To all my
friends, family, and partners in ministry, please take a moment and read this
prayer request and then we would ask that you pray for me in a special way as I
finish preparing to share God’s Word with our church family here in Northern
Thailand on the subject of “sanctifying Christ as Lord in our hearts” from 1
Peter 3:15-16. The whole passage reads this way, “but sanctify Christ as Lord
in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you
to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and
reverence; 16 and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are
slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.”
This Sunday
is the first Sunday of the new year and I deeply desire to be more intentional
in this new year to join God in what He is doing here in people’s lives in and
around Northern Thailand where there is great darkness regarding the knowledge
of God. But even in the midst of millions who have never heard the message of
Jesus Christ, God is at work transforming peoples’ lives and equipping them to
join God in His great work of redemption and transformation.
As I am
writing this prayer request, I have taken a short break from my preparation of
the message I will share this Sunday from God’s Word. We want to ask you to go
before the throne of grace on our behalf and on behalf of all of those here in
Chiangrai, Thailand who will gather together as Baan Athitaan Church family
this Sunday. Our church family and the “audience” that will be hearing this
message is a very culturally diverse group of people from many different ethnic
people groups and countries. We can identify over 23 different people and
language groups that make up our church family, most of them from UPGs here in
Northern Thailand. Many of the people in our church family are the first
persons in their entire families to become followers of Jesus.
These new
followers of Jesus need to know what it means to “sanctify Christ as Lord in
their hearts.”
There are
many - do I dare say “all” = in our church who struggle with the pressure they
get from trying to live a God honoring life in the midst of a community where
99% of the people do not know Jesus as their personal Savior and who live out a
very different set of values and priorities in their lives and who come from a
very different religious framework of thinking than we who call ourselves
“followers of Jesus.”
Since we
are deeply committed to being a “community church,” welcoming everyone in our
community into the family of God, we also have a good number of missionaries
and expats who are involved in various ministries in Chaingrai who love Thai
people and want to be a part of helping them grow in the grace and knowledge of
our Lord Jesus. They also need to be encouraged and strengthened as well to
“sanctify Christ as Lord in their hearts” and to be encouraged to continue to
improve their walk with God and their partnership with God in His work in
Thailand and in neighboring countries.
I share all
this background to help you know how to better pray for us because we really
believe the Bible when it says, “the effective prayer of a righteous person
accomplishes much.” We also believe that part of our role before God is to encourage,
invite, and provide opportunities for you to join God in what He wants to do in
this part of His world.
God is
doing some amazing things here in Chiangrai and using your prayers, your
donations, your missionaries, and many, many different people... but we,
specifically as a Baan Athitaan Church family, desire to honor God and join Him
in what He is doing in this part of His world.
Please also
remember to pray for my translator this Sunday whom we all know here as Nong
“Bas” Marut
Thapthimthed Bas. He is currently a student from Mae Fah Luang
University and is from the largest unreached people group in Thailand, the
Central Thai people. He is the first person in his entire family to become a
follower of Jesus. We have been intentionally mentoring and investing our lives
in him for over 2 years now and he loves the Lord deeply and has become one of
our most respected and capable translators we have ever had.
He has now
grown to the place where we ask him to translate for our services about two
times a month. He does not get paid for this but sees this as one of the ways
he serves God and use his gifting and abilities to honor God and serve his
church family. This is what we call “natural Christian leadership training.” Please
remember to pray for this godly young man named “Bas” who will be translating
for me this Sunday.
Thank you
for your faithful prayers for us and for God’s work in and through Baan
Athitaan Church.
Until all
the people living in and around Northern Thailand have a chance to become
followers of the One True God and His Son Jesus Christ.
Michael
“For we do
not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your
bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.” 2 Corinthians 4:5
-----------------------------------------------------------
Financial support can be
given through NTIM....
Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM), P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 USA Main
Website: www.gontim.org
NTIM is a non-profit 501(c)(3)charitable organization based in the
USA. We are committed to connecting people in need with people who care and are
focused in the heart of Southeast Asia where poverty is high, education is low,
needs are great, unreached people groups (UPGs) are all around us, and the love
and message of Jesus is needed to transform lives.
Reaching, Teaching, Discipling, Equipping, Training, and Serving
People in God’s World through acts of love and compassionate is what NTIM and
our ministry team is all about.
No comments:
Post a Comment