Thailand Update - Flooding, Disaster, & Emergency Relief – Sept 13, 2010

Flooding in Thailand affects hundreds of thousands of people every year. It not only destroys lives but destroys houses, farmland and carries bacteria and parasites in the water that cause sickness to hundreds of thousands of people in Thailand.  Floodwaters in Thailand are normally full of parasitic leeches, human waste and bacteria that causes skin infections and fungus.

Attached is a link of pictures that we took this morning of flooding as a result of heavy rains over the past several weeks. All of these pictures were taken within a 15 kilometer radius of Baan Athitaan Church and most of them within 200 yards of the church. Also included are pictures at the Family Learning Center where school was closed today due to flooding.   http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24338&l=1691966a95&id=141698185871002

God has burdened our hearts to see if we can begin raising funds to help with some of these disasters that happen like this. When we look closely at Jesus’ mission statement and at the way He lived out the Gospel during His 3 years of public ministry, we find that He always expressed His love and devotion to God in compassionate ways that reached out to the downcast, the distressed, the hurting, the sick, the poor, those in bondage, and the needy. As followers of Jesus, our love for God must be expressed in these same compassionate ways.

This Saturday a group of about 14 people from Baan Athitaan Church are going on a mission trip to Huay Khu Village, a Hmong village about 3 hours from the city of Chiang Rai. We are going to help a small church in that village rebuild their church that was destroyed by strong winds just a few months ago. We had hoped to raise enough funds to replace this very weak bamboo structure with a more solid block structure and anticipated spending less than $2,000. That may not sound like much but to those of us who live in this part of the world that is a lot of money.

Our church took up a special offering and tried various ways to help raise these funds here and praise God, we have been able to raise a little over $500. That is not enough to put up a block structure that we had hoped, so we will be putting up a very similar bamboo structure on this trip. It simply reminds me of the truth that because the Christian population in countries like Thailand is so small we still desperately need resources from Christians from other parts of the world that have a heart for missions.
We would like to do so much more and need your partnership to make that happen. Would you please pray about making a donation to NTIM and mark it “For Disaster & Emergency Relief” so that we will be able to use that in the future for assistance with flooding victims, or even for help in rebuilding churches that have been destroyed from strong winds or flooding.
Your Servants to the Nations in and around Northern Thailand,
Michael for the Team
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Your donations to NTIM are making a huge impact in the lives of people. They help us connect people in need with people who care. 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

Penetrating the Darkness - July 27, 2010

Sunday July 25 was a day that Nong Aye, Nong Waat, Nong Pee, Nong Gung, Nong Tat, Nong Wut, Nong Pon, and Nong Yaa will remember for the rest of their lives. It was the day that they said publically that they belong to Jesus and that He is Lord of their lives. It was also a very special day for our church to reflect on what it means to be a church family and to welcome others from our community and support them in their decision to follow the commands of Jesus. Here is a link to pictures of our baptismal celebration on July 25, 2010

http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=460590&id=739870640&ref=mf

For those of you who follow our ministry closely, you know well that we live in a part of the world where there has been Satanic strongholds keeping people in darkness for thousands of years. Much like most of these people who were baptized this past Sunday, God is moving in a way that we have never seen before reaching down into families where there has never been even 1 Christian believer in the family and through the power of the gospel of our Lord Jesus, God is changing lives.

God is moving and we are pleading with you to keep praying. Please remember to pray for Baan Athitaan Church and all the teaching and discipleship ministry that goes on every week here in Northern Thailand. You have heard me say on many occasions, one of the most significant things that I do while serving as God has shaped and gifted me is to faithfully, boldly, gently, and clearly teach God’s truth every Sunday morning to our church family that is made up of over 22 different people groups from all over the 10-40 Window.

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.

Your Servants to the Nations in and around Northern Thailand,


Michael for the team
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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

Rescue Children From Poverty and Its Consequences - July 21, 2010

Poverty, low education, sickness and disease lead to many Thai children without a responsible person to care for them. Children are at great risk as child trafficking has reached pandemic proportions. Sometimes parents or caregivers will become so desperate that they wind up selling their children at a very young age. Many parents are living with HIV and/or have heavy drug habits and neglect these precious ones for whom our Christ died.

One of the ways that NTIM is responding to some of these problems is through our children’s home called Baan Oon Rak, or translated means “Home of Warm Love.”

MINISTRY SUMMARY – Baan Oon Rak is one of our “rescue the children” type of ministries. All of the children that we care for at Baan Oon Rak are from very poor broken families. We currently care for 13 precious girls, ages 4-12, and 1 boy age 5. What are some of the things that we do for these precious children?

*Protect them from the additional consequences of extreme poverty, abuse, and abandonment.
*Give them an opportunity to receive a good education.
*Provide them with a warm loving Christian home with care givers who love Jesus and who love and care for these kids.
*Teach them to love Jesus and love others.
*Bless them with a church family where they are loved and trained to be salt and light for Jesus.

MINISTRY PROJECT NEEDS – The initial funding for getting Baan Oon Rak started came from the savings and personal funds of Pii Bow (who also serves as the director of Baan Oon Rak) along with a few other friends. Those funds are long gone and we are operating on a less than adequate shoe string budget and are therefore in need of significant monthly support. We are in need of individuals, churches, and organizations who want to help provide hope and a bright future for these children through donating $35, $50, $100, or $200 monthly toward “Rescue the Children” project.  Donating $2,000 would cover the whole project for 1 month.

