Penetrating the Darkness - July 27, 2010

Sunday July 25 was a day that Nong Aye, Nong Waat, Nong Pee, Nong Gung, Nong Tat, Nong Wut, Nong Pon, and Nong Yaa will remember for the rest of their lives. It was the day that they said publically that they belong to Jesus and that He is Lord of their lives. It was also a very special day for our church to reflect on what it means to be a church family and to welcome others from our community and support them in their decision to follow the commands of Jesus. Here is a link to pictures of our baptismal celebration on July 25, 2010

http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=460590&id=739870640&ref=mf

For those of you who follow our ministry closely, you know well that we live in a part of the world where there has been Satanic strongholds keeping people in darkness for thousands of years. Much like most of these people who were baptized this past Sunday, God is moving in a way that we have never seen before reaching down into families where there has never been even 1 Christian believer in the family and through the power of the gospel of our Lord Jesus, God is changing lives.

God is moving and we are pleading with you to keep praying. Please remember to pray for Baan Athitaan Church and all the teaching and discipleship ministry that goes on every week here in Northern Thailand. You have heard me say on many occasions, one of the most significant things that I do while serving as God has shaped and gifted me is to faithfully, boldly, gently, and clearly teach God’s truth every Sunday morning to our church family that is made up of over 22 different people groups from all over the 10-40 Window.

Reaching, Teaching, Discipling, Equipping, Training, and Serving people in God’s World through acts of love and compassionate is what NTIM and our ministry team is all about.

Your Servants to the Nations in and around Northern Thailand,


Michael for the team
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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

Rescue Children From Poverty and Its Consequences - July 21, 2010

Poverty, low education, sickness and disease lead to many Thai children without a responsible person to care for them. Children are at great risk as child trafficking has reached pandemic proportions. Sometimes parents or caregivers will become so desperate that they wind up selling their children at a very young age. Many parents are living with HIV and/or have heavy drug habits and neglect these precious ones for whom our Christ died.

One of the ways that NTIM is responding to some of these problems is through our children’s home called Baan Oon Rak, or translated means “Home of Warm Love.”

MINISTRY SUMMARY – Baan Oon Rak is one of our “rescue the children” type of ministries. All of the children that we care for at Baan Oon Rak are from very poor broken families. We currently care for 13 precious girls, ages 4-12, and 1 boy age 5. What are some of the things that we do for these precious children?

*Protect them from the additional consequences of extreme poverty, abuse, and abandonment.
*Give them an opportunity to receive a good education.
*Provide them with a warm loving Christian home with care givers who love Jesus and who love and care for these kids.
*Teach them to love Jesus and love others.
*Bless them with a church family where they are loved and trained to be salt and light for Jesus.

MINISTRY PROJECT NEEDS – The initial funding for getting Baan Oon Rak started came from the savings and personal funds of Pii Bow (who also serves as the director of Baan Oon Rak) along with a few other friends. Those funds are long gone and we are operating on a less than adequate shoe string budget and are therefore in need of significant monthly support. We are in need of individuals, churches, and organizations who want to help provide hope and a bright future for these children through donating $35, $50, $100, or $200 monthly toward “Rescue the Children” project.  Donating $2,000 would cover the whole project for 1 month.

Be one of the first to step up to the plate for Jesus and for these precious children. On our own, we each can make a difference in the world, but collectively as a team we are a force for good that exponentially surpasses what we can do alone. You can make a difference by sending your donations to NTIM, P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 USA or by giving online at www.gontim.org
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NTIM is a non-profit charitable 501(C)(3) status in the USA committed to connecting people in need with people who care. We are focused on taking the love and message of Jesus into the heart of Southeast Asia where poverty is high, education is low, needs are great, darkness is everywhere, and the message of the gospel is needed to transform lives.

There are 6 key things that NTIM does: 1) sends “laborers” into the heart of the 10-40 window, 2) builds bridges to the lost through teaching English, 3) rescues children from extreme poverty and prevent human trafficking, 4) feeds & educates street children, 5) cares for those affected by HIV/AIDS, and 6) makes disciples, trains nationals and facilitates church planting.

Alabama Team from SMBC helping reach out in Thailand – July 12, 2010

God is using English in mighty ways to build bridges to the hearts of people in Asia. A team of 8 from our home church in Birmingham, Alabama have come to help us reach out to the nations through many avenues. They have already helped host some HIV/AIDS training, host a part for Baan Oon Rak children’s home and will be blessing some of the street kids at Open Doors on Tuesday.

Another very significant avenue of reaching out this week is through doing what we call “English Fun Days.” On Monday and Wednesday, we will be going into two junior high schools and putting on an English program for two schools. This is a part of our strategy at Grace Language School to reach out and bless our community and build bridges to hearts that God can use to draw people to Him.

