Day 7 of 35 Days of Prayer, Wednesday, Dec 4, 2013

Today is Day 7 of our 35 Day Spiritual Adventure of getting to know and then actively praying for Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM) and all of the various unreached people groups in and around Northern Thailand. Thank you for joining us for this great time of seeking the face of God on behalf of millions who have never heard the message of our Lord Jesus.

DAY 7 - "Reaching The Unreached–Muang UPG  Part 1” - December 4, 2013

One of the great joys that God has graciously allowed me to experience on a regular basis is the joy of seeing 1^st generation believers grow in their relationship with God and become true fishers of men and mentors for other 1^st generation believers. Jesus said in Matthew 4:19, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.”

As I write this update, I am sitting at my desk thinking about what is going on outside my office not 10 yards from the door of my office. The picture here was just taken a few minutes ago and is the picture of what is going on outside my office. You may see one thing but let me tell you what I see. I see one of my awesome staff – Ja (who has served in partnership with us for over 10 years, who is the first person in her entire family to become a Christian, and who is from the unreached people group called the Muang or more popularly known as the Northern Thai) disciplining, teaching the Bible, praying with, encouraging, counseling, mentoring, and investing her life into the life of a university student named Fai. 

Fai is also the first person in her family to give her heart to Jesus and is from a very different unreached people group called the Lisu. Both are Thai citizens but from very different cultural, linguistic, and ethnic backgrounds. In other words, I see a 1^st generation believer from one unreached people group mentoring another 1^st generation believer from a very different unreached people group. God has allowed NTIM to be a part of helping not only reach 1^st generation believers, but also to help equip them to reach and mentor other 1^st generation believers. I don’t know what you think, but I really think that makes the heart of God smile. :) 

 

So that you will know how to better pray for us, let me share with you a little about this 1^st generation mentor named Ja. Ja gave her heart to Jesus as a university student and shortly thereafter came on staff at our English language school as our accountant. We began discipling Ja and helping her know how to grow in her relationship with the Lord. She deeply loves the Lord and wants to serve Him with all her heart. Ja serves as one of our key mentors for new believers, as one of our staff at Baan Athitaan Church, as one of our staff at Grace Language School, and as one of our staff at Channel of Blessing Foundation which for all practical purposes is NTIM-Thailand. Today we would ask that you join us in praying for Ja and for NTIM’s work among the unreached people group of the Muang. Tomorrow I will share more details about this very strategic unreached people group. But for now, let us join together in prayer.

Prayer Example: “Lord, thank you for loving us enough to send someone into our lives to tell us about the gospel. We thank you for loving Ja enough to send someone into her life to tell her about the gospel. We thank you for loving others enough to send people like Ja into the lives of others to tell them about the gospel. We want to take this moment and ask you to bless Ja in a very special way. Help her to be salt and light in all that she does. We ask that you would be pleased to use her to help reach her family, her friends, her neighbors, her own people group, and even other people groups. Thank you for her work with NTIM and how she faithfully serves you each and every day. We pray that you would give her great love and wisdom as she pours her life into discipling young university students there in Northern Thailand. We pray this in Jesus name.”

Day 6 of 35 Days of Prayer, Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Today is Day 6 of our 35 Day Spiritual Adventure of getting to know and then actively praying for Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM) and all of the various unreached people groups in and around Northern Thailand. Thank you for joining us for this great time of seeking the face of God on behalf of millions who have never heard the message of our Lord Jesus.

DAY 6 - December 3, 2013 - "Getting Ready For the Great Harvest”

 

God wants to use ordinary people like you and me in the process of building bridges to the hearts of people that God can use to draw them to Himself. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”  Matthew 5:14-16. If we are serious about following Jesus and becoming fishers of men, we must consider the concept of preparing for the harvest through being the salt and light of Jesus. As any farmer knows, if we want a harvest, we must do the hard work of preparing the soil and getting the soil ready for the seed to be planted. A farmer can have the best seeds in the world but if the soil is not ready, the seeds will not produce anything.

 

I am convinced that one of the most overlooked yet critical aspects of evangelism among people who do not know Jesus is the whole process of changing “attitudes” of resistance to Christianity and building bridges of friendship, and trust on a foundation of integrity. This can be done through a number of “platforms” and “organizations” that reflect the love and light of Jesus but one of NTIM’s most influential and successful ways of doing this has been through the platform of a legitimate English language school that isn’t a “front for evangelism” at all but teaches English with integrity and is registered with the Thai government through the Ministry of Education of Thailand.

 

Yet the byproduct of teaching English with integrity and as the salt and light of Jesus is trust, friendship, blessing, and an opportunity to speak into the lives of lost people. This is the “part of evangelism” that I most often equate with “plowing the ground” and “preparing the soil.” The soil must be prepared if we are to reach the lost.

