Different cultures, one Lord, one Body

...I am just wrapping up five days in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It is Saturday afternoon here and 93 degrees.

...This group photo below hopefully gives you a taste for the various cultures and countries represented at the annual summit of country leaders for Asian Access. Several of the leaders are not in this photo for security reasons. But in this photo are leaders from Japan, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, India and those of us from the U.S....The Lord is moving across Asia. In places it is exploding, in other places the Church is under persecution yet vibrant and growing.

...The church of Nepal has been faced for decades without any Christian cemetery to lay to rest followers of Jesus who have gone on to heaven. Often at night bodies are taken to be buried in out-of-the-way places with no markings. Yet the church continues to grow and thrive in Nepal. Nepal is an official Hindu country.

...We enjoyed times of worship, expressing praise to the Lord in our own languages. Friday morning we had a spontaneous time of prayer for 90 minutes praying for the needs of the Church and work of the Lord across Asia.

...I provided overall leadership for the summit, but it was very much a shared time of leadership as leaders from the various countries led in times of sharing, discussion and worship.

...We had relaxed time through the week to have individual time with each other and conversations in small groups.

...Friday particularly I sensed God's gracious hand of presence. It started when I woke up.

...When I woke up I felt in my heart the Lord calling me to talk with him.

...At a 8 a.m. meeting that I was having with several leaders, two more leaders "inadvertently" joined us. However it turned out to be a much richer and more productive time together because I believe the Lord prompted them to set with us.

...At our 9 a.m. time of worship the leader called us to a time of repentance and renewal. I asked him to continue to lead us, which he did for a rich time of personal prayer.

...It was in the middle of this time of personal prayer that I again sensed God speaking to me that we had not spent enough time in prayer.

...We then joined together in a deep time of prayer for 90 minutes, followed by a time of deeper sharing of our lives.

...That Friday afternoon I "happened" to sit with one of the leaders and we had a deep conversation that strengthened our relationship and our commitment to the work of Asian Access across Asia.

...I returned to my room mid afternoon and dropped to my knees thanking the Lord for his moving among us and the prayers of friends and family across the global who have been specifically praying for me and this summit.

....We have been blessed and enriched by the Lord and our fellowship together.

...Now I will sign off and go to my room to pack. From the time I leave this hotel it will be about 35 hours until I land in Charlotte on Sunday afternoon. Oh the joys of travel. However, the joys of this time will care me home.

...Blogging on :)

Failure to Communicate

...Have you ever tried to communicate with another person and found that you just were not connecting?

...That was me on Friday morning in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

...I am standing here with some of the Asian Access leaders and the waiters at the Belle Villa Hotel where we met.

...My failure to communicate was with one of the waiters. I came down for breakfast and asked him to set up a table for eight people. He spoke no English and I speak no Thai. So, I held up eight fingers and pointed to the table. Then he walked away and didn't come back. So I thought maybe I hadn't communicated, therefore I moved the tables and set up a table for eight.

...Ten minutes later the waiter brought out four soft boiled eggs for me. I cracked into it, but it was very soft.

...Now I should have learned how I was not communicating so well. I should have stopped, but instead I asked him to take the eggs back and boil them for 6 minutes. Ten minutes later he returned with three eggs that were still soft boiled.

...I enjoyed my toast and shared the eggs with those sitting at my table, who by this time were rolling in laughter over my failure to communicate.

Off to Thailand

...My collegue, Bob Metcalf and I are in the Tokyo airport headed to Thailand. Got to go catch the plane.
...Will blog again from Chiang Mai.

Honoring a leader and his family

...Asian Access has been privileged to have been led by Doug Birdsall for the past 16 years. In September, Doug left the presidency of Asian Access to focus his attention on his responsibilities as international chair of the Lausanne Movement. Doug, his wife Jeanie and their three children (pictured below) were at the Spring Conference this past week in Japan and were honored at a special banquet.

...At the conclusion of the banquet the Asian Access family gathered around the Birdsalls and laid hands on them and prayed for them with thanksgiving and for their new role.

...Doug continues to serve on the board of directors for Asian Access. Pictured above are two other board members and their wives, along with Pastor Kawasaki (far right) who leads JCGI Networks, the national led Asian Access ministry in Japan. Pictured next to Pastor Kawasaki is Peter and Wendi Thomson. Peter is director of North American missionaries of Asian Access in Japan. Next to me on the far left is Jonathan and Kendra Kohl (Jonathan is a board member and in the center is Phil and Anda Foxwell (Phil is a board member).

Gathering in Japan

...This week was a wonderful gathering of Asian Access missionaries from across Japan. About 75 adults and children gathered for four days of worship, workshops, planning and fellowship. ...We gathered one evening at a hotel in Karuizawa (pictured above) for a special banquet to honor our immediate past president and his wife, Doug and Jeanie Birdsall.

...The photo above was of a special time of worship on Sunday morning that included communion and a time for individual prayer. A team from New Life Church in Illinois came to lead us in worship and provide child care and youth workers to help make the retreat a special family time for the children.

Winter Run in Japan

...This last week was spent in the mountains of Japan at a conference center. Snow on the ground. A few snow flurries during the week, but generally great weather. My morning runs before breakfast were a bit brisk at 20 degrees.
...In the photo above you can see the snow on the streets of Karuizawa. This is a pine forest. You can see many of the roads are a straight lane through the pine trees.

...Karuizawa is also has a ski mountain, which is a popular winter sport in Japan. This photo was taken from the train station and you can see the ski mountain in the background. Below me is an outlet mall that included stores such as LL Bean and of course there was a Starbucks.

Off to Asia

...Tomorrow, Monday, I depart for a two week trip to Japan and Thailand.

...It is always an adventure going into another culture. You have to stay flexible and willing to try new things. Here I am with some Asian Access colleagues: Takeshi, Jeff, Stu, a Japanese/American doing a short-term missions project and yours truly.

...No these are not pajamas in the picture above. They are relaxing wear, worn at a Japanese bath. After spending a relaxing 45-90 minutes in extremely hot baths you don these garments and go have a relaxing meal in the dinner room of the bath house.

...Of course it is only in the really posh bath houses that have a dinner room as part of the facilities.

...You sit around having wonderful conversation over a delicious meal while everyone is sitting around in pajamas - I mean relaxing wear.

...So here I go, taking another plunge into different cultures.