I'm not quite sure where the last few weeks have gone. By now, I feel like I should have more done and thus there would be less to do. It turns out however, that not terribly much has been accomplished as far as renovating or curriculum writing goes.
I had some awesome Jesus time this weekend and was really encouraged by my Dad over the phone. I found several verses that have greatly strengthened me as well, and as I trust God and seek Him, He is Faithful. It's so easy to forget the "little" things. I am convinced if we only set the "simple" truths before us daily, it would greatly influence our lives. It's also funny how the longer I walk, the more I realize how little I know about the Bible, God, the world, myself, others etc... It's humbling and it causes me to worship Christ.
One of the aforementioned verses- Psalms 73:26-My heart and flesh may fail but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. It's just a good Psalm.
A few other updates:
Preaching last week at a Thai church went well. I spoke on Grace and it went quite well! Thanks for your prayers for that.
The large group outreach last week to the redlight districts also went well. There was a team that came in of about 50 people that a few of the missionaries and myself led to prayer walk several redlight districts at night time (altogether about 55 people.) I took a group of about 7 through one of the largest and oldest redlight districts here, and it was a good experience. It was an experience leading people through there and then hearing different stories within the large groups. Some people broke down weeping, others confessed struggling with judgement, and others had their first encounter with very tangible spiritual warfare. It was an eye opening experience for everyone that went, and I believe God imparted His heart to many. There was a longer prayer time and personal ministry time afterward as well. Thank you so much for your prayers for that.
Prayer requests:
First and foremost would be the staff I am helping. It is a struggle working hard and seeing little forward motion. Frustration and stress are constantly here, and the leader of the group always bears the biggest load of both. We need some divine intervention and things to get rolling, and need Holy Spirit to be manifested more within us. God spoke to me today about amping up things on my end, and I genuinely feel strengthened by Him to do just that. Pray that I lean on Him as my source actively and constantly.
Pray for Spiritual protection. I shared with my Dad last night about how I hadn't slept good since I've been here. I get hardcore attacked in my dreams-either nightmares, sexually explicit dreams, dreams that bring up past mistakes and then throw them in my face. It's been rough, and as a result I've been tired. I have really intense God dreams too though, where I wake up and God immediately brings clarity to what I just dreamed. Please pray also for those I am working with, Satan is coming against this ministry for sure. Pray that God gives us vision, faith, and that we take every single thing to Him.
I will post more often from now on, particularly prayer requests, at least a few times a week. I may start using Facebook to do that as well. If you have committed to pray for me and for those I am here working with, please continue to do so. Prayer is what will change things. We need God to show up, and nothing else will do.
Thanks so much for the encouraging comments and messages! It's such a blessing to get them and I treasure them as well as your prayers.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Redlight districts, Trafficking, Prayer requests
It's powerful when you get to see places and people you have been praying for in person. When you put a face and story with an issue, or see the reality of how grotesque and dark a place is, it fuels your prayers and leaves a mark on your heart.
That was pretty much the case today as one of the missionaries here and I prayer walked through several red light districts in Bangkok during the day today. She told me about the numbers of girls and guys working in the bars, and also about how many men-mostly foreigners go there. 1500 girls working this strip of bars, 2500 in this building. So much is wrong here. So many things need to change. The corruption, the sex workers, the sex tourists and Thai men, the bar owners, the culture. I got to meet some of the women that the missionary with me knew and afterward got to hear their stories. Darkness is definitely winning the battle currently, but God can change it all in a second.
It's so worth it. To invest yourself in helping save these men, women, girls and boys is a just and worthy cause. That was one of the biggest things i walked away with today. There doesn't have to be this much darkness, with Christ it can change. I truly believe God has been preparing me to be here. 8 months ago it would have been too much, and I wasn't at the place to go into a place like that. God has firmed up my feet to go into a dark place and reach those who have no hope, and to help enable those here to continue in that after I'm gone. I suppose that's what He means to do for every Christian, to create a strong person so they are at the place where they can reach out to others. If you are not at that place, yield to Him! You are not on this earth just for yourself. There is a battle going on for the people of this world, and one thing I've seen in Japan and Thailand is the laborers are few (>1% Christian in both, and way less missionaries than that).
