Bemo Alan Janet 1983 Thailand

CHlANOMAtJUL 5 1983

T)ke iêmo^3 Sojourning.^ in Tjltailand"By faith they sojourned in the land....

looking forward to a city which has foundations,whose builder and maker is God."

HEB. 11:8-10

Alan and Janet BemoBox 180Chiangmai, Thailand

January - June 1983

Dear Co-Workers,

This year has «?one by so fast andnow we are making last minute preperationsto leave. We are expecting a call any daysaying that our visas have come through sowe can leave on June 15th as scheduled. Bythe time you get this letter we should begone.

We are planning on stopping over in Taiwanand Hong Kong for a few days to see ourbrethren there and investigate the possibility of getting some video tapes inChinese to take to Thailand, We should bein Thailand by the end of June. Beth andBecky are planning on going to school in'''halwii,;-. - the same Christian boardingschool Beth went to the year before last.We are looking forward to getting to Thailand and visiting the places we have workedin and getting caught up on what is goingon.

Chuck Carhart, Dad and Me with turkeysWe probably won't be moving to a village until late in the year as WE ARE EXPECTING OURSIXTH CHILD SOMETIME NEAR THE END OF SEPTEMBER, We have been wanting another child foryears and are happily anticipating this blessed event0

We really donH have much news to share with you but we would like to bring a brief update from news we have heard from Thailand:

Mi Po: Fruit trees are really growing. "You won't recognise the place." Brother Chentoo 500 kilos of peaches to the market this year. The three teen-agers came back froma years schooling which we helped them with. Their parents expressed satisfaction forwhat they had learned in general and about the Bible, Money was provided fcr them to goto school another year. We pray that what they leam will be used to share the gospelwith others long after we cannot go anymore,

Bing Lungi Brother Shen reports that the Church has split over personality problemsand money. There was not much money to begin with but it is "the love of money" thatcauses the trouble. So now the Christian community of around 30 are meeting in twoplaces - one where heroin is retailedc Brother Shen says that some people are continuing to meet in his house and that he is making evangelistic trips to neighboring

Forwarding Agent:Linda GoerkeR.R. 1.King City, Missouri 64463

villages* He reports that he had about 300 peaches growing on one tree (this is thefirst year that it has bom) and that he was selling them for 50 cents (U*S.) apiece*He also has 80 little peach trees in his nursery and is selling the trees for $5 apiece*

Mai Naam Khongi This is the last village we lived in* It now has a one-way car roadto it which Tom Love says is the worst he has ever seen - even worse than the Bing Lungroad* I can't wait to see ito The work there has really blossomed* 13 more Chinesehave been baptised, A Lahu/Chinese Bible school haa been held with good results*Robert and Eugene Morse have been spending some time there and the Love's are livingthere again* The lahu Christians have built a house for visiting missionaries to livein and are now building a two story Christian Center* This will be used for short -term Bible schools.

School Teacher: The Lord willing B, J, Thomas will be coming to Thailand to teach ourchildren, Jonathan, Nathan, and Saurah* Actually B, J* is Betty J, Thomas from NewMexico, an ardent student of the Bible and a qualified teacher. Pray for her as shemakes preperations to go to Thailand,

We have had a good furlough. We have enjoyed teaching and speaking in five Bible~coliegesi~ attending-and—speakiTig-at bwo of our'lurotherhood's conventions, speaking in —

many Churches and visiting with many wonderful Christian people* We have put on weightwith the wonderful food suid grown spiritually stronger with the fellowship* We havehad relaxing times and enjoyed spending time with our families* Thank you. Chuck, fortaking ray dad and me turkey hunting* Thank all of you who put us up and fed us* Oneof our most exciting experiences waL; being involved in our home church's first faithpromise program* We set a goal for $5,000 but that goal was fax surpassed by a pledgedover $25,000! This is over and above the regular church budget. We know the Lord isreally going to start working in this congregation.

