First 2 Weeks in Bishkek!

Marshutkas, VSET Club, food and friends....first two weeks in Bishkek! =)

credit to Edo and picasa 3

Incheon.Update.Oct24.08

Greetings from Incheon International Airport in Seoul, South Korea!

I arrived here at 5am, after a red-eye from HK, and am enjoying some much-needed alone time with G0d before connecting in a few more hours to Almaty, Kazakhstan. There, my bro and colaborer Ed Oyama will meet me and we'll start applying for our Kyrgyz visas. And - how's this for awesome? - we get to meet with past VSET students in Almaty while we wait for our visas! PTL =)

The past few days have been quite a trip - final meet-ups with the guys I've been taking care of, as well as sweet f-ship and "see you again when He wills it" with the Taipei Nav family. I left yesterday morning and spent the day with my Dad in HK, then took the 12:30am flight to Seoul.

Here's a two quick praizes:

- Zixuan, one of the new b's I asked you to help pr-ray for, has been really busy and dropped off my radar for almost a month. But after I sent out the rap request, I "suddenly" ran into him one day and we had dinner together. Brother Joseph, one of the K Navs, also joined us during our meal and we were able to encourage Zixuan from the Word. Though he's busy and lives far from school, he's willing to meet with Joseph for 30 mins a week to continue growing in the L0rd. Thanks for your raps! If you can, please continue to rap for Zixuan - he's very young - that he would be established (Col 2:6-7).


- Andy's one really cool dude. Spiky, dyed hair; hip wardrobe; theatre major - and though he had a nominal upbringing in a believing household, it turns out he had never heard the Gspel before. But Andy opened his heart to the L0rd when he realized he had never actually known Him - not personally as Sav!or and G0d. As I rapped about our final meet-up, the only thing I could think of sharing was an old, classic tract: "My Heart, JC's Home" by Robert Munger, which our brothers had translated into Chinese for the students (maybe you've read it, too?). So Andy read the whole thing - out loud, proving his knack for theatre (I was riveted as he read the story) - and at the end I asked him what he thought. He was obviously fighting back tears as he shared how he had never known that JC was waiting for him all along in the living-room of his heart, waiting to spend quality time with Andy. When he couldn't hold back the tears any longer, he committed to spending regular time with the L0rd in Word and pr-ayer, and to continue to meet with Brother Joseph after I am gone. PTL that He never leaves us nor forsakes us!

I'm very thankful for the training and f-ship in Taipei. The Nav m-workers there set such a solid and challenging example for us, as they daily give their lives to an everlasting work, even though the fruit of their labor is not seen overnight. I'm encouraged and excited by their quality of joy, and I hope to grow in it as I head out to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

With Brother Lee (left) and Brother Joseph, two of the Nav workers from Korea

So. Some Rap Requests for this new chapter in Central Asia:

- Our b's. There's a handful that believe, but it's hard for them for a number of reasons. Persecution from family makes it difficult for some b's to grow in their walk. Ask for freedom – sprt'l as well as physical, as well as new life experiences.
- A heart for MSLMs. Started reading a book, Building Bridges, about reaching our MSLM friends...ask that G0d would grow a heart for a place I've never been and a people I've never met
- Our students. There's been VSET in our city since 05… not many have accepted yet, but ask Dad to pour out much gr8ce on everyone there… it's the SPRT that gives them the ability to understand what He has freely given them in Chrst… and He who gives them gr8ce to will and to act according to His purposes. They are close, but we need so much gr8ce to draw them close and to lead them to Him.
- Gr8ce and sensitivity for us. To really learn how to flow into the lives of people there… M-stry will look different in Bishkek. What works in Beijing does not necessarily work in Taipei, or Toronto. And Ed and I have to grow in being Sprt-filled in order to learn what will work best for the Kyrgyz people.
- Personal growth in gr8ce. To not let any besetting sin or worldly desire steal my daily enjoyment of the Cross and the Sprt's filling. And, when I stumble in any way, to confess and repent and claim His gr8ce and march onward.
- Logistics. Visas, a place to live...I must admit, I am very much looking forward to unpacking my luggage after having lived out of it since June =)

Again, to check out pictures, videos and other testimonies, you can check out or subscribe to my blog: http://sosendiyou-spock.blogspot.com/

Ok, team. This is it! I'm really excited for what the L0rd will do. Here's a verse one of the Taipei bros shared with me: "For this is OUR G0d for ever and ever; He will be OUR guide even to the end" (Ps 48:14). What a promise for us - His people and workers - scattered among the nations. PTL!

Thank you for your partnership. It's gonna be great when all is said and done, and I'm glad I get to share the harvest with you. Please let me know how I can be rapping for you, too.

