As
the monsoon season is at its peak in Thailand, once in a while, lightning and thunder
will also accompany the rain. It’s so common to be woken up in the middle of
the night to flashes and ground shaking thunder. This natural phenomenon
reminds us how Jesus’ disciples would have felt out at sea on a small boat when
they faced the storm and Jesus was fast asleep. Normally, we tend to read it
and brush off the fact that storms are simply terrifying…. Seems the storms,
literal and metaphorical, are brewing up all over the world. Many of us might
even wonder if Jesus is “asleep” as we face civil war, famine, political
unrest, and this pandemic. Is Jesus with us during this Covid pandemic? Is
Jesus with us during the civil fighting in Myanmar? Is Jesus with us during the
lockdown which has caused many people to lose their jobs and go without food? Ultimately,
we have faith that Jesus can and will calm of these storms. Yes, indeed, in the
eye of the storms, God has demonstrated His saving power. In Laos, many more
souls are coming to Christ! We are super excited every time we get the news
that many are choosing to follow Jesus and are being baptized weekly. God is
working wonders in many ways. Praise the Lord!
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| New Believers in Laos! |
Ministry
With
the cloth ministry, Mary put together a cloth drive; she would go and buy some
clothes and on top of that others would donate some barely worn or even new clothes.
Then, Mary would go through the clothes to see which ones are useable,
appropriate, and nice. After this is done, we usually ship them out to the
needy in Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos. For many of us, we don’t think much about
clothes because we have more than enough. For some, clothes are hard to come by
and so they wear the same shirt or pants for many years (the same shirt or
pants that have holes and patches). Realize that Thailand has been under 3
lockdowns already, and most people are without a job. Many are struggling to
even put food on the table let alone clothes on their backs.
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| Mary organizing the clothes |
One
instance really brought tears to Mary’s eyes. At usual, in the past month,
Stephen and Mary went to Chiang Dao to hand out some clothes, and other goods,
for the needy. During this clothing ministry, one particular man named Asa came to
choose a shirt. This young Christian man was diagnosed
with terminal cancer last year. So, Asa and his friend come and there weren’t a
lot of choices left because many had come before him, but there was one
particular striped buttoned shirt that he really liked and as he tried it on,
you could see joy in his face. He was all smiles that day.
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| Asa really likes striped shirts |
About
two weeks later, we found out that he had gone to be with the Lord. In this
village, there have been several deaths already this year. All the villagers
have been going through one grief after another. During the funeral, there
weren’t many people because of this lockdown. Many were saddened by this loss
but felt a little joy because he was no longer in pain. What was very
surprising to us was that in his casket, as he was laid there, he was wearing
the striped shirt that he chose! Praise God for giving us the opportunity to
give a little dignity and joy to others.
Our
teaching via Zoom and Wechat has become a very successful ministry. Stephen is
teaching on the First Corinthians and the Hebrews Epistle for three days a week
for three different groups of Christian ministers, pastors and leaders from
Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and even from main land China. His
classes are overloaded with almost 90 Christian leaders from different
countries, backgrounds, and denominations. On top of this, many more requests
to study are still coming in from Cambodia and Laos; we have to really review new
students before accepting them because some might have ill intent so please
pray for that as well. Overall, it’s a huge blessing to have people from
different countries and denominations come together and focus on the Word of
God. Even though some have had to wrestle with what they were taught growing up
versus what the Bible says. It has been a huge blessing because many are now
coming to learn and actually focus on studying the Word. As a matter of fact,
Stephen is searching for teachers who could teach along with him whether via
electronic devices (can start ASAP) or in person (in the future when the Covid
situation gets better). If you want to join this blessing and feel God’s
calling, you are welcome to contact us directly.
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| Stephen's Zoom class |
Becky
and Nick have been teaching online every week as an outreach ministry. The
number of students has increased in the past month. In an online class offered
to Laos, one Buddhist monk has now joined the class with Nick. This has been
quite the surprise because Nick’s English class often implements the passages
or teachings from the Bible. Furthermore, Nick has also had the opportunity to
preach from 2nd Timothy at a small Thai church where he volunteers as the Youth
Pastor. It has been tough for him to find extra work teaching English because
of the lockdown.
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| Nick's English Class for students in Laos |
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| English Bible Study class for students in Myanmar |
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Nick preaching at a small Thai Church
(and also online)
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In
Myanmar, political unrest still dominates our news feed. Due to this hectic
situation, many people are going to the streets to protest, some peaceful and some
not. On top of this, Covid cases are on the rise. Several church members have
died in the past couple of weeks, including one of our friends, a pastor of a
church in Northern Myanmar and his father passed away two weeks later. In two
particular areas, Myitkyina and Mogok, many people are getting sick while rooms
in the hospitals are full, and emergency services are working beyond their limitations.
The pastors and evangelists in the areas have become the key people who take
care and pray for the sick in these towns; on top of that, these Kingdom
workers are also the ones to bury the dead during this time because everyone is
too afraid to do it. Therefore, Asians for Christ decided it would be best to
provide medicine for over 745 patients, 600 sets of protective outer layer for Kingdom
workers in these two areas including 10000 protective masks, 3000 gloves and 20
gallons of disinfectant alcohol. The protective equipment has been used even for
reaching out to the sick among the nonbelievers. We truly praise the Lord for your
support in this cause and thank to you all for being a part of this ministry.
With your extra monetary gifts, we are able to support many Kingdom workers in
their ministries and to share God’s blessing to countless during these dire
times. |
Stephen going through the protective gear
before shipping |
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One part of the shipment journey was done on
a scooter pulling a wagon |
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The Kingdom workers in Mogok have received
their protective gear |
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The Kingdom workers in Myitkyina have
also received their protective gear
|
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| They started going around helping the sick |
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| Carrying the caskets to the burial site |
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| Praying and providing food for the needy |
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| A small Christian school has also received masks and alcohol |
FamilyIsaac
continues to study online. Most of the time, he has been prepping for an
entrance exam to high school. We are currently trying to find a high school
that would fit him and that he could enter but most schools are either very
expensive or not up to educational standards so that is one of our challenges
at the moment. Please pray as he is preparing for exams and for God to provide
the right high school for him to attend.
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Isaac studying online
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| Sunday Church with some relatives |
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| Becky's Birthday! |
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Nick receiving first dose of
Sinopharm
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Mary
has been working on the garden every day, and the garden is producing lots of
vegetables that we have been enjoying. Because of the constant lockdowns, in
order to stay healthy we often play some basketball (when it isn’t raining) and
also help Mary’s gardening.
As
stated in our last update, the tropical storm came early this year and caused
some concerns at our house. The water rose and flooded our fields behind our
house. Moreover, the water almost reached the office which would have caused
water damage to many of Stephen’s books and computer. Praise God that the rain
stopped for a week so that the water could dry up before flooding our house!
Every
day, we hear of many storms brewing around the world. From political unrest to
this pandemic, sometimes we fear the storm because we feel we have no control.
Indeed, we don’t have control on many things in our lives… but God does. We
have seen many of these storms disappear and know that God is in control. We
have faith that one day Jesus will say, “peace, be still!” and all these storms
will be silenced. May His will be done!
