The Blog of John Lambert

Taking a Break

May 11, 2012 in Commentary with 1 Comment

Some of you may be wondering where we are since we haven’t posted much since the accident.

As you can imagine it has been a stressful time for our family. In addition, we faced other challenges that we were not expecting.

It has been a long and difficult season with many highs and lows, in many different forms. But we are confident in God and thankful for friends like you!

Jacq’s final court date is the 21st of this month, so we are doing our best to draw together closely as a family, find rest, and get ready to move forward.

I am writing and reflecting and hope to have lots of new content for you once we are up and ready.

We recently finished shooting a new video training project with our local partners that we are very excited about. We look forward to sharing more with you about it soon.

Until then, we appreciate all of your prayers and support. It has meant the world to us!

Missionary Perspectives: Freddy De Los Reyes

April 25, 2012 in Missions with 0 Comments

Missionary Evangelist Freddy D. articulates the values that he has lived by in serving Jesus in the nations. Interviewed by Dustan Stanley of The Revolutionary Life.

These guys are some of my best friends in the world. We are of the same heart and passion for God’s glory and the name of Jesus among the nations.

You can visit them online at:

Revolutionary Life and His Work His Way

Diary: Car Accident Update

April 20, 2012 in Commentary with 11 Comments

Jacqueline’s appearance at criminal court on the 19th went very well. We were able to solidify our agreement in writing with the family and insurance company. But the settlement is not yet complete.

Our final court date is May 21st. Jacqueline is still out on bail, but once she appears before the judge for the final time we believe that she will only get driving probation.

After the court date, it will take some time to have our passports cleared for travel by immigration.

Our lawyer worked hard and the insurance company came up dramatically from their first offer. We believe this is God’s grace working through your prayers and it made a big difference.

Thank you again to all of you around the world who have taken the time to pray for us, write to us, and given generously so far. We were able to come to an agreement which included a small scholarship to little “Jomkwaan” for her future education. We did this not only to show remorse (super important in this culture), but also as a strategic move.

We always wanted this horrible accident to turn and become redemptive for the family. Continue Reading…

Thai Prayers For Our Family

April 20, 2012 in Thailand with 0 Comments

Great group of faith filled senior Thai leaders praying for our family, thanking God for the “divine appointment” of us meeting, asking for miracles, believing God sent us for a purpose, and that he would continue to lead us and use us to bring the Kingdom of God to Thailand.

May Father God raise up multitudes of men and women like these for the promotion of his Kingdom and his glory among the Thai people and beyond. Folks likes this are a major part of why we are here, why we do what we do. Thank you.

Red Zones: The Last Frontiers of Missions

April 9, 2012 in Missions with 1 Comment

It’s really pretty simple.

We need more of the the green people to focus on helping the red people while they continue to reach out to their own people group.

Who will help us finish the work? We have the manpower and the funds available. But we don’t have enough skilled laborers willing to lay down their personal life agendas for the sake of those who have not yet heard the Good News.

I know we can’t do everything, but we all can do something. We all can play our part in not just reaching others around us but also reaching those far from our own world, those who have little to no access to the Message.

We may not be willing to go ourselves but we can help send someone who is willing and ready, we can play a part in advocacy, we can reach the nations at our own door steps. Each of us can and should play our part in God’s global mission, especially as it relates to the red zones.

To learn more, check out of few of my past blog posts focused on both the need and some solutions: Continue Reading…

Thailand: Miraculous Visitation and Salvation Testimony

April 8, 2012 in Buddhism, Thailand with 2 Comments

Thailand Miracle Testimony from this year! Just finished editing it. God is moving among the Buddhist world. Are we ready to move with him or will we find ourselves unprepared like some mentioned in the testimony.

Watch and be amazed at God’s work through the Holy Spirit!

Two separate teams were involved in reaching out to this lady. One initially and one who continues with teaching her and her family. I leave their names out of this post to protect their identities.

I am posting this incredible testimony that I was privileged to shoot and edit, in order to give honor and glory to God who was the author and sustainer of this woman’s faith before any person came to explain and help her understand what was happening and how it related to eternal salvation.

