Sept – Dec 2012
MILLIONS
People
Places
participate
What's stopped you? Will God Forgive?
Laos Vietnam
The Mission Chain
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Bringing hope to hard places
We serve the church and seek to bring the gospel to all the peoples of East Asia. We help place Christians with professional skills in China and other Asian countries, and share the love of Christ with East Asians worldwide. Through God’s grace we aim to see an indigenous, biblical church planting movement in each people group of East Asia, evangelising their own people and reaching out in mission to other peoples.
From The editor ‘I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God: first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.’ James Hudson Taylor
We expect them, we try to move them, we wonder if they will ever come down. Dealing with barriers has always been a part of taking God’s message of salvation to the nations. Whether it’s spiritual opposition in Laos, the challenges of serving with your children, or just taking the first steps to becoming a cross-cultural worker, there are many things that could make progress seem impossible. In this issue, we look at a few challenges facing cross-cultural ministry and see how God has been at work overcoming them, bringing his forgiveness, peace, hope and security to each situation.
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PeoPLe PeoPLe
PLaCes
ParTiCiPaTe
Will God Forgive? A Khmer soldier's journey
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a New Life Freedom in Laos
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What Was stopping You? Barriers to leaving
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Bridging The Gap 12 Searching for truth in Vietnam
The Mission Chain Ever yone's involved
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Cross Cultural Kids 8 Members of the mission family News
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By Nathan Martin
PeoPLe
From 1975-1979, an estimated 2 million people were killed in Cambodia under Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime. The scars from that time remain in the country today.
Will God forgive?
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Profile: Nathan, Brianna & Caleb Martin OMF Cambodia are focusing on the unreached up-country areas
OMF Cambodia workers: 80
One of our team’s current priorities is to disciple members of the small worship group that meets in the nearby village of Snuol Leitch. At times, it feels like the group is hanging by a thread, but we know behind the scenes it continues by the grace of God. Daniel and I meet weekly with Sann, the man who leads the group, to reflect together on a Bible passage in preparation for Sunday. Recently, we read in Matthew 5 from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says not only those who kill, but also those who are angry and say evil things about others, are in danger of judgement. In the first read through, Sann fell asleep while reading out loud. ‘It’s going to be a long afternoon,’ I thought to myself. We read it again and Sann asked me to explain, saying ‘I don’t understand any of it.’ I did some basic teaching on Jesus not just looking at our outward actions, but also at our heart when it comes to judging sin. We talked more about sin and our need for forgiveness through Jesus. After reading the passage again, Sann asked, ‘Does Christ’s forgiveness cover sins you don’t know are sins?’ Good question. We talked more, affirming that, yes, Christ paid it all on the cross. Then Sann asked, ‘What about soldiers who shoot and kill people? Will Christ forgive them?’ I had
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OMF Workers in Snoul: 2
Hanoi
no idea where Sann was going with this. ‘Yes, Christ will forgive if they believe.’ Sann continued, ‘What if during Pol Pot somebody shot and killed several people…’ Daniel got it before I did. Sann wasn’t talking hypothetically; he was talking about himself. Sann then told us the story in detail, of him running, of him crying later, of being afraid to talk to God about what he did, even though he has been a believer for several years. Reading the Bible with Sann the past couple of weeks has been a struggle, but it was an amazing blessing to see the Holy Spirit go far beyond anything I had planned. God used this text to cut Sann to the heart and bring healing where there was doubt and pain. Our time together ended with Sann offering up this pain and doubt in his heart to Christ in prayer, then clapping his hands in joy at this new, deeper understanding of the radical goodness of his saviour.
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Prayer • Please join with us in praying for the four members of the Snuol Leitch worship group. • Pray for Sann to continue to grow in his knowledge of the love of God for us in Christ Jesus. • Pray for God to give Sann a shepherd’s heart for his family and the little flock that meets in his home. • Pray for his neighbours to see an ongoing transformation in Sann that would be a light to them as well. • Lastly, pray for ongoing faith, despite the regular insults that come for being labeled a Christian in this area.
