: )
Preview to the puppet show
Click to the right
and it should work!!!
Can't believe I've got this to work!!!!

Discipleship - as part of my student leader training I have been reading two books 'Disciples are born not made' and 'Master plan of discipleship' I then wrote a report, here it is : -

“You have not done anything until you have changed the lives of men” (Disciples are born not made) There are many ways in which the world would have us change the lives of men. Jesus says “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19,20) How are we to change men’s lives we let them follow us as the result they will follow Christ - this is discipleship, following men who follow Christ.

The Gospels show us the example of Jesus how he selected his followers and how he discipled them and as a result started to evangelise the world. As we seek to follow his command of evangelising the world we must study and apply his example so that in turn our disciples will follow Jesus.

Selection - How will we put this plan into action – How will we recruit, select disciples? What did Jesus do? He saw men and he went to them and said “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:18) Who were these men? They were doctors, tax collectors, fishermen from Galilee. Their background didn’t matter only their willingness to follow. How many should we disciple? He chose only 12 and he concentrated especially on three. If Jesus being perfect without the distractions of man discipled twelve and concentrated on three, then surely we should aim to disciple no more.

Now that he had chosen a small group he stayed with them – Association.
He told the new recruits “Come and follow me” He needed to be with them in order for them to follow. When one of the disciples asked Jesus where he was staying he replied “come and you will see” (John 1:39) The disciples were going to see where he lived, where he ate, where he went because they were going to do all of these things with him. He let them get to know him fully by integrating them fully into his life. His whole life and ministry involves the disciples. He spent time with them, he gave his life totally to them. He let them into his life so that they could follow him. Jesus let them watch, he let them observe his life. This means that our lives have to be Christ centred that we need to be following Christ so that they can follow us and as a result follow Christ.

The Cost - Jesus put the spiritual needs of others before his physical needs. It costs to become involved in the lives of others. Association costs - it involves giving our time, our energy, our privacy our money/processions, goals and ambitions. Our lives become our disciple’s lives as they follow us. It seems a lot to give, it is a lot but Christ gave everything for us, it is not ours to give. All of these belong to God. Jesus taught about the cost of following him and the importance of counting the cost we must also ensure that we and our disciples have counted the cost.

If I a man is going to follow as well as realising the cost he must also know who he is following. We need to be involved in this process that the potential disciple is familiar with scriptures and what it says about the plan of salvation. If the man does not have conviction and perspective then he is unlikely to continue to follow.

Role of the Holy Spirit - Before Jesus left us on earth he gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit. “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22) When Jesus left us he did not leave us alone to make disciples of all men. He gave us the Holy Spirit to help. We must let the Holy Spirit work in our lives as well as in the lives of those we disciple. Remembering it is not our work but God’s work. The Spirit of God desires for Christ to made known in all the world as the Spirit lives in us this purpose will be fulfilled through us.

Christ showed them how to live - They must see Christ at the centre of our lives centred on prayer, Bible study, evangelism, and fellowship. We must not just tell the disciple how it is done but we must show them. We must befriend them we must invite them into every part of our lives. We learn things much more effectively through example.
Jesus often prayed in the presence of his followers. He also taught his disciples to pray.
Jesus often used scripture in his conversation. This requires reading, studying and learning scripture in order to follow this example. As we are integrated and involved in a fellowship of believers we must encourage our disciples to become involved. Following the example of our leader we must befriend sinners we must not separate ourselves from worldly people. We need to become friends with non Christians. A friend is more likely to listen than an acquaintance. If we are not involved in evangelism then our disciple is unlikely to be involved in evangelism. As they follow our lives they will see how we are involved in evangelism. “Jesus was so much the Master in His teaching that he did not let His method obscure His lesson. He let His truth call attention to itself, and not the presentation…He was the method” (the master plan of evangelism p 78) He demonstrated his method through living his life.

Assigning work - By showing the disciples his life he showed them how to do his work. He didn’t need to tell them to bring their friends and family to follow they just did, how did they know this was what Jesus wanted? They were following his example. He let them get involved in practical ways, getting food, arranging accommodation. They didn’t do much but they were constantly reminded of the vision by observing their Master. After some time of observation “Calling the twelve to him, he sent them out two by two” (Mark 6:7) He gives them only a few instructions about practical matters he does not mention what he wants them to do, he doesn’t have to because they have been following him. They know what Jesus wants them to do, he doesn’t need to spell it out. We don’t need to tell our disciples what to do it should be obvious from our lives and therefore their relationship with God. We can however point them in the right direction, so that they make these decisions for themselves.

