10 Dec, 2000
Dear Ted & Phyllis,
It’s Sunday again, and although we are separated by another
two time zones I still have the joy of sitting down with my laptop and enjoy
some more fellowship with you. Today I am in Bangkok. In my letter last week I
said I was going out and trust the Lord to provide the contacts necessary for
this mission I feel the Lord has sent me on. Thursday I believe I met one of
these “angels”. There are some men here in Bangkok who reportedly know exactly
where the Americans are that I am interested in seeing in Laos. Until I meet
them I am virtually helpless to move. While waiting to meet them I am staying
at the C&MA Guest House in Bangkok. Thursday night I was sitting down in
the lounge and struck up a conversation with an Asian man sitting there. He
seemed very unimpressive simply saying he was an American working with
minorities in Thailand. But as the conversation progressed I was amazed at the
breadth of overlapping interest and various place we had both been. Finally I
asked, “What are you?”, and he replied he was Hmong from Laos. As I queried him
more I was astonished at the people he knew and places he had been. Virtually
every legend I had heard or book I had read on Laos he either knew or had
worked with them. He had been in the village where I took the Japanese team to
take Bibles to the Hmongs in northwest Vietnam last year and knew the pastor we
delivered them to. He has traveled extensively the breadth of Laos and is
probably more experienced in what I have in mind than any other person in the
world. I told him of my interest in the American POWs and he confirmed that he
too had heard many such stories about the existence of these men. I asked him
if an elephant would be an feasible mode of transportation he said it might be
possible to hire an elephant but didn’t recommend it as the paths are too
narrow for an elephant to get through. When I suggested a horse he said that
was hands down the best shot. He told me that he has ridden a horse over many
hundreds of kilometers within Laos and Vietnam and recommend this approach. He said
as a Hmong born and raised in Laos he knew that language, Laotian, some
Vietnamese, as well as Thai and English. And as a Hmong he was able to travel
around the country from village to village, but almost always traveled at night
to avoid soldiers. Apparently there is a network of places where he has stayed
in various villages sleeping in day and traveling at night. After talking with
him my little venture seems considerably more like a reality and he suggested
some ways that may be effective in getting past check points. He also said he
lives in Chiang Mai, which is my second home here and I know generally where
his house is. We promised to get together later as I get up there and it looks
like he will be an invaluable asset in pursuing this mission. When I met him I
was nearly speechlessly awed in encountering what seems to be God’s key
appointment.
While I was talking with the Hmong brother in the lounge of
the Guest House a call came for me from the key man that will introduce me to
the fellows that know where the Americans are. This was a very strategic call
as he travels a great deal and is difficult to locate. He had just gotten back
an hour before then. He said the men I am to meet won’t be available for
several more days which gives me some extra time in this part of Thailand.
In the mean time I am enjoying the life of a tourist in
Thailand. Two years ago I got on a plane for Bangkok on my way to Vietnam with
virtually no contacts except the name and phone number of the fellow we ship
Bibles to in Thailand. I called him the first morning I was here but that
meeting turned out to be a dud. He did suggest an International Church to
attend on Sunday. I got the name and address of that church and went back to my
hotel and asked the girl at the desk if she knew that address. She replied,
“Yes, right across the street.” From there I got plugged into the system that
ultimately introduced me to the underground church in Vietnam but I never got
back for a Sunday service. But this morning I went over there and enjoyed their
Christmas program. It seems strange to celebrate a Christmas program in the
tropics with the temperature over 90 degrees outside.
