“Never stop learning because life never stops teaching!” With these encouraging words, we started our life skills school, where children come to learn life skills that will help them become more independent and grow in Christ-like character. At this moment, children are learning how to prepare meals in a rice cooker, take care of their bodies and clothes, and manage money, especially when they only have a few coins. There are more than 50 children from diverse backgrounds and family settings. They find joy in spending time together and feel cared for. They are also learning that developing good character is challenging on their own, but God is always there to assist them.
“Please allow my children to assist you in teaching, practicing their skills, and helping other children.” In other words, “I wish for my children to be around Christians!” This was a request from two families whose parents asked if their teenage daughter and son could join our team. They see the Church as a place where their teens can grow, learn, and make friends. The parents from both families are educated individuals, one of them still strongly identifying as a Buddhist. Thus, three young people have joined our team to teach life skills and learn about Christ. We are praying that their parents will join us as well.
One day, a non-believing lady from the village attended our church. Upon witnessing the teens singing and playing musical instruments, she expressed to her friend in disappointment, “Why doesn’t my daughter come to church? Look at how these young people are singing and appearing happy.” This stands as a powerful testimony for people to see that those who don’t merely follow rituals but believe in the Almighty God have a more blessed life.
A few months ago, during a baptism in our church, a young man was baptized. The non-Christian mother asked her daughter, “Why aren’t you getting baptized too?” Her daughter was surprised and glad to hear these words. Perhaps her mother could also bear witness to the changes in their family. Some years back, Jane* (name changed) endured much pain while growing up with her grandmother, yearning for her parents’ love as they worked far away in a distant city. She later learned of their separation plans, which brought even more pain. However, she prayed and asked us to pray, holding onto hope that her family would be reunited. God heard her, He saw her faith! Time passed, her parents reconciled, and they moved back to be with the family. Their family was reunited! God is real! She can testify how God worked in her life and how life with Him surpasses being on her own. Jane* decided to follow Jesus and was baptized last Sunday. We continue to pray for her parents to come to Christ, believing it will happen soon. Thank you for your prayers!
These are just a few testimonies of how God is working in hearts. Please join us in prayer to reach the adults, parents, and grandparents of our children, that they may recognize their personal need for Jesus as well. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. May God abundantly bless each one of you!
Ministry in Thailand – San and Anita (Avoda Foundation)
Avoda’s simple pick-up truck goes from one village to another, and as it stops, young boys with all their energy run to it with great joy. They are loud and happy, even though they come from two different tribes and speak different languages. They share the same goal and vision! What are they happy about? What unites them? They are going to play football, and soon they will have a competition where, of course, they dream of winning! 🙂 God has given us the opportunity to have a football ministry to reach young boys. Some of them come from very strong animist families who don’t allow them to participate in any church activities or hear about God, except for football. Practicing to play as one team, building their skills and character, learning about God in small group talks, and sharing snacks together brings them a lot of joy. It helps them see God as the one who cares, unlike the spirits that always want to harm them. God has truly blessed this ministry, and even though our boys had only one week to prepare for the competition, they placed third! One of our boys once said, “N’San, before I used to spend five hours a day playing games on my phone, and now I don’t have time for that. I need to practice football! You know, I feel happier now!” Please pray with us for God’s guidance in reaching Thai Sambun village. We need help, so please also pray for God to send the right people to join us in this mission. Thank you to everyone who is financially participating and helping in buying sports uniforms, providing snacks, and covering the cost of gasoline and other expenses.
Camp is another ministry that helps our youth grow and reach other children with their families. We were blessed with “The Incredible Race” day camp at our church, where we shared that no matter where we live, what shade of skin we have, or what language we speak, we are all part of the same race—the human race—and all part of the same family from Adam and Eve. We all need one Savior – Jesus Christ! About 50 children were able to join and experience a fun and learning atmosphere as we discovered where all these languages started, why we all look different, and had an opportunity to try snacks from different countries and learn how God made everyone unique, yet with the same need for the Savior! For many of them, this truth was new, but we believe that the seed will bear fruit at the right time. You can experience our camp ministry at the link below 🙂 Hope you enjoy watching it.
In October this year, we are planning to share this news with many other children and hold day camps with Burmese refugees and other people groups in Thailand. Please join us in prayer and financially to be able to cover all the needs. Also, please come and participate in those camps. This would be our Camp on Wheels 2023, where we will do camps for one month in a few different places in Thailand. Please pray that God would provide the right people for this year!
Thank you very much for your faithful support. May God richly bless you and strengthen your faith until our Lord comes!
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!
