Jesus for Asia: Thailand

Dear Friends,

As our plane lifted off in Seattle to return us to our work here in Thailand, we experienced mixed emotions. We are happy to return to what we feel God has called us to do; yet folks were holding our hearts that we love so much. Our time in America again reminded us of how important it is to have people close that can love us and support us in with their thoughts and prayers. The warmth that we experienced from the fellowship and hugs that were so lavishly poured out on us will sustain us when times become difficult and when we become lonely.

We were thankful to spend time with our families. We see so little of our five grandchildren that our time with them was very precious. It was heart-wrenching to say good-by to Dominic who spent the last two years with us in Thailand. Visiting with our own children reminded us of how much we love them and want them all to be with us throughout eternity. And both of us were reminded what it means to have caring, loving and Christian mothers, who made us what we are today.

We learned that DNA does not always determine family. We were blessed by and drawn to the Churches that are so important in our lives. Our Kettle Falls family again reminded us why we chose and never left their fellowship. We renewed acquaintances with people that have been so important in our lives in the Orient, Central Point, Eugene and Rockwood churches. Our strength and vigor was renewed from our time spent with them.

In short, I will soon be telling you of the miracles happening here at the studio and in Thailand. We don’t need to rely on all the disasters that we have seen in America and the world to know that Jesus is coming soon. We see evidence of that in His hand at work for the unreached people groups of the world. We praise the Lord that He has allowed us to be a part of that work.

For now we just want to say thank-you. Thank-you to those of you that love us. Thank-you to those of you that have sustained our work through sacrificial giving. Thank-you to those of you that have prayed daily for us. We will be praying for you and thinking of you every day of our lives.

God bless you all.
Bill & Venie

When we first decided to come to Thailand I was determined to write to you each month to update you on our status and happenings.  After the first couple of newsletters, I soon remembered why I disliked my English Comp class so much.  Simply put, I don’t have the gift of writing.  My husband, who has been writing most of the letters, has recently been overwhelmed with editing projects and felt I should take a turn this month.  Here’s what he had started so beautifully….

“We have just experienced what was probably the most wonderful week in our two-year experience in Thailand.  We were called by the Buddhist Study Center to video a four-day series of seminars on how to reach the non-Christian people of Asia.  We were thrilled to hear stories from missionaries who virtually have sacrificed everything to minister to the unreached people groups of the world.  We were not allowed to film many of the presentations, as the security of the speakers might be jeopardized, and their lives put in grave danger.  We even learned of a person who was executed because he was identified in one of our Church’s periodicals.  We came away with a new appreciation for those who have made the Gospel commission the priority of their lives, and for the evidence that God is taking the final work into His own hands and soon we will be going Home.”

See how beautifully he writes.  He truly has a gift. I will now share some of the other happenings of recent days.

Ian Adams, an Australian, who is married to the director of I.C.C., (International Children’s Care) has recently lent us a DVD/CD duplicator. It is capable of duplicating 15 copies at a time.  We are thrilled with his offer to use his machine.  We have able to duplicate over one thousand DVD sermons by Pastor Phamor about our 3 Angels Message, for the Karen group.  Right away, these DVD’s were distributed at a Karen gathering near the refugee camp along the border of Myanmar.

Because we are not ready for television production yet, having the ability to duplicate on site programming is a tool that has blessed many so far.  It’s hard to imagine, because we American’s take our literature and Christian television programming for granted.  There are very few EGW books that have been translated, and those that have been, have not recently been re-printed, so they are not available to buy at the Adventist Mission.  Needless to say, there is zero SDA Thai TV programming available.

I wanted to tell you a story of how the first studio set build was put in motion. Ian Adams, as mentioned above, has experience in welding and likes to work with metal.  He had offered to build some tables for us, strong durable tables, to use here in the studio to hold equipment.  We got to discussing the grid that was needed for our first set build from which to hang the lighting.  This conversation was just what God had in mind.  Ian does fund-raising in Australia and sometimes people want to give of their time as well as their means.  He had such a family willing to come for 2 weeks to help where they could instead of going on their usual family vacation.  Ian put the husband and two strong teenage boys to work building a lighting frame for the first studio set.  They worked hard, sanding, painting, welding and hoisting this frame up in the air inside the studio. You cannot image how excited Bill and I were over this event.

