Unengaged and Unreached

“We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never heard of the First.” – Oswald J. Smith.

In reality, it’s about a third of the world that has never heard. Of the seven billion people that call earth home, more than two billion of them have never heard the Good News. They are the Unreached. Of those, most live in areas that don’t have any kind of Christian presence, or at least not of sufficient numbers to possibly share that Good News. They’ve never seen a missionary or had access to one. They are the Unengaged Unreached.

One of the core values of Pioneers is to try to see that everyone has a chance to learn about Jesus for themselves. Their focus is sending missionaries to these Unengaged Unreached. 

The videos paint a pretty dim picture. And I feel like I need to print a bit of a disclaimer. There is nothing wrong about missionaries going to serve among those who are already Christians. Paul reminds us that one plants, another waters, still another harvests. All of those roles need to be filled. Discipling new believers is vital. Training them to be missionaries themselves is vital. But discipling and training can’t happen without there being any initial contact. And two billion people right now have no need for discipling or training. They haven’t heard the Good News. 

In the Isaan region of Thailand, there are some 21.5 million people. On average, 1 out of every 634 people in Isaan is Christian. In some provinces, the ratio is as high as 1 out of every 1303. If a thousand people in Isaan gathered to watch a football game, on a good day two would be Christian. Think of it this way. Visualize Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners. Safeco Field has a seating capacity of 47,860. If every one of these seats were filled with a person living in Isaan, 132 of them would be Christian. That doesn't even put one Christian in each section. 

These are the Unengaged Unreached.

Isaan is the driest and poorest region in Thailand; all of Thailand’s ten poorest provinces are in Isaan. It has a history of being dominated and oppressed by various regimes over the last 800 years. It is a socially outcast area. It is looked down upon by Thai’s because of its Laotian and Cambodian influences. In Isaan, 70% of the population is considered impoverished.

We’re hoping to work at planting churches, finding people who are open to hearing the Gospel. This is not about going to convert or Christianize people. This is about going and telling them about who Jesus is. But also, we go to serve the people in the Name of Christ, following his mandate to care for “the least of these”.

Some are called to serve the church here, bringing Christ to their immediate sphere of influence. Some are called to serve the church in another part of this country, in another city or state. Some are called to go to those who have come to Christ, but who need to be trained in how to live their faith out. And some are called to bring the Good News to a place that it has never been. We believe that is where we are being called. 

Will you help us get there?

Charity Begins at Home

“Why do you want to go to the other side of the world? There are poor people / people who need ministry right here in Idaho/Oregon/Washington/the United States. Why not stay here and do ministry?” After questions about life and culture and ministry in Thailand, these are the most common questions we get. Why not care for our own people and their needs? Charity begins at home.

When I was doing Youth Ministry and Campus Ministry and people talked to me about Missions, that was usually my response too. I have always thought of Youth Ministry as being like “Domestic Missions”. I haven’t really changed my mind about all that. I think sometimes we make overseas mission work sound more holy than domestic ministry. It isn’t. Just because we’re getting involved in foreign ministry doesn’t mean we think it’s somehow godlier. And ministry to our own is not less important. Jesus was pretty specific about telling us that we need to care for the poor and downtrodden. He wasn’t very specific about which poor and downtrodden. 

We’re trying to be straightforward in asking for support from people in our quest to minister to the people of Thailand. But I feel like I need to make a disclaimer here: if you already have a habit of giving to ministries and outreach here in the States, we don’t want you to stop. We don’t want to take money being given to someone else. If, however, you aren’t involved in supporting a specific ministry, please consider us. Please.

In the Great Commission, Jesus talks about making Disciples of all nations. At the beginning of Acts, he speaks of sending his disciples to Jerusalem; where they live, the people they see every day. He talks about Judea; the people of their culture, but in the wider countryside. He talks about Samaria; people of a somewhat different culture, but who are still close by. Then he throws in the “uttermost parts of the world”; which is pretty much everywhere else. Every one of these groups is supposed to be touched with the Good News. Every one of them is supposed to be given the hands and feet of Christ. He didn’t place any kind of hierarchy of importance or blessedness. He doesn’t like one better than another. But he does want them all to be done. 

For whatever reason, the Holy Spirit has placed it in our hearts to go to an unreached people group eleven times zones away from where we are now. We have been called to share with and care for a people in that “uttermost part of the world”. That same Spirit has placed in some of your hearts to partner with us in this; to be a blessing to a people you might never meet. “Ask the Lord of the Harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field (Luke 10:2).” 

We’re ready to be sent; to the uttermost parts of the world.

Keep to the Code

A little over two years ago, I preached a sermon about lessons learned from Captain Jack Sparrow. It included several points; you determine who you are, aim high, wait for the opportune moment and seize it, never apologize for who you are, keep a sharp eye, and keep your sense of humor. But perhaps the most important lesson to take from Captain Jack Sparrow is the last one: Never give up.
 
