PRAYER DAY 24 - Worship - Baan Athitaan Church Style - Dec 20, 2014

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. Today is Day 24 of our Season of Prayer.

 

Today I want to simply share some of our thoughts with you about the way we worship here in this neck of the woods. God has gifted us with a very unique style and flavor of worship that is a blend of many different cultures and is what I would call very “uplifting” and “welcoming” to those who do not know Jesus but are at the seeker level and want to know more about our awesome Lord Jesus.

The term worship as I am using it here is related to describing the time in our “church service/meeting” where those who are musically talented serve together to call on the whole church body to seek the Lord together and sing praises to His Holy name.

We are very grateful that God sent us a very talented and godly young man to serve along side of us and help fill several leadership roles related to working with our young people and leading our whole worship ministry. This is a picture of Garn. He is actually not from Northern Thailand but is what we would call a “Bangkokian.” He is from the Central Thai people group. He has been serving with us for a little over 2 years now and is a great blessing to the work of NTIM, Baan Athitaan Church, and Grace Language School.

 

Like all of the other full time Thai staff folks, Garn is a first generation believer. In his “former” life, he was the singer/leader of a rock band and grew to love music and enjoy singing. Now God has taken this love for music and given Garn the opportunity to use his gifts and talents for the expansion of the kingdom of God and for the building up of His body. 

Today we want to ask you to join us in praying for Garn in a special way. Like all of our Staff, God is one of our key disciplers and mentors for new believers and God is bringing him into a new phase of life with marriage right around the corner. Many of you know Kim Matthews who came out with us many years ago and who currently serves with a ministry called Baan Eden. Well, to make a long story short, God has drawn Garn and Kim’s hearts together and they are planning to be married this coming January 10. Please pray for them as they enter this new season of their lives and ministry.

 

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 Garn enough to send someone into his life to tell him about the gospel. We thank You for loving others enough to send people like Garn into the lives of others to tell them about the gospel. We want to take this moment and ask You to bless Garn in a very special way. Help him to be salt and light in all that he does. Help him as he serves You faithfully at Grace Language School and at Baan Athitaan Church. We ask that You would be pleased to use him to help reach his family, his friends, his neighbors, and many others from many different people groups in Northern Thailand. We also pray that you would bless he and Kim and they prepare for marriage. May You always be number one in their lives. Thank You for Gahn’s work with Baan Athitaan Church and with NTIM and how he faithfully serves You each and every day. We pray that You would give him great love and wisdom as he pours his life into discipling young people in Northern Thailand and as he leads out in worship and helping others use their gifts to serve You. We pray this in Jesus name.”

DAY 23 - Friday is Here…. Pray for Open Hearts in Thailand - Update December 19, 2014

As I write this update, it is Friday afternoon in Thailand (it is early morning Friday in the USA) and we are all busy getting ready for our largest single evangelistic event of the year but by the time those in the USA read this since we are 12 hours ahead, our program will be in full bloom. When most of you read this (those of you in the USA) the program on the other side of the world here will be in full bloom because we are about 12 hours ahead of you so 7:00 AM in Alabama is 7:00 PM in Thailand.

As I shared with you a few days ago, Baan Athitaan Church is hosting this single largest evangelistic event of the year called “Christmas is a time for Giving.”

 

We have no idea how many people we will ha ve but in the last 10 years we have not had less than 400 people but never had more than 1,000 people. But what I want to ask you to emphasize in your prayers is to ask the Lord to help the people who come to open their hearts to the true message of Christmas and to take a little step closer to allowing Jesus to their Lord and Savior. Please pray for the blessing of God on everything that we say and do tonight. There will be lots and lots of people from some of the least reached peoples of the world here in this place tonight and some of them listening to the message of Jesus for the very first time in their lives. 

Pray for a special touch from God. We will have an evangelism table with at least one person who can speak Thai, one who can speak Chinese, and one who can speak English. We are very excited about reaching out with our Christmas celebration in just a little over an hour.

Prayer Example: “Lord, We want to begin our prayer with thanking you for the awesome opportunity that you have given to NTIM and to Baan Athitaan Church to celebrate Christmas and share the message of Jesus with many who have never heard and some from the least reached peoples in Asia. We pray that all that they do and say tonight will bring glory and honor to you and would be used to help draw many to our great Savior Jesus Christ. We ask you to open the hearts of everyone who hears and may they be drawn to you. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.”

Pray for New “M” Couple - Josh & Jessie Grammer - Prayer Day 22

Today is Day 22 of our 36 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.

As we shared with you on Prayer Day 2, when God is about to do something extra ordinary, He looks to see if He can find some ordinary person whose heart belongs to God and who will be obedient and do the thing God wants to be done. We see this when we look at the life of Abraham, or the life of Noah, or the life of Moses, and the lives of many men and women God used in the Bible.

God’s Word says, “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His....” 2 Chronicles 16:9.

