(upbeat music) 00:00:00.76\00:00:03.40 - Hello, and welcome to "Jesus for Asia Now." 00:00:21.68\00:00:24.19 Now I'm Natalie Wood and my husband Jon is joining me today 00:00:24.19\00:00:27.26 as we travel to the northern plains of Thailand, 00:00:27.26\00:00:29.92 to hear stories of lives being changed by God. 00:00:29.92\00:00:33.36 Hello love. - Hi darling, how are you? 00:00:33.36\00:00:35.40 - I'm doing well. - Awesome. 00:00:35.40\00:00:37.13 - Yeah, and I'm looking forward to hearing the stories 00:00:37.13\00:00:39.07 that we have to share today. 00:00:39.07\00:00:40.40 - Yes. 00:00:40.40\00:00:41.64 - Stories of lives being changed. 00:00:41.64\00:00:42.90 - Absolutely, fresh from the front lines. 00:00:42.90\00:00:45.54 - Now, before we start sharing the video segments 00:00:45.54\00:00:48.31 that we have and some of the other stories, 00:00:48.31\00:00:50.31 what is the need that this ministry 00:00:50.31\00:00:53.52 in particular is answering? 00:00:53.52\00:00:55.42 - Well, we're looking at children's home 00:00:55.42\00:00:57.82 in Northern Thailand. 00:00:57.82\00:00:59.25 And the children that they bring in 00:00:59.25\00:01:01.39 are from broken backgrounds, broken homes, 00:01:01.39\00:01:04.79 very negative kind of environments 00:01:04.79\00:01:08.06 that these kids were growing up in. 00:01:08.06\00:01:09.80 Some of the kids were physically harassed by evil spirits, 00:01:09.80\00:01:14.57 subjected to all kinds of abuse, physical, emotional, 00:01:14.57\00:01:18.91 spiritual, every kind of abuse you can imagine 00:01:18.91\00:01:21.41 these kids, they grow up with that. 00:01:21.41\00:01:23.04 And they grow up with people telling them, 00:01:23.04\00:01:25.58 you're never gonna amount to anything. 00:01:25.58\00:01:27.08 And so these are the kind of kids 00:01:27.08\00:01:28.85 that fuel the flesh trade in Thailand. 00:01:28.85\00:01:32.52 And there are some ministries that go in 00:01:32.52\00:01:34.72 and try to rescue people from the flesh trade. 00:01:34.72\00:01:37.73 But we have a friend that has done that. 00:01:37.73\00:01:40.50 It's kind of a losing battle, 00:01:40.50\00:01:43.26 because once the ladies have been in there a certain number 00:01:43.26\00:01:46.23 of years, they don't wanna leave. 00:01:46.23\00:01:48.70 And it just drains them, it drains them of who they are, 00:01:48.70\00:01:52.17 it drains them of any self-respect, 00:01:52.17\00:01:55.04 it drains them of a position in society. 00:01:55.04\00:01:57.11 It just drains them to the point where they're chewed up 00:01:57.11\00:02:00.68 and they get sped out, 00:02:00.68\00:02:01.98 and they get to an age where they either have AIDs 00:02:01.98\00:02:05.15 or they have some kind of disease. 00:02:05.15\00:02:06.69 - Some other disease, yeah. 00:02:06.69\00:02:07.92 - Or they're no longer beautiful, no longer desirable. 00:02:07.92\00:02:11.29 And it's just a really, really sad situation. 00:02:11.29\00:02:14.40 And so their advice to us was if you can save the kids 00:02:14.40\00:02:18.93 before they get into that trade, 00:02:18.93\00:02:22.60 then you've saved a life. 00:02:22.60\00:02:24.51 And so that's the power that I see. 00:02:24.51\00:02:28.51 I mean, just the fact that they are in an environment 00:02:28.51\00:02:32.51 where they're being taken care of, 00:02:32.51\00:02:35.32 they're not being abused, 00:02:35.32\00:02:36.92 they're being shown that they're valuable- 00:02:36.92\00:02:39.92 - The love of Christ, 00:02:41.39\00:02:42.76 because that's where our value comes from. 00:02:42.76\00:02:44.16 - Absolutely, this whole thing of everybody's created equal, 00:02:44.16\00:02:49.30 that's a Christian value. 00:02:50.20\00:02:51.13 A lot of people may not realize that, 00:02:52.93\00:02:55.20 but when you go around and you see other societies, 00:02:55.20\00:02:57.54 even the way other religions operate, 00:02:57.54\00:02:59.84 this whole concept of all people are created equal 00:02:59.84\00:03:02.98 is absolutely Christian. 00:03:02.98\00:03:05.45 There's no other source for that concept in history. 