Had coffee yesterday with a pastor from the tiny nation of Bhutan.  Bhutan is a strictly Buddhist nation which borders India and Nepal.  This pastor's entire family became Christians through a series of miraculous healings and miracles.  They have since planted churches in different regions of Bhutan. We are both looking forward to connecting and serving each other.

I was on a plane last month when I was surprised by an article about Bhutan's transition to democracy.  After a hundred years of monarchy, Bhutanese got to participate in their first democratic elections on March 24, 2008.  Eighty percent of the 600,000 population trekked to the polls to be part of history.  The most amazing aspect of it all was that the people did not want to part with monarchial rule as they loved their king deeply.  It was the king and his son who traveled the country for a year to persuade the people to vote for democracy, in effect booting them out!  The king's rationale was that "today, you have a good king.  What if the day comes when a bad king ascends the throne?"

Wow.  When was the last time a head of state exhibited such selfless leadership?  Maybe we can convince the king to move to the Philippines.

I am excited about Bhutan.  It's a new day.  My Bhutanese pastor friend is cautious about getting too excited and is adopting a wait-and-see attitude.  At any rate, it's a new season and a new reason to hope.  A new reason to plant a church.