(majestic music)
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- Hello and welcome
to Jesus for Asia Now.
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I'm Natalie
Wood, and today I have
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Travis and Becky Sharon with me,
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and they work in
the jungles of Thailand.
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Welcome to the show.
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We're so glad to have
you here with us today.
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- It's a pleasure to be here.
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- All right, well,
we want to start off
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talking about maybe how you
got to where you've been working
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and what you see God
maybe doing in the future.
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So how did you get to Thailand?
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I know both of you are born
and raised in America, right?
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- Yes.
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- Okay, so how did
you end up in Thailand?
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We'll start with Travis.
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- I ended up there
because my brother,
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my oldest brother, went over.
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And then about two
and a half years later,
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me and my parents,
we went over to Thailand
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to help along the
border with the Karen people.
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- Okay, so it was a
short-term thing though.
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- Yeah, we went over
for three months, so yeah.
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- You weren't gonna stay.
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- No, I didn't want to stay,
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but after the
first three months,
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decided to stay long-term, so.
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- Because you saw
that it was such a picnic
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and it was a
party all the time and?
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- No, not exactly.
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- Because you saw the need?
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- Because we saw the need, yeah.
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- All right, Becky, how
did you end up in Thailand?
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- My side of the story
is kind of interesting.
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It started out
with meeting his mom,
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who came to Orfino, and she
made an appeal for missionaries.
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So after church, went
over to a friend's house,
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and she happened to be there,
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and we were all
having a meal together.
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And we talked with her a lot,
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and by the end of
the day, my mom's like,
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"Okay, I'm gonna send
Becky over to your mission."
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And I'm like, "Mom, mom!"
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(both laugh)
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- "What are you thinking?"
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- But after some
discussion with my grandma,
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my grandma was like, "You're
not gonna send her alone."
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So we all went together.
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But as people
have probably heard,
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my mom decided
in less than a month
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that they were going to leave,
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and we were
actually all gonna leave.
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We were gonna do
things as a family.
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But there was
something really bothering me
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about the whole thing.
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We had committed to go
for a year as missionaries,
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and we were
planning on staying there
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for the rest of our lives.
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We had a year
visa, and I was thinking,
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"Well, people have
donated money to this,
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"and it seems like
God has led us here.
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"How can we just leave?"
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So I was thinking
and praying about it,
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and one day we were
hanging laundry outside,
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and the thought
occurred to me that I could
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just ask her if I could
stay for the rest of the year.
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But the next thought was,
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"She would not
allow that, of course not.
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"I'm only 15."
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But somehow I found
myself asking her anyway.
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So after I asked
her, she started crying,
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and I thought to myself,
"She didn't just tell me no."
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(both laugh)
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But she went up to his
mom's, talked to her about it,
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and they agreed
that I would stay,
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and that's
basically how it all started.
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- Wow, so that was
a number of years ago
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because you're not 15 now.
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(all laugh)
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And you all just got married.
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- Yes. - Yeah.
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- So a beautiful ceremony.
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Maybe we can
insert a wedding picture
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(Travis and Becky laugh)
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that people can see, out there
by the lake at Laurel Brook.
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So you've been there a
little longer than Becky.
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- Yeah, I've been there about
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nine and a half
years, almost 10.
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Yeah, it'll be
10 in November, so.
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- Okay, so after your
initial short-term visit there,
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when you realized
that you needed to stay,
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the Lord started
leading you to open a school
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in a very remote area, right?
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- Yeah, it's
when my parents were,
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where we first started working
over there was in Santiburi.
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And so it was a
village near there
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that I was
interested in helping with,
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and so we
started a project there.
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- Okay, and it wasn't an easy
project in many ways, right?
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- No, not really.
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(both laugh)
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- Because it
was a school, right?
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I mean, you had
to build buildings.
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And you had a long
road in and a long road out,
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and with rainy season, we
have some pictures of the road.
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So I don't know if you want to
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walk us through
what we're seeing.
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Here's a picture of a
truck sideways in the road.
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- Yeah, this is just a typical
trip into town, basically.
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Kind of a little bit famous
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for its off roading
in the area (laughs).
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And everybody takes
their big trucks up there
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just to have fun
and test them out.
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And every year,
there's lots of people
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that roll their trucks
down the hills and whatever, so.
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- Very hard on
vehicles, that road (laughs).
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- Yeah, so you are going to town
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and you find
situations like this,
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where somebody's in
the middle of the road,
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and then you offer to help them?
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- [Travis] Yeah, in fact,
the last time we came out,
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we got
ourselves stuck six times.
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(both laugh)
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- So was that rainy season?
