“Whose life is it anyways?” -Sermon on Human Trafficking in Thailand

On September 26, I was able to address our church family on what I sense should be our perspective on the human trafficking situation in Thailand based on our vision trip there. I thank Pastor Cory for the opportunity to share what the Lord has been putting on my heart for the past year. You can download the message here or listen below.

Here is the video I linked to at the end of the message:

*Be sure to hear Pastor Kenny Wada share on his impressions of Thailand on October 17.

Thailand Vision Trip Day 4

Today marked another early day taking off on the road at 6:45am. We headed up to a Karen village that is actually the village where Starbucks primarily takes coffee from for their Muan Jai blend. The nickname for the village is “Starbucks village” since Starbucks helps the villagers a lot with machinery and repairs among with other things. Starbucks CEO’s and employees have made the trek to see the village and the farmers.

The trek was a windy one up a mountain and it took ~4.5 hours to get there. Given that we had 6 people, Becky volunteered to sit in the back cab (they have a shell with bench seats in the cab). I thought I’d keep her company and it was fine until we headed up the windy road. That along with the diesel fumes and occasional rain made me queasy. I thought for sure I was going to hurl at the next stop but seven-up and some snacks did the trick. That and going back inside the truck. Poor Becky had to sit outside all by herself. What a trooper! She didn’t mind at all but I still had to apologize for being a weak American.

Me trying to be as tough as Becky

Thailand Vision Trip Day 2

This morning we looked at Numbers 13-14 and our prayer was that all four of us would be on the same page and bring back a report based on what God wanted and not on what we ourselves thought or reasoned. In praying we felt led that we be of the same mind and of one accord (Phil. 2:1-11) and that we examine what God is already doing in Evergreen and where He is leading our church family. That should coincide with what He is calling us to do in Thailand.

Heavy rains came down this morning so much so that we had to go off-road to get to church. Felt like Indiana Jones in Disneyland, only bumpier. Our guide was Eiji Osato, missionary from Japan teaching at Siloam Bible School and working with the youth of the Karen people group. He is a friend of Ron Miyake from their days in Japan teaching together and visited Evergreen last year.

The worship service was in Karen with the Karen people dressed in traditional garb. The people were not from the villages but from the foothills of Chiang Mai. It was a blessing hearing the service in Karen with singing from the bible students. For over fifty years, Baptist missionaries have worked with the Karen people and so the service had a Baptist feel to it with traditional hymns and all. It was interesting that four Buddhist monks came to visit service. We talked with one for quite some time about Buddhism and Christianity. Pray for “Raney” from Cambodia.