MEMORIAL MISSIONS
Our mission has come to an end and we want to thank all of you who kept us in your thoughts and prayers. There were over 17,000 Bibles and Christian packets given out during the Chinese New Year to Chinese people of mainline China. We leave tonight at 8:00pm for Bangkok then to Seoul then to Atlanta and on to Roanoke. It will take us about 30 hours to get home. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we travel. Again, thanks for your support for this mission...Paul and Jolene
PAUL AND JOLEN IN THAILAND
Memorial Baptist Church was formed in 1953 from the First Baptist downtown. Since our existence we have had a heart for missions...local, state and foreign. In the early 1990s our involvement in foreign missions increased greatly. We have sent our people to Africa, India, Columbia, Mexico, Czech Republic, Albania, Hungary, Jamaica, Venezuela, Honduras, South Africa, China and Thailand. I tell you this so you will understand that it is not Paul and Jolene on mission but the family of Memorial Baptist Church. We could not be here doing Kingdom work without the love and support of our local church. They have supported us on this long term mission with their financial support, encouragement and prayers. We could not do the work without them. At this time, we just happen to be the part of the Body that our Lord is sending to Thailand and China. I will never forget what our missionary to Honduras told us on our first mission there..."The star that shines the farthest, shines the brightest at home." He was telling us unless you are actively involved in your local church don't think you can do foreign mission work. We love our church family and are so blessed to have been members there for most of our lives.
God is doing a great work here this year. Each night at the pier we are giving out 20 to 25 boxes (25 Bibles and packets per box). At the Palladium we are giving out 5 to 8 boxes and the numbers seem to be growing there. I just got a call from an excited team leader who told me they had given out 7 boxes and it is only 7:30 pm. The work at Noog Nooch Tropical Garden is down and may be due to the Chinese travel agents. However, we have given out 8 boxes when we were there.
Some may like to know what we give out. First we give them a Manderin Chinese Bible based on the NIV version. The packet contains the following: a small booklet on Chinese symbols with Christian connotations...for example the Chinese symbol for blessed is: with the Divine, One Man, In the Garden. Christianity is not a Western religion but an Eastern religion. The Chinese have been looking for 2000 years for the true Creator God. I believe this is why they are so excited when they get a Bible they can read for themselves. Also, included are two DVRs on the Jesus film, a DVR on discipleship so if they start a house church, a "Four Spiritual Laws tract in Chinese and English by Campus Crusades, a tract on Blessing and an apologist book against atheism.
Last year Jolene gave a copy of a Bible to a little 10 year old boy and his mother. He had some questions but could speak very little English. Jolene ask me to go and talk to them. I did and assumed they were not Christians so I had the little boy who was with his mother, father, grandmother and aunt read in Chinese the "Four Spiritual Laws " track. I also prayed with them to receive Jesus. The attachment tells their story and you can link to the photos we took last year:
http://picasaweb.google.com/PaulandJolene2/2010FEBRUARYGOOGLEFEEDBACKFROM2009?feat=directlink
At Noong Nooch a young Thai came up to us and said he wanted to be a believer. So Jolene and the company leaders helped lead him to Jesus. As we were leaving after lunch, we saw him very intently reading every piece of literature that we had given him. The company leaders took his name and phone number and will have a local church follow up on him. A beautiful Christian Iranian family came up to Jolene and me to tell us how much they loved America and hoped our country would support the freedom loving people there:
http://picasaweb.google.com/PaulandJolene2/2010FEBRUARYGOOGLENONGNOOCH?feat=directlink
The children's home broke all of our hearts. However, before we left we were greatly encouraged. The team from Knoxville, Tennessee brought balloons that the children loved. They also left a gracious money gift. Jolene and I bought enough light bread and jelly so each child could have a jelly sandwich...a treat they rarely ever get. At dinner the children all stood and blessed the food and then quoted 10 Bible verses Chapter and verse in unison. I have heard many say, "I just can't memorize Scripture." It filled us full of joy. As we left, many of the children came up and told us that they loved us.
http://picasaweb.google.com/PaulandJolene2/2010FERUARYGOOGLEJINGJAICHILDRENSHOME?feat=directlink
Work at the Palladium:
http://picasaweb.google.com/PaulandJolene2/2010FEBRUARYGOOGLEPALLADIUM?feat=directlink
Sunday was a great day of worship, fellowship and rest:
http://picasaweb.google.com/PaulandJolene2/2010FEBRUARYGOOGLEWORSHIP?feat=directlink
Working with the team from Austin, Texas. We started out the morning by Prayer Walking Pattaya Pier and Walking Street. That night at the pier an Iranian man came up to the team and wanted to know about Christianity and ask for a English Bible. He was disillusioned with Islam. Tim and Loretta shared the Gospel with him and Tim set up an appointment to meet him the next day at his hotel. The morning of the meeting Tim at breakfast at the hotel where the teams are staying ask if anyone had any English Bibles. Margie Randall , who use to work for the company here and now lives in Texas, came with the team from Forest Baptist Church in Forest, Virginia. She had been at a Christian conference at sometime in the past and had bought an Iranian Bible and had it for a couple of years. She said God impressed on her heart to bring it with her. Tim overflowing with joy said, "You have an English Bible and you also have an Iranian Bible!!!" Tim, the pastor from China, took the Bibles with him and led him to a saving faith in Jesus. Praise the Lord!!!
Working with the team from Austin, Texas was a great joy for Jolene and me. Jolene and three members of the Chinese team during our team distribution walked up "Walking Street" giving out Thai Bibles and Thai packets to help the bar girls come out of the terrible business they are in.
http://picasaweb.google.com/PaulandJolene2/2010FEBRUARYGOOGLEPIERANDWAREHOUSE?feat=directlink
There have been many other great things that have happened which we have not witnessed first hand. One I have to tell you about and then thank God I have finished and can get to bed early. The Tennessee Team and Angel, a beautiful Thai young lady, went to the jail Saturday morning. Jolene and I will be going Saturday with a team. The jails are horrible. There is just no other way to describe them. Women are packed into one cell and men are packed into another cell. While this team was there an old lady was lying on the floor dying. Angel ask for a doctor or to send her to the hospital. The jail official said no and there was no doctor there. The old lady was a Cambodian lady in Thailand illegal. As she lay there dying, Angel got on her knees and told her that if she would call on Jesus she would be taken to Heaven and there would be no more suffering. The old lady put her hand in a prayerful position and said, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus" and then she died. All I could think of as she told the testimony was Romans 10:13 and the thief on the cross. There were approximately 50 other jail inmates who witnessed this miracle.
Thank you for your continued prayers. Tomorrow I will be 69 years old and this I have learned..." People don't care how much you know, but how much you care. Also, faith, hope and love...but the greatest of these is love".