Staking a Claim?

Who will influence the children of the next generation?


Is it possible that while the Christian community quietly relaxes in a comfortable recliner reading the latest article on how to "Be a Christian and not Create Waves", the Islam community is aggressively establishing Muslim prayer rooms in our favorite Department Stores?

Don't be fooled. There are millions of Muslims willing to go after those "unreached people" all around the world, including Thailand! There are billions of Buddhist who still have no clear understanding of who Jesus is, or that they were created by the loving and powerful God of the universe. These unreached people aren't going to magically hear about Jesus Christ if the Christian community remains silent or cloistered away from them. Have we become too concerned with being proper, non-intrusive, or politically correct to be of any significant impact on the world around us?

How does one become compelled, to reach out, to embrace people with the Good News and love of Jesus? If we aren't concerned about such things, don't worry, our bold Muslim neighbors are willing to fill in the gap...and if they don't, the Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses are also out in full force! They aren't just visiting your local neighborhoods, or setting up shop at the corner market, they are sending their people to other lands to stake a claim. They are finding creative ways to build relationships and establish themselves in new communities. Wake up people.

Advantages to living in the Nana- You get a front row seat to the Songkran festivities!

Yesterday my roof became the perfect place to hang out after I'd had enough water activities! Six stories up on our top deck we have a very long garden hose. The hose came in handy to spray unsuspecting "passers-by" in true Songkran style! Got a lot of laughs and the guy across the way decided to do the same from his roof. Who says you have to be fluent in language to influence people- just kidding!

What can we learn from the Thai and their Songkran Festival?

Right in the middle of heated RED Shirt demonstrations, killings and blood curses against the government....the Thai people take a three day "time-out" to celebrate Songkran.

For the next three days most of the waring in the Kingdom will come to a halt. It's such an odd thing. The atmosphere has shifted from angry fighting mobs with knives and guns...to laughter, dancing and water fights in the streets with giant plastic guns.

Maybe EVERY WARING NATION should consider such a "time-out". They should consider taking out their aggressions with giant orange and green plastic, semi-automatic water guns. It's hard to stay angry at each other when you're being chased down the street by someone in miss-matched flip-flops, a flower printed shirt and a hot pink wig!

This little guy is getting an early start to the Songkran Festival. Songkran is some what like our New Year’s Celebration in the US. Songkran is celebrated from April 13-15th. It's a three day, Kingdom-wide block party, water fight! Lots of celebrating, dancing and usually excessive drinking- not water!

Although the origin of the Songkran festival is embedded in layers of ancestor and idol worship; there are some redemptive analogies to observed in this culture. This Songkran, may the people of Thailand draw their attentions to the One, True God, who washed away all our sins and made us clean through Jesus. May they hunger and thrist for truth and come to know what it means to drink of the Living Water.

The Songkran is a time for Thai people to honor those who are older. A blessing of appreciation is given to them by pouring fragrant water over their hands and feet.

Our girls at the ministry center prepare for Songkran by gathering water, consecrating it by means of prayer and then adding some fragrant flowers. Next, it's time to gather all the "older" people- yes, as you can see by the picture below, I qualified.

The pouring of water begins. As we sit in a long row of chairs outside, all the younger women come through on their knees (one by one) and pour water on us and speak a short blessing.

Towards the end of this ceremony the water then gets poured everywhere else- Oh, accidentally down your back, on your head or with ice water etc. It is expected and all in goods fun! This is the subtle que that the water fight is about to begin! In a few minutes EVERYONE IS GOING TO GET DRENCHED.

For the next three days, anyone, anywhere is a target. If you step out of your house, chances are you will get very wet. After you're soaking wet, someone might come by and throw powder on you. Then you look like a ghost! Sorry, no Songkran photos of myself in this lovely condition as my camera is not water proof! So enjoy these photos of others getting soaked.

Young, old, native Thai or Foriegners- everyone is in on the action. School and most major businesses are closed. which is good because you can't get to work without getting totally wet!

In the North of Thailand, even the elephants get in on the Songkran action!

