MST Project in Thailand

As I was teaching in Canada, I had the opportunity to talk with one of their young staff named Steve. Steve was leading us in intercession one morning for a ministry called the MST Project. The MST project is targeting one of the darkest elements of Thailand, sex tourism. Steve had just spent the last few months in Thailand working with MST. Most ministries in Thailand related to this issue try to directly help the women and young girls trapped in this bondage. A few young men who had worked long term in Thailand, felt God give them a different strategy. Who was reaching out to the thousands of men who come to Thailand each year for this sex trade? If they could cut off the demand, there would be no need for the supply of prostitutes. Many shied away from their vision, feeling these men were disgusting pigs who did not deserve prayer, help, and the Gospel message. Yet, as these young men braved the streets, they found that most of the men were "normal people" you would never suspect are going to Thailand for prostitutes. Many of them were broken, divorced, or completely hopeless in their personal lives. MST brings in outreach teams that go out in small teams to witness to these men. They also engage in spiritual warfare, utilizing a store in the district to set up prayer vigils. Others take polls of the men to initiate conversation.
I was reminded again of how much need there is in this desperate world. That this very moment, there are girls no older than my daughter Sophia (age 11) roaming the streets of Thailand, looking for their next customer. Knowing no other way of life, perhaps even sold into this trade by their own parents. For every one of these poor girls, is a man in pain and lost in sin. Could we dare to reach out to both of them? See both of them set free from slavery? MST Projects is hoping for just this. I have included a link to their website as well as a video below that will help you see that hope in the midst of darkness.
MST website:
http://www.mstproject.com
MST video:

Outreach Teams on Their Way!

In Acts 13, the early church at Antioch gathered around Paul and Barnabas to pray over and commission them out on their first "official" missionary journey. I had the privilege of doing this for our outreach teams just this last Thursday. One of our main goals in the School of Biblical Studies is to take what we learn and go out to the nations, teaching and training believers in developing nations. One of the main tools we use to do that is our Titus Project ministry. Birthed here in 1997 in Montana, the Titus Project takes our SBS graduates on an eight week outreach to help pastors and believers understand how to study the Word of God, as well as assist pioneering SBS works. I was the MC at our meeting the other night, and led our campus as we prayed over three Titus Project teams. One team will be ministering in Nepal, where they will be teaching in a pioneering SBS, doing inductive study seminars in remote villages, and continuing our effort in the Bhutanese refugee camps. The Bhutanese Bible School (pioneered by Titus Project) has undergone many changes since the United States agreed to allow thousands of the Bhutanese to resettle and immigrate to the U.S. The second team will be headed down to Chile, where they will be teaching in the SBS there, and doing teaching seminars for local churches. It is our desire to multiply more Bible schools in South America, and Chile would make an excellent hub for the region. The third team is headed to Mexico and Costa Rica, where they will be working with local churches and YWAM to expand training in Biblical studies. We currently have no Bible schools operating in Central America, so this is quite a strategic trip as well. Please pray for the safety of these teams, as well as the anointing of God in their teaching and training. I will posting updates and pictures as the teams send them, so stay tuned for amazing God stories!

Burmese Bible School Update

Many of you may recall us talking about starting our first Bible School in Burma through the work of a past student named Saw Daniel. Saw Daniel is a 56 year old Burmese pastor who came to us for training here 3 years ago. His vision was to see the pastors in the Karen Baptist convention to be trained and equipped in inductive Bible study. We helped secure a scholarship for him, and he parted from his family for 9 months in order to be trained. We had attempted to bring his family with him, but after 3 years of having his visa denied, he finally had to come alone. Saw Daniel has 30 pastors that are under his oversight and care, and he began the first inductive Bible school for them in June 2007. The school graduated 13 students this July, 2008! Based on our training here, Daniel based his school on our 9 month course. The unexpected happened in September of 2007, when the Golden Yellow Uprising took place in Burma, ending in the death of many monks who were protesting. This landed Burma in the national news for the violence and brutality of the military government ruling over Burma. This uprising caused all ministries to stop for three months, until the political situation calmed down.
If an uprising wasn't enough, in April of 2008, Cyclone Nagris savagely blew through Burma, killing thousands, and leaving many more homeless. The students again had to take a break to repair damage to the Bible school, and help those in need around them.
Yet, nothing stops the plans of our God! Uprisings and cyclones can't thwart the plans of God, and so we are thrilled to report the successful conclusion of our first school there. Many of our US based staff traveled there to teach and support this school. Saw Daniel is already planning his next school this year, and we will again be sending our staff in to teach and support him.
Praise God! Enjoy some of the photos below from their graduation program. All you need to do is to click on the pictures, and your browser should open them in a large format so you can see them better.

First Burmese Bible School Graduation!

Northwest Where???

If you are like me, you probably have no idea where the Northwest Territories are. Even though I grew up in the United States, I continually am amazed at my ignorance of our neighbors to the north, Canada. The Northwest Territories is a huge expanse of land in northern Canada with a population of under 50,000. Originally inhabited by first nations and indigenous people, today it is a mix Canadian settlers and the original peoples. In one small town, called Behchoko (used to be called Rae on the map), there is a small Baptist church that has been laboring to bring the new hope to the Tli cho (Dogrib) people who live there. Like many native peoples, much of their culture and spirit has been broken due to colonialism and the effects of the settlers destroying their old way of life. Catholic missionaries came to this small town of 3,000 in 1859, but due to the loss of hope, unemployment, and poverty, many of the Tli cho here have turned to drugs, sex, and alcohol to escape their pain. Violence and child abuse are rampant, with drunks openly fighting in the streets, while their children are left alone at home. This small Baptist church was began by missionaries from Texas. They have labored and fought to stay through extreme winters (-40 degrees) and persecution as the only white family in the town. Wycliffe just finished translating the New Testament in Tli cho, and you can see a report of when it was in progress here:
http://www.wycliffe.ca/wordalive/archive/2003summer/index.html
The reason I am telling you this is that four of their young leaders, average age 20, are in the missions training program that I am teaching in this week. Sitting up late last night, these four shared their experiences growing up, and the challenges they face in trying to bring revival and change to this small Tli cho town. One young Tli cho woman told of how they have "girls night out" at the church, where about 30 girls from 3-10 years old at dropped off by their parents at church while the parents go out to drink and party. Another spoke of babysitting for a neighbor only to discover open sores on her baby due to neglect. She and her parents ended up taking the baby in for many months to nurse the baby back to health. One of the young Tli cho men was only recently baptized before coming to the missions school, but he is already using a local radio station to share a message of hope and play Christian music to the Tli Cho.
I was reminded again how there are churches and Christians in corners all over the world, battling against the powers of drugs and violence to bring new life to their peoples. Now I have one more people and town to add to my list for prayers!
If you want to see a slide show that the Tli cho put together about their home town and ministry in Bechoko, press play below.