Your Donations to NTIM and Your Prayers for the unreached people groups living in and around Northern Thailand are making an impact in Thailand. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
This is a short inspiring update of God’s Amazing Work of transforming the lives of “teenagers” in Northern Thailand. It is also a short “Thank you” to all of you who give regularly toward NTIM in Chiangrai. We now have two schools of work through NTIM, Grace Language School in Chiangrai and The Bridge English Language School in Payao.
The last 25 years, Hope and I have lived in Chiangrai and our field base is here with 5 full time Thai nationals that do most of the field work and help lead our English language platform called Grace Language School. They also help support all of the outreach and discipleship work that is being done through our church - Baan Athitaan Church. They also provide the legal covering and additional leadership needed for our new school in Payao.
Believe it or not, we have completed 27 years of living in Thailand and giving our lives so that some of the least reached peoples living in and around Northern Thailand may have a change to receive the message of our great Savior and choose to follow His leadership in their lives. After language school in July 2001, our family of 6 moved to Chiangrai in Northern Thailand where we have lived for 25 of the last 27 years.
As I shared with many of you in the past newsletter, what a great joy it is to serve the Living Lord and invest in making disciples and joining God in changing the lives of Thai teenagers from over 20 different ethnic language/people groups in Northern Thailand, including the Mueang (Northern Thai/Lanna People), the Akha, the Hmong, the Mien (Yao), the Lahu, the Central Thai, and the Isaan, just to name a few. Some of these teenagers are the first or second persons in their entire family heritage to become followers of Jesus, including half of my awesome Thai Staff. We are thankful for all the families of these teenagers and including the Baan Eden children’s home that has entrusted us with the spiritual care of being their church family.
Just last night, 4 trucks full of people (about 30 people) returned from an awesome Youth Camp hosted in the province of Nan, about a 5-6 hours drive from Chiangrai. Please take a moment and watch this brief video of our time at the camp that one of my Thai staff put together for the Northern Thailand Baptist Church Association. Thank you Pat and thank you also Gahn and Jay for your help in putting some of the pictures and video footage together as well. Here is the short video clip of our camp (Oct 20-22)
Praise God for opportunities like these to invest and prepare a new generation of Thai followers of Jesus. Thank you to all those who donated through Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM) for our work here in Chiangrai, Thailand and we also want to thank those who gave through Baan Athitaan Church here in Chiangrai as well. Thank you also to everyone who prayed. Thank you for everyone who helped. Thank you for the open hearts of these teenagers. And most of all, thank you to God who is worthy of all our devotion that we can give Him.
We are still in the process of updating picture to our Facebook pages and they are not quite done yet. We are also very thankful for Ajaan Wut and his team that came and helped lead our camp. Here is a couple of pictures of the camp.
We sensed God’sspecial presence in all that we did together at the camp to invest in these precious teenagers God has put in our lives for discipleship and for the advancement of God's kingdom and for the glory of God in the great country of Thailand. But one thing you can see is the video is all of the genuine smiles on these teenagers’ faces. These are not fake smiles, these are the real deal, real expressions of hearts that are being transformed by the Word of God, The Spirit of God, and the church of God as we seek to reach some of the least reached people groups in our world today with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ.
Please remember to pray for the 100-120 people who were either “campers” in the camp or “helpers or teachers” in the camp. I am reminded of a passage tucked away in the Old Testament from the Prophet Habakkuk that reminds us to, ““Look to the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Be Amazed! Because I am doing something in your days—You would not believe even if you were told.” Habakkuk 1:5.
God is doing some amazing things in Northern Thailand.
Some of you may have read in our last newsletter that on September 17, 2026, we celebrated God’s Goodness of allowing us to serve His purposesover the last 25 years of setting up a legitimate and government registered English language platform now called Grace Language School. God has allowed us to teach thousands and thousands of teenagers over the years and many of them have become English teachers in the educational system here all over Thailand. But what is more important in my mind than that is that hundreds of these teenagers and young adults that started their journey of studying English with us, found out through our relationships, not through the classroom, that there is a God who loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life. Here is a short video clip of a few comments from that celebration:
Hundreds of these teenagers have become followers of our Lord Jesus Christ and when we have camps like this where there is no English at all, these teenagers open up there hearts and God begins another level of transformation in their hearts, but not just in their hearts, but in the hearts of those who are helping and teaching and equipping. Let me just say very clearly, we have seen God do some incredible things reaching some of the least reached people groups in our world today which most of those people have been teenagers. Oh, that God might open the eyes of our hearts to see the great value in discipling and teaching these young people that we need to “unplug” from all of the things of the world that keep us from following after God’s Kingdom and His righteousness with all of our hearts. When we “unplug” from the world, we are then free to be “plugged into” the vine of our Lord Jesus where we find strength and purpose and meaning in our lives.
