12 Cities | 12 Conversations from ConversationGatherings on Vimeo.
"Patrick gave his life to the people who had enslaved him until he died at 77 years of age. He had seen untold thousands of people convert as between 30-40 of the 150 tribes had become substantially Christian. He had trained 1000 pastors, planted 700 churches, and was the first noted person in history to take a strong public stand against slavery."Read the whole thing
"Ecologically blessed, economically challenged, vast and diverse, Indonesia is a country of contrasts. made up of 17,500 islands (only about 6,000 of those inhabited). Indonesia is populated by over 230 million people, speaking over 740 different languages and dialects within 300 distinct native ethnic groups - it is the fourth most populous country, after the United States. Impoverished conditions amongst people living in an area so rich with natural resources has also put extreme pressure on the environment, as increased mining and deforestation make more of an impact."
The Joshua Project sheds a little more light on these numbers. They report 768 individual people groups. Out of these, 191 people groups (~54 million people) are reported in the unreached category (less than 2% evangelical Christians). There is still much work to be done.
In order to try and attract people to the group, we were told that we should sing or play a game or something. So, in sight of a couple hundred Thai students, we first sang "Jesus loves me" while dancing to the Electric Slide, while following that up with a little game of "Hokie-Pokie"!! Needless to say, I'm glad everyone agreed after that that we should go out and try to meet people.
The next day we went to a Buddhist school and got taught how to "why" people. This is the traditional way of greeting someone in Thailand, as opposed to the handshake, high-five, head nod, etc. To the left is a picture of Brianna being taught how to "why." We also had some Q & A time between us as we shared about life as an American. We also went to a Christian school Friday morning, where we did a lot of the same thing, but talked more specifically about life as a Christian in America. Here's a picture or our team with some of the students.
Saturday, we went to a very poor area of town and dialogued with some kids (8-16 years old). We talked some about sex and the influence of the media on us, but then moved on to some more personal dialogue telling them about our interests and hearing from them about theirs. They all gave us Thai names and my name means "one who has gold," I guess because I told them I work at a bank. I then played a miniture game of soccer with a few of the kids. Then we walked through some of the poorest areas I've ever been in contact with. One of the girls that we were talking with wanted us to show us her home. It was small and only had one bedroom for maybe 4-5 people. To get there, you go through narrow alleys that are paved with concrete but are directly over an open sewer system. It was a very humbling time. It helped us all remember how much "stuff" we have as Americans. Here's a picture with one of the boys I played soccer with, and then of everyone there from that morning.
Overall, it was truly a great experience. One of the many highlights for me was getting to know all of the high school students that were on the trip. They all were really fun and had such cool, unique stories. I hope to remain connected with them. Also, the Thai Christians were an encouragemnt to us in many ways, and I do believe we were an encouragement to them in a few ways. We serve a big God, with a big heart for the world. It was a blessing to be able to see among the millions lost in Buddhism over there, that he is really working through a select few to impact that country for Christ. Thanks again to all who supported me on this trip and to all who were praying for us.
Many of you know by now that I'll be headed to Thailand this Sunday, June 1st, and getting back the following Sunday. I'm going over there with 7 of the high schoolers from Perimeter Church along with a guy and girl my age, as well as my dad. We'll be staying in Bangkok and doing a lot of high school and college ministry, as well as ESL classes a couple different nights. Having never been to Asia, I'm looking forward to experiencing the many culture differences, especially regarding the Buddhist worldview that is predominant over there. Thank you to all who are supporting me this on this trip both financially and through prayer. Check back in for updates and pictures later on next week.
St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner again (Saturday), and I wanted to be reminded again of why there is a holiday for this guy. Last year I posted about St. Patrick mainly through this post from Stand to Reason's blog. It is a very insightful post, and here are a few paragraphs summing up this man's life:"Sometime around 400 AD, Patrick, a sixteen-year-old Briton, was kidnapped by Irish pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland. He had previously rejected the Christian faith of his parents, but during his six years of captivity, he repented and gave his heart to God, praying constantly as he tended sheep alone in the hills. When he escaped and returned to Britain, Patrick was far behind his peers in terms of education and never really caught up, but he worked hard to receive the theological training he needed so he could return to the Irish as a missionary--to the very people who had enslaved him"
"Thanks to Patrick's love and service, within a hundred years, the country was transformed from an illiterate, pagan nation of war, slavery, and human sacrifice to the guardian of the literature of Western civilization as Rome crumbled. After the dust settled, it was the Irish who traveled into Europe to plant the seeds of spiritual renewal and learning through the creation of monasteries that protected the ancient manuscripts and re-evangelized Europe."
"The irony of this holiday is that Patrick would be horrified to learn that not only is there a special day now devoted to him, but that day is cluttered with leprechauns, gold, and good-luck charms--the kind of paganism he worked so tirelessly to rescue people from in the first place."
Tomorrow, I will be on a plane heading to Egypt. I'm going with a team from the Gathering at Perimeter Church. We'll spend the first few days checking out the normal sights. Then we'll head down south of Cairo to a missions conference. And our last few days will be spent with the Zabbaleen people, who are basically the garbage collectors of Cairo.
As I am writing this, my buddy Matthew is getting on a plane for Puerto Rico. He is going with a organization called ILDP based out of Briarwood Church, in Birmingham. He will be down there for at least a year, helping to start a seminary like training program in San Juan. He will also be ministering on a local univeristy campus, as well as being invovled in a church plant. Pretty exciting stuff. Please pray for him.
My recent trip to London was a great experience. I went with the global outreach pastor from my church. We met up with two girls getting involved in United World Mission, the mobolization coordinator for UWM, and a 20 year missionary through UWM living there outside of London. This is a picture of us in a pub near Tower Bridge. 
And in case you didn't know, this is what Tower Bridge looks like. Doesn't it look cool?
