Dear Family, Friends, Partners in Ministry,
This update is not rather long, but really, really long but it is packed with “God moments” & “Beginning moments” so please be patient and look (through our Heavenly Father’s eyes) at what God has done doing, is doing now, and wants to do in the future in and around Northern Thailand. We have prayed that all of you reading this long update, will be inspired to be more committed to follow God’s dreams for your life more than you will follow your own plans and dreams for your own life and if you do this, you will find “the goodness and loving kindness of God will follow you all the days of your life” much like King David declared in Psalm 23.
As many of you have heard me say many times, God has been doing an amazing work of redemption amongst some of the least reached “ethne,” (language/people groups) in our world today living in and around Northern Thailand. We have seen people from the Muang people group, the Mien people group, the Akha People group, the Lahu people group, the Hmong people group, as well as many other people groups even from various ethnic groups from China, Laos, and Myanmar, become the first person in their entire families to become followers of Jesus and begin the process of living life as a genuine follower of Jesus. We have seen this with our own eyes and testify to you today over the last 25 years we have lived in Chiangrai, Thailand (27 years in Thailand including our language and culture acquisition time in Bangkok our first two years). We have not seen 1 or two people come to know Jesus, we have seen hundreds and then many of them have led others to Jesus. God is at work and invites you to personally join Him in that work. And we want to ask that you consider joining us in part of that work through NTIM.
God had put in our hearts a vision to establish a new legal platform of teaching English as an English language school modeled after the Baptist Student Center (school) in Bangkok. We saw this as the beginning of the process of blessing the community of Chiang Rai with Native English teachers who also carried a life purpose goal of being the salt and light of Jesus all the while being authentic, legitimate teachers of English in our vocational life. I have an education visa and work permit. Our life purpose has always been to join God in allowing us to set up this platform to facilitate a natural and respected way to build relationships with our Thai students that would eventually lead us to openly share the gospel (not in the classroom but in our relationships), open the door for the opportunity for them to embrace the gospel, and open the opportunity to begin a house church affiliated with the Thailand Baptist Convention all in the context of relationships. Our family moved to Chiang Rai in July 2001 and with God’s leadership and with the blessing of the IMB to begin what we called “Operation Chiangrai.” After 2 months of living and doing all that was necessary to open an English language school, we were given great favor from the government and specifically from the Ministry of Education. We opened our school 25 years ago on Sept 17, 2001. Here are a couple of pictures from that timeframe like Operation Chiangrai, our school dedication, and the beginnings of the Lighthouse Language Center which eventually became Grace Language School and the seeds for what we now call Baan Athitaan Church. All of these pictures tell the historical development and expansion of God’s work for about the first 15 years. At some point, we will bring things up to date, but we wanted you to have a chance to see what we have seen God do especially in the first 15 years of life in Chiangrai.
This month of September we are celebrating 25 years of teaching English in Chiangrai. Here is a “25 Years of Teaching English in Chiangrai, Thailad” mug we gave out to everyone here two Sundays ago on September 13. We had a short time of celebration of God’s working in Chiangrai and a time of prayer.
We tried to honor God and thank Him for allowing us to set up an English teaching platform that we now call Grace Language School and have taught here now for 25 years (including the time at the Lighthouse Language Center). These have been some of the best years of our lives serving God and seeing thousands of people in this part of God’s world be impacted through the lives of our teachers, our Thai staff, and our volunteers who have come to be the salt and light of Jesus amidst the “πάντα τὰ ἔθνη” (panta ta ethne) living in and around Northern Thailand these last 25 years. Hundreds of these people were impacted so much that they became followers of Jesus and many of them the 1st or 2nd person in their entire family heritage to have their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
We have seen hundreds of various ethnic Thai people, as well as Laotian people, Myanmar People, and Chinese people, become followers of Jesus. Here is a short video clip of what I shared last Sunday morning and it closes with a beautiful prayer from one of our good friends Beverly Bridges who lives in Mississippi. Beverly has become one of my closest friends and is now one of our NTIM Board Members. We want to thank her family, her church family at FBC Florence, and the Mississippi Baptist Convention for assisting in sending her and the volunteer teams with her to serve with us as best I can tell 19 times over the last 20 years that she has partnered with us.
Yes, we love receiving volunteer teams from the USA but be forewarned that . . . . , that if you come through NTIM, God may grab your heart and transform it and cause you to fall deeply in love with these wonderful ethnically diverse Thai people from many different ethnic/language/people groups and be ready to truly understand that God does not want any ethnic group to be left behind without hearing and understanding the gospel. God is using legitimate English language platforms that teach English with integrity to reach the least reached peoples in our world today.