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- It was just the
beginning of rainy season.
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- [Natalie] Of rainy season.
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- Because once
rainy season settles in,
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nobody can get in
and out unless you walk.
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- Okay, so
there's a lot of hiking.
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- There's a lot of
hiking involved, yeah.
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- [Natalie] Where
you've been working.
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- [Travis] This is basically
just, I think it was just
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going into town that day, yeah.
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- [Natalie] Getting
(speech obscured by crosstalk)
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into town, okay.
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- I was just putting
some diesel in the truck
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so that we could get going.
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- Okay, when you go
to town from that area,
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do you get a lot of
people saying, "Can I go too?
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"Can I catch a ride?"
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- Yeah, a lot,
because not many people go.
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- It's a long way.
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- It's a long ways,
and it's a hard road,
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and the cost on the vehicles,
there's a lot of maintenance,
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as you can probably imagine.
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So anybody and everybody
wants to just catch a ride.
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So I usually have a
full load on the way out,
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(audio cuts out)
load on the way in.
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(both laugh)
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- Yeah, both of
supplies and of people.
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- If it wasn't
full on the way out,
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it will be full on
the way in (laughs).
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- So you don't just drive, and
you don't just do the school.
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You also use mechanical
work to witness to people.
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- Done an awful lot
of more practical things,
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like building
and with mechanics.
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And a lot of the
people in the area
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don't really
understand mechanics,
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and so they have a
whole bunch of broken stuff,
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and so if they find
out that you can fix it,
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they're always over there.
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And so it's a
great opportunity to--
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- Right, because they're there--
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- Talk with them, yeah.
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- Waiting for you to
work on their things.
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- Captive audience (laughs).
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They're all there.
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- (laughs) Wow, that's awesome.
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- Because they've
all got something to fix.
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- I think we have some more
pictures of the horrible road.
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We can just go through those.
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Wow, so it looks like you're
almost driving through a river.
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Is that--
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- No, that's
just the mud puddle.
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(Natalie laughs)
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- They make them a
little bigger over there.
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This here is
actually in the river,
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yeah, yeah, in the river.
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On the way up there, we have
to cross this river 15 times
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because it's basically
just up a canyon with a river,
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and they couldn't make the
road all the way on one side,
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so it just weaves back
and forth across this river.
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- Across the river.
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And certain times of
year, that's a really bad idea,
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and most of the year, it's not
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a really great
idea in the first place.
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- So you can only use the road
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for about six months every year.
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- Okay, so what is this picture?
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- This picture is actually,
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I was pulling
somebody out of the ditch.
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(both laugh)
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They got off
the side of the road
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and it was a
marshy, swampy area,
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and they just sunk up to
the axle on the one side.
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And so I was just
pulling them out, yeah.
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This one here is
actually on one of our trips in.
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We met another truck, and
he was in a really bad spot,
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and he was kind of
on the side of the hill,
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almost ready to roll,
and I was watching it.
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It was looking
like we were gonna be
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trying to get a
truck back upright (laughs)
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because it was almost ready
to roll down, and then it slid.
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It started sliding.
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Then it fell into the ruts.
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And when it fell into the
rut, the tire blew up on it.
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But because it was in--
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- Better that
than the whole truck.
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- But because it was in
the rut, it didn't roll, so.
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- Wow, that's good.
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So instead of that, there
was a tire to take care of.
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- And so right after
we helped him fix that,
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I had to drive
through the same thing, so.
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(both laugh)
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- So you've had this
school going out in the jungle.
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What were you
teaching at the school?
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- We've been
teaching three languages,
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the Karen, Burmese, and English
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because those are
the local languages,
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and then Bible, math.
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- You had a work
program, didn't you?
00:10:02.83\00:10:04.30
- Yeah, and then we have the
work program, vocational stuff.
00:10:04.30\00:10:06.63
- Okay, so you had gardens and--
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- Gardens, mechanics.
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So we were teaching the students
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mechanics and
building and different things.
00:10:13.34\00:10:15.84
- Okay, so the teachers weren't
all then Americans like you.
00:10:15.84\00:10:20.85
- No.
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- And you weren't
doing all the teaching.
00:10:22.48\00:10:23.02
- No.
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- So you had local people
also helping with the teaching.
00:10:24.49\00:10:25.89
- Yeah, well, as
far as the teaching,
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I rarely had time to
teach in the classroom, so.
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(both laugh)
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So it was all
done by locals then.
00:10:34.63\00:10:36.46
- Yeah, it was all
done by the local teachers.
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- Okay, what a blessing to have
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godly people who help with that.