We have recently heaird that the Thai government has dropped the 10^ yearly reductionrate - a plan to get rid of all the missionaries over the next 10 year period* Thereare also limited but new opportunities for NEW missionaries to enter the field. Thesechanges are certainly answers to prayers, "I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are inpossitions, that we might lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful inevery way," (l Tim, 2:1,2)

Tom Love writes, "I am anxious for you to get back," That goes for us too! Weanticipate writing to you the next time from Thailand with more information and newsof a new Bemo, Thank you again, and may God bless you,

:ours In His Service

Formosa Christian Mission Non-Profit Organization% Mrs* Linda Goerke U.S. POSTAGER.R. 1 Box 115 PAIDKing City, Mo, 64463 King City, Mo* 64463

PERMIT No. 4

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

MISSION SERVICESRSSN, MBOK 2427KNOKVILLE TN 37901

CHIANSMAIDEC

Jêmo^3 Sojourning^d in Tjhailand6 1983

August 23, 1983

"By faith they sojourned in the land....looking forward to a city which has foundations,

whose builder and maker is God."

HEB. 11:8-10



Dear Co-workers,

The last time we wrote we were just getting ready to leave Oklahoma for the West Coast. We did drive our vanout of Muskogee on June 25th believing that our visa would be in when we got to Los Angeles. After stopping tosee Virginia Hazlewood, Betty Thomas (the kid's school teacher for this year) and the Grand Canyon we arrived inL.A. on the afternoon of the 28th. We called the Thai Consulate only to find that approval for our special visahad not yet arrived from Bangkok. We were graciously put up by the Floyd Joneses and Pacific ChristianCollege till we finally did get the visa on July 5th.

We slopped in Hawaii for two days to see a Bible training School Beth was interested in and then went on toTaiwan for nearly a week. It just so happened that the island-wide missionary conference was being held atMorrison, the Christian boarding school Beth and Becky are attending, the week we were there. Janet, Beth, andI were able to visit a lot of old friends while Becky was able to gel aquainted with the campus and new friends.Originally we had planned on taking the two older girls on to Thailand with us for the rest of the summer and thenlet them go back to Taiwan at the beginning of the school year by themselves. Because it was just going to be amonth till school started though, we thought it a better use of God's money for them to stay there. So with part ofour lives missing we came on to Thailand. Their address is: Morrison Academy, Box 24-27, Taichung 400,Taiwan R.O.C.

Time has gone by so fast since then. We have been here about a month and have really gotten around in thislength of time. We have been on five trips and into seven villages. We have been able to get a pretty good idea ofwhat is going on in all the Chinese villages since we have been gone. On a whole things are very good and evenwhat appears to be bad will work out to God's ultimate glory and the Church's good. To illustrate this I will tellyou briefly of the Binglung situation: There are three families who split off from the Church to start a new Chur

ch. They bought a piece of land for 5,000 Baht ($250)-for a Church building and told everybody they had backingfrom some Christian group in Singapore. In this way they tried to entice everybody to come over to their side. Iam calling them the "gang of three." ("gang", in Chinese is a common name for a group of people who are doingsomething against the welfare of the people or the government.) The "preacher" of the group is preaching on"The Mysteries of the Bible." What he preaches is so mysterious it isn't even found in the Bible. I think he gelshis revelations when he smokes opium. One statement he made was, "The Bible is only one small book. There ismuch more revelation in the world than that." Both the other two families sell opium or heroin in their housesand the man of one family is a terrible heroin addict. I guess we should call them "The Opium Church." I hadbeen praying that these three families would be disciplined from the Church and it looks like that has happened,though it was not in a way we had immagined. The last time we were up there around twenty people were at church services at the previous place under brother Shen's leadership. This "gang of three" seldom came to servicesanyway. Now this older and bigger group have also bought a piece of land for 7,000 Baht ($350) and also planningon building a Church building with our help. We are also planning on building a house there so we can live therefor at least a year. We hope to move up there as soon as Janet and baby are able to make the move.

We have had some really fantastic trips. We've had to use the winch several times and on three trips we have beenable to help other people get unstuck. One Thai we helped was converted on the spot. He was lifting his handsand saying, "Praise Jesus! Praise God!"

We are living with the Love family. We have divided this large house into two halves so we still have someprivacy. So far we have had no problems and do not anticipate any. Tom and I are able to work together wellwithout being a threat to each other. We each have our own field of service and accept each other's advice andhelp. I attribute this arrangement to the work of God - - the fruits of His spirit in our lives.

