MYANMAR (BURMA)

Pastor Luke, a Kachin Tribal Pastor ,   was on his way home , after setting up a Prayer Retreat when  he was followed  on his motorcycle by 2 harassing drivers , one pushing him off the road , each having two passengers on their motorcycles forcing  him off  These six teenagers approached Pastor Luke in a threatening manner knocked him down and began to beat him with a club when he said 

" I don't have any money I am a Pastor" , and  wielding a  machete,  they chopped three fingers of his right hand off and stole his motorcycle leaving him stranded in excruciating pain. Pastor Luke then stumbled  to a house  nearby and was taken to a hospital. 

That happened in March and when we were with him  this past month he shared with us the story of his forgiveness of these young men as they were caught and how he is buying bibles for each of the perpetrators and shares the love of God with them.  

This is one of the most remarkable testimonies of forgiveness.

MORE VIETNAM

This legendary , near Centurion , at 96  used her cell phone in the seminar  as her Bible,  to follow the references. Her passion for Christian Service   remained  in focus  after receiving Christ at 14 years old .  Her dreams of marrying a Pastor were soon realised.   

Together  they had 11 children ,  and 10  have  followed her into late life. 

Her husband  at  37 years died during the War  recalling sadly his death some  60  years ago, she ruminated the trauma of that time.   As  she spoke  with remarkable clarity , "Alone , I  could not keep all my  little ones  safe  it was during the War and we lived in the Mekong Delta.  only God could keep all the children accounted for at that  difficult  time.  But God did , and they all lived. 

There is a Revival  in the church because she has been so consistently enthusiastic about the things of God, having founded the church and many people are attending.  When she was 80 she went to Malaysia as a missionary to the Vietnamese working there. . A young Vietnamese man became a Christian and she discipled him and when he returned to Vietnam, she put him through Bible school.  He is the pastor of the church today.

  I was also introduced to a beautiful young lady at our seminar at who went blind at 40.  With an interpreter we shared our hearts and faith and  candidly our .hopes, like the best of friends.  We cried together when we said good bye.

VIETNAM

There is much ministry that remains unable to be photographed.  Not all ministry is captured in a distribution or physical needs being met to the uninformed.  Often it is a ministry of Presence which means time being spent with those who have emotional and spiritual needs.  This becomes a very private time, not an photo op.  Ministry is also a time of unrequited grief as we shared with a local sister who lives here.  Prayer is powerful.

Here I am with a sister in the Mekong Delta.  She and her husband wanted to bless a few Church leaders plus Jim and I with a fresh crab dinner in their home.  This was in their humble home in the Mekong Delta.

TEARS OF JOY

 When we were introduced to each other , this Vietnamese woman  and I were moved to tears. She did not even express one hint of complain only  empathy and grace.  she lost her eyesight 8 years ago yet undiagnosed but loves Jesus and enjoys the assistance of those who read her bible to her everyday "  we fellpwshipped  with each  through a translator.  Her spirit was gentle and loving and we held each and cried and then we parted.  I could never forget Doy, despite her obstacles and lack of resources, she remains committed to Jesus and cares for others.

A Glimpse of India

 In mid February we arrived   Into the moving masses of humanity affectionately known as India .   Beautiful   Pallets of colour ,  worn as  Sari's, this is the  national dress , and ladies graced  through the crowds effortlessly .

 A familiar face brings  joy .   Rudy ,   Our American friend greeted us at   the airport and accompanied us in a taxi to where we would stay for a few days before we picked up our ongoing itinerary . 

 The images below are the stories and testimonies of India . 

 The woman standing next to me in the second picture is a converted Muslim   By way of a dream and a miraculous healing of her body that doctors only gave her two months to live.
 In the dream Jesus came to her and said he was going to heal her .  And in amazement she said but I am a Muslim and you are the Christian God why would you come to me ?
When she woke from her dream, the doctor confirmed that she was in fact healed as the tumour had completely disappeared.  Filled with joy she could not stop telling everybody that she spoke with Jesus and He had healed her . Her mother and father were out raged as she told them the story and began persecuting her, beating and burning all her clothing.
They kicked her out of the home, and the only place she found safe was in the train station whereupon she slept every night .  Only Christians provided charity, giving her food and looking after her. Later she came to Church and became part of that loving family.
  India's percentage of Christians  is 2.3% according to their total population of 1.3 billion.  Almost one billion Hindus which worship 330 million gods.  God loves India.

In 24 hours , we will have left for our work overseas .

 We arrived home from India back in the beginning of Spring ,  as the chill of winter subsided ,  and   bird songs filled the air .   We  longed for the  warmth of family gathering.   And our hearts became full with tremendous joy as we spent time with our kids and grandkids. What a treasure of memories we will keep forever .
 This year was tremendously busy, back to back on the calendar and now we are off  to a he Philippines, Vietnam and Burma.

 With suitcases packed to a modest limit we
leave behind those we love and miss already ,  anticipating and preparing for the stellar work ahead .
  The next post will be from the field .

This is an image gallery as last year 2016 this is an image gallery 2016

                              Images from  the Mission  Field