Be one of the first to step up to the plate for Jesus and for these precious children. On our own, we each can make a difference in the world, but collectively as a team we are a force for good that exponentially surpasses what we can do alone. You can make a difference by sending your donations to NTIM, P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 USA or by giving online at www.gontim.org
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NTIM is a non-profit charitable 501(C)(3) status in the USA committed to connecting people in need with people who care. We are focused on taking the love and message of Jesus into the heart of Southeast Asia where poverty is high, education is low, needs are great, darkness is everywhere, and the message of the gospel is needed to transform lives.

There are 6 key things that NTIM does: 1) sends “laborers” into the heart of the 10-40 window, 2) builds bridges to the lost through teaching English, 3) rescues children from extreme poverty and prevent human trafficking, 4) feeds & educates street children, 5) cares for those affected by HIV/AIDS, and 6) makes disciples, trains nationals and facilitates church planting.

Alabama Team from SMBC helping reach out in Thailand – July 12, 2010

God is using English in mighty ways to build bridges to the hearts of people in Asia. A team of 8 from our home church in Birmingham, Alabama have come to help us reach out to the nations through many avenues. They have already helped host some HIV/AIDS training, host a part for Baan Oon Rak children’s home and will be blessing some of the street kids at Open Doors on Tuesday.

Another very significant avenue of reaching out this week is through doing what we call “English Fun Days.” On Monday and Wednesday, we will be going into two junior high schools and putting on an English program for two schools. This is a part of our strategy at Grace Language School to reach out and bless our community and build bridges to hearts that God can use to draw people to Him.

Pray for a special touch from God. Pray for the team as they work with our team to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this part of the world. Please also pray that God would send us laborers to help in the felds to follow up with these precious people. We are in desperate need of four people who would commit for 2 years to come and serve with us as teachers at Grace Language School and help us follow up and really make a long term impact in this part of the world.

Your Servant to the Nations in and around Northern Thailand,


Michael

Training HIV/AIDS Workers in Thailand - July 10, 2010

When we look closely at Jesus’ mission statement and at the way He lived out the Gospel during His 3 years of public ministry, we find that He always expressed His love and devotion to God in compassionate ways that reached out to the downcast, the distressed, the hurting, the sick, the poor, those in bondage, and the needy.

Jesus said in His mission statement, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19

As followers of Jesus, our love for God must be expressed in these same compassionate ways. Many of you know that our ministry is involved in many things including ministering to those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. There are over 21,000 Thai people that die from AIDS every year and we have an opportunity to express the love of Jesus.

SIM & E3Partners have developed something similar to the Evangecube but is directed more at educating people about HIV/AIDS and then using it as a bridge to share the gospel. Chris Horton, who is a good friend of mine from my home church in Birmingham, AL and also serves with E3Partners, provided some awesome training for a small group of HIV/AIDS workers yesterday.

Please also pray with us that God would continue to use us as his hands and feet to share the love and message of our Savior and continue to become better equipped to bless the communities in Northern Thailand.

Please also pray that God would send us laborers to help in the fields to follow up with these precious people in our various ministries here at NTIM.

We are in need of 2 very important things: resources in people and resources in donations.

Your Servant to the Nations in and around Northern Thailand,


Michael

Your donations to NTIM are making a huge impact in the lives of people.
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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

Prayer for English Camp in Thailand - July 2, 1010

God is using English to reach the hearts of young people. In just a couple of hours, we begin a 3 day camp called “Let Freedom Ring English Camp” where we will have lots of fun, make lots of new friends, and build bridges to the hearts of lost people. We have a great team from Florence, Mississippi here to help us. They have been busy all week getting ready for this very important weekend. In just a couple of hours from now, we will be registering somewhere between 50 to 60 high school and university students for this camp.

Pray for a special touch from God. Pray for us to love these campers like Jesus loves them. Pray that God would help us to be His hands and His feet. Pray for them that their eyes and hearts will be opened to message of our great and mighty Savior and King. We have already seen two students give their hearts to Jesus this week and we are seeing God to do some amazing things.

Please also pray that God would send us laborers to help in the fields to follow up with these precious people. We are in desperate need of four people who would commit for 2 years to come and serve with us as teachers at Grace Language School and help us follow up and really make a long term impact in this part of the world.

Your Servant to the Nations in and around Northern Thailand,

Michael
Your donations to NTIM are making a huge impact in the lives of people.
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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

Two More Chinese Give Their Hearts to Jesus - June 30, 2010

God is at work all around us! We stand amazed at how God is giving NTIM and the various ministries it supports so many opportunities to reach the nations for Jesus.

Just moments ago, two more Chinese students gave their hearts to Jesus! Wow. Go GOD!!!! God had been working in their hearts for quite some time but today was the day that God had chosen to write their names in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Today is the day that the Angels in heaven are rejoicing over these two sinners who have given their hearts to Jesus.

Thank you for your faithful prayers for our team. God is listening to those prayers and opening doors that no man could ever open. Please pray that God would send us either an ethnic Chinese or someone who is fluent in Chinese to help us. We urgently need someone who loves Jesus, loves the Chinese, speaks English well, has the heart of a shepherd, and will work as a team player to bring the Chinese into the larger church family of God. We need someone to come and serve alongside Pastor Michael and lead our Chinese ministry to the next level of impact and discipleship.

There are over 500 Chinese students from Yunnan Province that study at Rajabhat University here in Chiang Rai. That does not include the hundreds of Chinese students that study at Mae Fah Luang University just up the highway from us. God has used us to lead many to faith in our Lord Jesus over the past 2 years but we are really in need of someone to help shepherd their hearts and disciple them in their heart language. Keep Praying!!!!

We also just want to thank all of our financial supporters. It is through your donations to NTIM that make it possible for us to join God in this great task of taking the message of our great Savior to the nations in this part of the world.
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All donations made to NTIM are tax deductible and can be made either online at www.gontim.org or mailed to NTIM, P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35250