Simple and Fresh

Easter weekend I treated myself to something I really enjoy- a Thai cooking class! We shopped at local outdoor markets and were taught how to chopped, sliced, peel and prepare all of our own food in an authentic style- while sitting on the floor!

The secret to good Thai food is fresh ingredient that is cooked quickly. This includes the soups and curries. In the states we might cook a soup all day to extract the flavors, but here you crush (pulverize with a stone pestle ) many of the spices to release the flavors. We made five courses from scratch and cooked them outside on the deck. It was a really fun experience and I enjoyed every bite!

Not an average Night!

Hard to see, but I consider these lips stick marks on my cheek to be a precious treasure! Received them as a token of appreciation from a women we minister to in the Red Light district. Some of the women are trafficked into Thailand by European countries. They are significantly different than the Thai or Issan women who are trafficked here. The Thai women are usually more approachable. Many of the European women appear to be more calloused, harder to connect with. That is understandable as their have been very rough! As a rule the Eupopeans are more isolated and heavily "supervised" if in a public setting. Tonight we gain access to a few of them through our simple Valentine Day outreach.

Night Bars seem to come in four flavors- for lack of other descriptive words. They progress from street front, to inside, to second floor, to third floor. Each level gets progressively more bizarre/corrupt/twisted? Sometimes the upper floors are referred to as the place to see "freak shows", for reasons I will not elaborate on! My team of four women delivered Valentines Day treats to second and third floor bars.

There is something a little surreal about being mobbed by a swarm of lady boys (young men who appear to be lovely young women) dressed in high heels, lacy bras and tiny panties anxious to receive one of our Valentines Day treats!
Our arrival created such a stir that the "stage show" came to almost a complete stop as the lady boys were jumping down off stage to see us, give us hugs and an occasional kisses on the cheek. It all about relationships around here, and this small act of kindness won us a good amount of favor in the bars and in our neighborhood.

I love that God has placed us right in the middle of all this activity.(All these establishments are in my neighborhood- my home is surrounded on all sidesby this activity) Last night one of the lady boys took me to the top seating to introduce me to more of his/her? friends. As the lady boy read the note inside the bag of chocolates, he/she held up the note and said with a questioning tone, God loves me? Really, me? Is this true? Then the lady boy hugged me and shouted across the room, "God loves ME!" Not exactly your average night at a "freak show" bar! Praise God!

May we continue to be compelled to step out of our comfort zones as we extend the love of Jesus to all.

Heading for Bangkok

Click on Newsletter to ENLARGE and READ

BOGS- FACEBOOK-TWITTER

Couldn't find a definition that made sense to me,
so came up with my own...

The idea behind a BLOG (web-log-journal)is to
follow along "little by little" through life's
adventures....somewhat like a lunch date
with your good friend- more time spent and
more info shared. FACEBOOK, on the other
hand, is like grabbing an expresso at the
coffee bar together! They are both good, but
different ways to "catch up" on communications.
TWITTER...well, I haven't figured that
one out yet. Maybe it's more like WAVING
out your windows as your cars ZOOM past each other?

Got a Craving?

One of my favorite treats when I was in Thailand was sticky rice and mangos, but my Thai friends preferred DONUTS. It was always a special treat to buy donuts, especially around the Holidays. Oh my gosh- those look so delicious. I am totally craving chocolate donuts right now. So I figures I would post some on my blog instead of posting them on my thighs! Yummy- those look so good. Okay, everybody enjoy!

Sticky Rice and Mango

Languages of the world

How many languages can you speak? It is possible to learn many languages, but the one language we should all become fluent in, is the language of LOVE.


요한복음 3 (Korean Bible)
요한복음 3
16하나님이 세상을 이처럼 사랑하사 독생자를 주셨으니 이는 저를 믿는 자마다 멸망치 않고 영생을 얻게 하려 하심이니라
17하나님이 그 아들을 세상에 보내신 것은 세상을 심판하려 하심이 아니요 저로 말미암아 세상이 구원을 받게하려 하심이라

Jóhannesarguðspjall 3 (Icelandic Bible)
Jóhannesarguðspjall 3
16Því svo elskaði Guð heiminn, að hann gaf son sinn eingetinn, til þess að hver sem á hann trúir glatist ekki, heldur hafi eilíft líf.
17Guð sendi ekki soninn í heiminn til að dæma heiminn, heldur að heimurinn skyldi frelsast fyrir hann.