Something you guys can be praying for is a young boy that one of the ministries here found in the street. He has been Trafficked and exploited in various ways for about 6 years. Some of the missionaries here have taken him in and begin working with him. I haven't met him yet, and may not for a little while as he is very distrusting and fearful of men. Pray that Christ would work in this kid, he has been through a lot.
There is a whole lot you guys can be praying for:
For me and the other missionaries here-This is a dark place overall, and much darker still are the redlight districts. There is a whole lot of spiritual warfare here and satan is not happy about those working here. Pray protection, strength, integrity, and intimacy with Christ for all of us. Pray for favor for us as we seek to work with the people in that environment-and that they would have open hearts that would dare to hope we are trustworthy.
Please also pray for the ministry as a whole. The building needs a fair amount of work still before it can open and begin taking in sex workers. Pray that I am able to greatly help this along and be efficient and excellent in my work. Also that there are no more problems from the building (it's older) or from the work that a previous construction crew did. Pray that all the necessary paperwork would go through without any problems as well.
Lastly please pray for those we are working with, there are several sex workers the ministry is connected with and reaching out to, so please pray that they would get saved and come out of that lifestyle. It's a dark, essentially brainwashed, demonic, destructive mindset many of them are in. Pray for revelation from Christ.
...It's not against flesh and blood that we battle...
I'll leave you with an uplifting story that one of the missionaries told me:
There was a girl working in a bar as that was given a tract. She told the missionaries she wasn't interested, but knew of one girl who was, and that she would give her the tract. The missionaries went back to the same bar a few days later. They saw the first uninterested girl, who told them she would go get the other girl who she gave the tract to. This 18 year old, beautiful Thai girl came out and yelled right in the middle of the bar (with all the raunchiness going on around) "I'm a Christian!" She then filled in the people there that she couldn't wait for the missionaries to return, so she went to a church and asked someone to explain the tract to her. She said a lady sat with her for 3 hours and took her through scripture explaining the gospel, and as a result, the girl got saved! She soon after left the sex industry and was taken in by a ministry in the city. It was a great story of God grace. Pray for more stories like this one! The road may be slow and ugly at times, but this is not a lost cause!
That was pretty much the case today as one of the missionaries here and I prayer walked through several red light districts in Bangkok during the day today. She told me about the numbers of girls and guys working in the bars, and also about how many men-mostly foreigners go there. 1500 girls working this strip of bars, 2500 in this building. So much is wrong here. So many things need to change. The corruption, the sex workers, the sex tourists and Thai men, the bar owners, the culture. I got to meet some of the women that the missionary with me knew and afterward got to hear their stories. Darkness is definitely winning the battle currently, but God can change it all in a second.
It's so worth it. To invest yourself in helping save these men, women, girls and boys is a just and worthy cause. That was one of the biggest things i walked away with today. There doesn't have to be this much darkness, with Christ it can change. I truly believe God has been preparing me to be here. 8 months ago it would have been too much, and I wasn't at the place to go into a place like that. God has firmed up my feet to go into a dark place and reach those who have no hope, and to help enable those here to continue in that after I'm gone. I suppose that's what He means to do for every Christian, to create a strong person so they are at the place where they can reach out to others. If you are not at that place, yield to Him! You are not on this earth just for yourself. There is a battle going on for the people of this world, and one thing I've seen in Japan and Thailand is the laborers are few (>1% Christian in both, and way less missionaries than that).
Something you guys can be praying for is a young boy that one of the ministries here found in the street. He has been Trafficked and exploited in various ways for about 6 years. Some of the missionaries here have taken him in and begin working with him. I haven't met him yet, and may not for a little while as he is very distrusting and fearful of men. Pray that Christ would work in this kid, he has been through a lot.
There is a whole lot you guys can be praying for:
For me and the other missionaries here-This is a dark place overall, and much darker still are the redlight districts. There is a whole lot of spiritual warfare here and satan is not happy about those working here. Pray protection, strength, integrity, and intimacy with Christ for all of us. Pray for favor for us as we seek to work with the people in that environment-and that they would have open hearts that would dare to hope we are trustworthy.
