Jeff Ling

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70 people gathered by a lake on the outskirts of Siem Reap for a baptism service. The NEI church plant in the village had been yielding fruit to the glory of God and now 31 new believers were going to be baptized. After a song of praise, the pastor introduced me to speak. I shared with them of our partnership in the gospel from Philippians 1, encouraging them not to rely heavily on the pastor to share the gospel but to recognize their calling to take the gospel to family and friends.

Afterwards, Johnny Buckner addressed the group to explain the significance of baptism. “How many of you have seen a baptism?” he asked. Four hands went up. Four. This was a completely brand new thing for them. As Johnny explained the idea of being buried and raised with Christ, excitement grew. By the time he was finishing, they were cheering! The group joyfully made their way down to the water where the “bowling Cambodian” was waiting in the water to do the honors.  One after another they entered the water and after confessing their faith they went under.  It was a bit funny because they weren’t certain when to come up! Seems they were waiting on the pastor and he was waiting on them. Some folks were under for a bit… like with bubbles breaking the surface.  After they were baptized, they made their way to the shore where Johnny, Robert Yusi and myself laid hands on each of them to impart a blessing. What an incredible honor to be a part of the celebration.

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After we finished baptizing and praying for everyone, we began to praise the Lord as we looked up we were surprised to see a perfect rainbow circling the sun. It was just beautiful. Tim Boden reminded us of a passage in Revelation:

And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. - Revelation 4:3 (ESV)

Later I looked in the scripture for another reference and this one said it well:

“Spread out above them was a surface like the sky, glittering like crystal….  Above this surface was something that looked like a throne made of blue lapis lazuli. And on this throne high above was a figure whose appearance resembled a man. From what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like gleaming amber, flickering like a fire. And from his waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor. All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the Lord looked like to me. When I saw it, I fell face down on the ground…”  - Ezk. 1:22; 26-28 (NLT)

I’m sure many could explain it as a natural phenomenon but we had no doubt that God was giving us a glorious sign of His pleasure.

Afterwards we all had a marvelous lunch by the lake. There was joy. There was peace. You could cut it with a knife.

Some video from the day:

Baptism Preaching from Jeff Ling on Vimeo.

Baptism of Khmer Army Officer from Jeff Ling on Vimeo.

The picture here shows most of the NEI team that was at the conference. The faces that are blurred are young men who are working in restricted countries. I wish I could tell you about the work they are doing. They are serving the Lord in remarkable and creative ways in places where the pressures of persecution are very real. The rest of the people in this picture are either part of the church planting team in Cambodia or serving in Chaing Mai Thailand as support staff for the NEI missionaries.

The entire week was a very meaningful experience. New friendships were made, vital contacts were established and it seems the teaching I was able to offer was well received and greatly encouraged the team. Thank the Lord for that! Topics included:
- God’s Commitment to Reclaim the Earth
- Preaching the Gospel to Ourselves Daily
- The Spirit’s Leading in Our Lives
- Using the Shield of Faith
- Suffering and Promised Glory

Every teaching time was followed by reports from the team members. After their reports, the team would gather around them and intercede for them. We had some really great prayer time!

 
I really appreciated the NEI leaders providing some fun things for the team to do together. They place a very strong emphasis on commitment to one another and playing together is a means of enhancing the family relationships. Thursday night we went into Hau Hin and took the team bowling. Hilarious! (Don’t ask how I did.) I have to say that watching a gentle, humble and grateful Cambodian pastor bowl for the first time in his life was just delightful.

We arrived in Cambodia without problem and spent the afternoon with children and workers from the House of Hope, an NEI sponsored orphanage. Pictures of that coming up!

“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
- Psalm 46:10 – NEI 2011 Theme.

It’s been my privilege to join a number of missionaries associated with NEI Asia at their annual retreat in Thailand. Johnny Buckner, the director of NEI, asked me to come be the guest speaker for the event as well as visit some of NEI’s projects in Cambodia and Burma. As always, I find the blessings and challenge to my own life from these dear saints greater than anything I could possibly offer.

If you search for NEI on the web you will only find their American operations that specialize in disaster relief. You won’t find much about NEI Asia on the web because of the sensitive nature of some of the places they work. What I can share with you is that NEI is a very special organization in that it’s sole focus is on developing indigenous churches among the “least reached and the most needy.”  But that is only a part of the vision. The real meat of it is to train those churches to send missionaries out cross culturally. For instance, it is almost impossible for western white skinned missionaries to be effective in a land like Myanmar (Burma) but indigenous believers from neighboring countries have a greater access and effectiveness. NEI is committed to expanding the vision of indigenous churches to see themselves as sending agencies to release workers into the fields.  Many of the workers I have been speaking to this week have left their home countries to share the love & good news of Jesus in neighboring lands. Many are the first ones sent by their tribe.  Did you catch that? These are tribes where there was no church, a church was planted and now they are sending workers! These lovers of Jesus live on $75-200/month & joyfully sacrifice all to serve the Lord.

