As I sit
at my desk this morning beginning to write an update on the awesome work God
has put in our hands to do, I want to say “thank you” to God for allowing this
ordinary man from Tuscaloosa, AL to have experienced what it means to live the
last 27 years of my life following God’s leadership in our lives and seeing God
do some incredible things that have advanced God’s kingdom in and around
Northern Thailand.
Most of you who
read these updates, know that I (Michael) recently made a very short trip back
to the USA. Our home church is in the Birmingham, Alabama area and is called
Shades Mountain Baptist Church and is located in Vestavia Hills. Each year they
have one of the most incredible mission conferences that I have ever been a
part of and I appreciate it when they invite me to come and share what God is
doing in this part of God’s world. SMBC started out calling these mission
conferences a “Global Impact Conference (GIC)” but have recently made a slight
change in the name and are now calling them, “Global Impact Catalyst (GIC).”
The thought
behind the name change was that it really helps to crystalize that they are
having these mission conferences like GIC for the purpose of helping “catalyze”
the members of the church to become more “motivated” in actively joining God in
what God is doing all over the world, especially in those places where their
own church members have gone to serve as missionaries.
While on this
trip to the USA, I was also able to visit with many people for a “cup of coffee
and update” or to go and share at a few other churches besides SMBC like FBC
Florence, MS and Northwood Hills Baptist Church in Northport, AL but because
the time was very short, I was not able to visit all of our supporting churches
and friends and family. So sorry about that.
Here is
a picture of me sharing about God’s Amazing work in Thailand at one of our
awesome partner churches in Mississippi. Anyone who has known me over the last
30 years, knows that I love Thailand and all of the various Thai people groups
very much. And I truly love the job God has given me. Actually, I don’t have 1
job, I have many, but all of them are centered around Serving God and Joining
Him in making disciples of Jesus out of some of the least reached people groups
in our world today that live in and around Northern Thailand.
Many people ask
me,
what can I do to help you and assist in making sure that the gospel gets
to all the “Panta Ta Ethne” of Thailand? “Panta Ta Ethne” are the exact
Greek words (of course using English transliteration) that Jesus used as is
recorded in the great commission as it was recorded in Matthew 28:18-20 which is
translated into English as “all the nations” (actually, not geo-political
nations at all but “ethnic people groups,” of which, there are over 100 ethnic
people/ language groups in Thailand. So, in answer to that question “
What
can I do to help you and assist in making sure that the gospel gets to all the
“Panta Ta Ethne” of Thailand?, I normally give them 3 different ways they
can join God in what He is doing in Thailand.
The
first way you can help is to PRAY. James 5:16 says this, “The
effective prayer of a righteous person accomplishes much.” Here are 8 different
ways you can pray for us in Thailand. 1) Pray for Grace Language School
(GLS) in Chiangrai, Thailand. GLS is our primary platform to reaching out
into our community through teaching English to teenagers, university students,
and adults. 2) Pray for our English teachers at GLS that they would
intentionally build good relationships that naturally lead to them sharing
their faith and the gospel with their students in the context of their
relationship. 3) Pray for new teachers to come and serve for 1 year or 2
years as an English Teacher. 4) Pray for our Kids
ESL Program every Saturday morning. We teach ESL to children grades 1-6
on Saturday mornings. Currently we have a little over 50 children but have had
as many as 70 children on Saturday mornings. 5) Pray for our new expansion
of outreach into the neighboring province of Payao. God has been leading us
NTIM us to expand God’s work with establishing an extension of Grace Language
School and establishing Baan Athitaan Church’s first church plant in Payao and
God has raised up Doug and Paulette Piper to come and help us lead this charge.
