There’s one great marker of all great men and women in the Bible that I’ve always admired above the rest.  I admire it enough that it has become something that God and I talk about often and He is always challenging me with it.  All ambassadors of Christ carry with them a heart of courage, boldness in the face of adversity.  Stephen pursued a life of courage, where in the face of his life being offered to God as a sacrifice he declares with boldness the truth, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60).  As the weight of the Gospel sinks deeper into my heart I am overwhelmed by a desire to share the truth that has brought Life into my soul.  Alistair Begg, a pastor in Ohio, captures this yearning, “Withhold no part of the precious truth, but speak what you know and declare what you have seen. Do not allow the toil or darkness or possible unbelief of your friends to dissuade you. Let us rise and march to the place of duty, and there declare what great things God has shown to our soul.”

Yet even this great desire in my heart doesn’t always go fulfilled in my life.  I believe that’s why God is always challenging me to be even more intentional in my relationships.  His challenge is far deeper than a simple reminder once a week.  He is surrounding me with powerful proclamations of the Gospel.  The Gospel is spread throughout the world through radical love proclaimed courageously.  Daniel proclaimed this love fervently, “Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity” (Daniel 4:27).  Daniel proclaimed the grave interpretation of a dream knowing that the fate of such a proclamation could end in his death.

His friends, also filled with boldness, declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “we have no need to answer you in this matter.  If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace” (Daniel 3: 17).  Men of courage.  I would borrow the cultural military term “Mighty men of valor” and use it here.  These are men truly representative of valor.  They are mighty men, counter cultural, and compelled to righteousness for the love of their God.

To what end though?  I think the end is ultimately obedience to God and loving him.  But we see tremendous transformation as a response to these mighty people of valor.  I think Stephen’s declaration and death was a piece to Saul’s conversion.  We often attribute his conversion to his radical experience on the road to Damascus, but God hardly lets one person’s story affect only them.  Stephen’s story affected everyone who was there.  His character, “full of faith and of the Holy Spirit…full of grace and power…[whose] face was like the face of an angel”, filled the lives of those around him, transforming centuries of lives.

King Nebuchadnezzar’s life was transformed by Daniel’s bold witness.  “At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:34-35).

Transformation.  The king of the accursed Babylon was transformed by bold witness.  I’m challenged by their boldness, by their courage in the face of fearful events.  The transformation is well worth it, both in those who are bold and those who see other’s boldness.

–Thomas

I know I don’t keep my blog up as much as many of you would like as well as much as I commit myself to doing, but we’ll attempt it again.  With new seasons of life come new seasons of commitment.

I would venture to say that I am officially settled in to Kansas City, Missouri now.  It’s a beautiful neighborhood with great community.  I’m learning how to act in this new culture as well as learning what intentional relationship looks like.  But what’s astounded me the most is the way recent Life Journal Scriptures have fallen into place here.  For those of you who don’t know, the Life Journal is a devotional reading plan that takes you through the Bible in a year allowing you to do your own devotions.  Many of the MBMS International staff as well as brothers and sisters from around the world are doing it.  The unity developed from reading the same Scriptures every day that hundreds of thousands are reading around the world is incredible.

Recently the passages have been getting me down it seems.  Jeremiah and Ezekiel seem to have nothing but death and doomsday to offer and Revelation isn’t much different.  Then I realized some cautions that God is giving me.  Both Israel and I are going through a geography change that will (hopefully) change our lives.  Though I’m not here in Kansas City as an exile for all the horrible things I’ve done, I realize that we are both given second chances.  Israel was not only being punished but being given another chance to be faithful and reach towards God.  No matter our geography the choice to love God is always ours.

I would be ignorant to believe that simply because I changed locations means that loving God will come any more natural and that normal temptations wouldn’t also arise.  Throughout Revelation we hear warnings of what will come to those who aren’t faithful to God.  Love is key in our sojourning with God.  I tend to get distracted by dragons and stars being swept onto the earth with a single tail flick, God is sending a different message to me tonight.

The lost are all around me.  Duplex after duplex and street after street.  Those who will be crushed under the falling stars are waiting for their Savior whether they know it or not.  The urgency is always upon us and so is the victory.  Our greatest shields for those around us are found in Revelation 12:11, “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.”