Similar to our previous Newsletter update, we want to help you know how to better pray for the teenagers and young people that we work with and the leaders who lead these teenagers. Here are 5 clear ways you can pray more effectively for the young people that we work with every single day of our lives.
Prayer Request #1 - Pray for God To Send us more teenagers (Jr. High and High School) to study English with us who do not know or have never heard a clear presentation of the gospel of our Lord Jesus. Yes, we live in one of those places in our world where 98-99% of everyone living around us is either a practicing believer in Buddhism with a mix of animism and spirit worship or they are a practicing worshipper of the spirits of their ancestors with a mix of beliefs from Buddhism and other aspects of Animism. We do have a very small Muslim presence and a very small Christian presence but Northern Thailand teenagers know very little about what the Bible teaches about how to live a life that pleases the God who created them. Please join God in God’s desire for God’s people to pray for the eyes of these millions and millions of Thai Teenagers to see the truth found in Jesus Christ and become genuine followers of our Lord Jesus. How can they see the truth if no one tells them? We are here living among them so that we can tell them but relationships must be built before they will give you the right to speak into their life. Which leads us to the second prayer request.
Prayer Request #2 - Pray for Our Teachers who Teach English, both native English Teachers and Thai Nationals, and everyone who works in our language schoola that they would live lives as the “salt” and “light” of Jesus so that they would build relationships of trust based upon genuine love and concern for students. We believe teaching English with integrity and to the best of our ability is something that honors God and allows us to build natural relationships with people who become our English students and then we also have access to their whole family. We do not use the classroom as a “preaching point” at all but to 1) genuinely teach English and 2) build relationships of trust. So, please pray for all of our teachers to be the best teacher of English that they can be, and to intentionally lead their relationships with their students in the direction of being the “salt” and “light” of Jesus.
Prayer Request #3 - Pray for God To Send us more university students to study English with us who do not know or have never heard a clear presentation of the gospel of our Lord Jesus. Yes, as we shared in “prayer request #1,” most university students in Northern Thailand know very little about what the Bible teaches about how to live a life that pleases the God who created them. We are here living among them so that we can tell them but relationships must be built before they will give you the right to speak into their life. Would you pray for God to send us more university students that we can begin to build the right kind of relationship with them that can lead to the sharing not only of our English skills, but sharing the love of Christ with them in practical ways. Which leads us to the fourth prayer request.
Prayer Request #4 - Pray for God To Send us more Volunteer Teams Yes, we love to host volunteer teams from Sunday school classes, from small groups in churchs, and from church mission teams especially those who are coming from an educational background. We go into government schools all the time to host “English Fun Day” camps and God has so organized our platform of “Teaching English” as a natural way to utilize native English speakers with their automatic command of the English language to help our English language school provide the community with English skills but couched with a heart and life that wants to be the salt and light of Jesus in culturally appropriate ways in places that have very little Christian presence like places here in Northern Thailand. Write me at pray4ntim@gmail.com and let us begin a conversation about a possible “mission trip” in 4-6 or more months from now. It starts with you sensing God’s move in your heart and you taking the next step to write us. If God is in this, it may just change and entrich your life tremendously as you go to the ends of the world carrying the greatest message you could ever carry to some of the least reached “ethne” (one of the key Greek words in the great commission) in our world today.
Prayer Request #5 - Pray and Ask God to provide our work through NTIM (both the main work in Chiangrai and the new beginning work in Payao) with the financial resources needed to continue to advance the gospel in and around Northern Thailand for the millions and millions of Thai, Chinese, Laotians, and Burmese peoples living among us. Here is a “Prayer Card” you can print and put in your Bible or put on your refrigerator to remember to pray for the Teenagers of Northern Thailand.
There is one thing I have learned over the 40+ years of being a follower of Jesus and that is the truth that God listens to prayers of His people when they come to Him in faith, in humility, and in dependence upon His grace.
PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL NEWSLETTER TO ANYONE YOU KNOW THAT MIGHT WANT TO KNOW HOW TO PRAY FOR THE YOUTH OF NORTHERN THAILAND AND THE NEXT GENERATION OF FOLLOWERS OF JESUS IN THAILAND.
Please remember to keep us and all the people living in an around Northern Thailand in your prayers. Grateful and Happy to be Serving Our Awesome God through NTIM as a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization based in the USA. We are committed to going to the least of the least reached people groups primarily 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.
