VIETNAM LEPER MINISTRY  -   David and Pushpa 

Mark 1:40-42

A man with Leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging Him to be healed. "If you are willing you can heal me and make me clean"  he said. Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him “I am willing,”he said. “Be healed!”  Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed.

Despite the triumph of modern medicine, leprosy is still largely misunderstood and somewhat feared in Vietnam. Most leper patients today are elderly and contracted the disease before medicines were available for them to be cured before the disease damaged their bodies. Every year there are some new cases although these now generally are cured before physical damage occurs. Leper patients not only have suffered terrible physical hurt, but also have often felt great loss and rejection by family and society as they were put into centers away from those they loved.

From many years ago the government established these leper centres, usually far from the cities, where the patients live in simple buildings with basic amenities. Most patients have been cured of leprosy, but they continue to live with the physical deformities and health related issues that accompany leprosy. The most visible deformities are the hands with fingers amputated, legs amputated and facial disfigurement. It is moving to see a man with all his fingers and both legs amputated chatting with you as if there was no difference between you and him.

The government gives the patients an option of either receiving two free meals a day or they can get their own meals and are given $21.USD per month.  In some centers the patients have land to cultivate crops and vegetables for their own consumption but because of the severe deformities (loss of limbs and fingers) they find it difficult to work in the fields. In some centers the ground is too hard.

Today you will also find the children and grandchildren, (not affected by the disease), of the Leper patients staying at the centers. They live in simple houses separate from where the leper patients live and together they make up the whole community of the leper center – elderly leper patients, their adult children and grandchildren.

Our co-workers work in 6 of the 14 leper centers in North Vietnam. They have impacted the patients who are touched by our workers love, as they were not repulsed by their disease but who continued to regularly visit them, touch them, eat with them, fellowship with them and care for them. The ministry also supplies some groceries to the patients for which they are very grateful for.

Hien and her Team of 3 local co-workers are very dedicated and passionate in their work and have brought many patients to the Lord. Hien first visited one of the leper centers in 2002 and she felt sad to see their loneliness, (hardly anyone came to see them), and to see the bleakness in their faces. They lived from day to day resigned to their life, not expecting or hoping for anything more.

In 2008 after seeking the Lord’s guidance she formed a partnership with an ex-patriot couple and her AG church leadership, and began to work full time in the Leper communities. The centers are far from town and Hien and her team must travel 2-3 hours by motorbike, but she has a heart for these Lepers and desires to bring the peace, love and joy of Jesus into their lives. Initially she faced a lot of opposition from the authorities at the centers and she was not allowed to share the Gospel, so just visited bringing food parcels and being friendly. They watched her and praise God He opened the door for her to work in the centers.

One center had been closed for several years, not allowing her to share with the patients. For two years we prayed, - highlighting this as a prayer need in our prayer and newsletters. Then unexpectedly the center director called and asked if she would do a Christmas presentation that year to the patients and children. This was a miracle as this man used to be so against her. But he has changed and now the gospel is shared openly, even to the staff, patients are placing their faith in Jesus, and about 30 children meet for Bible study each week.

The past two years over 30 children from this center have attended the AG church summer camp with many being water baptized there. The center director also enjoys attending along with the children and is most helpful, always encouraging the children to behave well, to pray and participate in all the activities. We truly thank God for this man.

In another center there is also a group of about 30 children and youth who meet every week for Bible learning, singing and fun games, along with many adults who continue to be discipled there. A new generation of young people hungry for the Word of God are discovering the truth and finding meaning in life through knowing Jesus Christ.

From these two leper centres Hien has over 70 children attending the summer camp. What a blessing God has given to Hien – who has no family (her parents and only sibling (a brother) all died when she was in her mid-teens), – and yet she will be called ‘blessed’ in heaven by many!

Our Leper ministry raised funds to give 27 of the poorest children scholarships to help them with their school fees. The children and their families were overjoyed.

When other volunteer groups from the Buddhist faith have come to evangelize them, the believers stood firm in the Lord refusing to even receive  their gifts of CD’s and biscuits, sweets and other goods. They declared that now they know the Lord, they will follow Him alone. They told them that since they have known Jesus their lives have changed and they are happy and filled with peace. The most amazing statement was “We know we will have a new body when we go to heaven so we will rejoice with what we have now.”

