James and Scarlet Milsaps

We are very fortunate and thankful that God has blessed our lives with truly amazing friends. Last night we were able to enjoy dinner with two of our favorite people-James and Scarlet Milsaps. This couple is doing completely awesome things for spreading the Word of God. Not only does this couple go on missions to third world countries, but they train others in discipleship as well.

James and Scarlet are currently living and working at the Youth With A Mission (YWAM)base in Cimarron, Colorado. They just got finished leading a Discipleship Training School (DTS) were they spent 3 months training five 19-year-olds for a outreach mission trip to Thailand and India. I'm not sure if any of you have ever tried to teach teenagers just out of high school, but it takes a lot of grace and love.

After training, James and Scarlet and five teenagers left for Thailand on December 2nd. Yesterday they shared their photos and experiences with us, and I tell you, God's hand was really on them in protection and love. They spent two months in Thailand which is primarily Buddhist. They were able to travel around Thailand doing several services for the Thai people. They went to the tsunami area and helped there. They were also able to teach English to a school for orphans from the tsunami.

They also went to an area that is being filled with refugees from Burma. There is a flood of children coming into Thailand whose parents were murdered as they tried to escape. The sad thing is that there is no funding or room for these children once they make it through their horrible trek. So the children are forced to live in the jungle and eat the scrapes the villagers are able to give (the villagers themselves have a hard time feeding their own families.) Even through all they've been through these children still had a face of hope in the pictures. The DTS team spent time there loving on the people and handed out blankets to the children.

They also helped a hill village clear the ground for a church. God has really opened the hearts of these people and several are being saved in villages throughout the area. The team spent a week digging up trees with rusty machetes and hoes, moving the dirt with sacks, and plowing it with a human plow the village had made. The pictures that they showed us made you tired just looking at them!

They were also able to visit a Christian orphanage that has 60 children and 2 twenty-something Thai women who take care of them. There were several children through the whole experience that James and Scarlet would've packed up and taken home in a minute. The need for families to take these little ones in is so great!

They worked at a Christian-owned smoothie shop on a university campus. A big 'wow' thing that they were able to do was go into a high school of 750 and speak about Christ. They were told they could do whatever they wanted and had two hours. So they did a concert for them and were able to witness to them about the power and love of Jesus. For most of the students it was the first time they had ever been told about Jesus.

Thailand for them was hard work, but very rewarding. They said the people were full of hope and smiles even with their situation. Scarlet was hit by a motorcycle and they thought she had broken her hand. God really had a protection around them, because she wasn't seriously injured and her hand healed within a week! (one of the top reasons for death in Thailand is by motorcycle!) With the Tsunami, God has really open the door for discipleship to Thailand, and James believes that harvest time is coming and Christianity is going to explode in that country!!!

After Thailand, they traveled to India were their strength in God was forcefully put to test. India is a country that the devil has buried deep roots of fear and hate. The country is made up of mostly Muslims and Hindus (who dislike each other intensely). The group was able to set up an English class with the help of a fulltime missionary there in the poorest part of the poorest part of the country. Every morning they would ride their bikes through the crazy, dangerous traffic to a unimaginably filthy slum. There is no plumbing, no electricity, no bathrooms. To get to the village they had to cross a river where the people dumped their trash, the poorly cremated remains of their dead (Scarlet said the riverbed was riddled with skulls and bones that didn't completely burn to ash), they defecate there, wash their clothing, bath, and play.

So many people wanted to participate in their English classes that they had to do an enrollment and lock the doors once the students were in or the crowd that waited outside every day would crowd into the room. The muslims thought that the team was only allowing hindus into the classes so they began to attack the group, threatening them with machetes. But God's grace intervened and the police arrived right in time to disperse the crowd. One of the girls on the team has blond hair with blue eyes, which is desired by the men in that area. So she had to be constantly watched and never left alone. The devil was vehemently attacking the pioneering they were doing, even so much so that they would be awaken in the night by demonic screams outside their windows. But the team persevered and overcame. Because of the month they spent in that one area, doors have been opened for more missions to go and teach and hearts will be softened to eventually hear the Word.

Now you can see why we feel so blessed to be able to call this wonderful couple our friends. They are an inspiration to us in our path, and we hope to one day be able to do a mission trip with them. We are so glad that God has blessed us so that we can help support them in God's work. If you want to learn more about what they do, visit the base's website at http://www.ywamcimarron.org. If you want to help them in their mission, please send a check to YWAM Cimarron, PO Box 158, Cimarron, CO 81220 (to write it off on your taxes, only put their name The Milsaps on the outside of the envelope, not on the check itself.)