All of us have been very well in every way until just the last few days, we have come down with a viral infectioncalled dengue fever. It has affected all of us in different ways. Janet, Sarah, and 1 have had a fever, headaches,and achiness. I have had the added joy of diahrea. I have been down for over a week, but feel much better thisevening. It has been kind of hard to be confined when there is so much to do. On the other hand there are a lotof things 1 needed to get done around this desk too.

Janet and I just went to see the Obstetrician today and she says mother and baby are fine, and that the baby is duearound the end of September. We probably won't write again until we have some news on this event. Until then,we'd appreciate your prayers and are anxious to hear from you too concerning the Lord's working in your lives.Let's encourage one another untill the day of His apearing.

In Jesus,

Formosa Christian Mission Non-Profit Organization% Mrs. Linda Goerke U.S. POSTAGER.R, 1 Box 115 PAIDKing City, Mo. 64463 King City, Mo. 64463

PERMIT No. 4


|w|

MISSION SERVICES flSSN. MBOX 2427KHOXVILLE TH 37901

\

dec 6 1983

Ijlte (BemoÂ Soj-ourninÂ in Tjkailand

Dear Co-Workers,

"By faith they sojourned in the landlooking forward to a city which has foundations,


HEB. 11:8-10


November 3, 1983

The biggest happy event that has happened around here since we last wrote is the arrival of Rachel Renelle,our fourth daughter. She was born at 4:04 a.m. on Oct. 12th. She weighed II 1/2 lbs. 1 think she is thebiggest on record at the hospital for a natural birth. Janet had an easy birth - the baby was born an hour anda half after Janet woke me and 1/2 hour after we got to the hospital. The nurse on duty and I delivered thebaby. We think she looks a lot like Becky. Renelle is named after two great saints in the Lord - her grandparents, Warren & Isabel (le) Dittemore.

We have almost daily been grateful to our Heavenly Father for the privilege of being missionaries inThailand, as undeserving as we are. We are also thankful to you, our financial and prayer supporters. I amespecially thankful to be here today because I have just witnessed a wonderful thing. The last time I went toBiang Luang I brought an eight year old girl named Sheng Mei back with me who had a hare lip. Yesterdayshe was operated on and I was allowed to watch the operation. 1 could see her transformed before my eyes. Iwas not doing anything myself but I know that because God put me here He had made it possible for this girlto get this operation. Her whole family is very interested in hearing about Jesus because of this. Her parentshad always dressed her and cut her hair short like a boy's. She always was a beautiful girl inside and now isoutside too. She was operated on at McKean Christian Leaprousy hospital and therefore her bill as ofpresent is only US $19. Praise the Lord! She still has two more surgeries before she is finished - one on hernose and another on her pallet.

On September 3rd Betty Thomas arrived to teach the Children and School started on the 6th. So beforeBetty really got over jetlag she was into a heavy schedule. She usually gets classroom work done from 8:30 to12:30. The Children have home work to do and she often teaches English to Chinese in the afternoons andevenings. We are really happy to have her in our family.

Mipho: Brother Chen came down one evening to ask for help. What would you do with this request? Hesaid that his daughter had run away with a boy ~ eloped!! The non-Christian tribal way is to "steal" a girl.A go-between is sent to notify the girl's parents. They have to pretend to be angry even if they are not. Theynegotiate a "fine" which usually may be thought of as a bride price. This fine may be so many pigs, so muchmoney or demanding that the couple come back to the girl's parents home for the boy to work for a year oftwo in payment. There is no wedding ceremony. Brother Chen wanted to know what he should do about it.He said, "The whole village is upset and wants to know how Christians are supposed to handle matters ofcourting, and matrimony. We went for two days to discuss and come to terms about the Christian waythrough God's Word. A short summary of what we concluded is that if a boy kidnaps a girl in the non-Christian fashion, the girl's parents, even though Christians, must use the non-Christian way of negotiating —even to the point of demanding double bride-price since the girl is a Christian. The Christian way is that (1)young people should be allowed to get to know each other at home and in Church activities (since there is nodating in this culture and young people are not permitted to talk to each other, this forces them to sneak offand communicate in places where they are subjected to temptation), (2) The boy should send a go-between toask for the girl's hand in marriage before taking her. It is not disgraceful to give your daughter in marriageto a good man., (3) There should be a wedding ceremony, (4) A bride price is appropriate for Christians tooif done properly. Jesus gave His own blood to buy His Bride, the Church.