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Okay, so there's been
some major changes recently
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because you had to move the
whole school to a new location.
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And that was because of--
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- There was a lot of problems
and it's danger involved.
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- Okay, okay, so you had
to move to a new location.
00:11:01.32\00:11:02.86
And then what's
happened at the new location?
00:11:02.86\00:11:05.33
- Well, just recently,
it was basically shut down.
00:11:05.33\00:11:10.30
- Yeah, by the authorities.
00:11:11.17\00:11:13.60
It's basically
some legal issues.
00:11:15.40\00:11:18.21
- So now, what's
gonna happen first of all
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with the local teachers?
00:11:22.28\00:11:23.61
Do you see what's
gonna happen with them yet?
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Do you know, or is it
too recent to figure out?
00:11:25.85\00:11:29.82
- I'm not totally sure.
00:11:29.82\00:11:31.85
We have ideas.
00:11:31.85\00:11:33.15
We'd like to send
them back as Bible workers.
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And as far as the
school and things,
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I think we'll probably be
looking in different areas
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and trying to probably open
00:11:47.30\00:11:51.31
a different
project somewhere else.
00:11:51.31\00:11:54.28
- So speaking of taking
light to some other place,
00:11:54.28\00:11:57.88
you kind of have some
areas where you're looking.
00:11:57.88\00:12:00.88
What is the criteria that you're
looking at for these areas?
00:12:00.88\00:12:04.79
- Well, what I want to see is,
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I want to find a
place that there isn't
00:12:09.09\00:12:12.53
other work being done, that
there are no other churches,
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that there are no
other missionaries.
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I don't want to be,
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not that I don't
like other missionaries,
00:12:20.57\00:12:23.87
but I want to see that the
gospel is moving forward and--
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- Spread the light further.
00:12:29.74\00:12:30.55
- Spreading it further.
00:12:30.55\00:12:31.75
And so if we all
take a dark corner,
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it'll all be light, so yeah.
00:12:33.78\00:12:36.48
- All right, so are you looking
at other areas of Thailand.
00:12:36.48\00:12:40.36
- Yeah.
00:12:40.36\00:12:41.56
- So as far as your
personal walk with God,
00:12:41.56\00:12:45.19
what have you seen versus
when you were here in America
00:12:45.19\00:12:49.10
before you were 18, and then
once you went, have you seen?
00:12:49.10\00:12:53.40
- Well, the biggest
thing that I've seen
00:12:53.40\00:12:56.20
is that there's been
a, before I went over,
00:12:56.20\00:13:01.18
it seemed like it was rather
00:13:02.04\00:13:04.41
selfish focus in
life, selfish outlook.
00:13:04.41\00:13:09.42
And I've seen that God
working on me and changing that
00:13:11.62\00:13:16.62
to not be selfish upon myself
00:13:17.49\00:13:19.26
but to be jealous for his work.
00:13:19.26\00:13:22.00
- Jealous for his work.
00:13:24.10\00:13:25.10
I like that.
00:13:25.10\00:13:26.47
I like that phrase.
00:13:26.47\00:13:28.24
Have you found any happiness
and joy in serving out there,
00:13:28.24\00:13:32.57
even though it was dangerous?
00:13:32.57\00:13:34.34
- Definitely (laughs).
00:13:34.34\00:13:35.44
- Does it make life worthwhile?
00:13:37.41\00:13:38.98
- It's been
very much worthwhile.
00:13:40.05\00:13:42.02
(both laugh)
00:13:42.02\00:13:43.12
It's been a lot of fun, yeah.
00:13:43.12\00:13:44.95
- That's good, rewarding.
00:13:44.95\00:13:46.15
So before you went
to the mission field,
00:13:46.15\00:13:49.92
did you go to college
and get a college degree?
00:13:49.92\00:13:52.73
- No, no.
00:13:52.73\00:13:53.93
- No? Have you
ever wished you had?
00:13:53.93\00:13:56.16
Have you ever felt kind
of that you needed that?
00:13:57.40\00:13:59.60
- Not really.
00:13:59.60\00:14:00.44
It was in everything
that I've done over there,
00:14:01.84\00:14:05.57
I haven't needed it.
00:14:05.57\00:14:07.01
- God does enable us too,
00:14:07.01\00:14:09.14
to work beyond what
we were trained for.
00:14:09.14\00:14:11.58
Because you were
leading out in a school,
00:14:11.58\00:14:13.21
(Travis laughs)
00:14:13.21\00:14:14.15
and that wasn't something that,
00:14:14.15\00:14:15.15
I mean, homeschool, I
guess, prepares you in a way.
