Dennis' Thailand / India Trip

Filled with Thanksgiving

Many of us will be filled with Thanksgiving turkey, dressing and pumpkin pie but I'm also especially filled with thanks for God's blessings this season.  Having just returned from SE Asia and met so many dedicated and persevering church planters and pastors and all of the challenges they face on a daily basis, I'm so very grateful for all that I have in SW Florida.  Knowing that my fellow pastors in Burma are living on a dollar a day, reminds me that our economic crisis in Cape Coral, FL is minimal in comparison.  Knowing that my fellow pastors in the Orissa area of India have lost their churches and family members and friends and are facing threats on their own lives for being followers of Jesus Christ, makes be very grateful that I'm respected by and invited to be involved in the lives of our local government leaders and I can openly share about my faith and publicly pray without fear of retribution.

Also, I'm grateful for God's protection over our team as we traveled around the world.  Not only for the traveling safety while in airplanes, taxis, SUV's and rickshaws, but also from violence.  Just today, there have been major uprisings and violent attacks in both Bangkok and Mumbai where we spent time just a week or two ago.  Thank you Lord for your goodness and grace!  Happy Thanksgiving to each of you!

Orissa Persecution

After a very long series of flights and layovers on the way home (nearly 40 hrs.) my beautiful wife met me at the Atlanta airport where I completed my trip around the world.  We went to a cabin in the mountains of north GA where there was still a little Fall foilage color to enjoy (see photos).  After a week of rest, hiking and relaxing, I have returned to Cape Coral. It's good to be home after being away three weeks.  Thanks again for all of your prayers!

I've updated a few pictures (Click on Photo Album at top right corner) that I received from four pastors who came to the conference from the Orissa area, where there is much persecution of Christians. Three of these pastors have had their homes and churches burned, and survived by hiding in the forest for many days. One of their friends was murdered in front of his wife and four year old son. These pastors and their families have been relocated to refugee camps. There is some hope that the government will begin to listen to the cases of these displaced Christians. Please continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Orissa. Pray that the government of the state will help to restore

Heading Home

We are soon heading west from the east coast of India to make our way the rest of the way around the world back to the United States.  Pray for safety as we spend the next 33 hours in the air or in airports.  At least this time, we'll make up for the day we lost on the way to Thailand.  I'm not sure what opportunities I will have for updating the blog in the next while.  Check back occasionally and encourage others to log on and hear the story of God at work around the world.  Thanks for being with me on this journey.  I deeply appreciate the comments and your most of all your prayers and support.

In the Grip of His Grace,

Dennis

Day 3 - "Planting Churches God's Way"

It's early Thursday morning, Nov. 13th here in Vizag, India and we are heading home in just a few hours!  Can't wait to see my wife at the Atlanta airport tomorrow morning and head to the GA mountains for a week of reconnecting and rest!  

After we check out of the hotel this morning, will be going back to the conference for just an hour or two before heading to the airport.  Our flight from Vizag to Hyperabad is only an hour where we stop briefly and then we have another 3 1/2 hours to Mumbai (Bombay) India.  We have a 6 hour lay over in Bombay before our 16+ hour flight to New York (Newark).  I will then fly to Atlanta while the rest I'll be traveling with will go to Fort Myers or Seattle.

Yesterday's conference was a wonderful day, partly because I didn't have to speak and I could spend time taking pictures, talking to more of the Indian pastors and just enjoy what was going on around Vision Nationals campus where they have an orphanage and a school of 400 children along with the college and seminary.

Pastor Ken Eze from Jos, Nigeria was the main speaker in the first session of the day.  I've really enjoyed getting to know Ken and his wife Grace and Emeca, another pastor they brought with them over the past few days.  Greg Kappas, Bob Chin and Nolen Rollins knew them from before and introduced me to them on the plane while coming here to Vizag from Hyderabad.  Last night in the evening session, the three Africans gave an example of a typical African worship experience.  The Indian pastors at the conference are not very expressive in their worship.

At the final session last night, right before Nolen Rollins spoke, he and I sang an accapella duet from our past experiences of singing in gospel quartets.  Nolen's wife typed up the words and emailed them to us after we started talking about it the day before.  We sang "Sheltered in the Arms of God" and "What a Day That Will Be" for those who grew up with such music.  I sang the lead and Nolen harmonized with the tenor and it sounded pretty good for only practicing each song one time right before the session.  It's amazing what is still back in those memory banks!

We heard a powerful story yesterday from one of four pastors who came from the Orissa area of India, north of here.  That is the area where there is intensive persecution of Christians by Hindu extremists.  These pastors rode a crowded train for 10 hours to get to the conference and one of them could only stay during the day and headed back on the train for another 10 hours back.  These pastors showed us pictures last night of their churches, their homes, their church vehicles being burned and everything looted just recently.  Some of the Christians were killed and burned and they had pictures to show all of this up on the screen last night.  We saw the extremists on the roof of a half burned church trying to tear off the cross and waving a Hindu flag above the cross.  But "Christ will prevail" was the testimony of these pastors.  (I've included a picture in the photo gallery of the teaching team with these brothers yesterday before they returned to their area)

These Orissa area pastors had to leave early because they and most of the members of their churches are now living in refugee camps because they have been driven out of their homes and villages by these extremists of the Orissa area.  The pastors were only allowed to be gone for something like 48 hours or so and the spent 20 hours on the train coming and going.  A few of their members recanted their faith in Jesus Christ and were allowed to stay in the village.  The extremists have tried to get into the refugee camp and poison the food being fixed for the refugee Christians.

