Day 4 - Understanding Thailand's Ethnic Diversity - 114 Ethnic People Groups

DAY 4 – November 28 – Understanding Thailand’s Ethnic Diversity – 114 Ethnic People Groups.

Today is Day 4 of our Season of Prayer of getting to know and then actively praying for Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM) and all of the various unreached people groups in and around Northern Thailand. Please join us and invite your friends to join us for this great time of seeking the face of God on behalf of millions who have never heard the message of our Lord Jesus.

DAY 4 - November 28, 2020 - "Understanding Thailand’s Ethnic Diversity - Home to Over 114 Different Ethnic People Groups.” 

When most people think of the country of Thailand, they mistakenly think that the Thai people are all from one specific people group where everyone speaks the central Thai language in their homes. However, that simply and very clearly is not the case. Yes, most citizens of Thailand can speak Central Thai because all education in Thailand is done in the Central Thai language but ethnically, linguistically, and culturally, Thailand is made up of 114 different people groups and 80 of these people groups are considered unreached people groups (upgs). It is true that the Central Thai are the largest people group in Thailand with a population of around 25,500,000 (if you include the numbers for the Thai-Chinese) according to Joshua Project statistics. However, what that also means is that out of the 69,000,000 people in Thailand, 39% are from the Central Thai people group and 61% are from a different ethnic group than the Central Thai group. What that means is that 61% of the Thai people speak a different language in their homes with their families and close friends than they do when they are in public or in school.

We live in the far Northern part of Thailand where there are dozens and dozens of different ethnic groups living here, some of them from neighboring countries as close as a 45 minute drive from our home. I can be at the border of Laos and the border of Myanmar (former Burma) in less than 45 minutes. I can be at the border of China in less than 6 hours by car. We truly are strategically located in a place with a great diversity of unreached people groups living all around us. Our church, Baan Athitaan Church, is a true community church made up of over 23 different people groups that meet together for worship every Sunday morning.

Please take a look at the map of “Progress of the Gospel by People Group.” What I want you to notice is where all of the red is located. The red areas are the areas of the world that are home to the least reached people groups of the world. Most of them are in North Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and South East Asia. Thailand is right in the heart of South East Asia and is strategically located and has the potential to have a strong influence for Christ on hundreds of people groups in this part of God’s world yet we much reach a good portion of the Thai people first in order for this to happen.

Today of the 69 million people who call “Thailand” their home country, less that 1% truly know Jesus as their personal Savior. Would you please pray that God would burden the hearts of God’s people all over the world to pray fervently, to give generously (especially during the Christmas season), and to go intentionally (on a short term or even better a long term mission trip) and partner with us here at NTIM to reach the nations for Jesus by “making disciples of all the nations.”

Prayer Example: “Heavenly Father, we thank you for the rich diversity of people groups in Thailand. We also thank you for planting a community church right in the heart of Northern Thailand to help facilitate evangelism and discipleship in that part of your world. We ask You to be pleased to expand the impact of NTIM and Baan Athitaan Church to these various unreached peoples and to give NTIM an opportunity to be a vessel that You are pleased to use to reach many of the unreached ethnic people groups in this part of your world. We pray that You would burden the hearts of Your people all over the world to pray fervently, to give generously, and to go intentionally to where Your Message is needed most. We pray this in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.”

 

Day 3 - The Lord Is Good - Prayers of Thanksgiving - November 26, 2020

 

DAY 3 – November 26 – The Lord is Good - Prayers of Thanksgiving

Today is Day 3 of our 30 Day Spiritual Adventure of getting to know and then actively praying for Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM) and all of the various unreached people groups in and around Northern Thailand. Thank you for joining us for this great time of seeking the face of God on behalf of millions who have never heard the message of our Lord Jesus. 

DAY 3 - November 26, 2020 - "The Lord is Good - Prayers of Thanksgiving”

The Psalmist wrote this, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; Bless His name. For the Lord is Good; His lovingkindness is everlasting. And His faithfulness is to all generations.” Psalm 100:4-5

Just a few hours ago, people gathered here in the heart of Northern Thailand as the Baan Athitaan Church family and celebrated the goodness of this God who provides. Thanksgiving as a festival is also celebrated in many other countries all over the world primarily during the season of harvest when people are bringing in the produce from the land and thinking about the goodness of God’s provision to them. What a great time of celebration we had today reflecting on the Goodness of God.