約 翰 福 音 3 (Chinese Union Version (Simplified))
約 翰 福 音 3
16 「 神 爱 世 人 ， 甚 至 将 他 的 独 生 子 赐 给 他 们 ， 叫 一 切 信 他 的 ， 不 至 灭 亡 ， 反 得 永 生 。
17 因 为 神 差 他 的 儿 子 降 世 ， 不 是 要 定 世 人 的 罪 （ 或 作 ： 审 判 世 人 ； 下 同 ） ， 乃 是 要 叫 世 人 因 他 得 救 。

ﻳﻮﺣﻨﺎ 3 (Arabic Life Application Bible)
16 لأَنَّهُ هكَذَا أَحَبَّ اللهُ الْعَالَمَ حَتَّى بَذَلَ ابْنَهُ الْوَحِيدَ، لِكَيْ لاَ يَهْلِكَ كُلُّ مَنْ يُؤْمِنُ بِهِ، بَلْ تَكُونُ لَهُ الْحَيَاةُ الأَبَدِيَّةُ.
17 فَإِنَّ اللهَ لَمْ يُرْسِلِ ابْنَهُ إِلَى الْعَالَمِ لِيَدِينَ الْعَالَمَ، بَلْ لِيَخْلُصَ الْعَالَمُ بِهِ،

Here is a great website that translates the Bible into many languages.
Pick the passages you are interested in reading. Enjoy!

Click on:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%203%20;&version=75;

Who has captivated your heart?

Like most Holidays, Valentines Day arrives packed with memories and emotions that can easily cause me to become too melancholy. So I decided to use the Holiday to celebrate God's heart for the Nations. I invited some friends to my home for a special evening, we decorate Valentines Day cookies! Actually, it was just a wonderful excuse to gather some amazing women together for the purpose of building relationships! It turned out to be quite an international event.

My guests were varied in ages from 23 to 60 years and had differing economic backgrounds, ancestors, cultures and languages. Most of them had never met each other until that night. One of the women just arrived in the USA three months ago and is still learning English. What a great joy to see these beautiful women from Buddhist, Muslim, Orthodox, Christian and non-Christian worldviews, interacting together as if they had known each other for years.

Valentines Day is all about LOVE. This year I was blessed to have Syrian, Armenian, Burmese, Assyrian, Jewish, European and American women all laughing and sharing stories together in my kitchen! What a great opportunity to love people with the love of Jesus. Building friendships and creating fun memories turned out to be a perfect way to celebrate Valentines Day. God’s heart is for all the Nations and lucky for us, He continues to place plenty of internationals right on our doorsteps! These are people who God cares about and He expects us to be kind and gracious to them. Will they know we are Christians by our love? As followers of Jesus, we are called to LOVE people with the supernatural, irresistible love of our Heavenly Father!

Luke 2:11

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

On my last trip to Southeast Asia a villager was asked "Have you ever heard of Jesus?" The man responded with hesitance, "I haven't seem him today, maybe he is visiting the next village?"

Today there is an estimated 6.64 billion people on planet Earth. Of those, approximately 2.68 billion have never heard of Jesus. They have never had anyone explain the Gospel to them in their own language, in the context of their culture. They have limited information, or none at all as to "The Savior... Christ the Lord." Many of those 2.68 billion "unreached or least reached" people live in an area referred to as the 10/40 Window.

"The core of the unreached people of our world live in a rectangular-shaped window Often called The Resistant Belt, the window extends from West Africa to East Asia, from ten degrees north to forty degrees north of the equator. If we are serious about providing a valid opportunity for every person to experience the truth and saving power of Jesus Christ, we cannot ignore the compelling reality of The 10/40 Window regions and its billions of impoverished souls." Luis Bush, International Director of the AD2000

10/40 Window designated by the red area on map.

I'm always asked, "Why go to Thailand or Myanmar, or any country in Southeast Asia when there is so much to be done here?" My response to that question is usually, why are so many staying here, when there are thousands who are perishing daily without eternal hope or knowledge of the One True God who created them?

