Jesus is Coming Again! God's Transforming Power among UPGS- Oct 22, 2022

One of the great joys that should shape the way we live our lives as genuine authentic followers of Jesus Christ is the truth that Jesus is coming again. The reality that one day - soon - Jesus will come again to this earth and will usher in the beginning of the countdown of the earth as we know it. The opportunity to share the gospel with some of the least reached people groups in our world today will end. It will cease. There will never be such a time as this again where we can join God in His great work of Redemption before He comes again. 

When Jesus comes again, He will usher the beginning of the end of the time when men, women, and children all over the world will no longer have a chance to believe in Jesus and become citizens of heaven. That day is coming my friends and as for me and my house, we want to be found being about our Father’s business and doing everything He has planned for us to do. Amen?

Even in the midst of millions who still have never heard the message, God is at work drawing people to himself and transforming their lives.

It is impossible to write into words the joy it brings to my heart, when God is pleased to allow one of our Thai leaders to be the one God has chosen to help lead a lost sheep back into the hands of our great Savior Jesus Christ. This year we have seen many people give their hearts to Jesus. Over the last 23 years we have lived in Thailand, we have seen hundreds of Thai people become what we call, a first-generation follower of Christ. Sometimes they are the first or second person in their entire family history to become a follower of Jesus Christ. Some of them representing some of the least reached people groups in our world today. Not only does it give me great joy that God has allowed us to be a part of what He is doing to expand His kingdom here in Northern Thailand, but it also gives me great joy to say to all of you who are partnering with us and supporting us through prayers, through finances, through encouraging messages from time to time, and through sending teams, that God is using you to make a difference in God’s kingdom in this part of God’s World.

Every prayer you offer for us is “a sweet aroma” to our Heavenly Father. And He listens to every prayer. Each donation you send through NTIM is a sacrifice of love for all those living in and around Norther Thailand. Your giving matters. It matters to God and it matters to us and it matters to the millions all over South-East Asia who still have not heard. Every message or email you send that is an encouraging word to us provides “additional strength” to us to keep serving the Lord with all of our heart. Thank you for your continued partnership with us that allows us to stay and serve here in this part of God’s unreached world.

Since it is true that Jesus is coming again, I want to first, plead with all of our Christian friends all over the world to not fail to pray for all of these least reached people groups mostly located in the heart of the 10-40 window who are filled with millions and millions of people who have never heard the message of our great Savior Jesus Christ.

Out of the 67 million people living in Thailand, 20 - 32 million of them (if you include the "Thai-Chinese" from Joshua Project into the group) are from this least reached people group called the Central Thai. The second largest unreached people group (UPG) in Thailand is the Isaan people group that make up about 18 million people. The third largest unreached people group (UPG) in Thailand is the Northern Thai (Muang) people group which have about 7 million people mostly living in Northern Thailand. So, please pray for the Unreached People groups of Thailand.

Today we also want to bring you up to date in a few areas of ministry so that you know better how to pray for us.

The second prayer request would be for some of our new followers of Jesus. Please pray for Fang, Nong In, Nong Pantawan, who have given their hearts to Jesus and were ready to follow the Lord in believer’s Baptism on September 25. There are others who have recently become followers of Christ but were not quite ready to be baptized. God seems to be moving in a very special way in Northern Thailand and in a special way at Baan Eden Children’s Home as well. Please pray for these new followers of Jesus by name. Here is the video from our baptism on September 25.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2ZYV3IDWew&t=11s

Thirdly, please remember to pray for our full time Thai Leaders.

One of my roles here is to sense God’s direction for the ministry and provide vision and training to help equip our Thai leaders and others to do all that God wants us to do. We are very active in using English as an outreach into our community in various ways. We are all active in many, many other ways. 5 of our 6 staff have been serving God with us for many years and sometime last year we felt the leadership from the Lord to really made a more significant investment in giving these leaders more in-depth Bible training in the Central Thai language than we ever have done in the past.

