A Mission Trip With A Difference

It certainly wasn’t how we would have planned the start of our trip to Peru. March 31st we were leaving for Dublin and on to Atlanta, Lima, Tacna and finally arriving in Ilo, South Peru on April 2nd.

Before we left I called with my dad in hospital and with my aunt in another hospital. Both had been poorly for a number of weeks. Dad had a pacemaker fitted but a prolonged period of serious infection had left him weak and with little appetite. It seemed the wrong time to be going but we felt our responsibility toward David, Alicia and Sarah and believed we should go ahead with the journey.

Another strange aspect of this ‘mission’ trip was the absence of a team of 15 or 16 people to look after, just Bobby and I going to visit David and family and their fellow missionaries, and to see the work they are doing there.

Our flights went well and we arrived as scheduled in Tacna where David met us. Almost immediately we went down with infections. The hectic weeks of January, February and particularly March had caught up with us and we were bound for an enforced rest. For more than a week we did very little but found ourselves sleeping quite a lot – it must have been really exciting for David and Alicia to see us again!

The Port of Ilo

Of course we did recover and were able to see first hand some of the work Irish Baptist missionaries are doing in Peru. In Tacna there is a theological seminary and a radio ministry to the local area. The Valley Azul Camp Centre is located at Ite. This centre has been under development for a number of years and they now have a well equipped facility for youth, family and church camps and for ministering to various groups, including pastors and church workers.

Based at the camp centre is the first short term evangelism team, ‘Mision Rescate’. Comprising of four young people from Ireland and nine from Peru, they have been helping run camps at the centre and have assisted local churches with special outreach and evangelism events. Another addition to the camp centre is the ‘Amazing Journey’, this will be used to reach school age children both at the centre and in churches and schools.

So there is a lot going on for David and Alicia now they have teamed up with Trevor and Christine Morrow, together they coordinate and run these ministries at the centre. They also work with a small group of believers in Ite town, trying to teach, encourage and support them.

The Morrow Family

We have often encouraged the parents of young missionaries to visit them and so to better understand their lives and ministries abroad. This trip was our opportunity to do that, to encourage and show our support for David & Alicia as they serve the Lord in Peru.

A Few Days in Arequipa

What Are These? - The Answer

Two weeks ago I posted a blog asking, ‘What are these and what is their purpose?’ I suppose its time to solve the mystery as some have been looking for an answer.

Talking about these little ‘images’, a Thai newspaper referred to them a ’scarecrows’. While this might be a reasonable use of the word they have a much more serious function than chasing away birds!

A closer look (and the ability to read Thai!) reveals a little sign attached to the ‘scarecrow’ which states that there are no children at that house who were born on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.

People in North East Thailand believe in a spirit called ‘pe-bop’. It’s believed that certain people have a ‘pe-bop’ living in them and from time to time they must release it to wander around and ‘eat’ someone. The victim dies suddenly and without obvious cause.

According to the newspaper article some people had dreams about the activities of a ‘pe-bop’. In their dreams children born on Tuesdays and Wednesdays were particularly vulnerable. So a ‘scarecrow’ or image of a young child placed at the front of the house is an attempt to trick the frightening spirit, first to believe there are no children there who were born on those days and secondly, if the spirit did come to that house it might think the ‘scarecrow’ is a child and harm it instead.

Animism is the practice of appeasing and manipulating spirits; spirits of the fields, trees and rivers, village spirits, family and ancestral spirits and many more. People live their entire lives in fear of these spirits, their daily activities and action controlled by what they believe about them.

Only the Good News of God’s grace can free people from such an existence, bringing truth and life, forgiveness and salvation, peace and freedom. Romans 10:14-15

Ladies Mission Team To Thailand

Our team of ladies arrived safely in Thailand. They were surprised by some of the things they saw and heard.

We had told them. ‘You’ll not see rain…’, but our words were much less reliable that those of Elijah! As we went out that first morning in Bangkok the clouds were black and threatening. We managed to dodge the showers until boarding a river taxi when the skies emptied – on us. The rain passed and we dried out quickly, the only lingering affect was a few questionable hairstyles! Our credibility was dented a bit too as we were frequently teased, ‘You told us…’

On a more serious note, our team was taken aback as we visited the temple of the Emerald Buddha. Although in one way a beautiful icon of Thai tourism, the reality of the influence of Buddhism in Thailand shocked our team. The majority of people in Thailand are Buddhist, this with their strong animistic beliefs controls every aspect of their daily lives. This was one reason we were there, to begin to build up an impression of what it’s like for missionaries to work in Thailand.