Man's beautiful treasures...

Decorations gathered together to celebrate Christmas!

God's beautiful treasures...
Villagers from Myanmar gathered together to hear the true story behind the celebration of Christmas for the first time!

Singapore - No room at the Inn?

Myanmar-No Inn with a room!

Holiday decorations in Singapore

Holiday decorations in Myanmar

Elegant vs Simple

The gift of Christmas is Salvation through Jesus Christ. It is offered to ALL mankind, wealthy and sophisticated, poor or uneducated. That is the beauty of Christmas!

To hear or read more about the ultimate Christmas Gift, check this link http://www.jesus2020.com/jesus.html or scroll up to the column on the right, Kathy's Lost and Found. Merry Christmas and much love to you all. Many blessings, Kathy

Jesus said Go!

After watching Mission 2008- You can click on the individual photos, move them around and view them again more closely. Alright, let's Go! This was my second time to Myanmar to help with free medical, dental and vision clinics. As usual, it was humbling and an amazingly fruitful time, These trips are intense, with very little down time to rest, but worth every once of energy! In a matter of a few weeks we traveled may long miles to multiple locations. We treated 1,738 patients and witnessed 544 conversions! Every villager who arrives for treatment was presented with the gospel before we administered care. This was usually done in groups of 10 so, in their own language. Since most Buddhists we worked with had no idea who Jesus was, or what Christians believe, we made it a priority to unfold that information to all that attended. We found the general population very receptive and eager to hear this good news. (I'm pretty sure their "open-ness" to God's truths had to do with the amount of time the local Believers spend in prayer and fasting before we arrived!) For those interested in hearing more, I will be sharing these adventures with my home church in the near future-so keep a look out for times and dates. If you have any questions about the group I traveled with, contact me at klb@pacific.net. Do to security, I am unable to post that information on this site. Thank you for your prayers! To God be the glory, great things He has done.

Night Life in Chiang Mai

When you want to visit the prostitutes, you have to be ready to expect a long night! I was invited to join my Thai friend for a "night out" while in Chiang Mai. My friend works with a ministry team who targets the "women of the night". I considered it a great privilage to join her on one of those nights.

This "night rider" was my ticket into the brothels and pubs downtown. An earlier conversation with her lead to an invitation for me to join her that night. She lost her ministry partner a few months ago and hadn't been able to head into the district by herself. She was thrilled to have someone eager to accompany her. We met for prayer and then zoomed off in the dark on her motercycle! What a great opportunity. I learned a lot as I observed her in action. She is one brave young lady!

Soooooo.....what do you do once you get to the pubs? Well, you order an orange soda and play whatever board games they have available.

I was there to learn so I took my directions from my friend. She has been working for months to gain the girls trust. We went in easy, relaxed and low key. We engage in conversations and spent alot of time listening and laughing with the girls. This seemd to please the bar owner. (It's very important to keep the bar owner happy!) Her girls were enjoying themselves with us, which caused additional people passing by to be curious and stop in to see what was happening.

My Thai friend has an amazing way about her, she simply pours out compassion and tenderness to these women. Most of the bar girls are happy to have someone to talk to, someone who will listen to their story. The young lady (on the right) left her village two months ago to try and earn money. Her younger sister just arrived three weeks ago for the same reason. They have only been at this work a short time and yet their eyes tell you it has been an eternity.

The goal is to reach these girls with the Good News before they are swollowed up in the darkness of prostitution and drugs. Many young girls like this are out on the streets all night by themselves which makes them easy prey. This girl can't be much more than 11 or 12 years old.

These darling little faces are just a few of the hundreds who run the streets all night long. Many children of the young girls and women who work in the brothels or pubs have no were to go while their mothers are "working". My Thai friend and I had fun visiting with some of the street children that night. They seemed to enjoy the extra attention!


Of course the little ones are always begging for money, but my friend wisely takes them around the corner market instead. They can pick out two treats, something to eat and drink. Then we give them a little money to pay the cashier. This makes them feel very important, it also helps keep peace with the store owners who these children usually steal from.