00:14:16.52\00:14:18.09
- Yes, it is funny.
00:14:18.09\00:14:19.35
The first time I
was ever in a classroom,
00:14:19.35\00:14:22.09
I was the teacher, but (laughs).
00:14:22.09\00:14:23.69
- That is funny, but God
does those kinds of things.
00:14:26.23\00:14:30.00
- Of course, I've
been homeschooled,
00:14:30.00\00:14:31.23
but that's not in
a classroom setting.
00:14:31.23\00:14:32.43
- God enables you even though
00:14:34.04\00:14:35.80
you don't have
that kind of training.
00:14:35.80\00:14:37.64
He enabled you, not
that he wouldn't have used it
00:14:37.64\00:14:40.44
if you had a college degree.
00:14:40.44\00:14:41.74
- No (laughs).
00:14:41.74\00:14:43.21
Imagine what else he
might have asked you to do.
00:14:43.21\00:14:44.55
But it's nice to
see when God opens doors
00:14:44.55\00:14:48.58
and gives you the
abilities to do stuff
00:14:48.58\00:14:50.85
that you
haven't been trained for
00:14:50.85\00:14:52.35
or don't have experience with.
00:14:52.35\00:14:53.86
And Becky, I know
that you've been helping
00:14:55.92\00:14:58.59
with different medical
missionary things there
00:14:58.59\00:15:01.73
while you were living
at Lisa and Leroy's place.
00:15:01.73\00:15:05.50
- One day it was Friday,
and us girls were outside
00:15:05.50\00:15:09.94
painting the tresses on the
new bath terrium for the roof,
00:15:09.94\00:15:14.94
and a lady comes
running in, and she's gasping,
00:15:16.38\00:15:20.85
and she's
blurting out her story.
00:15:20.85\00:15:23.82
And Mimi's trying to translate,
00:15:23.82\00:15:25.39
but she's a little
slow, and she has to
00:15:25.39\00:15:27.29
have them speak
clearly because it's Pwo.
00:15:27.29\00:15:30.16
It's not Sgaw.
00:15:30.16\00:15:31.06
And apparently,
her daughter is dying.
00:15:32.23\00:15:35.03
She's overdosed.
00:15:36.00\00:15:37.57
And so Mommy Lisa
gathers her things
00:15:37.57\00:15:42.57
and throws whatever
she can think of in a bag,
00:15:43.74\00:15:46.51
and they run out
and they tell Jason.
00:15:46.51\00:15:48.11
And before you know it,
Jason is flying down the road.
00:15:48.11\00:15:51.95
And (laughs) so we
were left there to pray.
00:15:51.95\00:15:56.69
We don't know if she'll be
dead by the time they get there.
00:15:58.09\00:16:01.49
The story was kind of fuzzy.
00:16:01.49\00:16:03.02
But they got back and told
us that yeah, she had overdosed.
00:16:03.02\00:16:07.30
And they were
monitoring her heart rate,
00:16:07.30\00:16:12.23
and it would go up
really fast, and then it'd stop.
00:16:12.23\00:16:17.24
And her blood
pressure was really high.
00:16:18.34\00:16:21.11
And an ambulance was
coming, but they decided
00:16:21.11\00:16:26.11
that finally they would go try
00:16:26.98\00:16:28.65
to meet up with the ambulance.
00:16:28.65\00:16:30.89
And just as they were
going out, the ambulance came.
00:16:30.89\00:16:34.06
But she should have
died, but she didn't.
00:16:34.06\00:16:39.06
She was in the
hospital for, like, three days.
00:16:40.23\00:16:42.70
I don't remember.
00:16:42.70\00:16:43.60
But she had depression issues.
00:16:45.23\00:16:48.57
We hadn't really realized.
00:16:48.57\00:16:50.17
She was kind of a quiet girl.
00:16:50.17\00:16:51.84
I had really never
noticed her that much.
00:16:51.84\00:16:55.38
She was kind of sweet.
00:16:55.38\00:16:57.28
But apparently,
she had a reputation
00:16:58.41\00:16:59.95
for having a very hot temper.
00:16:59.95\00:17:01.62
She had just got
married two weeks before.
00:17:03.05\00:17:05.89
God has blessed,
and she's growing
00:17:05.89\00:17:09.09
and has a little
baby boy (laughs),
00:17:09.09\00:17:11.56
and she seems to
be doing pretty well.
00:17:11.56\00:17:14.00
- Oh, good, well, that's neat.
00:17:14.00\00:17:15.83
Well, we do have
a few more pictures
00:17:15.83\00:17:17.30
we want to look at from
the school that you've had.