You can send donations to support God’s work to NTIM. All donations made are tax deductible and can be made either online at www.gontim.org or mailed to NTIM, P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 If made online, you can click the “general” button and these funds are directed to the Main NTIM team Field headquarters in Chiangrai and overall finances that I personally manage, or you can click the “project Payao” button and these funds will be directed to the NTIM team in Payao led by Doug Piper. If you would like to get on our email update listing, please send me an email at pray4ntim@gmail.com Michael Johnson, VP and Director of Field Operations for NTIM.
I realize that the last update of “25 Years of
Teaching in Northern Thailand” was not just a little long, but very long. If you
didn’t see the short video clip where I told the short version of the last 25
years, here is a link to that video clip that if you watch it, it will inspire
you as you hear of the amazing things God has done in Northern Thailand these
last 25 years. Here is the short
video clip of the last 25 years celebration:
Today, I have good news for you. This newsletter is
very short.
I simply want to highlight for all those who are
interested in Thailand to know that yesterday, we celebrated one of the
greatest days in the History of Thailand.
That day was October 8, 1878 the day
that King Chulalongkorn, the Great, signed the Royal Edict of Religious
Toleration that gave religious freedom to all people living in Thailand. But
this great day was birthed out of a very tragic day when two Khon Mueang men (the
3rd largest unreached ethnic people group in Thailand with about 7
million people from this ethnic group) who had recently become followers of
Jesus gave their lives for their faith. This story is one of the most inspiring
stories of courage, sacrifice, wisdom, and the sovereignty of God coming
together to open the door for every person in Thailand to have the freedom to
hear and respond to the message of our great and awesome Savior Jesus Christ
without fear of losing their life.
Please listen to this amazing story and the
background that led to one of the greatest days in the history of Thailand.
Here is a video clip of the inspiring story of courage, sacrifice, and wisdom
that we presented last night. Please watch the video because there are some
very helpful slides in the presentation.
After you have watchedthis video, please stop and kneel before our
great God on behalf of NTIM and the openness of all Thai people to the greatest
message ever told among men that revolves around John 3:16.
Here is also a “Prayer Card” that you can print
out and put on your refrigerator and in your Bible to remember to pray for the
“Panta Ta Ethne” (unreached ethnic groups) living in and around Northern
Thailand and for God to bless Thailand and the work He has put into our hands
to do for His glory.
Thank you for praying
for us and thank you for your partnership with us in the Work of God in
Northern Thailand for the last 25 years in Chiangrai and for the future work in
Chiangrai and for the new work God is plowing the ground to do in Payao
province through your partnership with NTIM.
Until the Least
reached peoples in and around Northern Thailand know Him,
Michael for the NTIM team
Vice President and
Director of Field Operations
“For we do not preach
ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for
Jesus’ sake.” 2 Corinthians 4:5
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 going to the least of the least reached people groups primarily 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.
All donations made are tax deductible and can be made either online at www.gontim.org or mailed to NTIM, P.O. Box
26115, Birmingham, AL35260 If made
online, you can click the “general” button and these funds are directed to the
NTIM team in Chiangrai and overall finances that I personally manage, or you click the “Project Payao” button, these funds will be directed to the
NTIM team in Payao led by Doug Piper.
If you would like to get on our email update
listing, please send me an email at pray4ntim@gmail.com
One last think I would ask
you to do: Please advocate for us and forward this update
to anyone that you know who is serious about the Great Commission of our Lord
Jesus and who would benefit in knowing the amazing work God is doing in
Northern Thailand.
Please also consider sending this to your Sunday
School class that you are involved in so that others can know and pray for
God’s Amazing work in Thailand.
Thank you for partnering with us as we join God
in His wonderful plan of redemption in one of the most thoroughly Buddhist
countries in our world today made up of some of the Last Frontier “ethne”
groups in the 10-40 Window.
This update is not rather long, but really,
really long but it is packed with “God moments” & “Beginning moments” so
please be patient and look (through our Heavenly Father’s eyes) at what God has
done doing, is doing now, and wants to do in the future in and around Northern
Thailand. We have
prayed that all of you reading this long update, will be inspired to be more
committed to follow God’s dreams for your life more than you will follow your
own plans and dreams for your own life and if you do this, you will find “the
goodness and loving kindness of God will follow you all the days of your life”
much like King David declared in Psalm 23.
