Jumping Food

“We are thinking about starting a jumping food business.”I laughed and laughed when I heard this from our military Christian leaders at Unit 51 and 14. We had been discussing creative ideas for micro businesses when they told me about their idea for a frog farm. One of my goals while I was in Cambodia this time was to connect with the three community leaders we have been working with to get an updated report on how ministry is going. This was the first time I had seen these men in several months due to our trip back to the States this summer and boy, how I had missed them.Each of them had a time to share about what the Lord is doing among the men and families of the different units, and I have to tell you that I have 

never been more encouraged by what I heard.
I heard story after story of growth and maturity among the military believer, stories of how officers who were once against the Christians are now giving their lives to the Lord, stories of provincial governors calling military villages “model

communities”.

In the case of Unit 51

where we are implementing our first CUP (community uplift program) project, we are seeing a tremendous

change happening. A community where you once would see trash everywhere, men getting drunk all the time, spouse

 abuse, and a general lack of hope and motivation is now being called a “model community”.

They have already put in 53 organic gardens, 2 water wells, and new sanitary toilets.
We are helping them by supplying 50 families with starter chickens, but they are responsible to build and prepare their own chicken houses that must be built to certain specifications. Thirty-nine are already finished. It is amazing to see them take ownership of this project. It truly is a “Hand-up” and not a “Hand-out”.

Unit 14 is probably the most organized ministry I have seen there so far. Capt. Savorn has 13 Christian leaders he is training, one for each sub-division of their unit (as shown written out in the picture below). 

13 Leaders for all the sub-divisions
Their community will be the location for the next CUP project once their leaders have been discipled and are showing maturity.
There is however a water supply project that we are considering helping them with so that they can start with some organic gardens. This unit is near a mountain that has water coming down all year but is about 1000 meters from the camp. I am helping them engineer a plan to get the water to them. (This is right up my alley with the engineering training I received while in the Navy SeaBees)
We are going to need about $1500 and a good GPS device which I will be able to use on future projects.

We continue to be excited about ministry here, as you can tell! 

Rockies Game

Take me out to the ball game at Coors Field in Denver.

Thank you Leo and Susan for the great seats behind homeplate!

Summer in the States

Here is our schedule for traveling in the states this summer:

30 May - Thailand and fly to San Jose Ca.

June 6th - 25th Denver, Co area.
July 4th – 9th northern Ca.
July 21st – 28th southern Ca.
The in-between times we will be in San Jose and then we fly back to Thailand Aug. 9th.

We would to get time with those of you who might be in one of those areas. Let us know.

1.3 Billion People

India: 1.3 billion and growing by 28,000 per day!
4 times the population of the US in 1/3 of the space with 28 states that all have their own language and people groups.

“A bomb was planted in front of our house when we first came here and started our small church.
Luckily, a dog came by and picked the package up and moved it away from the house before it detonated. The dog was blown to pieces but we were safe.”
Amid much opposition this small church has thrived and today pastor Sam Abraham is coaching more than 35 church planters in the region of Himachal Pradesh, a northern Himalayan state of India.

Pastor Sam Abraham and his daughter

This was our first trip to India and we were met with enthusiasm as we cast the vision for these pastors to reach out to their police and military men. They, like most in Asian nations, have always been fearful of reaching out to these powerful people but after seeing what is happening in their neighboring nations, got really excited about beginning a focused and networked military/police ministry. 

Pastor Lamech: Chennai police station visit

We held two different pastoral vision casting/training conferences this trip with more than 50 pastors and were also to meet several active duty police and military personnel. 

They are already asking us come again for more training and coaching! 

Myanmar

More than 22,000 people were killed, says the government, but the top US diplomat in Burma warned that without speedy action that could top 100,000.

Please pray for our brothers there. As you know, we were just in Yangoon a few weeks ago and are concerned for these dear brothers as they try and survive a difficult time recovering from this devastating cyclone. We have not heard from our contact Aung yet but are trying to reach him. 

