JUL

CHlANOMAt

5 1983

T)ke i^emo^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.

Alan and Janet Bemo

Box 180

Chiangmai, Thailand

11:8-10

Forwarding Agent:
Linda Goerke

R.R. 1.
King City, Missouri

64463

January - June 1983

Dear Co-Workers,

This year has ?one by so fast and

now we are making last minute preperations

to leave.

We are expecting a call any day

saying that our visas have come through so

we can leave on June 15th as scheduled. By
the time you get this letter we should be
gone.

We are planning on stopping over in Taiwan

and Hong Kong for a few days to see our

brethren there and investigate the poss

ibility of getting some video tapes in
Chinese to take to Thailand, We should be
in Thailand by the end of June. Beth and

Becky are planning on going to school in

'''halwii,;-. -

the same Christian boarding

school Beth went to the year before last.

We are looking forward to getting to Thai

land and visiting the places we have worked
in and getting caught up on what is going
on.

Chuck Carhart, Dad and Me with turkeys

We probably won't be moving to a village until late in the year as WE ARE EXPECTING OUR

SIXTH CHILD SOMETIME NEAR THE END OF SEPTEMBER,

We have been wanting another child for

years 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 up
date from news we have heard from Thailand:

Mi Po: Fruit trees are really growing. "You won't recognise the place." Brother Chen
too 500 kilos of peaches to the market this year. The three teen-agers came back from
a years schooling which we helped them with. Their parents expressed satisfaction for

what they had learned in general and about the Bible,

to school another year.

Money was provided fcr them to go

We pray that what they leam will be used to share the gospel

with others long after we cannot go anymore,

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

villages* He reports that he had about 300 peaches growing on one tree (this is the
first 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 road
to it which Tom Love says is the worst he has ever seen - even worse than the Bing Lung
road* I can't wait to see ito The work there has really blossomed* 13 more Chinese

have 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 living
there again* The lahu Christians have built a house for visiting missionaries to live
in 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 our
children, Jonathan, Nathan, and Saurah* Actually B, J* is Betty J, Thomas from New
Mexico, an ardent student of the Bible and a qualified teacher.
makes preperations to go to Thailand,

Pray for her as she

We have had a good furlough. We have enjoyed teaching and speaking in five Bible
~coliegesi~ attending-andspeakiTig-at bwo of our'lurotherhood's conventions, speaking in
many Churches and visiting with many wonderful Christian people* We have put on weight
with the wonderful food suid grown spiritually stronger with the fellowship* We have

had relaxing times and enjoyed spending time with our families* Thank you. Chuck, for
taking ray dad and me turkey hunting* Thank all of you who put us up and fed us* One
of our most exciting experiences waL; being involved in our home church's first faith

promise program* We set a goal for $5,000 but that goal was fax surpassed by a pledged
over $25,000! This is over and above the regular church budget. We know the Lord is
really going to start working in this congregation.
We have recently heaird that the Thai government has dropped the 10^ yearly reduction
rate - a plan to get rid of all the missionaries over the next 10 year period* There
are also limited but new opportunities for NEW missionaries to enter the field. These
changes are certainly answers to prayers, "I urge that supplications, prayers, inter
cessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in
possitions, that we might lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in

every way," (l Tim, 2:1,2)

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

:ours In His Service

Formosa Christian Mission

% Mrs* Linda Goerke
R.R. 1

Non-Profit Organization
U.S. POSTAGE

Box 115

PAID

King City, Mo, 64463

King City, Mo* 64463

PERMIT

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

MISSION SERVICES
RSSN, M
BOK 2427

KNOKVILLE TN 37901

No. 4

DEC

CHIANSMAI

6 1983

J^emo^3 Sojourning^d in Tjhailand

"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

Forwarding Agent:
Alan and Janet Bemo
Box 180

Linda Goerke

Chiangmai, Thailand

King City, Missouri

R.R. 1.

August 23, 1983

Dear Co-workers,

The last time we wrote we were just getting ready to leave Oklahoma for the West Coast. We did drive our van
out of Muskogee on June 25th believing that our visa would be in when we got to Los Angeles. After stopping to
see Virginia Hazlewood, Betty Thomas (the kid's school teacher for this year) and the Grand Canyon we arrived in
L.A. on the afternoon of the 28th. We called the Thai Consulate only to find that approval for our special visa

had not yet arrived from Bangkok.