00:03:05.45\00:03:09.28 And so even just seeing a group of kids 00:03:10.32\00:03:12.19 in a safe environment like what we're gonna see today, 00:03:12.19\00:03:14.82 to me is a major victory in and of itself 00:03:14.82\00:03:17.69 because it is battling against the flesh trade. 00:03:17.69\00:03:20.20 That is just that many kids that are no longer susceptible 00:03:20.20\00:03:23.80 to the flesh trade. 00:03:23.80\00:03:24.87 And that just makes me really happy. 00:03:24.87\00:03:26.63 - Yeah, it's really beautiful to think about that. 00:03:27.87\00:03:30.11 The opportunities God has given us 00:03:30.11\00:03:31.74 to snatch them out before- - [Jon] Absolutely. 00:03:31.74\00:03:34.01 - More damage is done. 00:03:34.01\00:03:35.34 I mean, some of them have been damaged to an extent that 00:03:35.34\00:03:38.35 it takes years to completely come out of those damages, 00:03:38.35\00:03:43.25 but God can heal. 00:03:43.25\00:03:45.02 That's the beautiful thing we see from stories like Mary 00:03:45.02\00:03:47.86 in the Bible. 00:03:47.86\00:03:49.26 How many times did He have to cast demons out of her? 00:03:49.26\00:03:51.99 How many times did He have to tell her that 00:03:51.99\00:03:54.30 she was forgiven? 00:03:54.30\00:03:55.23 - Yes. 00:03:55.23\00:03:56.46 - How many times did Jesus have to call her? 00:03:56.46\00:03:58.80 How many times the Spirit have to whisper 00:03:58.80\00:04:01.14 to draw her to Himself. 00:04:01.14\00:04:02.84 - He didn't give up. - No. 00:04:04.07\00:04:05.54 - And we can't either. 00:04:05.54\00:04:06.94 That doesn't mean it's a quick fix every time. 00:04:06.94\00:04:10.08 - Absolutely, and this started with Josh and Chitti Bower, 00:04:10.08\00:04:13.72 working in the slums of Thailand, 00:04:13.72\00:04:15.98 and realizing that these kids, 00:04:15.98\00:04:18.62 even though they might be help 'em, 00:04:18.62\00:04:20.86 everyone else is telling them, 00:04:20.86\00:04:22.46 "You're not gonna become anything. 00:04:22.46\00:04:24.16 You're just gonna end up a prostitute. 00:04:24.16\00:04:26.19 You're just gonna end up on the street. 00:04:26.19\00:04:27.83 You're just gonna end up a drug user, drug dealer." 00:04:27.83\00:04:30.27 And they had to get them out of that. 00:04:30.27\00:04:32.07 And so they sent two kids up to the North, 00:04:32.07\00:04:34.77 to our Adventist academy, 00:04:34.77\00:04:36.60 and one of them was Prao, 00:04:36.60\00:04:38.24 and in her own testimony, she says how she knew that 00:04:38.24\00:04:42.44 what she was doing was bad, 00:04:42.44\00:04:45.05 but she just didn't see any other option. 00:04:45.05\00:04:47.45 There was no other way, no one to help her. 00:04:47.45\00:04:51.05 And now that she has a new mom and a new dad 00:04:51.05\00:04:55.02 in Josh and Chitti, she has hope, she has a new identity. 00:04:55.02\00:04:59.16 And God does that to us, He reaches into us. 00:04:59.16\00:05:01.40 He sees that we've done bad things, we've really failed, 00:05:01.40\00:05:04.83 but He sees, "That's not who you are. 00:05:04.83\00:05:07.17 You're the son of a King, you're the daughter of a King 00:05:07.17\00:05:09.50 and you have value." 00:05:09.50\00:05:11.41 (both laughing) 00:05:11.41\00:05:13.48 - And it's so neat to see how Josh and Chitti 00:05:13.48\00:05:16.34 have been pouring that into Prao. 00:05:16.34\00:05:18.45 And then into their other kids 00:05:18.45\00:05:20.38 as God has given them other children. 00:05:20.38\00:05:22.72 It's just so neat, and the kids are calming down. 00:05:22.72\00:05:26.09 They're learning and growing in God. 00:05:26.09\00:05:29.62 And it's just beautiful. 00:05:29.62\00:05:30.99 - Yeah, when I visited there a few months ago, 00:05:30.99\00:05:34.23 I could see these kids they valued the worship time 00:05:34.23\00:05:36.87 and they rent it themselves. 00:05:36.87\00:05:38.53 And there's this feeling of peace. 00:05:38.53\00:05:41.04 You got seven kids, many of them teenagers in a house, 00:05:41.04\00:05:44.77 you don't always feel peaceful (laughing). 00:05:44.77\00:05:46.94 But these guys, I sensed that peace. 00:05:48.08\00:05:49.71 There was order, they knew what was going on, 00:05:49.71\00:05:52.45 and they felt safe, and it was just a beautiful thing. 00:05:52.45\00:05:55.42 And so, the place we're going today is an outgrowth 00:05:55.42\00:05:57.79 from Josh and Chitti's, that ministry. 