We do not use the classroom as an opportunity to “preach” but it is used to facilitate the legitimate teaching of English and the building of good relationships as we let the salt and light of Christ flow out of our lives and to our students and their families and friends. In His great commission, our Lord Jesus did not say go to all of the geopolitical countries in the world, even though the English translations seem to indicate that with the use of the geo-political word “nations.” No, Jesus said in Greek, go to the “πάντα τὰ ἔθνη” which with the English transliteration says “Panta Ta Enthe” which translated into English literally means “all the ethnic/language/people groups.” Our English word “ethnic” comes from this Greek word “ἔθνη” “ethne.”
God has been doing amazing things in and around
Northern Thailand these last 25 years. 7 years ago, I posted this note on my
Facebook page and wanted to share it with you today. The caption says this: “A
Lesson From the Fields of Thailand.” “Be willing to do the hard work of
preparing the soil and spending time in the fields. You will never experience a
great harvest if you grow weary and give up. Obedience and abiding in Christ
lead us to “stay the course” and “finish the task” for the glory of God and the
advancement of His Kingdom.
God is allowing NTIM to expand its borders to implement “Project Payao.”
We have been praying and planning and God has been working over the last 3 years to call Doug and Paulette Piper from Crosspoint Church in Gulfport, MS to come and serve with NTIM and establish an extension of GLS in the province of Payao. Doug and Paulette spent 2 years serving with us here in Chiangrai and when God’s timing was right, they moved to Payao and began the official part of doing all that was necessary to open an extension of Grace Language School and we are pleased to say that this last week Doug received written permission from the Ministry of Education in Payao to begin teaching English at our new school that Doug is leading named “The Bridge English Language School.” We believe this new work will help facilitate relationships that lead to many people coming to Christ and will be one of the key factors that help facilitate a new church plant in the days ahead.
25 Years ago, before Baan Athitaan Church started in our home, there were no “Thailand Baptist” affiliated churches in Chiangrai province. Now, we have many.
Today, there are no “Thailand Baptist” affiliated churches in Payao province but God is in the process of changing that and Lord willing, Doug will be spearheading the first “Thailand Baptist” affiliated church in the entire province of Payao and through NTIM, you can be a part of that process. Please pray for Doug and Paulette Piper and for their Thai staff “Fon,” who are leading NTIM’s Field Efforts in Payao with Baan Athitaan Church being their “mother/sending” church in Thailand under the authority of the Thailand Baptist Convention of which we are an active part and have been for the last 27 years we have lived in Thailand. The Thailand Baptist Convention is the sister convention to the SBC in Thailand. We are still Southern Baptist Missionaries since our denominational affiliation has never changed, we are simply going through the venue of NTIM so that we are able to do all that we believe God wants us to do in the places that we believe God wants us to do them as we seek His leadership and direction.
Thanking God for the Volunteer Mission Team from
Mississippi.
We also want to take the time to Thank God for the Volunteer Team from Mississippi that just returned home from a very busy and fruitful mission trip to Northern Thailand to work with us the previous week. God raised up Beverly Bridges from FBC Florence to lead this team and with the support of 3 churches from Mississippi, FBC Florence sent Beverly, Chloe, and Carla; Hillcrest Baptist Church in Bryam,Ms sent Olivia, Dry Creek Baptist Church in Mendenhal, MS sent Darcee, and the Mississippi Baptist Convention helped support each of them. What a wonderful model state convention is Mississippi Baptist Convention working with not only IMB missionaries but also other Southern Baptist Missionaries like us that are sent out through other channels like NTIM. We say and believe we are still sent out through SBC churches like our home church at Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Vestavia Hills, AL where we still have SBC membership. I was born and raised in Tuscaloosa, AL and got my bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama. My denominational affiliation has never changed.
Let me share with you some of the details of what a “mission trip to Thailand” going through NTIM might look like by sharing what this team from Mississippi did while they were here.
Day 1 - Sunday, September 6.
The team of 5 people, Beverly, Olivia, Carla, Chloe, and Darcee arrived in the airport of Chiangrai in the evening of Sunday September 6. Some of our NTIM Chiangrai team picked them up and took them to the Space Airport Hotel that is in walking distance to NTIM’s building called “The Lighthouse Learning Center (LLC),” which is the home base for NTIM’s Field Office where I work, home base to NTIM’s Thailand Sister Foundation called Channel of Blessing Foundation, home base to Grace Language School, and home base to Baan Athitaan Church. The team flew a long way and was very tired when they arrived and went directly from the airport to the hotel and got a much-wanted shower and rest.
