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.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! God is doing a miracle: Schools are slowly starting to open, which gives some opportunity for children to get an education. “Please come and teach in our school “ – We receive requests from a few schools. For the next few months, we have an open door to teach English and one hour Bible in two schools. One of the requests came from the big school up in the mountains, where many children come from hill tribes. The principal wants us to teach in every classroom, from 1 to 9th-grade students.
They will get 2 hours of English lessons and 1 hour of Bible lessons. Can you imagine, students in all classes from 1st till 9th grade will hear the word of God. In each class, about 40 students! We are asking your earnest prayers for God to give us wisdom in reaching these children together with the teachers, who will be there. Please pray that nothing will stop this opportunity and for more people to join this ministry while doors are open. Will you join our goal in reaching children and teens with the Gospel in public schools? Would you like to pray about it? Would you like to donate to buy material for teaching? Would you like to come and join in teaching? May God bless you to fulfill whatever your answer is!
Dear Church, thank you very much for your faithful prayers and support! This young boy lives without parents but with family relatives, who do what they can to provide for his needs. This year is his first year in school, and he could witness that help comes from the Lord, because of your support we were able to make small sets with school supplies for children like this boy.
How was so happy by holding his first backpack! Other girls were happy to wear their dresses for church. Once again, they were able to witness that God cares and helps them. The group of children started to learn musical instruments, so they can participate during Sunday worship time. Their teachers – our youth, are passing their experience to the younger generation. What about musical instruments? We didn’t have enough to practice but God already took care of this too! During a children’s camp, funds were raised and we were able to buy an electrical keyboard, speaker, and microphones! Our help comes from the Lord! Now, these young children are praising God with others who come to church and lead worship time!
We are very thankful for George and Mary, who joined us in the ministry!! Thank you to everyone who was praying for this. This month especially we are expecting to meet our baby and God sent His help just in the tight time!!
Dear Church, we are very grateful for your earnest prayers and support, we believe that all this work is for building God’s Kingdom and bringing glory to Him!!
We believe that in God’s Kingdom there is no age limit to do His work, everyone has a responsibility to bear fruit!
One unique group in our church are ladies who are over 70, but it doesn’t stop them to ride a bicycle, work on the field or carry big baskets on their back. The blessing is to see their growing desire to learn/listen to the Bible, to memorize and share with others about our God. Together, we learned the main characteristics of God, using pictures for better memory, they were
even practicing writing Bible verses and memorizing in their tribal language and Thai. We learned how to share the Gospel using personal testimony or story and they were able to visit one elderly couple in another village, share their faith, and pray with them. The more we learn the Word of God the more changes are happening in our lives. “I am very sorry that before I didn’t know what is right before God and made a lot of mistakes, but now I know and am very thankful for the time we have together” – said one of the ladies. Recently we were able to purchase Children’s Bibles with pictures for them, this way is easier to remember stories and share them with grandchildren. Yes, we believe that children are the future of the country, but the elderly is the power behind them! Because of their prayers, God will continue to lead a young generation in the right way!
Thank you very much for your support in the ministry with the elderly!
May God bless you to be fruitful for Him at any age!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, thank you and praise the Lord for the Work He does here in Thailand.
Last month, by God’s grace we had an opportunity to have our children’s camp, which was such a big blessing and answered prayer! We had our older youth organize the program and have a chance to serve together. For some, it was the first time helping with children. Our topic was – focusing on God, seeing Him through creation, to listen what He says and does it, and talking to Him. God really blessed that time and children had many questions about faith and were not shy to ask. Please pray for these children as they continue coming to church and grow in their faith.
Brick by brick our Sunday school building is growing. As I wrote before, that two months ago because of strong rains, our bamboo shelter fell. The shelter was serving as a classroom for our Sunday and evening school for different ages and activities.
Thank God nobody got hurt, because it happened during the night, and only in the morning did we see this picture. Praise God for every donation, we were able to put the foundation, roof, purchase bricks, and windows for two small rooms that will serve as a storage room to keep all the school material and another for the office.
Thank God for His provision. We are planning to start evening school next month and are very grateful for the roof and strong foundation that we have, but we still need to buy bricks for the best part of the building – $450, put windows and doors – $600, put electricity with lights and fans – 400, and buy a few tables and chairs or mats to sit on the floor, One table $60, mat $7-10 We are very grateful for every donation and prayer, and if God will encourage you to participate in any of these needs, it will be a big blessing in reaching unreached with the Gospel and guiding them to grow in faith.
