Please pray for safety and support during this time of violence in Thailand.
Dear Family and Friends,
Yes, we are all OK!
Last evening at about 6:00 pm six near-simultaneous bomb blasts rocked
Bangkok. The attacks targeted heavily-populated areas across the city
on this new year's eve. While terrorist bombings have been commonplace
in the south of Thailand for many years now, this is the first time one
has actually been carried out in Bangkok despite numerous security
alerts.
Authorities were quick to call off the large new years
celebrations that had been gathering for hours including the biggest
celebration which coincidentally takes place every year at the World
Trade Center - recently renamed Central World Plaza.
Shortly after midnight an additional three bombs exploded in
areas that had previously been packed with revelers. Earlier two other
bombs had been found that had failed to detonate.
Casualty statistics are generally under-reported Thailand but
it seems that we can be thankful that it wasn't worse. Apparently no
one has yet claimed responsibility for the bombings but there are two
possible sources that are being looked at long and hard.
One of my students was at the site of the biggest explosion
when it happened and she called us about two hours later. She was still
quite shaken up. This is also where I get off the bus most every day
and is quite near the Baptist Student Center.
Another location was about 100-200 yards from where we do most of our grocery shopping.
Please pray for those that are hospitalized as well as the
families of those that were killed. Please don't worry about us. These
kinds of things could take place anywhere in the world. We're just
simply in closer proximity - this time.
For the best information in English take a look at www.BangkokPost.com.
Love to All!
Dear Family and Friends,
Well, our first term of the year is in full swing at the Baptist Student Center. Nationally, we are in a time of mourning since the king's sister passed away a bit over two weeks ago. Most students arrive dressed in black and as teachers it's only appropriate that we do as well.
Since the middle of last month, over one hundred students have expressed a high level of interest in knowing more about Jesus. Forty-one have made decisions! Hallelujah! Three more Bible classes have started this term and we are leading one of them at another teacher's home. We start this Saturday evening. Please pray!
As the only full-time foreign teacher fluent in Thai, my life has become much busier, particularly regarding Thai-English communication matters that have for so long fallen through the cracks and created significant misunderstanding.
My busy month of preaching has ended and I believe everyone is excited to have some key members of the church back from a seven-month furlough.
Uan continues to translate for our friday night student gatherings. Of course she's also busy with Jeremiah all day and doing a great job of preparing him to start homeschooling next fall.
Our family is planning to be in Denver, Colorado from April 29th until June 27th. Our hope is to get caught up with many of you and also to give Jeremiah some significant time with his grandparents. (or is it the other way around - smile!)
Thank you so much for your time, prayers, interest, support and everything else you do!
May God Bless You Richly,
Dean, Uan and Jeremiah (J.T.) Leaman
Greetings from Bangkok! The weather this past week has been exceptionally cool by Bangkok standards which as been a huge blessing.
This past Saturday our Bible study group met for a fifth week and we had good group of seekers in attendance. The challenges are huge. One young man shared that he thought he was "perfect, good and completely innocent" before God, one of our team teachers taught a very watered-down gospel, and some of the foreigners attending couldn't understand why we couldn't all go out for a meal afterwards at at western-priced restaurant. Battles on all fronts. Whew!
We have decided that since Jeremiah doesn't have any siblings that it doesn't make sense to home-school him so he'll be starting at a Christian preschool next month. We've got a lot of figuring to do, especially since transportation is such a challenge in Bangkok. The good thing is that J.T. is really good about receiving shots.
This weekend, one of my students, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Thai army, has invited us to spend the weekend with him and his wife outside of Bangkok. While this could be challenging in terms of protocol, we also feel blessed to have someone "taking care" of us for a couple of days since this has been, personally, one of the most stressful months of our lives - the details of which could fill a small book.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers!
May God Bless Your and Yours!
Dean, Uan and Jeremiah (J.T.) Leaman
Dear Family and Friends,
--Oh the Wonder of it all!
--The Wonder of it all!
--Just to think that God loves me!"
I don't know if you know that song but oh, what a truth to ponder - especially during this Easter season!
On Easter Sunday we played a rather lengthy video clip of Jesus' death and resurrection. J.T. had never seen this before because, frankly, we felt he wasn't ready. What a blessing to be able to hold him on my lap and whisper what was happening to him as he clung to me with his eyes alternately glued to and alternately avoiding the horrid scene. There we're also a number of visitors there that likely had never known the meaning of Easter. It was disappointing to see so many had slipped out by the end of the service. It really is true that the Gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing.
