by Richard Haney, Executive Director
“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” —Jeremiah 29:11
It’s a new year and people are making plans, working on their calendars and writing resolutions for new and improved habits. It’s a natural time for taking stock and asking questions like: “Where am I going?” and “What am I doing?”
At the same time, for many of us the schedule is already set and our tasks remain the same as the new year unfolds. Routines, disciplines and practices order our lives and help us use our time wisely.
I personally like a combination of the tried and the true alongside the new and challenging. Too many new things can be stressful, but too much of the “same old, same old” dulls my spirit.
I’m grateful that my 2020 begins with a new venture—a trip to Southeast Asia. I’ll be team-teaching Doctor of Ministry students in northern Thailand for the first half of January with my friend, Todd Johnson. Our Global Development course will include visits to 20 NGOs in and around Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. We’ll learn from those leading orphanages, schools, farms and homes for human trafficking victims. We’ll also visit Buddhist temples and coffee shops, and meet many wonderful Thai and Burmese people along the way.
During the second half of the month, I’ll be joined by members of our Frontier Fellowship staff. We’ll visit both northern Thailand and Yangon, the capital city of Myanmar. We, too, will visit a few NGOs, but also plan to meet with potential ministry partners doing frontier mission in the region. It’s been our recent prayer that God would show us how to engage the Buddhist world with the Good News. As we explore this region, we’ll learn about Buddhism and the cultures where it is the leading religion. We’ll ask the question, “How might a Buddhist come to follow Jesus?”
Frontier Fellowship earnestly works and prays toward the vision that all peoples have a chance to hear the Good News of the One born in Bethlehem. Magi came from the East (maybe Persia) to see the Child and honor Him. We continue to hear stories of Asian people dreaming dreams in which a man in a white robe appears and calls them to follow Him.
We invite you to join us in prayer this new year as God calls us to participate in His plan to bring abundant, flourishing life to peoples of the Buddhist world. May you, we and they each experience a hope-filled future through the grace of God in Christ Jesus.
Happy New Year!
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