I was a little surprised when I read that Jeremiah chose to stay in the Promised Land with the few remaining land slaves instead of going with his people into exile.  Though I still don’t know how that plays out I know my place in the story.  God has called me to this place, Babylon of sorts, to proclaim the Word of the Lord to the lost.  God’s greatest desire is to see his people love him once more, after all, is this not the reason he sent prophets into the world?  Does he not send the same today?  We use different words like apostles, teachers, evangelists, but their purpose is all the same: to proclaim by the blood of the Lamb and by the testimony of our word the salvation of the King to nations lost, in the face of life and death.

–Thomas

I have been reminded lately of God’s Kingdom and what it’s doing in this world. I learned in training that the Kingdom is at my fingertips. I can access all that God is doing at any time and the power, authority, and love that it entails. I am still amazed that God is still doing things in this world. It’s a great thing I am not God because I would have nixed us awhile ago and started over. But, God has decided He’ll take a different route, one where He knows the outcome already.

He is the victor. The battle is won already. Jesus died on the cross but rose again. And as Scripture promises us, He will come again. But until he physically returns to this world, He continues to do amazing things around us. I have received many emails recently about what God is doing in people’s lives. These are people that I have prayed fervently for as well as people who represent in my eyes hearts that truly seek Him. We also got the opportunity to lead five university students to Christ these last couple weeks. The Kingdom is moving!

However, through all the rooftop prayers for Thailand as a nation yet to know God, I always seem to miss seeing the complete view of how the Kingdom moves. I was warned from Lori in training that the Kingdom moves around us as well as IN us. Lori warned me, “Thomas, don’t forget to stop and listen for yourself. God is moving and speaking, so don’t miss it.” If we aren’t paying attention and ready to see the Kingdom move in ourselves, then we will surely miss what God wants to do in us!

I have a feeling that I’m not the only one in this boat. We always ask, “What can I pray for you for?” and feel that it is selfish to pray for ourselves. And yet, Christ prayed for God’s Will to be done in His life the night before He died. It isn’t selfish to pray for yourself, to take time for yourself, to listen for yourself. Take the time to look for the Kingdome in yourself. It doesn’t take long before you find something. God is active, moving, living, and working in us.

There is always room for a couple stories. These are going to be sweet bathroom stories because really now, when aren’t there crazy bathroom stories? The first is the lack of privacy. There is always one cleaning lady in the bathroom when I go. She’s mopping, washing, restocking. It’s a nice system because never have I seen the bathroom dirty. But seriously though, she always insists on mopping right next to me in the urinal. There are plenty of other floors to mop, why right next to me? And yet, it never fails. While the cleaning lady is trying to get a little peaky peaky there’s almost always boy bands from the 90’s playing on the loud speaker. There’s nothing that eases the bathroom experience then a little 98 Degrees or Enrique. Yikes.

While in Cambodia the other day the urinal next to me spawned a cockroach out the top crack. Stage fright to the max.

And last one: There’s a shopping mall that has the urinals in two lines where your back is facing the other side. It’s sweet because you don’t have to look at people while you go. But, the sink, with a giant mirror, is facing both rows of urinals. Kind of like this picture:

http://thumb11.shutterstock.com.edgesuite.net/display_pic_with_logo/105562/105562,1215366063,12/stock-photo-two-rows-of-urinals-14579980.jpg

With no sides on the urinal and someone washing their hands you have to basically sit in the urinal to stay private. If that’s not enough, the mopping lady joins me. Then this creepy old man parks himself two urinals away leaving the entire other side empty. Then, he breaks male restroom etiquette and starts talking to me in Thai. In his creepy 55 year old voice he says, “Tamalai” [What are you doing?]. Really? I’m peeing. Please don’t talk to me. What he was meaning was, “What are you doing in Thailand?” So I pretend like I don’t understand. But with the audience of peeping mopper and this guy’s incessant questioning, I buckle and answer, “I’m a volunteer” and I quickly sprint from the restroom. I haven’t gone into that shopping center since. See you all July 1st! –Thomas

I want to share a story from a few weeks ago.  I have mentioned Gaan before to many of you guys but haven’t really shared how my interaction with him finished in Angsila.  I met Gaan down at the pier that I was selling squid at for the longest time.  It really was a God orchestrated time down at the fish market.  The young man I originally went down to the market with wasn’t a Christian and thus was a mission for me.  But I sooned found out that he worked only weekends, leaving me the week to find a new friend to hang out with.  Hindsight tells me that Golf already had a connection into the church, and so my working with him wasn’t a needed connection.