Soon after that Steve Rawlings and others gave of their time and talent to building the rest of this first set. Here’s a slideshow of the activity:

https://youtu.be/wUXAQ61DD4A

Our focus at the All Asia Media Center for the next year will be on our beautiful health message.  Dr. A, who lives in Bangkok, is a good lecturer on anatomy and physiology broken down to laymen terms. She has agreed to come and film at the studio. We would like to be able to distribute this series to all of the northern SDA churches.  So many of the Seventh-day Adventist in Thailand, have never even heard this message.  We believe that it truly is the right arm of the gospel, and as members get excited about a new life style, they will be eager to share this with others in their community.

The next step will be to follow up with a series of vegetarian cooking classes so that those who are accepting the Health Message will have encouragement and know how to practice this new life style. (We have to build the kitchen set next in order to do this.)

And then of course, we will be bringing in speakers from the first eight language groups on which we are focusing:  English, Thai, Karen, Hmong, Akha, Yao, Burmese and Mien.  These individuals will be able to reach their people groups in their own language and from their own cultural perspective.  We believe God is moving to quickly assure that the Gospel truly will go to every “nation, kindred, tongue and people.”

This next week we will be filming a weeklong series of training sessions for Thai Bible workers.  An Australian evangelist will present them.  We will barely have time to catch our breath, and then it will be off to the Karen camp meeting, April 2-7.  We are sorry that we have not been able to meet all of the requests that have come to us.  There have been scheduling conflicts and a lack of funds.  We trust God will provide in both areas.

Many visitors coming through the All Asia Media Center over the past month have blessed us. One individual by the name of David Fam, has especially given us encouragement. He would like to see us duplicate his efforts of producing short 10-minute segments that portray the pillars of our faith through real life experiences.  His ministry, Aenon, in Malaysia has been successfully doing this for a while. It is sort of the same concept as digma.com that the Ty Gibson’s group has been producing. Of course our productions will need to be in the Thai language, or one of the many other people group languages.

So in order to get started with these types of programs we have started a team. We will be adding to this team as God sees fit.   You have probably discerned that this team will have to consist of those who can speak the various languages that will comprise our focal points.

All of these efforts require funds to operate, if you’d care to share with your means in these efforts click the “Donate” button at the top of the page.

A line or two from home is always appreciated and lifts our Spirits like little else can do.  And most important of all, please pray for us every day.  We are so unqualified to do what we are doing, but claim our favorite promise that His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

We send you our greetings and our love again this month.  We find it difficult to contain our excitement as we are beginning to witness the fruition of the work that we began just over two years ago.  There were times of discouragement and frustration for us, but these occurred only when we focused on what we could do and took our eyes off the One who can do all.  We have had to learn lessons the hard way, but praise God that He has been patient with us and an “ever help in time of need.”

We have just completed construction of our first television set.  With the help of some faithful friends here in Thailand, and the donations that we received from family members and friends, we were able to purchase needed materials.  Last Friday morning I was standing on the laminate floor that had just been laid, when an overwhelming feeling of gratitude came over me.  I wept as I thought of how many souls will be won because of the programs that will be produced on the set where I was standing.  Not only do we have the set, but we had just purchased the equipment that will allow us to “stream” live, to actually be able to produce DVD’s 15 minutes after the speaker has finished. To have all the editing process expedited because of the ability to “switch” between cameras and Power Point presentations through the software supplied with the equipment.  The last purchase had come at the expense of the funds we had laid aside for our return trip to Thailand next year.  Now we are in the hands of the owner of the universe and have never felt safer.

We were able to get business cards printed because we now had commitments for speakers and programs in six different languages.  Our card states that we will be doing programming in English, Thai, Karen, Hmong, Akha and Yao.  The first day that we received one thousand cards they were outdated as we received commitments for two more languages, Burmese and Mien.  I don’t know if anyone has ever tried to do what we are trying to accomplish and maybe that is where our naiveté is actually a blessing.  The prayers of those of you in our behalf are being answered on a daily basis.

It is now that we need your help.  For us, the “well has run dry.”  Becoming a fund-raiser is not what I want to do.  But as I see the potential to reach virtually millions who have never heard the name of Jesus, it becomes almost an obligation for me.  How much value is there in a soul?  I believe that it is certainly more than my pride.  So all I ask is that you consider carefully my next words.