Persistence is all the more impressive when the odds are clearly against a person. From the time of the mutiny aboard the Black Pearl to the time Jack regained control of his ship, ten years passed. An entire decade. Sure, he may have taken some detours, but he always returned to the goal of getting his ship back. With patience and a bit of assistance, Jack succeeded. And through this he shares the most important lesson; never give up on what matters most to you.

I have to confess, there are times when we have a little trouble with that last point. 

If you’ve been following this blog for very long, you’ve realized that we’re preparing for overseas mission work. We’re selling off unnecessary possessions, learning all we can about the culture and the language (hence the blog title), telling everyone who will listen about what we hope to be doing, interacting frequently with the Thailand team we hope to join and with our pre-field coaches, and trying to raise up people to support us in prayer and in finances while we’re there. We have many people who have agreed that they want to come alongside us in this venture. 

Okay, honestly, we’re not losing hope. No cause is lost if there is but one fool left to fight for it. And we feel your prayers being lifted for the people we hope to soon be serving, as well as for us and for our support. We feel the excitement that many of you have for our missionary journey. Many of you have said how passionate we sound when we speak of our impending work in Southeast Asia. But the most difficult thing ahead of us at the moment is waiting. 

We had been hoping for this coming August for several reasons. We want to get through Language School and begin working as soon as possible with the team in their new area. We had hoped to be there before the new school year starts for the boys. Now, it seems like it might not be that soon. We’re thinking more along the lines of October for a Survey Trip, and after the New Year for our deployment. But who can guess what God’s time frame might be? (Hopefully, not an entire decade…) In order for us to begin planning our departure, our funds need to be at 80%. In order to purchase our tickets, we need to be at 90%.

We know that God is behind this whole thing, and that God will get us there exactly when he wants us there. We know that what seems insurmountable to us is nothing to God. And, like Captain Jack, we’re not giving up on what matters the most to us. 

We’re thankful for the many of you who are standing beside us, who also sense the hand of God in this. With patience and a bit of assistance, we will succeed.

The World is My Parish

Our dishes keep breaking. Every week or so, one more of them ends up being dropped or damaged. Plates, cups, glasses; we’ve lost some of each. We still have enough to get by, but we’re wondering how soon it’ll be before we don’t have enough for a full dishwasher load.

We’re hoping this is a sign, some “still-small-voice-ish” way of telling us we’ll be departing soon. God doing away with stuff we don’t need, getting it out of our way. At least, that’s what we tell ourselves every time we hear another crash. We can leave behind our broken dishes. We’re far more concerned with broken lives. 

The trafficking of human lives is a strange thing. Sometimes it’s done out of greed; parents want more stuff. Sometimes it’s done out of necessity; the family simply cannot afford to feed and care for all their children. Sometimes it’s done out of family loyalty; the child might even agree in order to help financially. And sometimes it’s done out of faith; agreeing to be used and exploited in this life for the hope of a better next life. But no matter what the motivation, it leaves behind a wake of human wreckage. 

Often the family will begin to worry and realize just what they have done to their child. Often the child will escape with nothing left of who they were. They’re left with picking up the broken pieces of a life tragically misused. 

Caring for these is only part of what we hope to be soon doing in Thailand. Pioneers is committed to planting churches. We will be working with the team meeting people and introducing the Gospel to them. These won’t be the kinds of churches we’re familiar with. We’ll likely be meeting in homes or other small places; worshiping, learning, and discipling. Loving the people and showing them Jesus. 

John’s Gospel records the Great Commission this way, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” “The Church is and always has been about mission. That we are sent and how we are sent are equally important. Jesus has it in his heart and mind that we go in both word and deed to proclaim the good news of the Gospel: that Jesus Christ is Lord and has been raised from the dead. All our going must correspond with the way he came. (Jon Brown, "Words of Hope" Devotional, April 14, 2012)."

And in case you’re wondering, we’re all ready to go anytime. It’s a matter of when not if. Every day our hearts break more and more for the people of Thailand. Every night the boys pray for the funds to come in soon so that we can be in Thailand soon. We have been chatting at least once a month via Skype with the team we hope to join.  We’re learning the culture, learning the language, and learning of the challenges we will be facing. We’re planning to head off on a survey trip this coming July, and we intend to be there full-time by August of this year, but we need your help to accomplish that goal. Please consider partnering with us in this ministry.

Hands and Feet

This morning, our three pastors spoke about the idea of “Missional Church”. The congregation is in the process of raising funds to build a new children’s wing, in order to accommodate and serve more children. This is not simply for the families within the congregation, but for the larger community as well. The focus is on being Missional; on being Jesus to the people around us, whether or not they are connected to the community of faith.

One of the pastors made the statement, “Lots of people head out to be the hands and feet of Jesus, but it’s hard to be the hands and feet if you’re not connected to the rest of the body.” And, being a visual thinker, you know where my mind immediately went with that?

Thing. The disembodied hand from The Addams Family. Yes. Really.

