I can’t even describe how great the need here is – the farther we go into the jungle, the more terrible the conditions are under which people live. There is a huge number of patients with AIDS, typhoid and tuberculosis, people with open wounds, twisted bones that were broken for many years, but did not heal properly. Bones are sticking out from under the bloody wounds, and are all wrapped up with one piece of torn and dirty rag, or worse, wrapped in an old greasy plastic bag on which flies crawl out – and this horrible smells of cadaverous, deadly stench, from which I literally had to put all my strength in order not to turn away. People are coughing up blood, their bellies are swollen, and worms are crawling inside their wounds. They lie and wait for death – on a dirty floor, on a dirty pillow, in a hut without windows, and fleas jump all over from ripped blanket.
To reach before them, we need to go through the mountain that are overgrown, deeper and deeper into the jungle. We go on foot for a prolonged time, this is the only way to reach them. Thank you to everyone who supports our medical trips financially and prayerfully! We are indebted to you.
This month was a time we thank God for the Avoda Foundation which has been in Thailand for 9 years. It was an encouragement to hear all the stories, how did it start, and the way God was leading leaders and helpers in five different projects.
Children come and some go, some stay, some visit, some continue walking with God, some are alongside serving in the ministry. Everyone’s story is very different. Since I moved to another part of Thailand a long time ago, I haven’t seen children that we worked with before. Looking back I remember the time we went to the slums, where the refugee families from Myanmar stayed and had to work hard. We talked to parents there and invited children to come to our evening school where we were teaching English and Bible, we also offered to pick them up for Sunday school. For a few days a week, an old car was driving and bringing children from nearby villages and slums for our evening program. I remember how we asked you to pray for us and for children who were there with us. Many of you who are reading this, did pray and God continued doing His work! You were there with us!! Your prayers and support helped us to go forward, to teach, clean, build, cook, take care, play, share God’s love with the hopeless…. In this part of the World. *Lily was one of many other children, who were always there and taught us a lot: how to be patient, show sincere kindness and care with her bouncy personality, that kept us busy. She was very young but understood our” language “even without an interpreter; she needed love and care and “Avoda” was the place she saw God’s love. Nine years passed, many things changed, many children grow up and stopped coming to church, some still come, as well as Lily this little girl, who grow up and I had a chance to meet her after 9 years!
The seed that was planted is growing and we continue to pray for her and other children to grow in faith. This story is one of the many stories that happened here for all these 9 years. You are a part of it! Thank you very much for your faithful support in expanding God’s kingdom and reaching the lost and hopeless.
I can’t even explain what God does during our short medical visits. On another trip, we were stopped by tribal warriors, armed in full ammunition with spears, bows, and arrows, and they delayed us for a whole hour.
People here live in extreme poverty and that breaks our hearts, repeatedly. We see the eyes of the blind. The eyes of the sick. The eyes of the poor, the widows, and orphans. The woman’s eyes, whose husband’s hand was cut off. The deaf, paralyzed, broken bones, and broken hearts all look at me. The white woman, of course, she knows. Certainly, she will help. In their eyes, I see pain, hope, and a desperate cry for someone who can tell them they are loved. They are found and not forgotten. And even if I can’t “fix” everyone and everything, in the end, ultimately, I can love them and I will. I will climb one more mountain. I will sit with them in the dust, in the mud, under the rain. Yes, we give food, medicine, and seeds, but the most that we give is the love and heart of Christ. Thank you to everyone who makes this possible!
Thank you very much for your participation in God’s work in Thailand! We are very grateful to God for the opportunities to see how the good news of Him changes many hearts and brings joy and hope to the hopeless. When God opened for us a door to teach English in public school, we asked the principal to give us one hour for Bible class with children to who we teach English. The principal and teachers agree. When our team came to teach, expected to see 20 – 40 students for Bible class, they were shocked; there were a little bit more than 200 students with their teachers! All of them were ready to listen. God multiplied it 10 times!
Every week more than 200 people can now, not only learn English for life but also hear the good news through Bible stories! After every lesson middle and high school children come and tell ” Thank you very much for coming to our school, thank you for telling stories about God; I really like these stories” All these happenings are only in one school! God opened the door in another school, where more than 80 children with their teachers have the same opportunity! Praise God for the freedom in this country and for the people who He sent us to help in this ministry.
Not only are young people in desperate need of the good news, but these elderly ladies are also glad to experience God’s love through our sisters in Christ who go to visit their house by house. Please pray with us for all these people who hear the Gospel, and the team who is sharing.
The coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. It is beautiful here, extraordinarily! Palana – a small town with a population of 4000 people, Kamchatka, on the west bank of the river Palany, not far from the confluence with the Sea Okhotsk. A port provides a connection for ships with fuel, food, and manufactured goods. There is an airport with a local airline, receiving planes and helicopters from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and district towns.
During the winter a road with a length of almost 311 miles from Palana can be driven to reach the villages Esso and Anavgay. To get to the nearest villages a helicopter or snowmobile is needed. The church in Palana has have been praying for this event for a long time. And now here’s to the first gospel trip with the Trakol ready to go! The distance to the village and back is 124 miles.
There is no road at all, only snowmobiles can pass through. With God’s help, we will be the first to use this technology to reach them. We checked the route in advance to know how to get there. We pray about this and ask God for protection and blessing!
On the weekends we were able to hold a youth convention from all our subsidiary’s churches. Over 100 people who were up to 20 years old gathered to worship the Lord together and study His Word. We were able to provide three meals a day and prizes for sports achievements, and thanks to your prayers, many of them used the time to repent. So happy to see the youth, who voluntarily got up at 4 am without reminders, for prayer and worship! Let the fire which they undoubtedly carry away to their villages, that will not fade, but will grow! Thanks to you, we were able to visit the tribal victims of the wars in the village of Atuka and Anditapa and evangelize.
We also blessed especially needy families who have lost literally everything – with shovels, axes, mattresses, and other necessary things to start life over from scratch. We saw many repentances. In that area, there are no evangelical churches, and people are very hungry for the Word of God, so we decided to send pastor Matthias and his family to live here permanently and minister here. Lord willing, we plan to buy a piece of land and start building a house of prayer in Atuka/Anditapa region in very soon.
