Sunday, July 30, 2006

We are on our way home today! Right now it's about 8:45 am, so after church services, lunch, and a final prayer meeting with the church, we will be headed for the airport. (I think there's a caravan of about 5 or 6 cars that are accompanying us to the airport!) Time has flown! If you're reading this on Saturday evening back in the States, pray for us to finish strong and be able to encourage the church as we leave. It's is really hard on us to leave and we have a long journey ahead, but we are looking forward to seeing many of you soon. May God be glorified in this work!

And if you haven't watched Eric's slide show below, I highly recommend it.=) It includes just about everything we've done, minus our free travel and the farewell parties. Eric did a great job!

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Well, it took a while for me to upload it, but here's the farewell party's slideshow. This is a collection of pictures and videos that summarize the parties and a lot of the reader outings. It's eleven minutes long, so I wouldn't attempt to play it without a decent internet connection.


Friday, July 28, 2006

Hello everyone! We haven't forgotten about you, we've just been participating in more parties, good-bye ceremonies, social gatherings, and crying festivals in the past few days that I ever knew was possible. The readers are coming out for their final reading sessions and are hanging out to get in their last good-byes, not to mention showering us with outlandish gifts. (Loraine's readers have brought her enough jewelry to last a lifetime and she's just going to wear it all home in an effort to set off every metal detector between here and Nashville.) Right now I feel like we're running a big Asian CSC--even at this moment we have readers hanging out to study, watch movies, and eat pizza.=) Now we need to work on kicking everybody out at 11 pm.=)

One interesting fact is that Eric has been making his readers cry. Seriously, one of Eric's readers came out of his last reading session today bawling and hugging all over Eric (not even kidding.) This made Loraine and I cry and it was kind-of turning into a huge kleenex festival. Then Brad came out and told us we were all a bunch of pansies. At first I was wondering what on earth Eric had done to the poor guy to make him cry so hard, but then Brad astutely pointed out that he would cry too if he were about to be separted from Eric for who-knows-how-long. Fine point, Brad, fine point.

To be serious, I am so touched by how deeply these kids have become a part of our lives in the last 6 weeks. We've laughed with them, ate with them, traveled with them, danced with them, studied with them, shared Jesus with them, and now we cry with them and say good-bye for now. There's a time for everything. Last night at our farewell party we gathered our readers around with the church members and sang "A Common Love." It was so touching to look around and see people from all over the world singing and to know that indeed these we have a common strength and a common hope. And I believe, that to the glory of God, many of these students will have a common future with us as they begin to take hold of the truths that have been imparted to them these past weeks.

We thank God for everyone he has sent to us here in Malaysia. May He continue to bless them!

Sunday, July 23, 2006

I just wanted to share with everyone how happy I am today. Today has been a great wonderful awesome fantabulous day! I can't even begin to describe it. First off, Eric preached an excellent sermon on trials this morning that really registered with the church, I think. God really spoke through Eric powerfully. Plus, I just tend to be really encouraged on Sunday mornings anyway and the class and service this morning were especially touching.

Immediately after service we had a special treat. We got to witness Eric's reader James being baptized! How awesome! James came to the church about 3 months ago after "randomly" finding the address online. James is 18 and after he recently moved away from his family to begin his studies, he began to feel the need to seek God. He didn't have a Christian background, so it's obvious the Holy Spirit was working on him to bring him here. After getting to know the church members here, studying with them, and going through LST, James decided to be baptized. We all gathered at a nearby swimming pool to witness it and I must say that it was a spectacular moment. Praise God that James is part of our family now!

After the baptism, another reader, Veronica, showed us around Chinatown. We were blessed to have a young lady from the church who is exactly Veronica's age join us on this trip and it's so great to see how God is building bridges between readers and church members. We are so excited to know Veronica and look forward to hearing how God is working in her life in the near future.

You can see why it's been a grrrrrrrrrrrreat day! I'm exhausted from all the things we did this weekend, but I still bet it will be hard for me to sleep tonight from all the joy it has brought me. Praise be to our marvelous God!

We have had some awesome opportunities to hang out with readers this weekend and just have fun. God really answered our prayers as far as giving us some excellent outreach opportunities!