I hope your faith is strengthened by this story, like my own faith has been, and that it helps you become more ready and willing to seek out people like her who have been prepared to hear the Good News of Jesus.

Help With The Accident Case

April 5, 2012 in Commentary with 5 Comments

As you may already know, we have been serving the people of Thailand for the past three years, along with our two young sons.

Recently we had an evaluation done on our youngest son and found that he had some developmental delay that would need specialized speech and occupational therapy preferably in an all-English environment.

We had been getting in some of those services locally but felt that we needed to look into some other alternatives. So we began to seek the Lord about where he would have us to go and what he would have us to do that would be the best thing for our family. (More on this soon…)

As we were making preparations to move forward on some of these key decisions about the future, Jacqueline was involved in a traffic accident involving a father and his young daughter riding a motorbike.

As is common in Asia, the daughter was not wearing a helmet. Continue Reading…

Newsletter March 2012

March 14, 2012 in Commentary with 0 Comments

Diary: Fight & Deliverance

March 7, 2012 in Thailand with 4 Comments

After a full day in prayer, my wife left home to go to our boy’s school to pick up our oldest son.

It was a hot and dusty day so she made a stop at a 7-11 store. She pulled behind a parked car on the far left lane (parking lane) on the left side of a busy four lane highway separated by a median.

As she was ready to move back out, she checked her mirrors and pulled out from the parking lane and into the left traffic lane.

Suddenly, she heard a thump.

A motor bike rider had hit her front right quarter panel and began veering to the right. The driver and his bike separated. He went down and flipped over and over landing on the left side of the furthest lane near the median. The bike and the second rider, a five year old little girl, slid to the right side of the same lane stopping near the median.

The two large tour busses which were now fast approaching the far right lane slammed on their brakes. Continue Reading…

Driving in Thailand

March 6, 2012 in Thailand with 2 Comments

Driving in Thailand can be more dangerous than most other places in the world.

The Global Road Safety Partnership says

In terms of road-crash death and injury, Thailand ranks among the top ten in the world. In recent years, road crashes have resulted in more than 1,000 fatalities per month, and more than 80,000 injuries per year. A big part of this problem is that a high percentage of motorcyclists don’t wear helmets.

Motorbikes weave in and out of traffic at high speeds.

They can have two or more passengers, including small children, infants, and even pets. Most of the riders are not wearing helmets. Sometimes the parents may be wearing them, but the children are not.

Many drivers pull to the left lane and slow down to a crawl so that they can talk on their cell phones.

Other drivers pass on the shoulder both on the left and right. Red lights are run frequently. People frequently drive down the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic to avoid making a u-turn. Many trucks carrying any type of cargo are ridiculously overloaded and top heavy.

Most Thais have never had a driving lesson or passed a driver’s test. Continue Reading…

Diary: Momentum & Crash

March 5, 2012 in Missions, Thailand with 1 Comment

The beginning of this year started off with a bang and momentum built up steadily until we took a few strong blows which we are still recovering from.

I will take this post to help you understand the events which led up to our recent car accident and then try to breakout what has happened since then.

I appreciate all of our partners, especially our sending church-Freedom House, all who have prayed for us and supported our Thailand missions work throughout this time. We are stronger because of you.

Here is a break out of all of the incredible things that happened just prior to the accident. Continue Reading…

Discovery Bible Study in Thai

February 20, 2012 in Missions with 0 Comments

(This is a format that is easy to use in any home meeting, both English and Thai. The DNA of a healthy multiplication group is embedded in through the strategic use of questions. We hope that you will begin to use it in your own settings as your explore the riches of Scripture together and obey the Great Commission of Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20)

Discovery Bible Study การศึกษาพระคำภีร์

Worship: What are you thankful for this week?

อยากขอบคุณพระเจ้าอะไรในอาทิตย์นี้?

Pastoral Care: What has stressed you out this week? What do you need for things to be better?

มีอะไรที่ทำให้คุณเครียดในอาทิตย์ที่ผ่านมานี้ มีสิ่งใดที่คุณต้องการเพื่อทำให้อะไรๆดีขึ้น

Outreach: What are the needs of the people in your community, your neighbors, family, or friends?