00:05:57.79\00:06:01.02 The Norton Family were called to Sukhothai Thailand, 00:06:01.02\00:06:06.09 to be the first Adventist presence in that entire city. 00:06:07.40\00:06:09.66 But they always had a heart for kids and they always knew 00:06:09.66\00:06:12.83 that God would probably call them into taking care of kids. 00:06:12.83\00:06:15.84 - So we have some videos today, 00:06:16.64\00:06:18.61 and the first one is talking about changes in the kids. 00:06:18.61\00:06:22.01 - [Jon] Awesome. 00:06:22.01\00:06:23.45 (gentle music) 00:06:23.45\00:06:26.18 (children chattering) 00:06:26.18\00:06:29.42 - So we have 11 Thai children right now. 00:06:36.16\00:06:38.83 And several of them came to us because their parents 00:06:38.83\00:06:42.30 were in prison. 00:06:42.30\00:06:43.70 Others came to us because their parents were fearful 00:06:43.70\00:06:47.10 of what would happen to them if they stayed 00:06:47.10\00:06:49.40 in their living situations 00:06:49.40\00:06:52.21 where there were very young teenage pregnancies 00:06:52.21\00:06:56.68 and just various circumstances 00:06:56.68\00:06:59.15 that their parents wanted them out of. 00:06:59.15\00:07:01.48 They all pretty much came to us with habits 00:07:01.48\00:07:05.55 that you don't really want to see in children. 00:07:05.55\00:07:08.49 And so the process of trying to teach them new habits 00:07:08.49\00:07:13.56 and new ways of speaking, especially when we don't speak 00:07:14.86\00:07:17.00 the language (laughing) very well. 00:07:17.00\00:07:19.20 Honestly in so many ways, it's been beautiful 00:07:21.40\00:07:23.37 to watch them grow and change. 00:07:23.37\00:07:26.11 And our initial goal was, 00:07:26.11\00:07:29.51 we built a little schoolhouse in Chapel, 00:07:29.51\00:07:31.65 and we have a teacher. 00:07:31.65\00:07:33.31 And so we thought we'll have a little school here 00:07:33.31\00:07:36.12 and we won't send them to school. 00:07:36.12\00:07:38.05 And so far, God has not opened that door. 00:07:38.05\00:07:41.22 However COVID happened 00:07:41.22\00:07:42.59 and so most of this year we've spent with the kids at home 00:07:42.59\00:07:45.83 and Oshen has been working with them and teaching them 00:07:45.83\00:07:49.06 tremendous growth during that period. 00:07:50.17\00:07:52.43 And then in November, Thailand opens back up 00:07:52.43\00:07:55.50 and the school's open back up and their back in school 00:07:55.50\00:07:58.04 and we're just like, "Oh no... 00:07:58.04\00:08:01.81 All this time, we're just praising God 00:08:01.81\00:08:03.95 for the fact that they're home and now they're not." 00:08:03.95\00:08:06.72 (gentle music) 00:08:06.72\00:08:09.45 Shortly after school opened, 00:08:20.73\00:08:22.43 the kids started coming home and asking for Bibles, 00:08:22.43\00:08:26.60 to take into the school to share with their friends. 00:08:26.60\00:08:30.37 And Wen one time took a Bible and gave it to his friend, 00:08:30.37\00:08:34.44 and then his friend's mom works at the school 00:08:34.44\00:08:37.78 I guess, cooking the meals. 00:08:37.78\00:08:39.51 And he ran and took it to his mom and she kept it. 00:08:39.51\00:08:42.88 They have been singing Jesus loves me on the playground 00:08:42.88\00:08:46.92 with their friends, and they come home 00:08:46.92\00:08:48.29 and they share about it. 00:08:48.29\00:08:49.69 And they're like, "It was so fun to sing that with them." 00:08:49.69\00:08:52.79 (gentle music) 00:08:54.93\00:08:56.20 - At school, there was a situation where one of the boys 00:08:56.20\00:09:00.77 got really angry cuz one of the school kids pushed him 00:09:00.77\00:09:04.74 or something like that and he retaliated. 00:09:04.74\00:09:08.01 And another one of our boys walked up to him 00:09:08.01\00:09:12.05 and put his arm around him and said to him, 00:09:12.05\00:09:14.58 "Now, that doesn't show what Jesus wants us to do." 00:09:14.58\00:09:18.99 And it made him think about it. 00:09:20.09\00:09:21.46 So he went and apologized to the kid that pushed him. 00:09:21.46\00:09:24.93 And I was just like, 00:09:24.93\00:09:26.39 "That's what we want these kids to learn." 