Reporting - It would seem that not that long after sending them out “The apostles gathered round Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.” (Mark 6:56) When the disciples made mistakes he corrected them telling them what they needed to do. We must also keep an eye on our disciples reviewing their work, advising them where necessary, in doing so encouraging them so that they do not get defeated. We must keep on discipling until our followers are mature, this may be a long process.

Reproduction. The result of selecting the right people those who have conviction and perspective will be reproduction. There is a huge difference between addition and multiplication. Evangelism by itself results in addition, discipleship results in multiplication. The result of following the command “go and make disciples” will be reproduction. If we follow the example of Jesus on earth his method of evangelism we will follow him, which involves training others. They will then be trained to disciple others and so the world will be evangelised. Are we reproducing? Are those who we led to Christ discipling others? If the answer is yes then we are following the Master’s plan of Evangelism as explained in the Gospels.

Chineese New Year!!

No I'm not in China!!

Yes I am still in Nakhon Sawan!!

But it's got a huge Chineese population so it has the biggest Chineese New Year celebration in Thailand!!

End of Term - The students are doing exams at the moment and then they will be off for a long summer. During the summer break I will be writing up my modules, (writing about some of the things I have learnt and done this term) leading a mission team of Thai students to Cambodia, going on holiday, and doing some futher training. SO this was the last CU meeting of term. The girls to my left and right will graduate this term.

Ralph and Rosaline - The story of the puppets
Meet Ralph, male puppet with green shirt and Rosaline, girl puppet, and Granda (took a lot of time to think of that name!!) Last week was very exciting for me as I have had the idea of using puppets in Thailand for a very long time!! This is the rather amazing story of how it has all come about. Almost four years ago aah!!!! I went to Italy on a short term trip, for evanagelism they used puppets. When I was in Thailand last time I thought I think this type of evangelism would work here not only with kids but also with teenagers and students. So when I realised I had to organise an evangelistic event in October - straight away I thought puppets!!! But number one I had no puppets number two I have never used a puppet in my life before!!! And then I got sick!!! One night when I was sick I very randomly asked another associate if he knew of anyone who had used puppets before in Thailand. He looked at me a bit strangely and said Why? I explained. His reply was "I've got a bag of puppets under my bed" My response was "What!!??Why?!" He had been at a Church a few months before he was walking out of the building with the pastor and they noticed that someone had thrown the puppets on the rubbish heap. The pastor was very annoyed so Steve offered to take the puppets. So problem number one solved I now had puppets. After more conversation regarding using puppets found out that he had attended a puppet course. Problem number 2 solved - I invited him to come and train two Thai students and myself. Result - a puppet show and two Thai students who hopefully will use the puppets themselves as a method of evangelism : )

Valentines Day

Yesterday was the day that much work had gone into. Preparing for the puppet show for a few weeks now, training the students practice practice practice. I also bought all the decorations for the hall decorated the hall etc and I unexpectedly also ended up calling the ceildh dances!!! - going to uni in Scotland was useful after all!!! It was a really good night the three Christian students were a great help, and brought lots of there non Christian friends along to hear the Gospel, praise GOd : )

Expect the unexpected

Thought I would share with you one of my recent 'expect the unexpected' moments!! A few weeks ago one of the senior missionaries in the town asked if I would go into the private university in the city for and teach for a few hours. Since we don't have any connections with this university and we would like to I said - "Sure what do I need to preapare" "Nothing" came the reply, she explained that they were in their final year about to graduate and had never spoken to a foreigner before, and just wanted to ask some questions. So off I went just me!! Arrived started chatting to the teacher and she asked "So what have you prepared?" My train off thoughts were - aaaaaaah - what!!! - ok don't panic - she's not actually the teacher in charge so maybe she doesn't know what is going on, but aaaaaaah!!! So then met the teacher in charge so I said "So the students will ask me some questions" "Hmm no" came the dreaded response" There English isn't very good you'll need to teach them a lesson" AAAAAAAHHHHH !!!!!WHAT!!!! Frantically looking around the room no blackboard no nothing, and I had absolutely nothing with me. So I thought ok no point in panicking - just introduce yourself and see where that goes, so I somehow miracously managed to entertain them for an hour!!!

Spaghetti Party

Valentines Activities

Getting ready for evangelistic events. For a long time now I have been want ing to use puppets here in Thailand as a form of evangelism - and now I'm getting the chance to train Thai students to do just that : )