Here is a video clip of our Thanksgiving celebration last year that Gahn put together for us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKb6ffAJaLY

As the Vice President in charge of Field Operations for NTIM, I want to express our thanks to Almighty God for His faithfulness to provide NTIM with people, with partners both national and international, with financial resources, and with volunteers that have a heart and willingness to be used of God to take the love and message of Jesus to some of the most needy and darkest places in our world today. We are thankful for the generosity of our financial partners like many of you who give every month as well as those who support us from time to time on worthy projects like our building and our Christmas outreach programs. We are thankful for our faithful prayer partners like most of you who pray for us on a regular basis bearing in mind that our battle for the hearts and minds of millions and millions of lost people in and around Northern Thailand is not a battle with flesh and blood but a battle with the powers, principalities and rulers of darkness who wage war with God, with God’s people, and with God’s mission. Today, we want to declare along with the Psalmist that the Lord is Good and that His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness is to all generations.

Prayer Example: “Lord, we enter your courts with praise and thanksgiving. We bless your name. And right now, we intercede for NTIM and for the millions of Thai people, Laotian people, Burmese people, and Chinese people who are still trapped in darkness waiting for the light of Jesus. We ask you to bind the enemy and to provide the resources needed for NTIM to reach them with the gospel. We pray for you to protect your servants and those who wage war with the enemy on behalf of the lost every day in the heart of Southeast Asia. We ask that you would send more of your people into the fields so that all may have a chance to taste and see your goodness and glorify your great name. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.”

Day 2 - God Uses Ordinary People To Accomplish His Work - November 25, 2020

God Uses Ordinary People To Accomplish His Work – Day 2 – November 25, 2020

Today is Day 2 of our 30 Day Spiritual Adventure of getting to know and then actively praying for Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM) and all of the various unreached people groups in and around Northern Thailand.

Please join us and invite your friends to join us for this great time of seeking the face of God on behalf of millions who have never heard the message of our Lord Jesus.

Henry Blackaby, the author of the book  Experiencing God, is known for helping the Western Church understand the truth that when God is about to do something extra ordinary, He looks to see if He can find some ordinary person whose heart belongs to God and who will be obedient and do the thing God wants to be done. We see this when we look at the life of Abraham, or the life of Noah, or the life of Moses, and the lives of many men and women God used in the Bible.

God’s Word says, “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His....” 2 Chronicles 16:9.

When God finds someone who is willing to do what God wants to get done, God extends an invitation to that person to join Him in what God is doing. I will be the first to tell you that I do not think of myself as anything special or having anything special to give God. But for whatever reason, I believe that God extended a special invitation to me (Michael Johnson) and my family some 23 years ago while I was on a business trip to Thailand for Sharp Manufacturing Company of America. I am an ordinary guy from Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the USA and do not have anything special about me except that I have given my heart to Jesus and been touched by an extra ordinary God and am willing to be used for God’s purposes. I was only in Thailand for a few days on that business trip some 23 years ago, but I was in Thailand long enough to realize that the message of Jesus was not reaching most Thai people.

On that short business trip, I did not meet one Christian. I did not see one church. I did not see any evidence that the Thai people had a chance to hear the most important story of Jesus ever told. That realization broke my heart and God began to speak to my heart about joining God in bringing this message of hope to the Thai people. Shortly after that trip, following many confirmations that God was leading us to move to Thailand and serve the Thai people, our family resigned from our cushy jobs, sold our house, cars, etc. and boarded a plane bound for Thailand. We landed in Thailand on January 13, 1999 and have served the Lord here in Thailand since that time without wavering. Here is a picture of our family before we left for the field while we were at the missionary learning center in Virginia.

God truly wants to use ordinary people like you and me, but we must be willing to make our lives available for Him to use them. God isn’t interested in us coming up with some great thing we want to do for God. No, God is more interested in us being willing to embrace the great plans He already has for our lives. It reminds me of when Isaiah said to the Lord, “Here I am Lord, Send me.” In other words, “Lord, if you want me to go, I am willing. Whatever you want from my life, I am willing to do that because I love you and because I recognize that your plans are far better than my plans.”