Pray for a special touch from God. Pray for the team as they work with our team to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this part of the world. Please also pray that God would send us laborers to help in the felds to follow up with these precious people. We are in desperate need of four people who would commit for 2 years to come and serve with us as teachers at Grace Language School and help us follow up and really make a long term impact in this part of the world.

Your Servant to the Nations in and around Northern Thailand,


Michael

Training HIV/AIDS Workers in Thailand - July 10, 2010

When we look closely at Jesus’ mission statement and at the way He lived out the Gospel during His 3 years of public ministry, we find that He always expressed His love and devotion to God in compassionate ways that reached out to the downcast, the distressed, the hurting, the sick, the poor, those in bondage, and the needy.

Jesus said in His mission statement, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19

As followers of Jesus, our love for God must be expressed in these same compassionate ways. Many of you know that our ministry is involved in many things including ministering to those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. There are over 21,000 Thai people that die from AIDS every year and we have an opportunity to express the love of Jesus.

SIM & E3Partners have developed something similar to the Evangecube but is directed more at educating people about HIV/AIDS and then using it as a bridge to share the gospel. Chris Horton, who is a good friend of mine from my home church in Birmingham, AL and also serves with E3Partners, provided some awesome training for a small group of HIV/AIDS workers yesterday.

Please also pray with us that God would continue to use us as his hands and feet to share the love and message of our Savior and continue to become better equipped to bless the communities in Northern Thailand.

Please also pray that God would send us laborers to help in the fields to follow up with these precious people in our various ministries here at NTIM.

We are in need of 2 very important things: resources in people and resources in donations.

Your Servant to the Nations in and around Northern Thailand,


Michael

Your donations to NTIM are making a huge impact in the lives of people.
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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

Prayer for English Camp in Thailand - July 2, 1010

God is using English to reach the hearts of young people. In just a couple of hours, we begin a 3 day camp called “Let Freedom Ring English Camp” where we will have lots of fun, make lots of new friends, and build bridges to the hearts of lost people. We have a great team from Florence, Mississippi here to help us. They have been busy all week getting ready for this very important weekend. In just a couple of hours from now, we will be registering somewhere between 50 to 60 high school and university students for this camp.

Pray for a special touch from God. Pray for us to love these campers like Jesus loves them. Pray that God would help us to be His hands and His feet. Pray for them that their eyes and hearts will be opened to message of our great and mighty Savior and King. We have already seen two students give their hearts to Jesus this week and we are seeing God to do some amazing things.

Please also pray that God would send us laborers to help in the fields to follow up with these precious people. We are in desperate need of four people who would commit for 2 years to come and serve with us as teachers at Grace Language School and help us follow up and really make a long term impact in this part of the world.

Your Servant to the Nations in and around Northern Thailand,

Michael
Your donations to NTIM are making a huge impact in the lives of people.
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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

Two More Chinese Give Their Hearts to Jesus - June 30, 2010

God is at work all around us! We stand amazed at how God is giving NTIM and the various ministries it supports so many opportunities to reach the nations for Jesus.

Just moments ago, two more Chinese students gave their hearts to Jesus! Wow. Go GOD!!!! God had been working in their hearts for quite some time but today was the day that God had chosen to write their names in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Today is the day that the Angels in heaven are rejoicing over these two sinners who have given their hearts to Jesus.

Thank you for your faithful prayers for our team. God is listening to those prayers and opening doors that no man could ever open. Please pray that God would send us either an ethnic Chinese or someone who is fluent in Chinese to help us. We urgently need someone who loves Jesus, loves the Chinese, speaks English well, has the heart of a shepherd, and will work as a team player to bring the Chinese into the larger church family of God. We need someone to come and serve alongside Pastor Michael and lead our Chinese ministry to the next level of impact and discipleship.

There are over 500 Chinese students from Yunnan Province that study at Rajabhat University here in Chiang Rai. That does not include the hundreds of Chinese students that study at Mae Fah Luang University just up the highway from us. God has used us to lead many to faith in our Lord Jesus over the past 2 years but we are really in need of someone to help shepherd their hearts and disciple them in their heart language. Keep Praying!!!!

We also just want to thank all of our financial supporters. It is through your donations to NTIM that make it possible for us to join God in this great task of taking the message of our great Savior to the nations in this part of the world.
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All donations made to NTIM are tax deductible and can be made either online at www.gontim.org or mailed to NTIM, P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35250

Alabama & Mississippi Baptist Help Open New Doors in China - June 10, 2010

CHIANG RAI, Thailand (NTIM reports) – There are more than 44 million people living in Yunnan Province in Southern China and most have never heard the message of our Lord Jesus. Amongst the millions who have never heard the gospel, God is using Alabama & Mississippi Baptists in partnership with GLS to plow new ground and open doors for future work.
One of the team members from Shades Mountain Baptist in Birmingham, AL who serves as the Field Director of NTIM and Director of Grace Language School (GLS) in Chiang Rai, Thailand said relationships of deep trust and friendship were hard to build but easy to tear down. “We are so grateful for partner churches like FBC Florence’’ he said. “They understand our philosophy of teaching English with integrity and with a very intentional life purpose of being salt and light while building bridges of trust and friendship with those we teach.”