When God finds someone who is willing to do what God wants to get done, God extends an invitation to that person to join Him in what God is doing. We at NTIM believe that God extended that invitation to Josh and Jessie Grammer and we are very happy to say that they arrived here on the field in Northern Thailand this past September.

Josh and Jessie Grammer are just two ordinary people from Tuscaloosa, Alabama who have been touched by an extraordinary God and given an incredible opportunity to join God in what He is doing in and around Northern Thailand.

Even before Josh and Jessie met each other, God was shaping them and building in them a heart for missions. Both grew up in musical families and both spent time as young people praising God throughout their community and even foreign countries. It was no surprise to anyone when the two met and soon found a combined love for God and people.

Although they have worked in many different fields, Thailand has had a special place in their lives. Shortly after they first began to date, Josh spent the Summer of 2010 in Chiang Rai, Thailand working with NTIM. It was in that time that he found the exact spot he knew he would propose to Jessie. The next year, both came back and spent a summer together working for God’s glory. The proposal went smoothly and they later married back in the States.

From the beginning, their marriage has been dedicated to God. It is for that reason they could not escape the call to missions. They served in some other places before submitting to God’s call to return to Thailand for a two year stay.

Since returning to Thailand in September 2014, the Grammer’s have been able to serve in ways they could have never done with full-time jobs in the U.S. They have found that the mission field in Thailand is a busy place with incredible opportunities to reach out into the community that is made up of dozens of different ethnic/language/people groups. As native English speakers living among people who want to improve their English skills, God has given Josh and Jessie lots of opportunities to build good relationships and build bridges of friendship that will lead to sharing the greatest story man could ever tell to people. What a great joy it has been for them already to have been able to share the story of Jesus with hundreds who had never even heard the story of Jesus before they shared it.

From the very beginning of their return to Thailand this past September, they not only have begun studying the Thai language but have jumped right into ministry in many different ways. They have started a new version of “English Corner” at Rajabhat University where they spend several hours each week meeting with university students and helping them with their English. They are also very thankful for what they learned many years ago from Joe Isaakhan as he modeled another way to reach out to University students. They are also very thankful for Fai, who is a student at Rajabhat University that they had build a relationship with from previous trips out to Thailand. She has been a great example of God’s marvelous plan in helping Josh and Jessie get connected with other students on campus.

Josh and Jessie have also build relationships with lots of students at Mae Fah Luang University (MFLU) as well and have seemed to really “click” with some of the international students that study at MFLU from Indonesia and other countries. Here is a picture of one of their “times together.”

Josh and Jessi are very active in the ministry of Grace Language School (GLS) both on campus where they have their own classes that they teach but also off campus where they teach as representatives of GLS at Chiang Rai International School (CRIS). God has opened the door for both Josh and Jessie to even get to teach the Bible in English and lead chapel services to all the students at CRIS, most of whom do not know Jesus as their personal Savior.

Josh and Jessie also work as part of the staff at Baan Athitaan Church. Josh enjoys teaching Sunday School, working (really playing) in our soccer outreach, and has a deep passion for starting a new discipleship ministry to men. Jessie enjoys serving in various aspects of our music ministry and had the opportunity just this past Sunday to lead our worship service for the first time. Jessie has an infectious smile and personality and enjoys telling others about Jesus.

One of the major struggles that most of us missionaries have has to do with the sense of being “overwhelmed” with how much needs to be done and how few “workers” there truly are for all that God is doing here. Pray for Josh and Jessie as they seek to use their time as good stewards and to do those things that will accomplish God’s plans. Please also continue to pray for them as they continue to raise the  financial support that they need to live and serve here in Northern Thailand.

God is using ordinary people like Josh and Jessie Grammer. We are convinced that God truly wants to use ordinary people like us, but we must be willing to make our lives available for Him to use them. God isn’t interested in us coming up with some great thing we want to do for God. No, God is more interested in us being willing to embrace the great plans He already has for our lives. It reminds me of when Isaiah said to the Lord, “Here I am Lord, Send me.” In other words, “Lord, if you want me to go, I am willing. Whatever you want from my life, I am willing to do that because I love you and because I recognize that your plans are better than my plans.”  

Prayer Example: “Oh, Heavenly Father, thank you for placing a little of your love for the Thai people in the hearts of the Josh and Jessie. Please continue to lead them and guide them as they seek to serve you and work with their NTIM team on the field. Help them to understand your plans for reaching the nations in and around Northern Thailand. We ask you to help them to follow your plans and to encourage others to join you in what you want to do through NTIM in the days ahead. We pray that you would use Josh and Jessie and their NTIM team do reach these fields that are ripe for the Harvest. We pray you would provide for all of their spiritual and physical needs. We pray this in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.”

DAY 25 – Pray for Open Doors Into Neighboring Countries - December 17, 2014

Not only is God at work changing the lives of Thai people, God is opening doors for us to go into neighboring countries through our English language platform called Grace Language School.