00:17:17.30\00:17:19.90
And I think this first one
is of you with the kids, right?
00:17:19.90\00:17:23.20
This is the students?
00:17:23.20\00:17:24.04
- [Travis] Yes, yeah.
00:17:24.04\00:17:25.31
- And they were
in the dorms, right?
00:17:25.31\00:17:27.18
You had dorms?
00:17:27.18\00:17:28.54
- Yeah, yeah, they
were all in the dorm.
00:17:28.54\00:17:30.21
- Dorm students, okay.
00:17:30.21\00:17:31.05
- Yeah, dorm students.
00:17:31.05\00:17:32.51
- [Natalie] Okay, and
then this picture is with
00:17:32.51\00:17:34.12
one of the teacher's families?
00:17:34.12\00:17:35.48
Is that correct?
00:17:35.48\00:17:36.72
- Yes, this is one of
the teacher's families.
00:17:36.72\00:17:38.99
He's also a very
experienced mechanic,
00:17:38.99\00:17:42.72
and so he works
with both teaching
00:17:42.72\00:17:45.49
and mechanics at the school.
00:17:45.49\00:17:47.36
- All right, so first of all,
00:17:47.36\00:17:50.00
how did they come to be
teachers at your school?
00:17:50.00\00:17:52.23
How did you get
to know this couple?
00:17:52.23\00:17:54.77
- Originally, my
brother had a school
00:17:54.77\00:17:59.77
further north than where I'm at.
00:18:00.71\00:18:02.48
And both him and his wife
and a whole bunch of other--
00:18:02.48\00:18:07.48
- Young people.
00:18:11.05\00:18:12.29
- Young people came
to my brother's school,
00:18:12.29\00:18:16.02
and they learned
English and Bible.
00:18:16.02\00:18:20.96
And at that time,
they were still single,
00:18:20.96\00:18:25.77
and he's gone through a lot.
00:18:25.77\00:18:27.74
Well, she was
Catholic and he was--
00:18:27.74\00:18:31.07
- Buddhist, pretty much.
00:18:31.07\00:18:33.41
- Yeah, a little of
everything, is what he said.
00:18:33.41\00:18:36.28
(all laugh)
00:18:36.28\00:18:37.68
- Kind of a mixed up
religious person then, okay.
00:18:37.68\00:18:41.22
- Yeah, because--
- He was (mumbles).
00:18:41.22\00:18:42.42
- He had people, the
Catholics in his family,
00:18:42.42\00:18:46.45
and he had tried out pretty much
00:18:46.45\00:18:48.26
every religion by that point.
00:18:48.26\00:18:50.19
And there was a
whole group there.
00:18:53.43\00:18:55.73
And at the end, when my
brother's closed down his
00:18:55.73\00:19:00.77
school, they all came
down and became my teachers.
00:19:01.94\00:19:05.27
- Oh, nice.
00:19:05.27\00:19:06.68
So back to the
witnessing and sharing Jesus.
00:19:06.68\00:19:11.41
You've had a number of
baptisms from the school,
00:19:11.41\00:19:14.12
or what has that been like?
00:19:14.12\00:19:16.82
- Yes, there's been quite a few,
00:19:16.82\00:19:19.32
I think well
over 10 by now, yeah.
00:19:19.32\00:19:23.29
- Okay, awesome.
00:19:23.29\00:19:24.39
- How many--
00:19:24.39\00:19:25.69
- I have
pictures of all of them.
00:19:25.69\00:19:26.86
- Teachers do we have?
00:19:26.86\00:19:27.96
- I just don't
remember (laughs) each.
00:19:27.96\00:19:29.16
There was so many
different times, so.
00:19:29.16\00:19:31.10
- So you started
with eight teachers,
00:19:33.20\00:19:34.67
and now you have four families,
00:19:34.67\00:19:36.97
and they're
doing different things.
00:19:36.97\00:19:38.81
Some of them are teaching,
00:19:38.81\00:19:40.18
and some are
helping with other things.
00:19:40.18\00:19:42.48
Okay, so if we sent
them as Bible workers,
00:19:42.48\00:19:45.61
would they be going into cities,
00:19:45.61\00:19:47.22
or would they be going
into jungle areas, remote areas?
00:19:47.22\00:19:49.88
Where would they be going?
00:19:49.88\00:19:50.89
- Very remote areas, actually,
00:19:50.89\00:19:52.92
in the mountains,
and it's in the jungle.
00:19:52.92\00:19:55.46
And yeah, it's rough out there.
00:19:55.46\00:19:59.63
(both laugh)
00:19:59.63\00:20:00.63
- Okay, wow.