The team from FBC Florence, MS, where Buddy Sheriff serves as pastor, had six members who met in Bangkok in early June with a team of four members from GLS. They flew together to the capital city of Kunming and drove to a strategic city in the Yunnan province. There they spent three days being salt and light and teaching English to more than 2,000 students in both a university and high school where GLS has been developing strong relationships.

The team was especially excited to unexpectedly meet a couple of the university students who were led to Christ through Baan Athitaan Church in Chiang Rai one year ago.“The fields are ripe for the harvest,” NTIM Field Director said. “But the workers are truly few.”
GLS is praying for God to send seven college graduates (one preferably ethnic Chinese) who love Jesus and can go to Chiang Rai and serve for at least two years and help the school reach the nations living in and around Northern Thailand for Jesus. For more information visit www.gontim.org or send an email to pray4gls@gmail.com

A youtube video of our trip can be found at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3nm0CJDsEI

It is through your prayers and donations to NTIM that make it possible for us to join God in this great task of taking the message of our great Savior to the poor, to the needy, and to those who have never heard.
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All donations made to NTIM are tax deductible and can be made either online at www.gontim.org or mailed to NTIM, P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260

Prayer for English Outreach in Thailand and China - May 30, 2010

There are many things that we do to build bridges to the lost people in this part of the world. As most of you know, we live in a part of the world where very few people have ever heard the message of Jesus. 99 out of every 100 persons living here do not know Jesus as their personal Savior. Even in the midst of millions who have never heard, God is at work. God is using many people and many groups to bring the light of the gospel.

One of those groups is our English language school called Grace Language School (GLS). GLS is registered with the Ministry of Education of Thailand and owned and operated by NTIM's sister foundation in Thailand called Channel of Blessing Foundation. There are two areas that we are asking for your prayers.

We would first ask you to please pray for our outreach in Northern Thailand. GLS currently has 60+ students this term. We are asking God to send us 100!!! Please pray as we begin to make plans for registration of new students next week. We are also asking God to send us 7 new 2-year commitment missionaries to come and serve full time through NTIM and help us expand the kingdom of our great God here in Northern Thailand. The fields are ripe…but the laborers are truly few.

The second areas we need your prayer in is our 1st mission trip and outreach into China. There are over 400 Chinese students from Yunnan Province that study at Rajabhat University here in Chiang Rai. God has used us to lead several to faith in our Lord Jesus. Not only is God sending these Chinese students to Chiang Rai, God has opened doors for Grace Language School (GLS) to go into China. In just a few hours, a team of 4 of us from GLS will be traveling to Bangkok to meet up with 6 friends from FBC Florence, MS. We will then board a plane June 1 and head into China on GLS’s first mission trip into this great country. We will be plowing new ground as we teach on campus at a fairly large University on June 3 and a fairly large high school on June 4. Please pray for us as we seek to bless the Chinese people and be the salt and light our Lord Jesus has called us to be.

It is through your donations to NTIM that make it possible for us to join God in this great task of taking the message of our great Savior to the poor, to the needy, and to those who have never heard.
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All donations made to NTIM are tax deductible and can be made either online at www.gontim.org or mailed to NTIM, P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260

Helping Children Affected by HIV/AIDS in Northern Thailand - May 27, 2010

By Josh Grammar, NTIM Summer Volunteer from EBC, Tuscaloosa, AL USA

Yesterday morning, Gae and I drove to a hospital just north of Chiang Rai, Thailand. Gae serves as Coordinator of Compassion Ministries for Baan Athitaan Church. At the hospital we met up with a man named Frank. Frank is a Canadian born man who lived in England. He moved to Thailand on a calling from God to help families affected by HIV/AIDS. He found himself volunteering in hospitals and clinics and establishing friendships. On this morning, we drove from school to school making sure each child they support gets the money they need. Frank and Gae are tireless in their work. When notified of new candidates, Frank finds the house and makes sure it is a legitimate need and meets the families. Frank knows the families personally and you can see a smile on the kids’ faces when they see him.

Frank and Gae are impacting those affected by HIV/AIDS in Thailand for God. If there was ever a man to trust with ministry money, I can trust this man. He lost virtually all American aid when Katrina hit, so he relies on funds from England, Baan Athitaan Church, and Northern Thailand Impact Ministry to support the ministries of Open Doors and HIV/AIDS Outreach. As Frank spoke with principals and teachers, he informed me that some were very trustworthy, but that others would pocket the money. That is why he checks back with schools and families. His face shows a true heart for the children, and his passion sneaks through as you hear the slight anger in his voice as he mentions the corruption that interferes with helping the needy. Because of what Frank and Gae do, these children who have lost parents, or may be losing parents are given an opportunity to change their lives. They are all very poor. One in particular we visited lived on a little dirt road with her mother. She has to ride an old worn out bike to her school.

