BSF LEADERSHIP TEAM

Above is our BSF leadership team. Top row (from left to right); Montree (Thai), Paul (Thai), Harun (India), Ferdinand (Philippines), Wichai (Thai), John (Kenya), & Howard (Hong Kong)
Bottom row (left to right); Mark (Singapore), Thirayost (Thai), Hyou (Thai), Delbrin (Philippines), Paul (Kenya), Gary (USA), Mike (Canada). The one leader missing from the picture is Wiworn (Thai).

We've been training for 3 weeks with one more week to go. I just love these men and their willingness and faithfulness to serve. We'll take off December and then the class will begin 18 Jan for 5 weeks (through 15 Feb).

Currently, we have 95 men & 7 children registered. At the end of the 1st 5 week class (Philippians), we will continue with 2 more 5 week classes. (Ruth and Colossians). At the end of each 5 week class, the men have a chance to register for the next class.

God is good!

Gary

BSF October PRESENTATIONS : God is doing a new thing!

It's been a wild and busy October. We've been in Thailand for over a year preparing and praying for this moment. We've had prayer meetings & we've made as many connections as we could to tell men about BSF. Now, October has become the ONE month where it will be decided to say whether we're done or whether we are ready to move forward.

During October we've had 8 separate presentations and God has richly blessed us....beyond measure, beyond my own expectations. To date, we've registered 88 men & 6 children. All I can say is praise God! We had a goal of 75 men when we started. I must admit I thought it was unobtainable. But, God proved bigger and more able than my ability to dare to dream.

Not only has God given us these men, but he has richly blessed us with men who are willing to commit to leadership positions. Currently, I have 11 leaders with 2 more who are still considering it. That leaves me with 3 more leaders to obtain (16 in all) by Nov 16 (our first training date for leaders). I trust God will continue to provide for us by this date.

My prayer has been for God to not leave us short on men, or short on leaders or short on children to come for our children's program. God has not disappointed. God is good. I stand in awe and amazement in seeing HIM work.

So, what's next? We will be training the leaders for 4 weeks beginning Nov 16. Then, we're off for the month of December. Our 1st 5 week Pilot class date is now scheduled for 18 January (Monday night)- February 15. We are indeed excited to be moving toward the goal of having our 1st pilot class for men in Bangkok. To HIM be the Glory!

thank you for your interest in our ministry and for your prayers.

Gary
Isaiah 43:19 "See I am doing a new thing! Now is springs up; do you not perceive it?"

BSF update

Since we've been back to Thailand, we've continued our work with BSF. As of Tuesday night (Sept 8), the women's class met for their first lesson in the book of JOHN. Even though it rained last night (which snarls traffic and kept some ladies from coming) they had 25 women attend the Introduction class! That a tremendous turn out for 1st time ladies interested in joining the class. With the addition of the new women, they will be opening their 8th discussion group! God is good! Claudia was excited to finally meet the women in her discussion group. Claudia is one of the discussion group leaders.

Regarding the children's program, the women have one level open; (Senior level; ages 14-18) with 8 students.

As for the men, things are getting close to launch. Mike Wellings (my co-partner from Canada) and I will be traveling back to the USA (San Antonio, TX) Sept 19-25 for additional training. When we return, we will immediately begin registering men for the upcoming 5 week pilot class. We are excited to see how God will work. The month of October is already shaping up to be a busy month for us.

There is much to do before we actually start the class, but at least we are moving forward. Our goal is to register 75 men, find enough qualified leaders willing to commit, then train these leaders for 4 weeks prior to the class starting & also find a host church. No problem! Oh well, the Lord never promised things were going to be easy. In the meantime, we "press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me (us). Phil 3:14

Finally, an update! Sorry for the delay

Sorry for such a long delay in updating the blog! A lot has happened and the more time I let pass the worse it became in trying to update. However, without trying to recount the past 4-5 months, let me just give you a brief summary with a few highlights.

CAITLIN GRADUATES from ISB June 10, 2009. She did such a marvelous job in her studies. Caitlin is my new HERO. For the past 2 years Caitlin has handled herself with diligence, perseverance and of course, with excellence...all without a single complaint. She definitely rose to the challenge of being in 2 different schools & in 2 different countries (Greece and Thailand) over the past 2 years to finish her high school career. Her experience in living overseas has and will continue to shape Caitlin in her world view. Who really knows the true impact her overseas experience will make on her future path in life. Only God knows.