Sometime last year, during the Covid season, I spoke with the president of our Thailand Baptist Seminary in Bangkok, Ajaan Chaiwat, about opening up the door for our staff to study “part-time” online and begin studying toward obtaining a Master of Divinity Degree from TBS and he agreed that this would be very good for our Thai leaders.

Since that time, our Staff are still working full-time but they are also taking 3 classes each week on-line as well. We do not want our staff to have to go into debt for this Bible training so we at NTIM believe providing scholarships for them is something God wants us to do to invest into our Thai leaders for the future direction of God’s work through NTIM, GLS, CBF, and Baan Athitaan Church.

If you would like to be a part of financially supporting our Thai staff’s theological education, we would welcome any donations that you would like to make which can be sent through NTIM. Please also remember to pray for each of them. We have 6 full time Thai leaders. Two are from the Khon Mueang unreached people group. Two are from the Akha people group. One is Hmong and the other is Lahu. They are all Thai citizens but from very different language and cultural backgrounds. The names from left to right and top to bottom are: Ja, Jay, Ball, Boom, Bee, and Pat. Please remember to pray for these leaders and for the ministries they are involved in as well as their respective people groups. 

Speaking of our Thai partners, we believe in the concept of working hard and playing hard. Our Thai leaders are what I call “all in.” They work very hard and with all their heart. They “pull their weight.” But there are times when it is important to take a day or two and go have some fun together or take a small retreat together. So, on August 24^th we took a day and “played hard.” We got up early morning and met at the church at 7:00 and drove over together to the motorcycle rental shop and each of us rented a motorcycle and then we drove, and drove, and drove stopping at this place and that place and we just had a great time together. Boom then put a short video of our time together “playing hard.” Here is the short video clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKgFQB67PYY

Our Thai leaders are all growing and we are very deliberate and intentional about building up Thai leadership. Yes, I am a Westerner and still have a significant role to play in God’s world here and there are still great needs for Western Missionaries to come and help, especially in countries like Thailand where less than ½ of 1% are followers of Jesus Christ. However, we must be intentional about building up local national leaders where ever we go. Both Jay and Ball are growing and learning how to preach a sermon and just wanted to give you a chance to be encouraged by Ball as he preached and be encouraged by Kim as she translated several weeks ago on October 2 when we were studying one of the “I am” statements of Jesus where Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd.” I hope you will take 35 minutes and be encouraged by Ball and Kim. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yUOxrw5PVQ

We also want to tell you what a joy it is to have this new building that God has given to us through your faithful and generous donations. We are 95% through the building phase and it looks very clearly like we will have some funds left over from the building project. This building is so nice and so practical. Praise God for His goodness and thank you for your kindness in giving.

We thought you would want to see our Building Dedication that we had on July 3^rd. We were blessed to have a special singing group called the “Worship Room” that our daughter Liz worked with to sing during our dedication. It was also a great blessing to have a special song from Baan Eden Children’s Home to sing during our dedication. We were blessed to have Doug Piper and his family with us for the ribbon cutting ceremony. They are from a great partner church called Crosspoint Church in Mississippi where Pastor Israel Cox serves as Pastor. Here is the full length video of the ceremony if you would like to watch it. It is only about 33 minutes long but a very significant time for us.

There are three more prayer requests that we want to ask you to pray about.

The first prayer request is for our upcoming Thanksgiving Celebration where we are putting on a “Worship Night” or “mini concert where we will have a night of giving thanks to our Lord in our New building. Please pray for us that God would bless our “Worship Night of Giving Thanks.” Here is a poster that we just put together. Following the poster is a short 2-minute video clip link

2-minute video clip link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPH-DTwWKJw

The second prayer request is for our upcoming Christmas Outreach events.

Now that Covid is behind us, we can now do the Christmas outreaches that we love doing at Christmas time and it looks like we will be having at least one partner church from FBC Florence, MS coming during this time and possibly another church. Please pray for us as begin to put our plans together for this wonderful season of reaching out into our communities with the Gospel. We are asking the Lord for about $4,000-$5,000 additional resources for our outreaches.