Over the years it was so easy for me to ignore the work in the mission field.  Without much thought I would drop my dollar in the Sabbath School mission offering every week and think that I was fulfilling my obligation as a Church member in good standing.  Apparently I was not alone.  My friend Jon Wood recently brought to my attention that sixty years ago for every $10 given for tithe, an additional $6 was given for foreign missions.  Now that number is 28 cents.  The average SDA member gives $25 a year for foreign missions.  (I wonder how much is spent for entertainment).  Is it no wonder that there are a thousand people groups where there is no Bible, Christian, or missionary?

I do not want to use our Divine counsel as a hammer to drive a point, but is it no wonder that words like this are repeated hundreds of times in the Spirit of Prophecy.  “There is a class that are represented by Meroz.  The missionary spirit has never taken hold of their souls.  The calls of foreign missions have not stirred them to action.  What account will those render to God, who are doing nothing in His cause,–nothing to win souls for Christ.  Such will receive the denunciation, ‘Thou wicked and slothful servant.’”  Historical Sketches, 290.

I challenge you to search the EG White writings using the words “foreign missions.”  Some may question whether this is all that important, but I will guarantee you that if you do so, your attitude cannot remain the same.  If we want our home missions to be successful, support of foreign missions will open the way.  “The home missionary work will be farther advanced in every way when a liberal, self-denying, self-sacrificing spirit is manifested for the prosperity of foreign missions for the prosperity of the home work depends largely, under God, upon the reflex influence of the evangelical work in countries afar off.  It is in working actively to supply the necessities of the cause of God that we bring our souls in touch with the Source of all power.”  CET 222.1.

So what am I asking of you?  Venie and I, and the work in this part of the world need your support.  We do not ask for personal support, but donated funds for the studio work specifically.  Just prior to our saying good-by to our Kettle Falls Church family, a brother that I love and respect, an Elder in the Church, told me that the people of Kettle Falls needed to get behind their missionaries and support them in their work.  Divine counsel mandates this.  No one can question our loyalty to our Church.  We have always tried to lift our Church, and to never bring reproach to its name.  We want to be the hands and feet of our Church family bringing the Gospel to a dying world.  So of course, you are the first people to whom we make our plea.  We want our cause to be your cause.

For those churches who know us and are always so kind to us, we also solicit your help.  We have had a friend in the Portland area that has sent us $10 a month since we have arrived.  We believe that there will be souls in heaven because of her systematic support.   We also believe that by her commitment, her gift has been multiplied several times over as God has used what she has cheerfully given.

There is so much more I want to say.  But let me close with this thought.  It would do each of us well to examine our commitment to the Present Truth cause and the Three Angel’s Messages.  We want to go Home to be with Jesus, but have we become to comfortable in this life to hate this world so much that we would do anything and everything to hasten that event, even to sacrifice everything for the cause.  My favorite song is “I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold.  I’d rather be His than have riches untold. I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands, I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hands.”  I hope that is the prayer of each of us.

We need funds to continue our work, funds for DVD’s and CD’s, funds for a projector, funds for labels, funds for all that comes with media production.  What can you do personally for us?

• Go to your Board of Elders and plead our cause.  Perhaps your Church could adopt us as your foreign mission outreach ministry.
• Suggest to your Pastor that a month be given to study the work of foreign missions in our Church as delineated in the Spirit of Prophecy.
• Organize your Sabbath School class to become part of our team.  We would be happy to send you a “Mission Spotlight” every quarter chronicling the work that is being done because of your gifts.
• Pray!  Fast and pray if necessary.  God is going to finish this work, but He allows us the opportunity to be a part of it.
• If you would like to come to Thailand for a short-term mission trip, let us know.  Your lives will never be the same again.  The comforts that we feel we must have will become not so important to us anymore.
• Measure the value of a soul in the eyes of Heaven.  Brothers and sisters, we cannot allow the loss of eternal life because no one has ever told the people of SE Asia that there is a Savior for them.

As always you can go to our website and click the “Donate” button at the top of the page.  If this is impossible for you send your gift to:

The Osborn Project

Jesus For Asia, Inc.

PO Box 216

McDonald, TN 37353

Perhaps for some reason you may not want to support our project.  That’s o.k.  But please find a foreign mission project somewhere and support it like you have never done before.  God will bless you, and the work will soon be done.

