How many times have we prayed for God to help us find ways to reach adults? Our church is very young, and most attendees are children and youth. Grandparents and parents are happy to leave their children “under good care in a safe place.” They do see positive improvements in their children’s lives and are glad that they can learn. But what about their parents and grandparents? They are very strong in their beliefs and don’t see any reason why they need to change. This is where the student project “5 Loaves 2 Fish Bakery” began.
Older children need to provide for themselves to cover their personal needs, as well as help cover church expenses. A woman who attends our church was kicked out of her tribal community because she became a Christian. What could we do? We asked God and realized that we could use our limited skills in the bakery. We began baking and selling cookies, with children selling them to their classmates at school. Soon, we realized that we needed more people because orders exceeded what one person could handle.
Another woman, a single mother, joined our team, and a few days later, another mother with health issues who could no longer work in the fields became a part of our team. Those who were previously not open to hearing about Jesus now come for prayer and Bible reading every morning before baking. God opened opportunities to share the Gospel and improve their quality of life.
“I am so grateful that I can work in the morning and take care of my family in the evening!” said Mae Chong. “I am also grateful that I can work here and don’t need to go to another country or city to find a job to provide for my family.”
We had the opportunity to share the meaning behind our bakery’s name, “5 Loaves and 2 Fish,” and tell the story of Jesus’ miracle when He took something small and multiplied it. We believe that our God cares, unlike spirits that only want to harm and need to be appeased.
Our prayer and vision are to build a small bakery building where we can continue baking, as we are currently using our church’s kitchen, which serves many other purposes. A one-room building costs about $6,000. Yes, it sounds like a big number, but we believe our God cares! This ministry helps us reach adults and parents of our children, support widows, provide for our church, and help young people with their needs, as some grow up without parents.
If you would like to participate in any way, whether by praying, donating, or coming to share your baking skills and experience with our ladies while sharing the Gospel through this, we welcome you. For those who want to donate, please send your donation through New Fields Ministries, San and Anita, with the note “5 Loaves.” For those who want to pray, please pray for God to send the right person to teach us baking skills and for our ladies to get to know God and grow in Him.
Around 40 children have been coming to our church on Sundays! Last month, we had a day program in a public school up on the mountain. We sang songs, played games, shared the Gospel, and at the end invited them to come to church on Sunday. We didn’t expect more than 40 children to show up at our church that Sunday, with some walking over 2km (1.24 miles) to get there. We faced the challenge of not having enough chairs to sit on and plates for the Church lunch that we are having every Sunday. However, these were happy challenges that were quickly resolved. Now, our prayer is that we would plant a seed in these young hearts that will grow towards salvation. We are praying for the right people to come and join us here because our team is getting smaller as some of our youths finish school this year and move on.
We are grateful to God for the house for volunteers and missionaries that is in the process of being built up. Thank you to everyone who is participating in it! Together at this moment, we have roofs, walls, and windows. At this moment, we are working on putting in electricity and finishing the walls. We still need finances to buy doors, paint, and things for the bathroom and kitchen. If you would like to participate in this work, please join us. We believe God provides, and soon people who will come to serve here will have a nice place to stay. We call this house “Doulos house” – which means the bondservant of God.
The number of children continues to grow, so now there are about 100 people attending on Sundays! And around 50 who come during the week for evening programs. Please answer God’s calling if He is asking you to come, help financially, or pray!
May God richly bless every one of you!
San and Anita’s ministry in Thailand, with the Avoda Foundation.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, thank you very much for the thoughtfulness and care that you are showing through personal messages, prayers, and support. One of the main goals of our local church here is that we would know the Bible and would be able to provide any help to any person who is searching for it, physically and spiritually. We were looking for someone who can teach us and our youth how to help people with any issue they face with the Living Word of God. And God blessed us by sending on our way “Apollos” a dear brother in Christ and his team who do Biblical counseling ministry in Thailand and moreover lives a few hours from our place, that we didn’t even know about before!
A few weeks later we were able to host a seminar on addiction, where we learned, what the Bible says about it, and how can we help people with any kind of addiction. At the beginning of the next year, we are planning on taking the whole one-year course on Biblical counseling with our youth, so they would be able to help their friends, family members, and children that they serve. Please pray for this desire of 9 young people who would like to dedicate their time and effort to learn how to help people by guiding them with the Word of God! Please pray for the young man Poo, who is willing to get baptized in a few months, and for God to use him in reaching his family.
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” 1 Corinthians 6:3
This verse was a reminder and an encouragement for brothers and sisters in Christ who are ministering to people in this area of Thailand. Together with our team of volunteers we were able to organize a one-day seminar and invite local ministers, pastors, missionaries and youth leaders from different churches and ministries. Most of them serve God in their area and don’t have an opportunity to meet with each other. That’s why God has put on our hearts to prepare an event with the purpose to Encourage, Equip and Challenge.
We chose these relevant topics:
1.Ministry to hurting kids, how trauma impacts the kids we love and what to do about it
2. Using technology and the digital world in ministry
3. Success in ministry. How can you measure your success, what does the Bible say about it.
4. Using art, craft, drama, music in children’s ministry to strengthen their faith. It was truly an encouragement for everyone who came. We had time to learn and exchange ideas for the ministry and also time for fellowship and sharing meal together.
“I would like to say thank you for inviting me to the seminar. It was a big encouragement for me” – shared our sister in Christ who is taking care of the children ‘s house.
We are very grateful to God for sending us the whole team who put their hearts and time in making this event happen. It was truly a blessing and a big support in the ministry. Please pray for our youth camp that we are planning to have together with other churches in our area and for the right people who can help.
Thank you very much for your faithful prayers and support, may God richly bless everyone of 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.
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.