We were graciously put up by the Floyd Joneses and Pacific Christian
College 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 to
Taiwan for nearly a week. It just so happened that the island-wide missionary conference was being held at
Morrison, the Christian boarding school Beth and Becky are attending, the week we were there. Janet, Beth, and
I 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 then
let them go back to Taiwan at the beginning of the school year by themselves. Because it was just going to be a
month till school started though, we thought it a better use of God's money for them to stay there. So with part of
our 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 this
length of time. We have been on five trips and into seven villages. We have been able to get a pretty good idea of
what is going on in all the Chinese villages since we have been gone. On a whole things are very good and even
what appears to be bad will work out to God's ultimate glory and the Church's good. To illustrate this I will tell
you 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 backing
from some Christian group in Singapore. In this way they tried to entice everybody to come over to their side. I
am calling them the "gang of three." ("gang", in Chinese is a common name for a group of people who are doing

something 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 gels
his revelations when he smokes opium. One statement he made was, "The Bible is only one small book. There is
much more revelation in the world than that." Both the other two families sell opium or heroin in their houses
and the man of one family is a terrible heroin addict. I guess we should call them "The Opium Church." I had

been 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 chur
ch services at the previous place under brother Shen's leadership. This "gang of three" seldom came to services
anyway. Now this older and bigger group have also bought a piece of land for 7,000 Baht ($350) and also planning
on building a Church building with our help. We are also planning on building a house there so we can live there
for 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 been
able to help other people get unstuck. One Thai we helped was converted on the spot. He was lifting his hands
and saying, "Praise Jesus! Praise God!"

64463

\
We are living with the Love family.
We have divided this large house into two halves so we still have some
privacy. So far we have had no problems and do not anticipate any. Tom and I are able to work together well
without being a threat to each other. We each have our own field of service and accept each other's advice and
help. 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 infection
called 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 this
evening. It has been kind of hard to be confined when there is so much to do. On the other hand there are a lot
of 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 due
around 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

% Mrs. Linda Goerke
R.R, 1

Non-Profit Organization
U.S. POSTAGE

Box 115

PAID

King City, Mo. 64463

King City, Mo. 64463

PERMIT

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

|w|

MISSION SERVICES flSSN. M

BOX 2427

KHOXVILLE TH 37901

No. 4

dec 6 1983

Ijlte (Bemo^A Soj-ournin^A in Tjkailand

"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 Bemo

Box 180

Chiangmai, Thailand

November 3, 1983
Dear Co-Workers,

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 the
biggest on record at the hospital for a natural birth. Janet had an easy birth - the baby was born an hour and
a half after Janet woke me and 1/2 hour after we got to the hospital. The nurse on duty and I delivered the

baby. We think she looks a lot like Becky. Renelle is named after two great saints in the Lord - her gran
dparents, Warren & Isabel (le) Dittemore.

We have almost daily been grateful to our Heavenly Father for the privilege of being missionaries in
Thailand, as undeserving as we are. We are also thankful to you, our financial and prayer supporters. I am
especially thankful to be here today because I have just witnessed a wonderful thing. The last time I went to
Biang Luang I brought an eight year old girl named Sheng Mei back with me who had a hare lip. Yesterday
she was operated on and I was allowed to watch the operation. 1 could see her transformed before my eyes. I
was not doing anything myself but I know that because God put me here He had made it possible for this girl
to get this operation. Her whole family is very interested in hearing about Jesus because of this. Her parents

had always dressed her and cut her hair short like a boy's. She always was a beautiful girl inside and now is
outside too. She was operated on at McKean Christian Leaprousy hospital and therefore her bill as of
present is only US $19. Praise the Lord! She still has two more surgeries before she is finished - one on her
nose and another on her pallet.

On September 3rd Betty Thomas arrived to teach the Children and School started on the 6th. So before
Betty really got over jetlag she was into a heavy schedule. She usually gets classroom work done from 8:30 to
12:30. The Children have home work to do and she often teaches English to Chinese in the afternoons and
evenings. 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? He
said 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. They
negotiate a "fine" which usually may be thought of as a bride price. This fine may be so many pigs, so much
money or demanding that the couple come back to the girl's parents home for the boy to work for a year of
two 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 of
courting, and matrimony. We went for two days to discuss and come to terms about the Christian way
through God's Word. A short summary of what we concluded is that if a boy kidnaps a girl in the nonChristian 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 no
dating in this culture and young people are not permitted to talk to each other, this forces them to sneak off
and communicate in places where they are subjected to temptation), (2) The boy should send a go-between to
ask for the girl's hand in marriage before taking her. It is not disgraceful to give your daughter in marriage
to a good man., (3) There should be a wedding ceremony, (4) A bride price is appropriate for Christians too
if 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 to
make a Christian village. They said, "In this way we can really show the rest of the people how God meant
people to live. We can be the light of the world that God want's us to be." They have asked us to help them

with the water supply. This can be done by building a couple of water resevoirs and laying about two
kilometers of 3/4" plastic pipe.
Piangluang: We are trying to concentrate most of our effort and prayers in this village. The last time I
was there a lady had been murdered, a man was beaten and a girl raped. I have made several trips there and
have done a lot of teaching from house to house and in public. One more family has stopped planting opium
and another says they want to stop. They have requested help in planting vegetables so 1 have supplied them
with seeds, prayers, sprays, fertilizer, and what little technology I know. The most encouraging thing about
Pianglung is that the last time we were there one local Christian confessed and repented of sin on his knees
with tears. The road to Piangluang is still bad as the rainy season is lasting longer this year. It is impassable
without using the wench.
The Loves and we had 6 Bible college students up for their midterm break to work with us. This wa.s a
chance for us to get to know each other so we could decide if we wanted to work together on an internship
basis for a year after they graduate next year. The l.hree that worked with me in Mipho and Piangluang were
great 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. Right
now we have two amputees living here and yesterday one 1 visited in the hospital asked if he could come to
stay with us when he gets out. All three of these have lost limbs because of land-mine explosions when they
were in the guerilla forces. Jesuss said, "Give when you are asked to give." Pray for us as we consider how
to 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 commadore 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 Goerke
R.R. 1
Box 115