The third prayer request is for 2 or 3 additional missionaries who are willing to come and serve in our platform as English Teachers and serve the Lord in a variety of ways. God has been using Grace Language School (GLS) for a very long time but we are in need of some new folks to come and serve with us. These folks need first and foremost to be growing in their walk with Christ but secondly need to have at least a B.A. degree in any field and thirdly need to be folks who see the value of working in an educational type platform of teaching English to provide an opportunity to build the kinds of relationship with lost people that lead down to the path of evangelism and discipleship. God is moving and we are in need of a couple of God’s servants to come and help. Please pray for God to send workers into His fields that are white and ready for harvest.

Grateful and Happy to be Serving Our Awesome God in Northern Thailand for such a time as this. Until all of those in and around Northern Thailand have a chance to hear the good news.

From the Team in Northern Thailand, Michael Johnson

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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, 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 you would like to get on our email update listing, please send me an email at pray4ntim@gmail.com

Urgent Prayer Request Amidst Mass Killings in Thailand - Oct 6, 2022

“Urgent Prayer Request Amidst Mass Killings in Thailand” - A NTIM Field Update -October 06, 2022

Dear Family, Friends, Partners in Ministry,

As I begin writing this update, I am sitting at my desk in Northern Thailand, and deeply troubled about something that happened earlier today that left at least 35 people killed and many others injured at a preschool daycare center in Thailand. It has been confirmed that at least 23 young children have been killed some as young as 2 years old.

As I understand it, the shooter was a 34-year old former police officer who had been relieved of duty about 1 year ago because of drug use and this early this afternoon barged into the daycare center and opened fire.

All of our hearts here in Thailand are broken and hurting. If I could summarize how the people of Thailand feel at this moment, I would say “they are shocked and deeply disturbed.”

I would like to call on all my brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world to please join us in praying for this situation and for all of those that are involved who have lost loved ones in this horrible development.

Here is a link to an English newspaper write up if you would like to know more.  https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2408603/mass-murder-at-childcare-centre-35-confirmed-slain

Please pray for all those who are hurting and for Thai Christians living in and around this city where this happened to reach out and love their neighbors who are hurting and need the comfort that can only come from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Pray for us to be the salt and light of Jesus during these troubled times and to provide comfort and to point others to The One who can comfort their troubled hearts like no other!

We will be doing an update on the ministry soon but just felt led of the Lord to stop everything for a moment and write up this urgent prayer request to all of our family, friends, and prayer partners. God listens to the prayers of His people. Please take the Thai people before the throne of grace at this time.

May God richly bless you. Thank you for your kindness and generosity and for sending us to Thailand.

Until the People in and around Northern Thailand know Him,

Michael for the team

“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 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, 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 you would like to get on our email update listing, please send me an email at pray4ntim@gmail.com 

ANGELS IN HEAVEN ARE REJOICING – A NTIM and Baan Athitaan Church Update – July 15, 2022

We recently called on all of our Prayer Partners to please pray for Camp Logos on Wednesday (13^th), Thursday (14^th), and Friday (15^th). Today is the last day of camp so please keep praying even after the camp is done but we did want to say God has heard your prayers and was moving in a mighty way last night. At the end of our time of worship at Camp Logos led by Gahn last night, 6 Thai people (that I know of, maybe more) gave their hearts to Jesus and now have their names written in the Lamb's Book of Life. There were about 20 people who came up for prayer but at least 6 of them were taken through the “steps to peace with God” and surrendered their hearts to Jesus.

The Bible says that the angels in heaven rejoice over one person who repents and turns to God in faith. Last night at least 6 Thai young people turned to God in genuine faith. Your prayers played a part in that process. Please keep praying as we seek to reach and train a new generation of authentic followers of Jesus here in Northern Thailand.

Shortly after the camp is done, we will do a video and update for you but wanted you to be able to rejoice with us along with the angels in heaven over these new brothers and sisters in Christ today.

