Gifts God Gives

12 August 2012

Dear Phyllis,

A year ago last June I was on a train returning from Malaysia. When we got off the train at Hatyai to go throug imagration for Thailand, I was standing in line to get my passport stamped and got to talking to a gaijin (foreign) couple. They turned out to be missionaries living in Chiang Mai. That turned out to be a pivotal meeting, and the beginning of a very enjoyable relationship with Gary and Jean Pope. Gary was impressed by a copy of my PB letter and encouraged me to compile them into a book. I first started writing this PB letter to you in 1997 and have written something like 750 letters to date. Gary was interested in compiling all the letters from the beginning, but we have not been able to track sources who have copies of very many. If you know of anyone who has kept a file of old PB letters, Gary would like to hear from them. He recently opened a blog spot with 135 letters that he has been able to compile. If you are interested in looking at it you can find it at http://billcookpbletters.blogspot.com

Last Monday we celebrated another historic event. It was one year ago on the 6^thof August that the Lord provided me with a new partner in serving the Lord. Oh my goodness what astounding things have happened since then. This morning, as I was reflecting on the goodness of God, I was overwhelmed with the inexplicable grace of God that He has shown me for the past 50 years. My life has been very much like a game of musical chairs. The Lord has given me many very comfortable chairs, which has been punctuated by periods where I literally had no place to sit. But each time I have moved from chair to chair, the grace of God has just gotten higher. And most of it has been things I have not sought.

The most blessed man I know at the moment is Paul Almstead. He has got something going like I have never seen in my life. He has got nine children, and a moving of the Holy Spirit that is extremely rare. Paul's secret is a simple, and yet unusual. He simply does not say NO to Jesus. A year ago Paul and his wife were living a comfortable life as a retired couple . First, Marisa's niece called saying she wanted to come live with them. The girl's mother was a hooker, and leading her 13 year old daughter down a very unhappy path. Three weeks after Ng came to live with them, they got another call from Marisa's daughter, who she hadn't seen in 10 years, asking if she could come to live with them. Her father was a ranking Buddhist priest, and Benjuwan was being raised in a Buddhist temple. She too was 13, so they wound up with two 13 year old girls living with them – who became instant Christian the moment they got off the bus. Then a mother asked them if they would take in an 11 year old girl that she couldn't afford to keep. Certainly. Next, they were in a Karen village 80 km from Chiang Mai, and ran into four Karen hill-tribe teenage girls that lived 30 km from the nearest school, making it impossible for them to get an education. Could they live with them in Chiang Mai so they could go to school? Why not? Now they had seven girls. Then one day they got a call from Marisa's son, who was living with a horrible man, who was his father. A year before that, Mo had lived with Paul and Marisa briefly, but was a first class punk. At 16 he was a drug pusher and into every form of vise the devil could provide. He was incorrigible, and Paul ran him off. But this time he said he had repented, changed his name to Mathew, and wanted another chance. Most reluctantly, Paul opened the door for him on a trial basis. You never saw such a transformed boy. Then they took in a 13 year old boy that no one could do anything with. He has been outstanding. Now Paul and Marisa have found themselves being parents to nine children that they have to feed, clothe, and pay for their education. What was previously a very comfortable salary for a couple has turned out to be inadequate for parents of nine teenage children. Paul told the Lord, “Lord, maybe You misunderstood me. I just said I wanted to help the poor –not be poor.” But at the moment they are in the midst of one of the most effective outreaches and blessed people that you will ever find. Everyone in that house has only one string on their banjo, and the only sound that comes out of there is nonstop praise to Jesus. They are experiencing more of the Holy Spirit than I have ever seen. And the way they got there was simply that they don't say NO to Jesus for anything He set in front of them.

I am not Paul and Marisa, but to a limited degree, the blessing that blows me away today is are things I really didn't want. In 1995, after being homeless for five years, the Lord led me to New Life League. Man howdy, it seemed good to have my own room, a good job, and a secure life style. I never wanted to leave there. But then in 2003, NLL had no further need of my service and I found myself going back to Thailand with zero support. My friend, Mark, let me live in a half empty room in his Bible warehouse for free. And the Lord allowed me to engage in a Bible smuggling ministry taking Bibles into Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, and China. This in itself was the greatest privilege of my life. But for 21 years I lived like a POW separated from my wife and family. I greatly longed for the days when I had a wonderful home and a place to invite strangers in to share Christ with them. For 20 years, Rosemary and I had been famous in Japan for having a home with no lock on the door. We started out our married life by taking in a 6 year old Nepalese boy to live with us so he could go to school in Karuizawa. For the next 20 years our life was a constant stream of house guests ranging from students to yakuzas. But when my world disintegrated in 1990, all that was out.