Prayer Example: “Lord, you have told us to be salt and light. We want to thank you for Grace Language School and those that serve as your salt and light to the nations. We ask that you might bless these servants of yours in all that they say and do so that the lost in Northern Thailand might be drawn to you and be open to the good seed of the gospel. We ask that you would send more of your people into the fields to teach at Grace Language School so that more of the unreached peoples living in Northern Thailand may have a chance to taste and see your goodness and glorify your great name. We pray this in the name of Jesus.”

Day 5 of 35 Days of Prayer, Monday, December 2, 2013

Today is Day 5 of our 35 Day Spiritual Adventure of getting to know and then actively praying for Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM) and all of the various unreached people groups in and around Northern Thailand. Thank you for joining us for this great time of seeking the face of God on behalf of millions who have never heard the message of our Lord Jesus.

 

DAY 5 - December 2, 2013 - "The Lord is Good - Prayers of Thanksgiving”

The Psalmist wrote this, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; Bless His name. For the Lord is Good; His lovingkindness is everlasting. And His faithfulness is to all generations.” Psalm 100:4-5

Just a few days ago, people all over my country of birth (the United States) celebrated the festival called Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving as a festival is also celebrated in many other countries all over the world primarily during the season of harvest when people are bringing in the produce from the land and thinking about the goodness of God’s provision to them.

 

As the Vice President in charge of Field Operations for NTIM, I want to express our thanks to Almighty God for His faithfulness to provide NTIM with people, with partners both national and international, with financial resources, and with volunteers that have a heart and willingness to be used of God to take the love and message of Jesus to some of the most needy and darkest places in our world today. 

We are thankful for the generosity of our financial partners like many of you who give every month as well as those who support us from time to time. We are thankful for our faithful prayer partners like most of you who pray for us on a regular basis bearing in mind that our battle for the hearts

and minds of millions and millions of lost people in and around Northern Thailand is not a battle with flesh and blood but a battle with the powers, principalities and rulers of d arkness who wage war with God, with God’s people, and with God’s mission. Today, we want to declare along with the Psalmist that the Lord is Good and that His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness is to all generations.

Prayer Example: “Lord, we enter your courts with praise and thanksgiving. We bless your name. And right now, we intercede for NTIM and for the millions of Thai people, Laotian people, Burmese people, and Chinese people who are still trapped in darkness waiting for the light of Jesus. We ask you to bind the enemy and to provide the resources needed for NTIM to reach them with the gospel. We pray for you to protect your servants and those who wage war with the enemy on behalf of the lost every day in the heart of Southeast Asia. We ask that you would send more of your people into the fields so that all may have a chance to taste and see your goodness and glorify your great name. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.”

Day 4 of 35 Days of Prayer - Sunday, December 1, 2013

Today is Day 4 of our 35 Day Spiritual Adventure of getting to know and then actively praying for Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM) and all of the various unreached people groups in and around Northern Thailand. Please join us and invite your friends to join us for this great time of seeking the face of God on behalf of millions who have never heard the message of our Lord Jesus.

DAY 4 - December 1, 2013 - "Thailand-Home to Over 70 Different Unreached People Groups.”

 

When most people think of the country of Thailand, they mistakenly think that the Thai people are all from of specific people group where everyone speaks the central Thai language in their homes. However, that simply and very clearly is not the case. Yes, most citizens of Thailand can speak central Thai but ethnically, linguistically, and culturally, Thailand is made up of between 80 - 100 different people groups. It is true that the Central Thai are the largest people group in Thailand with a population of around 20,000,000 according to Joshua Project statistics. However, what that also means is that out of the 70,000,000 people in Thailand, 71% are from a different ethnic group than the Central Thai group. What that means is that 71% of the Thai people speak a different language in their homes with their families and close friends than they do when they are in public or in school.

 

We live in the far Northern part of Thailand where there are dozens and dozens of different ethnic groups living here, some of them from neighboring countries as close as a 45 minute drive from our home. I can be at the border of Laos and the border of Myanmar (former Burma) in less than 45 minutes. I can be at the border of China in less than 6 hours by car. We truly are strategically located in a place with a great diversity of unreached people groups living all around us. Our church, Baan Athitaan Church, is a true community church made up of over 23 different people groups that meet together for worship every Sunday morning.

 

Prayer Example: “Heavenly Father, we thank you for the rich diversity of people groups in Thailand. We also thank you for planting a community church right in the heart of Northern Thailand and ask that you would help them to embrace the whole community. We ask you to be pleased to expand the impact of NTIM to these various unreached peoples and give NTIM an opportunity to be a vessel that you are pleased to use to reach many of the unreached ethnic groups in this part of your world. We pray this in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.”