I soon found a friend named Gaan.  He’s 18 years old and works everyday on the pier.  He’s single in case any of you ladies are looking.  He doesn’t like to Save The World, so he litters into the ocean all the time.  I would preach to him in horrible Thai trying to get him to save the world (a Thai climate change slogan) and his response was always the same: “The World no save Gaan, Gaan no save the world.”  I really can’t argue with that, aside from the random fact that I can’t remember the last time the ocean threw garbage on him.  Anyways…

Gaan and I shared what Thai I knew and what English he did to create and odd friendship that I love.  He’d stop by the church to ask me if I could hang out and help him.  I got to know all the mom’s on the pier (a favorite past time of mine) and enjoyed my time there so much.  God is on that pier.  Whenever I hadn’t come for a few days and would show up randomly they would all stop me to tell me how much they were thinking of me while I was gone.  They would wok-up some squid and we’d gin (eat) some kaao (rice).  I still miss my time on the pier as we’ve moved to the new location in the boonies (LOVE IT HERE!).

Before I left I was plagued with the idea that my ultimate goal by sharing fellowship with Gaan on the pier was to share the Gospel with him and Jesus’ love for him and his family.  I hadn’t yet shared the Gospel because I was afraid of offending him and losing a friendship.  This is often the reason we don’t share the Gospel with people in North America.  Our desire to not “step on toes” often leaves the Gospel as a back seat to a friendship where we assume that they will see angels over our heads and ask us about eternal life.  DMI, an evangelical outreach organization, came to visit and led a week long outreach where we preached the Gospel to hundreds of people and saw 61 come to know Christ.  Praise the Lord!  I now had my opportunity to share with Gaan but fear gripped me and I didn’t invite him for coffee.

But God is merciful and gave me a second chance.  God reminded me of my own testimony.  I lived 17 years in a small Mennonite town without anyone ever telling me about God.  It wasn’t until a friend of mine invited me to church that I was able to hear the Gospel and accept it’s Love and Truth.  Dana, thank you from the depths of my soul.  You risked our friendship, knowing that I could get offended, in order to offer Life to me.  This testimony gave me the courage to ask Gaan to coffee.

Gaan, Puun (a friend of ours), and two men from the church joined me.  I tried to have the two men preach the Gospel for me because I didn’t speak Thai and they don’t speak English, but God wouldn’t have it.  They forced me to speak my testimony in Thai.  It was ugly!  I really don’t know how they understood, but they did.  Gaan watched with tears in his eyes, nodding when I asked if he understood me.  I realize now that God was speaking through me and into Gaan and Puun, that they might understand what I was saying.  Though I didn’t see tongues of fire land on me, I do believe they understood the Love of God in their own language, “And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2.

When I had finished sharing my testimony the two men shared the Gospel with them.  When we had finished Gaan and I and the pastor prayed with him as he accepted Christ into his life.  Puun said he wanted to share with his family before he made any decision.  How amazing is God?

If I wouldn’t have shared Life with Gaan I would have kept my friendship with him in Thailand.  I would have gone back to the States and prayed for him whenever I thought about it, but our friendship would have ended when I boarded the plane.  But because I shared Christ with him I now have a friend on earth and in Heaven.

Words for everyone.  Be a part of someone else’s testimony.  Though it is hard to risk a friendship you know and love, remember that “For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18.  The Gospel is offensive and we ultimately do our friends an injustice when we don’t offer Life to them.  For what good is gaining the world but losing your soul?  I was convicted immediately with a long list of the names of people I was hoping they would magically ask me about Jesus; those names are the names of people I should be telling the Gospel to.  I’m learning more now than ever, we are called to be bold.  I would rather be known as someone who offered Life to everyone I met, than to be remembered as someone who withheld Life from the dying.