Last year, just before Christmas, a Malaysian team came to visit these two centres. In one centre the team cooked lunch for the patients and had fellowship with them. A simple gesture, that meant so much to the patients who were deeply touched by the tangible love of God shown by the team. Later many were greatly encouraged by the film of Nick Vujuvicic (a Christian man with no arms or legs) and by the sharing of the team. Many patients were seen with tears rolling down their cheeks. We hope more teams will come and share the love of God with these people.

     Praise God for His favour and open doors, and the partnership of supporting churches and organisations, which enables our co-workers in the Leper Ministry to reach, touch and change the lives of the people in the leper centres.

               

                                           

EXPERIENCING THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT.

Erik Cheong, (Mission Team member to Nepal–December 2014)

Everything made sense and I connected all the dots when I began life as a born again Christian. Even as a non-believer, God shone His light on me, looked out for me, guided me through my many challenges, granted my heart’s desires and gently led me along the path straight to Him. Being a young Christian, I was privileged enough to be part of two mission trips, Myanmar in 2013 and more recently, Nepal in December 2014. The trip to Myanmar was in the capacity of a photographer, when I was still a non-believer. There is no other way to describe a non-believer going on a mission trip, other than it being all part of God’s plans. It was a fulfilling purpose being able to capture images throughout the mission trip, more so when on landing back in Malaysia from my first mission trip ever, to Myanmar, Ps Eric Fung prayed for me and I invited Jesus into my heart right there in the arrival hall of the airport. Praise the Lord!

My recent trip to Kathmandu, Nepal is still very vivid. Kathmandu is surrounded by poverty; you can see it and feel it everywhere you go. From the intermittent blackouts, the brown water, the dusty streets, poorly paved roads, to the street kids working for a meal a day; it was always a feeling of hopelessness and despair from any first impression. Thapathali Slum, or what I would call the “slum of all slums”, is located right in the heart of Kathmandu under a bridge and right next to the Bagmati River. Now this heavily polluted river has human excrement, factory waste and dead animals floating in it and yet this is the Slum Dwellers only supply of water. Their homes are shacks literally made out of plastic sheets and cardboards. What we call rubbish is what the slum dwellers call home. Winters can be harsh without electricity and clean water and I am simply unable to comprehend the hardships and struggles of the people here. Similarly in Myanmar, underlying all the doom and gloom, I find a lot of hope and optimism, with God working out His plans for these people.

 Our mission trip included the distribution of donated blankets, winter wear, food and chocolates for the children. In the middle of the slum lies a Church established by Asian Outreach and National Mission Commission (NMC) of Nepal. The Church blends in to the surroundings, maybe different by being slightly larger than their huts. Once inside however, the place was filled with warmth and love as I saw about forty kids of different ages, diligently learning their lessons of the day from devoted teachers and writing on to their writing pads intently. Yes, all this in a slum. As the mission trip ventured into another slum (Godawari), local ministries and churches, one thing was prevalent and that was the selflessness and devotion of the pastors, volunteer teachers and all of God’s faithful servants. They work tirelessly and relentlessly, by sowing the seeds of Love, Faith and Hope. Instead of wandering aimlessly with no apparent future the kids now have a ‘Safe Haven’ where they can be nurtured —physically, emotionally and spiritually. I can visualize God’s will, as my first year relationship with Him continues to grow and I learn and reflect from the Nepalese people and the awesome mission team, praying and aspiring to the attributes in:  Galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." 

LORD HERE I AM SEND ME! 

Tan Luan Kyee, Missionary 

The 2-week trip between July and August 2014 was my 14^th trip to the Himalayan region of Siliguri in West Bengal, India. From my non air-conditioned minivan taxi, I watched the congested traffic and the inevitable ear jarring honking of cars and the familiar scenes and sounds suddenly brought an exhilarating sense of home-coming to the place which had been home to me for a number of years in the past.

