We are at a
very critical and pivotal place in our ministry here in Northern Thailand and
we are calling on all of our friends and partners to join us on May 6, 2015 for
a day of fasting and prayer for NTIM’s “Beach Head Vision” land situation. We
are asking you to join us and we would ask that you ask your friends who are
missions minded to join us as well.
BACKGROUND NEED – GOD IS MOVING
As we have shared many times before. We are seeing
God’s hand at work in the heart of South East Asia changing peoples’ lives like
never before. Some of you joined us in our Season of Prayer at the end of 2013
& 2014 and know some of what I will be sharing but many of you need to hear
a little more of the background in order to know how to pray with more insight.
Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church and the gates of Hell will
not be able to stand against it.” One of the places God is building His church
is in Chiang Rai, Thailand, right in the heart of dozens of unreached people
groups and among millions and millions of people who do not know Jesus as their
personal Savior.
God
has chosen to use a small group of people living in Chiang Rai to make
disciples from over 23 different identifiable people groups, most of whom are
1st generation believers. 1st generation believers are normally the first
people in their entire families to become followers of Jesus.
What
started as a small group of 8 believers in the Johnson home some 14 years ago
has blossomed into a growing, thriving, community focused church called Baan
Athitaan Church. Our church today is made up of people from over 23
identifiable people groups and involved in outreach/evangelistic ministries
related to teaching English through Grace Language School (GLS), reaching out
to university students, caring for those affected by HIV/AIDS, caring and
ministering to various children’s homes, reaching out to the community and
neighboring countries, reaching out through a growing soccer ministry that
partners with some awesome folks from ABWE, and most importantly, committed to
making disciples of all the peoples and nations God brings across our path.
We
are very grateful for the partners and friends that God has surrounded us with
including our partnership with various churches, and individuals all over the
world who support the Johnson family and their team of partners in God’s work
here in Northern Thailand.
NEED FOR MORE PERMANCY AND LOWER OVERHEAD COSTS
We
have been very intentional these past 14 years in Chiang Rai to focus upon
evangelism, discipleship and building the people of God into a family and have
yet to purchase a piece of property and put up a physical structure of our own.
We have spent the last 14 years investing our people and resources into making
disciples, building a flock and creating various outreach platforms and
ministries. As I shared with our prayer partners last year and want to repeat
that again this year, we sense that it
is God’s timing to now say to the darkness that ‘we are here to stay’ through
the purchase of land and then by building a multi-purpose facility that will
facilitate a greater ability to reach the nations for Jesus and will strengthen
the integrity of the outreach platforms we have created already and will create
in the days ahead as God leads.”
We have been using rented property for
the last 14 years and we sense that it is time to tell the darkness we are here
to stay by raising enough funds to purchase land
and complete phase 1. God has planted the “church body” in a place in Northern
Thailand that is strategically located between two major universities in Chiang
Rai – Mae Fah Luang University and Rajabhat University where there are
approximately 30,000 students between the two campuses. We originally anticipating
the need to purchase between 2-3 rai of land (2.5 rai = 1 acre) for this
specific project and estimate the cost of land to be somewhere around $166,666
U.S. dollars. I am pleased to say that God has given us more than we asked of
Him. I am reminded of the passage in Ephesians 3:20 that says, “Now to Him who
is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to
the power that works within us.” However, for almost a year now, we have run
into road block after road block when it comes to getting a piece of land that
we feel is appropriate.
SPIRITUAL WARFARE
We were very, very pleased to report
about 1 year ago that God burdened the heart of a very sweet Thai lady that we
met about 2 years ago to “donate” to us a piece of land she had previously
purchased here in Chiang Rai. We had every intention of building our multi-purpose
facility on this property and began the process of transferring the property
from the owner’s name into the name of our foundation here in Thailand and then using our funds we had raised for the construction cost of Phase II. That transfer
paperwork began in July of 2014. We have had numerous meetings with the local
village and with government officials and have been unable to gain their
approval of the transfer. Then last month we received a phone call from the
government to withdraw our request for approval. To make a long story short, we
have been very uncertain as to what the Lord was saying to us but in the end we
must affirm that God is ruler over all the affairs of men and have come to
conclude that this “piece of donated land” is not where God has in mind for us
to build this Beach Head.