Day 2 - Monday, September 7.
The team met me early in the morning at LLC for a cultural orientation, short Biblical explanation of the great commission and how the volunteer team fit in with the Great commission in Northern Thailand with the work of NTIM. Shortly after that, the team met together with our Thai partners and some GLS teachers for last minute planning of our English Fun Days and activities we would be doing for the week. (The team from Mississippi did most of the planning and preparation before they came with a little guidance from “the field.”) Then about noon, we headed off toward another province in Thailand about 5 hours away. This is another province (Prae) in Northern Thailand that does not have any “Thailand Baptist Convention” affiliated churches either.
We sensed God’s leadership to help a good friend and IMB missionary Cole Cunningham get a little more established as the “local” Prae English Expert Teacher and to help demonstrate to him how to do what we at NTIM call “An English Fun Day.” After we checked into the hotel (Phoomthai Garden Hotel), we met Cole and his family for a delicious Thai dinner (but not at American Thai Food prices but “real” Thai food prices) and after dinner went to their home and just had a wonderful time singing, praying, and worshiping our Lord Jesus together and praying for salvation to come to the people of Prae. We wanted to have this time with the Lord an with the Cunninghams before we would do our first English Fun Day camp at a school in Prae the next morning. This school is a school that Cole and his team are currently working with. Here is a picture of our prayer & worship time and also a prayer card for Cole and his family as they serve through the IMB. Please remember to pray for them and for all the Thai people living in and around Prae in Northern Thailand and keep giving to the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas offering as we also do, and also please consider giving to NTIM directly as well because even though we are Southern Baptist Missionaries, we do not directly receive any funds for international mission efforts because we are no longer under the leadership of the IMB but parner with the IMB while our accountability structure is with NTIM where I serve as one of the founders and the VP and Director of Field Operations for NTIM.
Please remember to pray for the Cunningham’s and their team as they seek to be the salt and light of Jesus and teach English and be used of God in many ways to facilitate the planting of the first “Baptist” church in the whole province of Prae for the glory of God and the expansion of God’s kingdom in Northern Thailand. Prae is one of the 9 provinces filled with the Muang UPG which is the largest unreached people group in Northern Thailand made up of some 6 million people with most of them having never, ever, heard a clear and understandable presentation of the gospel as best we can tell. The Muang unreached people group (UPG) has less than ½ of 1 percent of these 6 million people who know our Lord Jesus as Savior. You cannot get more “unreached” than that. Only 1 in every 100 persons in Northern Thailand has their name written in the Lamb’s book of life.
But we are inviting you to join NTIM in our work with God and with the IMB as Southern Baptists to change those statistics and see many more Thai people worshiping our Lord Jesus in the days to come. God does not want us to do this alone but wants us to invite you to join God in His work to open the eyes of the various ethnic people groups living in and around Northern Thailand. Will you open your heart to join us in this amazing journey with “Experiencing God” as the great Henry Blackaby once called us to do.
I was going through that study of Experiencing God on a business trip to Thailand in February 1996 for the company I worked for called Sharp Manufacturing Company of America in Memphis, TN. It was during that time that God helped me understand part of the “sign posts” in my life that God had been using to shape my life for the purpose of serving Him here in Asia. Below is a picture that my Japanese supervisor, Nakanishi san, took of me on February 14, 1996 in front of the Sharp manufacturing company in Thailand that resulted in God breaking my heart for the “panta ta ethne” in Thailand.
Yes, as you can see from this picture, I was a young man and in my mid-30s at that time with 3 small children, Jessica-9, Liz-6, and Joshua-1. So, in many ways I can truly say that on that “business trip,” I began discovering that God had been shaping my life and preparing me to embrace God’s plan (which is always better than my plans) to send me and my family to Thailand to join Him in His great work of redemption doing all that He wanted us to do for His glory and for the “panta ta ethne” living in and around Northern Thailand that needed to hear about Jesus and see “flesh and blood” trying to be the salt and light of Jesus in a place that knew almost nothing of our great and awesome Creator and Savior Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of our sins that can only be found in embracing Jesus as Lord and Savior and trusting in Him and His work on the cross to be enough to have our names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life for all eternity.