It was in 2012 that I had the privilege to work with Kikon Lotha, founder and director of Neighbours Mission Himalayas (NMH), a church planting ministry he started in 2010 by faith in obedience to God. Within a short period of time, the work to reach the unreached in suburban and remote villages has greatly multiplied in Siliguri, Indo-Bhutan, Indo-Nepal and South Bhutan.

On my last trip, we went to Shompok Village in Darjeeling where church planter, David Baraily is ministering. Our transport was a tough rugged 12-seater land cruiser. Leaving the crowded humid city behind, it was lovely to feel the cool refreshing air and be fascinated with the enchanting scenic view of changing landscapes as we travelled on the mountainous road. The further we go, the road becomes more narrow and winding but the 90-degree bends were skilfully manoeuvred by the driver as we continued ascending. The few small towns we passed by, are no more than two rows of small cubicle shops on both sides of the single narrow road with the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (Toy Train) passing through them. There was a brief stop for passengers to get off and time enough for a stretch before more passengers packed the seats and atop the vehicle. Passing a huge tea garden, the gravel road suddenly seemed deserted and became even narrower as we continued in the pitch dark quiet mountain. When we finally saw David outside the gate waiting to greet us, it was past 8pm. We were the last passengers to be dropped after six hours on the road. There were no street lights and with a torchlight, we made our way to David’s small two room house.

Prior to joining Neighbours Mission Himalayas (NMH) in 2013, David and his family lived in Kathmandu, Nepal for 7 years where he was a church planter. Then two years ago David heard of this village, Shompok which did not have a single Christian believer and David felt the Lord calling him to go there.  He was told that 2 years ago, some missionaries who went there encountered great resistance and hostility and were eventually chased off. God’s favour was upon David and when he came in 2012 to hold a Christmas celebration and medical camp, the villagers welcomed him and he won his first convert. There are now 15 baptised believers. David’s whole family are involved in ministry. His 14 years old son, Asish, goes to school in Sikkim but every weekend he walks one and a half hours home to help his father lead worship on Sundays and teaches Sunday school to about 35 children. He walks back to school on Mondays. 12 years old daughter Anuja loves to sing and worship and is a graceful dancer.

 

                                  

The next morning, David left early and we joined the rest of the family later to go church.  After about half-an-hour the steep descending path and the sweltering heat had all of us sweating profusely, I couldn’t resist asking how much farther to go and was told it would take one hour to reach. Church on that Sunday was under a temporary tarpaulin shed on a small plot of land belonging to Mr Bishal, the first believer in this village. On the edge of the land is a 10 feet long two room wooden hut, the slightly bigger 6 x 8 feet room is used as church where about 25 people cram in every Sunday. Smartly attired in his Nepali outfit, David and his son, Asish led us in lively worship. We were delighted to enjoy a variety of performances by Sunday school children dancing graceful Nepali dances in solo and groups. For the children, the highlight was receiving a goody pack each which we had brought for more than 80 of them. It was humbling to be asked to share the Word with them and I felt more encouraged by them. It must be past 2pm when we ended and, as if on cue, the intermittent rain turned into a downpour but the small crowd remained jovial and after many photos, all of us enjoyed a simple lunch together. The way back was more difficult as I had to pause for breath going uphill. I was hugely relieved when after about one and a half hours I emerged from the jungle path and was heading home.

 In the evening we were told there about an impending  3-day strike where all roads will be closed and we would have to travel back via Siikim, the neighbouring state. Next morning we were up at 4.30am for the first part of our journey . We drove for sometime and the road ended at the edge of the jungle. There we had to walk for about 40 minutes to reach the road on the other side to board the next vehicle. We walked and crossed a bamboo suspension bridge and out of nowhere suddenly there was a lone little church atop a hill and we stopped for rest before we continued on. There were at least 15 of us in the vehicle as we headed to the bus terminal to take another vehicle for the last leg of our journey. In all it took about 10 hours when the adventuresome journey ended as we reached Siliguri.

 It was a humbling experience meeting David and his family. I was deeply touched to see his selflessness, dedication, commitment and love for God and his people. You could see the joy he had in giving and serving God together as a family.

Matthew 5:14. 

 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.”