Picture #1: Four readers accompanied us on a trip to the bowling alley on Saturday night. We played 2 rounds and I even broke 100 if you add my two scores together. After bowling, we grabbed some dinner with this group!
Picture #2: The readers are bowling away. We had so much fun cheering each other on!
Picture #3: On Friday night, nine readers accompanied us on a trip to a historic ship called Doulos, thanks to some help with transportation from the church members. This was definitely a moment when I realized how little faith I have. The ship was an hour and a half away and I really thought we'd be lucky just to get a couple of readers to come. But God really blew our socks off when nine showed up! It was a cramped car ride, but a very interesting trip! In this picture, the 4 LST workers are pictured on board the ship with the 9 readers who attended.
Picture #4: Here's another picture on board the ship that's a little easier to see. This picture clearly shows us that Americans tend to be taller than Asians.=)




Friday, July 21, 2006

After dying the eggs, the LST readers went on an Easter egg hunt in the church building. They're pretty eager to get some eggs.


Our 4th party centers around traditional Easter activities. Here we have the egg dying portion.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Hello, everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates; we've been having plenty of reading sessions recently. We should have a video of tonight's upcoming party ready sometime tomorrow (hopefully). Until then, here's some pictures of reading sessions:

Saturday, July 15, 2006

As long as anyone in Malaysia can remember, there have been no Christian missionaries from other countries coming to Malaysia for a long-term stay. Sure, there are groups like ours' that come on tourist visas for short-term projects, but those visas are only good for 90 days. For many years Christian missionaries were illegal in Malaysia, and today it is still next-to-impossible to get permission to come to Malaysia as a missionary. Although it is legal to preach Christianity, the Muslim-controlled government is determined to keep Christianity "under control." Ever since I arrived here, I marveled at the number of healthy Christian churches and ministries that seem to be flourishing here in spite of the absence of trained preachers and evangelists. Of course God can prosper His remnant anywhere He chooses, but who did He use to spark the flame in Malaysia? After last night, I have a much better understanding of this question.

Upon the insistence of some church members, we attended a memorial service for Vaughn Young (whom we have never met) last night. What an honor! Young was an engineer with a degree from Texas Tech who went into the oil business during the boom in Texas. I don't know all the circumstances of his career, but I know that as Malaysia increasingly became an Asian oil power in the 1970s, he was transferred to Kuala Lumpur by Exxon. Even though Christian missionaries were illegal in Malaysia back then, Christian oilmen (and their families) were not! And even though Vaughn Young was experiencing a successful career as an oilman, his highest calling was that of a Christian. He blessed and encouraged the church here immensely, including becoming a spiritual father to 2 of the leaders at Wangsa Maju (where we are working now.) I also learned that as Malaysia increasingly became more industrialized during the 1970s and 80s, dozens of Christians came to Malaysia to not only fulfull their role as businessmen and engineers, but more importantly to fulfill their role as vocational ministers. As I listened to the stories of these pioneers of Malaysian Christianity last night, I was very convicted. None of them were professionally trained in ministry or sponsored by a church in the U.S, but they all understood the importance of working for their Savior. And God used them to make all the difference! I was especially touched listening to our sister Nalini, who with tears rolling down her cheeks, told how Vaughn Young's family and the other "oil families" were a Godsend to her during the time that she was disassociating herself from a Brahmin Hindu family and becoming part of the Family of Faith.

Like Vaughn Young, I believe that each of us, because of our career or friends or circumstances, has been given the ability to reach a demographic or group of people that most cannot reach. Maybe you attend a public school or work in a politcally-correct workplace where outward expressions of Christianity are "against the rules." Maybe you're a member of a social club or a sports team where Christianity isn't especially popular. But the Holy Spirit will still be shining in you! How awesome that all of us are called to be ministers wherever we are!

Vaughn Young had been living in Texas for the last 20+ years (where he was a leader in Houston's inner-city Impact Church), but he had such a profound effect on the Christians in KL during his 8 years here that the KL Christians also gathered to celebrate his life and commitment to the church. Apparently the KL Christians were close to his heart even during his waning moments. During this same time, Christians in Houston (where it was still Friday morning) were gathering for the same purpose. Both gatherings ended with the singing of "Victory In Jesus."

