JOLLT - April 2012

1. Posters for Palm Sunday/April Fool’s Day

On Sunday I (CJ) had the privilege of preaching on Palm Sunday from Matthew 21:1-11. As Holy Week started this year on April Fools Day, I thought it would be appropriate to have some fun! Some of you might recall that a famous ambassador and advocate for Christ once had some divine assistance in writing these words
Jews ask for signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach the Messiah crucified. He is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, the Messiah is God's power and God's wisdom. For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, a God's weakness is stronger than human strength. (1 Cor 1:22-25)
It was quite an entrance. Arriving on a donkey. Cleansing the temple followed by a week of blistering parables, that most of Jesus’ facebook friends would not have liked. For these and other reasons that we will soon re,re,re,remember, He ended up by being king for a week. Although he entered the city on Sunday to shouts of “save now”, he left on Friday to screams of, “crucify him”. He certainly wasn’t the king they expected, but he most certainly was the new ruler that they needed.
May you, dear readers, see something fresh in this season of unparalleled spiritual significance! “The Messiah died for our sins according to the Scriptures, he was buried, he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures- and is still alive!” (Rom 5:3-4).
2. Successful South Island Road-Trip
We are pleased to report that my time in the SI went extremely well. I caught up with some old friends, thanked churches that have been supporting us, and cooked for, and spoke to over 100 complete strangers. CJ’s biggest crowd was in Temuka, where 50 people ate a Thai meal on Wednesday night. You may be interested to read about the following little-known facts about the South Island: (1) Dunedin has a number of excellent Asian food shops; (2) Coconut milk can be brought anywhere; (3) Meat is cheapest in Temuka; (4) Kiwis prefer curries with piles of potatoes (that are cheaper than beef); (5) Kiwis don’t eat a lot of rice; (6) If you run out of Thai cooking ingredients, then even the smallest small town in the SI has a Thai restaurant. We are not at liberty to reveal how we came to know this final fact.
Although 200 mainlanders took our support brochures home with them, please pray that an appropriate percentage of these would feel led to consider intentionally partnering with us in some way. At present, we have reached 70% of our target, that needs to be 100% by the end of May, for us to leave at the end of June.
3. Fatalities and Casualties
South Thailand has been in the news again recently – even in the New Zealand press! On March 31st, Car Bombs in the southern towns of Yala and Had Yai killed 14 and seriously injured over 100 people. There hasn’t been an incident of this size for a few years. South Thailand has been the most dangerous place in all of Southeast Asia for a number of years. This is just a reminder. Pray for all those that have been affected by the violence, including our colleagues in PTN.
4. Briefs

a. School Applications. We’re still in the process of finalizing N & K’s acceptance by CMIS, the school in CM that they will start mid-August. We’re having to push for K to enter the (North American) grade that will keep her age-group. There is also more work to do on arranging the learner support that Nathan will need to succeed. b. Busy Speaking Schedule. You will read that CJ has a full speaking schedule. He speaks 10 times between April 7-15. He prays that, “his raves won’t be full of clever, wise words, but displays of the Spirit's power.” (1 Cor 2: 4). c. Silent Retreat. As part of her spiritual director’s training course, SJ is booked in for a 5-day silent retreat from April 15-21. We would like to point out that such obvious contrasts don’t need to be commented on.