Knowledge is Power

 Ministry Updates

“Knowledge (itself) is power” was first coined in the 1500s by the well-known English Christian philosopher who made a huge impact in the advancement of science by stating the importance of observation and reasoning. His original intention was to promote scientific experiments in order to glorify God. This has led to great advancements that we see today… well and the not so moral or ethical. It is this “knowledge” that people can find amazing cures for diseases, but on the same note, it can be used to deceive and hurt others for personal gain. The bottom line is that, one can use knowledge for good or for evil.

In his letter to Corinthians, Paul contrasts the wisdom of this age (world) to the wisdom of the coming age (God). The wisdom of God is centered on the cross of Jesus Christ. According to 1 Corinthians, the wisdom of the cross contrasted cultural norms for living, eating, conduct, worshipping, and faith. Likewise, Jesus’ teaching in Matthew was countercultural to the norms by saying that he came to fulfill the Torah and the person who wants to enter the kingdom of heaven must have a righteousness which surpasses those of the scribes and Pharisees. While the scribes and Pharisee practiced righteousness: almsgiving, praying, fasting before men, rather than doing it for God. This wisdom of God is the focal point of our mission works, therefore, we pay much of our emphasis on teaching the Bible, the Word of God, in the mission field. It is the Word of God, the Scripture that gives meaning, understanding, and hope to all.

Stephen teaching Matthew

Recently, Stephen concluded his Matthew class with a group of Lisu leaders in Thailand. As you may remember from our last update, there is a revival within the Lisu community in Thailand; many village people have turned to Jesus Christ. Some of those villages had been anti-Christians for a long time. They went as far as barring many evangelists from coming to their villages, and many evangelists have faced threats to their lives. Praise the Lord! Now, some of these very people in those villages have turned to the Living God and have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. However, we are very short of evangelists; at least 7 villages are in urgent need of preachers and church buildings. For this reason, Stephen has been offering special intensive Bible classes to a small group of leaders to study the importance of focusing on the truth from the Bible. The plan is for them to teach and train their peers and their congregations to carry out the Great Commission to the lost souls. We believe that a church that is rooted in God’s word has the power to transform the people, change their community, and help many leaders focus on expanding the Kingdom.

Stephen leading worship hymns

Stephen giving a communion message

We know that earthly knowledge is not comparable to heavenly wisdom, but we can still use it for the sake of His Kingdom. For instance, Nick was recently asked to be the point man in the initiative to grow coffee in three small villages in Laos. Coffee is considered a sustainable crop that can promote many things in the society and environment. So, learning from his friends throughout these few years, Nick gained substantial knowledge in farming, processing, roasting, and even making coffee drinks. This knowledge about coffee will hopefully help villagers, especially church members in Laos find a better cash crop and lead to more sustainable churches in the future. This way we teach them how to fish rather than always giving them fish. By the way, our mission has been blessed to work with a non-Christian foundation in this endeavor. Like God provides Elijah’s daily need through ravens (1 Kings 17:5-6), this non-Christian foundation provided coffee seeds and supplies to make a coffee plant nursery, and also other fruit-tree saplings (which cost about $100,000) for the villages in our mission field. Praise the Lord for this provision! 

Taking coffee seeds and seedling nursery supplies to Laos

It took us 5 hours to reach the border of Laos and Thailand

We made it on the front page of Thai News!

We are ever impacted by knowledge. History tends to be full of people using knowledge to either advance humanity or abuse knowledge and claim power. One example is our mission field north of us (specific name of the location purposely excluded). This elusive, culturally-packed, highly-populated country is full of people yearning for hope. In the past year, the government set up cameras in every church to monitor the congregation. This has been a huge challenge and it doesn’t seem like it will cease any time soon. In the meanwhile, we’ve found a way around these obstacles so that Stephen is still able to teach Bible to the church members. Knowing what’s going on can help a country retain power, but having knowledge helps as we find creative ways to study and praise Jesus amidst persecution.

Another country where people are having a hard time worshiping God at the moment is Myanmar. People are having a hard time attending church, not because of persecution but because of the continued fighting. Some of our friends have told us that the fighting has now progressed into the towns (they used to have a code of war where they would only have their battles outside the cities). Many civilians have had to flee from the city and move to another safer town. The people there have been requesting two main things from us during the past several years: relief aid from Covid 19/war, and more biblical classes. At this moment, even if we had resources to send to the people, it is nearly impossible to cover those needs with all the battles going on throughout the country. It is sad! As for Biblical knowledge, we are still providing Bible classes to the people through online means. A few are still able to join while many have gone dark because of the lack of electricity, internet, and safety. Please be praying for all of our ministries. Pray for us to use knowledge that we have to continue to further his kingdom.

Special song in English for the Lisu to hear

A visit from a Christian leader in Bangkok

Family Updates

All good things must come to an end. For us, it was the departure of John, Anna, and Anna’s family. What a blessed time to be able to spend the summer with John and Anna. On top of that, we got to meet and get to know Anna’s family. We shared memories of fun and ministry together! It was a bittersweet goodbye as we want to be with them for a little while longer but it’s a bit easier knowing that John is loved and cared for in the States.

Nick  teaching Anna and Jo how to roast coffee

John giving a word of encouragement

Playing a game in the airplane coffee shop

Giving snacks to the kids at the school in our neighborhood

Celebrating Khao's first birthday as a Wongratanamajcha

After John’s family left, we continued to have lots of visitors to our house. Everything is starting to be livelier as Covid fears are but a distant thing. Our family is well as we continue to serve God. We just want to thank all of you for your prayers, support, and even encouraging words. True, lots of ministries around the world took a dip during the past several years, but we can honestly say that we’ve had a great harvest as churches here are booming, many are studying the Bible, and people are worshiping our God at the top of their lungs! We thank you for being a part of our family and our missions.

Our families visiting Huey Ko Village

Special Prayer requests:

1. Resources in order to support more local evangelist

2. More teachers to teach to local leaders

3. Nick's Masters program

4. Family's health

5. Resources in order to plant more churches in areas that have a good amount of Christians

6. Political unrests in Myanmar

7. Our local teams