Blog

This morning we were picked up at the hotel at 9:30 for the 10 AM worship service at Pastor Andrew’s church, about 10 minutes from the hotel. It is held on the 4th floor of a building, sharing the 4th floor with 2 other churches, a dance studio, and a casino! The church quickly filled up, most of the attendees young people. There was a time of worship, including 2 Christmas carols, followed by a responsive reading of scripture. Then the children came in and sang two songs for the church. They were totally adorable! I then was invited up to bring the morning’s sermon. Pastor Andrew did an excellent job of translating! After the message, there was a time of taking communion, which they do each first Sunday of the month. The entire service took about 2 hours.

Then, lunch was served and a second service began at 1 PM. This time, Pastor Ed preached. He had to compete with a LOUD worship band at the church that was meeting on the other side of the wall! The service was shorter than the earlier one and everyone left at about 2:30.

It is a really energetic church, with a great emphasis on evangelism and training leaders. In fact, the week following our leadership seminarrs, they will have a 5-day outreach to Bhuddists. I was impressed with the involvement of so many college students during the course of the service.

I loved being there today and am looking forward to the seminars, beginning tomorrow. This evening, Ed and I walked around the streets of this busy city, finding a restaurant where we enjoyed a nice dinner. I am thankful to be here.

i have included a couple of photos from this morning.

Keep praying!

David

Well, today we flew from Bangkok, Thailand to Mandalay, Myanmar. This is my first time here and it is very exciting. We were met at the airport by Pastor Andrew, with whom we will work this week. He has had a church here since 1999. He is a delightful man and we had a very pleasant afternoon with him.

The 30-minute drive from the airport was on a nice, large highway but entirely through the countryside. We evidently are here at the best time of the year: warm temps and low humidity. It really is beautiful. After checking in to our hotel, we went to lunch and got to know Pastor Andrew a bit more.

Tomorow, Sunday, we will attend the worship service at his church, where I will be given the privilege of preaching the morning’s message. Then we will be meeting with about 100 pastors and students through the week, teaching and training. I will post photos!

So, I am looking forward to the week here. I also look forward to exploring the city and area on Thursday.

Here is what we saw on the way in today:

 

God bless you all. Let me know if you’re reading the posts!

David

Yesterday (Wednesday) we met with about a dozen pastors and other leaders of churches in Saigon, in the building where Pastor Tung and his church meet each week. I taught 2 90-minute sessions. I thought it went well, in spite of a class full of children at school behind a curtain a few feet away! It was a bit noisy but it didn’t seem to matter to anybody in attendance. Now we are about to begin the sessions today, Thursday.

Pastor Tung was here for half the day yesterday, but had to leave in order to go visit some village chuches in the country. He said that if we were to accompany him, it would draw unwanted attention and create problems for the Christians there, so we are content to stay in the city to meet with pastors.

I am thankful for good health and stamina. I am enjoying my time with these wonderful people. Pastor Ed is taking the first session today. We’ll tag team again throughout the day.

More later. Thank you again for the prayers. Here is a pic with me and Pastor Tung.