O victory in Jesus
My Savior forever
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood
He loved me 'ere I knew Him
And all my love in due Him
He plunged me to victory
Beneath the cleansing flood

Friday, July 14, 2006

Our third party has the readers decorating T-shirts. We interview each artist, showing off their work. I end up judging the competition with my patented "Thumbs Up" rating system.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

It's hard to believe, but our time with the readers is past the half-way point now. Time has flown! For these next two and half weeks, we will be trying to spend every waking moment with the church members and/or the readers. We had a meeting this morning and roughly planned about 4 or 5 special outings that we will invite readers and church members to attend with us. Haha, by the time we get back to the U.S, we will probably be desperately craving some "alone time," but we feel that since our time here is so limited, we must pack in as many outreach activites as we possibly can. Pray that we can use these last 16 days in KL wisely and effectively.

The hardest part about doing LST work is that about the time you begin to feel close to your readers, it's time to go home! That is definitely the case for me. On Tuesday, I had a reader who opened up and shared with me that she had been thinking about finding a Christian church to visit for awhile now because churches seem like such peaceful places to her. She asked how long I had attended church and why I choose to go, and I got to share some of my spiritual autobiography with her. There's a part of me that would love to stay here for a long time and be her companion as she begins her spiritual journey, but I know that God has only given me these next two and half weeks with her. I will have to plant the seed and trust somone else to water it. Of course there will still be e-mails and occasional phone calls, but I will still have to give up my desire to "control" this situation and leave her to God's good care. I am thankful that God has given me a treasure in this broken jar of clay that I can shine for Him, and that He has allowed me to cross paths with so many different people all over the world so that I can be blessed by each one of them. Pray for this reader! I know these next 2 weeks will be a very special time for her. (Ok, I'm already tearing up. I'll probably be a mess by the time I leave!)

For these next few days, pray that we will really be able to become friends with the readers and be able to finish strong. Particularly these past few days we've noticed that readers have not been able to come because of schoolwork and mid-terms (and one day a huge downpour of rain put a big dent in our attendance.) It's obvious that Satan is providing a lot of distractions and excuses. Pray against this! Pray for us as we come home, report on our experiences, and integrate ourselves back into ministries in the U.S., accepting new challenges. Pray for Loraine and I as we will be looking for employment as soon as we arrive.

We also look foward to hearing how God has worked in each of your lives this summer! We've already heard some powerful stories from Brazil, Austrailia, Hong Kong, Honduras, Thailand and of course, various locations in the good 'ol USA. How awesome that we serve a God who is active in the lives of people all over the world.=)

P.S.--Will the person who signed our blog as "blog blog blog" reveal his/her identity? I think I know who you are and I might be able to win a bet!=)

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Our second party centers around a game of Bunco. This is a montage of some of the videos we took that night.


Just a quick update to let everyone know that we threw another successful party last night, praise be to God. This time it was a rousing round of Bunco (the non-gambling version for those of you who were already getting your smark aleck comments ready), complete with all the normally dignified church members screaming and punching the tables by the end of the night. (Bunco has that effect on people.) One interesting thing that happened is that Eric threw 2 big buncos in a row (meaning all three of the dice landed on 6) and quickly did some math to find out that the chances of that occuring are less than 1 in 46,000! What talent that Dobbs kid has! He will indeed go down in the annals of Bunco history.=)

In addition, we have been blessed with a steady stream of readers. We will wrap up another week of reading tonight with more reading sessions than we had last week. Of course, more important than quanity is quality. We each now have stories of readers who are beginning to open up and let themselves become affected by the Word. We are so glad that we have 3 more weeks with them and look forward to the transformation God will work in them. We covet your prayers as we continue this process! Pray that the readers will want to come often (3 times a week is best), that they will come to their appointments, and that they will be thoughtfully considering the words of Luke. Pray for us that God will make us competent to do this work (2 Corinthians 3:5)

We love and miss all of you at home. As always, stay tuned for some photographic footage from the dynamic duo of Dobbs & Williams.=)

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Well, friends and neighbors, we've completed a little over two and half weeks of work here at our friendly Malaysian church. Things are still going very well. Our schedules this week have kept filling up as readers add all the sessions they can handle with yours truly and team. I think the only thing we've had difficulty with so far is keeping Brad's sessions under the three hour mark. ;)

God has really blessed us with the people here. I know that we all keep saying that. So, it must be true. The church members here make every day interesting, blessed, and fun. I am already sorry that they live in Malaysia and not closer to my home. Although, I am quite fond of my Christian family there as well.