00:20:00.63\00:20:02.13
Well, we've got a couple
more pictures we want to show.
00:20:02.13\00:20:04.63
I think these are just some
fun ones you took with the kids.
00:20:04.63\00:20:07.14
I noticed there's no
girls in these pictures.
00:20:07.14\00:20:10.11
- Yeah, the girls were
scared to get out there (laughs)
00:20:10.11\00:20:13.91
and take pictures.
00:20:13.91\00:20:16.08
- They were more shy?
00:20:16.08\00:20:17.01
- Yeah, very much so (laughs),
00:20:17.01\00:20:18.85
but the boys, they wanted
to have their picture taken.
00:20:18.85\00:20:22.98
- Is this a
picture of you and Becky
00:20:22.98\00:20:26.19
with one of the other
teacher's families, I think?
00:20:26.19\00:20:28.52
- Yeah, yeah, this is
one of, when I'm not there,
00:20:28.52\00:20:30.89
he heads up the
school, him and his wife.
00:20:30.89\00:20:33.83
- Okay, so he's
the second in command.
00:20:33.83\00:20:34.66
- Yeah.
00:20:34.66\00:20:35.93
- Okay, so he had
to take the bad news
00:20:35.93\00:20:37.60
that the school was shut down,
00:20:37.60\00:20:40.17
and he had to send it to you.
00:20:40.17\00:20:41.17
- Yeah.
00:20:41.17\00:20:42.00
- Okay, wow.
00:20:42.00\00:20:42.80
I want to just
reiterate this point,
00:20:43.97\00:20:45.61
that what you've been
doing has been stopped now.
00:20:45.61\00:20:50.21
And so now you're
looking forward to
00:20:50.21\00:20:52.25
the next thing that
God is leading you to,
00:20:52.25\00:20:54.18
but you don't
see it as a failure.
00:20:54.18\00:20:56.85
- No, I don't see it
as a failure (laughs).
00:20:56.85\00:20:58.42
- You don't see it
as any sort of decline
00:20:58.42\00:21:01.02
in the ministry
opportunity or anything.
00:21:01.02\00:21:03.49
You see it as a stepping stone.
00:21:03.49\00:21:05.59
- Yeah, I just
think of what Job said.
00:21:05.59\00:21:10.57
"God has given.
00:21:11.17\00:21:13.20
"God has taken away.
00:21:13.20\00:21:14.44
"Blessed be the
name of the Lord."
00:21:14.44\00:21:16.87
- Right, and God can give again.
00:21:16.87\00:21:19.04
We learn that from
the story of Job also.
00:21:19.04\00:21:21.44
And he can give even
more than you had before.
00:21:21.44\00:21:24.95
- Yeah, so I'm
not worried about it.
00:21:24.95\00:21:28.48
God has another place.
00:21:28.48\00:21:30.05
- And another plan for
you as a newly married couple.
00:21:30.05\00:21:33.25
(all laugh)
00:21:33.25\00:21:35.59
So is there anything more that
00:21:37.06\00:21:38.23
either of you
would like to share?
00:21:38.23\00:21:39.73
We're coming to the end
of our time together, but.
00:21:39.73\00:21:42.50
- Well, I'd just like to say
00:21:42.50\00:21:44.30
it's really neat to
see how God has taken
00:21:44.30\00:21:46.80
this group of native and
turned them into missionaries.
00:21:46.80\00:21:51.77
First they were students
at his brother's school.
00:21:53.01\00:21:55.51
Then they were his
teachers, and now it looks like
00:21:55.51\00:21:58.28
they're gonna
become Bible workers.
00:21:58.28\00:22:00.38
And they're married now.
00:22:00.38\00:22:02.68
They have families.
00:22:02.68\00:22:04.15
Just, it's a
huge blessing to me.
00:22:04.15\00:22:07.12
- [Natalie] To see the growth.
00:22:08.02\00:22:09.29
- To see the growth.
00:22:09.29\00:22:10.19
- Wow, that's neat.
00:22:10.19\00:22:11.89
And to think that God wants
to do that in all of our lives.
00:22:11.89\00:22:14.20
- Amen.
00:22:14.20\00:22:15.66
- He wants to take us
from step to step to step,
00:22:15.66\00:22:17.83
growing closer
and closer to him.
00:22:17.83\00:22:20.50
In all of
Thailand, how many people
00:22:20.50\00:22:22.04
would qualify to teach at
your school, do you think?
00:22:22.04\00:22:24.67
- Well, not very many.
00:22:24.67\00:22:27.41
It's really hard to find
good quality young people--
00:22:27.41\00:22:32.41
- Christians.
