Pastor Blair Reflects on His Recent Trip

The jet lag is beginning to subside a little. I am finally able to take a moment and reflect on my trip in Southeast Asia. It’s always an odd feeling when you take one of these trips. This would be my tenth to this area of the world. You are investing so much money and so much time (In this case three weeks) and it would be nice to have tangible results after such a journey. But this is one of the harder places in the world to reach. Even the few who profess to be Christians are hard to reach as their family ties and identities are wrapped into their false beliefs. Even conversions through our full time workers are few.  So how does one measure success? After careful reflection here are some places where I can report on our trip. 

Our team- I wanted our team to feel their work was valuable and I wanted them to fall in love with the people and this region of the world. If one is to play the long game, then you need volunteers that want to go back and maintain relationships. This year out of our team of seven, we took four newcomers. And I am pleased to report they all loved it and can’t wait to go back. That is encouraging to me. At times they were pushed to their limits. We hit the ground running before we could get our body clocks adjusted. And our group of seven served one another, encouraged one another, and loved one another through it. Our relationship and comradery will never be the same.  

The work- we did a significant amount of ministry. Three of us taught a masters level class on the book of Mark at the Baptist seminary. The other four taught small groups and one-to-one discipleship to the student body. They also taught it to two different church bodies. We had three different times where we went out to evangelize. Surprisingly, many allowed us to share the story of the gospel with them. We think we shared it with 50-60 people. Three of us preached at five different churches including our new church plant on one of the remote islands. I got the opportunity to preach at the opening chapel service of the seminary. All of our team shared their personal testimonies at these services. Our new church plant is still in its infancy. There are five believers committed to the work. Our planter is working each day to build relationships in the community and still needs our prayers. He fortunately has some fellow workers who assist though they travel almost 2 hours to help. 

The people we worked with- Of course we got to love and encourage our full-time worker and his family. They so appreciated the gifts and cards we brought from America. Many of the new friends we met are co-laborers in the gospel. They have been trying to reach their city and the remote villages from which they live. Many of these places are hostile to the gospel. They needed encouragement. As we worked with them side by side, we laughed, we cried, we prayed and we shared our desire to see souls saved and churches flourish. Even before we left we received many texts and Facebook messages thanking us and checking on our travels. We went to assist them, but they humbled and encouraged us. We are brothers and sisters through the gospel regardless of our ethno-backgrounds. 

In my opinion this was a good trip. It will build on the work and the relationships we have had on previous trips. From the bottom of my heart, I can’t thank Providence enough for sharing me on these trips. Each time I go, I am reminded of what is truly important. I find myself more dependent on Jesus and re-calibrated to serve here in the States. Thank you for your financial support of the general budget. It makes these trips possible. You may not think your offering makes a difference, but it certainly did in this case. May God bless you as richly as you blessed us.