  

We are very excited about the doors that God has been opening to go into a neighboring country that is filled with lots of people from the very same ethnic people groups that live in our neck of the woods. But make no mistake there is no genuine religious freedom to share the message of Christ and to gather believers openly in this country. But God desires us to go into all parts of God’s world with the gospel and these are some of the parts that God is putting on our hearts to penetrate.

I am very pleased to report that God has been allowing our English language platform to form a special bond with the Ministry of Education of Laos and Grace Language School (GLS) was given complete freedom in October 2013 to bring a group of volunteers from a partner church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama along with all of our staff and several teachers from GLS to provide 3 days of teacher training for their Laotian Teachers of English.

Thank you FBC Tuscaloosa for your awesome work with us. Please pray for a continued building of the relationship between GLS and the Ministry of Education of Laos so that we will have greater opportunities to be salt and light and be used of God to be His hands and feet in the days ahead. We teach English well and our platform is a platform of integrity and because we do what we say we will do, we believe God has given us His hand of blessing in a special way to reach into places where most cannot reach and be much more open than others have been able to be in the past. Please know that your prayers and your financial support are being used to take the light of Jesus into many very dark places and not just in Northern Thailand but as I like to say, “In and AROUND Northern Thailand.”

Prayer Example: “Lord, we thank You for the reminder that there is still so much work to be done in South East Asia. Thank You for allowing us to be a part of praying for what You are doing through NTIM as they use teaching English in a strategic way to reach into the community and bless the community. We ask You to continue to bless Grace Language School and to help them build good relationships with government officials not only in Thailand but in Burma, in China, in Laos, and other countries in that part of Your world. We pray for You to bless all those who work at Grace Language School and may You help them to be filled with Your Spirit and with Your love for all those around them. May You use them as salt and light to the nations. We pray that You would provide them with the resources in people and money that they need to expand Your kingdom and make the name of Jesus famous in that part of Your world. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.”

Hearing The Story of Jesus for the very first time in Your life - PRAYER DAY 20

Today is Day 20 of our 36 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.

I continue to be amazed at how many people in Thailand have never heard the story of Jesus. I mean really never, ever, ever having heard the gospel or anything close to the gospel in your entire life.

One of the students at the University of Rachaphat that has been coming to our church named Kaewtha asked Grace Language School if we would go to her home village and former school in Payao province and speak to a small group of high school students about Christmas.

That is just what we did this morning. This morning at 7:00 ten of us from Baan Athitaan Church & Grace Language School got in my truck and Josh’s car and drove over an hour from where we live to a Khon Muang Village in the next province. We have been making plans for this “Christmas Coffee House” event for a couple of weeks now. But as I write this portion of the prayer devotional, I am sitting at this high school in the room where we have 30 students and 7 adult teachers from this school listening to the real meaning of Christmas. As Josh began to share the story of Christmas he got to the point where he was sharing that Joseph and Mary had to travel to Bethlehem to register and Josh stopped and ask who in the room had ever heard this story and heard of the city Bethlehem. Out of 30 high school students and 7 adult teachers, not one person had heard this story before today.

Sometimes we just do not realize how many people in Thailand have not even one time ever heard that Jesus came to sacrifice his life as our payment for sin. Think about this. In a group of 37 adults and high schoolers, NOT ONE PERSON HAD EVER HEARD THE MESSAGE OF JESUS until Josh Grammer - an ordinary believer but submitted to the leadership of an extraordinary God – travels thousands of miles to a place in the heart of some of the least reached peoples in the world, and is given the awesome honor to share Jesus with this small group for the very first time on Tuesday morning, December 16, 2014 at Baan Dong Buun Naag School in Maijai, Payao in Northern Thailand.

Think about this: In this picture above no one on the first two rows had ever heard the message of Jesus until today!!!!!! Who will come and tell them? Who will go for the Lord? May our hearts respond to His Call with the words…. “Here I am. Send me.”

Pray for these unreached people groups living all around us. Pray that God would touch the hearts of these 30 high schoolers and 7 teaches that heard the message of Jesus for the first time. Pray that God would speak to their hearts and draw them to want to know more of our awesome Savior. Pray that God would continue to allow all of us here at NTIM to be the hands and feet of Jesus during this Christmas season.

Prayer Example: “Heavenly Father, our hearts are touched when we hear of so many people in Thailand who have truly never had the chance to hear the message of our Savior.  Thank you for sending laborers into the fields of Northern Thailand so that they may share your great love with these people.  We thank you for how you are already using NTIM in that part of Your world and we ask You to be pleased to expand the impact of NTIM to these various unreached peoples and to give NTIM an opportunity to be a vessel that You are pleased to use to reach many of the unreached ethnic people groups in this part of your world. We pray that You would burden the hearts of Your people all over the world to pray fervently, to give generously, and to go intentionally to where Your Message is needed most. We pray specifically for those 30 young people and 7 adults that heard the story of Jesus today that you would draw them to yourself and cause them to want to know You more. We pray this in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.”