Prayer Request

(1)    Financial support for David and his family. He is getting USD50 per month and half the amount goes to paying his house rent.

(2)    For God’s provision for land to build a church and a room for Sunday school. Flat land is scarce and costly.

(3)    For funds to support local workers so that more can be sent to reach the un-reached in rural areas.

FROM THE HEART OF ERIC FUNG-Obedience plus Perseverance equals Reward

As I approach my 32nd year in ministry and 26 years in AO, I have so much to thank God for with the countless blessings and even for the challenges and difficulties I faced in ministry. I can still thank Him for the strength and the right attitude to weather through. Remembering His promise in Roman 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

I have experienced almost everything. Four times I escaped death, once in Sri Lanka, once near the Tibetan border and twice in Cambodia. On one occasion I almost drowned in the river of Sarawak on the way to train 45 Penan church planters. I have gone without food for two days in the jungle of Nepal near the Tibetan border. While preaching in an underground church in Vietnam, I had to flee for my live when the police raided the House church. The list goes on and on but I really thank God that I am still excited in serving Him.

The journey of a missionary or Foot Soldier is a long arduous journey that requires focus to endure the hardships but at the end, the reward is better than silver or gold. Life for them is fraught with challenges and even great risk to themselves. There are often anxious moments when they were caught by the authorities for preaching or when religious extremists threatened their lives and the lives of their loved ones, sometimes they end up viciously and brutally attacked. Being shouted at, chased off and having verbal abuse hurled at them has been a daily affair. Although faced with such challenges, they have never complained and neither do they demand for a higher love gift or salary despite living in very basic conditions.

God in His mercies and grace saw the works of the Foot Soldiers and their determination to preach the Gospel has protected them from death and He has blessed them with great encouragement through hundreds if not thousands being saved, miracles in healing and several hundred churches planted. To the Foot Soldiers these rewards are immeasurable.

Having said that, I am also reminded that the spiritual forces out there is forceful and determined to undermine what the Foot Soldiers are doing. As every soul is ushered into the Kingdom of God, the population in the Kingdom of darkness decreases. With this in mind I urge you to stand with us and uphold these Foot Soldiers in prayers on a daily basis.

Romans 10:13-15 “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 

In AO we are the trainers and have commissioned the Foot Soldiers as preachers but we need senders who are prepared to support them financially and pray for them. Please join us to take the Gospel to the outer most parts of the world, even high up in the mountains as seen in our cover page, so that the Holy Spirit can do the work of conviction resulting in thousands being saved.

Their greatest reward and joy is to witness God’s powerful presence among them through the miracles that they have seen. One which I considered awesome was of a young girl, age 10 in Sri Lanka, who was left to die after the doctors had given up hope on her surviving from a terminal illness. One of our foot soldiers passing through the village was informed of the girl’s condition. He visited the girl and talked to her parents about Jesus and prayed for her before he left. A week later on his way back from an evangelistic meeting at another village, the foot soldier decided to visit the girl. The house was empty and the foot soldier had thought the worst had come to pass. But the neighbours told him a marvellous story of how the girl was miraculously healed by a doctor named Jesus, and that she is now an active and playful child. Testimonies like this make every challenge or hardship worthwhile.

We praise God for the many of you who have been faithful in supporting these Foot Soldiers, some since I joined AO. My prayer and hope is that in these last days before Jesus returns, let us join our hands and heart to give a concerted push to proclaim the Year of the Lord’s favour and to see thousands upon thousands ushered into the Kingdom of God.

May God bless you as you sow into His Kingdom! 

God’s Faithfulness

By Pastor Rolly and Pastor Joy Bascos

Glad Tidings church,

 Eastern Samar, Philippines.

Trials and tribulations come with both a purpose and a reward. Through all of life’s trials and tribulations, we have the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ. God has given us His Word to guide us, His Holy Spirit to enable us, and the privilege of coming to Him anywhere, at any time, to pray about anything. He has also assured us that no trial will test us beyond our ability to bear it, and he will also provide a way out.

 On Nov 8 2013 Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines with winds of 195mph, with such catastrophic damage that it was predicted to be the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in recorded history. The wind started howling and the rain started coming, and soon the babies and the children were screaming in their homes as the winds tore at the foundation of the homes. The noise of the wind was deafening and the winds tore into the buildings shattering the glass window panes and smashing into the concrete walls, crumbling them.