Last week I asked some of my classes what they knew about Easter. Only about one in thirty had any idea whatsoever. On the other hand, the four students that have attended our investigative Bible study this term are now rather well-informed, if not overwhelmed, at the meaning of Easter. The good news is that Nui, the philosopher in the group, who loves studying comparative religions told us that determining truth to base his life on has now taken precedence over his pursuit of a new job. Amazing how things can change in a few short weeks!
Please pray for Nui as well and Ying, New, Milan and Pen that what they have learned would stick with them and that they would be drawn to the love that God has for them.
Blessings!
Dean, Uan and Jeremiah (J.T.) Leaman
Greetings from Bangkok! In a few short days we'll be flying to Colorado for a long overdue visit with family and friends. If you have grandchildren perhaps you can understand how excited Mom and Dad are about seeing Jeremiah.
As many of you know, our desire is to stay in Bangkok, not just long term, but permanently. Because of this we rejoice that God has opened the door for us to purchase an adequate home without increasing our budget or support levels. Getting it all together proved to be a big challenge but God is faithful and we're finally starting to feel settled.
J.T. has now started preschool. The first week was a bit of a challenge - with lots of clinging and crying - but now he really enjoys it. He's in a Thai school where he'll also learn some English and Chinese. Guess it's up to us to make sure he doesn't fall behind in English!
This past term at the Batist Student Center went very well and many were introduced to Jesus! We're very excited about the upcoming ministry opportunities that face us when we return at the end of June.
Thank you so much for your kindness to us as we continue in the task God has give us!
Love,
Dean, Uan and Jeremiah (J.T.) Leaman
Greetings, once again, from Colorado! As we wrap up our time here in Denver we're feeling very grateful for all the experiences we've had. We've seen a lot of friends, we've had a numerous family members come visit us from the east coast and we've had more than our fill of American food. In our humble opinion, Thai food is the way to go for feeling healthy (smile)!
As we return to Thailand we know we'll be facing a lot of old challenges and a whole set of new ones as well. The current Thai political administration it seems is in the process of being overthrown by forces both within and without. It looks like I may be needing to go back to school for a year to keep my teacher's license up to date. Jeremiah will be starting his first full semester of school. And Uan continues to have legal issues to deal with.
In all of this we're thankful that we've had this time of rest and that we have God watching over the events of our lives. Sometimes it's really easy to live as if it's all up to us and our inadequacy steals our peace. Thank God that we don't have to just hope for the best but that God really is in control.
Thanks to all of you who have called or spent time with us. We really wish we could have spent quality time with each of you! Thanks also for your ongoing support of our work at the Baptist Student Center. Please pray that We'd be able to let go of the little things and brightly shine the light of Jesus 24-7!
Love,
Dean, Uan and Jeremiah (J.T.) Leaman
Greetings from half a world away!
As some of you know we've been "going through the fire" of the Thai legal system for these past four years - by far the most stressful experience we've ever encountered. When this whole thing started we felt that God was speaking to us through Psalm 37. We are commanded there to not worry and it's stated there about seven different times. I don't know about you, but I am obsessed with being in control - not so much of people, but of situations. Last week I was talking with a friend here about everything related to our cases and he had an interesting story to tell...
There's a man my friend has known most of his life and when he was in his twenties he felt like God was speaking to him about a particular issue of obedience in his life. Now that he's almost seventy years old, he's still struggling with the same issue. My friend thought it was very sad that this man hasn't matured in over forty years. I found it sad as well but realized that I've been struggling with worry most of my adult life - not a short period of time.
Anyway, I'm beginning to realize the futility of living life like this. I see it this way... God has commanded us not to worry over and over and over again in the scriptures. It's also clear from scripture that anything God commands us to do, we are likewise able to do. Therefore, worry is nothing more than disobedience. It's not a weakness, it's not a disposition and it's not a character flaw. It's sin. I've found it tremendously freeing to know that I have the choice of not worrying.
I have no idea if any of this apply's to your life and I certainly don't know what kind of sins you find yourself entangled in, but I just wanted to encourage you that if there's anything you're struggling with that God has commanded against, please recognize that God has, likewise, given you the ability to "go and sin no more". What a wonderful thought!
As we get into a new term here at the Baptist Student Center, We're anticipating the fruit of living life less focused on our problems and more focused on the needs of others.
May God help each of us as we strive for Christ-likeness!