>v

Some of the Christians in the four villages on Mipho mountain are wanting to move to a new location tomake a Christian village. They said, "In this way we can really show the rest of the people how God meantpeople to live. We can be the light of the world that God want's us to be." They have asked us to help themwith the water supply. This can be done by building a couple of water resevoirs and laying about twokilometers of 3/4" plastic pipe.

Piangluang: We are trying to concentrate most of our effort and prayers in this village. The last time Iwas there a lady had been murdered, a man was beaten and a girl raped. I have made several trips there andhave done a lot of teaching from house to house and in public. One more family has stopped planting opiumand another says they want to stop. They have requested help in planting vegetables so 1 have supplied themwith seeds, prayers, sprays, fertilizer, and what little technology I know. The most encouraging thing aboutPianglung is that the last time we were there one local Christian confessed and repented of sin on his kneeswith tears. The road to Piangluang is still bad as the rainy season is lasting longer this year. It is impassablewithout using the wench.

The Loves and we had 6 Bible college students up for their midterm break to work with us. This wa.s achance for us to get to know each other so we could decide if we wanted to work together on an internshipbasis for a year after they graduate next year. The l.hree that worked with me in Mipho and Piangluang weregreat and we have given them a formal invitation to come.

We constantly have a flow of Chinese coming through our home with some kind of need or another. Rightnow we have two amputees living here and yesterday one 1 visited in the hospital asked if he could come tostay with us when he gets out. All three of these have lost limbs because of land-mine explosions when theywere in the guerilla forces. Jesuss said, "Give when you are asked to give." Pray for us as we consider howto minister to these people.

Again we are thanking God and you for being able to work in God's Kingdom here. Pray for us —especially for Piangluang.

Yours In Jesus,

The Bemo Family

P.S. From Linda:

Please forgive the delay in getting these newsletters mailed. Due to my inexperience in operating the com-madore computer and not being able to find someone close to help me with it 1 have had several problems.Hopefully these have now been solved and things will run more smoothly from now on.

Thank You.

Formosa Christian Mission% Mrs, Linda GoerkeR.R. 1 Box 115King City, Mo, 6lf463


Non-Profit Organizationa.S, POSTAGE

PAID

King City, Mo, 64463PERMIT No, 4

APR 6 1984

T)lte Metno^d Soj-ourning,3 in ZJltailand

Dear Co-Workers,

"By faith they sojourned in the landlooking forward to a city which has foundations,


HEB. 11:8-10

Aian and Janet BemoBox 180Chiangmai, Thailand


Nov., 1983 to March, 1984

I apologize for not having written for so long. I am praying the Lord will help me write this newsletter so youcan know what has been going on during these past five months. It really has been that long?!

November and December were spent in the usual way of making trips to different villages. We got stuck onone trip and had to spend the night on the road. 1 spent two weeks in Mipo putting in a water project which costaround $2,500. Christmas time was exciting because our daughters, Beth and Becky, were home from boardingschool and there were seven people baptised in Piang Luang. Also mom Dittemore came over for a three month visitstarting on December 5th.

In January we started making final preperations to make a permanent move to Piang Luang. We had beenmaking plans to build a house up there but construction was not yet started. The Church had bought a very nice pieceof property and we decided to pay for the construction of a "parsonage" on it. We had to move into the upstairs ofBrother Shen's house until completion of building. We are still living there now and it looks like we will be till the endof this month. So far we have spent around $3,000 on the building, It is a wooden frame house with adobe brickwalls and dirt floor. The frame and roof are up, the bricks made, and the window and doors are being made.

