Shepherds

There's an ECC conference on this week for Shepherds and Church Multiplication Facilitators. These men and women travel to certain countries, training and encouraging pastors in evangelism and church planting. Please pray for these brave workers as they are sent out.

You can find out more about these positions on the ECC page.

Struggles

I complain a lot about support raising, and I shouldn't, because it's an important part of ministry and it's biblical.

It's also terrifying for me. Your prayers would be appreciated as I work, by God's grace, to overcome this difficulty.

I love what I do. And I want to keep doing it for as long as God calls me to stay.

People ask, "Why the urgency? Why count every soul?"

Because time is running out. And every soul is precious.

Every time I watch the news, I feel that the end is that much closer.

My prayers are for Boston today.

Thailand Photos, Part 4

After we left Chiang Rai, my mom and I spent some time in Bangkok.

 

 

Our hotel. It was lovely. No, more like brilliant. I'd recommend it.

 

 

A view of the city.

 

The sky train was right across the street, which if you're inclined to use that sort of thing is really convenient. We preferred taxis and personal tours.

 

Cool lights in the hotel.

 

Interesting traffic.

 

Outside the Grand Palace.

 

Trying to get in.

 

The line.

 

If you're ever in Thailand, you'll be able to recognize the temples by their roofs. They all have this design, though often in different colors.

 

Small scale Angkor Wat. Very cool.

 

 

It was a very hot day. I can't begin to tell you.

 

Um... those are demons. Made of precious gems.

 

Lotus blossom.

 

A (possibly illegal) photo of the Emerald Buddha. That is made of jade.

 

A guard outside the residence.

 

King Chulalongkorn's palace. He's the famous one.

 

Another boat ride.

 

Killer fish. (Interesting fact: people are not allowed to fish in front of the temples, so the fish hang out here and wait for bread from unsuspecting tourists.)

 

A little choppy.

 

There are a ton of temples in Thailand. 4,000 in Bangkok, 40,000 in Thailand.

 

A procession of monks. This went on for miles.

Thailand Photos, Part 3

Our trip wasn't all meetings and such. We also got to do some exploring!

 

Recognize the boats? They are in just about every movie shot in South Asia ever.

We took a nice boat ride. (See video.)

 

Along the river. I don't think it's possible to count how many Buddhas are in Thailand.

 

Then we went to an elephant camp. For real.

 

This is what the ground looks like from on top an elephant.

 

I let go of the 'safety' bar long enough for this photo. See the panic in my eyes?

 

13 elephants for our group.

 

Then we saw snakes. From far away.

 

This is actually a really interesting museum about the drug trade in Thailand.

 

Laos. Really.

 

The Golden Triangle.

 

Hindu or Buddhist, it didn't seem to matter the origin. If they think it will help, they enshrine it.

 

 

In case you were wondering how we got on and off the elephant.

 

 

Thailand Photos, Part 2

We were in Thailand mostly for a staff retreat, and we definitely had some nice digs.

 

Our little bungalow.

 

 

My elephant found some friends!

Beautiful flowers!



Leading worship.

 

 

Fun little trees!

 

Team bonding. Yay. :)

 

We also spent some time exploring Chiang Rai.

 

 

I don't know how that little guy stays on the back of that bike.

 

The market.

 

I don't want to know what happens to the dogs for sale.

 

Excellent artists everywhere.

 

And some interesting entertainment.

 

 

Some very interesting food.

 

There was an ark across the street from our villa. It's actually a Chinese church and seminary.