As many of you have heard me say many times, God
has been doing an amazing work of redemption amongst some of the least reached
“ethne,” (language/people groups) in our world today living in and around Northern
Thailand. We have seen people from the Muang people group, the Mien people
group, the Akha People group, the Lahu people group, the Hmong people group, as
well as many other people groups even from various ethnic groups from China,
Laos, and Myanmar, become the first person in their entire families to become
followers of Jesus and begin the process of living life as a genuine follower
of Jesus. We have seen this with our own eyes and testify to you today over the
last 25 years we have lived in Chiangrai, Thailand (27 years in Thailand including
our language and culture acquisition time in Bangkok our first two years). We
have not seen 1 or two people come to know Jesus, we have seen hundreds and then
many of them have led others to Jesus. God is at work and invites you to
personally join Him in that work. And we want to ask that you consider joining
us in part of that work through NTIM.
This
first picture in the update is a picture of me and Dr. Mark Devine, who now
teaches at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, AL. This picture is from when
we were studying Module 3 of the Central Thai language at Union language School
in Bangkok somewhere around June 1999 as best I can remember. After 2 years of
Central Thai language study (Jan 13, 1999 was the day our family landed in
Thailand), we moved to Chiangrai in Northern Thailand. After praying and asking
God where God wanted us to “live and invest our lives,” our family sensed God’s
leadership to move 850 kilometers North of Bangkok to a city that did not have
any “Thailand Baptist Churches” and was considered the heart of the third largest
unreached people group in Thailand, The Khon Mueang UPG, God led us to a city called
Chiang Rai where we have lived and served God with all of our heart for 25
years.
God had put in our hearts a vision to establish
a new legal platform of teaching English as an English language school modeled
after the Baptist Student Center (school) in Bangkok. We saw this as the beginning
of the process of blessing the community of Chiang Rai with Native English
teachers who also carried a life purpose goal of being the salt and light of
Jesus all the while being authentic, legitimate teachers of English in our
vocational life. I have an education visa and work permit. Our life purpose has
always been to join God in allowing us to set up this platform to facilitate a
natural and respected way to build relationships with our Thai students that
would eventually lead us to openly share the gospel (not in the classroom but
in our relationships), open the door for the opportunity for them to embrace
the gospel, and open the opportunity to begin a house church affiliated with
the Thailand Baptist Convention all in the context of relationships. Our family
moved to Chiang Rai in July 2001 and with God’s leadership and with the
blessing of the IMB to begin what we called “Operation Chiangrai.” After 2
months of living and doing all that was necessary to open an English language
school, we were given great favor from the government and specifically from the
Ministry of Education. We opened our school 25 years ago on Sept 17, 2001. Here
are a couple of pictures from that timeframe like Operation Chiangrai, our school
dedication, and the beginnings of the Lighthouse Language Center which
eventually became Grace Language School and the seeds for what we now call Baan
Athitaan Church. All of these pictures tell the historical development and
expansion of God’s work for about the first 15 years. At some point, we will bring
things up to date, but we wanted you to have a chance to see what we have seen
God do especially in the first 15 years of life in Chiangrai.
This month of September we are celebrating 25
years of teaching English in Chiangrai. Here is a “25 Years of Teaching English
in Chiangrai, Thailad” mug we gave out to everyone here two Sundays ago on
September 13. We had a short time of celebration of God’s working in Chiangrai
and a time of prayer.
We tried to honor God and thank Him for allowing
us to set up an English teaching platform that we now call Grace Language
School and have taught here now for 25 years (including the time at the
Lighthouse Language Center). These have been some of the best years of our
lives serving God and seeing thousands of people in this part of God’s world be
impacted through the lives of our teachers, our Thai staff, and our volunteers
who have come to be the salt and light of Jesus amidst the “πάντα τὰἔθνη” (panta ta ethne) living in and around Northern
Thailand these last 25 years. Hundreds of these people were impacted so much
that they became followers of Jesus and many of them the 1st or 2nd
person in their entire family heritage to have their names written in the Lamb’s
Book of Life.
We have seen hundreds of various ethnic Thai people,
as well as Laotian people, Myanmar People, and Chinese people, become followers
of Jesus. Here is a short video clip of what I shared last Sunday morning and it
closes with a beautiful prayer from one of our good friends Beverly Bridges who
lives in Mississippi. Beverly has become one of my closest friends and is now
one of our NTIM Board Members. We want to thank her family, her church family
at FBC Florence, and the Mississippi Baptist Convention for assisting in
sending her and the volunteer teams with her to serve with us as best I can
tell 19 times over the last 20 years that she has partnered with us.