00:09:27.86\00:09:30.63 And so it's been awesome to see them trying their best 00:09:30.63\00:09:34.94 to instill the love that Christ has within themselves 00:09:34.94\00:09:39.61 and seeing them get it most of the time. 00:09:39.61\00:09:43.31 It's been really cool to see. 00:09:43.31\00:09:45.18 (gentle music) 00:09:47.52\00:09:50.45 - Just the excitement that they have, 00:09:50.45\00:09:52.59 the enthusiasm for what they're learning about God. 00:09:52.59\00:09:56.02 No matter how small their understanding of Him seems 00:09:56.02\00:09:59.49 to us sometimes, the fact that they're taking what they have 00:09:59.49\00:10:02.76 and they are taking it into the schools. 00:10:02.76\00:10:05.33 And so they're going into this very dark place surrounded 00:10:05.33\00:10:08.07 by people who know nothing about God, 00:10:08.07\00:10:11.11 and they're sharing Him. 00:10:11.11\00:10:12.61 And our oldest is 14, 00:10:12.61\00:10:17.18 and at a totally different school. 00:10:17.18\00:10:19.31 And during the first week, she didn't know anybody. 00:10:19.31\00:10:22.88 This was her first week at the school period. 00:10:22.88\00:10:25.55 She made a friend and she immediately 00:10:25.55\00:10:27.42 started telling her about Jesus. 00:10:27.42\00:10:29.52 And so she comes home and she says, 00:10:29.52\00:10:31.69 "I was telling my friend stories about Jesus 00:10:31.69\00:10:34.20 and she was really listening, and I do you wanna know more?" 00:10:34.20\00:10:38.63 And she said, my friend said yes. 00:10:38.63\00:10:41.20 And she was telling us this asking if she could take a Bible 00:10:43.24\00:10:46.14 to school. 00:10:46.14\00:10:46.98 And we said, "Sure." 00:10:46.98\00:10:48.64 And then we forgot to give her the Bible that night. 00:10:48.64\00:10:51.41 And so she went to school the next day 00:10:51.41\00:10:54.48 and her friend reminded her that she told her 00:10:54.48\00:10:57.35 she was gonna bring a Bible. 00:10:57.35\00:10:58.89 And so she came home that day and she asked us again, 00:10:58.89\00:11:01.62 "Can I please take a Bible?" 00:11:01.62\00:11:03.26 And she did, she took it to her 00:11:03.26\00:11:04.96 and her friend eagerly accepted it. 00:11:04.96\00:11:08.16 And so it's incredible to watch these kids come 00:11:08.16\00:11:12.63 knowing so little and yet embracing progressively 00:11:12.63\00:11:16.77 as they're learning more and more who God is 00:11:17.84\00:11:20.28 and instinctively, they're wanting to share Him. 00:11:20.28\00:11:22.74 (gentle music) 00:11:24.28\00:11:27.02 - It's so neat to think about what God is doing 00:11:47.57\00:11:49.47 in their lives. 00:11:49.47\00:11:50.87 How they're seeing the love of God 00:11:50.87\00:11:52.77 and they're recognizing in themselves the things 00:11:52.77\00:11:57.01 that need to change or the things that they can share 00:11:57.01\00:12:01.92 with their friends at school. 00:12:01.92\00:12:03.45 An, that's really neat. 00:12:03.45\00:12:05.15 - A lot of this is very revolutionary to them. 00:12:05.15\00:12:08.22 It was so neat, I wish I could take all of our viewers 00:12:08.22\00:12:10.66 to their place. 00:12:10.66\00:12:12.09 I was only there overnight, 00:12:12.09\00:12:14.20 but in the evening, I saw everybody heading 00:12:14.20\00:12:16.90 in a certain direction. 00:12:16.90\00:12:18.33 It's like, where's everybody going? 00:12:18.33\00:12:19.63 And then I realize, oh, they're going to have worship. 00:12:19.63\00:12:21.84 So I go in there and everyone's singing, 00:12:21.84\00:12:24.44 everyone's sitting there, everyone's listening, 00:12:24.44\00:12:27.31 the day's work is done, there's peace there. 00:12:27.31\00:12:30.08 And then, it wasn't Robbie or Kasey leading out in worship. 00:12:30.08\00:12:33.95 It was the kids leading out in the singing, 00:12:33.95\00:12:36.42 and then one of their staff led out in the worship. 00:12:36.42\00:12:38.99 And they read a little bit, discussed it, 00:12:38.99\00:12:40.72 and each person read a little bit from the Bible, 00:12:40.72\00:12:43.02 and it was just a feeling of peace 00:12:43.02\00:12:45.16 that you don't usually get in foreign countries. 