Press on.
Alex

something special.

Place of Prayer, National Taiwan University.

Caught by surprise during a week of much grace. Keep your eyes on the top right for something quite rare...

"Doctor Livingstone, I presume?"

I first heard the words in an old Nintendo game - old-school, eight-bit Nintendo. Remember those days? I think I may have been seven years old.

Unfortunately, Henry Stanley's famous quote was all I knew (and I think it's all most of us know) about David Livingstone.

At least this was the case until two weeks ago when the story of the 19th-century Scottish m-worker to Africa became a focal point and a challenging example for my parents and I as we each had some big decisions to make concerning our future service to the Lord. At what cost? was our question - and I think it's one we all ask when we know He's asking us to step off that boat.

Check out the story yourself. Here's a clip my mom and I both stumbled upon on separate occasions in the same week - she in Toronto, I in Taipei. In it Ravi Zacharias shares a clear, brief and moving biography of Livingstone. Just 8 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OV5US78BFg

I don't assume to post this man's bio glibly. I know his is a life not easily imitated. But Livingstone modeled Christ, who knew the most costly sacrifice when he left his Father's side to live among men. And so I believe the intrepid Scotsman understood well the promise Christ made in Mk 10:29-30 and experienced the accompanying joy.

"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life."

Our use of the word "sacrifice" is put into perspective when we see the promise of "better possessions and lasting ones" as David Livingstone did (Heb 10:34). What a privilege it is to live for Christ!

Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also!
The body they may kill -
God's truth abideth still.
His kingdom is forever!
- "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," Martin Luther

Therefore, brothers, in view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices...

Taipei.Update.Oct05.08

Greetings from Taipei!

 

One month in Formosa has come and gone.  We hit it up hard the first week when the freshmen were rolling into Tai Da (National Taiwan University), saw quite a number of students make decisions for the Lrd, and have been following up with them ever since.  We've been through three typhoons (a bit unusual, even the locals admit) only to learn that these are ble$sings in disguise since students are stuck in their dorms and we can hang out with them all day long!  So we hop on our bikes with plastic raincoats draped over us and pedal our way through the crosswinds – sounds more dangerous than it actually is.  It's more like good exercise.

 

Well, even though I'm no longer in a closed region, I will continue to update using code for those reading this in sensitive locations.  So here are the praizes and rap requests:

 

Praizes:

• Training with the Nav m-workers: growing in perspective, which is key to long-term m-work
• Reconnecting with summer "fruit" – brothers like Luigi and two Erics that have continued to grow with the Navs
• A precious handful of freshmen b's who are sticking around with us and enjoying the new life
• Three guys that I'm meeting with regularly – two of them have yet to believe but are doing investigative B study with me.  Rap that Zixuan, Daniel and Ethan would experience the love of G in the their lives

 

Rap Requests:

• Rap for a persevering heart for all the Nav staff, myself and the key brothers: though there are quite a number of new b's, precious few stick around long enough to really enjoy the new life.
• Ask for hearts of intercession over the guys we're caring for
• Ask for hearts of love for the students
• Ask for just one f8thful Timothy for each of us this semester
• Rap that I will grow in gr8ce, allowing JC to transform the deep parts of my heart that are a mystery at times even to me. 2 Tim 2:1 is necessary for a 2 Tim 2:2 m-stry!
• Rap for BJ m-stry: Aaron, one of the TNT bros I sat with last year, is scheduled to finish his PhD next spring at BeiDa.  He's rapping about DAD's leading beyond student-life, and he's considering teaching in Kyrgyzstan and joining the work out there.  Rap that Aaron would know the Father's voice more intimately in these months.
• It's official: Kyrgyzstan in 2 ½ weeks!  For Ed and me, please rap for a willingness to learn (language [Russian!], culture, names) and a heart to love and serve (Mk 10:45).

 

And in other news: I've finally decided to blog.  I figured this way it's easier for you to check out pictures and videos and other lessons and testimonies at your own convenience.  I hope it gives you a better picture of what goes on out here.  And it keeps these emails focused on pr-ayer!  So check it out when you're free: http://sosendiyou-spock.blogspot.com/

 

Recent updates include a glance at what a day of m-work is like at Tai Da, and a lesson on perspective from Taiwan.

 

I really appreciated your raps and emails in the past month after the Lrd's unexpected redirection for this new season.  He has used your encouragement to spur me on.  I'm very thankful!

 

Much love,

Alex

A Fair Trade: 99 for 1.

The Nav director, Tomaru-san, has been in Taipei for 32 years doing m-work. At first glance one cannot see much “fruit” to all this labor. But that’s the problem with first glances – they only catch quantity, not quality.

