Thanksgiving is such special occasion every year. I love food, so I don't need much convincing to get together with friends and family to eat a huge meal. However, as I have gotten older and wiser I have come to appreciate thanksgiving for other reasons as well. As Christians, a spirit of thanks ought to be one of the defining characteristics in our life. We don't wait for thanksgiving to be thankful. We should always be thankful because we have a gracious and merciful God who provides for all our needs and loves us intimately. But that shouldn't take away antyhing from how we engage Thanksgiving. I don't ever want to miss this opportunity to spend time focusing on just how thankful I am for the life God has given to me. It is much more than I deserve. So, enjoy your turkey, spend time with your family and loved ones, watch the Dallas Cowboys win (I hope!), but most of all, I encourage you to take some time to think deeply about what you are thankful for. Here are a few things that have been going on recently in our lives that I am thankful for.
My fascination with the church in China started 5 or 6 years ago. I have always been so intrigued by the amazing things the Lord has done in that nation over the last 60 years. If you aren't familiar with the history of the church in China, I highly recommend you do a little research. I am sure you will be blessed by it. In October I was finally able to visit China and see it for myself. While we were there we met with several pastors and shared the vision of SCP with them. There seems to be growing interest amongst a few of the pastors we met with and we are looking forward to launching a more systematic SCP training there in 2018. This will come with great challenges though. The Chinese church is heavily surveiled and we do not want to draw unnecessary attention to these house church leaders. Many of them are being harassed by local authorities, the government wants them to register their churches, which gives the government control of what is being taught in the churches. Please pray for these persecuted churches, and for us to have wisdom as we seek to find the best way to train leaders and pastors there. There is a need, there is mutual desire, but the logistics are going to be tricky.
When we moved our church gathering into a local storefront we discovered that there was a Thai church meeting in the same facility. Over the last few months we have had several meetings with the pastor of the church and a relationship has started to bud. We have started meeting bi-weekly to pray for our community. Many opportunities for collaboration and partnership have developed out of these times of prayer. One thing we will be doing in December will be a joint church caroling outreach on December 22nd and 24th. I'm really excited to see Thai, Cambodian, and Western brothers and sisters in Christ coming together, forming one choir, and going around the neighborhood singing songs about our Lord Jesus. What a beautiful picture of the unity and diversity of the body of Christ! Most Thai's have no idea that Christmas is actually a Christian holiday. They only see the trees and images of Santa in the malls. This is one of the best outreach opportunities for the church in Thailand every year. Please pray that God would use us glorify His name as the gospel goes out into the neighborhood in both song and word on these days.
I have shared before about our Indian brother, John, who is hoping to move to Bangkok. In His goodness, God has given John and I a special relationship. We are genuinely brothers. John is in Bangkok for the whole month of November finalizing the paperwork for his visa. If all goes according to plan, he, his wife Monica, and their baby boy Boaz will be moving to Bangkok in January. I can't wait to see how God will use John's presence on our team. This month he has already been able to start two small prayer cells amongst the Indian peoples here in Bangkok. One of his new friends recently trusted in Christ, and John is beginning to disciple him. It's so cool to see God working in these ways. Please pray for all to go well over this last week in regards to John's visa. I'm praying it is God's will for me to be able to work alongside my brother John.
Leeza and I are also incredibly thankful for all of you who pray for us and support our ministry with SCP here in Asia. We could not do this without you. We are humbled by how well you all love us and encourage us. I pray God would give you abundant grace and blessings in the days to come.
Happy Thanksgiving from the Belcher's!