Dear praying friends,
As I write this ministry update, my heart is full and
very happy. Last Saturday, I flew down to Bangkok To visit our second daughter
Liz Vaughn and her
husband Dallas and our newest granddaughter Mary Ella who made her entrance to our
world on December 18. WELCOME MARY ELLA. Here are a couple of pictures
of this precious Christmas gift. Hope was able to be with Liz and Dallas for
the past week to help with Mary Ella.
My first trip down to BKK was a quick one because we
had been planning a baptism at the church so I caught a flight early Sunday
morning (Dec 22) back to Chiangrai to perform and oversee the ceremony for 6
people. I was able to return to Bangkok and celebrate Christmas Eve and
Christmas Day with the family in Bangkok and Hope and I returned to Chiangrai the
evening of the 25th.
God is truly transforming lives and it has been so
incredible to be a part of reaching so many of the least reached people groups
in our world today.
Would you believe that all 6 people who were baptized
are from 6 very different people groups? Let that sink in. 6 baptisms with each
person representing a very different ethnolinguistic culturally distinctive people
group. That is just cool in itself. But not only that, like most of the people
we have seen come to know the Lord Jesus over the last 20 years we have served
in Thailand, 4 out of these 6 people that were baptized this past Sunday are not
only the first persons in their entire families to become followers of Jesus,
but 4 out of these 6 people are also representatives of the 4 largest unreached
people groups in Thailand today!
My heart leaps with joy to think about how God has
chosen to allow a small group of ordinary people living in Chiangrai, Thailand
to significantly impact some of the least reached people groups in our world
today.
One of these 4 we call “June.” June is from Sukhothai and is from the
largest unreached people group in Thailand called the Central Thai people UPG which
if you include the ethnic Chinese-Thai living in Bangkok in this mix is made up
of over 25 million people. June is the 1st person in her entire family
to become a follower of Christ. As I talked to June and prepared her for
baptism last week, she shared with me that she believed that she was most likely
the first and only believer in her whole “Ampur” which is like a whole county
in the USA. God is moving my friends and this is just the beginning for June’s
family and God has chosen Baan Athitaan Church to be the church family with the
opportunity to equip, train, and disciple June with the knowledge and heart to
share her faith with her family, with her neighbors, with her unreached people
group, and with her world. Please remember to pray for Baan Athitaan Church,
for June, and for Boom who will be June’s mentor to help her grow in her
relationship with our Lord Jesus.
The second of these 4 we call “Nicha.” Nicha is married
to a Western friend of ours from the Netherlands and her family of origin is from
the second largest unreached people group in Thailand called the Isaan people.
This Isaan UPG is made up of over 18 million people and Nicha is also the first
person in her entire family of origin to become a follower of Jesus. Please
pray for Nicha for Baan Athitaan Church, and for Pii Mem as Pii Mem begins to
meet with Nicha each week for Bible study and prayer and helps her to grow in
her relationship with Jesus and begin to reach out as an authentic follower of
Christ and fisher of men.
The third of these 4 we call “Jupjaeng.” Jupjaeng is
from the 3rd largest unreached people group in Thailand called the Mueang or
the Northern Thai UPG. Jupjaeng is the first person in her family of origin to
become a follower of Jesus, but God willing, she is just the beginning. Please
pray for Jupujaeng as she has been meeting with Pii Ja as her mentor for
several months now and learning how to grow in her relationship with Jesus and become
the salt and light of Jesus in our world. Please pray for Pii Ja and for our
church as well as we help these new believers become connected with our church
family.
The last of these 4 we call “Nampueng.” Nampueng is
from the 4th largest unreached people group in Thailand called the
Southern Thai UPG. She is from a very strong Buddhist family and is the first
person in her family to become a follower of Jesus. Please pray for Nampueng
and for Pii Mem as they begin to meet together as Pii Mem serves as her mentor
and helps her to grow in her relationship with Jesus.
These 4 people, June, Nicha, Jupjaeng, and Nampueng
have no other people in their entire families of origin that know Jesus as
their personal Savior and they will go through some very difficult times of
adjustment as they begin to share their faith with their families of origin. Please
pray for a softening of the heart that the seeds of the witness of these new
followers of Jesus would take root and many in their families become followers
of Jesus in the days ahead.
God is truly moving and allowing all of us here at
Grace Language School, Baan Athitaan Church, and NTIM to be a part of raising up
a new generation of followers of Jesus who love Him with all their heart and
who are gentle yet bold in sharing their faith with others.
God also gave us the opportunity to celebrate baptism with
Nong Art who is Jon and Chrissy Espy’s adopted son from the Akha people group.
We also celebrated the baptism of an English teacher from England named Jack.
What a great Christmas Sunday! The Bible declares that the angles in heaven rejoice
over 1 sinner that repents and puts their trust in Jesus Christ. All of us here
in Northern Thailand celebrated with the angels over 6 that recently surrendered
their lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Our hearts are truly full. Thank you
for sending us to Thailand and supporting the work God has put in our hands to
steward.
Before we move to give you an update on our building project, we
wanted to ask for your prayers for our youngest son Caleb who is getting
married in just a few days in Grand Rapids, MI to a very special young lady Gabriell
Brusseau. They met while studying at Calvin University and got engaged a year
ago. Caleb will continue studying at Calvin University for another year and one
half. Hope and I will be making a very quick trip to Michigan and would
appreciate prayers for us as we travel and for all who will be traveling as well
during this very cold time of year. We
will be leaving Chiangrai headed to Michigan on Dec 28th. Caleb’s wedding
is on January 4th. Hope and I get on a plane headed back to Thailand on January
5th. Please pray for us.
Before
we give an update on the building progress, we also wanted to just give a
praise update on a great team from Gulfport, MS who came to help us reach out
into villages, schools, and with our main Christmas Evangelism event where we
had somewhere between 500 to 600 people. Here is a link to a video clip that
Gahn put together for us of that main outreach event.
Thank you Crosspoint Church of Gulfport, MS for your continued partnership with
us as we reach deeply into the unreached people groups in and around Northern Thailand
with the gospel of our Lord Jesus. More to say on our Christmas outreaches in a
later update.
BUILDING UPDATE
Please continue to pray for us on our first ever
building project we are calling "The Lighthouse Learning Center.” There
are three areas we need help: 1) Finances – we are still needing about 175,000 U.S.
dollars to complete the project, 2) Volunteers to help in the final phase of
construction, and 3) Advocacy – We need God’s people all over the world
praying for the redemption of millions of the least reached peoples in our
world today. Please also pray for our continuing outreach and discipleship
ministries that go on every single day here in Chiangrai, Thailand.
Here
is a Video update that we recently put together. Please click on the link below.
It is only 5 minutes long but will be very helpful for you to see in video
form.
Some of you reading this are family members wanting to
keep up with us and what God is doing in and through us. Most of you reading
this are friends who know us personally and support us as we seek to do all
that God wants us to do as we continue to serve God on your behalf in the
country where over 99 out of every 100 people do not know Jesus nor have their
names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
We are also so very thankful for those of you who realize
that we could not live and serve here in Thailand without your financial
support. Thank you for loving us enough to give. Thank you for loving the Lord
enough to give to missions because you want to see the precious Thai people have
a chance to be blessed by the one true God we serve.
Here is a reminder of just a few of the ways in which
NTIM reaches out into this part of God’s world with the love and message of our
great Savior. Remember these as you bring us before the throne of grace in your
prayers.
"Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of
the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord."
1
Corinthians 15:58
Michael for the team.
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