–Thomas

ps.  Address here:

Thomas VanWart c/o

Dave and Louise

PO Box 25 BangSaen, Chonburi, Thailand 20130

From the States you can call me anytime with this number: 011 66 38 0865061802

We’ve often said over the last few weeks that this time in Thailand is a time of harvest.  As Scripture says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”  I could write for hours but hardly could I even give a fog of an outline of God’s glory these last few days.  I sense what John was feeling when he wrote Revelation; a frustration, for what words could possibly create a full picture of God’s glory?  Tonite, though, I would like to share one specific moment in time.

The TREK team, pastor, Karen, and a couple from the church were embarking on what I feel is one of the hardest ministries available.  Praying for people in their homes stretches every part of me.  It isn’t the difficulty of initial conversation or what to even pray for, but it is through and in prayer that the spiritual battle is revealed.  As people come to know Christ for the first time, the Enemy is also there.  But even so, we are asked to pray in faith for many things that won’t be answered.  We pray for the healing of diseases or the cleansing of bad dreams, but God’s will doesn’t always align to our will.  A better way to say that would be our will doesn’t always align with God’s will.

As we crowded into a concrete room I knew that sickness was all around me.  We knelt on the floor with three generations of women represented: a grandmother, her daughter, and her granddaughter.  A young man sat far in the back with his hand on a medical bed.  On the bed was the grandfather.  His frailty is hardly describable.  His skeleton reminded me of the photos from famines in Africa that I always see on television.  His shorts hung loose and his shirt was no more than a young boy’s shirt.  He wasn’t strong enough to sit up for more than a few seconds where he was then reduced to curling up in a fetal position.  His mind was gone months or years ago, leaving me with a staunch feeling that he was near death.

But God must be given glory for the moment, for at the same time my gaze was captured by this old man, the Thai Christians were leading the grandmother to Christ.  One of the young women from the church possesses the softest heart I’ve ever witnessed.  I know that the Holy Spirit rests on ever word that leaves her mouth and is in every finger that lovingly brushes the grandma’s hand.  The grandma, who is in her 70’s, accepted Christ tonite.

But, as joyful as that moment was for me, I was gripped with sadness at the same time.  In my midst was the strongest sense I have ever gotten; for at that single moment I could have reached out and held her husband’s hand and gripped death.  With my other hand, I could have held her hand, clinging to life.  It is that moment that I realized the true power we possess.  If God was truly going to reach this lady he wouldn’t need us.  We could have never walked into that house and God would have asked someone else instead.  But the fact remains, that in our words, in our hands, and ultimately in our hearts, we hold the key to life.  We hold eternity, the ability to pass it on and the ability to withhold it.  If we are honest with ourselves we will accept the truth, that every time we don’t share Life with someone we meet, we truly are withholding Life from them.

Whatever we loose in heaven will be loosed on earth, and whatever we bind in heaven will be bound on earth.  We hold the Gospel in our hearts and in our testimonies.  We must share it with the lost in this world.  I found myself agreeing with a fellow TREKer who said, “I found myself pleading with God.  Please reach through this old man’s delusional mind.”  We must, as another team member said, “Have the faith that God’s love is deeper than the insanity within this man’s broken mind.”  God’s love is deeper than

God has chosen to use his creation to reach out to his creation.  Life in one hand and death in another.  Daily we face the decision to cling to the Life we can give, or grip the death that surrounds us.  We prayed and prayed in that home, and yet the grandpa wasn’t within the capacity to truly respond.  Continue to pray for him.  We serve a gracious God; but we also serve a merciful God.  Pray for both.

–Thomas

ps.  Golf (from my last note) accepted Christ yesterday.  Help us celebrate!  Pray for tomorrow, where I will be intentionally sharing with Gaan, another fisherman buddy on the pier.  Salvation is the Lord’s, his blessing is on his people.  (altogether, the last two days of outreach in Angsila has the Kingdom filled with 14 new people!).

pps. this is a late post.  Gaan accepted Christ that night. That story will come later.

I have always heard that with the right attitude you can learn something new from all situations.  Christmas is no new event in my life, having 21 (now 22) under my belt.  However, in Thailand Christmas is not about being with family and making it to grandma’s house on time.  Christmas here is about evanglism, an opportunity to add meaning to all the garland.