Christians like Frank and Gae, who have an open heart to God, are able to see the needs of God’s people and step in and make a difference. Mark 9:36-37 shows, “He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

Christ has called us to be His body on earth. Are we limping? Are we keeping our hands in our pockets? These children are suffering and I have seen first-hand what a small amount of help can do. We are capable of so much more though, right? If we work together and support our fellow Christians, and use our whole body as we are called to, Christ’s work here on earth will be even more glorifying to God and many souls will be saved from a life apart from God. In a country where less than 1% of 66 million people know Christ, there is much work to be done.
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Projects and compassion ministries like these are possible through giving to NTIM. Donations to NTIM may be made by clicking on this link: www.gontim.org
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NTIM is a 501c charitable organization committed to taking the love and message of Jesus to the poor and needy in and around Northern Thailand.
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“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19

People Need God's Transforming Word in Northern Thailand - May 26, 2010

On Tuesday night, May 4, 2010, just 3 weeks ago, I received an urgent phone call from Kit. One of Kit's closest friends named Attapon from his home village in Chiang Kam overdosed and the doctors said he would not make it through the night. Kit is Phet's younger brother. Many of you know Phet who serves as my Administrative Assitant at Baan Athitaan Church. Kit and Phet were both shocked because Attapon had such a bright future ahead of him. He graduated from Chiang Mai University several years ago with honors and was a very gifted and talented artist and only 26 years old.

We did not know the details of what happened that day with Attapon but knew that we needed to pray for him. I asked Kit to come to the church office and several of our staff gathered together that night to pray and ask for God’s touch. First thing the next morning, we were glad to hear that Attapon had made it through the night and felt that God would have us go visit him. So, Kit, Phet, and myself set out on a two hour drive to go visit Attapon.
When we arrived at the hospital, we all realized the severity of the situation. This wasn’t your typical overdose of medicine. The previous day, Attapon made a very deliberate choice to end his life. He went and purchased two different kinds of herbicide. One type of herbicide kills grass and weeds from the outside. The other type kills grass and weeds from the roots as the herbicide is absorbed in the system. After Attapon bought these two types of herbicide, he took them home and poured 3 full glasses mixing the herbicide together and drank all three of them.

Literally within minutes, Attapon’s body began the death process. When we arrived at the hospital some 18 hours later, the doctors reported that Attpon’s kidneys had already failed and it would not be long when all of the other internal organs began to fail.

When we visited Attapon, Kit was able to share a little with him and Attapon had changed his mind and did not want to die…but it was too late. The consequences of his choice to drink this herbicide were set in motion and within another 18 hours, Attapon breathed his last breath before entering eternity and as far as we know, an eternity without our Lord Jesus.

My heart still hurts when I think of Attapon. Why do people who have such a bright future ahead of them lose their desire to live and willingly take their own life? I am convinced that one primarily reason is that they do not know why God put them on the earth and what God’s Word says about how to live our lives. I will be sharing this story this Sunday at Baan Athitaan Church along with begining a fresh 40 look living a purpose driven life and need your prayers.

I am reminded of what the Apostle Paul once wrote in in 2 Thessalonians 3:1. "Finally, Our friends, pray for us that the Lord's message may continue to spread rapidly and be received with honor, just as it was among you."

Please remember to pray for our teaching ministry at Baan Athitaan Church located in Chiang Rai, Thailand in the heart of the 10-40 Window.
God has given me the privelege of Pastoring an awesmoe church that began in our home almost 9 years ago. One of the most significant things that I do every week, is to faithfully, boldly, gently, and clearly teach God’s truth every Sunday morning to over 22 different people groups mostly from the heart of the 10-40 Window.

Reaching, Teaching, Discipling, Equipping, Training, and Serving God’s World in compassionate ways is what NTIM, Baan Athitaan Church, and all of our related ministries are all about.

Your Servant to the Nations in and around Northern Thailand,


Michael
http://www.gontim.org/

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I also send out devotional thoughts on Facebook from time to time through a group called "Pastor Michael's Messages and Devotional Thoughts in Engilsh. If you would like to receive these, you can join this group on facebook at:     http://www.facebook.com/?tid=1280305323606&sk=messages#!/group.php?gid=190077294798

If you would like to receive the Thai version of these, you can join the group on faceebook called การหนุนใจจากพี่ไมเคิล, you can join this group on facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/?tid=1280305323606&sk=messages#!/group.php?gid=210961298920