Today is a special day for another reason for us because on July 15, 2016, we sent out a request for pray and a message that informed everyone that we were in the process of purchasing the land that God has now given us. God has blessed us with an awesome multi-purpose building that we have named "The Lighthouse Learning Center (LLC)" or "The Lighthouse" as we call it. I am sitting in my office in this building this morning writing this update. This LLC building belongs to God and is now the home for Baan Athitaan Church (BAC), Grace Language School (GLS), and Channel of Blessing Foundation (which is the legal sister foundation in Thailand for NTIM).

Praise God for God's leadership and provision and for all the awesome partners all over the world (but especially in the USA) that God has called to work together to make disciples of Jesus in and around Northern Thailand. This part of God's world is where some of the least reached people groups in our world today live in darkness with little or no light of Christ and where many that we see come to Jesus are the first person in their entire family to become a follower of Christ. We recently had a building dedication and will send out an update on that as well in the coming days.

Thank you for joining God in what He is doing in and around Northern Thailand through your prayers, through your giving, through sending us as your representatives, and through your coming on mission trips. We are now ready and able to receive mission teams now that the pandemic is mostly behind us.

May God be glorified in all that we do to reach these precious souls for Jesus Christ and equip them to walk with Jesus and become authentic followers of Jesus Christ and share their faith with all the people they know in and around Northern Thailand for the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom.

Below is the message we sent out 6 years ago on July 15, 2016

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---Written on my Facebook page and posted on July 15, 2016---

Please Keep us in your prayers. We are in the process of purchasing a piece of land so that NTIM can put up a more permanent "Beach Head" known as Grace Language School (originally began as Lighthouse Language Center 15 years ago). This will be a multi-purpose facility and Lord willing will be where Baan Athitaan Church will also have offices and will have full access to the facility.

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Please keep us in your prayers. 

Until all the people in and around Northern Thailand know Him,

Love & Prayers from A Grateful Heart,

Bro Michael (or Pii Mikun as many Thai people call me.)

“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 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, unreached people groups (UPGs) are all around us, and the love and message of Jesus is needed to transform lives. 

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST FOR CAMP LOGOS – A NTIM and Baan Athitaan Church Prayer Request – July 12, 2022

We all calling on all of our Prayer Partners to please pray for Camp Logo on Wednesday (13^th), Thursday (14^th), and Friday (15^th). This camp starts in the morning at 9:00 and will be 2 nights in our new building and 3 full days. This is most likely the most important camp we have ever done and we have about 70 people that will be involved in this “Youth” (jr high, sr. high, and university students).

The reason that we think that this is the most important camp we have ever done is because the name “Camp Logos” is not just a good name but has very significant meaning. Many of you know that the word “logos” is a Greek word used in the Bible to refer to the Bible and to also refer to Jesus as “the WORD that became flesh and dwelt among us.” Jesus also said that He was the bread of life. We will be lifting up the Word of God in honor of “the Word” that became flesh according to John 1:1,14. 

We also know that God’s Word tells us that we are to live not only on bread alone but also on every “word” that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. So, we felt led by the Lord to design a camp around the theme of helping our young people become more active in reading the Bible, studying the Bible, memorizing the Bible, reflecting on the Bible, and obeying the Bible. That is what “Camp Logos” will be all about. 

Please pray for us each day starting tomorrow morning at 9:00 A.M. Thailand time. Please remember to pray for not only those who are “campers” but also those who will be teaching, leading, or in some way involved in the equipping of this new generation of young Thai people so that as God’s Word tells us in 2 Timothy 3:17, “so that the man or woman of God may be fully equipped for every good work.”

Until the People in and around Northern Thailand know Him,

Michael for the team

“For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.” 2 Corinthians 4:5

-----------------------------------------------------------

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, unreached people groups (UPGs) are all around us, and the love and message of Jesus is needed to transform lives. 