As we were going over to the church we were talking in the
taxi about the expectation of the appearance of the Messiah. The wife of the
Guest House manager said, “The Jews were waiting for their Messiah to come and
I remarked, “Yes, but He came in a way that no one would have ever believed. It
was totally different than what they expected.” Then I thought the only ones
who had their theology straight were the priests who could tell Herod exactly
where Christ was to be born – but they didn’t go. The ones who knew the least
about theology – the shepherds – were the first ones on the scene. How true
this is today. I still subscribe to sound theology, but I vividly recall a
remark Rollie Reasoner made in a message in Karuizawa, “We have our theories,
but I believe God will have His surprises.” Has this not been our experience so
far? Jesus said, “In an hour when you think not…”; and I believe we could add,
“In a way that we think not”. The tedium of life wears us down. Day after day
rolls on uninterrupted and we feel we are captives in the current of life being
swept along to our predetermined end. But then the Lord startles us with some
unexpected turn of events that radically alters our lives. It is good to
remember that these little steps we take each day in the execution of daily
living are the necessary strides that carry us to these major mile stone
events, and they are all ordered of God.
Even Moses found it necessary to remind the people of his
day, “The Lord thy god hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: He
knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the Lord
thy God hath been with thee: thou hast lacked nothing.”(Deut. 2:7). Is it not
true that we can add our hearty Amen to that? It was amazing that they got up
every morning and could see that Cloud abiding over the tabernacle and yet as
soon as Moses was out of sight they said, “The man that brought us up out of
Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him. Make us gods…” (Ex. 32:1). And
every day they could see that Cloud; every day they gathered that manna; and
every day they drank that Water – and after two years they said, “Because the
Lord hated us He brought us out here to destroy us” (Deut. 1:27). When I was a
young Christian I wouldn’t have believed it, but 43 years later I am beginning
to realize that I am not much better. We have far more than the Jews of Moses
day. We have the historical finished work of Christ on the Cross; we have the
very Spirit of Christ living in our hearts; we enjoy the witness of the Spirit
(Rom. 8:16; Gal. 4:6; 1Jn. 5:9); we have the written Word of God; we have the
testimonies of tens of thousands who have walked with the Lord over the
centuries; and we have decades of personal experience proving the faithfulness
of God: and yet I have still sat down with those dumb Jews and said the same blasphemous
things accusing God of having it in for me. How often do I need to remind
myself that Jesus is still here. Those tangible proofs of the presence of God
were so common place to the Jews that they lost their significance; and all the
benefits of our salvation get old too.
Of course the hardest part of our journey is the valleys.
The mountain tops are exhilarating but the valleys area probably the most
important. It is here that He has assured us “Though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me…” (Ps. 23:4).
Thank God, for a Christian there is no such thing as “death”. Jesus said, “He
that believeth in Me shall never die.” (Jn. 11:26). Jesus also added, “Do you
believe this?” Praise God, we can say from our hearts, “Yes, I believe that is
true.” For a Christian all this is is a shadow but not the real thing. Is it
not a fact that Jesus has given us eternal life? Do we not have the assurance
that this Life is real and present? How in the world can someone die that has
eternal life? These are realities that we must remind ourselves daily and renew
our confidence every morning when we open our eyes for another days trek.
But one other advantage is what we find in Song of Solomon
“Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her Beloved?” (S.
of S. 8:5). It is not until we get to chapter 8 that we see that. For all the
desire and zeal of the earlier chapters – and even in 3:6 where see a similar
scene of a procession coming out of the wilderness – we still don’t see
anything about leaning until we come to chapter 8. In the early years, in spite
of all of our good theology and good personal preaching, there wasn’t much
leaning. It isn’t until our feet are too sore to walk much further, and our strength
is too far spent, that we begin to “walk leaning”. Isn’t that great! Thank God
for any problem that drives us to Christ!
Gomen for my sermonizing. I don’t mean to be boring and I
know you could write me this letter far more effectively than I can write you.
I write as one that is trailing far behind and talk about the things that you
live. But these are things I must remind myself and try to keep up following
your footprints.
I’ll probably be able to write one or two more letters and
then I hope to be in Laos where I will have a chance to walk a little bit in a
shadow. If Christ will be with me it doesn’t get much safer than that. My love
and prayers are with you daily:
In Christ, bill
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