With Progress.... Always Problems

We laid our hands on the ailing machine--and it was vibrating violently. There was no backup for this hammer mill in our production line, the machine that turns our Cheetos-like chunks of puffed soy and rice into fine flour. When it starts up it sounds like a jet engine, the old, 60's vintage fuel-guzzling kind.

Earlier, we had become concerned about the tremendous noise levels. So we set about building a room around this machine to contain the noise. To do that, we had the help, for about a month, of one of our board members from our FUF-Lao days. For many nights Dave Welander (Pomeroy Covenant Church, IA) and I worked after the mill shut down at 9 PM and the cleaning crew had done their work.

But when the vibrations started sending cracks all through the housing, we knew we had a major problem. So, Wessel managed to get a technician up from Bangkok and set about, with our young mechanics, tearing it apart. What they found was not pretty--ball bearings shredded, hammers worn and unbalanced. In the end, praise God, they were able replace all the worn parts and put it back together. Amazingly, the noise levels dropped by 20 decibels. Our screaming jet engine became a became a purring cat.

But now we faced a new problem. Our mill generates a fairly strong odor, not unlike popcorn. Several of the neighbors said they liked the smell at first, but after weeks of it-was there not something we could do? So we set about building a room in the back of the mill to contain the exhaust and filter out the smell.


That system is now in place and working fairly well. The smell is not gone, but is much improved. Visits to all our neighbors, bouquets of flowers and progress reports on the improvements we are making-all of these have helped with this issue.

Finally, about personnel issues: Don't you wish that people problems could be as easily solved as technical issues? Well, they can't..... So, we just said good-bye to two of our key Thai team-members. Their issues with other members of the team had been simmering for more than a year. But finally they decided it would be better to leave than continue. Ruthie and I were heart-broken. These were the people we hoped would manage the company. These were our good friends.

Such is life in the Kingdom, we're finding out. Often a struggle, often messy. But God can use all of that, and does. Meanwhile, we praise him for all the many answers to prayer-orders and work, new staff members (we're holding at about 30 employees), and the resources to see MVF Co. become a reality and blessing (a sweet aroma?) to those around it.

Asia Covenant Consultation VII

"Planting Communities of the Faithful" was our theme for this year's Asia Covenant Consultation, our seventh meeting in 14 years. Covenant church leaders from all over Asia gathered in the heart of Issaan--Roi Et, Northeast Thailand--for three days of presentations and prayer, information exchange and encouragement.

Welcoming Committee

This was also the occasion for celebrating 40 Years of Covenant work in Thailand. Our current Thai church leadership put together a large program honoring missionary Jim Gustafson, Bunphote Wechkama, Tongpan Phrommetta for their visionary leadership down through the years.

For more information about this gathering and some great pictures, please check out Jim Peterson's blog postings... Jim Peterson's Blog

Working with our Thai church committee to organize this event was a great experience and an opportunity to deepen relationships we have had for many years. Though I am a somewhat reluctant networker and meeting-attender, this event has confirmed, again, that we should not "give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing. " (Hebrews 10:24).

The Little School that Could

We've shared in the past about an English school in East Asia for which we share some responsibility. A little school, we have said, but with a big impact. Apparently we weren't the only ones who noticed, since in early September they were ordered to close down and cease operations within a month. Suddenly a team of about 8 people were out of work--lives turned upside down, plans and trips put on hold. We decided we needed to leave for an immediate visit, to see how everyone was coping.

Christ & Diane Wiebe

Amazingly well, we found out. Now, a month later, the school is all packed up. Some of the staff members have made their way back to the States. Some are exploring other options for ministry in Asia. Through out this whole crisis we have been part of numerous Skype conversations, prayer, & processing. And we will be joining a gathering in November for a time of celebration, grieving, and planning for the future.

Christy Taylor & Dennis Choate

Please pray that this school, God willing, will be re-born in a different place, even better organized, and with an official standing under the laws of the land. We are convinced that God has purposes even in these seemingly difficult, depressing events. If you know those who have been working in this school, pray especially hard for them over the next months as they go through transition and adjustment...

Dianne Williamson

When were not HERE....we're THERE

( As of May 15, 2011 )

At home in Chiang Khong (May 15-22)

A few days home to catch up...

Mongolia (May 24-28).

Visiting Sedore family and attending the annual meeting of the Joint Christian Services.

At home in Chiang Khong (Ruthie, May 29 - June 4; Peter, May 29 - June 9)

Ruthie to India (June 5-10).

Ruthie will join a vision trip to India planned by supporters and sponsors of "Covenant Kids", a child scholarship program.

Peter to Vietnam (June 10-17).

On the 100th anniversary of the protestant church in Vietnam, Peter will seek to take the pulse of the work there, renew ties, and check out sites for a possible Covenant Asia Retreat in February, 2012.

USA (June 19-July 31) .
Annual meeting in Denver. Then Ruthie will begin work on her spiritual director certificate at North Park (a two-year program). Peter will work on other RC-related work and may visit some churches.