I must confess that we have only once
before in our history of serving here in Thailand experienced what I would call
clearly demonic opposition to God’s work but this has been the second
experience.
CURRENT SITUATION
The past few years have been filled
with confirmation after confirmation that we are to move forward with building
this Beach head for Jesus but the part that is still not clear is “where.”
All of you who know me well know that I
am committed to doing what God wants to be done and will do it with all of my
strength…but…. I want to always be careful that I am doing it God’s way and in
God’s timing and where God wants it to be done. Something is just not quite
right about this land and I wish I could put my finger on what is wrong but it
is not that simple.
We are fully committed to seeing this
vision from God take physical form but we do want to make sure it is in the
location where God’s work can flourish and not be hindered. Without going into
the details, let us just say it has been quite clear that this “donated” piece
of property cannot be transferred to us and that we are now looking for another
piece of property that will allow us to complete the work God has called us do.
WHAT WE SENSE WE NEED FOR YOU TO PRAY FOR ON MAY 6, 2015
Please pray for us as we seek to follow
the leadership of our Lord in finding and purchasing the piece of property God
wants us to have. The cost of property has continued to skyrocket and our
original estimate of the cost of Phase 1 may be somewhat low. Here is an
example of how we would ask you to pray today and then we would ask you to join
us on May 6 for a day of Fasting and Prayer.
Prayer
Example: “Lord, we have been reminded today of how You are
at work building Your church in Northern Thailand. We thank You for allowing us
who have been praying to be a part of seeing many young people give their hearts
to Jesus. We thank You for allowing us to see how You are using 1st
generation believers to reach and disciple other 1st generation
believers. We thank You for Grace Language School and how you are using them to
reach out not only to Thai people but to Chinese people and Laotian people, and
Burmese people and many others. We do
sense that it is Your time for them to establish a more permanent beach head
and to say to the forces of darkness that God’s work through NTIM is there to
stay. We ask that You would open the storehouses of heaven and provide NTIM
with the needed resources in money and personnel and land to do all that You
have put in their hearts to do. Please guide them as they seek for the piece of
property that can best be utilized for Your purposes in that part of Your
world. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.”
PLEASE
MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR MAY 6 AND JOIN US AS WE FAST AND PRAY FOR NTIM’S LAND
SITUATION throughout
the day. We would suggest that you fast from at least one meal during that day
or to make it a complete fast for the whole day. Thank you for your love.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR “BEACH HEAD”
PROJECT– WE ARE SO THANKFUL FOR ALL THE
GENEROUS DONATIONS THAT HAVE COME IN OVER THE PAST YEAR. If you have not given
and would like to give, we are still taking donations because we will still
have building expenses to think about. We are asking all of our friends and
partners who have not yet given to this project to please pray about giving to
this very strategic cause. We are requesting that all funding from the U.S.A.
or other countries outside of Thailand for this specific project be routed
through NTIM. All of your donations to NTIM are tax deductible. Checks can be
made out to NTIM, P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 or you may donate online
at www.gontim.org
Your Servants
to the Nations in and Around Northern Thailand,
Michael for
the Team
Donations can be sent to:
Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM),
Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM),
P.O.
Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 USA
or given online at our main website:
www.gontim.org
or given online at our 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, darkness is everywhere, and the love and message of Jesus is needed to transform lives.
Reaching, Teaching, Discipling, Equipping, Training, and Serving People in God’s World in the heart of Southeast Asia through acts of love and compassionate is what NTIM and our ministry team is all about. Here is a video summary of our work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBYHjbnn8zE#t=60