We think life is rough in the USA where we have some economic challenges in recent times.  Yet, who of us have really had our lives threatened in the least bit because of our love for Jesus?  Who of us have lost everything materially and live in a refugee camp because of our faith?  We can speak the name of Jesus in most any place at any time without fear.  These men pastor their congregations and know they could be killed at any time.  And they are praying for more boldness to declare Jesus to more people just like in Acts 4.

Last evening all of the speaking team took our wonderful hosts, Arjuna and Ravi Chiquluri to their favorite restaurant at a hotel on the beach of the Bay of Bengal.  We ate delicious food outdoors next to the water.  It was relaxing to hear the waves and see them in the light of the full moon as we enjoyed our last evening here.  It was nearly 11 pm when we got back to the hotel so I had to repack my suitcase then and got to bed about 12:30 am.  So, this blog comes in the morning of Day 4 of the conference.

Those of us who spoke in the beginning of the week are leaving today.  Other speakers arrived yesterday.  Todd Milby from Summit Church in Estero, FL and two other men from Columbia, SC arrived yesterday.  The "Planting Churches in God's Way" conference goes on all day today and on through tomorrow, Friday morning before the 150+ pastors go back to their villages and the 50 college and seminary students return to their classes.  Like in Thailand, the Indian pastors are very hungry for teaching and instruction.  They are so appreciative of all we share and express it often.

I've been humbled to be a part of teaching and training these pastors from across Southeast Asia where one half of the world's population lives.  But, I've learned from them more than I taught them.  We will have literally been around the world in these 14 days.  There is nothing like learning how the the other half of the world lives and what they face on a daily basis.  Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I have so much to be thankful for!

Day 2 - "Planting Churches in God's Way"

The second day of the conference has come and gone.  It's been a good day but a tiring day.  I spoke in the second main session this morning, did one workshop before lunch and then repeated the workshop again in the afternoon.  That's a lot of standing without any shoes on hard tile floors and I'm taking a lot of Aleve to deal with the stiff lower back and sore feet.  Tomorrow, I will not be speaking so I'm looking forward to less standing.

The students in the Master's Bible College and Seminary are so eager to learn and are always very attentive and they take a lot of notes.  Most all of the students speak fairly good English, and in fact, the students are our translators for our workshops sessions.  They comprise about 50 out of the 200 who are attending.  Professors from the college and seminary do the translations for the main sessions.

The other 150 pastors/church planters who are attending the conference vary greatly.  Some are from the city areas and they tend to be better educated and can speak some English while those from very rural areas often can't speak any English.  All of them are so friendly and very appreciative of our teaching.  I enjoy their questions in the workshops on how to deal with the challenges they face in their churches.

I'm enjoying the variety of the teaching team we have here in India.  In addition to Greg Kappas, Bob Chin and Nolen Rollins, we have been joined by Ken Eze of Nigeria and his lovely wife, Grace and one of the many church planters Ken has trained.  A couple local Indian pastors have also been teaching workshops.  Tonight, Pastor David Nelms of West Palm Beach, FL re-joined the team and will be here again tomorrow.  His son, Jared and his wife also came along from another part of India where they live.  Tomorrow, Todd Milby, one of the pastors from Summit Church in Estero, FL (son in-law of Nolen Rollins) will also be joining the teaching team and staying on after the rest of us head back to the USA and Africa on Thursday. 

God is at work here in India and to get to be a part of training these students and pastors is a privilege and a joy.  Thanks for your prayerful support.

Check out he pictures I've uploaded today.  A few of us got to go up to a hill overlooking the Bay of Bengal and the city of Vizag tonight about dark.  We were a bit late getting up there and missed the beauty of a daylight view but there was some remaining color in the sky as the lights of the city came on below that added beauty to the end of a busy day.

Day 1 - "Planting Churches in God's Way"

The Internet is so slow and spotty here tonight in the hotel in Vizag that I just spent 30 minutes or more writing about the opening day of the conference and I lost it all because the Internet went bad as I was uploading it all.  I'm sorry but I'm exhausted from a very long day and I don't have the energy to try to write it all over again.  I'll try to upload some pictures and then that will be it for tonight. 

I spoke 2x today and will speak 3x tomorrow so I'll see what kind of energy I have then.  Walking everywhere barefooted inside (church-related areas only, not hotels, restaurants, etc.) on marble tile floors is not something we Americans are used to.  We feel it in our feet, legs and backs.  And, there is no air conditioning where the conference is being held at Vision National's campus so the 85-90 degree heat with high humidity is also tiring.  Thanks for understanding and praying for us.