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Security Procedure
1 Take Off Coat
2 Empty Pockets
3 Remove Shoes
4 Undo Belt
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5 Proceed
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People
What was stopping you? We asked a few OMFers about challenges they faced before heading to East Asia. Here is what they said... Joao Pedro, Japan
Charles Chalmers, Phillipines (now UK)
On my journey to becoming a missionary in Japan, the biggest barrier I faced was losing my comfort. In my 7 years in the UK, I had developed a successful and meaningful ministry. I was also on my way to receiving British citizenship, so my life was very comfortable and stable. Eventually, the Lord spoke clearly to me in Hebrews 11:8 to take a step in faith and give it all up to be part of his amazing work here in Japan.
Not having a wife! But God provided for me in the Philippines, a beautiful Welsh lady, with the same calling to the same work and organisation!
Darren Wall, Cambodia (now UK) I was in the RAF at a point where serving for a further four years seemed to be financially beneficial for supporting our young family. At the same time we felt the Lord prompt us to start enquiring about serving God in mission overseas. Working through the application it became clear we should take the next step; joining OMF. After this it was beyond doubt that, regardless of the financial implications, leaving the RAF was right.
Nathaniel Jennings, Ireland My passion was for Asia and to serve the Lord there. The Lord gave me peace that this was the direction I should travel to honour him. However, other idols came close to distracting me and derailing me from the wonderful adventure the Lord had for me. I shudder when I look back and consider that I was tempted to trade God’s best for me for ultimately empty worldly pursuits.
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Helena Dykes, Thailand My neighbour and my son said they did not think I would be any good at what I was going out to do! Looking back they were probably right, but God asked me and I knew he would take care of me and my family; the responsibility lay with him. I met wonderful people, loved church there, learned to speak some Thai, kept well, finished well.
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Caroline Steer, Thailand Me? A missionary? That was my staggered response to a challenge raised during a Serve Asia trip to Thailand. I didn’t think that my life would be spent away from all I knew in the UK. When I suggested to my parents that perhaps I should return to Thailand long term, there was a stunned silence. Would they understand and accept this call for their only unmarried daughter? My parents met with some of the OMF Thailand team and in trust, released me to serve the gospel here.
Julia Birkett, Thailand My feelings about the career path that family members would expect me to take, after getting a good education, could have stopped me getting to the mission field. Fortunately, God gave me the courage to trust him and to communicate with those dearest to me about my passion to serve God overseas.
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PeoPLe
Challenges for Cross-Cultural Kids
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Children of OMF workers face huge challenges as they grow up in multi-cultural environments while their parents share the gospel. Third Culture Kids (TCK's) are valued members of the mission family and need our prayers too.
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Prayer Guide Global Nomads, Multi Cultural Kids, Third Culture Kids (TCKs), children of missionaries. They may be called different things, but they have experienced multiple transitions, and count people from other countries among their closest friends. 30 Days of Prayer for Third Culture Kids will help you understand what challenges they face each day. Contact your local OMF centre to buy this prayer guide.