What I’ve seen in the Taipei Navs and their training apartment is quality: a group of about ten brothers ranging in age from sophomores to PhDs and varying in interest from engineers to med students to lawyers-to-be who have one thing in common - they really love JC and are really committed to Mt 28:19-20.

Someone once asked the question, “What would you rather have? 1000 people who are 90% committed? Or 10 who are 100%?” Think about this for a second. The answer is not so obvious, is it? But it will determine what quality of work you will produce for the Lrd.

Our gatherings aren’t huge but intimate. There’s no buzz from the loudspeakers (we only have one amplifier). And no one's claiming that the work is perfect. Of course it's not - no one's pretending it is. But there’s a solid awareness that His good work is being established deeply in the hearts of students in the m-stry. Yet it's a slow and sometimes painful work. It doesn’t happen overnight – or in 6 weeks (the length of my stay) – or in a year – or even in thirty-two. Heb 11:13 says:

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.

It will cost something.

One of the Korean Navs – Brother Lee – has been here for 8 years, and he’s got just two f8thful guys. But these are two who will, if they stick with it, grow into real men of G who will in turn impact the lives of more guys in the future…who in turn will do likewise and so on. It’s a m-stry that multiplies – but only for those who are committed enough to see it through the humble beginnings. It will cost you. But is it worth it?

What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost. – Mt 18:12-14

JC seems to think so. I’m finally coming to agree.

Perspective. That’s some of what I’m learning in Taipei.

What I'm up to...

So. Because some of you have asked. What exactly does a day of work look like at Tai Da (National Taiwan University)?

05:45 - Rise & Shine: Personal Quiet Time. We all read the same passage (makes for good conversation). Basic stuff...the gospels.

07:00 - Breakfast. Every day one of the bros in the training apartment prepares zaocan (breakfast). It could be anything from dumplings to...well, one time our Korean brother made KBBQ...yes for breakfast. Want some?


08:20 - On campus for QT sharing. Students will come out and join us to share blessings and applications from the morning. We pray, and they head out to class...

09:00 -12:00 - Mornings are spent in personal "development time" - Bible reading, personal study, prayer, man-to-man with Du Laoshi (Tomaru-san, the Taipei Nav director) or the weekly staff meeting.

12:15 - Lunch at "Big One Girl Dorm" Cafeteria (direct translation). A large part of our work happens around food. It's biblical. We check up on our memory verses, chow down, hang out.

13:15-18:00 - EV, follow-up, M2Ms (man-to-man).

• This is the bulk of our labor. It's fun making new friends here - you'd be surprised how many students are willing to open up and talk when they see you're genuinely interested in them - not just trying to stab them with the gospel and run.
  
• Best way to develop a friendship in Tai Da (besides the aforementioned food method): Ping-pong. I stink at it. But these Navs sure know how to teach...or at least encourage, haha.

18:00 - Dinner. We all eat together. See "Breakfast" and "Lunch." See Acts 2:42,47. On Mondays and Fridays the brothers cook and invite students to come over to the apartment.

19:15 - English Bible Study.

• Tuesdays and Thursdays. Going through an IBS (Investigative Bible Study) with students here - 7 miracles from the Gospel of John.
  
• Here's a skit they performed a few days ago about John 6, Jesus walking on water. I call it "The Sea Phantom" skit. They had 20 mins to prepare (and English ain't their first language, mind you!). Hilarious.

21:30 - Go home. Relax. Read a book. Email a friend. Call Mom and Dad. Debrief in prayer.

23:00 - Lights out. Sleep. There's work to be done tomorrow.

"Surely" - Thanksgiving Poem 08 (Mid-Autumn Festival)

This came from a verse I love, Ps 23:6, and listening lately to a lot of hymns...

Surely

Into the vale, the clouds descending,

Through the soul’s darkest night –

The way is thin and foes discourage:

Goodness and love still follow bright.

For I know My Savior guides me,

Leads and pursues me – before, behind me.

And because I know that He is with me,

Goodness and love shall surely follow.

Though fiends surround and fling their arrows,

Though Sat’n would mock, would point, accuse -

Your precious oil still pours o’er me,

In their presence I dine with You.

For I know My Savior guides me,

Leads and pursues me – before, behind me.

And because I know that He is with me,

Goodness and love shall surely follow.

When oft I wander from His hand -

His rod not sparing, well do I know.

Senseless, I would shun this love –

But now I see God’s comfort stands.

For I know My Savior guides me,

Leads and pursues me – before, behind me.

And because I know that He is with me,

Goodness and love shall surely follow.