Why a house in Piang Luang? Piang Luang is in a strategic location in the Muang Heng valley. There areactually five Chinese villages, this being the biggest and in the center. In this valley are over 300 Chinese families(12 of which are Christian) 350 Shan families (no Christians) 1,500 Northern Thai families (one Christian) 60 Karentribal families (12 Christian) and 40 Lisu tribal families (12 Christian). We have invited two young men and a younglady to come to work with us on a year's internship. One young man, Brother Hsiong, is a student from the ChineseBaptist Bible college in Bangkok and speaks Chinese, Lisu, and Shan. Another student is from Chiangmai BibleInstitute and speaks Karen, Thai, and Northern Thai. The girl. Sister Chen, speaks Chinese and Burmese which isvery helpful because many of these people were educated in Burmese. So the plan is for the house to be used as abase to reach this whole valley with the Gospel. It is an optomistic plan but it will only be accomplished with God'sblessing. Please support this verture with continued prayer.

Special Christmas with all the children and Mom

Bemo 'i' house going up

In January there was some excitement in Mae Naam Knun, the village where the Love's live. I will quote Tom sletter here: "Fhdo};, Januar\; 13th started out like any other doy in the village. After breakfast / went over to our newhouse to continue work with the ten or so villagers who had turned out to help that day. T/iey were all busili^ involvedin various tasks and I was up on the roof pounding nails. Suddenly without warning we heard the sounds of automaticweapons fire coming from another part of the village. As I looked up from what I was doing I saw the ridge surroundingthe village lined with soldiers and I realized that there was real trouble brewing. As the second round of shooting startedI was already on the ground trying to think of what 1should do next as it came so unexpectedly and I was totallyunpreparedfor if." To try to make the story as short as possible a different commandertook over the village by force.One person was killed and four wounded. The Love's were not endangered and were of service in many ways. Thevburied the dead man, took the wounded to the hospital, and transported Thai officials who came to negotiate asettlement. Now things have seemed to return to normal and the work of the Church continues to grow. We praiseGod that we were able to attend the dedication of their Church building on February 19th. To keep up on the workhere among the Chinese 1suggest you subscribe for the Love's newsletter. Just write to Tom Love, Box 180, Chiangmai,Thailand (we use the same box).

Just exactly during the three days we were in Mae Naam Khun for the Church dedication, the Thai airforcebombed opium fields and heroine factories near Piang Luang. When we pulled into the village people on the streetasked us, "Aren't you afriad to come back to the village now?" I had no idea the bombing had taken place. We wereasked to come in and talk to the field commander there. One of the questions asked us was, "how is it that you happened to be gone during these three days?" I do not believe we are under any kind of suspicion but we must continuallybe careful to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified.

While we have been in Piang Luang there has been one teacher who has become a believer. We have hadmany chances to witness and teach. Recently one sixty year old believer who is a widow died. Usually bodies lie instate in their homes until the time of burial. However, Mrs. Chi had been taken to the local hospital and died there.When they brought the body back home the landlord would not let them in (it was a rented house). There they werewith no place to take the body. Even her brother would not let her to be taken to his place. 1was gone that day butthe Christians were sure 1 wouldn't mind if she could be put in our house, even though it was not finished. This isunheard of - a dead body of another household taken to your new house that has not been lived in yet. I returnedthe next day. 1was happy about it all. We had a funeral and many were touched by the whole thing. 1had laryngitisbut Tom Love went with me to preach the main message. It was the best opportunity to preach the gospel that hasever been had in Piang Luang.

There are many other things 1could have written about and 1could have gone into more detail on what 1didwrite. I pray that this is sufficient for you to be interested in what is going on here and to pray intelligently for the work.I feel that Janet and I are at the point of greatest opportunity of our lives to serve Jesus. Certainly God is able to leadus in HIS victories. We need your prayers for it ail to work together for good.

Seven who were baptized in Piang Luang

Formosa Christian Mission

% Mrs, Linda GoerkeR.R. 1 Box 115King City, Mo, 6^63

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED MISSION SERVICES RSSN, MWSii 2427KNOXVILLE in 37901

Yours In Jesus,

The Bemo Family

Non-profit OrganizationU.S. POSTAGE

PAID

King City, Mo, 64463PERMIT No, 4

Documents

Bemo Alan Janet 1983 Thailand