Sunday in India

We arrived in Vizag on Saturday afternoon.  The time in India is 10 1/2 hours ahead of Florida time. India is full of bright colors, yellow rickshaws, scooter of all sorts, roaming cows, honking vehicles and lots of people.  I've traveled a few places around the world with interesting driving habits but none quite like India.  Stop signs are only mild suggestions and if you did actually slow down or stop at a stop sign, you would certainly be honked right out of the city.  The horn is the most essential part of all scooters, rickshaws, cars and trucks.

There are about 3 million people in Vizag.  On the way from the airport to the Green Park Hotel we saw the extremely poor who live in makeshift tents along the road to very nice high rise office centers that are call centers for US companies or where computer software is developed.  We went to a 5 story building today and they call it a "mall."  They have everything from jewelry to clothes and toys to housewares.

This morning, Bob Chin spoke at the 8 am worship service of a church that has 3 worship services with a total of about 1,500 in attendance.  There were 500 at the early service and he said the worship band rivaled any that exist in the churches of the United States.  These were all Indians but they didn't need translation - they understood English. 

After speaking early at the 8 am service, Bob Chin, the Vision Nationals driver, and two interpreters from the seminary, came back to the hotel to pick me up and we drove to two small churches in the shipyard area and the steel mill area, near the Bay of Bengal to speak. Bob Chin preached under a tent to about 25 people on a roof top.

Greg Kappas went to Arjuna's church to bring greetings to them but a couple pastors who are here from Nigeria actually preached.  Nolen Rollins went to a church that met later afternoon/early evening to speak. 

Master's Fellowship is the church where I spoke.  It is pastored by Ravi Babu Addepalli, the first pastor in the Vision Nationals network of churches.  The church is 12 years old and a little over 50 attended.  It meets in a second story non-air conditioned room but it was nice and breezy near the Bay of Bengal so it really wasn't hot.  The worship service lasted a little over 2 hours in length.  The men sat on one side and the women were on the other side.  We all took our shoes off to enter the church.  I asked if was okay to leave my socks on and Pastor Ravi told me it was fine but I noticed everyone else was barefoot.  They got me a Pepsi to drink as I sat in the front during the time of worship which was accompanied by a set of conga drums and a tambourine and led by multiple people who stayed in their place in the audience but the microphone was passed around to the leader for that song.  The people were very welcoming and appreciative of the message.  Several came up afterward and wanted me to pray for their children for issues like "fear", sickness, sadness, etc.

The most challenging part of preaching this morning was the thunderous salutes of major firework shells and the very loud music out on the street in front of the church.  The big boom salutes shook the whole building.  I asked after the service about all of the noise I had to compete with while giving the message.  The pastor told me they were celebrating a wedding and that is why the family had rented a mobile sound system and was firing off all the firecrackers and the big salutes.

Pastor Ravi and his family live downstairs, below the church.  They invited me into their home after church to have a 7-Up while we waited for the driver to come back and pick me and the translator up.  I learned more about their family and the fact that they had two sons that died, one was three and the other son was four years old.  They have a very small humble home but were so proud to show it to me.

We got back to the hotel about 2:30 and got some lunch before going to their "mall" nearby and doing a little shopping.  It's now almost 9 pm and I'm very tired, dozing off as I write this blog.

The pastor's conference starts tomorrow afternoon and I start off the conference speaking from 10:30-11:30 am and then 2 workshops in the afternoon.  Tuesday's schedule will be identical for me with a second talk in the main session to start the day and I will be repeating the same two workshops in the afternoon.  It will be a tiring two days but then I don't speak on Wednesday or on Thursday morning and we begin flying toward home on Thursday afternoon.

So long for now...

Day 4 - Summit

Although we are now in India and ready to start the second part of the experience, I'll go back to yesterday, the last part of the International Church Planting Summit in Thailand.  The last morning of ICPS 2008 began with a great message from Nate Hettinga of Cascade Community Church near Seattle .  He spoke of making sure we know the message we are communicating to those whom we are calling to commit to Jesus Christ.

After the teaching team met for its daily evaluation meeting on Thursday night, we changed the Friday morning to include a 30 min. segment of Q&A with the main session speakers being the panel. There were excellent questions and the answers brought very helpful discussion.  Twat, one of the primary church leaders and authors of Thailand (referred to by others as "the Rick Warren of Thailand") expressed that the ICPS type training should be repeated 2x per year in SE Asia.  Many other church planters expressed their deep gratefulness for what had been taught.

And then the Summit ended yesterday (Friday) noon with a powerful message from our Thailand host, Tim Dunham.  He spoke from John 17, "How the World Will Believe."  The call to unity and oneness of all Christ-followers in SE Asia was very needed and very well received.  We celebrated communion together and an offering was received for those who traveled from the poorest country, Myanmar (Burma) where the average pastor makes $1/day and they had to spend $400 for travel to attend the ICPS.