Prayer Example: “Oh, Heavenly Father, thank you for placing a little of your love for the various Thai people groups in the hearts of the Johnson family. Please continue to lead them and guide them as they seek to lead the work of NTIM on the field. Thank you for the way you have used them to build bridges to the hearts of Thai people that have already led to hundreds of people becoming the first persons in their families to follow Jesus. Help them to understand your plans for reaching these nations – these unreached people groups - in and around Northern Thailand. We ask you to help them to follow your plans and to encourage others to join you in what you want to do through NTIM in the days ahead. We also pray that you would be pleased to call out others to go and serve You through NTIM. The fields are ripe for the harvest but the laborers are truly few. Please raise up other ordinary people like them to go and join you in what you are doing in and through NTIM and their partners. We pray this in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.”

 

Day 01 - God's Heart for the Nations - Season of Prayer - Nov. 24, 2020

 

Please Join Us and INVITE YOUR FRIENDS to join us in…………30 Days of Prayer for the unreached in and around Northern Thailand.

Pray with Insight for some of the Least Reached Peoples in Southeast Asia and for God’s Work through NTIM and its partners – Beginning November 24 to December 23 

“Ask of Me, and I Will Surely Give You the Nations…..” Psalm 2:8

DAY 1 – November 24 – “God’s Heart For the Nations.”

Today, as I write this first prayer update for this Season of Prayer, we want to ask you to join each day and read our updates and join us in seeking the throne of God on our behalf. In each of these updates we will share with you some aspect of how God is using Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM) and its partners to engage some of the least reached people groups in and around Northern Thailand. It is absolutely incredible what God can do through ordinary people who open their hearts and lives to be used by Him in amazing ways.

We invite you to ask your friends and any small group you are a part of to join us for this great time of seeking the face of God on behalf of the millions and millions of people who have never heard the message of Jesus. In this first prayer update, we want to begin with GOD and with God’s heart for the nations.

"It all Begins With God and With God's Heart For The Nations." Day 1 – November 24, 2020

IT ALL BEGINS WITH GOD ….. 

AND HIS HEART FOR THE NATIONS

Throughout the Old and New Testaments, we find a consistent thought pattern that communicates the message that God loves all of the peoples in every part of God’s world. We also find passages like Eccl 3:11 that says, “He (God) has set eternity in their hearts (hearts of humans everywhere)…” God truly has placed in the heart of every man, woman, and child, in every place on the earth a desire to know the true and living God. But not everyone in God’s world has heard this great message.

When we look very clearly in the original Greek at the great commission as seen in Matthew 28:19 we find that the great commission has a specific target audience that is on God’s heart and mind that need to be engaged, and specifically that is the “unreached people groups” of the world. Jesus said to go and make disciples of “all the nations.” “All the nations” is the English translation from the Greek “Panta Ta Ethne” and “ethne” is the Greek Word where we get our English word “ethnic.”

In a very real since, what our Lord Jesus was saying was “Go and make disciples of all the people groups of the world.” Jesus wasn’t thinking in terms of geo-political countries, no, He was thinking in terms of ethnic and linguistic people groups. You see, the great commission is all about God and His heart for the unreached peoples of the world. 

Each of us has a story that God is crafting into your life. This our journey in following God’s leadership to move our young family from the USA to begin new pioneer work among the unreached peoples in Northern Thailand. My family responded to that commission from God shortly after I took a business trip to Thailand in February of 1996. I will share a little of our story as we go through these prayer updates but what we want you to know today is that God is in the business of looking for people like you and me who are willing to join Him in what He wants to do to make sure some of the least reached peoples in our world today have access to the message of our Lord Jesus Christ. My family landed in Bangkok on January 13, 1999. We were blessed to have been originally sent out through the International Mission Board. We have lived the last 22 years in the heart of Southeast Asia where millions of people have never heard the message of Jesus and have been trapped in thought patterns and ancient traditions that have kept them from the light of the gospel for thousands of years. This breaks God's Heart and it breaks our hearts even today. But God is on the move. We personally have seen hundreds of people become the first persons in their entire families to become followers of Jesus. God is truly transforming lives but there is still so much work to be done.

According to Joshua Project today, there are over 113 different people groups with their own distinct language and cultural background. Of those 113 people groups, there are 78 groups that are classified as unreached people groups meaning that less than 2 percent of their people group population are evangelical Christians. The whole country of Thailand has about 68 million people and 99 out of every 100 Thai people are lost with no personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Lost… you just can’t get more lost than 99% of the population. That is where you and I come in. God has commissioned us to reach and make disciples from all of these unreached peoples.