Yes, we love receiving volunteer teams from the
USA but be forewarned that . . . . , that if you come through NTIM, God may grab
your heart and transform it and cause you to fall deeply in love with these
wonderful ethnically diverse Thai people from many different
ethnic/language/people groups and be ready to truly understand that God does
not want any ethnic group to be left behind without hearing and understanding the
gospel. God is using legitimate English language platforms that teach English with
integrity to reach the least reached peoples in our world today.
We do not use the classroom as an opportunity to
“preach” but it is used to facilitate the legitimate teaching of English and
the building of good relationships as we let the salt and light of Christ flow
out of our lives and to our students and their families and friends. In His
great commission, our Lord Jesus did not say go to all of the geopolitical
countries in the world, even though the English translations seem to indicate
that with the use of the geo-political word “nations.” No, Jesus said in Greek,
go to the “πάντα τὰἔθνη” which with the English transliteration says “Panta Ta Enthe” which translated into English literally
means “all the ethnic/language/people groups.” Our English word “ethnic” comes
from this Greek word “ἔθνη” “ethne.”
God has been doing amazing things in and around
Northern Thailand these last 25 years. 7 years ago, I posted this note on my
Facebook page and wanted to share it with you today. The caption says this: “A
Lesson From the Fields of Thailand.” “Be willing to do the hard work of
preparing the soil and spending time in the fields. You will never experience a
great harvest if you grow weary and give up. Obedience and abiding in Christ
lead us to “stay the course” and “finish the task” for the glory of God and the
advancement of His Kingdom.
God is allowing NTIM to expand its borders to
implement “Project Payao.”
We have been praying and planning and God has
been working over the last 3 years to call Doug and Paulette Piper from
Crosspoint Church in Gulfport, MS to come and serve with NTIM and establish an
extension of GLS in the province of Payao. Doug and Paulette spent 2 years
serving with us here in Chiangrai and when God’s timing was right, they moved
to Payao and began the official part of doing all that was necessary to open an
extension of Grace Language School and we are pleased to say that this last
week Doug received written permission from the Ministry of Education in Payao
to begin teaching English at our new school that Doug is leading named “The
Bridge English Language School.” We believe this new work will help facilitate
relationships that lead to many people coming to Christ and will be one of the
key factors that help facilitate a new church plant in the days ahead.
25 Years ago, before Baan Athitaan Church
started in our home, there were no “Thailand Baptist” affiliated churches in
Chiangrai province. Now, we have many.
Today, there are no “Thailand Baptist”
affiliated churches in Payao province but God is in the process of changing
that and Lord willing, Doug will be spearheading the first “Thailand Baptist”
affiliated church in the entire province of Payao and through NTIM, you can be
a part of that process. Please pray for Doug and Paulette Piper and for their
Thai staff “Fon,” who are leading NTIM’s Field Efforts in Payao with Baan
Athitaan Church being their “mother/sending” church in Thailand under the
authority of the Thailand Baptist Convention of which we are an active part and
have been for the last 27 years we have lived in Thailand. The Thailand Baptist
Convention is the sister convention to the SBC in Thailand. We are still Southern
Baptist Missionaries since our denominational affiliation has never changed, we
are simply going through the venue of NTIM so that we are able to do all that
we believe God wants us to do in the places that we believe God wants us to do
them as we seek His leadership and direction.
Thanking God for the Volunteer Mission Team from
Mississippi.
We also want to take the time to Thank God for
the Volunteer Team from Mississippi that just returned home from a very busy
and fruitful mission trip to Northern Thailand to work with us the previous
week. God raised up Beverly Bridges from FBC Florence to lead this team and
with the support of 3 churches from Mississippi, FBC Florence sent Beverly,
Chloe, and Carla; Hillcrest Baptist Church in Bryam,Ms sent Olivia, Dry Creek
Baptist Church in Mendenhal, MS sent Darcee, and the Mississippi Baptist
Convention helped support each of them. What a wonderful model state convention
is Mississippi Baptist Convention working with not only IMB missionaries but
also other Southern Baptist Missionaries like us that are sent out through
other channels like NTIM. We say and believe we are still sent out through SBC
churches like our home church at Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Vestavia
Hills, AL where we still have SBC membership. I was born and raised in
Tuscaloosa, AL and got my bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama. My denominational
affiliation has never changed.
Let me share with you some of the details of
what a “mission trip to Thailand” going through NTIM might look like by sharing
what this team from Mississippi did while they were here.
Day 1 - Sunday, September 6.