คนในชุมชนของคุณ เพื่อนบ้าน ครอบครัวหรือเพื่อนของคุณต้องการมีความต้องการอะไร

Service: How can we help each other with the needs we talked about?

เราสามารถช่วยเหลือกันและกันในเรื่องความต้องการที่เราพูดถึงได้อย่างไร

Accountability: What did we talk about last week?

อาทิตย์ที่แล้วเราได้พูดเกี่ยวกับเรื่องอะไรบ้าง Continue Reading…

Missions Understanding: You Should Know

February 5, 2012 in Missions with 0 Comments

When movements are mentioned in this video recognize which large population segment has not yet been mentioned.

Most Of Thailand is Not Truly Buddhist

February 4, 2012 in Buddhism, Thailand with 6 Comments

True Buddhism or Not?

If you have ever read anything about Thailand you may be led to believe that Thailand is a majority Theravada Buddhist nation.

Some would say 95%.

While it is true that the majority of Thai people would claim themselves to be Buddhist, the reality is that majority are not what the Thai would call “kreng sasanna” or fully devoted to their Buddhist faith.

In fact, most Thai would have a wide variety of things that they respect, worship, or venerate in a typical day or week that would not be considered Buddhist at all.

Most of these other things have to do with “spirits” or ghosts of people who are believed to have lived before in a past time.

Daily Needs

Each of these articles of daily worship and veneration mainly have to do with one of the felt needs of:

Good Luck
Prosperity
Protection

Here are a just a few of the main ones I see daily:

Nang Kwak or แม่นางกวัก – She is the patron spirit deity of all sales people and businesses and can be seen in most every business in Thailand. Continue Reading…

How To Reach Thailand With The Gospel

January 26, 2012 in Missions with 1 Comment

The National Christian leadership of Thailand has promoted a slogan that represents their vision for 2015.

It is known all over Thailand in every local church. It says,

“I’m going to be one out of one hundred thousand that will reach one million for Jesus Christ by 2015.

(This means they want the total number of Christians to be 1 million by 2015.)

So this begs the question for both Thai Pastors and the missionaries sent to help them,

“How will this practically happen”?

I could spend all of my time trying to do it as one single missionary. A Thai pastor could do the same. This would be impossible for a whole huge denominational team, much less for one person.

Or we could choose to find ways to empower the every day local people and influence the direction of training and practical strategy.

We could teach them to be disciples who disciple others who disciple others…

This is where I have chosen to spend the majority of time and energy. Continue Reading…

Thai Missions: Empowering Every Day Local Believers

January 26, 2012 in Missions with 2 Comments

There was a very important recent study done here in Thailand on factors related to conversion and church growth among the Thai people.

A high level study of this type had not been done since 1982 which was the first time it had ever been done.

Some interesting findings came out of the study that have impacted our focus in ministry and how we prioritize what we do.

A friend recently mentioned to me that she believed missionaries were sent to places to “win people for Jesus.” This is true in one sense, but is also a common misconception that misses the fact that the job of winning people to Jesus doesn’t depend on an elite highly trained few, but on every single believer in Jesus, whether local or foreign.

This is especially true in an area where less than 1% of the population even claiming to believe, trust in, and follow Jesus as Savior and Lord.

As a missionary called in one of the five giftings mentioned in Ephesians Chapter 4:11, my primary role is to “equip the saints” (the whole body of believers in a given area) for the “work of the ministry.”

I am not the only one, or even one of a elite group, who is expected to do the normal work required of every believer.

No, I am expected to find my place in equipping the believers and coming along side existing groups and empowering them through the gifts and teaching abilities that God has given to me. Continue Reading…

5 Mistakes In Sending Missionaries

January 25, 2012 in Missions with 3 Comments

Guest Post from Seth Barnes. (Great hard earned insights from a modern missions pioneer)

For 24 years I’ve been sending people on short-term missions (STMs) that challenge them to live the kind of life God dreams for them. STMs are great discipleship tools.

This year at Adventures, we’ll send out our 100,000th person on an STM. Our goal is for our STMs to activate participants to one day go and bring the hope they have to those that have none in some dark place in the world.