                                                                             

 

Incredibly Opportunities In Northern Thailand -An Update on our “English Fun Day” on July 6 – Update July 07, 2022

Dear Family, Friends, Partners in Ministry,

I must confess that yesterday was an incredibly joyful day when all of us connected to Grace Language School (GLS) (our ESL outreach into the community for our local church and for NTIM) along with our first team of volunteers from the USA since covid hit 2 years ago, got to do an amazing ESL outreach. We are so thankful for our partnership with Crosspoint Church in Gulf Port, MS and our close relationship with the Piper family. About 19 of us got into 2 trucks and a car and drove about 30 minutes to a school on the outskirts of our city (Chiangrai) and put on what we call an “English Fun Day.”

As I understand it, this school had never had a native English speaker come and teach English on their campus and let me tell you, these kids were pumped and very excited about having our team. Let me also tell you that we had a blast. We had lots and lots of fun. We even got a natural chance to share about the real story behind Christmas, which most had never heard before in their life. Imagine a place where you can grow up all of your life and never hear the real Christmas story. That place does exist actually in many places in our world but one of those places is Northern Thailand. What huge opportunities God has put in our hands.

We love Thai people both children, teenagers, young adults, and older adults. We want all of them to know that God loves them. We also love reaching out to Thai people through our English language school. We teach on campus at the new Lighthouse building but we also go into our communities to bless them and take the light to them.

We love bringing volunteer teams over to partner with GLS from the USA, Canada, Australia, and other countries. They come to work with us and to go out together all throughout Northern Thailand, into China, into Laos, and all over Southeast Asia blessing this part of our Lord's world and being the salt and light of our King and reflecting His love to those who have never heard. Here is the link to see some of our pictures of our outreach activities yesterday but we have also included a short video clip of our time together yesterday.

 

Link to pictures: https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=GraceLanguageSchool&set=a.5324608810948349

Short 2 minute Video Clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn0tU3f-rsg

Thank you for all of you who prayed for our outreach. Thank you to all of you who pray for us on a regular basis. Thank you for all of you who pray for us every day. God is listening to those prayers and moving in mighty ways. Please keep us in your hearts and prayers.

Also, a special thank you to all of you who give to NTIM so that we can live and serve the Lord here right in the heart of some of the least reached people in our world today. Out of approximately 150 children that we interacted with all day yesterday, according to the statistics there were less than 2 or 3 of those children who were followers of Jesus and most of them do not know that Jesus died on the cross as the payment for their sins. How will they know if no one tells them?

Will you come help us? We at Grace Language School are in need of a two or three people to commit to come and to serve with us as English Teachers for 1 or 2 or even 3 years and help us take the love and light of Christ into the darkness and let our lights shine brightly for our King and for the expansion of His kingdom. Please pray that God will raise up laborers for His fields here in Northern Thailand that are ripe for the harvest. If you know someone who might be interested, forward this update to them and have them contact me directly at pray4ntim@gmail.com Thank you for your prayers.

May God richly bless you. Thank you for your generosity and for sending us to Thailand. Any gift you would like to make to our normal, everyday ministry, no matter how small or how large, helps us reach people who are the first persons in their entire families to know Jesus.

Until the People in and around Northern Thailand know Him,

Michael for the team

“For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.” 2 Corinthians 4:5

-----------------------------------------------------------

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, unreached people groups (UPGs) are all around us, and the love and message of Jesus is needed to transform lives. 

                                                                             

 

 

As I write this urgent prayer request this morning here in Northern Thailand, I am sitting in one of the rooms at an elementary school here in Chiangrai, Thailand where Grace Language School is doing an English outreach that we call an "English Fun Day." We have a team from a partner church from Crosspoint Church in Gulfport, MS in the USA with us along with all of our GLS Teachers and staff as well as some of our Thai university students and Young adults with us doing this outreach. Please take us before the throne of grace and ask our Lord to help us be the salt and light of Jesus in this school to these kids and teachers. This school has never ever had Native English speakers come to their campus and they are all very excited. We will be teaching and interacting with about 150 kids from about 4 years old to about 12 years old all day along with about 18 Thai teachers from this school. Praise God he has opened up the door for us to do these kinds of outreaches again now that pandemic is dying down. "Here we are Lord, use us."