Points for Prayer

( As of May 15 , 2011 )

Please read our new requests and updates below (in italics)

2011-007. We travel tomorrow to China to visit Peter & Anna Kim and OTC. Please pray for us and the team there as we help make plans for the future.

• We've just returned from a great trip to China. We had productive meetings with the team at OTC and saw some very impressive work at the organization in which Peter & Anna are working.

2011-004. MVF is still waiting for permission to import vitamins and minerals to go in our blended flour.

• Permission was granted, but we are still waiting for the vitamins to arrive and be cleared through customs. Please keep praying with us till the day we actually begin producing blended food.

2011-003. Missionaries and churches in Japan are mobilizing to bring relief and care for the suffering people of northern Japan.

• Keep praying for the relief efforts under way in northern Japan. The United Project has brought together the Japan Covenant Church, Covenant World Relief, and several other church groups to bring relief supplies and short -term teams to help do relief work.

Points for Prayer ( 2 May, 2011 )

Please read our new requests and updates below (in italics)

2011-007. We travel tomorrow to China to visit Peter & Anna Kim and OTC. Please pray for us and the team there as we help make plans for the future.

2011-006. Eric & Karyn Sorenson are praying about future directions in their ministry. They have been at Pacific Islands University & seminary four years as project missionaries.

• Please keep praying for Eric & Karyn.

2011-005. Pray for Jun Pejji and his family as they live in the midst of a mess while their house is renovated to become the future meeting place of the Pasig City church in Metro Manila.

• Jun writes that the church/house remodel is moving along well after some holidays when the workers took off.
  

2011-004. MVF is still waiting for permission to import vitamins and minerals to go in our blended flour.

• Answered! The Thai FDA finally gave approval for 2 of the 3 products we needed to import. The last one, also, is not expected to be a problem. We hope to clear these products through customs in a week or two. Thanks for praying!
  

2011-003. Missionaries and churches in Japan are mobilizing to bring relief and care for the suffering people of northern Japan.

• Dave Husby, Director of Covenant World Relief, made a quick visit just before we arrived in Japan. Curt Peterson and Gary Walter will be traveling north this week. Rolling Hills Covenant Church sent a team, including their senior pastor, Byron MacDonald, paid a visit and are considering making Japan and this relief effort one of 3 strategic foci. Samaritan's Purse, Food for the Hungry, and many other quality organizations have teams in the field. Praise God for this quick response! Please keep praying for the thousands who have lost family members.

2011-001. Kevin and Ramona are searching for jobs now in L.A. After a year working in Laos, our son and daughter-in-law, are back in Orange County contemplating further studies, and looking for work.

• Answered! Both Kevin and Ramona have found jobs. Kevin will be working as assistant manager in a branch of Starbucks. Ramona will be working with an NGO which responds to people around the world in need of wheel chairs.

Town after town after town...

I've often been suspicious of news reporting scenes of vast destruction. Haven't they exaggerated? Haven't they taken one picture and implied destruction greater than the reality?

But when it comes to the devastation visited on the northern coast of Japan by the recent earthquake-tsunami, quite the opposite is true. It's impossible to photograph or describe the extent and capriciousness of these waves as they moved through town after town shredding everything in their wake.

We drove through town after town starting in the north at Miyako and ending in Sendai: the striking beauty of the Sanriku coastline alternating with scenes of utter desolation. Whole neighborhoods reduced to matchwood. Cars, buses, and ocean-liners up-ended, strewn about, balanced on the remaining half of a building, deposited unceremoniously in graveyards clinging to the side of a hill.

The sheer scale of the disaster--devastation up and down nearly 500 miles of coastline--can be mind-numbing. But as we listened to the stories of several families during that fateful day--3/11, as it's referred to here--the terror and tragedy strike home.

We talked to Mr. Abe and his wife, the 70+ year old who has lent his small guest house for use as a base of relief operations. He was pinned in the first-floor kitchen of his house by a collapsing wall; his fragile wife swept into the basement by the waters. But both survived. Broken bones are healing and they are moving around with surprising strength.

We visited another family in Ishinomaki--a mother and her six year old son. With a wall of water advancing, they ran down an alley-way and into their home, climbing frantically to the second-story, wondering if they would be high enough to survive the rising water. There they sat for more than three days while husband and father searched desperately through every evacuation center. He was overjoyed, finally, when he found them alive. Their elderly neighbor had died in the entry-way of her home a few feet away.

The news reports have moved on quickly. The war in Libya, the Arab uprising, the tornadoes in Alabama, and--just a few minutes ago--the final operation against Bin Laden.

But the story of this disaster is really just beginning. Some estimates say the losses will go as high as 40,000 lives. For the families of each, those few hours of terror and destruction may mean a life-time of re-building and coming to terms with loss. Will we who call ourselves followers of Jesus--both in Japan and elsewhere--respond with love and sensitivity to this hurting part of our world? We have an opportunity now, with God's power, to write this story.