00:12:45.16\00:12:49.33 It was just a beautiful thing 00:12:49.33\00:12:50.93 and I don't think we realize how impacting those moments 00:12:50.93\00:12:55.20 of peace are. 00:12:55.20\00:12:56.71 Cuz once a person gets a taste of that kind of peace, 00:12:56.71\00:12:59.64 there's nothing else in the world that can come close. 00:12:59.64\00:13:02.58 - That's true. - And so these kids, 00:13:02.58\00:13:04.11 after they leave maybe in the future, 00:13:04.11\00:13:06.72 who knows what their life plans are, 00:13:06.72\00:13:09.05 what God is calling them to be. 00:13:09.05\00:13:10.95 But when they leave, they're always gonna have that memory. 00:13:10.95\00:13:13.82 And so there are heroes, they're my heroes. 00:13:13.82\00:13:17.63 They may not feel like much, in fact, 00:13:17.63\00:13:19.79 Kasey and Robbie have told us 00:13:19.79\00:13:21.83 that they're the worst missionaries out there. 00:13:21.83\00:13:25.63 But, to me they're heroes. 00:13:25.63\00:13:28.07 Because they're taking care of Christ's kids. 00:13:28.07\00:13:30.57 - And they're recognizing their weakness, 00:13:32.01\00:13:34.58 they don't have it. 00:13:34.58\00:13:35.81 They're not all that. 00:13:35.81\00:13:37.41 However you wanna put it in today's vernacular, 00:13:37.41\00:13:40.32 they don't believe that they have what it takes. 00:13:40.32\00:13:43.52 But they know somebody who does. 00:13:43.52\00:13:45.85 And they lean on Him. 00:13:45.85\00:13:47.59 And they cry out to Him, 00:13:47.59\00:13:49.29 and they look to Him, 00:13:49.29\00:13:51.06 and they study His Word and they pray. 00:13:51.06\00:13:53.90 And this is why there are lives being changed. 00:13:53.90\00:13:57.37 Because of the connection that they're maintaining 00:13:57.37\00:14:00.14 with God. 00:14:00.14\00:14:01.44 - Yeah, the biggest hindrance to true missionary work 00:14:01.44\00:14:04.51 is when you feel like you have 00:14:04.51\00:14:06.41 something to offer (laughing). 00:14:06.41\00:14:08.24 - Yeah, it brings a lot of pride in, 00:14:08.24\00:14:10.48 and not a lot of willingness to sit at the feet 00:14:10.48\00:14:12.61 of the locals and see what we can learn from them. 00:14:12.61\00:14:15.18 Because there's always something we can learn about God 00:14:16.42\00:14:18.02 from other cultures and other peoples. 00:14:18.02\00:14:20.06 - Yeah, and sit at the feet of Jesus, 00:14:20.06\00:14:22.69 to hear what He wants us to do. 00:14:22.69\00:14:24.73 - So we wanna look now at some of the stories 00:14:24.73\00:14:27.56 of their staff. 00:14:27.56\00:14:28.60 - Okay. 00:14:28.60\00:14:29.40 (gentle instrumental music) 00:14:29.40\00:14:33.30 - We hired (indistinct) Sonai and Wao, 00:14:37.27\00:14:39.84 who came with two children. 00:14:39.84\00:14:41.48 So, they went ahead and moved here with us, 00:14:41.48\00:14:44.41 and Wao started cooking for the children. 00:14:44.41\00:14:47.88 And Sonai started doing the maintenance stuff. 00:14:47.88\00:14:50.02 And it's been a huge blessing having them here 00:14:50.02\00:14:54.06 because this property's big. 00:14:54.06\00:14:56.26 And then as busy as I am going from here to town 00:14:56.26\00:14:59.43 to distribute the food and then come back 00:14:59.43\00:15:02.00 and or do the shopping, it keeps me on my toes 00:15:02.00\00:15:05.57 just running back and forth. 00:15:05.57\00:15:07.57 And so having Sonai here who's a steady worker, 00:15:07.57\00:15:11.84 doing the maintenance stuff without having to pause 00:15:11.84\00:15:14.51 or do anything, gets things done. 00:15:14.51\00:15:17.31 And so he works very well with me, 00:15:17.31\00:15:19.91 and then later on after they moved here, 00:15:19.91\00:15:23.95 we got his sister, Ma, as our cleaning lady. 00:15:23.95\00:15:28.06 And she started taking care of the dormitory. 00:15:28.06\00:15:31.03 She start taking the care of the chapel, 00:15:31.03\00:15:33.03 the bathrooms out here and all that. 00:15:33.03\00:15:36.20 And then she also waters the plants 00:15:36.20\00:15:38.83 and does a little bit of the yard work as well. 00:15:38.83\00:15:42.44 Shortly after she came, she showed up with her son one day 00:15:42.44\00:15:47.01 and he looked like a very angry young adult teenage boy. 00:15:47.01\00:15:52.08 He did not want to be here. 00:15:53.72\00:15:55.75 She was asking us to help him. 00:15:55.75\00:15:58.22 So we said we will try. 00:15:58.22\00:15:59.85 So he started working with our maintenance man, 00:16:01.26\00:16:04.19 and the two of them work very well together. 