Please also pray for the ministry as a whole. The building needs a fair amount of work still before it can open and begin taking in sex workers. Pray that I am able to greatly help this along and be efficient and excellent in my work. Also that there are no more problems from the building (it's older) or from the work that a previous construction crew did. Pray that all the necessary paperwork would go through without any problems as well.
Lastly please pray for those we are working with, there are several sex workers the ministry is connected with and reaching out to, so please pray that they would get saved and come out of that lifestyle. It's a dark, essentially brainwashed, demonic, destructive mindset many of them are in. Pray for revelation from Christ.
...It's not against flesh and blood that we battle...
I'll leave you with an uplifting story that one of the missionaries told me:
There was a girl working in a bar as that was given a tract. She told the missionaries she wasn't interested, but knew of one girl who was, and that she would give her the tract. The missionaries went back to the same bar a few days later. They saw the first uninterested girl, who told them she would go get the other girl who she gave the tract to. This 18 year old, beautiful Thai girl came out and yelled right in the middle of the bar (with all the raunchiness going on around) "I'm a Christian!" She then filled in the people there that she couldn't wait for the missionaries to return, so she went to a church and asked someone to explain the tract to her. She said a lady sat with her for 3 hours and took her through scripture explaining the gospel, and as a result, the girl got saved! She soon after left the sex industry and was taken in by a ministry in the city. It was a great story of God grace. Pray for more stories like this one! The road may be slow and ugly at times, but this is not a lost cause!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Bangkok
Hey everybody!
I was finally able to get some pictures up from my short stay in Tokyo on Facebook. If you'd like to check those out click here. It was great getting to see the what the Body was doing in Japan.
I would do a video update, but I think it would take the rest of my stay in Thailand to upload it on here.
I've been in Bangkok for a week now and it's been quite an experience already. I got in at about 1am on Monday morning my time without my luggage, but it was promptly delivered Monday night. This week I met the other two full time staff Nuch and Golf (they're married) and was a part of staff meeting, worship, and intercession several times during the week. I also began helping to work on the building, and have quickly learned that things just seem to progress slower in Thailand. I was able to restore a door that had been water damaged, build a few things, and install a few things. There is still much to be done on the building, and I hope to contribute a good deal. If the ministry raised more funds, it would be able to have a construction crew finish the renovations and open, freeing the staff to do the ministry they are called to. From what I've gathered, between the frequent water problems the building has had and other trials, God is building the ministry team's characters and stretching them, which is also a great thing. I enjoy getting to go to lunch with the staff almost every day, as the food is tasty and cheap (1 large meal is less than $3.) It's good stuff.
The building I am staying in is about a 5 minute taxi ride (motorcycle taxis are sweet!) Or about a 20 minute commute via walking and skytrain. It houses missionaries for the IMB while they are getting ready to go to the field, go home, or temporarily do something in Bangkok-such as have a baby. It's neat getting to meet the missionaries that go through here as well as those living and working in Bangkok.
This next week will be a good one. I'll be a part of (and get to lead) bible study, worship, and prayer with the staff on Dton Naam. Tomorrow I will also go with Celeste to see and prayer walk one of the red light districts during the afternoon. Its incredible how dark and broken this city is. It didn't take long for the culture of sex to get thrown in my face. It stirs up anger, disgust, and sadness. Please be praying for me, Celeste, Nuch & Golf, as well as Thailand as a whole. I'll post another update in the next day or two with how the prayer walking went, my impressions of Thailand, and more about what I'll be doing during my time here.
Love you guys! If you've got any questions, or would like to share anything you get during prayer etc. Feel free to email me, facebook me, or post it on here!
-Nate
I was finally able to get some pictures up from my short stay in Tokyo on Facebook. If you'd like to check those out click here. It was great getting to see the what the Body was doing in Japan.
I would do a video update, but I think it would take the rest of my stay in Thailand to upload it on here.
I've been in Bangkok for a week now and it's been quite an experience already. I got in at about 1am on Monday morning my time without my luggage, but it was promptly delivered Monday night. This week I met the other two full time staff Nuch and Golf (they're married) and was a part of staff meeting, worship, and intercession several times during the week. I also began helping to work on the building, and have quickly learned that things just seem to progress slower in Thailand. I was able to restore a door that had been water damaged, build a few things, and install a few things. There is still much to be done on the building, and I hope to contribute a good deal. If the ministry raised more funds, it would be able to have a construction crew finish the renovations and open, freeing the staff to do the ministry they are called to. From what I've gathered, between the frequent water problems the building has had and other trials, God is building the ministry team's characters and stretching them, which is also a great thing. I enjoy getting to go to lunch with the staff almost every day, as the food is tasty and cheap (1 large meal is less than $3.) It's good stuff.