King City, Mo, 6lf463

Non-Profit Organization
a.S, POSTAGE
PAID

King City, Mo, 64463

PERMIT

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

No, 4

APR

6 1984

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

"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

Forwarding Agent:
Aian and Janet Bemo
Box 180

Chiangmai, Thailand

Linda Goerke

R.R. 1.
King City, Missouri

Nov., 1983 to March, 1984

Dear Co-Workers,

I apologize for not having written for so long. I am praying the Lord will help me write this newsletter so you
can 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 on
one trip and had to spend the night on the road. 1 spent two weeks in Mipo putting in a water project which cost

around $2,500. Christmas time was exciting because our daughters, Beth and Becky, were home from boarding
school and there were seven people baptised in Piang Luang. Also mom Dittemore came over for a three month visit
starting on December 5th.

In January we started making final preperations to make a permanent move to Piang Luang. We had been
making plans to build a house up there but construction was not yet started. The Church had bought a very nice piece
of property and we decided to pay for the construction of a "parsonage" on it. We had to move into the upstairs of
Brother Shen's house until completion of building. We are still living there now and it looks like we will be till the end
of this month. So far we have spent around $3,000 on the building, It is a wooden frame house with adobe brick
walls 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 are
actually 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 Karen
tribal families (12 Christian) and 40 Lisu tribal families (12 Christian). We have invited two young men and a young
lady to come to work with us on a year's internship. One young man, Brother Hsiong, is a student from the Chinese
Baptist Bible college in Bangkok and speaks Chinese, Lisu, and Shan. Another student is from Chiangmai Bible
Institute and speaks Karen, Thai, and Northern Thai. The girl. Sister Chen, speaks Chinese and Burmese which is
very helpful because many of these people were educated in Burmese. So the plan is for the house to be used as a
base to reach this whole valley with the Gospel. It is an optomistic plan but it will only be accomplished with God's
blessing. Please support this verture with continued prayer.

Special Christmas with all the children and Mom

Bemo 'i' house going up

64463

In January there was some excitement in Mae Naam Knun, the village where the Love's live. I will quote Tom s
letter here: "Fhdo};, Januar\; 13th started out like any other doy in the village. After breakfast / went over to our new
house to continue work with the ten or so villagers who had turned out to help that day. T/iey were all busili^ involved
in various tasks and I was up on the roof pounding nails. Suddenly without warning we heard the sounds of automatic
weapons fire coming from another part of the village. As I looked up from what I was doing I saw the ridge surrounding
the village lined with soldiers and I realized that there was real trouble brewing. As the second round of shooting started
I was already on the ground trying to think of what 1 should do next as it came so unexpectedly and I was totally
unpreparedfor 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. Thev

buried the dead man, took the wounded to the hospital, and transported Thai officials who came to negotiate a
settlement. Now things have seemed to return to normal and the work of the Church continues to grow. We praise
God that we were able to attend the dedication of their Church building on February 19th. To keep up on the work

here 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 airforce
bombed opium fields and heroine factories near Piang Luang. When we pulled into the village people on the street
asked us, "Aren't you afriad to come back to the village now?" I had no idea the bombing had taken place. We were
asked to come in and talk to the field commander there. One of the questions asked us was, "how is it that you hap

pened to be gone during these three days?" I do not believe we are under any kind of suspicion but we must continually
be 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 had
many chances to witness and teach. Recently one sixty year old believer who is a widow died. Usually bodies lie in
state 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 were
with no place to take the body. Even her brother would not let her to be taken to his place. 1was gone that day but
the Christians were sure 1 wouldn't mind if she could be put in our house, even though it was not finished. This is

unheard of - a dead body of another household taken to your new house that has not been lived in yet. I returned
the next day. 1was happy about it all. We had a funeral and many were touched by the whole thing. 1had laryngitis
but Tom Love went with me to preach the main message. It was the best opportunity to preach the gospel that has
ever been had in Piang Luang.

There are many other things 1could have written about and 1could have gone into more detail on what 1 did
write. 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 lead
us in HIS victories. We need your prayers for it ail to work together for good.
Yours In Jesus,

The Bemo Family

Seven who were baptized in Piang Luang

Non-profit Organization

Formosa Christian Mission

U.S. POSTAGE

% Mrs, Linda Goerke

R.R. 1
Box 115

PAID

King City, Mo, 64463

King City, Mo, 6^63

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

PERMIT

MISSION SERVICES RSSN, M

WSii 2427

KNOXVILLE in 37901

No, 4