00:22:34.32\00:22:35.55
- Christians that are
willing to work for God
00:22:35.55\00:22:39.02
in a situation like we had.
00:22:39.02\00:22:41.16
It wasn't easy.
00:22:41.16\00:22:42.62
- Yeah, it was a long
ways away from everything.
00:22:42.62\00:22:45.49
It was dangerous many times.
00:22:45.49\00:22:48.06
- Yes, many times.
00:22:48.06\00:22:49.56
- From different sources,
00:22:49.56\00:22:50.60
(both laugh)
00:22:50.60\00:22:52.07
Not just the jungle creatures,
but from other sources.
00:22:52.07\00:22:55.00
And so there were not
people that would be willing,
00:22:55.00\00:23:00.04
probably not very many, anyway.
00:23:00.91\00:23:02.38
And to have the walk
with God that they need
00:23:03.51\00:23:06.01
to survive in that
kind of circumstance.
00:23:06.01\00:23:08.72
- They were
very committed to it,
00:23:09.98\00:23:12.95
and they didn't turn
and run when hardship hit.
00:23:12.95\00:23:17.96
An interesting fact.
00:23:21.83\00:23:22.96
This is kind of funny, actually.
00:23:22.96\00:23:25.23
The week after they arrived,
00:23:25.23\00:23:27.14
they were there for one
week, and then the next week,
00:23:28.57\00:23:33.58
somebody went and shot
the head man of the village.
00:23:36.14\00:23:38.68
At that point, they were like,
00:23:41.15\00:23:42.78
"Should we stay
or should we not?"
00:23:42.78\00:23:44.92
And they were like, "If
you're staying, we will too."
00:23:46.32\00:23:49.09
(all laugh)
00:23:49.09\00:23:52.13
- Wow, so they had to
make a decision pretty quick.
00:23:52.13\00:23:54.56
- Yeah, they were very
committed when they came.
00:23:54.56\00:23:57.20
- Wow, praise the Lord.
00:23:57.20\00:23:58.77
- I've been very
impressed with his teachers.
00:23:58.77\00:24:01.47
Just when everything happened
00:24:01.47\00:24:05.77
and we were trying to
restart the school and move it,
00:24:05.77\00:24:09.21
he's paying them
teachers' salaries,
00:24:09.21\00:24:11.95
but this is school break, and
they weren't going to get paid
00:24:11.95\00:24:16.35
for that few months.
00:24:16.35\00:24:19.29
Was it, like, three months?
00:24:19.29\00:24:20.76
- Two and a half, three months.
00:24:20.76\00:24:22.49
- Two and a half months.
00:24:22.49\00:24:23.93
And here they were just
working as hard as they could
00:24:23.93\00:24:28.36
and living in ridiculous
conditions like, let's see.
00:24:28.36\00:24:32.53
There was Vetu and his wife.
00:24:32.53\00:24:33.80
There was Sajang
and their family.
00:24:33.80\00:24:37.41
And there was Mimi
and there was Dutu.
00:24:37.41\00:24:40.51
There was you and I.
00:24:40.51\00:24:42.01
And we're all in this little
building with all this stuff,
00:24:42.01\00:24:44.81
and they're trying
to train their kids
00:24:44.81\00:24:47.58
and help restart a school and
put additions on the building.
00:24:47.58\00:24:52.39
And we had to pull off
the roof, and it rained.
00:24:52.39\00:24:54.92
It just poured.
00:24:54.92\00:24:56.76
And (laughs) we were all
in one corner with the wood.
00:24:56.76\00:24:59.56
And these
teachers have stuck it out.
00:24:59.56\00:25:02.23
They've stuck it out.
00:25:02.23\00:25:04.77
They're not just teachers.
00:25:04.77\00:25:06.57
They're missionaries.
00:25:06.57\00:25:08.40
- Wow. So next question.
00:25:08.40\00:25:10.84
We're talking about
sending the teachers
00:25:10.84\00:25:12.44
now as Bible workers.
00:25:12.44\00:25:14.04
So how many Bible workers are
00:25:14.04\00:25:15.68
in the areas
where they would go to?
00:25:15.68\00:25:17.58
Are there other Bible
workers working there, or?
00:25:17.58\00:25:19.95
- Well, currently, the only work
00:25:19.95\00:25:22.92
that was being done in the area
00:25:22.92\00:25:25.15
was the project that we had.
00:25:25.15\00:25:26.79
And so if we send
them out in that area,
00:25:27.92\00:25:30.49
then they are the only--
00:25:30.49\00:25:31.86
- They'll be the
only Bible workers.