To the Ends of the Earth For families with young children one of the biggest barriers to going on mission is risking the health and safety of their children. Trusting in God’s protection becomes second nature to parents. ‘It took three days of driving on bumpy roads over high mountain passes to reach the places God has put on our hearts. We spent four nights sleeping in a tent and I wondered how 14-monthold Sara would cope. Thankfully, she was the one who slept best, even when all our bedding was soaked by heavy rainfall! We visited a dear friend who has tuberculosis, and his uncle with leprosy. Their simple home was filthy, and everyone wanted to hold and kiss Sara. Thoughts about what illness and grime I was exposing my daughter to crossed my mind, but, as I witnessed the joy and love she was giving these needy people, I was reminded of who my daughter belongs to first. Praise God that she was completely healthy throughout our travels! As I think about living here, I must bring all my fears and concerns about the health and safety of my children to the feet of Jesus. God did such a good job of looking after me as a young Third Culture Kid (TCK), I know without a doubt that I can trust him with my own kids even with the challenges of life in the mountains.’ Missionary mother who is also an adult TCK
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Cross Culture? ‘Mum, why do they say nasty words to me?’ my son asked. ‘They’re not saying nasty words. They are speaking Japanese,’ I replied. I greeted a friend. She turned her attention to my three-year old James. ‘Ohayo Daigo-kun.’ He tried to hit her and she laughed. ‘Jamie, she’s just saying hello. Gomen nasai (Sorry),’ I apologised to my friend. ‘He doesn’t understand yet.’ This was a common scenario back in Japan after home assignment. Our son’s world tipped upside down. The only constant was family, and even that changed with a new little brother and Dad now teaching full time. Nothing was the same, so James lashed out. We endured hours of tantrums. Would it ever end? Was there something wrong with my child? Thankfully, I discovered better and more effective ways of managing the tantrums and they eased gradually. I learned to persist in my parenting, and learned to appreciate the positives in his character. Mother of three TCKs
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Prayer • For God’s wisdom in assessing the risks involved in ministry locations for families. • For God’s peace to garrison the hearts of parents and TCKs. • Each TCK to find his or her identity and belonging in the family of God. • TCKs to experience God’s transformation of events in their lives so they reach their potential.
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Vientiane
Laos
Bangkok Phnom Penh
PLaCes
a New Life
Population: Major Religions:
6.2 Million Buddhism, Ethnic Religions
People Groups: Unreached Groups: Christian:
148 126 1.9%
More than 130,000 So people live in Laos. Their Buddhist beliefs are mixed with traditional animism. Remote from believers and far away spiritually, the barriers to one man finding faith might seem too great.
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Tongsin is a man who lives in a cluster of So villages surrounded by beautiful mountains in Laos. Tongsin lost his three-year-old daughter to a disease several years ago and as a folk Buddhist, associated the disease with spirits. Not only had the spirits taken away his daughter, but they then began to torment him to the point where he was no longer in control of his mind or body. He began to live as an outcast in the surrounding jungle near the cemetery. At night he would sneak into the village and steal food. His situation became so dire that, for everyone’s safety, the villagers built a cage out of wood and bamboo to put him in. The spirit doctors tried their best mantras and enchantments, but it was all in vain. No-one could help Tongsin. A friend in a nearby village had heard a bit about Jesus. He wasn’t a follower, but decided to ‘beg to Jesus’ for Tongsin. This worked! Tongsin came to his right mind and began telling the villagers what had happened. Thinking he was still crazy, they caged him for a second time and for good measure they also bound his hands and feet. Yet Tongsin prayed to Jesus and the bonds on his hands immediately fell off. No-one could deny any longer that this was a changed man. Tongsin wanted to learn much more about this Jesus. He sought out a very old Christian leader in a nearby town. They told him to rid himself of every idol, charm, trinket and belief that had to do with the demons and the old way, and to trust, follow and pray to Jesus with his whole heart. Since that day, Tongsin has been released from his afflictions and the sound of praise can be heard from his little thatched house every Sunday morning. He and his entire household believe. In the last two years, Tongsin and his family have led over 35-40 So people to the Lord. His faith is so contagious that many are coming to him for prayer, healing, and freedom from demons in the name of Jesus.
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Prayer • Ask God to strengthen, encourage, and protect the few known So Christians. • Pray that the So believers will have opportunities to share the Gospel with their own people. • Ask God to call Christian medical teams and development workers to go to Laos and live among the So. • Pray for completion of Bible translation in the So language.
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Vietnam
Hanoi
Bangkok Phnom Penh
Population: Christian: Video:
89 Million 2% go.omf.org/vnprayercast
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PLaCes
Nối một nhịp cầu
Bridging the Gap Vietnam on Ong Troi
Lan’s Story
Thuy’s Story
Vietnamese people grow up with a mixture of traditional ancestor worship and folk Buddhism, in addition to the more recent communist atheistic teaching. Within their understanding, Ong Troi, or the god of the heavens, is believed to be the one who created the heavens and the earth and continues to influence daily life, rewarding the good and punishing the bad. Though Buddha may be worshipped and other deities and spirits are believed to exist, Ong Troi is considered to be the highest-ranking and most fundamental power.