The team of 5 people, Beverly, Olivia, Carla,
Chloe, and Darcee arrived in the airport of Chiangrai in the evening of Sunday
September 6. Some of our NTIM Chiangrai team picked them up and took them to
the Space Airport Hotel that is in walking distance to NTIM’s building called
“The Lighthouse Learning Center (LLC),” which is the home base for NTIM’s Field
Office where I work, home base to NTIM’s Thailand Sister Foundation called
Channel of Blessing Foundation, home base to Grace Language School, and home base
to Baan Athitaan Church. The team flew a long way and was very tired when they
arrived and went directly from the airport to the hotel and got a much-wanted
shower and rest.
Day 2 - Monday, September 7.
The team met me early in the morning at LLC for
a cultural orientation, short Biblical explanation of the great commission and
how the volunteer team fit in with the Great commission in Northern Thailand
with the work of NTIM. Shortly after that, the team met together with our Thai partners
and some GLS teachers for last minute planning of our English Fun Days and
activities we would be doing for the week. (The team from Mississippi did most
of the planning and preparation before they came with a little guidance from
“the field.”) Then about noon, we headed
off toward another province in Thailand about 5 hours away. This is another
province (Prae) in Northern Thailand that does not have any “Thailand Baptist
Convention” affiliated churches either.
We sensed God’s leadership to help a good friend
and IMB missionary Cole Cunningham get a little more established as the “local”
Prae English Expert Teacher and to help demonstrate to him how to do what we at
NTIM call “An English Fun Day.” After we checked into the hotel (Phoomthai
Garden Hotel), we met Cole and his family for a delicious Thai dinner (but not
at American Thai Food prices but “real” Thai food prices) and after dinner went
to their home and just had a wonderful time singing, praying, and worshiping our
Lord Jesus together and praying for salvation to come to the people of Prae. We
wanted to have this time with the Lord an with the Cunninghams before we would
do our first English Fun Day camp at a school in Prae the next morning. This
school is a school that Cole and his team are currently working with.Here is a picture of our prayer & worship
time and also a prayer card for Cole and his family as they serve through the
IMB. Please remember to pray for them and for all the Thai people living in and
around Prae in Northern Thailand and keep giving to the Cooperative Program and
the Lottie Moon Christmas offering as we also do, and also please consider
giving to NTIM directly as well because even though we are Southern Baptist
Missionaries, we do not directly receive any funds for international mission
efforts because we are no longer under the leadership of the IMB but parner
with the IMB while our accountability structure is with NTIM where I serve as
one of the founders and the VP and Director of Field Operations for NTIM.
Please remember to pray for the Cunningham’s and
their team as they seek to be the salt and light of Jesus and teach English and
be used of God in many ways to facilitate the planting of the first “Baptist”
church in the whole province of Prae for the glory of God and the expansion of
God’s kingdom in Northern Thailand. Prae is one of the 9 provinces filled with
the Muang UPG which is the largest unreached people group in Northern Thailand
made up of some 6 million people with most of them having never, ever, heard a
clear and understandable presentation of the gospel as best we can tell. The
Muang unreached people group (UPG) has less than ½ of 1 percent of these 6
million people who know our Lord Jesus as Savior. You cannot get more
“unreached” than that. Only 1 in every 100 persons in Northern Thailand has
their name written in the Lamb’s book of life.
But we are inviting you to join NTIM in our work
with God and with the IMB as Southern Baptists to change those statistics and
see many more Thai people worshiping our Lord Jesus in the days to come. God
does not want us to do this alone but wants us to invite you to join God in His
work to open the eyes of the various ethnic people groups living in and around Northern
Thailand. Will you open your heart to join us in this amazing journey with
“Experiencing God” as the great Henry Blackaby once called us to do.
I was going through that study of Experiencing
God on a business trip to Thailand in February 1996 for the company I
worked for called Sharp Manufacturing Company of America in Memphis, TN. It was
during that time that God helped me understand part of the “sign posts” in my
life that God had been using to shape my life for the purpose of serving Him
here in Asia. Below is a picture that my Japanese supervisor, Nakanishi san,
took of me on February 14, 1996 in front of the Sharp manufacturing company in
Thailand that resulted in God breaking my heart for the “panta ta ethne” in
Thailand.
Yes, as you can see from this picture, I was a
young man and in my mid-30s at that time with 3 small children, Jessica-9,
Liz-6, and Joshua-1. So, in many ways I can truly say that on that “business
trip,” I began discovering that God had been shaping my life and preparing me
to embrace God’s plan (which is always better than my plans) to send me and my
family to Thailand to join Him in His great work of redemption doing all that
He wanted us to do for His glory and for the “panta ta ethne” living in and around
Northern Thailand that needed to hear about Jesus and see “flesh and blood”
trying to be the salt and light of Jesus in a place that knew almost nothing of
our great and awesome Creator and Savior Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of
our sins that can only be found in embracing Jesus as Lord and Savior and
trusting in Him and His work on the cross to be enough to have our names
written in the Lamb’s Book of Life for all eternity.
