Hello everyone. Everything here in Bkk has been going great. We love living in this amazing city. Our work through the church has been going well. We have the most number of Thai adults coming than we have ever had. We are excited about the relationships God has given us. Any progress here is great because the spiritual climate here is very dark and confusing. People worship statues that are made by man. They believe in making merit to atone for whatever bad things they have done. This usually involves burning incense to a statue, giving the statue flowers and/or giving it food and drinks. It is sad to watch because they are putting their efforts, their thoughts, their faith in idols.
So why are we Christians here in Thailand? Very easy to answer, because we are the instruments God uses to make himself known to all people. Jesus’ method for building the church is simple yet difficult at the same time. It is simple because he gave us one method, discipleship. 2 Timothy 2:2 is our strategy. We are to teach people about Jesus and then raise them up to teach others about Jesus. This is discipleship. My job here in Thailand is to disciple the people who want to know more about Jesus. I’m not here to persuade or trick anyone. I don’t want them to believe and follow Jesus because I’m a great salesman. I want them to follow Him because He is the truth. He is God. He deserves to be praised. So my task here is very simple, disciple people.
Yet this task can be very difficult. If I could come here and just walk around reading the Bible to people that would be easy. If I could be that guy that stands on the sidewalk preaching at people, that would be pretty easy. But teaching, leading, walking through life with someone over a long period of time, that is difficult. Discipleship is pouring all your knowledge of God, all your love for God and all your experiences with God into another person over a period of years. Not easy. So why do we go through the trouble of discipling people? Because we love them. Because we know the cure to their disease. Because we want them to experience the love of God. So I devote myself to these guys. I love them, I care for them and I want to see them grow closer to God.
Jesus commanded us to disciple, not asked but commanded. So start now. Make 2 Timothy 2:2 your focus everyday. Pick a few people and devote yourself to them over the next few years. Then when they are spiritually mature they need to start discipling. Discipleship is the method Jesus used. It’s the method his original followers used and the 1st century church grew rapidly because of this. This can happen today if we all start to devote ourselves to making disciples. We love you guys and are praying for you.
~Josh
Follow the Dyers 