Myanmar

My team  mate Ron and I had the feeling that something special  was going to  happen if we ever made it into Myanmar this time! We  had to fly to Bangkok  just to apply for a visa to visit the country  because the consulate here in  Chiang Mai no longer issues visas to  Americans. After last year’s problems in Yangoon and the resulting outcry from America, only a very few Americans are  able to get  tourist visas.

We actually found out later that our chances of getting visas were very slim at best. After a week of holding our passports, a  flurry of documents created and submitted, and the help  of a visa-expeditor  who knew someone on the inside, we indeed did  get our visas just hours  before our plane was to  depart.

Our team, consisting of myself, Ron  Wilson, Boi Manual from the Philippines, and General Chigone and his wife from   Thailand, went to share with church leaders and retired military men  the  vision of what praying for and serving their country’s military  and police  might look like.

Those who  attended the  meeting

Because of tight restrictions on  meeting with  foreigners, we only were able to speak briefly with the  retired military men  but were able to spend a significant amount of  time casting vision with the  church leaders. They are now very  excited about getting this ministry going  and creating a movement  that will reach across their nation. We spent several  hours helping  them with the beginnings of a strategy to accomplish this   movement.

Retired military  officer

It was  very fun to watch the lights go on in  their minds as they began to dream about  the impact this kind of  ministry might have in the long run. One of the  pastors told us that  he has already been praying for the military in his  church each  Sunday,  but he has met with some opposition because many   people feel the military is their enemy. One lady came up to him  after a  Sunday service and announced to him that she would not be  saying “amen”  after any prayers on behalf of the military. These  feelings are  understandable, but as Aung, our contact there, says  “Our enemy is not the  military but the old serpent, Satan.”   

Thai Army  Gen. Chigone sharing  his Christian testimony

One of the more  moving events  was watching the retired military men respond to Gen. Chiagone’s   testimony. As an active duty Army general in Thailand, another  Buddhist  nation, they were very moved that he had come to encourage  them in the Lord as  a Christian military man.

Aung, Rev, Ko Lay, and Michael   Nuyt

The men pictured above are some of the men who  will be key  in forming and implementing a coordinated effort to pray  for and serve the  army of Myanmar.

Please pray now for  these pastors, retired  military men, and their wives as they seek  the Lord’s direction and wisdom in  crafting a sustainable ministry  in a very difficult situation.

Aung is  still waiting for an  opportunity to share with the high ranking official that  I have  mentioned in a previous email. Some things came up that have delayed   this meeting.

Traditional  Burmese warrior. I am not wearing a  skirt... it’s called a  Lon-gee.

Also, Thank you for your  prayers for Sandra  and the kids. They  really sensed a powerful spiritual  covering  over them during the whole week--and they made it through without any crisis this time!  

Unit 14 Cambodia

“I heard you were going to be here and I wanted to talk with you about this Christianity I keep hearing about”.
With a Chinese-made automatic weapon slung over his shoulder, a young Buddhist soldier asked me this near the end of our medical outreach on the first day. 

Young Soldier

We spent nearly an hour discussing the Lord and the differences between religion and a relationship with Jesus. He expressed that he has become really interested because many in his military village are now believers. He is still seeking... I feel a little like a broken record when I say that the Spirit is moving among Cambodian military men and their families!

Men of Unit 14 on a combat patrol exercise
This was my first exposure to this Unit that saw such a large number of baptisms last Oct. ( more than 800!)
We were able to do small group training with the key leaders in this camp as well as conduct a medical outreach.
Even those these men were invited to our leadership training, not all were Christians. This became evident when 9 officers responded to the gospel.

Team member Andrew Trawick teaching the gospel
The commander was very grateful for our presence as we were able to treat a bunch of his men who were getting ready to head out on maneuvers.

Commander of Unit 14
The greatest need now is for new believer follow-up.
There are a number of non-officer soldiers who expressed a desire to learn as well and so we are considering some kind of program to help them form small groups.

Capt. Savorn is our key contact there, a soldier Sareth has been discipling for about 1 year.

Capt. Savorn