I love this time of year in Thailand. I love the
“Christmas” time of year in Thailand the most but I also love this time of
year. It is a time when schools in Thailand are in session but it is the Summer
time in the USA making it a great time for volunteer partners and churches to
come for a “summer mission” trip and help us in our work of joining God in His
great work of redemption in Thailand.
One of my favorite Christmas songs as a child was
“Go Tell it On the Mountains.”
I love this song but it has come to have a much
greater meaning to me than I ever thought possible. You see, I am just an ordinary
person just like all of you reading this… but my life the last 18 years here in
Thailand have been nothing along the lines of ordinary not because of who I am
but because of who God is and because we have chosen to join God in His desire
for us to be involved in sharing the gospel of our Lord Jesus in this part of
God’s world where 99 out of every 100 people do not have a personal
relationship with Jesus and many of these people have never even had the chance
to hear the message of our Lord Jesus.
Yesterday was one of those days where our team at
Grace Language School, along with 7 university students from Baan Athitaan
Church, and along with our first “mission team” from a great partner church
from FBC Florence, MS and a volunteer from another great partner church from
our home church at Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL worked
together to “go tell it on the mountains.” Yesterday morning we left the church
at 7:00 and went up to the mountains of Doi Chang to teach English for the
purpose of building bridges to the gospel in a village school that is made up
mostly of people from the Akha Unreached People Group as well as the Lisu Unreached
People Group.
Most of you know Boom who is one of our awesome
staff that we are happy to have on our team. Boom is from the Akha people group
and is the second person in her family to become a follower of Jesus. What many
of you do not know is that her older sister – Bum – was the first person in
their family to become a follower of Jesus. Boom’s older sister Bum gave her
heart to Jesus many years ago when she was a university student at Rajabhat
university studying to be a Teacher and became very active in our church while
she was a student.
Today, Bum is a teacher at the school that we chose
to go and help yesterday. Bum is a light shining in the darkness. There are 22
other teachers at this school and there are a few of them that are Christians
but not very strong in their faith. We would ask for you to join us in praying
for the message of Jesus to be heard by every person and that many of them might
give their hearts to Jesus. Also pray for those who have made a decision for
Jesus but have not yet been discipled and learned how to walk with God. Also
pray specifically for Bum as she is a light shining in the darkness. Pray that
her life would continue to reflect the love of Jesus and that her influence for
the gospel sake would continue to increase. Pray that many will come to know
Jesus through her and that God might open up doors in the future to allow us
the opportunity to help in that work of redemption.
It is a great joy for us to have the privilege to
serve God on the cutting edge of so many unreached people groups and have the
opportunity to disciple and train others on how to reach and disciple others
for the sake of the expansion of the kingdom of our Lord Jesus and for His
glory. Thank you for every prayer you have ever offered up on our behalf. Thank
you for every word of encouragement you have sent our way. Thank you for every
care package you have sent to bless our family and team. Thank you for coming
to help and for sending others from your church to help. Thank you for every
donation and gift you have sent to NTIM so that we can continue to live here
and do all that we believe God wants us to do. May God bless you and may God
bless our partnership as we work together to reach and disciple some of the
least reached peoples in all of the world today. Prayers and Blessings from our
team to you.
Your Servants to the Least Reached People Groups in and around Northern Thailand,
Michael for the team
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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 kindness and for the sake of the
gospel is what NTIM and our ministry team is all about.
