Experiencing God in Thailand

"Taste and see that the LORD is good.

Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!"

Psalm 34:8

Today I fly out to Thailand to serve with YMA’s Immerse Thailand Mission Project. Team members from Melbourne and Perth will partner with a dedicated team of young Thai Christian leaders to facilitate this year’s Immerse English Camp from 4th-8th April in Khao Yai, NE Thailand. Around 130x teenagers plus leaders are expected at this year’s camp, with up to 50% yet to experience the genuine life transformation that can only be found in Jesus Christ.

Since 2002 Youth Ministries Australia has been developing a strategic equipping partnership with an emerging movement of young Jesus-followers from amongst the high schools  and churches of Korat in Northeast Thailand. Aussie teams of youth workers and students have taught English in schools, facilitated outreach events, discipleship training, camps, shared in churches and visited slums; seeking to interact, serve and learn whilst engaging with  the somewhat perplexing contrast of the local Isaan (NE Thailand) culture and ever-increasing Western influences.

This will be the third Immerse camp that has been hosted in Thailand. As with any short-term mission project there is always such a lot of preparation that goes on (at the local level in both sending and receiving countries) in readiness for what we can refer to as the "live-in-country" phase of  this crossing cultures experience.

It’s been wonderful to see the practical ways God’s people from across our country have stepped in to support this Project, especially through sacrificial giving and prayer. It’s so encouraging to fly out to Thailand knowing this Immerse camp (accommodation and catering for students and leaders, transport, printed resources and more) have been sponsored by the generosity of the Body of Christ here in Australia. I‘m in no doubt that God will bring a good return on this investment – I’m convinced we shall indeed see produced some fruit that will last.

I’m also excited to see the growing ownership amongst a team of young Thai Christians, each playing their part through programs such as Immerse to serve and influence their own generation.

I love returning to Thailand. I love the stimulation of the senses provoked by such an amazing array of sights, sounds, tastes and aromas. I love being welcomed and moved by the humility, hospitality and gentle spirit of the Thai people. I love the way Christians of all ages display an unashamed joy and passion for the God they worship. And, I love experiencing the authentic ways God “turns up” to reveal Himself, His heart and His genuine desire to bring hope and restoration to an emerging generation who respond so well to story, the biblical meta-narrative and the compelling love of Christ found in authentic Christian community.

As I fly out to Thailand, I take with me an expectant heart, with the assured belief that our mighty God will do more than any of us can ask or imagine – ready to experience first-hand the expressions of joy from all those who choose to take their refuge in Him.

I hope to post of few updates as this Project continues over the next few weeks.

“The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps." Psalm 85:12,13

The Work of Our Hands - part1

”May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.”      Psalm 90:17

Over the summer school holidays I took a few weeks off to have a break, hang out with the family and work on a garden project at home. I’m not an overtly DIY kind of person, but over the years I have enjoyed working on various projects around the home. I find they bring much personal fulfillment, are good for my personal fitness, provide me with a change of focus and they save some money at the same time.

This summer I invested my time, energy and some sweat into building some retaining walls and a new bird aviary in our front yard. The end result looks okay and thankfully everything has (so far) stood up well to the regular downpours of heavy rains that have recently come our way.

As I reflect on my own ‘hands-on’ garden project endeavours, I realise that something I particularly appreciate about the entire experience is that I can actually see some results (ie the finished product) from the work of my hands and the energy expended. It’s encouraging to take on a building or gardening project and see it through from start to finish, and to see something tangible as a meaningful return for my work.

A find that this is often not the case in ministry. Ministry certainly demands our time and energy and even our sweat. Ministry is a worthwhile work, but all the same it is hard work.

I observe that there can be specific ministry projects we take on that have a predetermined starting and completion date, but we may not see the result (fruit) of our labour – particularly when we invest ourselves into the lives of people - in other words, spiritual formation and life change takes time; it’s hardly ever a short-term thing. We may happen to see some 'results', which can encourage us to persevere in good faith. However, as people move on, or as we move on, we may not be privileged to see the outcomes during our watch.