00:16:05.26\00:16:07.50 He's actually a very hard working young man. 00:16:07.50\00:16:10.37 He loves it here. 00:16:10.37\00:16:12.10 We can see a change in him that has been progressing. 00:16:12.10\00:16:17.17 Whereas before when he first got here, 00:16:18.27\00:16:19.57 he wouldn't join us for worship or anything like that. 00:16:19.57\00:16:21.54 But now he's there for every worship meeting that we have. 00:16:21.54\00:16:25.15 And he constantly tells our boys 00:16:25.15\00:16:27.45 that he wants to learn more about God. 00:16:27.45\00:16:29.82 (group singing) 00:16:29.82\00:16:32.99 We hired Oshen to be the full-time teacher. 00:16:32.99\00:16:35.62 COVID was here, and that shut everything down. 00:16:36.73\00:16:39.93 And the kids were having to do school here. 00:16:39.93\00:16:42.56 Kasey and I can't read Thai. 00:16:42.56\00:16:44.17 Our girls could barely read Thai. 00:16:44.17\00:16:46.63 And so to try to help them with their homework 00:16:46.63\00:16:49.20 was beyond our scope. 00:16:49.20\00:16:51.91 And so we put a flyer out through some help of some 00:16:51.91\00:16:56.98 friends and less than 24 hours later, this young man gives us a 00:16:58.38\00:17:03.18 call and says he wants to come to work for us. 00:17:04.32\00:17:07.69 And he said, he watched some videos 00:17:07.69\00:17:10.39 after we had talked to him of our ministry here, 00:17:10.39\00:17:13.33 and he realized this is not a job, this is a ministry. 00:17:13.33\00:17:17.07 And so it was really cool to hear him say that. 00:17:17.07\00:17:20.50 (instrumental music) 00:17:20.50\00:17:23.74 He has been a huge help in the translation 00:17:23.74\00:17:27.61 between our workers and us and through visitations. 00:17:27.61\00:17:32.68 And he has had a burden to start his own ministry 00:17:34.05\00:17:37.49 while working here as well. 00:17:37.49\00:17:39.52 And so every Sabbath, if it permits him to do so, 00:17:39.52\00:17:44.19 he goes into the local village 00:17:44.19\00:17:46.26 and he does the branch Sabbath School with the kids. 00:17:46.26\00:17:48.90 (upbeat music) 00:17:50.03\00:17:52.17 - One of the things that several of our staff have expressed 00:17:52.17\00:17:56.97 is their gratitude for the fact that they've been taken 00:17:56.97\00:18:00.11 from work situations and living situations 00:18:00.11\00:18:03.35 where it wasn't as easy for them to worship God as a family, 00:18:03.35\00:18:07.28 and through that process over the past year, 00:18:07.28\00:18:10.39 we've really been blessed to watch them grow as a family, 00:18:10.39\00:18:15.12 as individuals, their willingness to participate 00:18:15.12\00:18:19.93 in leading out in worships with the kids, 00:18:19.93\00:18:22.66 praying with the kids, 00:18:22.66\00:18:23.80 having an interest in the community, 00:18:23.80\00:18:26.10 taking part in the church service, 00:18:26.10\00:18:28.07 Oshen came to us as a brand new newly baptized believer 00:18:28.07\00:18:31.61 and we've watched him blossom as he's poured over 00:18:31.61\00:18:35.91 the scriptures, trying to search about who God is 00:18:35.91\00:18:39.41 and what God wants from him. 00:18:39.41\00:18:40.75 So, it has been inspiring. 00:18:40.75\00:18:43.72 It's been helpful that God has established this team, 00:18:43.72\00:18:46.89 but it's also been inspiring to watch how quickly 00:18:46.89\00:18:50.83 and eagerly they're latching onto this new experience 00:18:50.83\00:18:55.03 that God is giving them. 00:18:55.03\00:18:56.73 (upbeat music) 00:18:56.73\00:18:59.47 - So you can see how hiring people to be your staff 00:19:07.78\00:19:10.05 if they're open and willing, 00:19:10.05\00:19:11.31 can be a huge learning experience for them, 00:19:11.31\00:19:14.02 and a discipling opportunity for the leaders 00:19:14.02\00:19:17.52 of the ministry. 00:19:17.52\00:19:18.62 - And it's so neat that Oshen, their teacher, 00:19:18.62\00:19:21.16 has now started going and having a branch Sabbath School 00:19:21.16\00:19:24.99 in the local village. 