It was a privilegeto use the $100 entrusted to me by a CCF member (and with personal funds that I added to it) to invest in three young men from Burma - "Arthur", Ram and Augn.  One by one, I gave them each a Leadership Journal and another leadership magazine I had read on the way and then cash.  They expressed profound gratitude, with tears in their eyes, and one of them asked if he could give me a hug - not very common (from what I observed) in SE Asia.

There is conversation and preliminary planning for the next ICPS to happen in Nepal in 2010.  The Christian church is just getting started there but it is spreading rapidly.  I learned to know two attenders from Nepal, Joel & Samuel, who are affiliated with Vision Nationals here in India.  It's exciting to hear how things are developing in Nepal.  Who knows, maybe I'll have an opportunity to go.

The experience of the week was humbling.  I certainly learned more than I taught anyone.  To see how these pastors and church planters endure incredible hardships and great potential harm to themselves to continue in their calling out of the passion that every man, woman and child should have an opportunity to know Christ -- was very moving.  To think that HALF of the entire world's population is in SE Asia (remember that China and India are included)!  A very strategic place to be able to invest in the lives of church planters who are multiplying churches in the cities and villages among their cultures, dialects, tribes and nations. What a privilege!!!!  And now, for a week in India...

(Check out the new pictures I uploaded)

Arrived in India

It's midnight India time (1:30 AM Thailand time and 1:30 PM Florida time) and we arrived in Hyderabad, India.  We are in a airport hotel and will fly to our final destination in Vizag, India tomorrow noon.  I'm too tired to update the blog with the final half day of the Thailand Summit but will try to do that in the morning.

Day 3 - Summit (wrap-up)

The two workshops sessions I led in the afternoon were repeats of yesterday although the "Discovering and Developing Young Leaders" workshop was translated into Thai today whereas yesterday it was translated to Lahu. 

The evening session was a message from Tawat Yenjai, a local pastor who has been training and mentoring church planters for many years.  I believe it he has been instrumental in starting 16 churches in Thailand through his training and sending out of church planters.  He was a great communicator even though he was speaking in Thai and it was being translated into English.

Tomorrow morning (Friday, Nov. 7) is the wrap up for the International Church Planting Summit.  The Summit will end with communion together at noon.  Our flight back to Bangkok leaves at 2:55 PM so we have to leave shortly after it is over and grab some lunch on the way to the airport.  It is a one hour flight back to Bangkok and then we have a 4 1/2 hour layover there before a 3 1/2 hour flight to Hyderabad, India where we arrive at 10:50 pm India time.  Due to the late arrival, there are no flights to our next destination of Vizag, India so we will need to stay in a airport hotel.

The only missing piece about this visit to Chiang Mai is that we have had no time to visit the area and enjoy the incredible views in the countryside that everyone tells us is here in the area.  But, we didn't come on a sightseeing trip but a ministry trip and that has been the priority.  It has been a good experience in every way.  Strong appreciation has been expressed by many of the pastors and church planters. 

I prepared my materials before coming to Thailand with a lot of intimidation and concerns about being able to communicate adequately in a culture that I knew very little about.  So, when will I finally learn to trust the Holy Spirit?  I'm amazed at how God gave me the right words to share here and how much the things I spoke were addressing needs and issues they have in Southeast Asia.  Only the Holy Spirit could pull that off.  So, thank you for praying for me and the rest of the team.  God certainly has been at work.  Good things for eternal purposes have been accomplished.

Day 3 - Summit (mid-day)...

I have a little break right now because I didn't do a workshop in the late morning session and I'm not sure I'll have lunch due to too many meals without enough exercise.  I have been taking the steps up and down 14 flights from the lobby/conference meeting room area to my 7th floor room at the hotel to get some exercise -- they do have elevators that work well -- but there is still too much eating and sitting.

Pastor Bob Chin of Seattle did a fantastic job in the main session this morning as he spoke on "The ABC's of Multi-Ethnic, Multi-Generational, Cross-Cultural Ministry."  We got to hear Arjuna Chiguluri be interviewed by Tim Dunham regarding how he moved from a life goal of planting 10 churches to already 300 churches being planted in India.  We are expecting God to continue to move in this final full day of the Summit and the close tomorrow noon (Friday).

God arranged for me to have breakfast this morning with "Arthur" from Laos and I got a chance to hear more of his story.  He is the oldest of 6 children and was raised in a small village in Laos near the "Opium Triangle" near the borders of Burma and Thailand next to the Mekong River.  It has become a very poor area after opium was outlawed (once it was no longer used in medicines) about 30 years ago.  Arthur's father left the family when he was only 8 years old due to his opium (heroin) addiction leaving mom to raise six kids.

Arthur had a hunger for learning and had no way to pay for his education so he lived in a Buddhist temple and worked for the monks to get his education, although he grew up in a home that was considered to be Christian.  He told me how he cried out to God many times as he felt like those years in the Buddhist temple were similar to Moses' years in the home of Pharaoh because he didn't want to study Buddhism nor become a monk but it was the only way to pay for an education and have a place to live while he studied.  Arthur was the first person in his family and entire community to go on and get a bachelor's degree.  While in college, he met an American missionary who used the stories of the Bible to teach him English.  It was then that he invited Christ into his life.  Arthur then went to seminary in Malaysia and received his Master's Degree in Theology. 

