Pilgrims' Home

Herald Palladium Insights Section Is your faith one of movement? Published:  Saturday, January 29, 2011 1:06 PM EST My wife and I recently returned from a trip to Thailand. We traveled from the far north to the far south and places in between, exploring the vast terrains of Thailand for 12 days. The landscapes are beautiful, but what continually captured our attention was the dynamic and living Christian faith throughout the country. Our purpose for traveling to Thailand was to witness, first-hand, the movement of God in this country. We were there to meet Thai Christians and discover how they are living out their faith. Our exploration uncovered a lively faith that sent us home wondering, "How do we live more faithfully in God when we return home?" The work of Christians in Thailand is alive - the church is dynamic and the ministry is holistic. Without overly romanticizing the work in Thailand, it is clear that a love for God is deeply embraced by the believers in thi...

more photos at www.gallery.me.com/small_kyle/100064

Today we began with an extensive talk with Jim about the Sustainable Development and Relief foundation (SDRF). He is not merely inspiring but extremely efficient. His work involves people in their gift areas for the sake of community empowerment. Even more, the work is a brilliant avenue to see the gospel flourish. People come to say yes to Christ simply because they come to realize that their lives are not cursed but blessed. The flow of energy from the SDRF staff is christ-centered in ways I hope to invite others to when we return home. We are in Southern Thailand now (Songkhla), and we visited a ministry center today - CHAT. The ministry is committed to networking people with HIV/AIDS together for fellowship and sharing of health practices. In a world and local culture where interaction with people infected with HIV/AIDS is taboo, the loneliness of this disease is debilitating. When the Tsunami hit a few years ago, Jim and Nu-Chan came down here to assist in the redevelopment of t...

Thank you to everyone who has visited the blog. We will continue to write even after we return home, posting photos and videos of the trip. Sorry to be sparse on the photos, but internet has been so spotty that uploading was a bear. See you soon. We are missing the kids today. Kyle and Lindsay

Yesterday we woke up to the cool mountain air of North East Thailand and toured a local village and the innovative agriculture work in the area. We also saw the school built in partnership with the crown princess. These two projects invite wonder into what is going on…. The school allows over 20 villages to attend an accessible school. Prior to this school was limited to sixth grade, which largely meant post-sixth grade was an invitation to the sex industry or sweat shops. Now children are in school to ninth grade with future dreams of building a prep school or a 10-12 high school. These later years of education prepare students for university, which means choice beyond indentured servitude. We headed back to the center (SDRF) for lunch and the traditional string tying ritual. This was a powerful time of encouragement and blessing. It has become clear – friendship is the ability to bless one another. We headed back to Nan (south) to catch a plane from Nan to Hat Yai and the dr...

We woke up early to meet Jim and Curt for breakfast. We quickly loaded up the car (once we remembered to get our passports from one of the group members – that was a close one). We departed for Nan and then northward from there to the SDRF – The Sustainable Development and Research Foundation. It was a 4-8 hour drive, and we made in around 7….. We arrived to the SDRF at 4:00 to meet with SDRF staff and area church leaders. When I say “church leader” do not think elected council members. Instead think people who have come to Christ and desire to share this new life with others. These people are full of diligence in study and evangelism. When we sat down with the church leaders, Jim said “What is different now that you believe in Jesus Christ?” The stories that unfolded were dynamic testimonies of a God who heals, blesses, and changes families. There was no division in the gospel – it was not merely spiritual or physical or financial, but a holistic sense of the gospel that change...

We left the fish farm and headed up the mountain to ride the elephants-   yes – ride an elephant. These animals are something wonderful. They carried us further up the mountain, and the ride was through a beautiful rainforest/jungle. We enjoyed our pachyderm, and the adventure was a great joy. We traveled from the Elephant Farm to the newly purchased Thai Covenant Camp. The Thai Church has made a wise purchase to offer space and encouragement for young people to explore Christianity. The first project was the creation of a soccer field, which will provide a place of play and fellowship. There are additional plans to build a cafeteria and meeting space. Impressive.

In 1995 I was working at Twin Lakes Christian Center in central Iowa. A missionary joined us for a week at camp, named Randy. Randy was creating a fish farm in Northern Thailand at the time, and he spent the week sharing the work he was preparing. Travel 16 years later, and Lindsay and I were standing on the grounds of the fish farm alongside Randy. Randy and company have transformed a one-pond fish farm into a massive 9-12 pond farm employing 40 or so Thai. The ministry is offering jobs, food, and community to Thai villagers. This business is for God’s glory, and resources many other businesses in the area. We were very encouraged to be at the farm. Several of our prior congregations supported this work over the years. We were able to jump in the ponds and harvest fish eggs. The eggs are incubated in the mouths of the mother fish, so harvesting them is quite the exciting process. First you have to catch the fish in a small basket. Then you grab them in your hand, open the gills...