As a couple of the missionaries have pointed out to me, this is a season of favor for the Kingdom of God.  As Scripture says, “The fields are ready for a harvest!”  All we need are workers.  In the last week of Christmas the harvest has been plentiful all around Thailand.  In Angsila alone I have seen 12 people come to know Christ and the love that encompasses that.  In TLC, a church I’ll be working at in April, has seen nearly 30 people come to Christ.

Amongst all the Life introduced this last week, we have also seen many people move much closer to Christ.  The Thai people often speak in “percents” to describe where they are at with different things in their lives.  Someone could only like another person 30% or put 60% into an event.  I had the chance to sit and talk with someone on our “intentional outreach list” where she moved from 50% believing in God to 80%. 

There was a young girl at church last Saturday who was only 15 years old.  She only happened upon the church, her first time ever, and heard of a Love that she needed so desperately.  Six weeks ago she was riding in a taxi with her mother, younger brother, and father.  The father stopped the taxi, turned around and shot her mother to death.  He then shot her younger brother to death.  For some reason he let her go.  She found out later that her father chopped up her younger brother and put him in a trash bag.  But last Saturday she found out about the true Healer.  Now real healing can happen in her life.  Pray hard for her, that God would continue to break into her life and heal her.

We spent time in intercessory prayer for a few church members hosting an evangelical outreach in their home for friends and family who don’t know Christ.  God spoke volumes to the team during that time, and though it is difficult to not be “a part” of the event, we know God was there.  We have visions to share with people, encouragement to give, and our hearts overflowing with the Spirit.

By far the highlight of my last week has easily been Saturday night and Sunday.  One of the guys who’s so close to meeting Christ let me join him for work.  He’s 18 years old, and after church he was scooter-mobiling-side-carting on by the church and I jumped on.  I got the chance to bucket water up from a well and drive to the pier (mind you, at about 10pm) and give people water.  Driving down the busy market pier was sweet to say the least.  Thai culture allows for people to call out foreigners as they see them which gathers alot of attention.  I would shout back the little Thai I know and we’d press on.

Golf is known clear down the pier, which is where he sells fish on the weekends.  Joining him and his friends was easily the closest to the kind of ministry I want to do later in life.  It’s about joining the people in life, getting soaked with buckets of water.  Ministry with them was about doing my best to learn their language, letting them call me silly, and allowing them to laugh at me.  I can’t even count the number of times mom’s asked me if I had a girlfriend, and after I answered no, they would introduce their single daughter.  If I wanted I could have left that pier married before midnight.

Golf then called me at 6am Sunday morning and I got to sell meat-balls-on-a-stick to all the same people I met the night before.  I told them all that I was able to sell so many because I was a handsome foreigner.  Works every time.  I sold them all with Golf mostly because I learned how to say “my mom made these.”  Clearly a lie, but man, laughter sells everything and anything.

Golf told me he’d call me when he had more work.  All too often when I’m at the church people never come looking for me.  With the language’s great difficulty it is hard to create solid relationships of “hanging out” with people.  For the first time Puun came in the door and shouted up the stairs for me.  Could’ve easily brought tears to my eyes had I not been so excited to sell crabs to people I don’t know.  There isn’t alot on a peir in Thailand that could attract more attention then a young white boy shouting on and on about how sweet the crabs were.  Sweet moments like Golf praying that they would sell all his seafood and knowing that God will be faithful in his life; these moments were so often, and so God-filled.

I’m going to help him next week too.  There isn’t much that can wake me up at 2am with such excitement, but easily work on the peir with Golf is one of those. 

Pray for Golf.

Pray for Puun.

Pray for all the people in the small town of Angsila.  Whenever the church hosts a huge event, and people come to know Christ, the village puts up another Buddha statue.  As depressing as it seems, there isn’t much the Enemy can do to stop the Kingdom of Christ from taking the village, should He want to.

Thank you for your prayers, for continually enduring long posts, and for supporting me in everything God is chosing to do through me.

–Thomas

ps. Best moment of today had to be hanging out the back of a Song Tao (public truck taxi), with a starbucks coffee (brand new, I was the first customer. ), and rocking out to Lady Gaga.