Lan was searching for a more personal spiritual power in her life. Ong Troi seemed too distant a god. She had searched earnestly for something more personal - she became devout in attendance at the Buddhist temple with her mother, however there she found only religious practices that failed to meet this longing. ‘I was searching for a god whom I could know personally’. One day Lan was invited by a friend to go to a meeting at the local church and she was struck by one man’s testimony. This man described coming to know Duc Chua Troi, the Lord of the heavens, who had not only created the heavens and earth but had also expressed His personal love for us through the sacrifice of His only son. This was what Lan had be thirsting for and she happily accepted Christ into her life.
Thuy grew up in a communist family in which all mention of religion was pushed to one side. However, Thuy had also heard of Ong Troi and understood him to be the creator of the world, so when she faced problems in life she would pray for his help. As a result, when Thuy heard of Jesus’ sacrificial love for her she understood what it meant to have a personal relationship with God, who was much more than just someone to turn to in difficult times.
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Like Lan and Thuy’s experiences, the concept of Ong Troi is a recurring link in the stories of Vietnamese people coming to know the true living God. Christians are able to use this existing understanding as a bridge to share the full truth about the Lord God of Heaven.
Prayer • Pray for foreign workers in Vietnam to have deep insights into the culture to enable them to bring the message of salvation to those they meet. • Praise that Vietnamese churches would know how to use these links to reach people. • Pray that Vietnamese people will cross the bridge from Ong Troi to Duc Chua Troi. • Pray that a recent booklet, Vietnamese People and Ong Troi would be an effective tool in reaching many in this land.
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participate
The Mission Chain Aim: Show the vital teamwork with many different roles needed to equip and support a missionary to share the gospel with someone in another culture. Where do you fit in the chain? For Whom, When And How Long? A 5-10 minute activity for a mission slot in a worship service, prayer meeting or youth group. Could also be a children’s talk but not limited to that. 14
Resources • A range of props to represent the different roles and activities in the chain • At least seven volunteers willing to make the chain at the front of the meeting.
Introduction As the presenter, invite two people to stand as far apart as possible across the platform (or at the front of the meeting area) to represent the physical and cultural distance between someone who wants to be a missionary and an unreached people group in East Asia.
Ask The Audience What will it take to bridge the gap? What activities or people are needed to equip Missionary Joe to share the gospel with Li Cheng in China? Experience has shown that if Joe just hops on a plane to
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Asia and starts talking to Li, it won’t be very effective. There’s much more to it than meets the eye.’ Ask people to call out specific roles and invite them to stand (with the appropriate prop) at an appropriate point in the line between Joe and Li; i.e. roles in Asia nearer Li, UK roles nearer Joe. Prompt the group from the list below as required or wave the props as clues to the role. Be creative; the props listed are just suggestions. Do come up with better ones! You can reduce or add roles depending on the time available and depth of explanation that’s appropriate (e.g. member care specialists in Asia are not mentioned below).
