Jesus for Asia: Thailand

As I sit and write this newsletter a sense of excitement almost overwhelms me.  For many months now, Venie and I have been counting the days until August 18 arrives and we board the airplane for the trip home.  And, as of today, there remains only nine short days until that becomes a reality.  For many of our friends here in the mission field, their work and this place has become their home, and they really do want to be here.  For us this is not necessarily the case.  We really do miss our family and friends.  If given the choice we would most definitely choose our home in Kettle Falls. However, with that being said, we do sense God’s leading us to this place, and satisfaction that we are living within His will, and will return to Thailand in seven weeks to continue our ministry here.

We have had a very busy schedule since our last newsletter was published.  For the past three weeks there has been a series of presentations on how to become a medical missionary taking place here at Pastor Phamor’s training center.  The first week our speaker from China educated us in natural remedies, and spent considerable time helping us see aspects of Christ’s medical missionary work that we may have overlooked.  We spent one whole night in prayer as a group, and felt God’s presence among us.

A doctor from Bangkok did the second week’s presentations, which included lectures on anatomy and physiology, the nervous system and the cardio-vascular system.  She will return for one more week of presentations.  Last week Pastor Phamor spent the week with the students who have come from Burma, Laos and Thailand.

Prior to these meetings we had the opportunity to really get out to the “front lines.”  We did a documentary on the ministry of Gale Haberkam and her two boys, Bradley and Micah.  It was a six-hour plus bus ride to the nearest city, and then a five-hour trip through the mountains to her village.  The terrain was rugged, but very, very beautiful.  We visited villages that had never seen a foreigner before.  Her dedication to help these people is truly remarkable, and rather than share it in this newsletter, I would direct you to the following link, where you can watch “Gayle’s Story.”

http://www.mission-tv.org/wp/?p=478

We hope to be able to visit many of you in the next few weeks.  We will be sharing some exciting things taking place at the All-Asia TV Studio.  Until then, please continue to remember us in your prayers, and may God richly bless all of you.

Bill & Venie Osborn

Greetings Everyone,

May has proven to be a very busy month for us. We had our bags and cameras packed and were ready to travel south about 5 hours to do a documentary on a nurse that is stationed in a remote village. At the last minute the transportation fell through.

We had received an update from Ralph and Delores Rhyne, who were reporting on their Evangelistic outreaches here in Thailand. We had been asked to help video the presentations, but we had already booked this other documentary. Bill responded to the email update to let them know that we were now available. We heard back from Ralph Rhyne very quickly, and he made immediate plans for us to be with them at their next location, which was to be north of Chiang Rai. We bought our bus tickets on Sunday, and packed our bags again. We caught a ride to the bus station from Larry Daughtrey on Monday morning, and we were on our way.

The meetings started on Monday evening at a Hmong Hill Tribe village. It was in the high country and it was very scenic to look out over the land and mountains from this church site. What a lot of beautiful people there are in God’s remnant church. We were so well cared for, with delicious vegetarian meals served prior to each evening meeting. Pastor Luesak, a young Hmong Pastor, stationed in Chiang Mai, did the translating each evening in his native tongue. He was our chauffer as well. Between meetings we had a comfortable room with air-conditioning, a perfect environment for the long hours that Bill put in each day on the editing of the meeting videos.

Here is a bit of info on this group of people: The Hmong are believed to have been the original inhabitants of the Yellow River valley in ancient China. The expansion of the neighboring Chinese from the north caused a disruption in the Hmong culture and forced them to migrate southwards to escape oppression and persecution. Over the centuries, many wars have been waged against the Chinese in which the Hmong would suffer heavy casualties, being that they were outnumbered. The Hmong are becoming well integrated into Thai society as well as being among the most successful. The current population of Hmong in Thailand is estimated to be roughly 151,080.

The lay pastor of this village church stated that they had never had a foreign evangelist visit them before. We are pleased that the DVD’s made from this week long series will be far reaching, as there are also Hmong villages in Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar. The Mission in Bangkok has been given a set of the DVD’s to distribute to these locations.

Our next location proved to be just as interesting as the first. We met in a Lahu Village about 45 minutes outside of Fang. Here’s a tidbit of info regarding the Lahu: In Thailand, Lahu are one of the six main hill tribes, and their population is estimated at around 100,000. Thai’s call this tribe “Muser” because of their legendary skills at hunting in the forest. The tribe is concentrated close to the Burmese border west and north of Chiang Dao and Pai.

Again, the lay pastor at this village said that this was the first time that they had ever had a foreigner come to give meetings. The meetings were translated into Thai. Even though they spoke Lahu, most understood Thai.

We had a blessed week with these people. We were especially grateful to the District Pastor and his wife, who came to pick us up each evening and took us to their house for dinner. After our delicious meal we would drive out to the meeting site.

The next meetings were held at the downtown Chiang Mai Church. The new Pastor assigned there just a week before was also the same Pastor that translated during week number 1. He translated this week’s series also, but this time in the Thai language. Yes, he is very gifted; he also speaks English fluently.

Week number 4 we were pleased to be staying at our home, as the meetings were held at the Chiang Mai Academy in our village.  But wow what a schedule! There were 4 meetings per day, 2 for the Elementary age, and 2 per day for the upper grades — a total of 20 meetings taped during the week. I was concerned for the stamina of the speakers but they came through with God’s grace just fine.

A total of 38 DVD’s will have been produced for this month of tapings. We are pleased that the Lord saw fit to use us in this way.

