report from Mike and Sonja Zeek (Missionaries with Fellowship International
Mission) and the account they gave of what it will take for some of the
Hmong people in southeast Asia to attend the upcoming Yexusfest conference
in Thailand this July. If you haven’t read it yet, consider the account
below as some of the Hmong make the trek to attend this upcoming conference
where they can learn more about Jesus and hopefully take back with them an
audio player containing God’s word in their language. Clearly the folks who
want to go to this conference know that it is better to spend one day in
God’s courts than a thousand elsewhere! May we have the same passion for
attending our place of learning and worship – our very own church.
God bless,
Rob
P.S. – if you would like to learn more about these audio players and how you
can help put some of these audio players in the hands of the Hmong then
check out www.316ministryz.com
For some of the Hmong in southeast Asia, getting to the conference is a
major event in and of itself. It can take several days for many of them to
get there. Here is a common scenario:
have to find someone with a motorcycle willing to drive you on a five hour
ride down the treacherous muddy, pothole filled, mountain road while you try
to hang on with a basket of luggage on your back. Or, you may have a two
days’ walk because the road is more of a rocky trail and not even accessible
by motorcycle! Then you hope to be able to get to a small town in time to
hop on a bus for an eight hour trip to the Laotian border. You may not be
able to afford an air-conditioned bus, but actually that’s not a problem
since you need the windows down anyway to prevent motion sickness. (This is
a common problem for many of the Hmong since they don’t have cars.) You pray
that when you get to the Vietnam-Laotian border, the border patrol won’t
give you a hard time. But since you are Hmong, you never know what to expect
(especially since the Hmong partnered with the USA during the Vietnam War).
You are asked why you are crossing the border. You need to answer wisely.
Otherwise, if you say that you are going to a Bible conference in Thailand,
you will certainly be harassed and probably not allowed to cross. When you
get into Laos, you have to find another bus that will take you to the border
between Laos and Thailand. It is about a 10 hour drive up and down over the
mountains of Laos, and since the bus driver drives fast many people are
getting sick even with the windows open. Then you have to go through the
ordeal of another border patrol check. When you finally get into Thailand,
you still have another seven hour bus ride to get to Chiang Mai. (Our family
know these roads very well. Many of the bus drivers drive like they are on a
suicide mission! They weave around blind corners crossing double yellow
lines expecting that no other vehicles are coming from the other direction.
There have been quite a few times when we have had to pull over onto the
side of the road to prevent getting hit by a bus!) Finally you arrive in
Chiang Mai. You are not sure where you will be staying (certainly not in a
nice hotel), but most likely you will be staying in a small room will many
other believers for the three nights while you are there. It is not unusual
for 30 people to sleep on a hard tiled floor in a 20x20ft room. Then after
the conference is over, you have to go back home and do the whole trip over
again!
As I write this I am sitting at home “snowed in”. I am thankful for a day’s
rest (although I know that I will be spending hours outside clearing this
icy / winter mix….) Still, it is great to be at home with my family. Right
now I can smell banana pancakes and bacon on the griddle, almost ready to be
consumed. I also know that Lisa has placed a cake in the oven so our
“sweet-tooth” will be satisfied. I have already been blessed with time to do
a more leisurely devotional and to work out in my home gym while listening
to some music. Perhaps I’ll read today or play a game or two. The house is
warm and familiar and I am very comfortable. This is why when I am away from
it I can’t wait to get back home.
If you ask folks where there favorite place is to be, many of them will say,
“My home”. They will all have their specific reasons but a lot of them will
fall into some familiar themes; feeling safe, being with loved ones, having
access to the things we enjoy most, and comfort.
Psalm 84 helps us to consider a different dwelling place, one that is very
satisfying to the writer:
Psalm 84
For the director of music. According to gittith. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!
2 My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young-
a place near your altar,
Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
listen to me, God of Jacob.
9 Look on our shield, O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.
10 Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
12 Lord Almighty,
blessed is the one who trusts in you.
May I point out some things about what was just shared?
The writer yearns, even faints to be in God’s house (likely a reference to
God’s temple) and to be close to God (his heart and flesh cry out for Him).
He has found the temple to be a place filled with praise for God and those
who are present and worship God are blessed. The writer (possibly David) has
found that the wicked have nothing to offer in comparison to God and His
place of worship and that for those who abide in God they are richly
blessed. What a wonderful Psalm to remind us how blessed we can be to go to
physical places like the church where God is worshiped. What an
encouragement is contained in these twelve verses for the heart that yearns
for God and cherishes His ordinances.
If God has blessed you with a home where you are very satisfied, then praise
Him. And if He hasn’t….praise Him anyway. And tomorrow….when you wake up
and are getting ready for church, my prayer is that you too would yearn to
be at church with God’s people, singing songs, reciting prayers, studying
God’s word….not because you have to or it is because of what you do, but
because your heart cry all week has been to be close to God and He has
answered your prayer, and now you are ready to go and praise Him with His
people. How much better it is to be in church than a thousand other places!
For Him,