Arthur then worked for Compassion International for 4 years before returning to his community to start a ministry called Asia Outreach Ministries to attempt to reach the Akha -- an unreached people group who live in China, Laos, Vietnam and Burma (aka Myanmar).  He has a passion for church planting and helping this unreached people group be released from their poverty.  I sat there with tears in my eyes at the breakfast table as Arthur and I talked about how his time in the Buddhist temple was like the experience of Moses because now he understands the teaching of Buddha and can share Jesus Christ with Buddhist in a clear and concise way.

Arthur loaded up 9 pastor/church planters from his area and brought them to Chiang Mai in the back of his pickup truck.  It is at least a 3 hour drive if you came direct from his village to Chiang Mai but he said it will take 6-7 hours tomorrow to get home because he has to drop off each pastor at their home in various areas.  Arthur has a vision to open a training center for church planting pastors in the border triangle area in Laos for pastors to come from Burma, Thailand and China.  Although China is 10-12 hours up the Mekong River, that specific area in Laos does not require a visa for those from Chinese people that come from the same unreached people group that he is trying to reach.  You can go to his website at www.AkhaHope.org for more information.

I had a member of CCF walk into my office last week when I was getting ready to go and he told me God was prompting him all week long to give me a $100 to bring along on my trip.  He didn't know if God was telling him it was for my expenses or for someone I might meet on the way but he knew God was speaking to him to give the money. I told this donor that my needs were taken care of and I would be praying with him during this trip with great anticipation about who I might meet that needs that $100.  Is it Arthur?  Please pray with me for confirmation so that I will know by tomorrow before he leaves.

I also uploaded some new pictures.  Check them out.

Day 2 - Summit

Although I'm writing this early Thursday morning, it's still Wednesday evening for most of you.  Day 2 at the summit was wonderful.  There was a main session in the morning with Nolen Rollins from Summit Church in Estero doing an excellent job speaking on "Spiritual Leadership for Building Great Churches."  Nolen has been an executive pastor for 30 years and served with Charles Stanley of First Baptist in Atlanta for many years. I've enjoyed learning to know Nolen during our travel together.  He is the only travel partner that I will be with all the way until we get back to New York.

Pastor David Nelms of Grace Community Church in West Palm Beach, FL gave an awesome message in last night's main session called "My Eye Affects My Heart."  It fit perfectly with my own journalizing yesterday morning on Matthew 9:35-38 where I read about Jesus seeing the crowds and having compassion on them because "their problems were so great and they didn't know where to go for help.  They were like sheep without a shepherd."

Greg Kappas of Grace Global Network and David Nelms (and Roger a businessman from David's church) left early this morning for Bangladesh.  They will be speaking to about 500 Christ-followers there who have converted from Islam.  They will then rejoin us on Saturday in India. 

Yesterday and today, there are three workshop sessions with 6-7 workshops scheduled for each of the three sessions each day.  I spoke back to back in the two afternoon sessions on "Discovering and Developing Young Leaders" and "Servant Leadership."  The message of both workshops was well received and there were about 35-40 in the first workshop and 15-20 in the second one.The first workshop was translated into Lahu by my friend Chan and the second workshop was translated into Thai by Pun, a pastor's wife.  Today, I will repeat the the same two workshops in the back to back afternoon sessions and they will both be translated into Thai. 

I came on this trip to learn as well as I came to teach.  I'm learning from the the SE Asian church planters that I'm encountering at breakfast, llunch and break times.  Each main session has also had an interview from a church planter.  Yesterday we heard more of the story of Ram from Myanmar whom I had met at dinner the night before.  He makes about a dollar a day ($30/mo.) but the trip to come to Thailand cost $400 and that is with the 10 hr. bus ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mail instead of the 1 hour flight we made.  So to spend a year's salary to get to the Summit for more training is a big deal.  I asked him if he had any help and he did get some help from his church and some scholarship money from International Church Plantering Summit partners.  Those of you from CCF really helped Ram be able to attend the ICPS becausese you covered my airfare so no one else had to pay for teaching team to get here so scholarships could be given to participants. Thank you for your investment in Ram's life.

Ram and his fellow church planter Augn also told me over lunch that if they are found with US dollars, they will be jailed by the Myanmar (aka Burma) government.  Yet they desperately need help so they have to find creative ways to get funds to accomplish the vision they have.  Ram has a vision to see 1000 churches planted in Burma by 2030.  Augn is reaching Buddhist's with the gospel by coaching and playing soccer.  He shares the message of Christ with these young men before each soccer game and he organizes soccer tournaments in his area and uses it as an opportunity to evangelize.