Day 3 - Tuesday, September 8.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1792818782852321&type=3
After the awesome English Fun Day, our team and our volunteer team from Mississippi hung out and explored a little of Prae city and enjoyed spending time together at “the Walmart” of Thailand called “Big C.” Then we headed back to the hotel after a fun and fruitful day.
Day 4 - Wednesday, September 9.
We started the day off on Wednesday, after breakfast at our hotel, headed for a 5 hour drive back to Chiang Rai with a short excursion with some “sightseeing” at a natural park that had some unusual soil erosion that I personally believe was created during Noah’s Flood. They called this park “Prae Mueang Pii” which translated means “Prae Ghost Town.” Here are a few pictures of the sights we saw.
After a short excursion of sight seeing, we got back on the road headed back to Chiang Rai trying to get back so that we could take the team to visit a wonderful ministry that is called “Baan Eden” that is now led by Kim and Gahn, who have both served in the past as a part of our NTIM team. Kim graduated from Samford in Birmingham and after graduation, came out through NTIM to serve with us here in Chiang Rai as and English Teacher and developed a heart for the girls at Baan Eden and before long felt led to join the YWAM ministry called Baan Eden. Baan Eden is an awesome home for what we call “at risk” girls who primarily come from fairly poor villages and families in the mountains who normally have very low incomes and Baan Eden is one of those “safe haven” places where these children come to live and who are given an opportunity to get a good education in the city and are cared for in a “family type” environment that is intentionally Christian based. We at Baan Athitaan Church have had the honor of helping teach and care for the Baan Eden girls and all of those related to Baan Eden as their church family for many years now. We wanted the team to be able to see Baan Eden and play some games and worship together with all of them as they meet together every Wednesday night for Bible study and worship. Here are a few pictures from that evening with the team.
After our time with Baan Eden, we headed back to the hotel for the night.
Day 5 - Thursday, September 10
Thursday, we started the day off by wanting to bless the elementary school in the neighborhood of LLC just a 2-minute drive from Grace Language School. We went to Pasakkal school to put on a half Day English camp where we taught 75 children grades 4-6. We used the same teaching material as before just adjusted the activities to fit grades 4-6. Here is a link to the pictures we took from that day which you can see if you have Facebook. If you don’t have Facebook, here are just a few pictures for you.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=GraceLanguageSchool&set=a.1795089342625265
We love teaching English and building relationships with Thai people. And we love it when teams from America like Mississippi and Alabama to come and help us. We would love to have other States come and help us as well. Here are some of our pictures from today as we taught English about traveling to North America, Africa, and South America. Our main goals are to 1) teach English, 2) help students enjoy English, 3) change attitudes to have positive attitudes toward English, 4) and to help improve listening skills by listening to native English speakers, and 5) to build relationships in our community by teaching English and being the salt and light of Christ to our world. 6) Help Thai schools learn some Western ways to help teach English and make it fun. 7) Help Schools know Grace Language School is here to serve the community. We enjoyed teaching these good students.
After a short break, the team came to Grace
Language School and did what we call “English Corner” or “English Coffee House”
with all of the current students that study with us every Tuesday and Thursday
evenings.
Here are some pictures of that and the link to all of our pictures that
evening.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1795214525946080&type=3
Day 6 – Friday, September 11
Friday morning we headed out at about 9:00 to head toward down to visit Doug, Paulette, and Fon at our new school in Payao called “The Bridge English Language School” and to spend some time with them and get ready for another “English Corner” type project to connect with some of the university students that Doug’s Payao team are currently working with as they currently work with a Thai Pastor (a godly Presbyterian man) who started and helps lead the Christian Club at the University of Payao where there are about 25,000 university students. Both of our schools, both Grace Language School and The Bridge English Language School are in urgent need of Native English teachers with a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in order to get a teacher’s working visa and work permit. Please pray for God to raise up teachers for both Payao and for Chiangrai. If you are interested in knowing more or taking the next step of filling out an application to come through NTIM, please send me an email at pray4ntim@gmail.com.
Here are some of the pictures from our team’s time helping the university students that are apart of the Christian Club and the University of Payao and pray for wisdom for all of us as we sense God’s timing and leadership for Doug to begin his first meeting with the intention of starting a new church in Payao that will be directly connected with the Thailand Baptist Convention in God’s timing. We had a great time together with this “English Connection” event. Here is a link to all of the pictures and here are a few of them.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1566246048848354&type=3
After our great time in Payao we drove another 2 hours back to Chiangrai for the night.