We huddled together in our home, praying for His protection and when our house roof was blown away, I rushed my family into the church next door. The wooden box that we used as a pulpit stood there and my family and I (3 adults and 3 children) squeezed into this box. We stayed in this box, three and half feet wide, four feet in height and two and half feet in depth for seven long hours. While the storm raged around us we kept singing the song “you are my hiding place”. When the storm subsided we crawled out of the box and saw that the whole church had been destroyed and all that was left standing was this wooden box. We immediately fell to our knees to thank God for His protection. There was absolutely no way we would have survived if not for His divine protection. Looking at the wooden box we could not believe that 6 of us could fit in there and when we tried to do it again later we simply could not.

We had lost our home, our church and our belongings but God spared our lives and he opened my mind to see His faithfulness and to understand that He had a plan and purpose for our lives. It was really hard when we saw the extent of the damage caused by the typhoon. We just did not know where to begin. We woke up every morning with the same question” where do we go from here? Where do we start?” All around us we saw nothing but chaos and destruction. People walking

  around in a daze, their homes and their lives completely wrecked. We were so blank, so discouraged and felt such a wave of hopelessness sweep over us. My wife Joy and I prayed to the Lord to help us to start over again and God saw the desires of our hearts.

In March of 2014, God answered our prayers when Rev Eric Fung of Asian Outreach Ministry Malaysia was brought here to visit by a local pastor in Tacloban. We know it was definitely not by chance but all in God’s plan and God’s time. Praise God after seeing the destruction of our church, Rev Eric committed by faith to help us rebuild our church. Other organizations had come and promised us too but we never heard news of hope from them. But this time as Rev Eric handed me his calling card I felt in my heart that he had been sent here by God and we will trust him to make it happen. Every prayer meeting  the believers and I would bring out his card and pray that God will help Rev Eric raise the funds needed to rebuild this church and we never stopped praying until this promise is fulfilled. Every time the congregation gathered to pray we felt the strong presence of God and we worshipped with a thankful heart believing that He is truly a Faithful, Miraculous, Amazing God and all things are possible with Him.

A year later on the 15^th of April 2015, we proudly gathered at our new church to dedicate the church to the glory of God. Rev Eric and his wife Deborah was with us to celebrate this wonderful occasion. As I stood in the new church I could see the congregation shared my joy and happiness of how faithful God has been to us. He made something beautiful out of the rubble and raised up our church even better than what it was before. The experience of Typhoon Haiyan has taught me that God is sculpting us into Holy vessels. The process can be painful but He will turn our sorrow into joy, our mourning into rejoicing and He will comfort us and give us gladness.

Psalm 30:11

You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy.

Equipping Mongolian churches to disciple the Nation.                 

 Ps. Badmaa, executive director, Genesis AOM

Mongolia situated between Russia and China is in the heart of eastern Asia. Its history has been turbulently linked with China since ancient times. During the rule of the warlike emperors Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan, the Empire stretched from Eastern Europe in the west to Korea in the east. Strength and a warrior spirit made the Mongols feared and famous. Shamanism and worship of the heavens, mountains and ancestors has been practiced in Mongolia throughout the centuries.

Kublai Khan requested religious teachers from Europe and Tibet to teach Mongolians the Christian and Buddhist faiths. The Mongols were greatly feared in Europe, and there was a considerable delay before any Christian missionaries were sent. In the meantime, Tibetan teachers had responded, and the Buddhist religion was integrated into traditional shamanistic superstition.

The rise of communism in 1921 squelched much of the growth of Christianity, and all foreign missionaries were kicked out. Not until the past 20 years, however, have Mongolians Christians known that real strength comes from Christ, that they can be prayer warriors and that as believers, they are more than conquerors.  When Mongolia dismantled communism in 1991 there were only five known Christians in the country. Since then the number of believers has increased dramatically.  Christians in Mongolia are considered a growing minority group. Accounts of the exact number of Christians vary as no nationwide statistics have even been released. As of 2005, the United States Department of State reports that approximately 24,000 Christians live in Mongolia's capital, Ulan Bator, which is around 3 percent of the entire registered population of the city.

