In the past months, we have been blessed to meet new people
and reconnect with friends we haven’t seen in a long time. We feel like God is
reminding us how much he loves his most beloved creation—people that is. A
Missions focus is always the people. People who partner with us to be able to
have the opportunity to serve in Southeast Asia and China. These people pray
for us, encourage us, and even share our burdens and challenges. The people we
work with in the field are also of great importance; we know that doing
missions has their highs and lows. The lack of sleep, the cusps of mental
breakdowns, the creeping loneliness, the physical burdens, the constant
feelings of weight on the shoulders, and much more. These are things that we
have, if we’re honest, felt many times. Through our great team, we continue to
encourage each other even in the lows. God continues to build us up when we
feel like the world around us is falling apart. Then there are the people we
invest our time and efforts to bring them to Christ. The Missions is all about
people.
This
past month we had the honor to work with one of our partners from Indiana. This
group came all the way across the pacific to help us teach classes in pastoring
and church leadership classes to our students. As you may know, we select our
students who are currently in ministry and are willing to be poured into. The
number of interested candidates is vast! Each set of students ranges between
eight to twelve. Anyways, the four men from Indiana came ready to work with us.
We were encouraged that they came here knowing they had to abandon some
comforts in America. For instance, the weather here is extremely hot and humid,
traveling in cramped cars, and even the bathrooms in some places resemble those
from horror films. Even with the differences of cultures and customs, these men
came ready to serve.
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| The team visiting the new church plant |
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| Kevin teaching a class |
We
served together at Asia International Seminary (a program under AFC), teaching
from 9am into the late afternoon in the open hot canteen with just a couple
fans to give an occasional breeze of relief. The mindset of these visiting
teachers was definitely – not to be served but to serve. Bruce and Ken taught
about what it’s like to lead a church in the states and about dealing with
grief. Jon and Kyle would focus on teaching English at our partnering
government school of mostly displaced children. The feedback from the seminary
students and schoolchildren was very positive, they were blessed to have these
guys come, teach, and spend time with them. We were thrilled to spend time with
them outside of the classroom, as we visited village churches and had meals
together. We are encouraged to have more of our partners from overseas come and
serve alongside us.
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| Bruce teaching about grief |
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| Kyle and Jon teaching at the government school |
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| Certification presentation day |
Stephen
has been teaching and preaching at a higher rate. God is moving among the community,
and many people are requesting to study from him. On the weekends, Stephen
visits the various churches that our team planted last year. These churches
continue to grow and even to the point where they have built an entire church
building in order to house all the members. The Christian leaders who are going
to pastor these churches are doing a great job and occasionally come to our
team when they face challenges. It is all about the people! On the teaching side, recently, a man in his
80s asked if he could also learn the Bible with Stephen; this is such an
encouragement because we see many like these that are dedicated to their
ministries and constantly seeking to grow in their faith and understanding. We
are hoping to expand our seminary by building 3 more buildings to house more
people (students, teachers, partners) and to have a building dedicated to
teaching and media production. Our hope is to be able to meet the ministry
needs as more and more students and guest teachers arrive at our center. We are
raising 150,000$ to build 3 buildings: 2
buildings (male and female) to house students and guests, and another building
as classrooms, meeting rooms, and media production (for online teaching,
recording Bible lessons). We are excited to say we have raised about 1/3 of our
target, if you are called to be a part of this new project to expand His
Kingdom, please contact us for more information.
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| Visiting a new Church plant in a remote village |
In
February, Nick went to Laos to teach and visit with the local Christians.
Nick’s original plan was to teach the Christian pastors there about mental
health first aid and how mental health affects the body and therefore affects
the church. The plan was averted because the teaching center in the area had a
change in management, so they had to cancel the classes. Although it seemed
like the trip would be a waste, it turned out to be such a blessing. His former
English students in Laos reached out to him and he was able to connect with many
of them. This was a wonderful blessing because he was able to tell them about
his faith and the wonderful things God has done in his life. During the trip,
he was able to meet and make friends with villagers, former soldiers, and
government leaders in a new location; it is the hope that His Kingdom may
expand further throughout Laos.
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Nick going on a hike with
Lao government officials |
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| Nick spending time with his former students |
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| Nick having a meeting with Lao department of development |
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Soccer tournament - Evangelism strategy led by
our Vientiane team leader |
Family
Isaac recently graduated from high school and will be
starting his degree in IT engineering at Chiang Mai University this fall. This
has been a great transition because he was among the first students to be
accepted on the spot with his great portfolio and grades from high school. To
put into perspective, students are to take an entrance exam and then selected
based on grades, they accept around 10,000 students each year and many students
don’t make the cut. Isaac was met online with CMU’s admit team and they
accepted him. We are very proud of Isaac and excited to see him take this next
step in his life. Mary continues to be a huge support to the family and AFC.