The building I am staying in is about a 5 minute taxi ride (motorcycle taxis are sweet!) Or about a 20 minute commute via walking and skytrain. It houses missionaries for the IMB while they are getting ready to go to the field, go home, or temporarily do something in Bangkok-such as have a baby. It's neat getting to meet the missionaries that go through here as well as those living and working in Bangkok.
This next week will be a good one. I'll be a part of (and get to lead) bible study, worship, and prayer with the staff on Dton Naam. Tomorrow I will also go with Celeste to see and prayer walk one of the red light districts during the afternoon. Its incredible how dark and broken this city is. It didn't take long for the culture of sex to get thrown in my face. It stirs up anger, disgust, and sadness. Please be praying for me, Celeste, Nuch & Golf, as well as Thailand as a whole. I'll post another update in the next day or two with how the prayer walking went, my impressions of Thailand, and more about what I'll be doing during my time here.
Love you guys! If you've got any questions, or would like to share anything you get during prayer etc. Feel free to email me, facebook me, or post it on here!
-Nate
Monday, June 7, 2010
Sayonara Tokyo!
Tokyo was incredible! I was able to be touristy and see and experience a lot of great parts of Tokyo. I also got to partner for with the IMB working here in Tokyo for several days, and really enjoyed that.
The international mission board has interns that come volunteer for a period of several months, and over the summer a lot of college students or recent graduates come serve. They are broken up into teams and go work in different areas of the city (which is ridiculously big). I teamed up with one of these teams for several days and joined in their ministry.
We did similar ministry throughout the week, including the 5 minute English, prayer walks and distribution. We also were able to visit a college campus and prayer walk it, then go out and talk to students on campus. Our team was able to establish some great connections with several students and will be meeting them again in the near future.
The last time we did 5 minute English was by far the best. A guy named Takashi came and talked to us for a while, and during that time we were able to hear about his life, share some of the Gospel with him, and pray healing over him. He was very moved-especially by the prayers, and met up with me later in the evening. He also came to our church service the next day, and would like to meet up with the team to hear more about Christianity. Something he said during church was something like "if there are all you Christians being so nice to me, there must be a God". It meant the world to him to be around people who cared for and about Him.
I got to pray over so much of the city even as I was sightseeing, and I loved getting God's perspective and God's heart for the city, and it was great to see the body working in Tokyo.
There is much darkness there though, as less than 0.5% of them are Christians. There are more Mormon missionaries in Japan than Christian missionaries. With a Godless culture comes darkness, and currently there are few laborers trying to reach a huge number of people. God is in control however, and there is hope for Tokyo. He can change the entire country in a second, and we should pray for (as well as go to) Tokyo and Japan as a whole.
Here is a picture of Takashi and myself:
The international mission board has interns that come volunteer for a period of several months, and over the summer a lot of college students or recent graduates come serve. They are broken up into teams and go work in different areas of the city (which is ridiculously big). I teamed up with one of these teams for several days and joined in their ministry.
We did similar ministry throughout the week, including the 5 minute English, prayer walks and distribution. We also were able to visit a college campus and prayer walk it, then go out and talk to students on campus. Our team was able to establish some great connections with several students and will be meeting them again in the near future.
The last time we did 5 minute English was by far the best. A guy named Takashi came and talked to us for a while, and during that time we were able to hear about his life, share some of the Gospel with him, and pray healing over him. He was very moved-especially by the prayers, and met up with me later in the evening. He also came to our church service the next day, and would like to meet up with the team to hear more about Christianity. Something he said during church was something like "if there are all you Christians being so nice to me, there must be a God". It meant the world to him to be around people who cared for and about Him.
I got to pray over so much of the city even as I was sightseeing, and I loved getting God's perspective and God's heart for the city, and it was great to see the body working in Tokyo.