00:19:24.99\00:19:26.03 It's like, "I've gotta do ministry too. 00:19:26.03\00:19:27.56 Not just every day in my interactions with these 00:19:27.56\00:19:31.70 children, but, there's other children." 00:19:31.70\00:19:34.10 And that's just beautiful, how the Spirit of God 00:19:34.10\00:19:36.30 gives that joy in ministry, in service, 00:19:36.30\00:19:41.38 and it makes you wanna do more. 00:19:42.18\00:19:43.78 - Yes, that's a beautiful thing. 00:19:43.78\00:19:45.51 So now we have a video where we get to meet the staff 00:19:45.51\00:19:48.22 and hear it from their perspective. 00:19:48.22\00:19:49.88 - Right. 00:19:49.88\00:19:51.09 (bright instrumental music) 00:19:51.09\00:19:54.92 - I grew up to be Buddhist. 00:19:59.39\00:20:02.20 And to be honest, 00:20:02.20\00:20:03.80 I haven't experienced Christianity 00:20:03.80\00:20:06.47 until I entered my college, 00:20:06.47\00:20:09.97 but on my second year I had that personal experience 00:20:09.97\00:20:14.48 with God, and He opened my heart. 00:20:14.48\00:20:17.91 So I slowly accept Him. 00:20:17.91\00:20:19.81 And then at the end of my college, 00:20:20.92\00:20:24.32 my advisor said that I had the potential 00:20:24.32\00:20:29.02 to grow spiritually. 00:20:29.92\00:20:32.23 So she offered me Bible lesson. 00:20:32.23\00:20:35.20 And not so long after that, maybe like two months, 00:20:35.20\00:20:38.80 she invited me to be baptized. 00:20:38.80\00:20:40.40 So I was baptized. 00:20:40.40\00:20:43.84 But at that time, I still couldn't find any job. 00:20:43.84\00:20:48.14 And then one day a teacher from my college texted me 00:20:48.14\00:20:52.15 saying that there is someone here that would like 00:20:53.55\00:20:57.52 to have a teacher. 00:20:57.52\00:20:59.32 And she mentioned, additionally, 00:21:00.39\00:21:03.02 that is maybe a good opportunity for me to grow 00:21:03.02\00:21:07.13 because I am still new in Christianity. 00:21:07.13\00:21:10.70 So, I also think the same with that teacher 00:21:10.70\00:21:14.94 because I think it's a good opportunity 00:21:14.94\00:21:17.67 to work with Seventh-day Adventist, to grow in my faith. 00:21:17.67\00:21:21.41 So I contact Robbie back, 00:21:21.41\00:21:24.78 and that's how I ended up here. 00:21:24.78\00:21:28.48 (instrumental music) 00:21:28.48\00:21:31.65 (speaking in Thai) 00:21:32.65\00:21:35.62 (instrumental music) 00:22:35.95\00:22:39.62 (speaking in Thai) 00:22:39.62\00:22:42.59 (instrumental music) 00:24:09.64\00:24:11.71 - I would like to thank God that He brought me here, 00:24:11.71\00:24:14.28 that He gives this opportunity for me to come here. 00:24:14.28\00:24:18.55 Yeah, I don't want to leave this place. 00:24:18.55\00:24:20.06 I love this place so much (laughing). 00:24:20.06\00:24:21.96 - That's awesome. 00:24:24.26\00:24:25.29 - It is, it is so beautiful. 00:24:25.29\00:24:27.03 And to think about the fact that the one gentleman 00:24:27.03\00:24:31.37 was saying that we prayed a lot, and we came here 00:24:31.37\00:24:34.80 and let's remember that God chooses the way that's best, 00:24:34.80\00:24:39.11 and just how God took them there, 00:24:39.11\00:24:41.98 and the one young lady said, "God brought me here." 00:24:41.98\00:24:45.35 And it's just so neat to see that, 00:24:45.35\00:24:47.08 that they were praying for help, 00:24:47.08\00:24:49.75 and these other people were praying for a way 00:24:49.75\00:24:52.19 that they could worship God, 00:24:52.19\00:24:53.92 and not have the pressure to work on Sabbath 00:24:53.92\00:24:57.13 or the requirement to work on Sabbath, 00:24:57.13\00:24:59.13 and not be able to worship God and.. 00:24:59.13\00:25:01.63 It's just so neat. 00:25:01.63\00:25:02.50 - It is beautiful. 00:25:02.50\00:25:03.60 And the values that they show, 00:25:03.60\00:25:05.40 they value the spiritual things, 00:25:05.40\00:25:07.70 and not the financial things in life. 00:25:07.70\00:25:10.04 So, they're in a place where they can grow and who knows 00:25:10.04\00:25:13.11 in 10 or 15 years, where they're gonna be 00:25:13.11\00:25:15.68 and what they're gonna be doing. 00:25:15.68\00:25:16.71 - God can make it grow. 00:25:16.71\00:25:18.08 - Absolutely. - And grow more 00:25:18.08\00:25:19.08 than you would think it would. 