I arrived in Bangkok about 11:30pm on Saturday (23rd). I found a cheap place to crash for the night and then went back to the airport in the morning where I met Tim Boden, a friend of Johnny’s and a worship leader from New Horizons in Starkville, Miss.  Since Johnny was delayed a day we found transportation and headed to Pran Buri, about 150 miles south of Bangkok, on the coast. (NEI is based in Chaing Mai in the north but when they have their annual conference they try to do it at a place the missionaries can enjoy and be refreshed by.) We were greeted by the team and enjoyed the welcome dinner that opened the conference. The basic format for Monday thru today has been a time of worship in the morning followed by an hour of teaching which has been my responsibility.  After coffee, we hear reports from the workers and then spend time interceding for them. Afternoon are free and the evenings after dinner have been various group activities.

More to follow…

Courtesy of Desiring God Ministries

Anglican Church in North America
The Most Rev. Robert Wm. Duncan, Archbishop

23rd April, A.D. 2011
Holy Saturday

The Easter Choice

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulchre. [Matthew 28:1]

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come see the place where he lay.” [Matthew 28:5-6]

Archbishop’s Easter Homily – Easter Vigil, 23rd April, A.D.2011

“It is the difference between night and day.” How often have we used this expression? Countless times. This is a metaphor that makes great sense to humankind, because the night and the day are so different. So little, relatively speaking, is possible in the darkness, and so much is possible in the light.

The difference between the “stone cold tomb” (as the Epiphany carol puts it [1]) and the empty tomb is “night and day.” The watch between Holy Saturday and Easter morn is the contrast between the darkest night and the brightest day.

Before this night all human history ends in night, ends in the tomb. After this night there is the possibility of human life issuing in endless day. Easter changes everything. Jesus changes everything. Technically, of course, it is the cross that achieves what Luther called the “Great Exchange,” but the cross is the ultimate darkness, the ultimate night, in terms of human history as a dead end, where even the light of day (according to the Gospel accounts themselves) becomes dark as night. The ultimate night, Good Friday, ends in the death of Life, followed by the three days night of Jesus’ entombment. Before the dawn of Easter is mankind’s longest and darkest night. Until this night all human life ends in death.

Jesus’ Resurrection makes possible to every man, woman, and child that his or her life might end with life, rather than with death. Jesus’ Resurrection also makes possible “abundant life” before death, life lived without fear of death – life fearlessly lived. It also makes possible life empowered by God’s Holy Spirit, life lived in concert with God’s purposes and God’s will, rather than in the increasing pain of aging and the gathering darkness of the dying that is the consequence of humanity’s endless rebellion.

Accepting Jesus is a choice, for every individual and for whole peoples. Without Jesus day ends in night. With Jesus night ends in day. And it is not just about the way each of our stories ends, but also about the whole of our story itself. Those who follow Jesus become agents of light – by the working of the Holy Spirit and despite their sin – in the darkness of this world. Those who do not know Jesus are increasingly overtaken by the darkness brought by others or by the inevitable death overtaking their own life. These are the options, this is the choice: darkness and light, night and day.

One of the Easter Vigil’s most famous stories is of the baptism of an extraordinarily gifted young man who had sought answers in all the philosophies of his age and in all the pleasures of the world. One day he heard a child singing, “Pick it up and read it.” He heard the song several times, but could not see the child. He picked up a Bible and happened to turn to Romans 13:13-14 [2]. He later wrote: “My heart was flooded with light.” He would also later pray: “You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” The date was April 24th, 387. The place Milan. The young man’s name was Augustine, arguably the greatest intellect in all of human history. For him the decision was to follow Jesus. For him the decision was to allow day to follow night.

Another of the great Easter Vigil stories occurs in a savage and pagan land on the edge of the known world. On the Hill of Slane, on the night of the spring equinox, in sight of the Irish kingdom gathered around their king to celebrate their deity’s festival, a newly consecrated bishop lights an Easter fire to proclaim to an unevangelized people that true day was breaking in on their night. The evangelist’s name was Patrick. Soon a whole people, a whole nation, would choose for the day that can follow night. The year was 433.

We who gather here for worship on this Easter near the beginning of the 21st century face a world of competing ideologies and pagan savageries. The choice remains one of whether night will follow day, or day will follow night. Every individual must choose and every people must decide. (If there are any here who haven’t yet chosen, it is not too late. Step from the gathering darkness of your night into blazing light of Jesus’ day.) Jesus presents the choice. His cross and empty tomb present a doorway into a very different future, the difference (and the doorway) between night and day. Our call is to live in the day, both by deed and by word. Our call is to the transformation of the world with the love and light of Jesus. We can help one another to live abundantly in the day, and we can help others to choose Jesus and the new day He offers. It is a matter of life and death, of day and night. We here know the tomb is empty. We know what is possible in Jesus. In thanksgiving for what Jesus has done for us, let us be agents of the same Easter choice for others. We know that day does follow night for those who make the Easter choice.

Alleluia. Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia! AMEN.