Sports connects with the community

SIM’s ministry Sports Friends is helping churches in Africa and Asia know how to use sports as a tool to connect with people, share The Good News and plant churches.

I interviewed a couple of Sports Friends staff here in Thailand, as we stood in the soccer field while a training session was going on.

Click on this link SIM Sports Friends  if you are having difficulty view the video above.

Jill, second from left, leads Sports Friends in Thailand, along with Graham and a co-worker in the ministry.  I have known Graham and his wife Lori for over 15 years from when I served on the board of their ministry MAI.  They are now partnering with SIM in Thailand, so it was great reconnecting.  They had been living in Charlotte.

Observations from the back of Red Truck

One of the primary forms of public transportation in Chiang Mail is “the little red truck”.  I rode in one today from the SIM office back to the hotel.  Here is a short 37 second video of my experience.

If you have difficulty viewing this video from my blog, you can click on “Red Truck Taxi” and it will take you to a site which is hopefully better for viewing.  Link to Red Truck Taxi video.

Flying Through the Tree Tops

Wednesday morning I went with three other SIM colleagues on an outdoor adventure called “Flight of the Gibbons”.

Gibbons are apes who inhabit the forests around Chiang Mai.

This was a high altitude zip line like no other I have been on.  Hopefully you will get a feel for it in these photos.

Omar, SIM Australia director; Corey and Katie SIM workers to west Africa.

True trust is with no hands and you are buckled in from the back.  That means I went face first over the edge of the platform.

 

The tree above was immense.  Look where the platform is, relative to the ground.  That gives you some sense of the dimension.

Click on the video below to hear about our experience.

If you have trouble viewing this video here is a direct link which you might find works better.  Link to Flight of the Gibbons

Would you do Flight of the Gibbons?   Click comments below and tell me what you think?

The Fish Spa – A new experience

Our meetings ended Monday evening around 6 p.m.  I had been hearing about the fish spa, so after dinner Bob Blees, an SIM colleague and I went on the search for the fish spa.

Here are a couple of videos of what we found and experienced.

Click on the four arrows to the left of the word vimeo to watch it in full screen view.

Below is our evaluation of the experience

Having awakened early, I am posting this at 5:15 a.m. here in Chiang Mai.  I woke up in the middle of the night and my feet were tingling, like the sensation when your feet “go to sleep”.   Then I realized it was the sensation of little fish nibbling at my feet. 

And all this for just $1.50 for a 45 minute treatment at The Fish Spa.

So, what do you think?  Post a comment below.  Would you go to The Fish Spa?

The Gathering

It’s 7 a.m. Monday morning here in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  Yesterday morning I went to church with Graham and Lori West and their children at their home church here, The Gathering.  Also joining us was Dave Bremner of SIM Intl.

I have known Graham and Lori since the early 90’s when they joined the Charlotte Eagles soccer ministry in Charlotte.  I served on the board of the parent organization of the Charlotte Eagles, MAI and was the ministry president for a year or so, when the ministry was searching for a new president.

The Wests are now serving with SIM’s sports ministry, Sports Friends, here in Thailand.

We enjoyed a very nice and inexpensive Sunday dinner after church.

I am SIM

I shot a video message from here in Chiang Mai, to be shown next week to people who will be visiting the SIM mission center in Charlotte.  These people have applied to SIM and are in the final decision-making about joining the mission.

What impressions do you have of SIM after watching this video?  Go ahead a post a your thoughts below as a comment.  Loved to hear your thoughts?

Global Connections

This has been a very encouraging week at this gathering of leaders from countries around the world who are sending workers through SIM.

It has been a very full schedule starting with breakfast meetings at 7 a.m. and going into the evening.  But the fellowship and sharing of vision and hearts keeps me going.

One evening I walked to the night market for dinner with Jin from Korea, Julieta from Ecuador and Obed from Guatemala.  We are colleagues in SIM and brothers and sisters in Christ.

Today I led a session on global trends in society and in the church impacting how we in SIM send people from over 55 countries into the world.   This was primarily a brainstorming session which brought out some very good suggestions on how to both take advantage of trends and overcome others which are adversely effecting mobilizing people into missions.

One of the greatest benefits of this gathering is to sit with leaders from across the world and talk about how we can work together to advance the cause of Christ.  In the photo above I met this morning with leaders from Singapore, the U.S., Korea, Australia and West Africa about ways we can focus efforts on countries of Asia.