There is much darkness there though, as less than 0.5% of them are Christians. There are more Mormon missionaries in Japan than Christian missionaries. With a Godless culture comes darkness, and currently there are few laborers trying to reach a huge number of people. God is in control however, and there is hope for Tokyo. He can change the entire country in a second, and we should pray for (as well as go to) Tokyo and Japan as a whole.
Here is a picture of Takashi and myself:
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Leaving for Bangkok!
Hello everyone!
I have been very busy here in Tokyo, and am about to leave for Church with the IMB this morning, and plan on leaving for the airport immediately after I get back. It's been a great time here in Tokyo, and I will update in detail as soon as I get set up in Bangkok.
-Nate
I have been very busy here in Tokyo, and am about to leave for Church with the IMB this morning, and plan on leaving for the airport immediately after I get back. It's been a great time here in Tokyo, and I will update in detail as soon as I get set up in Bangkok.
-Nate
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Ministry and observations
I spent the first day walking around the city and got to see a lot of it. It was all kinds of fun, though also surreal at points. I ended the day by prayer walking one of the biggest love hotel districts-that is, districts that have hotels that rent out rooms by the hour. It was definitely spiritually heavy there. Japan overall is quite hard ground. From cults (there are more Mormon missionaries in Tokyo than Christian missionaries) to Buddhism, many things seem to belittle or push Christianity out of the picture. That's why we pray redemption for all the broken people there and for God to fall upon Tokyo and Japan as a whole!
I starting working with the IMB team here in Tokyo yesterday. I met with one of them shortly before the rest of the team to learn about what I'd be doing. We passed out a hundreds of tracts, prayer walked for a while, and did something called 5 minute English. 5 minute English is just like it sounds, we stand in a public place with signs and tell people they can practice their English with us for a few minutes. It's used to make connections and a springboard to deeper conversations with those who stop. We also gave away Manga Messiah-a biblical depiction of the life of Jesus in Manga form-to younger boys that love that form of literature. I believe we will be doing more of the same today.
One thing that happened yesterday was that I got hit with a desire to learn foreign languages more strongly than before. We were at the mercy of those who happen to speak good English and were willing to stop. It's hard when your heart breaks for the people in a place, knowing that most of them don't know Jesus at all and yet you can't communicate it with them. With all the hundreds of people that passed, i just wanted to stop a few of them and share the Gospel. However, I can say all of 4 phrases in Japanese, so for most of them, I wouldn't get too far. In the states I love being able to go up to almost anyone and share the Gospel, and I find myself longing to do the same thing to those in desperate need of redemption here.
God is good. I haven't been jet lagged pretty much the whole time here and have really enjoyed everything so far. Our team had several good conversations yesterday-including two in Spanish with Japanese people. Contact info was exchanged and they will be followed up with by the team here throughout the summer and beyond.
Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement! I treasure them.
-Nate
I starting working with the IMB team here in Tokyo yesterday. I met with one of them shortly before the rest of the team to learn about what I'd be doing. We passed out a hundreds of tracts, prayer walked for a while, and did something called 5 minute English. 5 minute English is just like it sounds, we stand in a public place with signs and tell people they can practice their English with us for a few minutes. It's used to make connections and a springboard to deeper conversations with those who stop. We also gave away Manga Messiah-a biblical depiction of the life of Jesus in Manga form-to younger boys that love that form of literature. I believe we will be doing more of the same today.
One thing that happened yesterday was that I got hit with a desire to learn foreign languages more strongly than before. We were at the mercy of those who happen to speak good English and were willing to stop. It's hard when your heart breaks for the people in a place, knowing that most of them don't know Jesus at all and yet you can't communicate it with them. With all the hundreds of people that passed, i just wanted to stop a few of them and share the Gospel. However, I can say all of 4 phrases in Japanese, so for most of them, I wouldn't get too far. In the states I love being able to go up to almost anyone and share the Gospel, and I find myself longing to do the same thing to those in desperate need of redemption here.
God is good. I haven't been jet lagged pretty much the whole time here and have really enjoyed everything so far. Our team had several good conversations yesterday-including two in Spanish with Japanese people. Contact info was exchanged and they will be followed up with by the team here throughout the summer and beyond.
Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement! I treasure them.
-Nate
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