As we have shared
many times before, we are seeing God’s hand at work in the heart of South East
Asia changing peoples’ lives like never before. God is giving us great access
to some of the least reached peoples in all of Asia and your donations are
truly making an impact for the Kingdom.
Many of you have been praying about our
land situation and we are pleased to announce to you that as of June 20th
we do have a signed contract to purchase a piece of land that we believe is
right for us. We have made a deposit on the land and the owner has started the
process of getting all the paperwork in order to transfer ownership to our
foundation so that we can complete Phase I of our Beach Head Vision and that is
purchasing land.
Please join us in celebrating the purchase of this land and
begin praying that all of the paperwork will go smoothly and that we will
receive all of the government approvals that we need to build our multi-purpose
facility that will be called Grace Language School but will also be NTIM’s
Field Ministry Office, it will also be Baan Athitaan Church’s Office and also where
Baan Athitaan Church meets each Sunday.
Many of you joined us in our Season of Prayer over the
last few years and know our background but some of you are new to our ministry
and need to hear a little more of the background in order to know how to pray
with more insight.
Jesus said in
Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church and the gates of Hell will not be able
to stand against it.” One of the places God is building His church is in Chiang
Rai, Thailand, right in the heart of dozens of unreached people groups and
among millions and millions of people who do not know Jesus as their personal
Savior.
God has chosen to use a small group of people living in
Chiang Rai to make disciples from over 23 different identifiable people groups,
most of whom are 1st generation believers. 1st generation believers are
normally the first people in their entire families to become followers of
Jesus.
What started as a small group of 8 believers in the
Johnson home some 14 years ago has blossomed into a growing, thriving,
community focused church called Baan Athitaan Church. Our church today is made
up of people from over 23 identifiable people groups and involved in
outreach/evangelistic ministries related to teaching English through Grace
Language School (GLS), reaching out to university students, caring for those affected
by HIV/AIDS, caring and ministering to various children’s homes, reaching out
to the community and neighboring countries, reaching out through a growing
soccer ministry, and most importantly, committed to making disciples of all the
peoples and nations God brings across our path.
We are very grateful for the partners and friends that
God has surrounded us with including our partnership with various churches, and
individuals all over the world who support the Johnson family and their team of
partners in God’s work here in Northern Thailand.
NEED
FOR MORE PERMANANCY AND LOWER OVERHEAD COSTS
We have been very intentional these past 15 years in
Chiang Rai to focus upon evangelism, discipleship and building the people of
God into a family and have yet to purchase a piece of property and put up a
physical structure of our own. We have spent the last 15 years investing our
people and resources into making disciples, building a flock and creating
various outreach platforms and ministries. As I shared with our prayer partners
last year and want to repeat that again this year, we sense that it is God’s timing to now say to
the darkness that ‘we are here to stay’ through the purchase of land and then
by building a multi-purpose facility that will facilitate a greater ability to
reach the nations for Jesus and will strengthen the integrity of the outreach platforms
we have created already and will create in the days ahead as God leads.”
We have been using rented property for the last 15 years
and we sense that it is time to tell the darkness we are here to stay by raising enough funds to purchase land and complete phase 1. God has
planted the “church body” in a place in Northern Thailand that is strategically
located between two major universities in Chiang Rai – Mae Fah Luang University
and Rajabhat University where there are approximately 30,000 students between
the two campuses. We originally anticipating the need to purchase between 2-3
rai of land (2.5 rai = 1 acre) for this specific project and estimate the cost
of land to be somewhere around $166,666 U.S. dollars. I am pleased to say that
God has given us more than we asked of Him. I am reminded of the passage in
Ephesians 3:20 that says, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly
beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.”
However, for almost a year now, we have run into road block after road block
when it comes to getting a piece of land that we feel is appropriate. We now
feel like we have the piece of land we have been looking for but need your
prayers.
SPIRITUAL
WARFARE
We were very, very pleased to report about 2 years ago
that God burdened the heart of a very sweet Thai lady that we met about 3 years
ago to “donate” to us a piece of land she had previously purchased here in
Chiang Rai. We had every intention of building our multi-purpose facility on
this property and began the process of transferring the property from the
owner’s name into the name of our foundation here in Thailand and then using
our funds we had raised for the construction cost of Phase II. That transfer
paperwork began in July of 2014. We have had numerous meetings with the local
village and with government officials and have been unable to gain their
approval of the transfer. We finally received a phone call from the government
to withdraw our request for approval. To make a long story short, we have been
very uncertain as to what the Lord was saying to us but in the end we must
affirm that God is ruler over all the affairs of men and have come to conclude
that this “piece of donated land” is not where God has in mind for us to build
this Beach Head.
CURRENT
SITUATION
The past few years have been filled with confirmation
after confirmation that we are to move forward with building this Beach head
for Jesus but the part that is still not clear is “where.”
All of you who know me well know that I am committed to
doing what God wants to be done and will do it with all of my strength…but…. I
want to always be careful that I am doing it God’s way and in God’s timing and
where God wants it to be done. Something was just not quite right about this
land and I wish I could put my finger on what was wrong but it is not that
simple.
Now that God has opened up this other piece of property
that we signed a contract on just recently, we are fully committed to seeing
this vision from God take physical form.
Please pray for us as we seek to follow the leadership of
our Lord in finalizing the purchase of this new piece of property we believe God
wants us to have. Here is an example of how we would ask you to pray today.
Prayer Example: “Lord, we have been reminded today of how You are at work building Your
church in Northern Thailand. We thank You for allowing us who have been praying
to be a part of seeing many young people give their hearts to Jesus. We thank
You for allowing us to see how You are using 1st generation
believers to reach and disciple other 1st generation believers. We
thank You for Grace Language School and how you are using them to reach out not
only to Thai people but to Chinese people and Laotian people, and Burmese
people and many others. We do sense that
it is Your time for them to establish a more permanent beach head and to say to
the forces of darkness that God’s work through NTIM is there to stay. We thank
you for graciously providing NTIM with the needed resources in money and to
purchase this land and pray for you to continue to lead them as they go through
the final details of the land transfer. Please guide them as they seek for the
piece of property that can best be utilized for Your purposes in that part of
Your world. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.”
WE ARE SO THANKFUL FOR ALL THE GENEROUS DONATIONS THAT
HAVE COME IN OVER THE PAST YEAR THAT HAVE GIVEN US THE OPPORTUNITY TO PURCHASE
THIS LAND WITHOUT ANY DEBT. Once the land
purchase has been finalized, we will begin Phase II of raising support for the
building process and begin making plans for teams to come over from the US to
help us build. If you have not given and would like to give, we are taking
donations for Phase II that will go toward building expenses. All of your
donations to NTIM are tax deductible. Checks can be made out to NTIM, P.O. Box
26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 or you may donate online at www.gontim.org
Your Servants to the
Nations in and Around Northern Thailand,
Michael for the Team
Donations can be sent to:
Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM),
P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham,
AL 35260 USA
or given online at our 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,
darkness is everywhere, and the love and message of Jesus is needed to
transform lives.