I truly don’t know where to begin. I have only been in Thailand for two weeks and yet it feels like I have been here months. The nation is beautiful in so many respects. The ocean, which is about two football fields away from me, is stunning every day. At this very moment I am sitting at a coffeeshop on the ocean. The waves are lapping as low tide is beginning. The sun is setting behind Monkey Mountain and the sea breeze is perfect. Thai fishing boats litter the shoreline as everyone is done fishing for the day.

The people, hospitable. And the children; I cannot even begin to explain their shear adorableness. Let’s just say that they are so cute that the Thai language has created a word to explain how cute they are. The literal definition: “So cute you could just eat them up.”

We went to a big worship event in a town nearby which helped shed light on the darker aspects of the culture. Pattaya, a center for prostitution and brothels, shows the true decline in sexual morality, fueled by western money and nationals. The city is littered with neon lights and subtle explanations of what lies within the doors. It broke our hearts, truly, as we saw so many white men with young Thai girls.

Even though the darkness of Buddhism surrounds us down every Soi we still see the Kingdom moving. Just last night we walked down the pier around midnight and prayed through fear with a young boy. We are discipling new believers and breaking ground in new areas. God is here and God is moving.

We spend time praying every day, learning Thai, teaching English, baking, and tutoring. I never would have thought teaching English would be as much fun as it is and would break into the Kingdom as often as it does. Baking is a new concept for many people here because most don’t have ovens. We don’t have most of the ingredients we would normally use so we make up recipes and eat whatever results.

We’ve already done dramas in front of people, started a slum ministry, and experimented with foods we never thought we would eat. It turns out, I don’t mind Mussles, squid is good as I remembered, and the hotdogs in the market are questionable. But through the newness of squatty potties and bucket showers God is at work. He is speaking to us as ministry is underway. Issues that God and I are working on are progressing, difficult but progressing nonetheless. We see vision and a future what God is doing here in Thailand. I’m so thankful for the ability to see God at work, because in such a dark place hope is needed.

By no means is the Gospel advancing slowly here, but through such overwhelming odds it is easy to get discouraged. God offers us his vision as a grace for us. This way we see the hope that is had through partnering with God. There is one phrase that was constantly said to me by God over training, “Just let me do the work.” I see more and more, every day, that by my strength will nothing be accomplished here. I can learn the language and share the Gospel with as many people as I would like, but without God there is nobody there to save. It is by God’s strength we are saved; that people are saved. This, just one of the many reminders I have every day.
Pray for Thailand. Pray that veils would be lifted, hearts softened, and families mended through Christ. Pray that strongholds would be busted and houses built on rocks would be constructed over the rubble.

–Thomas

There is no amount of blogging I could ever do that would bring justice to the shear amount of “moving” God has been doing in the last couple weeks.  God has been so incredibly faithful, sharing his heart with me daily.  If you have ever asked God to share his heart with you, you soon learn that it is a blessing, but isn’t easy.  There are moments when I sought his “thoughts” and “heart” for specific people, and ended up in tears overwhelmed by his love.  I always thought that it was near impossible to survive and feel all the feelings that girls seem to feel simultaneously, but now I know that God feels immensely more than women do.

God’s pain for people was felt long before I ever felt for them.  These people first broke HIS heart.  Somehow along the walk I got this idea in my head that I wanted to share my burden for these people with God.  But then I realized the reason I am burdened is because God first shared his feelings with me.  The weight of God’s goodness is intense, good, but intense.

A major part of how God is moving in my soul is found day to day in the relationships he has asked me to build.  Often times we don’t even bother asking God what he wants us to do day to day, week to week, or even year to year, however, it’s even more rare that we expect God to tell us to “go ahead” with what we are doing.  I visit a coffeeshop down the hill a few times a day.  The owners are two young Indian women from the Punjab region in India.  Breaking into their lives has been blessed by God.  While sitting down and reading God has asked me to share parts of my life with them.  We share meals together, in a sense breaking bread (samosas).  It is over this relationship that God is breaking into their lives.

