Jacki and I have been spending some time with a few groups of Thai Christians in the past month. At one particular small group, a visiting teacher asked a question, “Why don’t Thai Christians tell others about Jesus?” The young Christians responded with two answers:
Because we’re afraid.
and
Because we don’t know enough about the Bible to tell them.
These responses highlight two hard realities facing the Thai church right now. Thai Christians are a minority. They make up less that 1% of the population. When Thai’s leave Buddhism or Animism to follow Jesus, in the eyes of their culture, they are turning their back on being Thai. These college students are afraid that if they tell their family and friends about Jesus, they will lose them. Most Thai Christians contend with the feelings of being outcasts in their own homes.
The second roadblock that the Thai church faces is a lack of discipleship. Thais often feel ill-equipped to share their faith, much less disciple their friends and families. Most often a Thai accepts Christ because of a missionary’s effort or a friend’s influence, but then they are left to figure out what it means on their own. Sadly, many drop out of their new found faith because no one takes them in and disciples them.
Jacki and I have been attending a beautiful young church here. The members are mostly college students. They come from all over Thailand. There is one thing that many of them have in common, though: They are the only Christian in their family.
That means pressure. Lots and lots of pressure. For most of them, when they leave college, they will leave every Christian they know. Many of them will fold under the pressure they face from their families and their friends back home. They will cave when their work forces them to choose between compromise or losing their job. The sad reality is that most Thai Christians are not discipled. They find Christ through a friend at school or a missionary visit, but then they are left on their own to figure it out. They make a superficial decision, but the commitment never goes deep enough to last through the storms they will face in life.
In the coming months, Jacki and I will be walking with these young Christians to help equip them for the hard journey ahead of them. Through genuine relationships and small groups, we’ll be helping them form a deep foundation of faith, truth, and love at the core of who they are.Thank you for praying with us and supporting us financially. You are a part of the advancement of God’s Kingdom in Southeast Asia.
The hardest part of missionary life, hands down, is being so far from your family. Thankfully, my family is so close, but Jacki’s is still 3,000 miles away. That’s been a little hard for us. So it was a welcomed treat when Jacki’s mom, dad, and younger sister decided to come and visit us for two weeks. From elephant and ostrich riding to waterfall treks and hilltribe visits, we packed as much into those weeks as we could think of. It was beautiful seeing Jessi bond with some of the kids from a nearby orphanage and Rick and Jeanette connecting with members of our local church. We’re hoping this will become a regular visit.
We were watching a movie when it happened. I had left one window open in my office, but the curtain was down on it. I heard a curtain flap during the movie, but I passed it off as wind, because that happens a lot. After the movie, I went to my computer and Jacki went to look for her’s. I sat down and noticed ant powder on my desk that I had laid down outside that morning. It was also on my chair. I thought Jacki had just put something down on my desk that had that powder on it. I wiped it up and asked Jacki if she put something on the desk. At about the same time she said, “where’s my computer?” She also noticed that her purse was missing. For about 5 minutes we scoured the house. When we couldn’t find anything, that sinking feeling hit us. We were robbed.
The past week we’ve gotten to know our friendly neighborhood policemen pretty well. We’ve also noticed the bond between us and our neighbors tighten. It’s a bit of a confusing situation. We still haven’t fully processed it, but here’s where we’re at so far.
Bad things happen no matter where you are in the world. You can never make yourself totally safe. It’s a waste of your time, emotions, and energy to live like that. Be practical, but don’t go overboard.
Tragedy brings people together.Take that opportunity to build deeper relationships with the people you love. It’s a terrible thing to waste those critical moments by focusing on yourself.
When it’s all said and done, that’s the only thing that really matters: your relationships.
Be grateful. It helps you find the good in hard times. Jacki and I have started trying to make a habit of spending 15 minutes in the morning praying/talking about what we’re grateful for.
Jesus is a redeemer. He takes bad things and makes something good happen through them. It’s what he does. Just worship and be patient.
Jacki and I have been plagued with ants since we moved into our house. The situation has gradually worsened. Last week, with Jacki’s family here, it finally came to a breaking point. Enough was enough. So we drew up a Declaration of War and brought our arsenal to bear on the six-legged critters: 5 cans of bug spray, ant chalk, and a bag of bug powder. War has begun!
This document hereby signifies our intent to defend our home from the invading forces of the nation of Ants. We have abided your incursions and raiding expeditions long enough and shall not suffer them any further. Let it be known that the Quinley home is a sovereign land, determined to rule itself and not cower in terror at the actions of our six-legged neighbors. We do this for our children and our children’s children. And so on and so forth into the future. In one swift strike, we will deal a crushing blow to your armies. This blow will come into effect on July 2nd at 11 am. You have been warned.
When Jessi (Jacki’s sister) and Jeanette (Jacki’s mom) came to visit us this week, we decided to make some extra special memories. What’s more special than riding an ostrich? Nothing. That’s what.
Last week Jacki and I heard something moving outside in the grass. I thought it was a cat, but when I looked under our truck, I realized that a fairly large snake had found its way into our yard. Jacki and I raced outside with a camera and a metal pole, at the end of which, our slithery friend found his doom.
It being Memorial Day, I thought it would be a good idea to revisit a few of the things that our forefather’s fought and died for. Our spokesman for today is none other than President Thomas Jefferson.
John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the white House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement: “This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to
gather at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”
I hope these quotes from one of our greatest leaders will serve as a wake up call to all my fellow Americans. The future of the United States is the responsibility of it’s citizens, each and every one of them, not of it’s government.
“When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.”
Thomas Jefferson
“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”
“It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.”
“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”
“My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.”
“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.”
“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.”
Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:
‘I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property – until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.’
Yesterday we found out that one of the girls that worked with us had passed away. Her name was Ying and she was 23 years old. Her father had been trying to reach her and when he finally went to her room, he found her, already gone. The autopsies have shown that it was a health related issue that took her life. In the few months that we spent with Ying, we grew to love her deeply. She was a frank and witty member of our team and a beautiful young woman who helped us to connect with the other Thai that came to Media Light. We are so grateful to the Lord and to Leinie Alambro and the rest of the Filipinos on our team for the years that they invested in Ying. It’s a comfort for us to know that Ying had acknowledged Jesus as her Savior before she passed and stood up for that belief in front of her family.
Please pray for Norvie now as she travels to Bangkok to spend some time with Ying’s grieving family. We need the love and hope of Jesus to pour through the cracks in this hard time.
Our cruise came to a conclusion on the west bank of the Nile river amidst the final resting places of many of Egypt’s greatest rulers. We delved into the tombs, scaled the steps of Hatshepsut’s temple and marveled at the Collosi of Memnon
Hello to you. As you'll see, our lives are a conglomeration of unique people from ethnic groups far and wide, experiences both legendary and mundane, and lessons, both profound and simple. Welcome into our life, you can leave your shoes at the door.
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Hello to you. As you'll see, our lives are a conglomeration of unique people from ethnic groups far and wide, experiences both legendary and mundane, and lessons, both profound and simple. Welcome into our life, you can leave your shoes at the door.