She does an amazing job in the background so that everything runs as smoothly
as possible. This has been a blessing because we are able to focus on other
tasks and have the assurance that everything (food, needs, etc.) is taken care
of and that is why we are very thankful for Mary’s important role in His
Kingdom works. Becky has expanded the English Bible class by offering a
beginners/grammar class for the new students. This has been a gamechanger as
several more students from Myanmar have joined our Saturday classes. John is
growing in his ability and work in the English teaching field in Chiang Mai. His
students have given very positive feedback, for instance, the way he adjusts
the lessons to fit the needs of his students. John has also been a great member
of AFC as he will often go with Stephen to encourage the new church plants. John’s
wife Anna is continuing to recover from her illness and has been doing a lot
better and gaining more energy every day. Nick continues to work in the
background with planning and coordinating the plans especially as he is working
on his masters in mental health. Currently, he still needs several hundreds of
participants in his data collection phase from Thai Christians in Chiang Mai.
This has been a challenge since many people are reluctant to do a mental health
research questionnaire. Please pray for him and his studies because he is the
first in his field to do a study on Attachment especially in the Christian
community in Southeast Asia. This study will be an incredible testimony about
the importance of having a relationship with God and the Christian practices and
its positive relationship with positive mental health. Nick’s wife, Khao, has
been a positive influence as an interpreter in a Japanese company. Many of her
coworkers have seen how much of a “good” person she is as a Christian. Her boss
is also setting her up to become a manager soon. This has been a blessing to
see her growth at the work place! We were also very blessed by the visit of Kaylee Voorhees, daughter of Derek our wonderful team operating in the States. It has been such an encouragement to have our friends come and encourage us in the field.
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| Isaac officially graduating from highschool |
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| Kaylee's here!! |
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| Family board game night |
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Nick speaking at a Thai church about mental health and
the benefits of a relationship with God |
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| Nick with his mental health professors |
Message from John (perspectives of one recently returning to
Thailand from being in America for almost a decade):
As I have continued to live in Thailand, I continue to see a
need for deeper education, especially for the students of SE Asia. Families as
well as students care about their education, they yearn for opportunities that
will help improve their living situations, hoping to get a better education to
find a better job, get a higher income to be able to support their family. This
is the mindset of the Asian people. And even though Thailand has many
institutions and schools to provide an education for these students, it seems
to be more business oriented. Many schools are here to make money, trying to
cut expenses and raising rates of tuition to make a profit as a school. This is
common for many schools as well as international schools. It is a disservice to
families who want the best for their child. After coming to Thailand, I am
hoping that I can continue to combat this and impact students’ lives for the
better, helping them to think more critically and help them learn advanced
skills to help them succeed in life. Not only is Thailand's education lacking,
but many organizations and centers that are trying to help people, are
sometimes doing it for the money or fame. They continue to look for personal
gain rather than helping those in need, especially those who are evangelizing.
Again, it is a disservice and a sad sight to see as many organizations and
entities are talking about doing the right thing but then succumbing to worldly
gains and not truly helping people. I hope that the work that we continue to
do, whether that be my business in teaching English and other professional
skills, or the ministry at AFC continues to shine a light to others that are in
need, to be a model example for other organizations to continue to focus on
what really matters, the people. Please keep praying for God to use me, my
family, and the mission organization to continue to be faithful to this
ministry and faithful to His calling.
We are blessed by so many relationships we have around the world. Thank you all for being a part of HIS Kingdom work in Southeast Asia and China.
***** Important update: Myanmar, especially the city of
Mandalay, has been affected by the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that shook
Southeast Asia on July 28th. Over 1600 people have died and many are still missing. Many are having to sleep in the streets because the buildings are no longer structurally safe. Electricity and network connection is spotty, and food and water are scarce. This is one of our mission fields,
and to watch the people struggling is beyond words. We are currently
open to accepting donations for the relief aid for Myanmar. The funding will go directly to provide
food and water for the people affected by the earthquake in Mandalay. In the past, we
have had many new believers through relief projects which have been a blessing
for our mission work. We are hoping to help the people through this event and
show them the tangible love of Christ! If you are called to help and be a part of this project, please reach out to us, or give through our website www.asiansforchrist.com - please note in giving, memo section (for Myanmar Earthquake Relief)****
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| Collapsed buildings in Myanmar |
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| People are having to sleep outside! |
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