Our tribal visits were all in the North East of Thailand so we travelled in an overnight bus to Mukdahan. The first missionary team we met was in the very early stages of their work. Having completed Thai language study they had been doing survey work to determine which village they should move to. It was during our time there these two young families were given permission to start work with the Pu Thai people. In another Esaan village we visited with a team where the work had been going on for a few years. They were immersed in the study of language and culture. Then finally we also visited a Bruu village where missionaries have been working for over twenty years. Here we stayed in the home of a young Bruu couple who are believers and had the privilege of meeting with the church on Sunday morning. One of the main tasks of the missionaries in this village is to continue translating the Bible. For this little church to grow to maturity they will need to have all of God’s Word in their own language.














Again the team was surprised by a number of things they learned in these places:
*To see a church established and brought to maturity requires a massive commitment and investment of time
*To do a meaningful work a significant amount of time must be spent in properly understanding the language and culture
*Even to get to the place where they can commence their work requires many moves and much upheaval for missionaries, especially those with young families


Throughout the rest of our time in Thailand there were other surprising things to be discovered, for example:
*You can drive for thirteen hours and only cover a small part of the country
*Thai people (and missionaries) can eat rice with just about every meal and don’t seem to get tired of it
*An elephant really can paint a picture with its trunk
*Almost the entire staff of a bank will come to your aid if you are trying to learn how to count in Thai
*It is so easy to make silly mistakes when you try to learn the language
*The number of scopes of ice cream one team member can eat – you know who you are!

What Are These And What Is Their Purpose?

During the week we returned from Thailand with the Ladies Mission Team. At the beginning of next week I'll be going to our mission HQ in England for a few days, when I return I'd like to post a couple of articles about our trip. Until then I want to leave you with something to think about. There are two photos below, both of them taken in the North East of Thailand. What are these and what is their purpose?

Ladies Mission Team To Thailand

This weekend a number of ladies from Baptist churches in N Ireland will commence their 'SUMMIT' short term mission trip with us to Thailand. Their first port of call will be at the New Tribes Mission HQ and missionary training centre in England. After a short 'orientation' there we will fly from Manchester to Bangkok.

Our purpose is for the team to glean as much as possible about the needs, challenges and blessings of missionary life in Thailand and that this information will impact them and others who hear of their experiences. They will of course be faced with a very different language, culture and religious system. Some of the problems of presenting the gospel in this amazing country will become obvious. They will also see the beauty of the country, eat the most delightful food imaginable and enjoy interacting with the friendly Thai people.

Pray for this little team. As we travel around, visiting missionaries in tribal villages and meeting with support personnel we want to bring encouragement to those we meet as we fellowship with them and hear of their work.

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More about this when we get back - if not before.

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New Year Resolutions

Perhaps like me you don’t bother much with New Year resolutions. Surely if we need to make some changes we wouldn’t wait until the New Year to do it. Having said that, the passing of another year is a good time to reflect and refocus. How have I been spending my time and energy? Do I need to reaffirm my goals? Do I need to set some new ones? In what way might God want to direct me in the months ahead? And if God wants to take me along a new path this coming year, would I be willing to follow?

We will all have choices to make not just at the New Year but continually throughout the year. Only with God’s help will we make the right ones.

Can I throw a couple of questions ‘into the pot’?
What involvement do you have in missions?
What do you know about mission?
Are you prepared to find out more?
Would you be willing to go on a mission trip?

Take a look at the information below and ask God if this is something you should focus on in 2008.

Philippines - 12th July-2nd Aug

Mexico - 27th July-18th Aug

Interested? Contact me at: summit @ntm.org.uk

Happy New Year to you, I trust it will be an exciting adventure with God.

Gracia Burnham in Ireland

Gracia Burnham and her daughter Mindy have just spent a week in N. Ireland. Gracia spoke at numerous meetings around the Provence and spent hours talking with people who came to hear her.

For those of you who don’t know about Gracia, she and her husband Martin were missionaries with New Tribes Mission in the Philippines. Martin was a pilot and in charge of NTMs flight programme in the Philippines. In 2001 Martin and Gracia were taken hostage from Palawan Island, Philippines by the Abu Sayaf. After a year of captivity in the jungle Gracia was rescued by the military. Martin lost his life in the gun battle between their captors and the Philippine army.

As Gracia tells her story it is clear that she has found God to be faithful to her in those most difficult of circumstances. She is extremely honest about her own thoughts and feelings during captivity but has emerged from the ordeal with an even greater confidence in God who is ultimately in control in every situation.


‘In The Presence of My Enemies’. Written by Gracia Burnham this book tells their story from that morning at Dos Palmas when she and Martin were taken hostage.

‘To Fly Again’. In Gracia’s second book she reflects on what it was like when life was totally out of her control. She shares many of the spiritual lessons she learned. Max Lucado called her book, ‘A training manual for anyone seeking to fly above discouraging circumstances’.