Now, she has enrolled at Baylor University (Waco, Texas) and started school August 24. This is Caitlin (before her she got her hair cut) and her room mate Caroline in front of their dorm at Baylor .
Caitlin and Caroline in their dorm room.


BACK in the USA from June 12-Aug 24. What can I say but it was great to be back during our summer break. I must say we spent most of our time visiting family and friends. Living overseas you forget what NORMAL looks and feels like. It took all of about 10 seconds to feel normal again. It's really nice to be able drive and get around by car anytime your want.

While we were busy visiting Tara & Isaac in Dallas, moving Erica and Chase from Norman to Edmond in their new house and with a brief trip to California to see my mother and sister, we spent the majority of our time in Tulsa. We stayed out in Coweta with some new found friends Scott and Kim Burnett. We stayed in the BARN next to their BIG HOUSE. However, you need not pity us for being so mistreated as homeless missionaries. God was good and provided us wonderful Christian friends and wonderful accommodations.


Some summer pics; our 3 girls at a wedding & my 4 girls at the musical WICKED in Tulsa.


Our last night the USA; eating Mexican food at Haciendas in Dallas with Tara & Isaac, Erica & Chase & Claudia (I'm taking the pic).

NOW, we're back in Thailand as of August 25. I will write another blog to update you later on what's happening in Thailand.

Blessings!
Gary

Songkran celebration in Thailand

For 3 days Thai's celebrate Songkran which is their New Years celebration. The ritual includes spraying water on each other and coating themselves and others with a white paste over a period of 3 days.

On our way to dinner tonight at a nearby restaurant, we unexpectedly went directly into hoards of people celebrating Songkran. The streets were filled with 1000's of people. As we walked toward the restaurant, celebrants would throw water on you or spray you with water as well as paint your face with a white paste.

Even though it seemed like a chaotic mess, the Thai's were respectful to us as "forangs" (i.e. westerners)and politely approached us. All in all, it was fun once you got over the initial "splash" of cold water. Below is what we looked like when we arrived home.

Below is what the crowd was like; picture taken from the restaurant.

Below is what we looked like when we arrived at the restaurant.

Green Light: Transitioning to Phase II (Pilot phase)

Prayer group meeting 19 March. This group of men (which is not all of our prayer group) represent 7 different countries (Thailand, Philippines, China, Japan, India, Canada & USA) and 7 different churches throughout Bangkok.
Here's the latest on our efforts with BSF and the men's prayer group. We have been meeting since late October as an official prayer group in an effort build a "core group" of men willing to help us pray and support our efforts in the future to get a BSF class started in Bangkok. As a result of our efforts and by God's power and grace to draw men to us, BSF headquarters has given us a "green light" to begin registering men in Sept-Dec for a 5 week pilot class. This is definitely good news to know for certain that we will be here next year to continue our efforts. The PILOT phase is the 2nd phase in moving toward establishing a permanent class in Bangkok.

Mike Welling (my co-partner with BSF) and I will be traveling back to San Antonio Texas Sept 19-25 for additional training. When we return, we will begin our concentrated effort to begin registering men, finding leaders and locating a host church. We can't wait to see how God will unfold all of this in our next step of faith.

thank you for your prayers and interest

Gary

Beginning Thai language classes

Well, I've finally made the jump into language classes. I don't know why I've procrastinated for so long, but I guess it's better late than never. I think since I took 2 levels in Greek while in Greece last year only to move out of the county may have quelled my interest in taking another language. Especially not knowing if our time in Bangkok would long term or not. But, as it appears now, we will be here for at least another year. So, why not?

I began classes a week ago last Thursday (March 12) and will be attending for 4 weeks (M-F) in the mornings for 3 hours/class. Needless to say, after 3 hours a day of language class, my brain (or what's left of it) is pretty "fried."

One funny moment last week in class when I was trying to tell another person my name in Thai, that I stumbled over saying my own name Gary! I definitely got "tongue twisted." Well, I'll persevere for another 13 lessons (until April 9).

