Preparing for Laos

24 December, 2000

Dear Ted & Phyllis,

What a day! The day before Christmas 2000. It doesn’t seem real that we actually got here and it hardly seems real where I am. Every year for the past ten years my Christmas prayer has been, “Lord, I really don’t want to see another Christmas. Please make this one the last.” And every year the Lord has been gracious in disapointing me. I don’t know what to say this year, but I certainly can identify with the Apostle Paul when he said he was stuck in the middle and didn’t know which to choose; to depart to be with Christ – which is far better –or to remain in the flesh – which was more needful (Phil. 1:22). I suppose Paul got it both. He stayed long enough to give us 13 or 14 books of the New Testament and start a huge number of the first century churches. And he finally got on to be with the Lord. In my case I don’t see much use of my staying around  here, but if there is a small brick I can place in the great temple the Lord is building then it is a great privilege to represent Christ here on this earth. In retrospect I can’t say this past year has been a very productive one. Hopefully I have grown a little bit in Christ, but as far a production goes, there isn’t much to point to that has been acomplished this past year. I have had three interesting trips to SEA (Southeast Asia) and the year closes out finding me back in my second home.

I was hoping to be in Laos today but I wound up in virtual “house arrest” at the C&MA Guest House in Bangkok for two weeks. People kept saying “How long are you staying here?”, and I always replied, “I don’t know. I am waiting for the phone to ring.” There were some people in Bangkok who reportedly have spoken to the American POWs still in Laos and could tell me exactly where they are. I was powerless to move on until I had this information. But if I was going to be kept in one place, that Guest House was the best place I could be. The Christian atmosphere was as good as it gets and the food was excellent. But that place was just like a watering hole for angels. Day after day I would sit in my room waiting to hear from the contact man, but time and again I would meet the most incredible contacts at the dinning table. It seems like if a person stayed there long enough they could meet every major Christian worker in the Orient. On two different occasions I met two men who turned out to be Laotian Hmong who were born and raised in Laos and had unbelieveable contacts and ministry inside the country. These men gave me invaluable information about how to get around where I want to go and they have contacts there that we never dreamed of to help in getting Bibles to the Hmong people inside Laos and Vietnam. I was almost numb with excitement when I realized who I was talking to in fellowshipping with these strategic brethern. Just to meet one or two of these men would be the privilege of a lifetime but it seemed like that C&MA Guest House was the watering hole where God’s angel assembled.

After two weeks I finally got face to face with a very strategic man who could give me vital information about the American POWs. Meeting him was another epic moment in my life. We had three hours of such intense fellowship that I feared our time would be gone and we would never get to discuss the reason for the meeting. The only way I can describe that time is, that it was like talking to the main character of the most exciting missionary biography you have ever read. Only these stories were far more interesting and they have never been published. All I can say is that you all will be surprised when we get to heaven and hear these amazing accounts of the adventures of God’s Special Forces. There was one epic event that has been circulated that one time somebody was able to get 1,000,000 Bibles in China in one shipment. I have heard rumors of this, but the brother I was talking to said he was on the ship that night when they delivered the 1,000,000 Bibles. General Giap was the legendary North Vietnamese general that defeated the French in Dien Bien Phu and one of the main genius that won the Vietnam war against the Americans. This brother told me that he personally was able to get new eye balls for a cornea transplant for Giap and spoke with this legendary communist general. He said Giap told him, “We always loved the Americans until they started to fight us.”

 After a furious two hours of fellowship, with great discipline, I was able to get out a map of Laos and asked, “Now where are the POWs?” When he pointed to the spot I was genuinely surprised. It is only 20 or 30ks from the bus route and I was over that road last July. That means it should be fairly easy to get to there. I was planning on  trekking 120K through the jungles but this area is considerably more accessible. When I told him my plans he rolled his eyes back and said, “The Lord will really have to be with you or that is suicidal.” I could only reply, “Yes I know. But I have two options – doing nothing, or doing what I can. The Lord has made me uniquely expendable and I would feel irresponsible before God if I don’t at least do what I can.”

 After finishing my business in Bangkok I finally got on a night bus and came on up to my second home in Chiang Mai. I went to a travel agent that we use for visas and made application for a Laos visa yesterday. That will be ready by Tuesday the 26^th and so either that night or the next I will catch a bus over to the Laos boarder. My friend, Mark, has invited me to go with him on an exciting motor bike trip covering the nothern section of Vietnam from the 14^th of January. In order to get a visa for that trip I will have to go to the Vietnam embassy in Vientiane (the capitol of Laos) and make application for that visa. I will leave my passport there and head down the Mekong River to Savanakhet. There I will take a bus east to the Vietnam boarder town of Lao Bao. Shortly before there, there is a road heading south paralleling the Vietnam boarder. That is the target area. I hadn’t planned on taking anyone with me but I have a friend in Vientiane that I am thinking of inviting to go with me. It would be an invaluable asset to have an interpreter in that area. But when I go into the main target area I feel that is too dangerous and I would not like to jeopardize another person in that area. But with what the Lord has placed in my hands thus far this mission looks more like a reality. Everybody asks me what I hope to accomplish if I am able to get in that area to meet the American POWs. All I can reply is, “I have no idea. All I know is that I feel I must go.” Naturally speaking this mission ranges from stupid to suicidal. But the dumbest story I know in the Bible is about five foolish women who went to a tomb one morning that was sealed with a one ton rock and the Roman seal, and guarded by two soldiers. What the had in mind was more than ridiculous! They vaguely had in mind a little of the obstacle and wondered “Who will roll away the stone?”. But as they went the met the one they were going to anoint. My mission is stupid, but it may be that I might meet someone that the Lord has sent before me. I don’t have a plan; I only have a target. But the men I have met since leaving Japan have gone well beyond anything that I dreamed of meeting three weeks ago.

Next Sunday I should be in Laos and if you don’t hear from me by the end of January it may be an indication that the Lord has heard my Christmas wish to celebrate next year in the presence of the One Who came to visit us 2,000 years ago. Regardless of what turns there may be in the road and the uncertain time frame, isn’t great to know that pretty soon we will all be in the presence of the One Whose birthday we celebrate tomorrow? And that won’t be a temporary visit. Everything in this world has its parameters, but where we are going there are no limitations.

Gomen nasai. This letter hasn’t been a very spiritual discourse and I know that I haven’t said much that is up lifting. I was thrilled with what the Lord gave me to share last week about John 14, but He hasn’t given me any such revelation this week. It is good to keep our eyes on our goal but as we tread along here we are constantly reminded that we still have clay feet walking in a very tangible dusty world. But Jesus did that too. What a wonderful Elder Brother we have (Heb. 2:11,12)! And again I consider it a great honor to be considered your brother in our great family of God.

Until we meet again:

                                                                                     My love remains with you all, bill