Jesus Film

Quite a lot has happened in the last week or two, since the last post. 

As I had mentioned before we were trying to get a Jesus film showing up and running, we have had two opportunities to show the film now. Last Sunday we were invited to visit a local Karen Church and the Pastors son has a film showing ministry, not really what you would expect. Any way Pastor Eric has worked with this man is the past and has been working with him to get this ministry going now that the Lord has provided transportation. He is a Thai Karen man serving in the Thai army so he has access to many of the remote villages, and being his father is a Pastor everyone already knows him, really a connection of the Lord. Upon arriving for church, about thirty minutes early the family and I were introduced and then he invited Eric and I to show the Jesus film later that night, about one hour further into the mountains from the church. It was a neat time of fellowship and getting to know this new brother. Once we arrived I was asked to share a word of encouragement to the existing body of believers, about ten, and then we were to share the film. About 20-30 people showed up and heard and saw the Gospel in their own language, Praise the Lord. 

This Sunday evening we journeyed back further up the mountain from my house, where we had scheduled a film showing the week before. As we arrived in the village we could hear the local church starting their Worship service, and were directed to the church to join. Talk about the timing of the Lord! Pastor Eric was asked to share from the Word as an encouragement to the Body, again about 10 people. After church we spent some time with the Pastor in his home while we waited for the sun to drop behind the mountains so we could begin. Many people showed up to see this movie, I would say between 30 and 50 including children heard the Gospel last night. What an exciting time here in Northern Thailand, please continue to pray for this area of ministry, also as we join forces with our Karen friend that our styles mold well.

It is now cold season here in Thailand and it gets fairly cold. We are only in about the third week and it is already down to the high 50's at night. It is beautiful during the day though mid 80's. Who would have thought it is actually cold here? I guess it will get much colder but we will see. 

This past week was Loy Gratong festival, a Buddhist holiday in which one can ask, basically, "mother earth" to be forgiven of their sins. This was a great opportunity to minister as there were so many people gathered together, we used it to pass out tracks. One night we passed out almost 300. It was really neat to watch people stop what they were doing and read the track. One man stands out; As I was handing him the track he was very reluctant to accept it. He instead aligned himself with me so as to read the heading better. After reading the heading, "THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY" in Thai he accepted the track and stood and read it, I traveled on down the path. There were many shops along the way so the going was slow. This man of about 40 caught up to me and thanked me with a huge smile on his face, then continued on his way also. About half an hour later we crossed paths again and he made sure I saw him, still carrying that huge smile. That was a real blessing to see the change in this man, whether he was encouraged or believed in the Lord for the first time only he and God knows but there was definitely a change. This is just one story of several similar.

Our Friday Bible study, now held on Saturday, is going well. We have lost a few of the original students but have gained several more, there are usually about ten youth 12-18 and one adult. Two weeks ago we showed the Jesus film in Thai to them, this puts the teachings of Pastor Eric and I into visual form and enforces them as well. Please pray diligently for this group of youths salvation, they have heard and will continue to hear as long as we are entrusted with them. 

On a family note, the boys are starting to really enjoy schooling at the public school. They are still working on the Thai alphabet. Sarah is doing really well in teaching English and the school has doubled the number of students since classes began. This is the biggest area of ministry, many lives are being touched through this opportunity. Most of the kids that show up for Saturday Bible study come from this school. We get the chance not only to minister to the students, but also to the other staff members and the parents of the students. We as a family and a team (including the Johansens) spend alot of time either at the school or with the staff or students. The Lord is really doing something here so please pray. We just traveled further North to Myanmar for our visas. Following are some pictures. (top: film showing, some new friends and us, Family photo on the border)

Prayer Requests: 

Spiritual Awakening for Thailand

Family Growth in Grace

Kids Schooling

Sarah's English Class

The Lord's Provision