Please remember to pray for Doug and Paulette and NTIM and all of our Thai
staff who are actively involved in assisting with getting all of the
“paperwork” necessary for the governmental approvals to do what we believe God
has called us to do and to do it legally and in accordance with Thai law just
as we did here in Chiangrai some 25 years ago. 6)
Pray for Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM) Foundation that is
our USA 501c sending and supporting arm of all that we do in Thailand.(www.gontim.org) We currently have 6 executive
Board members with all of these Board members volunteering their time,
abilities, and heart to NTIM and not taking any “executive” salary so that
every dollar donated from our financial supporters of NTIM avoids administrative
overhead and goes directly to the ministry in the fields of Thailand. Here are
the first names of each of our current NTIM Board Members, David, Michael,
Donald, Beverly, Tim, & Steve. Please take a moment and pray for each of
these precious servants of our Lord that serve in critical roles and most of
them very much behind the scenes. NTIM could not have the impact God is causing
us to have with genuine 1st generation followers of Jesus that without
these foundational people on our NTIM Board. Thank you for serving God and
partnering with God’s work among some of the least reached people groups in our
world today. 7) Pray for the spiritual growth of all of us who are connected
to NTIM, GLS, and Baan Athitaan Church that we would continue to walk daily in
the vine and allow the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the people of
God to help shape all of us to be more like Jesus every day and to let the
fruit of the Spirit of God overflow through our lives more and more. 8) Pray
for the awesome discipleship (Nav 2:7) that is taking place these days in
Northern Thailand. We have ramped up the notch a bit and several years ago
began introducing people to the best discipleship materials I have ever found
that were written by the well-respected organization called the Navigators. We
are currently using the Navigator’s 2:7 discipleship course and are seeing
lives transformed from its focus and practical application of God’s Word and
the way they teach the habits of life that lead to life transformation. This
Nav 2:7 discipleship course has been refined and improved for over 40 years and
is now packaged as a 3-book course with each book containing 11 sessions making
it about a 9 month commitment to establish essential habits that lead to a life
being transformed by the Word of God to become more like our Lord Jesus every
day. We are now in the process of getting this material translated into Central
Thai so that it
can be available
to all the Thai churches in Thailand.
The
second way you can help is to GIVE. Giving
directly to missions like NTIM, supports the urgent and important great
commission and spreading of the gospel. It allows the donor to have a direct
and immediate impact on those whom God has called to go to all the nations and
ethnic/people groups in our world. Donating directly with a sending agency like
NTIM, enables donors to partner personally with missionaries and their work,
fostering a deep sense of shared sacrifice and direct involvement in global
ministry. Making a personal and regular donation directly to missions also, and
most importantly, opens up the door of your heart to join God in His great work
of reaching some of the least reached people in our world today. It brings a
huge change into the heart of the giver. Jesus taught the principle very
clearly that where you put your money (treasure), it is in that place, that
your heart will be concerned. I remember the change that happened in my heart
after I began making a $10 monthly donation (this was over 40 years ago)
directly to support a missionary named Tim Carden that was from the church I
went to as a university student at the University of Alabama. Tim was the son
of Dr. Gene Carden that I considered one of the most Christ-like men in
Emmanual Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa that I went to at that time. Tim, Dr. Carden’s
son, was serving overseas in the Ivory Coast and even though it was a small
dollar amount I donated every month, it made a huge difference in my heart and
was probably the starting point in my life that eventually led to me going to
the ends of the earth in Thailand as a missionary some 15 or so years later. Let
me challenge you to consider making it a habit to give as a regular monthly
supporter to Michael & Hope Johnson through NTIM or to some other
missionary that needs your monthly support. So, the second way that you can
help us is through giving through NTIM on our behalf or on behalf of our team
here in Northern Thailand. If you want to give to missionaries and Thai Staff
living in Chiangrai which is where we live, you can click the “general”
donation button on our website or if you want to give to missionaries and Thai
Staff living in Payao, which is where Doug and Paulette live, you can click on
the Project Payao button on our website. Thank you for giving through NTIM at www.gontim.org or sending checks to NTIM’s
address in Birmingham which is recorded for you at the end of this update.
As I
mentioned earlier, we are in the process of coordinating the translation of
these Navigator’s 2:7 books being translated from English into Central Thai and
believe God wants us to completely fund this strategic and critical project and
we would ask for you to consider giving to NTIM to assist in this important
project. We estimate that with “licensing fees, graphic fees, printing fees,
etc” that the final cost of this project will be somewhere between $5,000 to
$10,000 dollars but will one of the greatest investments we can make in helping
Thai people be grounded and prepared to not only walk with God daily, but in
helping them be well equipped to share their faith with their family, their
friends, and the people they rub shoulders with every single day. This Nav 2:7
curriculum is the best. If you would like to give toward this project, you can
send a check to NTIM or donate online but make sure you check the box for
“General” so that your donation goes into the funds that are designated to go
to the team in Chiang Rai where I personally manage these resources.
The
third way you can help is to GO. Go on a short-term mission trip or Go for 1 or
2 years or go for an undesignated time frame like us.
Going on
a mission trip expands Christ's kingdom, fosters personal spiritual growth, and
allows you to serve others by meeting tangible needs, and gives you an
opportunity to support the work and strategy of the local missionary or
missionaries. Don’t go with your own agenda but instead understand what the
missionary or missionaries are trying to do and them help them do it together. These
trips help you encounter God’s heart for the nations, break out of your comfort
zones, and gain a more global perspective while supporting long-term missionaries
and ministries who have been there long before you got there and will be there
long after you return home. But by going, it will enlarge your heart and allow
God help you understand better that getting the gospel into places where
millions have still never heart about Jesus. It will also allow you to build
some connections with both
the missionaries
and the local people who live there.