The world would throw doubt and temptation,

Yet still it’s clear: His voice I know.

With kindred near or memories dear,

Still be my vision: the Cross I follow.

For I know My Savior guides me,

Leads and pursues me – before, behind me.

And because I know that He is with me,

Goodness and love shall surely follow.

My Shepherd sometimes I cannot see –

Still I’ve learned my lot’s secure.

I’ll follow Him, sure of naught else –

For then I know: He follows me!

For I know My Savior guides me,

Leads and pursues me – before, behind me.

And because I know that He is with me,

Goodness and love shall surely follow.

HK.Update.Sep04.08

Hey Family from Hong Kong!

The summer is done and we have started a new season in the long-term m-stry. As you will soon read, there has been some major redirection in His leading that I want to share with you. This will be a more "reflective" update as I process with you some changes in my m-stry this upcoming year. But first I thank you again for your rap support – it has availed so much in this previous season.

Pra!ses:

• 408 decisions for the Lrd this summer through our seven VSET teams in E Asia, Taiwan/HK, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia
• A number of our Taiwan new b's are continuing to grow with the Navs at NTU
• 17 new b's in HK
• Fruitful training in Seoul, Korea, with long-term team and director Joseph (2 new b's, too!)

"To the angel of the chrch in Philadelphia write: These are the words of Him who is ho|y and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open." - Rev 3:7

Costs of Disc!pleship

You can see above that Gd has been exceedingly abundantly gr8cious this summer – there are many reasons (too many to list here) to pra!se Gd for the past two and a half months. We reaped an awesome harvest all over Asia, and had many unexpected bless!ngs along the way. But this VSET also came at a certain cost. Due to serious visa complications that have come up, I will not return to E Asia this fall.

The enemy threw this among a slew of other monkey wrenches our way this summer, including also the loss of our m-stry apartment in LZ. Sat@n sure would love to have his way – his tactic is to discourage, but I know that He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world and that "the reason the Son of Gd appeared was to destroy the dev!l's work" (1 Jn 4:4, 3:8). The Lrd of Hosts is mighty to save, and is able to leverage what was intended for evil into good, and what was meant for harm into the "saving of many lives." It's a story as old as Genes!s – see Gen 50:20 – and I know it's still true today.

His Good Purpose

It came as a shock to find out I would not be back in B this fall. The initial reaction was of course disappointment, but the Lrd is gr8cious and has allowed me to reap much from this unexpected turn of events. He brought me to Acts 16:6-8, another story of unexpected redirection. Paul did not plan on heading to Troas; actually, he had every desire to enter Asia, but see that it was the HS in His sovereignty who closed the door. And if Gd will close a door on Paul, how much more should I be ready for Him to close a few on me! But consider the outcome: being diverted from Asia, the apost!es now enter Philippi; after that, Thessalonica and Corinth. And we have the NT epistles as evidence of Gd's work there. When Gd redirects, it is because He has a better plan. And I know He has something similar in store for us.

Rev 3:7 tells me that the doors God closes can never be forced open. But consider also that the doors He opens can never be shut – until He Himself closes them. This truth has given me much peace. There's rest in surrender, strength in a quiet and not plaintive spirit (Isa 30:15) – so why would I dare complain? After trying what we could to find a way back for me into E Asia, our team knows now that this field is not where the Father would have me in this new season of m-stry. Yet He knows the plans He has for us, to prosper and not to harm, to give hope and a future. I will not question the Potter on His design. There's a reason I'm not going back to E Asia right now. There's a reason our team feels led to plant a m-stry in Central Asia sooner than we had expected. There's a reason many of our B brothers and sisters went on this summer's VSET. There's a reason we have been blessed with one new long-term brother (Eric). He has His purpose!

Through this situation I'm enjoying Rom 8:28 in a deeper, richer way. Things are being worked together for our good in ways I could have never foreseen. Since arriving in Hong Kong last week I have been moved to rejoice as He has reminded me through His timely Word, answered raps, encouragement from family around the world, and through the daily life of obedience that He is still ho|y, still f8thful, still sovereign. I slip along the way at times, in ungod|y attitudes and lack of f8th, but He is reminding me these days of His love. He has given me the joy of Zephaniah 3:17 through the words of many old, truth-laden hymns, bringing deep comfort:

Be still, my soul; thy J3sus can repay

From His own fullness all He takes away.