I do enjoy our young female Thai teacher (Khruu su nissa). Our class only has 2 people in it, so it's just Bernie (a retired teacher from England) and me.

more later...
Gary

BSF Men's prayer group; Special Thursday meeting

As you can see, the this group is very diverse; 7 nationalities (8 Thai, 3 Americans, 2 Chinese, 2 Filipino, 1 Japanese, 1 Canadian & 1 Indian) representing 7 different churches.

Thursday night, our prayer group convened a Special meeting so that the BSF Area Adviser (who lives in Seoul, S Korea) could meet and visit with the men. Our Area Adviser will be communicating back to BSF headquarters with her recommendation and assessment as to whether there is enough interest in Bangkok to launch into the next phase. The next phase is to begin registering men for a pilot class beginning in Sept or October.

I'd have to say that Roz (our Area Adviser) was very impressed with the men and their enthusiasm. However, we've had good attendance for quite sometime, so we are very encouraged that we will be (tentatively, waiting on final confirmation) be moving into the next phase of our work.

Praise the Lord for his work in the hearts of these men. The next step is to register 75 men for a 5 week pilot class, find enough leaders to run the class (10-15 men) and find a host church. As you can see, our task is Big, but our God is even BIGGER.

thank you for your prayers

Gary

Still teaching in prison

I am still teaching in one of the men's prisons (for drug addicts) in Bangkok on Fridays. It's something I really enjoy doing. The men are respectful and eager to listen and learn. I've been teaching in Building 1 (which is 1 of 10 different buildings)that house the prisoners. The difference between building 1-10 is the length of sentences. Building One (where I teach) houses men with the shortest sentences and building 10 with the longest sentences.

The prisons house both Thai's and international prisoners, but I only teach the English International speaking prisoners. They are primarily Nigerians with few Peruvians and 1 Iranian. Generally, there are about 20+ men who attend.

The format is anything I want it to be, but so far, I begin the class with singing hymns; about 3-4 hymns. The hymnal I use is a "home made" hymnal (words only; no music) with only about 10 songs in it. A Baptist Missionary (Roy) gave me the hymnals to use. This is my favorite part because the men are not bashful about singing...and singing loud. Their voices carry throughout the prison area with such songs as "How great thou Art", "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY" or Amazing Grace. We are not always in tune (in fact mostly out of tune), but it is still a joyful noise that pleases the Lord. Even though we are in a class room, the windows and doors are always opened since there is not A/C. Then, I teach about hour and if we have time at the end, I just open it up to any questions they may have. Generally, the questions are random questions about the Bible, or God's will.

Today, I finished a 3 part series on Gideon (Judges 6-8) and prior to that I spent 2 weeks with Samson. I've never studied or taught about these Judges before, so it was good for me to learn more about them.

Right now, I'm trying to balance teaching on Fridays with taking Thai language classes which is M-F for 4 weeks. I took off today from Thai class so that I could teach.

Also, on Fridays, I go in the prison with a German man (Michael) who teaches the international prisoners in Building 5. Michael lives permanently in Bangkok and is married to a Thai. I've really enjoyed getting to know Michael who has a great heart for the Lord and is very passionate about his faith and sharing the gospel with others. He teaches the Bible twice per week in prison, and also to his employees at his factory.

thank you for your interest...
more later.

Another trip to Prison

Today was my first trip to this prison. I joined a ministry group (2 Americans and 1 German) who have been teaching the Bible (in English) to a group of International prisoners at a prison north of Bangkok. The prisoners that we teach are primarily Nigerian, but there are a few other nationalities as well. There is another group of Bible teachers who speak Thai and teach the Thai prisoner population.

I had a great first experience. Mark Blanford (of the Christian Prison Ministry Foundation) and I had a group of 15 men in attendance. I did the teaching on Luke 14:25-35; The Cost of being a Disciple. The men were patient in listening, but at the end they had a lot of questions....some over the scripture we studied and some questions were just general questions about the Bible. I was encouraged to hear that some of the men were very passionate about Christ and studying the Bible.

It's definitely something I'll continue to do. As you may or may not know, I have been looking for some other ministry opportunities (other than BSF) to fill my time. At this point, I'd say this is something that suits me.