Grace and peace to all of you! This month marked a little over two years since we returned from our last trip to America. Two years flew by fast. Additionally, I believe the last update we shared was in August. Since then, we’ve been extremely busy handling various issues/changes in both our personal lives and ministry. But we always praise God for His sufficient grace in all circumstances. We are pleased to share some recent updates about our lives and ministry here.
• New Podcast Series — In the past, we have tried different ways to share the Word of God with the people here. However, we recently started something we hadn’t tried before. It’s a new podcast series (audio only) called “What People Misunderstood.” The idea is to discuss important topics that people have misunderstood and then provide a biblical perspective. We have already covered a few topics, such as the Holy Spirit, the Gift of Tongues, Exorcism and more. It is uploaded every Friday on our church’s Facebook and YouTube.
• Pastors from Singapore — We had two surprising yet very encouraging visitors from Singapore. Both of these brothers are pastors and elders at a church in Singapore. They learned about us and wanted to visit in person to see how we can pray for each other. We spent a couple of days together, getting to know one another, sharing each other’s burdens, and praying together. I am thankful they took the time to fly here and spend time with us.
• Explaining the gospel through II Cor. 5:21 — The wall at our church is decorated with several Bible passages, and one of them is II Cor. 5:21 that reads, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (NASB1995).After the service was over one day at church, and everyone started walking out, a first-time guest came to me and asked if I had a few minutes to answer a question she had. She then immediately pointed to II Cor. 5:21 and said she had been staring at the verse and asked, “Why does the Bible say that? What does that even mean?” So, I joyfully explained to her the beautiful teaching of justification and imputation from that verse to help her see what God accomplished for sinners through Jesus!
• Website — We’re excited to share that people are helping us set up a new website. The purpose of this site is to gather all the resources that the Lord has enabled me to create in the past and will continue to create in the future, into one place. These include all the recorded sermons and teachings, video clips, articles, information about the books, training and more. This way, we can direct people to the website, where they will find all the information they need. It also features links to our church’s Facebook and YouTube pages. We look forward to continually adding content and exploring new ways to support churches and Christians in our community.
One neat thing is that the people who are developing this website helped put an English translation (as well as Chinese). It’s auto/Google translation. Though it’s not the best translation, I think it’s understandable. So, you can read all the articles/info in English on there! The website is not yet complete, but you are more than welcome to check it out at drsiripong.com. Please pray that this will be an additional resource that people will find helpful.
• Ephesians 6:1-3 and a Visitor’s Daughter — I recently started Ephesians 6, and Lord willing, I hope to finish the book at the latest by Christmas. However, on a particular Sunday, I was preaching on Ephesians 6:1-3, which pertains to children obeying their parents. Before the service started, I met a lady and her 12-year-old daughter who had come to our church for the first time. After the service was over, the mom came up to me and said she felt like the Lord specifically arranged that sermon for her daughter. It’s always amazing to see how God orchestrates circumstances and allows visitors to hear His Word.
• Worship Team — Last month, some people left us and our church without any notice, including a couple of individuals who helped with leading music. As a result, several members of our church had to step up to handle the music. One of them is a brother who has been faithfully attending our church for a few years now. He even took a couple of vocal lessons at a music school in our area. The interesting thing is that, although the teacher is Buddhist, he learned to sing a few Christian songs to help this brother! One of the songs the teacher learned was “Because He Lives,” so it was strange but uplifting to hear about non-believers singing about God. We also appreciate a couple who are not members of our church, but have come and helped us several times now. Please pray for us as we continue to move forward faithfully through some challenges in life and ministry. We believe He is worthy!
• New School — We have made a big change relating to the boys’ schooling. As you know, Jessie has been homeschooling them this entire time, and we were planning to continue homeschooling until Titus finished at least sixth grade (he’s in fourth grade now). However, not long ago, as we were exploring our area, we came across an English-speaking school. The Lord opened up an opportunity for the boys to learn there and for Jessie to teach there as well. It was a fast and hard decision, but we decided to give it a try for now. Roman is in preschool (he turned four Nov. 1), Noah is in second grade, and Titus is in fourth grade. It’s been a big adjustment for everyone, especially for Jessie. But the boys are enjoying it and doing well, adjusting and learning! We will at least try to see if it will work out. Please pray for Jessie and the boys.
We are always grateful for your love and support!