My conviction now, as I follow His lead, is Ps 57:2: "I cry out to Gd Most High, to Gd, who fulfills His purpose for me." And Ps 16 says our lot is secure because Gd makes it so; moreover, it tells me that the inheritance the Father bestows is a pleasant one. A delightful one! What bles$ed assurance is this, that even as the circumstances would testify against this mighty truth, still we can rejoice that our portion is a good one – it is Gd Himself! I think of these great promises Gd made to us in the Word – to me wherever I may be, to the B m-stry – and I'm filled with awe. Awe, that is, in the sense of fear. The kind that is making me see that wherever He places me is exactly where He wants me to be – and that there are people here He would have me love and serve if I only make myself available for His use.

Yes, you bet I miss the fellowship of the long-term bros and yes, I miss all the guys and gals I disc!pled last year and the ones whom I had just begun to sit with – but in His time He makes all things beautiful – so my heart rejoices and is full of hope and expectation about what is to come for the family in B. Just got off the phone with one of our key guys, and he shares this conviction. It is not what any of us would have asked for (for we don't even know what to ask! Rom 8:26) but we expect even greater things to be done this year in B – and in every city to which Gd would lead us.

What's Next?

As for me? He has been so f8thful to me through the years, and I know it will be all good. Actually, the confirmation just came in – I'm heading back to Taiwan on Thursday for the next six weeks, PTL! I will be training under the Nav m-stry whom we partnered with this summer. I'm absolutely stoked at the opportunity to come under the tutelage of some seasoned m-workers – I know there's a lot I must learn. It will be a challenge, but the payoff will be well worth it. After that, I will be off to K-country in Central Asia…but that we'll save for the next update.

What's Left: A Deeper Heart for E Asia

What's more is the strange twist that through this situation Gd is giving me a larger heart for the locals. When I first found out I couldn't go back into the E Asia, I confess my attitude was not exactly…positive. But the Lrd spoke clearly to me that following Sunday when the p@stor spoke of the Father's heart for the E Asians. And then I thought about the Son's own response: "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them" (Mt 9:36).

Oh, to think about E Asia – this waking giant, able to stun the world with a display of beauty, strength and unity as the whole world watched. But also to see the other side: One point three billion – most of whom still have never heard the Good News – live in a spiritual vacuum so staggering it has made me weep on several occasions. But the Father loves these people. "He had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." It's so easy to see the E Asians as simply a mass, an immense crowd of people – but when Chr!st saw the crowd, He had compassion on them. Who will share His love with them?

The number of workers went down significantly across E Asia this past year due to visa issues, so I'm going to do what He commanded after having seen the crowd: Ask for more laborers to fill in and to exceed the number that cannot at this time go back.

In the end, it's a decision to "Rom 12:2" this situation, to receive it all as from His sovereign and gr8cious and infinitely loving hand. As that old hymn goes, I would prove Him o'er and o'er in this one, too. Please ask for a Joshua and Caleb spir!t, for we – like they – "have not received the spir!t of the world but the Spir!t who is from Gd, that we may understand what Gd has freely given us" (1 Cor 2:12). To everyone except Joshua and Caleb, it looked like madness to go up into Canaan. But they had a "different spir!t" and saw Gd's gift to them of the Promised Land (Num 14:24). We may be tempted to wallow (at least for a while) in self-pity at the circumstances that have come to pass, but resolve not to give in. See with the eyes of f8th – the assurance of things hoped for, the substance of things unseen – that E Asia will be blessed, the nations will be glad, and you also will rejoice as you continue to believe on Him!

"Trust in the Lrd forever, for in the Lrd Gd you have an everlasting rock." – Isa. 26:4

Rap Requests:

• Our B M-stry:
• ask especially for my colaborer Conrad who will be leading the m-stry as the lone North American: for increased f8th and a double portion of gr8ce during this transition
• for Jacky and Beckham, who live in the apartment with Conrad, to grow as f8thful men, qualified to teach others
• for the B family: that our key people (like the Team National Trainees, TNT) would grow much in their devotion as they will be called upon to step up and serve in new ways.
• For LZ m-stry to be established in the next two months: that Ed, Lorin and now Eric would serve together as a three-strand rope that cannot easily be broken
• Begin to rap for Central Asia: especially the Kyrgyz and the Kazakh that VSET has reached out to in past summers – that Dad would prepare a harvest there in the near future
• Taiwan Training: I will live in the training apartment with the K Navs and learn from them while partnering in their work at National Taiwan University (aka NTU or Tai Da). Ask that I might hit the ground running; school has just started and I'm excited to join their work in reaching out to all the new freshmen that are coming in. Ask, as always, for Timothys.
• For me, a deeper love relationship with JC - devotional maturity
• More workers.

Thanks for making it this far! Your fellowsh!p through correspondence and rap has refreshed my heart. Though I cannot reply immediately all the time, I appreciate and thank Gd for your love.

Press on! Much love,

Alex