Course of Study Training for Pastors

We just came back from a meeting of with missionaries from Laos and Vietnam for solidifying the process for educating and credentialing pastors in our nations.  Because the United Methodist Church is a global organization, our credentialing standards are global as well.  We must coordinate our efforts with the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM), Bishop Goodpaster, and the General Board of Global Missions, as well as work together with the other missionaries of the Southeast Asia Mission Conference (Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam).

It has been an effort that has taken place over the last two years, and it is coming together now in a very good way.  GBHEM has provided a process to be used in all of the areas that are Mission Conferences.  This provides a uniform standard across the globe for UM pastors.

We have already given License to Preach School for pastors, interns, and church leaders, and now we are in the second phase.  Coordinating a Course of Study school for educating pastors to be credentialed as mission pastors (the equivalent of a local pastor in the United States).  At the same time, we will be directing an Advanced Course of Study school for educating pastors to be credentialed as Ordained Elders.  Please pray for us as this is a huge task.

The task is especially difficult because all of the books and resources must be translated, and there is much coordination with teachers of the courses and receiving permission from authors and publishers to translate books.

We appreciate the prayer as we do this work for the Lord.

Cooking, Walking, and Playing

Many times people tell us they wish we would have more articles about our family life in the blog. Usually we don’t get around to it because there are so much good news to tell about the mission, but today we wanted to give a family update.

Anthony is taking his final courses of high school plus some electives. Sherri took Anthony to Bangkok to check out some culinary schools, and he is interested in the UFM School of Cooking. Anthony knows his way around the kitchen and is very creative, so we know he will love cooking school. His goal is to learn Thai and Chinese cuisine and to receive certification for his cooking so he will have a trade when he moves back to the States in a year. He wants to go to Bible College and train for the ministry, so this will be a trade to help him earn a living while going through school.

Michael Isaiah (we all call him Isaiah, and Thai people call him “ee-see-ah”) has finally started to walk, although he doesn’t talk much yet. He is 13 months old now. He has been able to walk for awhile but just didn’t. We think it was because he could crawl faster than he could walk, so he thought it was more convenient to get on all fours and get there sooner rather than later. His steps are very tentative. Isaiah is especially cute when he dances which is quite often. He sort of looks like a zombie when he dances. And he will do the Zombie jig when there is no music on. We wonder if he has music inside his head that makes him dance. He is also very acrobatic and likes to climb which makes us all have to watch him very closely.

Madeline is, well, Madeline. She is still bossy. She gives us all permission to live in the house. But she is learning, slowly. A month ago, she would say something like this: “I am the boss ‘cause I am The Madeline.” Now, she goes, “Gramma, you are the boss and I am Madeline.” Madeline comes to Grandma and Grandpa for pampering, and she usually gets it to. Madeline sleeps in our room , yet we have to be careful because she gets into stuff when she wakes up. I (Mike) had some Cracked Heel Lotion for my feet, and I left it on my desk in our room. When Madeline woke up, she got into it and rubbed it all over her body. And then her eye itched so she rubbed her eye and got the lotion in her eye. When her eyes burned, she rubbed them some more, making the problem worse. Jude heard her crying and found her covered with white lotion with red eyes weeping. I felt bad that I forgot to put the lotion up. We are back to the days of having little ones scampering in the house, so everything has to be childproof.

Jim and Abby will be heading back to the States in less than 2 months. They are looking at many different options for working and going to graduate school. They have a barbecue today that they are inviting friends over for because they have a day off today. Anthony will be heading over there in a bit. Anthony and I (Mike) are back on the Atkins diet. We both lost a lot of weight and gained half of it back. So we have gone back on it. So we are trying to make party treats he can eat to take to the party at Jim and Abby’s place.

Mike and Jude will be here another year, at least that is what it looks like now. When they do go back to the States, it will probably be in California to go to seminary. It is a pleasure to have them live in our home with us. Our selfish urges want them to stay with us forever, but we know they must follow the path God has set for them.