Your heart and your prayers are needed. Your donations and your coming to work with us are needed. But for now, we are asking you to join us in seeking the mercy and grace of God to penetrate this darkness with the light and love of Jesus through ordinary people like you and me.

This SEASON OF PRAYER is really a 30+ day spiritual adventure of learning about and battling the forces of darkness – through informed and fervent praying - on behalf of all the peoples living in and around Northern Thailand including all the unreached people groups in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, and China. This SEASON OF PRAYER is a significant adventure we are asking you to go on with us.

As we begin this 30 Day SEASON OF PRAYER for N.T.I.M (Northern Thailand Impact Ministry) and all of the peoples in and around Northern Thailand, we want to begin this spiritual journey by seeking the face of the Almighty God and asking Him to give us the Nations that are in and around Northern Thailand. The Psalmist wrote this, “Ask of Me, and I Will Surely Give You the Nations….” Psalm 2:8.

Prayer Example: “Oh, Heavenly Father. We know that You have set eternity in the hearts of the millions of people including hundreds of unreached people groups living in and around Northern Thailand. We see on the map how Northern Thailand is strategically located to reach many other nations and people groups in that part of Your World. We pray and ask that You might be pleased to use NTIM and those who partner with NTIM to take the gospel and message of Jesus to the hundreds of Unreached People Groups living among them especially in this upcoming Christmas season. Help them to be your salt and your light and to continue breaking down the barriers of resistance that have kept them for over 2,000 years from opening their heart to our great Savior Jesus. We pray this in Jesus name and for the expansion of His Kingdom. Amen.”

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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, Caring, 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.

Invitation To Join Our Season of Prayer 2020

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We at NTIM want to invite you to join us in a deeply spiritual adventure of getting on our knees and seeking the throne of grace and praying each day for 30 consecutive days for the Unreached Living in and around Northern Thailand.

We have not done a “Season of Prayer” in a couple of years and God is doing some incredible things that we want you to know about and to have the opportunity to join God through prayer and truly make an impact for the advancement of God’s Kingdom in a part of the world where hundreds and hundreds of unreached people groups representing hundreds of millions of people live and where most have very little access to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the midst of all the bad news these days we here on news networks, we want to share some good news with you. We want you to see that we serve an incredible God who not only loves all the people groups of the world, and every life He has brought into this

world, but He is also a God who is active in transforming the lives of the Lost all over Asia. The love of God and the Word of God and the churches of God and the people of God are penetrating lostness with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Please join us by sending your name and email address to pray4ntim@gmail.com and please also forward this note to all your friends and invite them to join us as well. All we need from you is a name and an email address and we will put you on our NTIM email listing where we will send you these 30 days of “Prayer Insights” and “Prayer Requests.” Day 1 will begin November 24^th so please put these dates on your calendar and ask your family, your church, and your friends to join in this awesome “Season of Prayer.”

Jesus once said to His disciples, “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.” John 16:24

What we will be doing as a part of NTIM is equipping you with insights and knowledge each day on some of the least reached people groups in Southeast Asia and also sharing with you how God is working through NTIM and their partners to help bring the love and light of Christ to this part of God’s World. You will get to know some of these people by name and know a small part of the story of how they came to know our Lord and Savior. Each Day we will send a different focus for prayer and insight to your email and ask you to read that information and then pray with greater insight than ever before and join God in what He is doing through your participation in the great commission.  IMAGINE WHAT A JOY IT WILL BRING TO THE FATHER’S HEART TO HEAR HIS CHILDREN FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD PLEADING ON BEHALF OF THE LOST IN ASIA FOR 30 CONSEQUTIVE DAYS.

Please Join Us and INVITE YOUR FRIENDS to join us in…………30 Days of Prayer for the unreached in and around Northern Thailand. We will begin with Day 1 on November 24^th and end with Day 30 on December 23.

We look forward to seeing God move in response to the prayers of His people. Thank you for engaging in the great commission with us for the glory of God and the expansion of His kingdom.

Until They Have Heard of Our Great Savior and Lord,

Michael for the NTIM team.

 

Please send us your name and email so we can get you these updates beginning November 24 for 30 consecutive days until December 23, 2020.

P.S. A Building Update coming Soon