Diary : 17 Dec 2011

The medical team finally arrived last Sunday and since then, it has been a blast ! Back to back activities and it was really fun !

Just 2 days on the field, the team was all packed and ready to head further up mountains into the remote village of Poo Kat some 70km away from our field office !

Poo Kat has always been on our hearts. It was one of those villages that have no electrical supplies, no roads and no regular water supply. Life was not easy for the poor in the place. And these are the kind of places on our hearts.

The spiritual climate in this village is rough, with previous team members being oppressed by demonic presence in our last trip almost as it was their stronghold. This only served to increase our determination to re-take this stronghold.

We planned to bring in humanitarian reliefs especially blankets for the poor, but even before we left, I lost my voice. It was worrying. Who was going to share the word of God if my voice was gone. I prayed. That evening, i strained my voice to share and it was worth it. A total of 19 people stood up to receive Christ, 200 relief bags were distributed and we cared for some 100 patients !

It was one of our biggest breakthroughs on this new ground which we have been working for the last 2-3 years.

Back in Khek Noi, we continued to run free medical clinics, and sharing of God's love. Just today, one more witchdoctor gave her life to Christ ! We ministered to her for the last 2-3 years, however she was resistant against the gospel and trusted in spirits. But today, a suprise turn as she stood up and walked to the alter.

I couldn't stop smiling today. These are the moments where you feel its all worth it. The pain, the struggles and its all worth it to see lives transformed !

Its late now and I've to sleep real soon. But in my next post, I'll talk about the land we are about to purchase !

Diary : 9 Dec 2011

Managed to log in after 3 attempts !

I've just returned from a 3 day "retreat" and i was hoping for a nice holiday but the only rest day was the first.
The second day was interspersed with calls and on the third day I had to check out early to get some paperwork done at the transport ministry to purchase a 18 year old car.

Its not much, but its sure a beauty and it can potentially save the ministry a whole lot of money as it runs on LPG. That will help us channel more money to outreaches instead of fuel costs !

Since my 3 day retreat ended with a finale at the transport ministry, i decided to embark on a small 14 year old dream of mine, to take a riding test ! I remembered as a teen wanting so much to ride a bike but my parents were violently, i repeat VIOLENTLY against it.

And now viewing things from their perspective, i can understand why.

But nevertheless its one of those things that demands a tick on your checklist.

Yes its not safe to ride in Thailand. But in the village its one of the most effective forms (not to mention economical) forms of transport. And I don't want to be a poor testimony and example to be riding around without a valid license. So that I was queuing up and giving the test a go !

I was not really prepared, but the test was relatively easy. And soon I was on my way to collect my license !

Today is rather fruitful, 1 bike license, one car added to help shuttle volunteers. Yes you can see where we're going, we're tightening up as much as we can to save up for our building project !

And may be build deeper into lives !

Diary : 4 Dec 2011

For the past 2 months, I've been giving much thought to how to strengthen our organisation.

You see, right now we employ people from all walks of life, experienced professionals to new degree grads to people who have never had the opportunity to have access to education.

Though this approach sounds noble, but reality can sometimes paint a very different picture.

Over the last 4 years, our work has been small and cozy; likened to a family.

Everyone knows their roles and slowly as our outreaches grew bigger, we employed more people to help balance the workloads. However instead of seeing the organisation scale up, we see a plateauing into complacency. The staff now talk about "work scope" and if its not theirs, though necessary, it will be left undone. Slowly but surely this nonchalant attitude spreads amongst the staff as we were probably too reluctant to use the rod. Soon the staff are going by doing just the basics, nothing more.

For example, 2 senior staff came back from Phetchabun after 3 weeks on the field and arrived in our head office close to 10pm at the office and being on the road for 7 hours. When it was time to have a freshen up, there it was- a nicely written note on the toilet bowl. "The toilet is clogged"

When we checked with our admin staff, they told us that the "toilet has been like that for 3 days"
And nothing was done because he "did not know what to do"

I'm not trying to be mean, but come on. What kind of reason is that ? It doesn't take a PhD graduate to know that it was time to call a plumber if the toilet is clogged.

Admittedly their salaries are below average, but this does not justify coming to work with such an attitude, not especially when its a ministry. And we have been pushing very hard to ensure that the staff are being paid on par.

While I'm compelled to just "sack and re-hire", I keep telling myself that they lack experience and exposure, so give them a chance and probably that will help them realise.

But after 4 years, I'm tired of trying to accommodate the excuses of some of these staff at the expense of the ministry. I'm not saying that they did not contribute and yes, we have grown significantly. But what more can we accomplish with a more motivated and driven workforce.
 My co-directors tell me that I've been too patient, and yes I guess after 4 years of laying the ground work, its time to really scale up. So looking ahead in 2012, its not going to so rosy for the staff.

Pray alongside me that God will give me the wisdom to strike the balance between stewarding lives and stewarding the ministry.