Pastor Ralph had 6 more sermons that he wanted filmed to finish out a series of 3 covering the 28 fundamental beliefs. We knew we needed a good translator and a good setting, so back to Chiang Mai we went to do these recordings, with our dear Pastor Luesak as the translator. It was a marathon kind of a day, but it proved to be rewarding as we now have a complete DVD series to distribute and air on TV someday soon.

Many have inquired regarding our safety and the political unrest that has been broadcast on the news. We have been far removed from the troubles. The only problem we have faced was the week in Fang where there had been some curfews and some store closures out of precaution. The conflict has been primarily in Bangkok. We are thankful.

Please follow this link to view our video newsletter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfz3FqsxVjc

We miss you and think of you often. Thank you for your continued prayers and the financial contributions, which will go to purchase equipment and air time for the studio.  We look forward to our visit home in only two months.

God bless,

Venie and Bill Osborn

Hill tribe is a term used in Thailand for all of the various tribal peoples who migrated from China and Tibet over the past few centuries. They now inhabit the remote border areas between Northern Thailand, Laos and Burma (Myanmar). These areas are known for their thick forests and mountainous terrain. The six major hill tribes within Thailand are the Akha, Lahu, Karen, Hmong, Mien and Lisu, each with a distinct language and culture.

The hill tribes are subsistence farmers, who use slash and burn agricultural techniques to farm their heavily forested communities. Hence the smoke filled skies that Bill spoke about last month.

We were very honored and privileged to spend a “High Sabbath” in an Akha tribe village, located about an hour away from here. It was a beautiful church service, with several special music numbers. We came prepared with food and joined in their church potluck. But before we were to eat, there were those who insisted that we become Akha tribe members for the day. They took off their tribal costumes and prepared to make us beautiful by allowing us to wear them. We couldn’t keep them on very long, as the temperatures were over 100 degrees and the costumes were of fairly heavy weave. The woman’s headdress weighed approximately 7-8 pounds. We did wear them long enough to have our picture taken.

After a delicious lunch, the village piled into the back of the pickup that we brought and other vehicles and we drove another 15 k over bumpy pothole laden streets to the river. There we experienced the baptism of 6 tribal women who had given their hearts to Jesus. This was a great experience to witness.  If you would like to see a larger picture, just click on the photo.  To see additional pictures, please go to our “Photos” page.

On a different note, I wanted to tell you about a traditional water festival that happens each April here in Thailand. The Songkran festival is celebrated in Thailand as the traditional New Year’s Day from 13 to 15 April. It coincides with the New Year on many calendars of South and Southeast Asia. Songkran is a Thai word which means “move” or “change place” as it is the day when the sun changes its position in the zodiac. It is also known as the “Water Festival” as people believe that water will wash away bad luck.

The value for family is to provide the opportunity for family members to gather in order to express their respects to the elders by pouring scented water onto the hands of their parents and grandparents and to present them gifts including making merits to dedicate the result to their ancestors. The elders in return wish the youngsters good luck and prosperity.

Songkran originally was celebrated only in the north of Thailand, and was probably brought there by the Burmese, who adapted it from the Indian Holi festival. It spread across Thailand in the mid 20th century and is now observed even in the far south. However, the most famous Songkran celebrations are still in the northern city of Chiang Mai, where it continues for six days and even longer. It has also become a party for foreigners and an additional reason for many to visit Thailand for immersion in another culture. It is known as the world’s largest water fight. No one, I mean no one stays dry for these several days of celebration. Even in our little village the children found great delight in dousing us with buckets of water. (Of course it felt pretty good, as it is at the height of the hot season.)

At the studio we had our first official board meeting this month. Our board consists of: Pastor Phamor, Michael, Ah, Wendy, Larry, Bill and myself, though Pastor Phamor was unable to attend. Michael inspired us with a vision and some wonderful words of inspiration. Our vision is to bring to the Thai people an undiluted last day gospel message, presented to the people in a simple way. So even without a satellite uplink in place, we have formulated some programming that will be put into DVD format to give to the Thai people in their language and also in English, plus the audio will be split off and used for some of the radio spots for the local Christian station, run by Michael and Ah.

Even with this simplicity of action, it too will require funding. We are going to need a DVD duplicator. They run around six to seven hundred dollars here in Thailand. A small donation of just $5.00 from each of you would meet that immediate need, and of course it is tax deductible. To do that, go to,   www.jesus4asia.org, select the Invest tab, then list of current projects, Osborn Project.

Even though we are somewhat sheltered from the news of the world, we cannot help but notice the alarming number of tragedies taking place. We are reminded of this statement:

“More and more, as the days go by, it is becoming apparent that God’s judgments are in the world. In fire and flood and earthquake He is warning the inhabitants of this earth of His near approach. The time is nearing when the great crisis in the history of the world will have come, when every movement in the government of God will be watched with intense interest and inexpressible apprehension. In quick succession the judgments of God will follow one another–fire and flood and earthquake, with war and bloodshed.  {9T 97.1}

Oh, that the people might know the time of their visitation! There are many who have not yet heard the testing truth for this time. There are many with whom the Spirit of God is striving. The time of God’s destructive judgments is the time of mercy for those who have had no opportunity to learn what is truth. Tenderly will the Lord look upon them. His heart of mercy is touched; His hand is still stretched out to save, while the door is closed to those who would not enter.”  {9T 97.2}

It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that the True Witness will be heard throughout the whole earth. There is a great work yet to be done; God wants to use each one of us, working together to the same end.

Kindest Regards, and God’s Blessings,

Venie and Bill Osborn