
Do you ever feel like you just need a little more? A little more time, a little more money, a little more room…. The list goes on… Lately, I am feeling in need of a little more time. The days pass so quickly. It wasn’t too many weeks ago that we planted our rice fields …and now.. it’s time to harvest.
Yesterday was the first day of harvest at LTC. Students and faculty joined together to cut the rice stalks and lay them out to dry. In a few days they will return to the fields and tie the stalks into small bundles. Next month we will thresh the stalks. Each step is a back-breaking task. The students are tired and sore today and I don’t quite have the heart to make them work hard in class.
I am fortunate in that I get out of working in the fields. Back surgery can have its perks! But, while I am not in the fields cutting and threshing, the analogy is not lost on me. LTC’s mission statement says “preparing workers for the
Lord’s harvest.”
Yesterday was the first day of harvest at LTC. Students and faculty joined together to cut the rice stalks and lay them out to dry. In a few days they will return to the fields and tie the stalks into small bundles. Next month we will thresh the stalks. Each step is a back-breaking task. The students are tired and sore today and I don’t quite have the heart to make them work hard in class.
I am fortunate in that I get out of working in the fields. Back surgery can have its perks! But, while I am not in the fields cutting and threshing, the analogy is not lost on me. LTC’s mission statement says “preparing workers for the
Lord’s harvest.”

Prof Hawm teaches Bible Survey
Our purpose is to train and prepare preachers, teachers, and leaders for God’s Kingdom in Asia. So, as I watch the students work, I am drawn to reflect on this mandate.
There are so many good social projects happening in Thailand. Mission organizations are doing a great job establishing children’s homes, prison ministries, and all kinds of rescue ministries. But, in each one, the missionaries depend a great deal on the national workers. It is the national workers who are the ones that are in the trenches; teaching, preaching, rescuing, and mentoring.
And as I thought about that, it hit me again……just what it is that we are about at LTC. These students who sit in our classrooms today will be the ones who care for the orphans, preach to the prisoners, rescue the girls from sex trade industries, help rebuild broken families, plant churches, lead cell groups, and even… train the next generation.
It is a serious thing to prepare these young adults for they will carry great responsibilities.
There are so many good social projects happening in Thailand. Mission organizations are doing a great job establishing children’s homes, prison ministries, and all kinds of rescue ministries. But, in each one, the missionaries depend a great deal on the national workers. It is the national workers who are the ones that are in the trenches; teaching, preaching, rescuing, and mentoring.
And as I thought about that, it hit me again……just what it is that we are about at LTC. These students who sit in our classrooms today will be the ones who care for the orphans, preach to the prisoners, rescue the girls from sex trade industries, help rebuild broken families, plant churches, lead cell groups, and even… train the next generation.
It is a serious thing to prepare these young adults for they will carry great responsibilities.

Kathongs that are placed in the river
It is a serious thing to prepare these young adults for they will carry great responsibilities.
At the same time I was reflecting on all this, Thailand celebrated Loy Khathong. This holiday is when people make small boats, place a candle in the middle and send it down the river. The purpose is to ask the water spirits to carry away their sins and give them a fresh start for the new year. Saturday night the sky was filled with the lights of this ceremony.
There are so many who are searching for relief!
The end result is that today I am overwhelmed with the responsibility. It is easy to get lost in the enormity of the task and begin to spin our wheels. The Harvest is plentiful indeed and the workers are few. We need God’s help. We need His energy and focus.
I feel a greater motivation to work harder, be more careful, more strategic, more aware, more ready, more sensitive to God’s leading..……just more.
Will you pray with me. We need to pray for each other, for our churches, and our leaders. You can fill in the blank with your own need…. ….but let’s just pray….
Lord, help us… we need _________, just a little bit more.
At the same time I was reflecting on all this, Thailand celebrated Loy Khathong. This holiday is when people make small boats, place a candle in the middle and send it down the river. The purpose is to ask the water spirits to carry away their sins and give them a fresh start for the new year. Saturday night the sky was filled with the lights of this ceremony.
There are so many who are searching for relief!
The end result is that today I am overwhelmed with the responsibility. It is easy to get lost in the enormity of the task and begin to spin our wheels. The Harvest is plentiful indeed and the workers are few. We need God’s help. We need His energy and focus.
I feel a greater motivation to work harder, be more careful, more strategic, more aware, more ready, more sensitive to God’s leading..……just more.
Will you pray with me. We need to pray for each other, for our churches, and our leaders. You can fill in the blank with your own need…. ….but let’s just pray….
Lord, help us… we need _________, just a little bit more.