All too often in my life I try to do relationship on my own and I find God telling me “Let me do the work.”  He is faithful in this too.  One morning I felt God speak to me about these ladies.  He used Mark 10 and the story of blind Bartimaes.  At the very end of the story Jesus tells Bartimaes, “Go on your way.”  This I knew, immediately, that God was blessing my endeavours with Sandeep and Coledeep.  That moment has been fresh in my mind for two weeks now.  Did God really tell me that my endeavours were blessed?  Undoubtedly.

I believe that in those relationships I had finally given them over to God.  He loved them first; they hurt Him first; He desired relationship with them long before I did.  By giving them to God, it became God’s work through me to minister to them.  I listened to God’s prompting better and walked in His truth through the relationships.  It turns out that when you are closer with God you are more away of what the Spirit is doing in the lives around you.  Further prompting guided me to share part of my story with Sandeep one evening.  The Gospel was presented through my life, directly to her.  Pray that Satan would not sweep in and steal the seeds being planted.

Often in the mornings, when the fog is still sitting through the treetops and over the houses in the city I get this sense that the work there is not finished.  That God is planning something larger in their lives and graced me with being a part of His work.  The process is like that of a puzzle.  Some people get to do the edge, the easier parts, others put together sections of the middle.  God has a big picture of their lives, He just let me do the edges.

We leave for Thailand on Friday and the excitement is simply tangible.  The need for prayer is constant but already abundant.  Praying really does change the world.  Recently I walked past somebody in the coffeeshop.  I felt the Spirit tell me I needed to talk to her.  And so I created the space and time for it.  The prompting, easily hidden under my love for meeting new people, had the potential to be ignored.  But after speaking to her I asked the team to pray for her.  Giving them no information we prayed.  After all, if I heard God wrong, there’s still no harm in praying for someone you don’t know!  I wrote up the things that God asked us to pray for her and mailed it to her.  Having not received an email back for weeks, I left it with God in His hands.

Last night I received an email from her.  She had received the note late because she doesn’t read her mail often.  God spoke to her heart, down to the very marrow of her being.  It came unexpected to her, but perfectly timed with what God was doing in her life.  Prayer changes the future of the Kingdom.

–Thomas

ps. Here is a family picture with the Indian family.  They asked me to the coffeeshop on Halloween to see their kids dressed up.   It’s blurry because one of the husbands took it.

“Be Still, and know that I am God”

In a culture of noise and confusion we hardly find a place to practice solitude.  And yet, when we read the gospels we find that even Christ made time in his busy ministry to “find a silent place and pray.”  One of the most challenging times at TREK for most is the 48-hour silent retreat.  It is a time when interaction with anyone is minimized to glazed glances and absent pleasantries.  We are forced to leave all music behind.  It is a time when we offer our time for God to speak to us.  It is so difficult because we surround ourselves with chaos and find it near impossible to break away.  It is no wonder why God’s “gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19) is nowhere to be found.

Experiences differ from anger because God was not speaking to God speaking through a seal basking in the sun.  My experience was just as unique.

I sat in my hammock tucked away in small forest on the edge of the Mark Centre property.  I knew that in order to get in the right mindset I would need to separate the previous time with this new time of silence.  So I took a refreshing nap in the beautiful weather.  When I awoke I prayed that God would clear my mind, my heart, and cleanse my soul.  What I experienced next was unlike anything I have experienced before in my life.  As I invited Christ’s Spirit to be present I was overwhelmed with his peace.  The peace I had sensed before in my life but this was extended and deeper.

It’s hard to explain just quite what it felt like.  Noises that would have once distracted me seemed to come into my attention and drift through with purpose.  They were no longer the shouts of a mother but became purposeful and for Christ.  It was like I was getting a glimpse into how Christ sees the world.  There was great silence, yet, it’s the silence that has sound.  It hardly makes sense, I know, but perhaps that is the way God’s peace works.  It’s a mystery how peace works, but perhaps when God blesses us with his presence things just make sense.  I had incredible clarity of mind.  When the Enemy reminded me of past sin, I could recognize the lies immediately and rebuke instantly.  Nature that surrounded me was doing exactly as God intended it to do.

The peace was beautiful and I miss it dearly.  It’s been just about a week since the retreat and I desire that presence once more.  If I have learned anything here it would be that I can ask God for His presence and He will bless me with it abundantly.