Day 7 – Saturday, September 12
Every Saturday morning in Chiangrai, we teach English to 74 children grades 1-6 but when we have volunteers like this team, we ask them to help us do a “mini English camp” and that is what they did. It was a wonderful time. Here is a Facebook link to all of the pictures.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1791059049407959&type=3
Saturday afternoon was a time for some to explore Chiangrai and Saturday night was a time when our Thai Female Staff asked for special time to take our guests from Mississippi to go shopping down at what we call the Saturday Night Walking Street. Here are just a few pictures of that time.
Day 8 – Sunday, September 13.
We always love Sundays at Baan Athitaan Church. Today was a special day where we were celebrating 25 years of Teaching English in Chiangrai as well as celebrating 25 years of Baan Athitaan Church. What a wonderful joy it has been to join God in His great work of redemption of what we have come to call “THE LAST FRONTIER” of reaching some of the least reached peoples and people groups in our world today.
Praise God for His heart of love for the unreached people groups living in and around Northern Thailand and for sending us to help establish a platform of teaching English through Grace Language School with the precursor of Grace Language School being the Lighthouse Language Center that started 25 years ago this month in the city of Chiangrai. Last Sunday September 13 we had a short time of thanking God for His goodness over the last 25 years. Here is what we said last Sunday morning and closed out our “announcement time” by inviting Beverly Bridges, who is one of my best friends and is one of our NTIM Board Members. Beverly then led us in a very sweet prayer of thanksgiving and for God's continued blessing on the work here in Chiangrai and the new work just beginning in Payao province just South of Chiangrai here in Northern Thailand. Here is the link to that short video clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGwCIY5mOp4
Here is a “Prayer Card” that you can print out
and put on your refrigerator and in your Bible to remember to pray for the “Panta
Ta Ethne” (unreached ethnic groups) living in and around Northern Thailand.
Here are a few pictures of our worship service
with Olivia singing in the “chorus” and Beverly saying a prayer of blessing for
the work of NTIM and both Grace Language School in Chiangrai and The Bridge
English Language School in Payao.
After our awesome church service and after lunch, we did what we don’t really like to do but must do and that is to take our friends and volunteers to the airport to send them back to their families and back to their regular work places but with something special in their hearts.
They have gained a much clearer understanding of
the great commission. They have finished their temporary task as a member of
their mission team and are glad they gave their heart and their time and their
energy that last week to supporting God’s work through NTIM. Not only they, they
have gained some new friendships and learned how to begin crossing over to
serve God in a very different culture. Thank God for the three churches that
worked together to send this mission team: FBC Florence sent Beverly, Chloe,
and Carla; Hillcrest Baptist Church in Bryam,Ms sent Olivia, and Dry Creek
Baptist Church in Mendenhal, MS sent Darcee. We also want to thank the
Mississippi Baptist Convention for sending them as well. We also want to thank
their families to sending them. But most importantly we want to thank God for
sending them to be “On Mission with God” here in Northern Thailand. Here is a
final picture we have for you of the team at the Chiangrai Airport as they
began their trip back with their first flight from Chiangrai to Bangkok. Please
come again soon. Please tell others to come as well. We love you and thank you
for serving God with us and through partnership with NTIM.
Thank you for praying for us and thank you for your partnership with us in the Work of God in Northern Thailand for the last 25 years in Chiangrai and for the future work in Chiangrai and for the new work God has raised up Doug and Paulette Piper to lead in partnership with us through NTIM.
Until the Least
reached peoples in and around Northern Thailand know Him,
Michael for the NTIM team
Vice President and Director of Field Operations
“For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.” 2 Corinthians 4:5
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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 going to the least of the least reached people groups primarily in the heart of Southeast Asia where poverty is high, education is low, needs are great, unreached people groups (UPGs) are all around us, and the love and message of Jesus is needed to transform lives.
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
If made
online, you can click the “general” button and these funds are directed to the
NTIM team in Chiangrai and overall finances that I personally manage, or you
can click the “Project Payao” button and these funds will be directed to the
NTIM team in Payao led by Doug Piper.
If you would like to get on our email update listing, please send me an email at pray4ntim@gmail.com
One last think I would ask you to do: Please
advocate for us and forward this update to anyone that you know who is serious
about the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus and who would benefit in knowing
the amazing work God is doing in Northern Thailand.
Please also consider sending this to your Sunday
School class that you are involved in so that others can know and pray for God’s
Amazing work in Northern Thailand.
Thank you for partnering with us as we join God in His wonderful plan of redemption in one of the most thoroughly Buddhist countries in our world today made up of some of the Last Frontier “ethne” groups in the 10-40 Window.
