Merry Christmas everyone,
Christmas Day is but three short days away and we wanted to wish you all a very Blessed Christmas and Joy-filled New Year. We are hearing a few Christmas songs being played in the malls here in Bangkok, but even though the lyrics of The First Noel are being played over the PA system, we know that only a very small percentage understand what “born is the King of Israel” means.
Christmas is not really recognized here as a national holiday even though they have around 20 other holidays throughout the year. Of course there is still plenty of secular music being played and there are certainly many decorations with Santa, lights, tinsel, red bows, bulbs and even artificial evergreen trees with stars on the top as well. Yet, all our students did not know the significance of that star. When told that God became human to atone for sins and secure entry into His kingdom, they said it was a story they had never heard before. These are men and women who have graduated from college yet have never heard of the gift of salvation. So, it’s not a matter of a lack of being educated, but a result that the truth has been suppressed for generation after generation. They feel they must work to make enough merit to hopefully obtain a better life after they die and avoid hell. The younger generation is mindlessly following rituals of their elders out of respect, but not really believing there is any validity to it.
This lack of knowledge and understanding of God’s gift of eternal life by grace through faith in Jesus has become the reason we have chosen to be here away from family at this very special time of the year. We believe that everyone needs to hear the good news of what Christmas really means for sinners like us. What an opportunity we have been given to share that story and hopefully bring the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ so people will believe in Jesus for their eternal destiny. God became flesh to save us from our sins is the story we are hoping to share with all those the Lord brings across our paths.
We have finished our first month of teaching English and shortly after New Years we will be joined by one of our sons and his eldest daughter and a friend to form a small team with two other doctors for a medical/dental outreach to a border area in Thailand. Our prayer is that the Lord would use us to bring some relief to the poverty-stricken refugee villagers in their current suffering and to also share the hope anyone can have in Christ who has promised to one day return and make all things new. Then there will be no more sickness, crying, sorrow, pain, or death anymore, for all those things will be gone forever when Jesus will establish His eternal kingdom among us.
The good news of Jesus is not just for the poor and disenfranchised of this world. Yesterday I was able to have a long conversation with an elderly man (like me) who although he was a graduate of two prestigious Ivy League universities and a very successful businessman, expressed how meaningless his life seems. He felt that he had waisted much of his life and has been searching for a purpose that will bring him peace and joy. He was Asian but had lived in the states for 35 years and had never attended a church while living there. After hearing the gospel, he now believes he now knows where to find the answer to his quest, the Bible.
Most of what we have been doing since our return to Bangkok has just been living the ordinary, unglamorous, mostly obscure life that many of us do. However, we trust that being here as ambassadors for Christ will bring about eternal dividends for those who respond to the message of God’s grace we share with those we meet and find their peace, hope, and joy in knowing and embracing the love God has for them.
May you all experience the good news of great joy that the angel of the Lord brought to those lowly shepherds so long ago on that first Christmas night. The greatest gift that God could give was His only begotten Son and by believing in Him you can receive eternal life and not fear the judgement that will come at the end of the age.
Thank you for your prayers and for those of you who have helped to meet some of our financial needs.
For His glory among the nations,
Gary and Lyndell
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| Back in Bangkok along the chocolate colored Chao Praya River |
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| Greeting from our condo guard |
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| Gary's Level One evening class |
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| Gary's Level One afternoon class |
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Been waiting for this dessert since our last visit,
Coconut Mango Kakigori, yum! |
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| Lyndell prefers the less sweet Matcha ice cream cone |
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| Main reason we try to avoid taxis at rush hour |
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| Many lights but the Light must shine bright to illumine the darkness |
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| Ministry team set up to bring food supplies to the poor |
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| International food potluck at Calvary Church for Thanksgiving |
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| Family served with our bags of food supplies |
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| Thanksgiving lunch with teachers/staff from Santisuk branches |
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Teaching adult Sunday School class at Calvary
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| International Bible Study Fellowship group |
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| Lyndell's evening Level 5 class |
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| Two teachers with student in Chinatown seeking for truth |
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| Santisuk Silom teachers dinner party |
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| The closest we will get to snow or its semblance this winter |
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| Family receiving food as they await relocation to another country |
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| They like things hot here in Thailand |
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| Preaching at School's Christmas service |
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| Those in attendance at Christmas service |
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| They seem to grow dogs bigger here! |
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Nice to find a diversion from spicy Thai food one in a while
(price actually less than $6.00 with sweet potato fries) |
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| Another option, but not our first, second or third choice |
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| Recipients of Christmas stocking with treats and Christmas tracts |
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| One of Gary's go to favorite salads with pomegranate juice |
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| Pre-worship meal before service on Friday nights |
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| Some things don't change with technology |
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| It's beginning to look like Christmas, but Christ is mostly left out |
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| Shrine where daily offerings are made for good luck |
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Fancy design of crepes on the street
(when doing this all day people get creative) |
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| Joined the International church choir again this year |
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| Found some trees for our Christmas greeting |
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Good night and on earth peace
to those on whom His favor rests.
May all the people here one day honor and adore
the King of all kings and Lord of all lords.
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