Monsoon season or raining season has begun and schools have
started! Summer vacation has come to an end for the Thai people. Now it is time
to getting back into their daily work routine. Every family seems to have
started busying themselves with works. Sadly, the Wongratanamajcha family has passed
the summer without any official summer vacation. As the United States finally
started their summer break, Thailand itself has started their schooling. As
John finally came back home and started his break, Stephen came back from his
mission field and Isaac has begun his school. Though the entire family has been
busy in different ways, we keep thanking God for the gift of fellowship as all
the family members are finally united. We believe that as missionaries in Southeast
Asia, we are compelled to preach the Gospel to people nonstop with/without
season as the Bible says “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel” (1
Corinthians 9:16).
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| Family picture |
The family has been well, but very busy. Stephen himself has
been working every single day on his 1 Corinthians commentary. He usually wakes
up at 5am to start his work and sometimes finishes as late as 6pm. He hopes to
complete his commentary within the next two weeks before sending his project into
publishing process. 1 Corinthians seems to be significant and relates to the
people of Asia. Some subjects that relate with the Asian people are idolatry,
spiritual welfare, speaking in tongues, and ancestral worship. Stephen has also
taken time to mentor to his former students who are currently serving His
Kingdom in Burma and China. Some students have been travelling to very
restricted areas in China, offering teaching classes to the local people at the
house church context. Whenever there is an issue or something in the Bible they
do not understand, they will usually ask Stephen for answers and that is
usually done through a messaging application. He sometimes even preached
sermons and taught via this device to various group church leaders throughout
Northern Myanmar and China. Due to his age, rather than going to very remote
areas for evangelism, we are encouraging him to spend more time in the
Christian literature ministry. So far,
he is very energetic and enjoys serving the Lord both in the field and in the
office. Please lift him up in your prayers so that many people will be blessed
and many souls will be saved through his ministry!
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| Stephen working on completing his commentary |
Nick has recently been contacting local churches in Thailand
in order to come up with a team to establish some sort of plan to start raising
money through fundraisers and eventually online donations. His first
fundraising event is held at the Lanna Expo, a northern Thailand conference to
exhibit local northern Thai products. At this event, Nick has been blessed with
a free booth in order for people to wear Lisu clothes and donate money towards
helping the Lisu refugees in Myanmar. There are still a lot more to be done,
please pray that God provides us with the energy, wisdom, people, and funds to
be able to help the Lisu (both Christians and non-Christians) in Myanmar so
that Christ’s name will be glorified! Please also continue to pray for the Lisu
because we have recently heard that the fighting has been broken out in Danai,
Kachin state. The result of this fighting ten of ten thousand Lisu are stranded
between the intense battles that surrounds them and many lives have been killed
through the collateral damage.
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| Displaced people who have fled from the battle field |
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Local churches from Lisu people making a temporary shelter
for those displaced people |
Mary has been busy sending Isaac to and from school, taking
care of the house, preparing for the new crops to be planted. What a blessing
she is in the mission field. Without her, things would never be possible! She
is really key person at our family and ministry who is due to honor go. Becky has been working hard on tutoring Isaac
with his schooling. She also has been taking the time to learn Spanish as well
as relearning her French. John has had a very remarkable time during his summer
break. Most Sundays, John and Stephen would preach at local churches in the
mountains. He says he’s learned so many new methods of preaching, the usage of
preaching through stories to the audience. This seems to be the most effective
method of preaching as it captivates and helps the audience relate with the
speaker. Overall, the Wongratanamajcha family has been very busy, but thankful
that they are all together and working for God.
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Mary & Isaac enjoying a time at relaxation
at nearby place after school |
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| John preaching at at Hui Ko village |