We are gearing up for another day of reading tomorrow, followed by a dynamic party with games, snacks, and fellowship. Please keep us and our readers in your prayers.
Thank you for your support and encouragement.

Yesterday was a very busy, but very exciting day. I met with 8 readers and read the story of Christ's birth with most of them (a couple of them were on other lessons.) Normally working that long would exhaust me, but I instead found myself to be very energized by it. This is evidence that God is working!

The amazing thing about this project is how many readers have told me they have never heard the story of Jesus before. (Christmas is nothing more than a commerical holiday here.) My experience shows that most non-believing Americans at least have some idea of who Jesus is, but with these Malaysian students we are starting with a completely clean slate. It is exciting to know that God is planting seeds that will continue to grow as they go throughout the rest of their lives. Please pray that they will not only be interested in these stories, but they will begin to think about the spiritual implications these stories hold for their lives.

Once again, I wanted to assure all of you that you are a vital part of this work. Without your roles as encouragers and prayer supporters, we would not be able to do what we are doing. Thank you for letting God work through you to encourage and sustain us!

". . . so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." --Isaiah 55:11

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Left to right: Doreen, Brad, Loraine, Angela, Meredith, Eric.


I wanted to tell about two amazing angels of mercy we have met on this trip. The first is Doreen. Doreen is our pint-size Malaysian grandmother who has blessed up immensely with all 90 of her pounds! This week the church hired her to be their first secretary, which is a good idea since she was already doing that job anyway. She cares for us and cleans up after us and keeps us smiling. We all get the biggest kick out of Doreen! The first day we were here for our information meeting she literally paced back and forth in the church building all day long for hours repeating over and over again in her adorable little voice how excited she was that LST had come to Malaysia. ("Praise God! It finally come to Malaysia! It make me sooooo glad!," she would say.)) Doreen knows the Bible like the back of her hand and she's one of those people who never meets a stranger. I think every time I've seen Doreen she's either been studying her Bible or making a new friend. But soon she's going to branch out by leading the bunny hop at our upcoming Easter party (hopefully!) Stay tuned for the footage!

Angela is our Malaysian auntie. She took off work the week of our information meeting so that she could call all of our prospective readers and remind them to come. We would not have had such amazing reader response without all of Angela's recruiting! Since we have started the reading sessions, she has come to the church building each evening to get to know our readers and to encourage us. Angela has shared a very touching testimony with us. Through some very sad circumstances, Angela was never able to have children of her own as she had always dreamed. For many years, she was sad and even angry about this and was only minimally involved in church. About a year ago, someone introduced her to the idea of spiritual children and told her that it wasn't too late for her to "raise children." God put it on Angela's heart to come to Wangsa Maju and help them plant their campus ministry, where God would bless her with children. And as many of you know, LST is helping to launch this campus ministry in many ways. I literally don't think it's an exaggeration to say that God has used this LST program to change Angela's life because she believes that each of our college-age readers were sent to her by God to be her children. At the LST meetings, she glows and says, "I prayed to God for children and he made the mother of 70!" Even after we leave to go back to the U.S., I know that Angela will make sure that her children/our readers are in good hands.

When we came to Malaysia, we were hoping to be a blessing to our readers and the church members, and we were expecting to be blessed by LST, our hosts, and all our supporters back home. All of that has been true, but true to His nature, God has been even better to us than we expected. He has filled our cups to overflowing with Angela and Doreen. Interestingly enough, Doreen and Angela are both coming out of some very hard seasons in their lives. God is not only using LST to introduce 70 college kids to the gospel, but He's also using it to lift 2 of his treaured daughters out of their season of discouragement! Praise Him for His abundant blessings!

Saturday, July 01, 2006

After our tea-tasting party, Alvin (one of the readers) gives us a bit of information on the best way to have Chinese tea.