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I love the prayer of Moses recorded in Psalm 90. Here we have included for our benefit some heartfelt words from a man who toiled long and hard as God’s appointed leader over the Nation of Israel. The constant grumbling and complaining of these people must surely have ground him down over the years; still Moses stuck to his task yet never got to see the Promised Land for himself.

I find it interesting to note how Moses closes out his prayer to God in Psalm 90 where he prays;  “establish the work of our hands for us-yes, establish the work of our hands.” This tells me that serving God is very much a hands-on kind of arrangement, ordained by God - it’s not a bad prayer to be praying as we continue on into a new year of Christian ministry, wherever and with whoever God has called us to serve.

"Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10

Life as a House?

”If God doesn't build the house, the builders only build shacks. If God doesn't guard the city, the night watchman might as well nap.”  Psalm 127:1 The Message

I’ve been thinking a lot about houses lately…

During this past week the Aussie media have provided extensive “rolling” coverage of the devastation caused by recent record downpours and ensuing floods in southeastern Queensland – incredibly confronting, distruptive and emotional times indeed for so many people, who together with their homes and businesses have quite literally been caught up in the flow of such an unstoppable and destructive force; a surging body of rising water.

As the floodwaters have now begun to subside, we’ve seen coverage of people returning to their family homes – the clean-up has already begun for some. I wonder what proportion of damaged properties will eventually be able to be adequately dried out, repaired and restored?  I wonder what proportion of homes, because of the extent of water damage, will simply have to be totally replaced or rebuilt?

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Almost 10 years ago I watched a movie about a house – it was entitled Life as a House - an American drama about relationships, reconciliation and rebuilding. The movie storyline was based around a terminally ill architect named George (Kevin Kline) and his dream to pull down his tired old coastal shack and replace it by building a new greatly improved and more functional house. Along the way, whilst George’s physical health was deteriorating, and as the building project continued, a number of important family relationships were restored...rebuilt.

I really liked the movie and found it a useful metaphor for my own life, faith and ministry context at the time.

Only the other day I was reading the final few pages of my CS Lewis ‘Mere Christianity’ journal and I came across this quote – quite timely really;

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what he is doing…but presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is he up to? The explanation is that he is building quite a different house from the one you thought of…you thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

After the events of this past week I find it reassuring to know that despite the often-changing surrounding circumstances of our lives (most of which we really have no control over) there is a Master-Builder God who is nearer than I may think, who knows what’s going on and what He is doing – in and around me - even if it may not make much sense at the time.

“God wishes to test you like gold in the furnace. The dross is consumed by fire, but the pure gold remains and its value increases.”  St. Jerome Emiliani

Rites of Passage part 2

”Ritual is one of the oldest forms of human activity we know. It may have been the original multimedia perform-ance. Today ritual helps integrate and attune life on an increasingly globalized planet.”

Ronald L. Grimes (Deeply into the Bone)

Recently, our second son Tim attended his Primary School Graduation Night. Judy and I also went along to witness the ceremony and to support Tim. During the night photos were taken and Tim was presented with a certificate and engraved pen. We stayed for the formal part of the evening and then returned home whilst Tim and the other students enjoyed their graduation dinner and disco.

A week or so earlier Tim had participated in another form of graduation ceremony, this time at our local church. Tim (so often one to avoid the public gaze) was invited out front of our Sunday morning congregation to ‘mark’ the occasion of his transition from the Primary School children’s ministry into Youth Ministry in the new year.

Some kind and timely words were spoken by the Children’s Pastor and Tim was presented with a small gift bag containing various items. One of these items was a eucalyptus tree seedling, described as a symbol that represented his life. Judy and I do pray that Tim's life will continue to be well nurtured; growing strong and tall, in God's good time!