Follow me on this. Thing runs around the family home like a manic five-legged spider. He (she?) manages to communicate with the rest of the Addams family by use of jumping gestures. Thing is very expressive. And Thing manages to care for the homestead in spite of being just a hand. In return, the family cares for Thing and makes Thing feel welcome and honored and loved. 

Though Thing is disembodied, Thing is not without a body. That’s Missional.

We’re preparing to head off to the other side of the world from where we are now. We’re heading off to be the hands and feet and eyes and ears of Jesus. And we’re leaving the congregation and friends and family that have been so close to us for years. We’re about to be somewhat disembodied. But… we hope to not be without a body. We will still be connected intimately to the Body of Christ. But we also need to be connected to you all, our body. Christ’s Body for us. Our support, our nourishment. Our sustenance. 

You nourish us now. Many have joined with us and are standing alongside us praying and supporting us. But developing partners can be a long process, and one that is occasionally discouraging. The numbers don’t always grow as quickly as we would like them to. It’s important for us to know that we are not the body-less hand. It’s important for us to feel as connected to you as you hopefully feel to us. If there are ways that we can connect more with each of you, please let us know. Please let us know. And know that we hold you all very close and are very grateful for each of you, and that we cherish our connections with you.

You Get Credit for Trying

One of my favorite scenes in the whole of the Pirates of the Caribbean series takes place between Pintel and Ragetti, the two most consistent supporting characters of the Black Pearl. The exchange takes place towards the beginning of the second movie, Dead Man’s Chest. They are paddling a small boat toward an island. Pintel has hopes of “salvaging” the Black Pearl, but Ragetti refuses. Pintel is paddling while Ragetti squints his one good eye at a book. It turns out to be the Bible. 

Ragetti: "Anyways, I ain't stealing no ship."  
Pintel: "It ain't stealing. It's salvaging. And since when did you care?"  
Ragetti: "Since we're not immortal no more. We gotta take care of our immortal souls." 
Pintel (after a pause): "You know you can't read."  
Ragetti: "It's the Bible. You get credit for trying."

I love that! You know why I like it? Because I believe it. Wholeheartedly!

Pintel doesn’t. Pintel: "Pretending to read the Bible's a lie. That's a mark against... (Points up)"

Sound familiar? How often do we hear that kind of thing in church? How often do we say things like that or imply them? “You’re not doing it right, so God isn’t going to like it.” Maybe God isn’t going to like you either. 

I definitely think God would rather have us try and not get it quite right than to not try at all. 

We don’t know much at all about planting churches, and we especially don’t know anything about planting them in Southeast Asia. We’re like the one-eye man squinting at a manual we can’t read, trying to make sense out of it. But that isn’t going to stop us from trying. And we believe that God is going to give us credit for trying, and pick up our slack. 

This coming Sunday is Easter. Worldwide there are two billion people who won’t celebrate Easter because they know nothing about it. In the Isaan region, 1 out of every 634 people is Christian. In Ubon city, it’s 1 out of 814. We want to plant a few house churches, lead some Bible Studies, Disciple new believers. We want to try. 

“Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the Good News not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, ‘Those who have never been told of him shall see, and those who have never heard of him shall understand.’” ~ Romans 15:20-21. That’s our goal; will you help us get there?

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For

This has always been one of my favorite U2 songs. It’s a song of longing. It’s a song of seeking. It’s a song of not being content with the world as it is being experienced at the moment. It’s a song about the idea that; now that we’re children of God, what’s next?  Just claiming and accepting the love of God simply can’t be the end of the story.

“I have spoke with the tongues of angels, I have held the hand of the devil; it was warm in the night, I was cold as a stone. But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” I hear him echoing Paul; “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:1 NRSV). I’ve done these things, both good and bad, and I’ve made my choice. But it’s not enough if I don’t take the Gospel to the next level.

The last verse of the song has Bono singing: “You broke the bonds and you loosed the chains; carried the cross and all my shame, all my shame. You know I believe it. But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” Some think this is a rejection of the salvation story. I don’t hear it that way. I hear it as asking what the next step is. If we’re content with simply taking the Gospel into ourselves and leaving it at that, we’re missing something. That’s what I hear Bono saying. “Is this all there is? Or do we now have a greater responsibility?” For me, this is not a song about looking for an alternative to the story of the Man who “carried the cross and all our shame…” It’s a song about what we do with that story now that we believe it.

We still haven’t found what we’re looking for. But we’re still looking.

How is the Gospel fulfilled? When we take it somewhere it’s never been. My family and I have found a way that we can take the story somewhere it’s never been. We have that chance. We have the opportunity before us to share the love of God and the story of Christ with people who have not had the experience of hearing it before; helping to bring the Holy Spirit into a land of spirits. The call of God leads us to various places. For us, it is leading to Thailand.

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,’ says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 29:11-14a NLT).

We haven’t found what we’re looking for, but we know where we’re going to look next.