00:25:32.99\00:25:34.10
- Yeah, Bible
workers in that area.
00:25:34.10\00:25:35.70
- Wow, and what about
the area that you're thinking
00:25:35.70\00:25:37.97
the Lord might be
guiding you to in Thailand?
00:25:37.97\00:25:39.90
Because I know you've
got a couple different
00:25:39.90\00:25:41.37
places you're thinking about.
00:25:41.37\00:25:43.07
What about those areas?
00:25:43.07\00:25:44.31
Are there other
Christians there?
00:25:44.31\00:25:45.54
Are there other
Adventists there?
00:25:45.54\00:25:47.51
- As far as 100% sure if
there is, I don't know exactly,
00:25:47.51\00:25:52.51
but I'm pretty sure it's
really close to zero (laughs).
00:25:53.88\00:25:56.52
- There's definitely
no other missionaries
00:25:56.52\00:26:00.06
in the areas
where you're looking.
00:26:00.06\00:26:01.82
Wow, so you're
making sure that you're
00:26:01.82\00:26:03.99
going to unentered places.
00:26:03.99\00:26:06.73
- Yeah, I know it's good too,
00:26:06.73\00:26:08.16
to have groups
and work together,
00:26:11.03\00:26:12.43
but I also think it's important
to enter into new areas.
00:26:12.43\00:26:16.37
- Right, spread
the light further, wow.
00:26:16.37\00:26:20.11
- I like starting things.
00:26:20.11\00:26:23.11
- (laughs) You like
starting new things?
00:26:24.35\00:26:25.81
- (laughs) It's one of
the reasons I married him.
00:26:25.81\00:26:27.62
(all laugh)
00:26:27.62\00:26:29.75
- That is a new thing.
00:26:29.75\00:26:31.09
A marriage is a very new thing.
00:26:31.09\00:26:32.82
- Yeah, because he's a leader.
00:26:35.72\00:26:38.83
He was the
youngest in the family,
00:26:38.83\00:26:40.53
but God has trained
him up to be a leader,
00:26:40.53\00:26:43.37
someone who will push
forward no matter what happens.
00:26:43.37\00:26:45.93
- That's good.
00:26:45.93\00:26:47.27
God is good.
00:26:47.27\00:26:49.10
He's equipping you and giving
you the tools that you need
00:26:49.10\00:26:52.24
for the work
that he has planned.
00:26:52.24\00:26:54.68
All right, well, we look forward
00:26:54.68\00:26:56.75
to you coming back and
sharing more stories later.
00:26:56.75\00:26:59.48
Maybe we can get some
stories out in the field again.
00:26:59.48\00:27:01.85
Some of our
viewers may have seen
00:27:01.85\00:27:03.79
videos of you before on our show
00:27:03.79\00:27:06.25
because we've had
videos of you before,
00:27:06.25\00:27:08.59
but this was the first time
00:27:08.59\00:27:09.82
you've actually
sat down with us here.
00:27:09.82\00:27:12.03
And so maybe we can
send some videographers out
00:27:12.03\00:27:16.10
to follow you around and
find out what you're doing next.
00:27:16.10\00:27:18.70
(light piano music)
00:27:18.70\00:27:20.20
But in the meantime, thank
you so much for being here,
00:27:20.20\00:27:21.67
both of you, and
sharing the story.
00:27:21.67\00:27:24.11
And we look
forward to hearing more.
00:27:24.11\00:27:26.94
- Okay. - All right.
00:27:26.94\00:27:29.24
And I would like
to invite our viewers
00:27:29.24\00:27:31.48
to pray for Travis
and Becky, the newlyweds,
00:27:31.48\00:27:34.25
as they search for where God
would have them to serve next,
00:27:34.25\00:27:37.45
what he wants to start next
00:27:37.45\00:27:38.99
with their hands and their feet.
00:27:38.99\00:27:40.69
And pray for these
teachers that will probably
00:27:40.69\00:27:43.63
be sent as Bible
workers in the near future.
00:27:43.63\00:27:46.43
If you would
like to get involved,
00:27:46.43\00:27:47.76
you can contact Jesus for Asia
00:27:47.76\00:27:49.40
at PO Box 1221,
Collegedale, Tennessee 37315,
00:27:49.40\00:27:54.40
call us at (423) 413-7321,
00:27:55.27\00:27:59.37
or visit our
website at Jesus4Asia.org.
00:27:59.37\00:28:02.81
May God richly bless you
until we see you next time
00:28:02.81\00:28:05.41
on Jesus for Asia Now.
00:28:05.41\00:28:07.48
(majestic music)
00:28:07.48\00:28:10.25