Greetings to you all from Thailand! We hope you had a blessed Christmas and are enjoying the new year with your friends and family. Here are a few recent updates about life and ministry here in Bangkok, Thailand.
• Christmas Celebration — It is always a great joy to come together each Sunday for corporate worship, especially when we celebrate Christmas. I proclaimed the good news to all who were present from Luke 2:11 when the angel told the shepherds, “For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (NASB). After the service, we all ate lunch together. Then we had different stations for the kids to play games and win prizes, while the adults visited or helped with the games. We also asked each member to bring one or two gifts to give away. We gave some gifts to the workers at the hotel where we meet, and we also drove to a community in our area to give the rest of the gifts to the kids there. We made sure to let them know we did this because of Jesus Christ, who is the reason why we are celebrating what we know as “Christmas.”
• New Visitor(s) — The Lord brought a few visitors to our church recently, but I want to introduce to you a man name “C” (probably an initial from his first name). He has come to our church a few times now. It’s a neat story how he knew about us. Right now, he’s between jobs, so he decided to be an Uber driver. One day he drove a Christian couple to the airport. The couple told him if he ever wanted to visit a church, please go to “North Bangkok Church” and showed him some of our teaching videos that are available online. Then he decided come to our church. We are excited to get to know him more and see how the Lord will use him here. Please pray for C.
• New Writing Project — Over the past several years, during my doctoral studies, I didn’t have time to work on writing any books. But now that I’m done, I have some time to get back to writing again. The first project I have been working on is a book on the issue of speaking in tongues. (I actually started on a different project and got interrupted by this one because it’s more urgent and shorter.) As you may know, the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement dominates most Thai churches. Thus, a topic that has been greatly abused and misunderstood is the gift of tongues. In this book, I will be presenting what the Bible teaches about the gift of tongues and compare it to what is actually taking place today, specifically among Thai churches. Please pray that the Lord will give me wisdom as I seek to clearly communicate this topic to my people.
• Ms. Lek at Church — We have mentioned to you about our friend “Lek” before. After we (especially the boys) invited her to church many times, she finally took off work and came to church with us one Sunday! She then came and spent the rest of Sunday with us. We have shared the gospel with her personally before, but it’s special to see her take the initiative to come hear the gospel being preached and witness our church worshiping God. She’s off work only once a week and she still voluntarily comes and spends the whole day with us every week. Please pray that God will save her!
• Practicing Preaching — There are a few men at our church that have expressed an interest in preaching. In the past, we have slowly let them serve at church in different ways, such as doing Scripture reading, praying during the service and leading Sunday School lessons. But now these men will have the opportunity to preach on Sunday for the first time at our church. I gave them some guidelines and will try to help them with their preparation. The first guy preached recently from Col. 1:21-23! I am thankful for these men who are willing to learn and serve. Please be praying for the other guys who are getting ready for their turn.
• New Year Gathering — A few days ago, we hosted our annual New Year’s party at our house. About 20 adults and 10 little kids were packed in our small living room. We ate and enjoyed fellowship, then we ended the night with exchanging some gifts. It was good to see and spend some time with everyone before a long weekend holiday when most people usually leave Bangkok to go home.
We were so glad to see some of the students we met while we volunteered at a university several years ago. They have all moved to different locations and started their careers. I was thrilled to hear that one of the students told me she is attending a church in her area and recently got baptized! She said she always tell people that she first learned about God from us. She still uses the Bible we gave her years ago. Before she left, I gave her a couple of books that might be helpful for her. After she left, I Cor. 3:6-7 came to my mind when Paul said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth” (NASB).
• Latest and Biggest Update About My Father’s Health — After my dad did the chemotherapy many times, the doctor recently told him that it’s not helping cure the cancer at all. The cancer has spread to different organs, and he was informed that the chemo he received last month would be the last one. Basically, there is nothing the doctor can do at this point. This past year or so has been the hardest and most painful time for him. Last month, we took a week-long trip to go see him. (He lives in the northern part of Thailand, about nine hours away from Bangkok.) We could immediately tell that he is not the same physically, and it was not easy for us to see him like that. We don’t know how much time he has left now, but we hope to see him and spend time with him more often. Please pray for him.
• Next Church Planting Location/Update — We shared with you before about our plan to plant a second church in a different part of Thailand where it is really needed. The way it will work is that our friends, Brandon Lingle and his family, will be relocating to the new location. My family and I will continue to serve in North Bangkok Church and do whatever we can to support them. As for the location, our friends at first considered going to a particular province with a brother that has been interning with us, but they changed their minds and decided they would not go with this brother. Instead, they decided to go with a different brother (and his family) from our church. The new location is a province in the North Eastern part of Thailand. Lord willing, they will potentially move to the area around April. It will be an adjustment for all of us, but it’s an exciting step of faith. Please pray for us.
• Thank you for another year of your faithful support — As we are closing out this year, we want to express our gratitude to all of you again who stood by us yet another year! Thank you for your faithful support through your prayers, giving and encouragement. We are constantly reminding ourselves (as well as our kids) that our lives and ministry every day is possible because of God’s grace through you.