Love,
Dean, Uan and Jeremiah (J.T.) Leaman
Greetings in the name of Jesus! Last week we had a team here from Calvary Baptist Church of Clearwater, Florida. They put on a huge performance of a drama called Judgment House depicting heaven, hell and the wages of sin. Of the five-hundred people that came through, twenty-three prayed asking God for his forgiveness. Another eighteen showed an interest in knowing more and were given Bibles. The best part is that some twenty local churches are partnering with us in ensuring that follow-up takes place. Frankly, I was stunned by the performance. NOt so much by it's quality as by it's message. It was a sure reminder of the seriousness of every and action and the brevity of life.
This month has been a huge challenge for us. It seems that God is serious about teaching us to leave it all in his hands. At the same time Jeremiah caught a really bad bug that kept him out of school for most of the month. Now, even as I write this, Uan can't get out of bed. She had a fever for four days and now she's totally exhausted. At the same time, I've been preparing curriculum for some outside classes I've ben asked to teach. Normally, outside teaching jobs don't really phase me but this time I've been asked to do a five week class at the top university in Thailand. Imagine being asked to teach some of the faculty at Harvard. Whew! I'm a litle stressed but they seem like a fine group of people.
Politically, Thailand is in turmoil. Perhaps you've seen the reports. The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has been demonstrating for months now doing all they can to remove the current administration. This week they announced a final showdown and broke into and took over seven government locations including the office of the prime minister. The prime minister refuses to budge and some of the major PAD leaders have ben arrested. The goverment has taken a patient stance toward the protesters but the end of that patience is obviously at hand. Please pray for a quick, peaceful resolution to the conflict.
That's it for now! Sure do appreciate all you do to make our work here in Thailand possible. May God bless you and yours!
Love,
Dean, Uan and J.T. Leaman
Dear Family and Friends,
Thanks for all your prayers! J.T. is doing well again though he now has a minor cold. Uan is feeling much better
after what turned out to be Dengue Fever. And I'm doing fine except that I've has some bad back pain due to
some improper lifting. Oh, well! We live and learn!
It's been concerning to watch what has been happening all over America - from Wall Street to Main Street. We
haven't heard how the financial turmoil is affecting you personally but we have no doubt that times are getting
harder for many of you. It's amazing how easy it is for us to listen raptly to every piece of advice from
investment planner, bankers, hedge-fund managers, talking heads and the outright lies of goverment statistics and
really don't take seriously what Jesus said in Matthew 6:33:
"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all of these things will be added unto you as well."
Seems the people of Jesus' day were experiencing hard economic times as well. But Jesus, rather than
recommending the latest investment fund, commodity or financial plan, had the gall to tie financial survival to
faithfulness to the Kingdom of God. Frankly, it sounds incredibly naive to the modern mind.
However, the truth is that God takes care of his people by every means at his disposal which are certainly more
than that of the Federal Reserve. When was the last time the Fed fed 4000 people with five loaves and two fish.
"Helicopter" Ben Bernanke might like to paper the country with money but God's able to drop manna out of the
clear blue sky. How's that for meeting needs! If your faith is lacking, may I suggest you find and old-timer who
can tell you of the miracles of God's provision during the Great Depression.
Dear friends, let me suggest that our "naive", "non-savvy" Jesus knows more than our government leaders and he's
able to take care of us just fine. - IF we seek his kingdom first! There's some food for thought... Or perhaps, food
for survival... probably both!
Many blessings to you and yours!
Dean, Uan and J.T. Leaman
Greetings in Jesus' name! We trust that you are doing well and experiencing the fullness of God's love.
As I mentioned in our last letter, I've been teaching an English course at one of the universities here in Bangkok. At first I was a bit overwhelmed by perceived expectations but everything has turned out OK. I have a great group of students and I've been able to plant some seeds with the one of the individuals in charge of the program.
Last week I did a special one-time class where we learned English vocabulary and idioms through Christian music. It was a good chance to speak in an appropriate context about the love of God. The students really enjoyed it and I'm planning to do a similar class this next term.
Uan and I are planning to begin a home cell group here in the next few weeks. We had originally been planning to start about two months ago but some issues had to be worked out with another church member who wanted to team with us but then wasn't ever available. At this point, it looks like God wants us to move ahead without her. The church already has four groups going and we'll make number five.
If this update seems a bit sparse, that's because it is. I've spent most of the last month recovering from back pain that has kept me in bed a lot. At this point it's probably eighty percent better but the last twenty percent just keeps lingering. Please pray that God would heal my back completely so that it's no longer a hindrance to our work.
Also, please pray for Jeremiah as he starts back to school the first week of November. Also, if you would pray through "The Lord's Prayer" on our behalf that'd go a long way toward keeping us covered from the many potential hindrances to our work here.
Thanks and Love!
Dean, Uan and Jeremiah (J.T.) Leaman
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