Third New Year

Yes, we celebrated the New Year for the third time while we were in Myanmar! Our first celebration was on January 1 in the Philippines, which means NOISE. Then the second time was in February when we celebrated Chinese New Year -- eating tikoy cakes given by kindhearted Chinese friends. And THEN, when we arrived in Myanmar, we found we would be celebrating New Year's Day one more time. Burmese New Year was April 17. It was preceded by four days of Water Festival.

Water Festival means that wherever you go, people throw water on you. Even on the short two-block walk between our guest house and the CCC office in Yangon, we got totally soaked every day by the neighborhood children. "Watering one another" was a new concept for us! But the children did it very sweetly, smiling all the while, so we couldn't get upset with them. We went downtown on the third day to see where teenagers water and get watered with much more intensity -- there they used water hoses!

During our time in Myanmar we grew used to seeing monks every morning as we walked to the office, three or four at a time collecting their daily food from Buddhist households. We were surprised on New Year's Day to see a long procession of monks near our guest house. We waited for them to pass, thinking it was a larger group this time, maybe 10 to 15 monks. But as we watched, more and more monks came down the street. We counted about 200 of them, from older monks in the front to small boys at the end of the line. The elderly monks were serious, but the little boys were giggling like boys anywhere would do.

During our time in Myanmar, James taught two weeks of classes to the CCC staff. He taught "Gospel of John" in the morning and "Servant Leadership" in the afternoon. The staff were so appreciative and we enjoyed the opportunity to serve them and get to know them better.

We also met with 18 of our 27 Myanmar alumni. This was a great encouragement to us, and to them as well. Some we met individually, in their homes or eating together, and twice we met as a large group. It was so much fun for us to see where they are now and how God is using them. I am so proud of their faithfulness, ministering in a context that is not easy at all.

A precious part of the trip was the opportunity to join the wedding of ISOT alumni Ye Htut Myo, whom we dearly love. It was so much fun to be part of the ceremony and to see God's goodness in providing Thein Thein, an excellent wife for Ye. I thought about Proverbs 31:10, which says, "An excellent wife, who can find? Her worth is far above rubies." Myanmar is famous for its rubies, so it seemed very appropriate to celebrate this gift of an excellent wife in the land of rubies.

We are very grateful to God for the privilege of going to visit our friends in Myanmar. It had been seven years since our last trip, and we vowed that we would not wait so long to return again. Mingalaba!

Graduation Day

Graduation day is always a highlight, because we are celebrating the success of our students! This year we had 78 graduates. I just kept smiling (with tears too) as each one walked across the stage, because so many memories kept crowding into my mind. God has been so faithful to them, not only to provide for them, but to bring them through His own "curriculum" to help them grow.

The speaker was the Philippine Ambassador to Laos, a dynamic Christian lady by the name of Elizabeth Buensuceso. She talked about what is involved in being an ambassador for the Philippines. Her official title is "Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipoteniary" or "AEP" for short. She explained about the power that she holds in representing the Philippine government in Laos, the responsibilities she has, and the privileges she enjoys. Then she compared it to our role as ambassadors for Christ. It was one of the most motivating talks I have ever heard. I have heard sermons before about being an ambassador for Christ, but never one delivered by a real ambassador. It was fascinating!

And, as always, I cried during the ceremony. We will miss these students so much! I laughed as our two students from Vanuatu marched across the stage. A few years ago, when they applied to ISOT, I had no clue where Vanuatu was. Now, they are leaving a gaping hole in my heart as they go! Who knew that a tiny island in the South Pacific could become so precious to us? And the tears flowed again as I watched our only graduate from Pakistan. It's a country where some Christians are called upon to pay a heavy price for their faith. And Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, China, Vietnam . . . all tough places to serve. I remember our graduating student from Vietnam telling me last month, "The worst they can do is kill me. But they can only do it once." I was humbled by her determination to serve God to the end. It's hard to explain the mixed emotions as funny memories of their antics at ISOT mingled with the sober realization that they were heading into battlefields. I'm so proud to have had the chance to serve them for three years.

This is the graduating class of 007, along with the faculty, board members and guests. The lady in the front row, center, wearing a light green skirt, is Elizabeth Buensuceso, AEP.

This is Pastor Rogie, who I wrote about last month. It was a delight to see him graduate!

This is Tina and Titus Yi, some of our "best beloved" students. They are from Korea, but have spent ten years serving our God in China. They are a great encouragement to us too.

The "Ate" Stories

(My name at ISOT, to our students, is "Ate" (pronounced Ah-tey). It is a Filipino word for older sister, and is a title of both respect and affection. I hear the word “Ate” a hundred times a day, as students drop by my office to share excitement (“Ate, guess what!”) or anxiety (“Ate, I’m scared!”) or joy (“Ate, God is so good!”). I have often toyed with the idea of writing a book, and if I do, I will call it The Ate Stories. But in the meantime, I have decided to share the stories with you, as they unfold, in my blog. So here goes, the first “Ate” story . . .

Yesterday morning I reached into my mailbox and pulled out a blue envelope. I opened it and saw a flowered “thank-you” card. As I read the card, tears filled my eyes.

Under the printed verses, it said, “Dear Ate, I still remember the day when we prayed together in your office for my studies. A few days from now I will graduate. THANK YOU! ... Rogie"

Why the tears? It goes back two years ago to the day mentioned in the card, “the day when we prayed together.”

Rogie was an ex-prisoner, and he was introduced to me on that day by Pastor Noel, another ex-prisoner who had recently graduated from ISOT. Both men were involved in ministering to drug addicts, street children, and prisoners by the thousands in the overcrowded prisons and jails in Metro Manila. Pastor Noel saw great potential in Rogie, and felt that ISOT training was just what he needed! He brought him to me that day to persuade me to find Rogie a scholarship so that he could study at ISOT.

Pastor Noel started things off. “Rogie, this is Ate. Tell her your story.” (Pastor Noel has an amazing story of his own, but I will save it for another day.) Rogie told a harrowing tale of being abused as a child by a drunken father, becoming a policeman and later a drug addict, losing his marriage and family, and finally killing someone during a drug deal gone wrong. He ended up in prison where he found the Lord, and was discipled by Pastor Noel and some other Christians. Eventually he was released from prison and incredibly, won back the love of his wife and children. He was now working as an assistant pastor in a church in the poorest part of Manila. He told me, “In the seven years I was in prison my wife did not visit or call or write even once. But now, we visit the prison together – every day.”

I promised to try to find a scholarship, and I offered to pray for Rogie before they left. At that moment my assistant stepped out of our office, and as I bowed to pray, this thought popped into my head: “I am alone in this room with two convicted murderers!” But I reminded myself that they were no longer “hardened criminals” – they were my brothers. So I prayed and thanked God for all He had done in their lives and asked Him to help me find a scholarship for Rogie. After I finished, I looked up and saw both of my brothers with tears streaming down their faces. I realized that I was probably more “hardened” than they were. For them, the mercy of God is new every day and they never stop being awed by it. I could learn a thing or two from them.

God did provide a scholarship for Rogie, and he came to study at ISOT for two years. Every time I saw him in the hallway or classroom, I thanked God for the privilege of helping him be equipped for ministry. He already had a great passion for God, and it has been exciting to see him grow in his leadership skills and his effectiveness in ministry. And in a few more days, he will receive his Master of Arts in Christian Leadership and will be back in the field full time.

I've no doubt that it will only be a matter of months till Pastor Rogie shows up at my office with another ex-convict in tow, telling him, “This is Ate. Tell her your story.” I love my job!

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