The following week Tim’s small group leader gave him an excellent book to assist with his transition into high school next year (I thought that was my idea – well, I still plan to meet with Tim sometime in January to chat with him and give him the book I had originally selected!).

Rites-of-passage. I’m really enjoying researching this topic. In recent weeks I’ve noticed the phrase appearing in some conversations I’ve been having with a few people, especially within the context of local church youth and young adults ministry.

Those I have talked with have raised two main points;

1) Rites-of-passage are important; they're valuable and necessary.

2) We need to be more intentional about designing relevant, creative, spiritual passages for those we love and serve today.

Ronald L. Grimes has written extensively on the topic and practice of rituals. He suggests that rituals should be rooted in language, region, time, and culture. He also suggests that relevant ceremonies should be established to help connect the individual with some larger history, community, and obligation.

Author Louise Mahdi (Crossroads: The Quest for Contemporary Rites of Passage) says; “Effective rites of passage evoke awe and leave a lasting impression. Those most likely to do so happen within the context of a supporting community; they incorporate training, preparation, and real challenge or testing, and include a clear vision for adulthood that outlines rights and responsibilities.”

She goes on to express how God has made us for experiencing relationship and community and that issues of loneliness and alienation will be addressed well when people find their place in community.

Sounds to me like an authentic expression of faith comm-unity - the Body of Christ.

This raises a few more questions for me to consider further – perhaps you will journey with me in this regard…

1. What opportunities and events already exist that can be used as spiritual markers (ceremonies) for the people we love and care for?

2. What new experiences (passages) can we create to help our youth and young adults ’graduate’ into a deeper maturity and experience of Christ?

I’m looking forward to exploring this further…

Under Construction

Back in an August post I mentioned how work had commenced on the construction of a new highway overpass bridge in our local community.

Not a lot has been happening at the site for the last few months, however today there has been a lot of activity, with most of the main highway being closed off as cranes and trucks and workman have converged to position a main component of the bridge.

It’ll be interesting to observe how the final phase of this local project comes together in the next few months - I know my own family is looking forward to testing out the new bridge and appreciating the improved (and safer) access it will provide across a busy highway.

I believe the bridge analogy can be helpful when applied to our local, national and even inter-national ministry contexts; especially when we consider the partnerships God wants us to build - providing increased connectivity and unrestricted access to those people we are called to serve and invest in.

As we look towards 2011, I wonder what existing bridges God may be calling us to reinforce and what new bridges He may want us to construct that can help connect His amazing love and good news to a lost and hurting world??

Bridge-building is surely a work-in-progress (again, as evidenced by the current project near our home). It takes time to build a bridge; it takes some foresight and planning to build a bridge; it takes initiative and finances and hard work to build a bridge…

Partnership is the bridge we construct to enable greater connectivity and therefore greater coverage for extending our influence to grow God’s Kingdom.

Who is God calling you to partner with into the new year?

Bridge-building…surely a worthwhile pursuit for each of us, wherever God has placed us to serve - may God help us to count the cost as we look towards a new year of ministry.

“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?
Luke 14:28 NLT

Rites of Passage part 1

”A rite is the beginning and ending. It marks the closure of an important time while signifying the beginning of another…rites are often bigger than ourselves…a rite brings the "star" into a community experience. This passageway is not to be done solo, but is celebrated together with loved ones, family, and friends….”

                                                                                                                                          David Olshine

Lately I've been thinking a little about rites-of-passage. Christmas is coming, the end of another year is almost upon us and a new year is soon to begin.

A rite of passage can simply be defined as a ritual event that marks a person’s progress from one phase of life to another, for example; the leaving of childhood and the entering of adulthood.

The idea of a rite of passage is certainly not new. It was and still is a key component of the Jewish faith and other traditional cultures.

I’ve been doing some reading on this topic and discovered that Arnold Van Gennep wrote a book in 1902 entitled The Rites of Passage. In this he identifies rites of passage as having 3 distinct phases – separation (from a previous world), transition (threshold between the old and the new), and re-incorporation (into the new world).

