When God is calling to do His work, He requires faith in the things that are unseen, but He also provides His leading hand and shows everything that is needed to make these steps.
He is really blessing us with open opportunities to share about Him here in Northern Thailand! The evening school that started 2 years ago with 15 students has now around 50 children and more than 20 teens. Our Bible study group that started with a few girls has grown to 15 people. Sunday school grew as well, and more young children have started to come.
They come to practice singing, playing piano, guitar, and ukulele or to play and learn. Some come to do homework for school or just to sit and rest. They even come to cook, to teach and they come when they are tired, hungry or sick. They come after school by walking, on the school van, motorcycle or bicycle and bring their friends or parents, or come alone. They come twice a week, four times a week and some once a week and but many of them every single day.
People in the village are saying: “Children who go to Church are very different from other children, their grades are better, they are polite and very responsible!”
Here are a few blessings that our teens shared during last Bible study: “As I was preparing food this Sunday for our church lunch, I really worried that our rice would not be ready on time, as the church service was coming to the end; I prayed and asked God to help. At the time we had lunch everything was ready and nobody was left hungry!” Thank God!
“The Saturday we went to buy prizes for children, we parked our car and as we finished, we saw a policeman standing beside our car and writing a ticket. It turned out we parked in the wrong place. The policeman didn’t want to hear anything that we didn’t see the sign. Some of us are foreigners and don’t understand Thai – we got a ticket. Even worse than this was that we didn’t have any money to pay for it. Before going to the police station, we prayed to God, and He answered. At the police station, the officer was very nice to us and only asked us to write the first name of my parents and let us go, without paying anything. God is great!”
One time, when we were finishing our school with a Bible story about Daniel and how God saved him from hungry lions, we told the children that we are praying to the same God as Daniel prayed to. We encouraged the children to pray to this God when they are scared, sick or really need help. Suddenly we heard a loud question: How can I pray to God? What do I say? – a little boy asked, and many others were glad to hear the answer. “Our God is the Highest God, that’s why He can help!”
As we see, God is doing His work and He has invited us to be a part of it. Please pray for our wisdom in managing our time and raising this generation for Christ! We need your help.
Please pray for:
- For God to send the right people to serve with us in a short or long term. Would you like to come or would you like to support a volunteer to come?
- For our church building to stay strong till the time we will rebuild it. Because of the rain, wind, and insects our bamboo church has worn out.
- For our Sunday school building that we are preparing to build, for God to provide finances and people who can help in building.
- Please pray especially for our boys that they would grow stronger in faith to understand and apply the Scripture as the future leaders.
- Please pray for us, that God would give us wisdom and His guidance in every decision. That He would provide strength especially during the hot days.
We appreciate your prayers and support. May God richly bless you!
Ministry in “Avoda” Thai Pattana – San and Anita