–Thomas

There is something odd about God’s ability to work people together even after they have only known each other for such a short while. TREK time here in Canada has really be so incredible and a blessing that is FAR more than I could have ever hoped it would be. I want to share a few stories for people so they can share in my adventure!

 

I was cruising a little faster than I thought through Oregon on my way up to Abbotsford here and figured I could afford a couple days in a hostel in Portland, Oregon. It was flippin sweet as hostels and Oregon naturally are. A few things to warn/note to those ever hoping to travel to Portland: Simply because you CAN ride a bike, does not mean you SHOULD wear spandex. Matt Cox suggested a separate bike path for those that shouldn’t curse the world with their spandex, which would be behind a six foot concrete spandex proof wall. It is okay to look, feel, shape your hair, pierce your whatever, and dance any way you would like at any time you would like. And because of this, you can also dig out any wedgies you might have gotten on the bike ride in public. Since people are already staring at you, it doesn’t matter if they see you fixing what God intended to never happen. There are too many restaurants on Hawthorne to ever choose, so you as Matt and Beth Cox and they will tell you where you should eat. Those are a few tips I learned, but experience is the best teacher.

 

I ran into a German kid, about the age of 19 who has been gallivanting around Canada and the US for about six months now. After I mentioned I would be hitching up to Vancouver area he most graciously offered a seat in his ghetto van, as he would be travelling up there the following day. It took us a little longer than you would think to get going but Mitchell had to recover from a “late” night. The drive was incredibly beautiful and pretty epic. Windows rolled down, feet hanging out, accents flyin, and Red Hot Chili Peppers filling the van with perfect driving music. It really was a scene from one of those “discovering yourself” college movies. However, just before we got to the border we made an unexpected stop at a rest stop. He leans over and tells me that it’s best to not cross the border with weed and that we should search the van to make sure it’s clean. I was like, “Uh, dude, I don’t even know what weed looks like.” So my job was talking to the families, elderly, and any other could-be-question-asker to deter them from looking in the…smoky van. But, as many prayers went out, we were clear sailing through the border.

 

Finally, even though this is getting long, I wanted to talk about how God spoke to me yesterday. Often times God speaks to us but it’s a little murky because our lives are filled with noise. And when we finally quiet down our lives, we question the conversation that happens in our heads. We wonder, “Is this God speaking, or am I talking to myself?” The voices in my head are always reeling which makes me wonder often. We were asked to really ask God to speak to us through Scripture and be sincere about it. That morning I was journaling my hopes and dreams for this time, and one was that I would hear God more clearly in my life.

 

As I was reading through Ephesians chapter one, I asked God to truly speak to me. Verse seventeen really stuck out and so I thought I should pursue it. That’s when I felt God saying to me, “This verse is your purpose here. This is the reason I brought you here.” What a purpose! How gracious can God truly be! The verse reads, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.” God has given me this promise, that he brought me here to give me a spirit of wisdom and that I might know him deeper. I couldn’t ask for a better answer to pray, could I? This is the first time that I have really been able to say, “God truly spoke to me in a way I could NEVER doubt.” I then laughed and said, “God, why would you bless me so much?!” He spoke back, “This is my gift to you, it is grace.”

 

God really is too much for me some times. I am too excited for how God will fulfill his promise to me, but I can be sure that he is faithful and will complete it.

 

Keep praying that God would continue to bond the already incredible bonds we have building. Also pray that the 48 hour silent retreat next week will be one of refreshment and incredible intimacy with God. After all, if God is even half the God that I have experienced so far, we have so much to look forward too!

 

I am uploading a group picture we took today after we did some gardening (WOO!). If you want to restock my coffee supply, send money to support me, or send a letter here is the address:

 

Thomas VanWart

c/o MBMSI

302-32025 George Ferguson Way

Abbotsford, BC V2T 2K7

 

An a couple last minute things. Please use Facebook a little less with me as it spams my inbox pretty heavily. Feel free to comment on my blog or on the note but otherwise, stick to sending me actual emails.

 

thomasvanwart@gmail.com

 

Thank you for your prayers! I miss everyone tons and truly do tell many people about you guys!

 

–Thomas

 

ps. please send GROUND coffee that ISN’T decaf.