Thailand Mission and Cultural Trip 2014 – FINAL: Journal 20

One day as we were weeding on the farm, I reflected with Rob that the beautiful thing about this project is the fact that you see the results immediately – entire fields of peanut and pepper plants, totally over-run with weeds, are transformed within a few hours. That transformation is not as easily seen with the other projects such as teaching English in the Public school, and there making friends and building Christ-like relationships. But this year was significantly different. The results were enormous, clear, and significant. The impact made at the school, in the community, and on the farm was what my vision for this missiological project has been. At the school, not only did we impact the classes and the children in grades 4 to 9, but the entire school! The results were as profound as when we baptized the over 1,200 persons in the Philippines in 1998 on my first Mission trip! – And maybe even more profound, because we were able to touch and affect the lives of people who were from a totally different religious and cultural worldview than our own.

Some have questioned whether this project is a true mission trip. They have made it clear that their idea of a mission trip is holding a traditional evangelistic meeting and reporting a specific number baptized, or building a church for a Christian congregation. I have done those in Asia, Africa, and the West Indies. They are rewarding. But for the past 11 years, I have done this, and I can compare them. I’ve also studied and written on what Jesus’ paradigm of evangelism is, in my book, Complete Evangelism. What we are doing in Thailand is closer to the paradigm of Jesus, and closer to a method that is needed in both a post-Christian world (like Europe and America) and a non-Christian society like countries in the 10-40 window. We have to scratch where it itches! That’s what we are attempting to do in this small area of Thailand.

There is another point that we should note about what we are doing that parallels the ministry and life of Jesus. We have intentionally worked with the individual and with the group. As in the large evangelistic meetings, we have worked for two weeks with an entire school, not for just one hour each evening, but for hours daily – teaching them English, via stories (biblical and otherwise), playing with them, on and off the field and playground, eating with them, and just simply making them our friends. But the farm project is an example of Jesus’ one-on-one evangelism, as he made the lives of the marginal better in profound ways. Jesus’ manifesto in Luke 4:18 – 19, we have taken seriously.

We have worked with a wholistic view of life, and thus included a cultural and fun component. Those are evident from my reports in my journals. If you haven’t seen those journals, please take a look at my blog: http://blessingsfrompedrito.blogspot.com/. And I invite you to browse through my many photos on my photo website (they are in reverse order): http://people.wallawalla.edu/~pedrito.maynard-reid/gallery2/main.php/v/pedrito-travels/PedritosTravels2014/Pedritos+ThailandTravel2014/.

Thanks for your prayers, support, and critique as we work to make this long-term endeavor a success

Blessings

Pedrito