00:25:19.08\00:25:20.45 - In some places in the world, it's easy to plant a church. 00:25:20.45\00:25:24.05 It's easy to fill a church, 00:25:24.05\00:25:26.15 but certain parts of the world, 00:25:26.15\00:25:27.69 places like Central Thailand, not so easy. 00:25:27.69\00:25:31.19 It takes a long time, and it takes a lot of patience, 00:25:31.19\00:25:34.00 and it takes a lot of planting and a lot of watering 00:25:34.00\00:25:37.30 before you seem to see anything grow out of it. 00:25:37.30\00:25:40.54 And I was just talking to Robbie and Kasey this week, 00:25:40.54\00:25:44.21 and they were telling me about the discouragements 00:25:44.21\00:25:46.37 that they face, it's not easy. 00:25:46.37\00:25:48.61 It's not an easy thing that they're doing. 00:25:48.61\00:25:50.68 And they are making sacrifices. 00:25:50.68\00:25:52.71 And so I got to encourage them 00:25:52.71\00:25:54.52 to help them look on the bright side, 00:25:54.52\00:25:56.89 because they're there every day 00:25:56.89\00:25:58.45 and they have to deal with the problems every day. 00:25:58.45\00:26:00.99 And we can see from the outside what God's doing. 00:26:00.99\00:26:04.13 I think easier sometimes than you can see when you're faced 00:26:04.13\00:26:07.13 and they've been hit recently with very, 00:26:07.13\00:26:10.50 everybody's gotten sick. 00:26:10.50\00:26:12.03 And so, (laughing) that takes the fun outta life 00:26:12.03\00:26:15.57 in general anyway. 00:26:15.57\00:26:16.77 - Yes, and one thing that we can remember from this, 00:26:18.17\00:26:20.58 is that it's important for us as those over here 00:26:20.58\00:26:24.55 that serve as centers, 00:26:24.55\00:26:26.58 to encourage them not to be like, 00:26:26.58\00:26:28.82 "Okay, when's your baptism? 00:26:28.82\00:26:30.75 Okay, how many people have you witnessed to today?" 00:26:30.75\00:26:34.72 That kind of thing, 00:26:34.72\00:26:35.72 to realize that they're doing life there 00:26:35.72\00:26:39.43 as missionaries. 00:26:39.43\00:26:40.80 And so it's like everything they do, they try to keep 00:26:40.80\00:26:43.43 the focus on, this is part of my work for God. 00:26:43.43\00:26:47.17 And yet it's not an instant, 00:26:47.17\00:26:49.64 it's not microwave baptisms, it's not microwave anything, 00:26:49.64\00:26:53.27 it's a long term investment. 00:26:54.68\00:26:56.04 And that's the way many places in the world work. 00:26:56.04\00:26:59.41 It's a relationships. 00:26:59.41\00:27:00.75 You have to build relationships with people 00:27:00.75\00:27:02.82 before they're even able to see a difference in your life, 00:27:02.82\00:27:06.86 something they might want, 00:27:06.86\00:27:08.39 or before they're willing to let you in 00:27:09.46\00:27:11.83 to share something with them when they're in a time of need. 00:27:11.83\00:27:14.46 - Yes, to build that trust, trust isn't earned overnight. 00:27:14.46\00:27:18.90 That's why the long term missions is so important. 00:27:18.90\00:27:21.30 - And that's ultimately the goal of the Christian. 00:27:21.30\00:27:23.54 Is representing God's kingdom 00:27:23.54\00:27:25.14 by letting His kingdom live in us, 00:27:25.14\00:27:27.21 so that His kingdom spills out to those around us. 00:27:27.21\00:27:30.25 - Absolutely. 00:27:30.25\00:27:31.61 So people can see what the character of God really is. 00:27:31.61\00:27:33.75 - Yeah, that's so true. 00:27:33.75\00:27:35.62 That's so true, and I would like to invite you 00:27:35.62\00:27:37.95 to pray for Robbie and Kasey, and for their staff there, 00:27:37.95\00:27:41.56 and for the sweet little children. 00:27:41.56\00:27:44.13 And if you would like to be a part of providing 00:27:44.13\00:27:46.13 for these children, 00:27:46.13\00:27:47.50 you can contact us at Jesus for Asia, 00:27:47.50\00:27:50.23 PO Box 1221 Collegedale, Tennessee 37315. 00:27:50.23\00:27:54.47 Call us at 423 413 7321, 00:27:56.10\00:28:00.71 or visit our website at Jesus4Asia.org. 00:28:00.71\00:28:04.61 May God richly bless you until we see you next time 00:28:04.61\00:28:07.78 on "Jesus for Asia Now." 00:28:07.78\00:28:09.62 (upbeat music) 00:28:09.62\00:28:12.29