Another church planter, his English name would be Arthur, is serving as a church planter in Laos.  He shared with the group in an interview yesterday of the daily challenge of being jailed if he is found sharing the Good News of Jesus with anyone.  Yet he is planting churches and trying to develop a leadership training school for church planters so the work can be multiplied and people can be reached.  And we think we have problems in Cape Coral.

There is much more to share than I have time or space for.  Check out and enjoy the pictures from yesterday!

Very tired...

I'll update you on Day 2 from the Summit when I get up early Thursday morning -- Wednesday evening for you.  It was a great day and I have many more pictures to share but I'm just way too tired tonight.  It was a long and busy day.  I did 2 workshops today and I'm ready for bed.  Sorry you have to wait a few hours.  Thanks for your understanding.

Day 1 - Summit

The first day of the 2008 International Church Plantering Summit has come to a close.  Over 140 registrants have arrived and others are still on their way.  It was a good day.  Thanks for all of your prayers.  I know each of the three speakers felt God breathed His Spirit into our preparations and He gave us the right words for the church in SE Asia.  We had excellent translators and I soon got into the flow of timing while speaking with translator.

I sat at dinner tonight with four church planting pastors from Myanmar (aka Burma), just to the west of Thailand.  Ram, Augn and Tun Tun spoke good English so I learned a lot from them about sacrifice and perseverance.  They told me of the oppressive dictatorship they endure which makes all of life much more difficult.  For example, cell phones which are prevalent in Thailand right next door, are kept out of the hands of the common person.  The government has put restrictions on cell phone ownership by raising the price to 4,000 US dollars.  Only government workers and very wealthy people have them.  They are relieved to be in Thailand because they can actually talk about their government without being thrown in jail as they would be at home.

Ram has a 30 x 30 ft. 2 story home on a 40 x 60 ft. lot and the first floor is a meeting place for the church, a school that trains leaders and a meeting place for local pastors to come together.  The four pastors live only a few miles from each other, but to get together, it takes at least one hour of travel time by very crowded buses.  They have no cars or other transportation.  To come to the Summit, they were able to afford only to take a one hour flight from a large city in Myanmar to Bangkok and then they brought the bus from Bangkok to Chiang Mai.  That trip for us was a flight of just under an hour but these four pastors rode a bus for 10 hours to get to the Summit.  There are many other stories too share here.

I'm very tired and ready for bed, so hope you don't mind...this is all for now.  Tomorrow will be another busy day with one main session in the morning and then one workshop in the morning and then two workshops in the afternoon.  I will be doing a workshop in the morning, "Discovering and Developing Young Leaders" that will be translated into Thai and then one in the afternoon, "Servant Leadership" in English.  Thanks again for your prayers and comments!

Anticipating God at Work...

While most of you are sleeping (noon in Thailand and midnight in Florida), I'm back in my room after two hours of meeting and praying with the teaching team for the International Church Planting Summit.  At 2 pm, the summit will begin.  Registration runs from Noon to 2 and they are coming from Japan, China, Nepal, Burma, Thailand and India.  I'm so humbled by the privilege to be here and to think that God might use a farm boy from Oregon to speak this evening to church leaders from across SE Asia.  To know that some church planters have sold possessions to be able to come to this summit is very sobering.  Thanks to the Cape Christian Fellowship family for your financial support that makes it possible for me to come without any huge sacrifice on my part.  Thanks for all of your prayers. I feel them.  I have a sense of great anticipation and excitement that God is going to work. 

Arjuna Chiguluri from India leads off the 3 main sessions today by speaking on the topic "Why God Weeps for SE Asia." ThenDr. Greg Kappas (our CCF partner from Grace Global Network) from Fort Myers, FL will be speaking on the subject, "Biblical Foundations of a Healthy Church Planting Movement."  This evening, I will be speaking from the Book of Acts with the title and five points being: A CHURCH WHICH TRANSFORMS A COMMUNITY... 1)...Leads People to Become Fully Devoted Followers of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:41-47; 4:32-37)   2)...Stays Externally Focused (Acts 3:1-11; 4:19-31)   3)...Finds a Need and Meets It (Acts 6:1-7)   4)...Connects With Influential Leaders (Acts 9:36; 10:22; 13:50; 16:14-15; 17:4, 12, 18; 28:7-24)   and 5)...Partners With Other Churches (Acts 9:26-31; 15-35).  The workshops will start tomorrow afternoon and I have two topics to present.

We spent a couple hours together this morning as a team going over the theme, the schedule, praying together, seeing the meeting areas and learning about some of the cultural intricacies, background of God's work in Thailand and surrounding countries, the challenges they have here in SE Asia.  The theme of the Summit is "Sowing to Harvest...Proclaiming Christ to every Man, Woman and Child" with John 4:35-36 as the theme scripture -- "Do you think the work of harvesting will not begin until the summer ends four months from now?  Look around you!  Vast fields are ripening all around us and are ready now for the harvest.  The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life.  What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike!"  Being able to travel to Southeast Asia and have the opportunity to be a part of what God is doing and what God will be doing is a part of my "good wages" that Jesus speaks about.