As a father of four children (including three sons), all still living at home, I’m wanting to be intentional about developing some relevant rites of passage practices that will serve each individual child and our family community well.

Two years ago, as our eldest son Scott was transitioning from leaving primary school ('old world’) to commencing high school ('new world’) I decided to take him out for some quality father-and-son time. We shared some food and drink and we talked about things such as expectations for the new year and the new school. We also talked about faith, responsibility, physical development and parental support. It wasn’t a particularly lengthy conversation, but I believe it was certainly worthwhile - I'm pleased we could do this together. I also gave Scott a book at the time, written for teenagers by a local Christian author.

Our second son Tim will soon be finishing up at his local Primary School before commencing high school in the new year. I plan to take him out and have a conversation in a similar vein to what I shared with Scott. I'll get a book to give Tim as well – have to say that I’m looking forward to practising this simply family ritual, again.

In my next post I hope to share a few thoughts about rites of passage and youth ministry – stay tuned.

Try the other side!

”Then he [Jesus] said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.”
John 21:6 NLT


The text for this week’s sermon at our local church was John 21:1-14. For much of this year we have been chronologically working our way through John’s Gospel, and here towards the conclusion of the book the narrative introduces some very familiar characters - Peter and a few other disciples, doing what came naturally for them – fishing from a boat.

You may well be familiar with the scenario here – Jesus has been raised from the dead and has already appeared to his closest followers on several occasions. After Peter and Co had spent the night fishing with nothing to show for it Jesus turns up on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and engages with them from a distance; still close enough to be heard.

When Jesus hears the disciples had caught nothing all night he encourages them to throw their net off the right side of the boat to see what might happen.

The disciples (surely they were tired and well and truly over their all-night fishing adventure by now?!) decide to do what Jesus suggests and we know the result – there are so many fish in the net that they are unable to haul their miraculous catch into the boat.

Peter, recognising Jesus, leads the group with the catch of fish in tow back to shore where they are treated to a freshly cooked breakfast with Jesus.


God  has been catching my attention through this passage - I’ve been pondering over the emerging insights and expect I will continue to do so for some time.

Here’s what I’ve come to conclude thus far;

There will be times in our own experience when we will find that the combination of our hard work, experience and skills for some unexplainable reason bring us nothing in return; when, despite our best efforts we are unable to achieve the desired outcome we are seeking.

It is on such occasions that we need Jesus to break-in to enable us to break-through to achieve a tangible result. For, unless Jesus turns up to intervene, we have no hope of seeing break-through come about.

Furthermore, I would suggest that we need more than the presence of Jesus to see break-through in our circumstances – we need (as Peter and friends experienced) the voice of Jesus to direct the work of our hands. Jesus told the disciples where to throw their nets. The disciples responded promptly to his directive and saw an undeniably tangible result in their midst.

The disciples, after their night of fishing didn’t have to do a lot of things differently to see a different result. Nor did they have to leave their boat to achieve a better than expected outcome (153 fish seems like a lot of fish – more than enough for a hearty breakfast feed!).

What Jesus asked them to do was to simply attack the problem from a different angle; from the other side of the boat. Peter and friends remained in the same boat, in the same body of water, using the same net. The only thing we’re told was different was that they cast the net from the opposite side of the boat – it was a 180 degree turnaround that immediately netted a different and distinctly measurable outcome.


Perhaps you are presently at that place of feeling tired and over your seemingly unsuccessful pursuits having laboured through-the-night with little or no return…you’ve been working hard, applying your experience and skills to achieve a desired outcome, yet for some unexplainable reason you are not seeing the results you’re hoping and praying for.

For those times when this is our present reality, then I hope we will choose to remain in the boat, in close proximity to our co-workers and our intended objective (eg catching fish); listening for the voice of Jesus, ready and willing to follow His instructions…it might be that all it will take is to simply turn around and cast our net from the other side of the boat.

What does the other side of the boat look like for you?