Last year a friend told me of a girl he met who had had a dream about meeting some man with cowboy boots. He said Bill Cook was the only cowboy he knew, and asked me if I would be willing to meet her. I laughed, and said I wasn't interested in marriage, but would be glad to get a meal out of it. When I first met that girl, I said in my heart, “No way!”. She wasn't close to being a candidate. But I thought she might be interested in meeting Paul and Marisa who had an unusual Bible study going in their home. The second time I met her, I was even more convinced that this was not one that I wanted to spend time with. Four times I said a resounding NO. And yet the Lord kept setting her before me. Finally I was confronted by a situation where I felt the Lord had brought someone to me, and it was my call to accept or reject. At that point it was more difficult to say no than to say yes. Pastor Kichikun's testimony was the final vote. That was hard to deny. I accepted a woman to be my partner that I really didn't want. It has been a wonderful year.

I would be less than honest if I didn't say there have been some extremely serious challenges. There have been several times when I have been convinced it was all over. I believe we would qualify as having a dysfunctional marriage. But I also believe that a difficult situation, where the Lord proves Himself, is a better testimony than one with nothing but natural sweetness. My match with Pammy is not perfect. But there are no roses without thorns. If we are looking for perfection, we probably won't find it. If we want to enjoy the beauty and fragrance of the rose we will have to deal with the thorns where it grows. There is no such thing as a lovely white lily that doesn't grow in black dirt. If we want the rose and the lily we must accept that there also come problems.

Another thing the Lord gave me that I really didn't want is my dog. I love dogs. All my life I have had dogs, and dogs were a major part of our home in Karuizawa and Ikoma. During my 21 years as a POW, I greatly missed my dog. We had only been married a couple weeks when we were out visiting with Pastor Kichikun. At one stop he picked up a pup and threw her in his car. I asked, “What are you going to do with that dog?”

“Take her home. She is my dog.” But when we got to our place, the pup got off loaded with the announcement that,“Pammy wants her.” Chotto matte (just a minute). I really wasn't prepared for a dog at that point, and most reluctantly conceded to letting her stay. Black Canyon has been an enormous blessing. I have had some outstanding dogs, but Black Canyon has to rank right at the top. She sits with me for two hours every morning while I have devotions and is the most loving, obedient dog I have ever had.

Annie is a legend. We had no plans of having children, but when we went to the Baptist camp in May, this little three year old girl wound up sleeping with Pammy. When Pammy got her bathed, dressed, and brought her to breakfast the first morning, I was stunned to see something that looked undeniably like a mother-daughter relationship. You know the rest of that story. She has been slow in warming up to her dad, but she melts my heart when she comes up, puts her arms around me, and says, “Daddy, I love you.” Annie is just plain super! She is the most wonderful little girl in the world. There is no way that I could write the scrip for my life, and include an adorable little girl like that.

In my life of musical chairs, the Lord has given to me some of the finest homes I have ever been in. For 15 years I lived in the #1 property in Japan. Joe Carroll bought 1000 tsubo (1 acre) for $2,500 in 1959. He lived in the house for three years, went to the states for furlough, and never came back to Japan. In 1965 I tearfully had to move into it to take care of Joe's property. Over the years I spent $20,000 and converted an inaccessible house into the prime property in Japan by building a long tunnel to get to the top of the hill. I craved that property more than anything in my life at that point; and it was the hardest blow I had ever taken when Joe called shortly before we left for furlough in 1980 saying that the house had been sold.

Shortly before that, I had a vision of building an elaborate prayer tower. It would be a major project and I didn't want to make that investment if I wasn't going to live in that house. After extensive prayer I thought the Lord gave me His answer with the promise, “Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of the hands” (Isa. 65:22). It was a bitter pill when my prayer tower was cut down with a chain saw and burned for fire wood.

Last December Mark moved to the other side of Chiang Mai and closed up everything in this area. I was rocked when he told me he was giving up the warehouse and said I could take it over or return it to the house owner. I didn't think we could carry the rent, but decided to take it anyway. The Lord gave me a vision of making a first-class kitchen for Pammy in the room that had been filled with Bibles. I was hoping to get that done by Christmas, but just drove the last nail last week. This kitchen is easily the most wonderful thing I have ever made. The Lord has fulfilled the promise he made me in 1980 that; “Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of the hands”. I have never enjoyed anything more. I can sit there by the hour gazing at this gorgeous knotty pine kitchen. And last week we had our first guests in for tea, fulfilling a major prayer I have had for 21 years.

Life has been and unending series of the Lord giving and taking away the most precious things in my life. He has given me three homes where I never wanted to leave. How many more times this game of musical chairs will continue is up to the Lord. But at 76 I find myself in the most ridiculous situation you could imagine. Here I am with a 46 year old wife and a 4 year old daughter living in the finest house I have ever enjoyed. This is the story of a man just starting out in life. I know of no place on this planet more strategic and the epicenter of more exciting spiritual activity than Chiang Mai. I loved Karuizawa. I loved Ikoma. I loved NLL. It was death to leave. But the path has led steadily upward. What I have now is something I wasn't seeking and really didn't want. All I have done is to say Yes to Jesus for what he has set before me. Oh how marvelous are His ways and how wonderful are the things He provides!

Thank You Jesus,

bill