the Tree of Life. 17:54 And of course there's the Water of Life 17:56 and there's a great banquet feast. 18:00 And Jesus himself will serve us. 18:02 They say oh, that's one of the five lowest heavens 18:05 because those are the only heavens where you can eat. 18:09 When we shared the second coming and going to heaven, 18:12 to us that's good news. 18:15 But to them that's like oh well you only live 18:18 in the heavens for a while. 18:19 Eventually you will be reborn into this earth. 18:22 So they're confused. 18:25 It's interesting, it's news, it kind of sounds good 18:28 because who wouldn't want to go to heaven? 18:30 But they don't see that as a solution to life. 18:35 - How do you even reach someone with such a different view 18:38 of the world? 18:40 - That's exactly, that's what we need to know, right? 18:44 What do you do then? 18:45 We know things are different so what do you do? 18:47 Well it really has to begin with our understanding 18:52 of what our goal is. 18:53 That is our goal is to make disciples. 18:57 The solution is not just to change our preaching style 19:00 or how we illustrate truth or something like that. 19:04 It's actually it starts with friendship 19:07 and living our lives with people. 19:09 If you want to become a potter who can make 19:11 beautiful jars you have to get your hands dirty. 19:14 You can't just go to a class and take notes 19:16 on what you learned. 19:17 And Christianity isn't just a theory, it's a lifestyle. 19:21 It's a life with Christ. 19:23 We begin by just simply making friends. 19:27 Christ's method alone will give true success 19:28 in reaching the people. 19:30 He mingled with men as one who desired their good. 19:32 He showed His sympathy for them and ministered 19:35 to their needs, and won their confidence. 19:38 So it's trust. 19:39 The goal of all those activities is trust. 19:41 So we start with friendship, with relationship. 19:45 Then from there we have more steps. 19:48 - After you make a friend with somebody then they start 19:51 telling you some of their problems right? 19:53 You get to know them a little bit deeper. 19:55 Once you get to know what some of their problems are 19:56 then you can actually start praying for them 19:58 and praying with them. 20:00 Buddhists actually are very, very open to prayer. 20:03 Their religion is an experiential religion 20:07 meaning that they have to try it. 20:09 And if it works then they'll keep it. 20:11 So they have a little bit of this, little bit of this, 20:13 little bit of that. 20:14 So when Christians come and say well can I pray 20:16 for you they say sure, why not? 20:18 We'll try it and see if it works. 20:20 That gives you a great opportunity to say you know what? 20:22 Your grandma just died and I'm really sorry about that. 20:25 Can I pray for you that God will give you peace 20:27 about that and that God will just be close to you 20:30 during this time? 20:32 Sure, please pray for me. 20:33 Then you can pray for them. 20:36 A lot of times we see that God honors those prayers 20:39 and God will show himself to them in a very 20:41 personal way. 20:42 Sometimes they're strange ways. 20:45 Ways that we would think really, that really spoke to you? 20:49 But it did. 20:50 Other ways you know it could be miraculous. 20:52 It could be a dream that he gives them. 20:55 It could be a healing. 20:56 It could be any number of ways that God chooses 20:59 to touch their life to help them to recognize 21:01 that actually God is real, that God knows who they are, 21:06 and that God loves them. 21:09 After they realize that God is real and that he knows them, 21:12 and that he loves them then they start asking questions. 21:16 - And that's when we are really able to start sharing 21:19 because there's not point to answer questions 21:21 that nobody's asking, right? 21:24 So when they start asking questions, well who's 21:27 this Jesus that is helping me and has blessed me 21:29 and has done these things? 21:31 We can then begin to share with them who Jesus was. 21:33 That he lived on earth and these are the things 21:36 that he did, and the things that he taught. 21:39 And he promised that he would come back. 21:42 His ultimate goal is to recreate this world 21:46 where there is no suffering, where there aren't 21:48 all these problems and he will live with us as our king 21:51 and it will be a beautiful experience together. 21:55 But only those who have formed a relationship with him 22:00 and have allowed him to transform their lives 22:02 to be like him will be a part of that new earth and a part 22:06 of his kingdom. 