After the awesome English Fun Day, our team and
our volunteer team from Mississippi hung out and explored a little of Prae city
and enjoyed spending time together at “the Walmart” of Thailand called “Big C.”
Then we headed back to the hotel after a fun and fruitful day.
Day 4 - Wednesday, September 9.
We started the day off on Wednesday, after
breakfast at our hotel, headed for a 5 hour drive back to Chiang Rai with a
short excursion with some “sightseeing” at a natural park that had some unusual
soil erosion that I personally believe was created during Noah’s Flood. They
called this park “Prae Mueang Pii” which translated means “Prae Ghost Town.” Here
are a few pictures of the sights we saw.
After a short excursion of sight seeing, we got
back on the road headed back to Chiang Rai trying to get back so that we could
take the team to visit a wonderful ministry that is called “Baan Eden” that is
now led by Kim and Gahn, who have both served in the past as a part of our NTIM
team. Kim graduated from Samford in Birmingham and after graduation, came out
through NTIM to serve with us here in Chiang Rai as and English Teacher and
developed a heart for the girls at Baan Eden and before long felt led to join
the YWAM ministry called Baan Eden. Baan Eden is an awesome home for what we
call “at risk” girls who primarily come from fairly poor villages and families
in the mountains who normally have very low incomes and Baan Eden is one of
those “safe haven” places where these children come to live and who are given
an opportunity to get a good education in the city and are cared for in a
“family type” environment that is intentionally Christian based. We at Baan
Athitaan Church have had the honor of helping teach and care for the Baan Eden girls
and all of those related to Baan Eden as their church family for many years now.
We wanted the team to be able to see Baan Eden and play some games and worship
together with all of them as they meet together every Wednesday night for Bible
study and worship. Here are a few pictures from that evening with the team.
After our time with Baan Eden, we headed back to
the hotel for the night.
Day 5 - Thursday, September 10
Thursday, we started the day off by wanting to
bless the elementary school in the neighborhood of LLC just a 2-minute drive
from Grace Language School. We went to Pasakkal school to put on a half Day
English camp where we taught 75 children grades 4-6. We used the same teaching
material as before just adjusted the activities to fit grades 4-6. Here is a
link to the pictures we took from that day which you can see if you have
Facebook. If you don’t have Facebook, here are just a few pictures for you.
We love teaching English and building
relationships with Thai people. And we love it when teams from America like
Mississippi and Alabama to come and help us. We would love to have other States
come and help us as well. Here are
some of our pictures from today as we taught English about traveling to North
America, Africa, and South America. Our main goals are to 1) teach English, 2)
help students enjoy English, 3) change attitudes to have positive attitudes
toward English, 4) and to help improve listening skills by listening to native
English speakers, and 5) to build relationships in our community by teaching
English and being the salt and light of Christ to our world. 6) Help Thai
schools learn some Western ways to help teach English and make it fun. 7) Help
Schools know Grace Language School is here to serve the community. We enjoyed
teaching these good students.
After a short break, the team came to Grace
Language School and did what we call “English Corner” or “English Coffee House”
with all of the current students that study with us every Tuesday and Thursday
evenings.
Here are some pictures of that and the link to all of our pictures that
evening.
Friday morning we headed out at about 9:00 to
head toward down to visit Doug, Paulette, and Fon at our new school in Payao
called “The Bridge English Language School” and to spend some time with them
and get ready for another “English Corner” type project to connect with some of
the university students that Doug’s Payao team are currently working with as
they currently work with a Thai Pastor (a godly Presbyterian man) who started
and helps lead the Christian Club at the University of Payao where there are about
25,000 university students. Both of our schools, both Grace Language School
and The Bridge English Language School are in urgent need of Native English
teachers with a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in order to get a teacher’s
working visa and work permit. Please pray for God to raise up teachers for
both Payao and for Chiangrai. If you are interested in knowing more or taking
the next step of filling out an application to come through NTIM, please send
me an email atpray4ntim@gmail.com.
Here are some of the pictures from our team’s
time helping the university students that are apart of the Christian Club and
the University of Payao and pray for wisdom for all of us as we sense God’s
timing and leadership for Doug to begin his first meeting with the intention of
starting a new church in Payao that will be directly connected with the
Thailand Baptist Convention in God’s timing. We had a great time together with
this “English Connection” event. Here is a link to all of the pictures
and here are a few of them.