Links In The Mission Chain Would-be Missionary Joe: holding a Bible – ideally a foreign language one. Sending church leader or mission committee person: with a box of
matches to discern, kindle and commission Joe’s calling into mission, like in Acts 13:1-3. Mission agency mobiliser – with coffee mug and/or whistle to show their role in mentoring and coaching Joe in his journey into mission. Mission agency interviewer with a clipboard or folder of papers to represent the screening and application process. Medical Adviser with stethoscope, or syringe, white coat etc. GPs and mission agency medics check Joe and his family’s health to survive and thrive in other climates, often with more basic living conditions. Finance person with calculator or a few foreign bank notes to show the administration needed to supply Joe and his family with their personal and ministry needs. Language helper with foreign language dictionary or flash cards. Joe will need to spend one to two years
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learning to speak another language. Most languages in Asia are difficult for Westerners to grasp so language teachers are vital in encouraging missionaries to persevere. Teachers for Joe’s children with text book and teddy bear. Missionary children may attend international schools or be home-schooled. Boarding home parents and assistants care for children attending school away from their parents serving in remote locations without adequate schools. Other missionaries also with foreign language Bible. OMF missionaries live and serve in teams facilitated by experienced leaders to share gifting, fellowship and be more effective in ministry together. These will be a range of nationalities; these days more and more Koreans and Brazilians. Local Christians with ethnic hat, scarf, shirt, chopsticks. Apart from pioneer contexts, Joe will serve alongside and disciple believers among the local people equipping them to reach out to their friends and neighbours.
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Li Cheng – also with ethnic hat, scarf, shirt, chopsticks. Representing the hundreds of unreached people groups of East Asia that OMF is partnering with the East Asian believers to reach with the gospel.
The Missing Link Challenge your listeners that there’s one further role that’s absolutely vital to complete the chain. It’s all of them – as those who will pray for and support Joe and his family. Prayer is not an optional sideline; it’s frontline work that has direct consequences for the effectiveness of Joe’s and other’s work in reaching Li Cheng and his people. [If someone suggests the prayer role earlier in the presentation, say ‘That’s great but we’ll come back to that later.’]
Breaking The Chain If there’s time, ask what happens if one role in the chain is missing, e.g. if there’s no medical adviser to pick up that Joe has asthma and shouldn’t serve in a dusty place like Mongolia. What if a language helper is taken ill, how would
this affect Joe’s ability to meet with Li Cheng? What if the church members don’t pray for and encourage Joe?
Key Learning Points ‘There should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.’ 1 Corinthians 12: 25 For those who are not directly involved in cross-cultural mission, it may be difficult to recognise how many people are involved in helping a missionary reach a non-believer. God created his church as a body, each part having a different role. Mission works in the same way. We may only see the missionary who is at the forefront of the work, but in reality there are many others who dedicate their time to supporting and resourcing the missionary. Each of these people is equally important, including you. Missions are ministry of the mutually committed. Some committed believers stay home and some committed believers go but we are all committed to reaching the world with the gospel of Christ.
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People
News God is at work in the lives of East Asians; here's how OMFers are joining in. Mission’s Medical Man
Sing to the Lord A small team of development workers have built good relationships with the local community in a remote mountain area of China. One warm and sunny Sunday afternoon, a member of the team was listening to a Christian Praise CD when a neighbour knocked on the door. She explained that her eightyear-old son often enjoyed listening to the songs that he could hear through the open windows. He had learned the tunes and sang them enthusiastically but wanted to know more about the English words and what they meant. Would their neighbour teach him? So began a regular English singing class on Sunday afternoons which soon attracted as many as 25 children to enjoy games, Bible stories and songs.
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Gospel Fuelled Bus A long bus ride to Bangkok might have been tedious for Bob Trelogan had it not been for the five interesting conversations he had with fellow passengers on the journey. He chatted to a retired teacher, a motorbike taxi driver, a minibus driver, an airconditioning technician and a man who remembered foreigners teaching the Bible at his primary school. All had met Christians in the past who had made a favourable impression so Bob was able to share the Gospel, give them literature, his phone number, advice about nearest churches and the wavelength of his radio programme.
What do you do if you are a missionary in a remote area and your child suddenly becomes very sick or suffers a serious accident? In circumstances like these, missionaries are very grateful for the advice and support of OMF’s Regional Medical Advisors serving across East Asia. OMF now have a new International Medical Advisor who has taken over from Dr Stroma Beattie. Dr George Khoo and his wife Mabel joined OMF in July 2012. George is from Singapore, an ex-Navy doctor and trained in occupational health and general practice. He has worked as Medical Director for a large medical evacuation company, so brings a wealth of experience in crisis management.
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