There is not much to say here – we rode a train for 12 hours (plus the two hour delay in departure from Bangkok). We departed from Bangkok at 6:45 am and arrived in Chiang Mai at 11:00 pm. We were tired, to say the least. We miss Harbert today. We greatly enjoy being in worship. We imagine that it was an energizing morning, as always.

We woke up this morning to a man’s voice over a loud-speaker.   Obviously, we do not understand Thai language, but it was clear that the day of celebrating children had begun – it was 6:30 am. Note: We have been staying in a ChumChon – known as a slum community (a derogatory term – we prefer Chum Chon, meaning neighborhood). The Chumchon is full of children and hospitality. We eat and sleep here with people of the community. Our host is Auntie (sp) and she calls Lindsay and I her “son and daughter” – it is wonderful. We eat our breakfast and evening meals at a table on the street. During breaks, we walk to the neighbor’s storefront and buy Coca-cola in glass bottles (refreshing). Today is Children’s Day around Thailand, and we are hosting a party with the people of the neighborhood Thailand Covenant Church (also located in the Chumchon). Nitya (sp) was our local leader/hostess, and she is an incredibly organized and diligent leader. She set up several games and invited our gr...

Joe and Becky operate a creative retail business in Bangkok that sells to women in the United States. Joseph (not a real name) is a graduate of Wheaton college and he and his wife, Rebekah, have created a business in the city to help women leave the prostitution and escort industry. There are multiple levels of sex-entertainment, and Joe is engaging the escort and Bar-girl scene, which is a major trade for single mothers. Joe and Becky visit bars and solicit invitations for conversation with the bar-girls. Many of these women are involved in the trade because it pays a decent wage and provides for their children. Joe and Becky invite the women to leave the bars and join their retail business. Women join Joe and Becky for recovery and creativity. The business creates fine jewelry and clothing that ultimately is exported to the US and sold via the methods of Pampered Chef or Tupperware parties. Joe believes the women are creating high-quality goods for social conscious purchasing. T...

The focus of the trip in Thailand is Money and Mission – also called “Business as Mission.” We spend a portion of each day meeting Christian business leaders (Thai business leaders and foreign business leaders). The first meeting was with a man named Chat. He operates a Christian bookstore that includes Bible Study books, encouraging films, and other media. Chat is innovative. There are Christian bookstores all over the country, namely in larger cities. These bookstores hope that passers-by will enter their stores and purchase their Christian books. The storefront operations believe that simply by store “presence” Buddhist Thai and others will enter the storefronts allowing the store-owners to witness to the gospel. Chat believes otherwise. Chat thinks that most of the Christian books and media are for the encouragement of Thai Christians and church leaders. He wants to encourage and equip churches with exceptional Christian books and media (published in the Thai language) for t...

Unfortunately the vidoes and photos we had hoped to post today are on our computer, but wi-fi access is impossible. We will post more two days from now. Thwe trip is going very well. We are healthy and engaged in good conversations on mission as business. We are talking with people who are doing business for God's glory - they ccreate jobs for formner prostitutes, offer sustainable services to communities and serve as encouragement in a culutre that needs it.. We hope all is well wherever you are. Mroe to come on Sunday. Kyle and Lindsay

Day 1 - Tuesday We departed Chicago bright and early, and on-time. The flight to Tokyo was 12 hours, and thankfully, Lindsay and I were able to sleep for most of the journey. It helped that we had bulk-head seats. Arriving in Tokyo invited time to walk around the airport. We were hoping for a light sushi meal, instead we enjoyed a Japanese fish-bowl, consisting of noodles, fish parts and soup broth. Overall, a great experience. We arrived in Bangkok late at night (mid-day Michigan time). The hotel accommodations were excellent, namely because of the warm shower that greeted us prior to an eight-hour rest. We rested relatively well, and awoke in the morning to a wonderful first full day.

In the midst of preparing to leave for Thailand several things are on our minds: 1. Our children - enough said. 2. Our loving, caring, and generous Church - Harbert Community Church has kept up with our fast-aced living since we arrived, and our trip to tHailand is no exception. The freedom they grant us to live into discipleship is wonderful, and we hope that our many adventures return the blessing that they grant to us. Pray for Kelly Boersma - who started full time at HCC this week! and also for Erin McDermott, our pastoral resident, who, together, will do an incredible job at leading the church in our absence. Also pray for Knute Larson who is preaching on Sunday, January 9. 3. The Andersons, Nortons, and Armfields - The three angels who will be caring for our children. This is a big endeavor for them, and as Jim Hannenberg said at worship yesterday - "though many are praying for you, I am praying for the people taking care of your children." Well said, Jim. 4. Da...