Saturday afternoon was a time for some to
explore Chiangrai and Saturday night was a time when our Thai Female Staff
asked for special time to take our guests from Mississippi to go shopping down
at what we call the Saturday Night Walking Street. Here are just a few pictures
of that time.
Day 8 – Sunday, September 13.
We always love Sundays at Baan Athitaan Church.
Today was a special day where we were celebrating 25 years of Teaching English
in Chiangrai as well as celebrating 25 years of Baan Athitaan Church. What a wonderful
joy it has been to join God in His great work of redemption of what we have
come to call “THE LAST FRONTIER” of reaching some of the least reached peoples
and people groups in our world today.
Praise God for His heart of love for the
unreached people groups living in and around Northern Thailand and for sending
us to help establish a platform of teaching English through Grace Language
School with the precursor of Grace Language School being the Lighthouse
Language Center that started 25 years ago this month in the city of Chiangrai.
Last Sunday September 13 we had a short time of thanking God for His goodness
over the last 25 years. Here is what we said last Sunday morning and closed out
our “announcement time” by inviting Beverly Bridges, who is one of my best
friends and is one of our NTIM Board Members. Beverly then led us in a very
sweet prayer of thanksgiving and for God's continued blessing on the work here
in Chiangrai and the new work just beginning in Payao province just South of
Chiangrai here in Northern Thailand. Here is the link to that short video clip.
Here is a “Prayer Card” that you can print out
and put on your refrigerator and in your Bible to remember to pray for the “Panta
Ta Ethne” (unreached ethnic groups) living in and around Northern Thailand.
Here are a few pictures of our worship service
with Olivia singing in the “chorus” and Beverly saying a prayer of blessing for
the work of NTIM and both Grace Language School in Chiangrai and The Bridge
English Language School in Payao.
After our awesome church service and after
lunch, we did what we don’t really like to do but must do and that is to take
our friends and volunteers to the airport to send them back to their families
and back to their regular work places but with something special in their
hearts.
They have gained a much clearer understanding of
the great commission. They have finished their temporary task as a member of
their mission team and are glad they gave their heart and their time and their
energy that last week to supporting God’s work through NTIM. Not only they, they
have gained some new friendships and learned how to begin crossing over to
serve God in a very different culture. Thank God for the three churches that
worked together to send this mission team: FBC Florence sent Beverly, Chloe,
and Carla; Hillcrest Baptist Church in Bryam,Ms sent Olivia, and Dry Creek
Baptist Church in Mendenhal, MS sent Darcee. We also want to thank the
Mississippi Baptist Convention for sending them as well. We also want to thank
their families to sending them. But most importantly we want to thank God for
sending them to be “On Mission with God” here in Northern Thailand. Here is a
final picture we have for you of the team at the Chiangrai Airport as they
began their trip back with their first flight from Chiangrai to Bangkok. Please
come again soon. Please tell others to come as well. We love you and thank you
for serving God with us and through partnership with NTIM.
Thank you for praying
for us and thank you for your partnership with us in the Work of God in
Northern Thailand for the last 25 years in Chiangrai and for the future work in
Chiangrai and for the new work God has raised up Doug and Paulette Piper to
lead in partnership with us through NTIM.
Until the Least
reached peoples in and around Northern Thailand know Him,
Michael for the NTIM team
Vice President and
Director of Field Operations
“For we do not preach
ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for
Jesus’ sake.” 2 Corinthians 4:5
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 going to the least of the least reached people groups primarily 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.
You can send donations to support God’s work to
NTIM. All donations made are tax deductible and can be made either online at www.gontim.org or mailed to NTIM, P.O. Box
26115, Birmingham, AL35260
If made
online, you can click the “general” button and these funds are directed to the
NTIM team in Chiangrai and overall finances that I personally manage, or you
can click the “Project Payao” button and these funds will be directed to the
NTIM team in Payao led by Doug Piper.
If you would like to get on our email update
listing, please send me an email at pray4ntim@gmail.com
One last think I would ask you to do: Please
advocate for us and forward this update to anyone that you know who is serious
about the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus and who would benefit in knowing
the amazing work God is doing in Northern Thailand.
Please also consider sending this to your Sunday
School class that you are involved in so that others can know and pray for God’s
Amazing work in Northern Thailand.
Thank you for partnering with us as we join God
in His wonderful plan of redemption in one of the most thoroughly Buddhist countries
in our world today made up of some of the Last Frontier “ethne” groups in the
10-40 Window.
