Flash Forward

There is yet one post in the "Catching up" fashion, however we would hate to be catching up forever! We just wanted to share quickly about two Fridays ago. As we continue to partner in growing Patong International Fellowship, a mostly English speaking congregation, we began to think about the other Ethnicities that live in the area. Here in Patong we are surrounded with many different people groups from South East Asia. We have Vietnamese, Filipino, Cambodian, Laos, Myanmar (Burmese), and of course Thai. Our ministry has really been strictly to English speakers as that is all we can effectively share with, and definitely the only group we would be able to teach and tend to on a more regular basis. So in the course of thinking and praying about how to reach these other groups, we rested on going with what we know, Burmese it is. We have, as most of you know, been ministering both with and to the different tribes from Burma for several years now, and thus have many contacts within the Burmese Christian community. Even some that are free to translate! As a team we (PIF) prayed about doing an outreach to the local Burmese community. We spoke with Pastor Ehkhaw from Calvary Chapel Ban Nam Khem, where we used to live, and he came with a small team to assist. Due to the strict work schedules these dear people hold we decided on holding two, one at 7pm and one at 11pm. This allows those that work regular jobs to come and be reached without having to stay out all night. The rest mostly shop workers could join when they were off work around 11. We prepared for 100 people between the two services and ended up with about 70, Praise the Lord. The outreach consisted of several "Gospel" songs, songs that preach the Gospel, the Gospel, and then a nice meal. As we prepared for the event we were so blessed to have a local business owner donate 20 kilos of fish for the feeding. What a blessing that was to be able to give tuna and sea bass, both of which are beyond most peoples budget, along with chicken, vegetables, and fish sauce. The fish sauce is a cultural dish that cannot really be explained, but if you have ever been here you know what I am talking about. Joe was blessed by the opportunity to share the message both services. The first we ended up with only 1 non-believer while the second was split about 50/50. The whole evening was a huge blessing and actually ended about 2 hours after scheduled, nearly 4am. We have a young Burmese man, Zarni, that will be joining us for the month of November to assist in tending to the group of both believers and non-believers that showed interest in going further. There were about 6 Burmese Christians that have no fellowship to attend and roughly 4 non-believers that heard the Gospel and want to learn more about Jesus and Christianity. Please pray for this all month as you remember, if we can get a group started, Dec we will begin formal services at Patong International Fellowship. We are also hosting a World Race team of 6 girls this November, more info to come on that later.

Nelson Kids Clownin around

Stuff for the Kids

Joe and Pastor Ehkaw sharing the Gospel

Food and good Fellowship