Jesus for Asia: Thailand

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

Venie is allowing me the privilege of doing the newsletter again this month.  Perhaps “allowing” is a misnomer, and that “insisting” would be a better characterization of her feelings.  Let me explain!

She had planned to bring you an interview that she did with the Hernandez family before they returned to America.  This family is a wonderful and dedicated family, and had spent a year here in Thailand in construction of the TV studio.  We had just gotten to know them well, and wanted to tell their story.  The Sabbath morning before their departure we set up a couple of cameras in front of the studio, and I thought that the setting was ideal.  Venie did the interview and to me there was no reason to believe that this would not be the perfect presentation.   I am sorry to say that Rick, Judy and their three children deserved more for their efforts than what I was able to produce.

My inexperience as a cameraman became apparent when we began to edit the video that we shot.  I had placed everyone in front to the studio door, and with the sun directly behind me, the glass acted as the perfect mirror.  So instead of having this beautiful family as the focal point, there was me in the background running from camera to camera trying to get the very best shot.  I am too embarrassed to post the interview, and am hoping that soon we can place the audio portion on our web site.

Unfortunately, this was not the end of the frustrations that we would confront during the month.  Lest you conclude that mission work is all glamour and blessings, allow me to share with you some of the not so glamorous happenings in our not so routine lives.  Be sure that you read to the end of this letter, as I will try to show you what God was showing me through these experiences.

We have always enjoyed pretty good health, perhaps much better than deserved.  Since our arrival in Thailand, it seems that one or the other of us has had to deal with some sort of malady, most of which have been upper respiratory infections.  I can only conclude that it is the air that is causing our problems.  For whatever the reason the Thais are constantly burning.  In the last month or so, the sun and moon have been a constant red, and the beautiful mountains are not even visible to us.  While coughing and wheezing, I think back to beautiful Kettle Falls, where the air is crystal clear, and one of my favorite activities was reclining on my deck and listening to the wind as it blew through the pine trees.

We have been contributors to the smoke problem.  Living in a jungle setting, raking leaves is a never-ending activity.  When raked, of course, disposal becomes necessary.  Burning seems to be the best solution.  Last Sunday morning we had gotten an early start to an all-day job.  By late afternoon we had several piles of leaves, and were carrying them to the “burn” pile.  I heard a scream from Venie, and discovered that she had just had a confrontation with one of the four foot plus poisonous snakes of Thailand.  Even though she had been unharmed, it dampened her enthusiasm for doing yard work.  We know that there are Cobras and Pythons around, and constantly claim God’s promises of protection.

Our sole means of transportation is our motor scooters for which we thank God every day.  For some reason mine had developed a problem maintaining air pressure in both tires.  We decided to make the hour trip to Chiang Mai and get the problem remedied.  On the way home we experienced one of the sudden storms of Thailand.  First it was the wind, which took all of our skill and strength to keep the scooters going in a straight line.  It was rush hour and all of the traffic lights had ceased to work.  Soon the wind became a minor problem.  Hail stones between marble and golf ball size started pummeling us.  There was no solution but to pull to the side of the road, which all of the other scooters and autos were doing.  Life had relegated itself to a virtual standstill.  After the hail it began to rain, as I have never experienced.  It lasted for only about twenty minutes, but in that time it caused a flash flood.  We rode with our feet in the air as we drove through water that ranged from eight to twelve inches deep.

God brought us safely to our home and we were praising His name during worship for our “deliverance.”  I heard a buzzing sound, looked up, and much to my chagrin observed termites swarming in our home.  There were virtually thousands, and as I walked across the room to get the bug spray, I was covered with these creatures.  They were in my hair, on my clothes and in my pockets.  Since I couldn’t remember termites as being one of the seven last plagues, I was pretty sure that the world would remain in tact, and that my priority was removing these flying insects.  I spent the better part of an hour killing and sweeping them up off the floor.

Creature activity is not uncommon to us.  We have some sort of “pet” that lives in our ceiling.  I have not been able to discover what it is, but have concluded that it is bigger than a squirrel and smaller than an elephant.  I eliminated the latter, not because of the amount of noise, but because I just don’t think that an elephant could gain entrance, and I don’t believe they live in the wild here anymore.  Whatever it is, it doesn’t seem to be intimidated by the foot long lizards that crawl on our screens.  We are thankful for them because they eat spiders and other creatures, but have never come to be able to appreciate the shrill cry that they make.

There are a variety of insects that serenade us every night during our sleeping hours.  One of them sounds very much like a car alarm going off in the Kettle Falls Wal-Mart parking lot.  This little guy can keep going for as much as two hours.  It seems that most of the crickets maintain their silence during his performance.  When he has finished, they begin their songs.  Believe me, they are not like their cousins in America.  I can only describe the noise as something akin to a chain saw.

By this time you are probably asking yourselves what is the lesson for us through all of these experiences.  I want to be perfectly honest with you, and tell you at times like these I long for my home and church family in Kettle Falls.  I have found myself to be not unlike the children of Israel.  Whenever they encountered a problem, their first reaction was, “we were better off in Egypt.”  I don’t want to liken Kettle Falls to Egypt, but I am hoping that you get my drift.

It is so easy to lose our focus during severe trials.  I think back to just a few months ago when I could sit in a Church service and understand what the Pastor was saying.  I miss the friendship of my Church, and especially those folks that used to come over to our home every other Sabbath afternoon.  I often think that if I could just have one afternoon with them again I would be invigorated to the point of being spiritually rejuvenated, and I would never take this blessing for granted again.  In essence I am not so unlike my Israelite friends.

All of us are going to experience trials that come across our path to the Promised Land.  That is a given.  Satan is just not going to let the journey be easy.  I believe it is at these times that we need to take Moses’ advice to the people as they stood in front of a seemingly insurmountable obstacle.  The Egyptians were behind and the Red Sea was in front of them.  There was no way of escape.  Ignoring their pleas to return them to Egypt, Moses said, “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord…The Lord will fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.”

David had a “giant” problem.  Like us he seemed to be no match for what he was facing.  But he didn’t flinch once as he made it clear, “for the battle is the Lord’s.”

God grant us the wisdom to take our eyes off of our problems, and put ourselves in a position where we become completely reliant on Him.  Heaven will be cheap enough, for that we can be sure.  Heaven’s streets will be lined with the faithful.  Let each of us determine in our hearts that we will make ourselves completely reliant on our wonderful Savior.  The battle is the Lord’s.  “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.”

Please stay faithful in your walk with the Lord, and faithful to remember Venie and me in your prayers.  Sometimes the way seems so difficult, but we are happy to be given the opportunity to work for the Lord.