A found the cultural tips our host (Tim Dunham) gave to be intriguing.  The folded hands and bow of the head as a greeting is very much based on hierarchical status in this culture.  The higher the hands are moved up from the chest to in front of the face is symbolic of the higher esteem that person gives you.  Tim said that SE Asian pastors give American pastors very high esteem and will probably call us "ajarn" which is a term that is of very high honor -- "next to Jesus" -- as Tim explained it.  I'm certainly not worthy of being called "ajarn" - just ask my wife and others that know me well!  Tim also told us to be careful if we drop one of their coins and it rolls on the floor. We must not step on it to stop it from rolling as we might do in America.  That is the sign of ultimate disrespect because a picture of the King of Thailand is on the coin.  Furthermore, we must be careful not to cross our legs and show the bottom of our shoe toward another person because that is a huge sign of disrespecting the other person you have your foot pointed toward.  But, Tim also assured us that SE Asians will be very gracious and forgiving to us Americans who make cultural faux pas.

In learning more about our audience, we have learned that the educational level of those pastors and church planters attending the Summit here in Thailand will be bachelor, masters and doctorate level compared to those who will participate in India will be more uneducated church planters.  However, the system of education in Southeast Asia is geared toward memorize material and copy it back in a test rather than being taught creative thinking skills as we are taught in American education.

Enough educational and cultural tidbits for now.  I need to get ready for the beginning of the Summit which is about an hour from now.

In the Grip of His Great Grace...Dennis

 

Wow...Rest in a Real Bed

Rested very well last night in a real bed after all the traveling!  It's Tuesday morning, the sun is shining with some clouds covering the surrounding mountain tops.  The ICPS teaching team meets for breakfast and prayer in an hour so I need to get ready.  I'll update you later today on the conference and who is attending.  I've changed the clock on the blog to now reflect the accurate time zone I'm in so you can see when I'm updating the blog.

Good Food and Fellowship

We enjoyed a delicious Thai dinner at a beautiful "outdoor" restaurant surrounded by lush vegetation and multiple water falls.  Tim Dunham, wife Denise, two daughters and a son in-law took the teaching team out to dinner and we had a wonderful sample of Thai food in a relaxing setting.  Check out the photos of the bathroom!  We had a little view of this city of 250,000 people on our way from the hotel to the restaurant and back.  My scooter and Toyota Corolla would blend in perfectly here.

Joining the four of us who flew in from Seoul and Bangkok together, were Nate Hettinga and 2 additional men (Matt & Bill) from his church in Monroe, Washington (Seattle area).  They have been in Cambodia connecting with some of their mission partners this past week and Nate will now join the teaching team for the International Church Planting Summit.  Arjuna Chiguluri and his lovely wife Raj, also arrived from from India and joined us for dinner.  They will be our hosts at Vision Nationals when we go on to India.  David Nelms will be arriving from West Palm Beach, FL later to join the team.  I feel privileged to be in the company of some wonderful people and I'm learning a lot from them.

Tomorrow morning at 9, we meet for breakfast and then at 10 we get together to pray and go over all the plans for the ICPS which begins Tuesday afternoon and goes through Friday noon.  Thanks for all your prayers.  I'm ready for a good night's sleep!  I'll try to keep you posted as time goes along.  I am able to recieve email but for some reason I haven't been able to send anything out of my "outbox."  Hopefully, I can get that fixed soon.  The internet is okay when it works but the wireless signal is low and a bit spotty.  Check out the pictures I've uploaded.

We've arrived in Chiang Mia

After over 39 hours enroute, we arrived at 10:30 Monday morning (12 hrs. ahead of FL time). Our flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai was only an hour long but we were an hour late leaving.  We flew on a Boeing 747-400 for the short trip and into an airport that looked way out of proportion to the size of the plane.  I didn't see any other commercial passenger jets at the airport, only a couple smaller planes.  The green tree-covered mountains around the city are beautiful.

In the small airport terminal which has some construction going on, there were two small old style baggage conveyers in the domestic side where they sent us.  Bob's suitcase was there.  Greg, Nolen and I waited and waited but there was no luggage for us.  We tracked down our luggage at the other end of the airport (100 yd. walk) on the international side which had a couple more slightly more modern conveyor belts.  Our three suitcases were there and our host, John, was there waiting for us.

John (last name?) was sent by Tim Dunham to pick us up.  He is from Newberg, OR, (near where I grew up) and his wife from the Seattle area.  He spent most of his life in Sri Lanka, growing up as a child of missionary parents.  Now, he and his wife have a 4 year old and a 2 year old here in Thailand.  The ride to the hotel was about 20 min.  The hotel is older but adequate and confortable.  I had trouble getting on the wireless internet earlier so I took a nap for a couple hours.  Now it is working so I'm doing this update quick before Tim meets us for an early dinner (5 pm).

I'll write more and upload more pictures tonight.  A view from my 7th floor hotel room I've uploaded now.  Grace and peace to all of you.

Almost there...