With our love,

Bill & Venie Osborn

I sincerely apologize for my negligence in getting a newsletter out to our dear friends. Lack of communication does not mean there has been a lock of activity.  God has richly blessed our work, and we are beginning to witness what we believe to be God “taking the work into His own hands.”  We are His humble servants, and readily admit our deficiencies while acknowledging that He is all-sufficient.  As always we claim the promise that His strength is made perfect in our weakness, and that His grace is sufficient for us.

Allow me to just insert a personal note before I tell you of the work that God is blessing so abundantly.  Most of you know that I was in a motorcycle accident six weeks ago.  A lady ran a red light and struck us, damaging both the motorcycle and me.  Because of the heavy traffic at the intersection a policeman was changing the signal lights from a box at the corner.  He insisted that it was my fault.  I could have become a victim of the unwritten rule that it is always the foreigner’s fault had not some Thai’s stopped to help me who has witnessed the whole scene.  In a conversation that lasted nearly an hour, then made it very clear to him that they would go to court and testify to his false witness.  I thank God that they were there and especially that our grandson, Dominic, who was riding on the back of the motorcycle came through unscathed.  I sustained a broken Humerus and a dislocated shoulder, as well as multiple bruises on my left arm and chest.  I am still in the healing process and express to you my gratitude for your thoughts and prayers.  Please continue to pray for me because the healing process will continue for some time.

I will not elaborate further on our personal woes as it is not about us, but all about Him.  Here is a short synopsis of the blessings and miracles taking place at the All-Asia Media Center:

• Because of the generosity of Faith Camp attendees we have been able to drastically reduce the studio construction debt to Pastor Phamor.  A friend of his ministry made true on his pledge to match funds to donations we received.  With that promise still in place, we are only about $30,000 from being debt-free.
• Many of our immediate family, and our Church family in Kettle Falls, Washington kindly donated funds for immediate work at the studio.  Because of these gifts we are in the process of constructing our first set.  The drawings will arrive this week, and the materials will be purchased and construction will begin.  We are already planning for the programming and dynamic speakers that will soon be proclaiming messages on health, family life, and the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  These messages will soon be heard in multiple languages of Southeast Asia, and as funds become available they will be broadcast on television stations.  While waiting for those funds, the programs will be available immediately on DVD’s.
• Last week Venie, Dominic and I made five hundred DVD’s from a series that Peter Gregory did at a Karen camp meeting in April of this year.  They have nearly all been distributed, and by the way, they were duplicated on a machine that allowed for 15 copies at a time .  It is on loan to us from a friend from Australia, and supporters from churches there.  We hope to purchase one or two machines as God provides the funds.
• We now have what I believe is the perfect complement of video cameras. We received a third camera and it is identical to the two we were already using.  While not professional cameras, in God’s hands they will be capturing video that will bring honor and glory to His name.  We were able to use them this past week, filming a series that Pastor Phamor did  on Medical Missionary training, our health message, and the Three Angels Messages.  There was a total of 18 lectures recorded.
• At this same series my work was made easier because of a Pastor who has joined our team at the media center.  He is young and talented and can speak Thai, Karen and English.  He helped me video the presentations.  I am also training him to edit, and he will help me in that arduous process.
• We will soon be joined by a young family from Texas who have just dedicated their lives to mission service.  They are Daniel and Tesha Bair and their two toddlers.  We look forward to their arrival, perhaps as early as next month.  They will help to make our load lighter and their youth, dedication and enthusiasm will bring a welcome addition to our team.
• Those of you that visit our web site will notice some marked changes.  I have deleted previous newsletters and am in the process of designing it so that it can be viewed in Thai, Karen and English.  The videos that we produce will be available worldwide on the web site.  I have already uploaded videos that we produced of Amazing Facts evangelist Emanuel Baek here at our location, and as stated earlier, Peter Gregory at the Karen bible Camp.  Emanuel’s presentations were translated into Thai, and Peter’s into Karen.  They are available on You Tube and Vimeo.  Here is a sermon from each:

We hope that you will become as excited as we are.  We are told that before Jesus comes again, the Gospel will go to every nation, kindred, tongue and people.  For all too long the work has been difficult in Thailand.  We believe that God is taking the initiative, and the message that we love and in which we place all of our hope, will be accepted by the people of Thailand and Southeast Asia.

Until next month, may God richly bless and keep you.  Remember, “Our Heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us of which we know nothing.”  Praise the Lord!