22:07 And we invite them, would you like to learn 22:09 how to follow Jesus and let him transform us 22:13 to be a loving person like God is a loving God. 22:17 That's the first step of repentance, 22:19 of turning towards Christ and wanting to follow him. 22:22 Then we begin Bible studies after that. 22:25 The first step is developing friendship and trust. 22:28 The second one is that they come to faith 22:31 and God is real and cares and loves for them. 22:33 And then third then they desire to follow him. 22:36 That first step of repentance. 22:37 And then from there we begin Bible studies. 22:40 I won't get into all of the things we study, 22:42 because that would take a long time. 22:43 (laughing) 22:44 - And incidentally that's something that you can do. 22:47 You don't have to be a grown-up, 22:49 you don't have to be a nurse, or a doctor, 22:52 or even a preacher. 22:53 You don't have to be anything like that. 22:55 You can be a student, you could be a homeschooler, 22:57 you could be a kid. 23:00 Just be yourself and make friends. 23:02 Making friends is a fun thing to do. 23:04 And then just praying that God will show you 23:06 how can I minister to my friend? 23:08 How can I show, how can I give God an opportunity 23:11 to work in their life? 23:13 And pray for them, keep a prayer journal 23:14 or however you like to pray and ask God just to bless them 23:18 and to use you to bless, use you to bless them 23:22 to work through you. 23:25 Amazing things will happen, guarantee. 23:28 - Well thank you for sharing. 23:29 We really enjoy talking to you guys and learning more 23:32 about the culture and stuff. 23:35 - Thank you for coming. - Yeah. 23:37 - Now we're gonna ride the river taxi 23:39 to go see some temples. 23:41 It's our first time on the river taxi this trip 23:43 and we're super excited. 23:47 (upbeat instrumental music) 23:56 - [Student] The Chao Phraya River cuts through the city 23:58 and is a refreshing way to travel. 24:00 Very few cities in the world have a river for a highway, 24:03 and it's a popular tourist attraction. 24:06 (upbeat instrumental music) 24:33 This is the reclining Buddha that is as old 24:36 as the United States. 24:37 It measures 150 feet long and 50 feet high, 24:41 it's really big. 24:47 The ornate paintings on the wall were originally there 24:50 to teach the general public the stories of Buddha's 24:52 search for enlightenment as well as Thai history. 24:56 I don't know how to read this kind of textbook, 24:58 but we were intrigued by them. 25:01 (lively instrumental music) 25:25 - [MaryAnn] Then we headed out to see another temple 25:27 in this temple complex. 25:28 (lively instrumental music) 25:48 Worshipers can purchase little gold leaves 25:50 and put them on the statues. 25:57 This is the Ordination Hall. 26:01 You can see how sincere the worshipers are. 26:07 Buddhism is tied very closely with the Thai government 26:10 and Thai identity, so it is very hard for Thais 26:13 to change religions. 26:14 It's like giving up who you are and everything 26:16 about yourself and your country. 26:19 While we were there, the Whitsetts came to join us. 26:23 - So why are there these pointy things 26:25 on the roof and stuff? 26:26 - Yeah, on the roofs of the temple you have (foreign words). 26:48 - Another popular belief is that because they're up 26:51 into the air up in the sky and they kind of have 26:53 a little hook on the end that they snag good luck 26:55 as good luck flies by. 26:59 - Interesting. 27:02 - That's very different from the things people believe 27:05 in America. 27:07 - We learned so much about the Thai worldview 27:10 and their religion. 27:11 To effectively reach the Thai people I think it's very 27:14 important that we take all of this into account. 27:15 - Definitely, and it shows that while we need missionaries 27:19 in the jungle, we also really need missionaries 27:21 in the cities. 27:23 - I agree. 27:25 Christ's example to us was that while he was here 27:27 he became as much like the people he was reaching 27:30 as possible. 27:31 We each should do the same, setting aside our own 27:34 cultural ideas and differences. 27:36 Because in the long run these are not that important. 27:39 - What is important is making sure we separate 27:41 the culture from the Gospel. 27:42 We need to remember that we're pointing people 27:44 to our Savior, not our lifestyle. 27:46 - See you next time on MissionTREK. 27:48 - And remember to pray for the unreached. 27:51 (upbeat instrumental music) |
Revised 2019-11-11