Dear Friends & Partners In
Ministry,
It is Monday afternoon here in
Thailand as I write this update. I am sitting in village school close to Mae
Sai that if made up mostly of children from the Akha unreached people group. We
have a partner church team with us that is partnering with us at Grace Language
School as we seek to serve God by using teaching English as a way to build
bridges to the hearts of millions who have never heard the message of Jesus.
Here is a picture that was taken just a few minutes ago of our outreach to the
Akha unreached people group.
We want to
thank you for your prayers. We know that we have friends like you who are
praying for us this week in a special way. God has been moving and allowing us
to be the salt and light of Jesus and the hands and feet of Jesus in some very
special ways. We want to take just a few moments and give you an update on a
few outreaches as well as ask you to pray for us as we continue to seek to be
the hands and feet of Jesus here in Northern Thailand.
UPDATE ON NEW 1st
GENERATION BELIEVER – Nong Fang
Reflecting on a very special
event that happened Friday night. Friday night during our Thai Cell group (which
is made up of both junior and senior high school students as well as university
students) at Baan Athitaan Church, God was at work in the heart of a 17 year
old teenager who had been studying English with a friend and member of
our church named Joon Hyun. This young lady has also been coming to our
church services since February. This young lady was what we call a
"seeker." A seeker is someone who is interested in knowing more about
Jesus and is seeking the truth. Not only was this young lady a seeker but there
was no one in here entire family that has become a follower of Jesus. Her
family is from the Isaan unreached people group which is the 2nd
largest unreached people group in all of Thailand with over 20 million people
in this unreached people group. Well, last night as our Thai cell group was
studying the Bible together with our team members from Mississippi, God was at
work in this young lady's life and Pii Ja was given the great privilege of leading
Nong Fang into the arms of Jesus where she became the first person in her
entire family to become a follower of Jesus. The Bible says that the angels in
heaven rejoice over one person who repents and turns to Jesus and the angels in
heaven have been rejoicing since Friday night and so have we here in Northern
Thailand. “Thank you Jesus for allowing us to be a part of your redemption of
the Thai people” is my prayer. Please begin praying for Fang and she begins to
learn to walk with Jesus and be the salt and light of Jesus to her family and
friends.
UPDATE ON DINNER
WITH CFPM CHILDREN
Most of you who follow our
ministry closely know that we have some Thai friends who are members of our
church and who have a ministry that is called Child and Family Prison Ministry.
This is not a ministry of NTIM’s at all but CFPM has their own foundation and
board of directors. Our good friend Arlang leads this ministry. Some of our
friends from Mississippi sponsor a few of these children and they like to spend
a little time with them each time they come to Thailand so Saturday night, we
bought lots of Kentucky Fried Chicken, yes we have that here in Chiang Rai, and
went to have dinner and spend some time with these children whose parents are
incarcerated.
UPDATE ON
MINISTRY TO FAMILIES WHO LOST 17 GIRLS FROM THE FIRE DISASTER IN CHIANG RAI
Most of you have heard about
the Seventeen (17) Thai Girls that lost their lives in a fire on Sunday night,
May 23rd. Baan Athitaan Church has become known as a “First Responder Church”
to Natural Disasters. Over the last 10 years we have joined God and reacted
quickly to natural disasters in and around Northern Thailand that have been
related to FLOODING, EARTHQUAKES, HAIL STORMS, and Now FIRES. After we first
heard about this fire disaster, God put it on our hearts to put our current
plans aside and go see how God might want to use us in this disaster. After
going down on Tuesday and talking with the administration of the school where
the fire started in a dorm, it because clear there were three ways we could
help: 1) providing the surviving children with shoes and bedding, 2) providing
a small gift to those whose children were injured and still in the hospital,
and 3) provide a small gift to those families who lost children in the fire. We
then wrote up a prayer update explaining the situation and asking for
donations. It is still not too late to give if you would like to do that. Here
is the original request.
After our first visit, we went
shopping for shoes and bedding and then drove down to the school again the
second time this past Friday. Not only were we able to donate shoes and bedding
to those who survived the fire, but God gave us a special opportunity to
minister to all of the families that lost children with a small gift, surround
them with our team and our prayers, and even visit some of the survivors that
were in the hospital. We were not sure how we were going to meet each of these
families who had lost children in the fire but we trusted God would lead us. It
didn’t surprise us at all that God had everything in control. When we arrived
at the school, guess who were all there when we arrived? Yes, every mother who
had lost a child in the fire was there when we arrived so we were able to say
some comforting words, gather around them and pray for them, and give them a
small monetary gift to help them with expenses. We were also able to visit and
pray for 4 other children in two different hospitals who were in the fire but
were recovering. Please continue to pray for these families who have lost
children and for those who are still recovering. We thank Jesus for the chance
for Northern
Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM) Baan Athitaan
Church and FBC
Florence, MS to be a special part of ministering to those who went through this
tragedy this week.
UPDATE ON ENGLISH
FUN DAYS AT GRACE LANGUAGE SCHOOL (Saturday) and AT A SCHOOL IN A MIEN UPG
VILLAGE (Thursday).
One of our specialties in
English outreach into our communities here in Northern Thailand is what we call
“English Fun Days.” These are camps that we have developed, designed, and utilized
for the last 15 years that we have been living and serving here in Northern
Thailand. These English Fun Days are a hallmark of Grace Language School and
things we have leaned over the years in terms of reaching out and plowing the
ground for follow up outreach in the days ahead. As I shared earlier, we are
doing an English Fun Day today and have already had an English Fun Day at a
school in a Mien UPG village this past Thursday as well as another English Fun
Day for all of the children in our own community that study with us every
Saturday morning. Please pray for us as we continue to plow the ground, sow the
seed, and prepare for the day God allows us to have a great harvest.
If you have never watched our
short video clip explaining what we do here at NTIM, please take a moment and
watch the video clip we put together in 2014.
We also have another video that
was done by a friend of ours who heads up a ministry called Servant’s Aid. Here
is the video clip that he put together for us as well.
Thank you for
joining us in reaching the nations in and around Northern Thailand for Jesus.
Your Servants to
the Nations in and Around Northern Thailand,
Michael
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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,
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
through acts of love and compassionate is what NTIM and our ministry team is
all about.