But moving from a short-term to a long-term focus requires a different set of tools. While Jesus sent all his disciples out on STMs (Luke 10), only a few were called to cross-cultural missions (in Acts). This may be one reason why he asked his disciples to go only to their own countrymen.

In my eagerness, I’ve made mistakes in sending people out for the long-term. Here are five:

1. Not enough screening. To be an effective long-term missionary, you’ve got to go as a learner. You learn the culture, the language and you learn people’s stories. To do this, you need a mindset and you need skills.

Sometimes in my enthusiasm to help, I’ve not spent enough time asking if candidates to go long-term had the mindset and skills they needed. Continue Reading…

T4T Training For Trainers: 13-16

January 24, 2012 in Missions, T4T Review with 0 Comments

T4T: A Discipleship ReRevolution: An Overview by John Lambert

Chapter Thirteen:Your T4T Package: Gospel Presentation

A “bridge” can move a person’ heart to listen, but only the Gospel can save them. Acts 2:21; 4:12; Romans 10-13-17

What is the Gospel?

The good news that Jesus Christ provided redemption for us and that we can be saved by faith in Him.

Found simply in: Luke 25:45-48, I Cor 15:1-6.

Any presentation of the Gospel must include these core truths and a call for people to respond the the message.

How is it good news to the people you are sent to?

Animists: Jesus’ power over the spirits.
Buddhists and Hindus: Jesus’ power to break the cycle of rebirth and bring them to heaven.
Muslims and Jews: Jesus’ has the ability to break the futile attempt to gain salvation through good works.
Post-Moderns: Jesus offers true eternal relevance. He changes lives.

The Gospel is always the same, never changing. But the way you share it varies from place to place. Continue Reading…

2,000 Thai Schools Don’t Have Electricity

January 23, 2012 in Thailand with 0 Comments

Over two thousand schools in Thailand that don’t have electricity and the students who attend these schools will not be eligible to receive the new PC tablets that the government will be handing out to all Grade One students by the end of May 2012. Even more will be excluded that do not have “adequate facilities.” Read the full story here.

While Thailand is trying to catch up with the world in regards to technology, it runs the risk of creating an even greater divide between the the “haves” and the “have nots” through its government sponsored PC tablet program.

One of the campaign promises of the current administration was that it would supply a PC tablet to every child. Now they are working to make good on that promise by providing a basic PC tablet with educational games for various subjects including English.

I guess that if they have the money to do this then it could be considered a bold move to push Thailand forward in regards to using computers in the classroom. Or it could be a colossal waste of resources, especially considering the immediate needs being faced after the flooding.

Thailand is place where most of the PC hard drives are manufactured in the world. They are over 13 million Facebook users in Thailand and that number is steadily climbing. Thailand is working hard to catch up although a majority of its citizens live in rural areas with weak or little Wifi access or availability. Continue Reading…

Thailand Recognizes Palestinian State

January 22, 2012 in Thailand with 4 Comments

Thai police officers carried boxes of fertilizer and ammonium nitrate confiscated from a warehouse near Bangkok.

Following the recent issue of a terror warning lead by the US to all of its citizens in Thailand and followed by a dozen or so other nations, the government of Thailand issues a statement recognizing the Palestinian State. But why?

First we have to look at the story that came out just a couple of days before this story. Both the US and Israel issued a terror alert for all of its citizens living in Thailand because of intelligence of a very real and credible threat. Other key nations began to follow suit.

But what was the story before even this one? Thailand has just recovered from one of the worst periods of flooding in over fifty years. Almost a thousand souls perished and the Thai economy took a beating, especially in the area of tourism. This tough period in 2011 followed a very volatile election period and civil unrest in 2010.

Tourism in Thailand is one of its largest national money makers accounting for 7% of its GDP. Thailand is desperate to recover its foreign tourist revenue. The nation is struggling to get back on its feet after fighting the devastating effects of the flooding for many months.

When the US and Israel issued the warning, they essentially scared off many would-be travelers. This infuriated the Thai government who worked hard to down play the threat even though they made an arrest of a Lebanese man with connections to Hezbollah and found bomb large stashes of bomb making materials just outside of Bangkok in Samut Sakorn. Continue Reading…

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