NTIM has
been blessed tremendously over the years by volunteer mission teams who have
come out and helped us reach out to the Thai people we love so dearly. We have
one very special partner in the great state of Mississippi that has come out 18
times on mission trips, sometimes she bring her own family, sometimes she brings
a team, but she always brings the love of Jesus in her heart for the Thai
people. Everyone on my team knows this woman personally and loves her deeply.
As a matter of fact, she has a weekly video chat/Bible study with one of my
Thai Staff – yes, using English to speak truth into this Thai partner of ours. Volunteers
and volunteer teams that come and work with NTIM and automatically able to
serve as they have been wired because we use “teaching English” as a strategic
way to begin the process that leads to many taking their first step in opening
their heart which has this empty hole in it that can only be filled with a
relationship with Jesus Christ. Coming on that “mission trip” makes your life
available to be used in a very special way to “touch” a heart and help that
heart take one more step closer to becoming the first person in their entire
family to become a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ.
If you or your church are
interested in really learning how to “join God” in what He is already doing in
some of the least reached people groups in our world today, then write me
personally today at
pray4ntim@gmail.com and begin that process of the 3rd
way you can help us “reach the nations” or as Jesus put it reach the “Panta Ta
Ethne” living in and around Northern Thailand and that way is by GOING.
If you
love Jesus and are walking with Jesus, and want to explore the possibility of
helping get your church to come and join us on an adventure of your life on
mission to Northern Thailand, don’t hesitate to write me at my email address. I
am waiting to hear from you at pray4ntim@gmail.com
These
are the three ways you can help us at NTIM make a strategic impact of expanding
the kingdom of God in and around Norther Thailand. #1 - The first way you
can help is to PRAY. #2 - The second way you can help is to GIVE. And the third way you can help is to GO
As I
shared in my last newsletter update, it gives me great joy when I see a Thai
person open up their mind and give their heart to Jesus. God has given me a
special opportunity to have seen hundreds of Thai people give their hearts to
Jesus and many of them become the first person in their entire family to be a
follower of Christ. Our church here is filled with genuine 1st
generation followers of Jesus Christ like we see in the Early Church recorded
for us in the book of Acts. Think about this. Thailand is the most thoroughly
Buddhist country in the world today with over 100 different unreached
people/language groups and 99 out of every 100 people are lost without a
personal relationship with our great Savior Jesus and you can join God today in
helping us take the gospel to all of these “Panta Ta Ethne” that live in the
heart of the work of NTIM.
Thailand
doesn’t just have a 100 people; not just 1000 people; and not just 10,000
people; but Thailand has over 60 million people who are lost in darkness. This
is one of the reasons God sent our family here over 26 years ago. I believe one
of God’s purposes for my life is – to join God in what He is doing to reach the
Thai people with the love and message of Jesus and help them to become
followers of Jesus and then to become “fishers of men” as well. We need your
help to do this. Help us by praying. Help us by donating. And yes, help us by
going on an adventure that will radically change your life by going to Thailand
and working with NTIM. Don’t just work with someone who is here but work with
us and we will help you know how to engage people and be used as a “touch
point” in the life of someone to help them continue their journey toward our
great and magnificent Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen?
Before I close
out this update, I want to again say thank you to our home church at Shades
Mountain Baptist Church for allowing me to recently come to the Global Impact
Catalyst that also opened the way for me to drive over to Atlanta and spend
time with 3 of my adult children and their families including 2 of my
grandchildren. It was a wonderful time and am thankful to God for the blessing
of visiting with family that we normally do not get to see very often at all.
Thank
you for sending us to Thailand and thank you for joining God in sustaining us
in Thailand by your PRAYERS, by your Donations through NTIM, and by
going on mission trips to help our work and remind us that even though we
may be on the other side of the world, you have not forgotten those whom you
have sent to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.
As a “FUN
FACT” I did a google search just a moment ago and asked the question: How
far is Chiangrai, Thailand from Birmingham, Alabama? Here was the reply from
Google AI, “The flight distance between Chiang Rai, Thailand (CEI), and
Birmingham, Alabama (BHM/BHX), is approximately 9,024 kilometers (about 5,607
miles). Travel between these two locations typically involves long-haul flights
with one or more stops, often exceeding 20–30 hours total travel time.”
May God
bless each of you for your prayers and for your gifts given in
the name of our great Savior Jesus Christ and for going to Thailand on a
mission trip with NTIM.
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 the team…
“Look
among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something
in your days— You would not believe if you were told.” Habakkuk 1:5
-----------------------------------------------------------
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.