While we celebrate this tremendous growth of the churches, social problems such as unemployment, poverty, prostitution, alcoholism and domestic violence is more evident in proportion to the number of people being saved.  For example, according to national statistics, the national divorce rate has increased nine-fold since 1991. In addition, the number of single mother families has doubled and the crime rate has also doubled. It has been only recently that Christian leaders in Mongolia have come to realize the importance of the church of Mongolia engaging in community transformation ministries.

Due to a lack of biblical understanding and practical skills, Mongolian churches have previously been restricted in their capacity to serve and transform their communities effectively. For this reason, it was of the utmost strategic importance for Genesis to develop a new program for leadership training that has introduce sound, relevant  teachings  on transformational missions to the local Christian community.

In 2012 - 2013 Genesis trained 187 pastors and lay leaders from 76 churches in nine provinces with the goal of increasing the influence of the churches and Christians in today’s society and local communities.

The goals of this training are:

                 To have a sound Biblical knowledge about the transformational mandate of the Gospel  and a correct understanding of work and professional calling.

                 To ascertain the ways in which the church can be a part of the solution to the community’s social problems by identifying their callings, gifts, resources and opportunities.

                 To understand the advantages of networking among churches, and the NGO’s. 

          After the Training God gave me two visions.  I went to meet the local governor and said that I would like to work on cleaning up the pollution in the town. He was very glad and supportive of my suggestions. Also during the training I saw that our town needed a family counseling center and now I am praying for and preparing to start one with other Christians.”

        

Tsogoo is an associate professor of physics at Khovd University and an elder in the Generous Love church in Khovd province in Far West Mongolia. Though our training he felt he was given a great opportunity.  The teaching has expanded his understanding of the Gospel  and given him the mandate to equip the other  believers to be carry the Gospel to the four corners of Mongolia. The Training has helped him to see the great potential and power that he has as an educator in the field of education to impact the change the lives of the younger generation.

Genesis-AOM ministry offers practical leadership training to young Mongolian pastors involved in the rapid growth of the church.  Since 1995, over 1600 pastors, church leaders and elders from more than 280 congregations nationwide have undertaken this three-level church leadership program.  As a result of this training, with financial support and mentorship from Genesis-AOM, our graduates have planted over 20 churches in Mongolia and Buryatia, Russia since 2005. He is truly amazing!

I am forwarding an invitation to you for this great opportunity to invest into the development of the Mongolian churches and leaders to fulfill their callings to transform the nation for the Christ. Please contact a nearest AO office to learn how to partner with Genesis in this endeavor to disciple the nation of Mongolia.

The Tibetan horse racing festival

The most celebrated holiday on the Tibetan grassland. Tibetans come from near and afar, setting up tents for gathering together as a community. The festival has hundreds of dancers, singers and theatrical performers. The most exciting events are the horse racing, horsemanship and stunts riding on horses and archery. This is the time the Tibetans dressed up in their traditional costumes and gorgeous ornaments that are worth thousands of yuan. Come join us in this cultural experience, brought to you by your Malaysian hosts who are serving in this highlands.

‘Cultural Tour to the Tibetan Qinghai Plateau’ with focus on the Tibetan Horse Racing Festival

22 – 29^th July 2015       

 A cultural experience feast, exposing you to the many minorities in this highlands.…Tibetans, Hui, Tu. A once in your lifetime adventure amidst their beautiful natural surroundings.

   

Itinerary :

Day 1 : Xining. Orientation and meal in host’s home. See the Friday prayers of the Hui people at Dongguan Mosque. Join in  Tibetan community dance at night.

Day 2 :. Huzhu Tu cultural village. Nan Shan park. Ta er si Temple. Outdoor picnic with local farmers.

Day 3 : Travel to Yushu – source of the three rivers, scenic sights of rivers and mountains.

Day 4 - 5  : Tibetan Horse Racing Festival

Day  6 : Travel back to Xining. Scenic site stops at Maduo.

Day 7 : Xining. Shopping and city sights. .