Jude leads an in-depth Bible study at our house on Thursday nights. Allen Metcalf, our family friend from Elizabethtown and our friend Jahp, attend faithfully. Jahp is a home economics teacher at Sammuk Christian Academy and we have been friends with her for 2 years now. Last week Jahp cooked a delicious Thai meal for us.

Sherri has been busy planning our itineration schedule and contacting churches. There are three annual conferences we are attending and speaking at almost 60 churches within a 9 week period of time. I wish there were 60 Sundays in that 9 week period, but there are only 9 of them. So we will be asking most churches to make time for us during the week, and we really appreciate helping us to connect with the people in your church.

May the Lord bless you.

International Leadership Institute Seminary in Bangkok

United Methodists are connected around the world.  This has been very evident this past month when Julie Broderson, Missions director at Centenary UMC in Lexington, KY (she is also the chairperson of the Annual Conference committee on Mission Personnel) contacted us about a seminar sponsored by ILI, the International Leadership Institute.  Some of our pastors and church leaders had attanded a basic leadership seminar last year with ILI in Chonburi province, but we were not fully acquainted with the mission and goals of ILI, but were impressed with their curriculum.

This week, 11 United Methodist pastors, interns, and leaders attended the full version of ILI's leadership seminar.  ILI has a strategy of resourcing leaders to train other native leaders.  All that come to the seminar are trained in teaching the ILI curriculum and are given full use of the resources.  Now we have trained leaders who can use this curriculum to train others.  You can check out ILI's website at www.iliteam.org

We had the pleasure of meeting many of the leaders and trainers of ILI, many of whom were from Singapore.  We were especially glad to meet Dr. Al Vom Steeg who is the Senior International Director of ILI.  Dr. Al Vom Steeg preached the morning service at Pradumri UMC and Lanny, one of the trainers, also worshipped with us this past Sunday.  

In the top picture, from left to right:  Pastor Sarah of Pradumri UMC, Dr. Al Vom Steeg of ILI, Sherri, and Mike holding Madeline, our grandaughter who fell asleep at the end of the service when everyone closed their eyes for the altar call.  Madeline enjoys coming to church with us and our Thai sisters and brother dote on her.  I fear she will get a big head here in Thailand because everyone treats her like a princess.  Our Thai Christian family is very kind and loving.

In the second picture, Lanny speaks before the congregation of Pradumri UMC with Dr. Al Vom Steeg.

This past Sunday was Chinese New Year Day.  It is a very big celebration here in Chonburi province because at least 70% of the population has Chinese ancestry.  The markets are flooded with Chinese deserts and treats, gifts, and decorations.  Everyone is lighting long strings of firecrackers which makes this a very LOUD day.  

We are always delighted to see the love of Thai Christians and their devotion to each other.  This is evident at Pradumri UMC.  One of the church leaders at Pradumri is Pi Nao.  Pi Nao and his wife own a bakery business (they make bread and treats at their home and sell them at the open market).  Their business is very seasonal.  Although they sell bread and pastries every week, most of their profit comes from the boom in business during the holidays.  One of the biggest holidays in their business is Chinese New Year.  People give gifts of Chinese pastries and cakes during this time and so the volume of sales greatly exceeds their capacity to produce with just two sets of hands.  However, if they do not produce enough goods to sell, they will lose out on the profit and their business will fail, because the normal weeks have low sales (most Thai people cannot afford baked goods on a regular basis.)  

The Christians of Pradumri UMC help Pi Nao out during the holidays, and this one was no exception.  They stayed up all night on Saturday night to produce the Chinese pastries and cakes.  They did not sleep at all.  And they did this on a volunteer basis to help out.  And after they were finished, they all came to Pradumri church for worship at 9:30 a.m. and did not get out until 1:30 p.m. or later.  It was inspiring to see all of these brothers and sisters in Christ sacrificing to help another family in the church.

It truly is a great blessing to work side-by-side with Thai Christians, seeking to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to every person in this nation.