Arrived in Bangkok a little before midnight (noon FL time) and we don't fly on to Chiang Mai until about 7 in the morning.  The four of us rented a room in a nearby hotel to take showers.  The shower sure felt good after 36 hours of travel.  I've uploaded a picture of the four of us in the hotel lobby.  Blessings to each of you as you pray for us!

Enroute...

The flight from Atlanta to Seoul took us up across the midwest and into Canada and across Alsaka and Russia.  In spite of reports of global warming, I saw plenty of snow and ice for many miles.  We stayed ahead of the dark until we arrived here in Seoul, Korea about 4:30 pm Sunday here (4:30 am Sunday).  It was a pretty sunset from the airport as it got dark about 5:15.  The 15 hr. flight was tolerable and I think I got several hours of sleep in 3 or 4 segments.  An exit row helped with the leg room.  I was able to get another exit row seat for the next 6 hr. flight from Seoul to Bankgok.

Bob Chin, one of the two pastors from Seattle who will be speaking at the ICPS just got in and will be joining us for the rest of the flights to Chiang Mia.  I had the privilege of meeting Bob back in August when he was in Florida for a brief visit.

It's Linda's weekend to work so she is probably getting up about now and getting ready for work on Sunday morning.  I'm praying for the worship experience at Cape Christian Fellowship to be filled with God's presence today!  Peace and grace to each of you!

On the way...

With the alarm going off at 4:10 this morning, I realized the day has arrived.  Greg Kappas, Nolen Rollins and I left SW Florida on time, 7am, and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise from the air on our way to Atlanta.  Courtsey of Nolen, we are enjoying soft chairs and quiet in the Crown Room of Concourse E until we grab some lunch about 11am and then head to our gate for a 1pm flight on Koren Airlines.  We'll on a 15 hr. direct flight to Seoul, Korea.  We have a 3 hr. layover in Seoul and then a 6 hr. flight to Bangkok, Thailand.  Then we have a 7-8 hr. layover in Bangkok before flying on to Chiag Mai.  24 hours in the air and another 15 hours in layovers will make for a long trip.  Nolen said he figured we will be spending 92-93 hours in planes or in airports during this two week jaunt.  Sounds really exotic and exciting doesn't it?

Ready to go!

Final preparations are done, suitcase is packed and I'm ready to go!  Thanks to all of you for your prayers.  Our flight leaves at 7am and then after 24 hours of flight time on top of all the layover time, we'll be in Thailand!  Stay posted!

Training Church Planters in Asia

Please pray for me as I join one of our Cape Christian Fellowship mission partners, Grace Global Network, in training 400 church planting pastors in Thailand and India from November 1-14, 2008.  To learn more about Grace Global Network, visit their website at http://www.graceglobalnetwork.org/ .

 

Saturday morning, we leave Fort Myers to fly to Chiang Mai, Thailand -- heading west via Atlanta, Seoul and Bangkok, arriving on Monday, November 3.  The International Church Planting Summit (ICPS) begins on Tuesday, November 4 and goes through Friday noon, November 7.  Church planters and church planting movement leaders are expected from Thailand and additional countries such as Burma, Cambodia, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan and some African countries. Our host in Thailand will be Tim Dunham, pastor of Chiangmai Christian Fellowship.  Visit http://www.ccfth.org/ for more information.

 

On Friday afternoon, November 7, we fly to Hyderabad, India for an overnight stay.  On Saturday afternoon, we fly to Vizag (aka Vishakhapatnam), located by the Bay of Bengal on the east coast of India.  We will speak in churches on Sunday and then do another conference for church planters, church planter coaches and Bible college/seminary students from India starting Monday, November 10 through Friday, November 14.  Our host in India will be Pastor Arjuna Chiguluri of Vision Nationals. You can learn more about this incredible ministry by going to http://www.visionnationals.org/ .

 

I (and a couple of the other Florida pastors) will then leave Vizag, India on Thursday, November 13 while the others finish the conference.  We continue west making our way around the world via Bombay (Mumbai), India and a 161/2 hour flight to Newark, NJ.  As the rest of the group returns to Florida, I’ll be flying to Atlanta to meet my wonderful wife so I can spend some time with her and catch up from jet lag in the Georgia mountains before returning to Cape Coral to speak at Cape Christian Fellowship on Nov. 22 & 23.

 

I will be traveling with several other SW Florida pastors, a pastor from West Palm Beach, FL and one from Seattle, Washington.  Two of the pastors will be leaving the Summit in Thailand one day early to fly to Bangladesh to speak to to 500 Muslims who have recently become Christ followers before joining the rest of us in India.

 

Pray for the Holy Spirit ‘s empowering, safety, health and strength for all of us because we each will be speaking at least 10-12 times in those 15 days on top of all the travel which includes a couple of exhausting 15½ -16½  hour flights thrown into the mix with all of the shorter 2-3 hour flights.

 

I would love to hear from you.  You can click on "Comments" at the bottom of the page.

 

In the Grip of His Grace,

 

Dennis 

 

“For where two or three gather together as my followers and pray, I am there among them.”