Christmas Outreach Update - January 9, 2012

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year!  Christmas time is very busy for us at NTIM!  We had many outreaches this year and a couple teams that came out to support us during these events.    Keep reading about what’s been going on!

Our Christmas actually started in November with a Christmas Party for Chinese students.   A team of 3 people came from Shades Mountain Baptist Church to help kick-off our new Chinese Ministry.  Also in November, our church helped with a Christmas outreach at Mae Fah Luang University where 36 students gave their hearts to Jesus!  To read more about this, go to: http://myemail.constantcontact.com/36-University-Students-Give-Their-Heart-To-Jesus.html?soid=1103335986076&aid=_PR0q5Svhtg  

 

December was cram-packed with events!  A team of 10 from Singapore came to work with us for 10 days and God was really able to use them!  We had an HIV Christmas program at the same hospital we went to last Christmas.  We also had a Christmas outreach for the children from some of the children’s homes and a Coffee House Christmas Party for our Grace Language School students.  Our church Christmas Program was on the 17^th and around 300-400 people came to watch performances, sing carols, hear about the birth of our Savior, and have dinner together.  It was a great time!  But that’s not all…

The day after the Christmas Program, we loaded up 2 Song-taos (truck taxis), a car, and a truck and drove 3 hours to Huay Khu village in the mountains.  This is the same village we went to last year.  We spent 3 nights in the village and did several outreaches while we were there, including, painting the church, prayer walking, an English Fun Day, and a Christmas Program.  When it was time to drive home, we were all tired and ready for beds and hot showers, but excited about the seeds God planted while we were there.

Back in Chiang Rai, we said good-bye to the Singapore team, went caroling to church members’ homes, and then had Christmas with our church family Sunday morning where we celebrated the baptisms of 8 new believers!  Here is the link if you want to read more about it:  http://myemail.constantcontact.com/The-Harvest-is-Here.html?soid=1103335986076&aid=BGyK1WxgVq8#fblike

God was definitely at work in December and He still is!  Please pray for the lives that were touched during the Christmas season.  Pray that God will continue to work in their hearts and that He will receive all the glory! 

It’s a new year and I can’t even express how excited I am about 2012!  It is a year of hope and possibilities for me, for our team, and for our ministry.  I can’t wait to see what God has in store! 

We need your support this year!  Your prayers, giving, and going are important to us and to the people of Northern Thailand.  If you would like to make a donation, come on a short-term mission trip, make a long-term commitment to serve with us, or find out other ways you can support us, please go to www.gontim.org

In Christ,

Kara

The Harvest is Here ...

I have always loved December. Not only do I like the colder weather – yes, it does get cooler in December in Thailand, at least in Northern Thailand where we live. But the most important reason I like December is because it gives us a chance to truly reflect on the true meaning of “Emmanuel”- “God with us” and give us an opportunity to help other reflect on that meaning. 

Since we have lived in Thailand (it will be 13 years on Jan 13, 2012), we have come to realize that in Thailand, December is also harvest time. It is a time when millions of rice fields all over Thailand are bringing in the harvest of rice. Harvesting is much more fun than tilling the ground and preparing the soil for planting. But if we don’t prepare the soil properly and put the hard work into the soil, we will not reap the kind of harvest we desire. 

 

The same is true in the spiritual realm. Harvesting is much more fun than tilling the ground and preparing the soil for planting. But we must do the hard work of breaking up the soil and getting the fields ready for planting.

 

About 4 weeks ago we had our first Christmas evangelistic outreach on a university campus here in Northern Thailand and 36 university students gave their hearts to Jesus. The harvest was here but many people plowed the ground and worked the soil long before that harvest time came. You can read about this harvest in my  update on Dec 5, 2011 at the following link:    http://myemail.constantcontact.com/36-University-Students-Give-Their-Heart-To-Jesus.html?soid=1103335986076&aid=_PR0q5Svhtg

As we reflect on 2011, I am filled with humility that the God of the universe would allow a sinner like me to be a small part of reaching many nations for Jesus. God has allowed us to be involved in many different things over the last 12 years we have served in Thailand and one of the greatest blessings I continue to receive is the privilege of leading this awesome church God has planted in Northern Thailand called Baan Athitaan Church. What a great joy it was for us to baptize 8 new brothers and sisters in Christ this past Christmas morning. At least 3 of these 8 are the first persons in their entire families to become Christians and one of them is the first person in her entire village to be a believer.  Our church is full of 1^st generation Christians from dozens of different people groups here in Asia. God has truly blessed us. 

For all of you who have prayed, who have come and served with us, who have given financially so our family and our other team members could serve, and who continue to support God’s work in Northern Thailand, we want you to know that God has used your resources to change the lives of many nations for Jesus sake in 2011. Thank you for giving to the Lord. We could not be here without your generous prayers and financial support.

Jesus told us to go into all the world and make disciples. Jesus told us to be the salt of the earth. Jesus told us to be the light of the world. Jesus told us to love those who persecute us and to pray for those who reject us. Jesus told us to share the gospel with the poor, the orphaned, the sick, the widows, and those who have never heard. That is what we have been all about in 2011 and commit to being about in 2012. May God use us together to make an even greater difference in 2012 all for His glory and the advancement of His kingdom.

Much Love & Prayers,

Pii Michael

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Reaching, Teaching, Discipling, Equipping, Training, and Serving People in God's World through acts of love and compassionate for the sake and purpose of the gospel is what NTIM and our ministry team is all about. 

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 

NTIM is a non-profit charitable organization with 501(C)(3) in the USA. All of your donations to NTIM are tax deductible and help us connect people in need with people who care and send them to places where millions have never heard about Jesus. Checks can be made out to NTIM, P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 or online at www.gontim.org