Greetings
from isolation! It has been such a wild month. We live on the outskirts of
Chiang Mai city, not really an urban city, but more like a big town. Chiang Mai
is known as the “Rose of the North” because it’s a city unlike any other in
Thailand. The people have a slow lifestyle and are generally known for being
the nicest… I guess similar to the “Southern Hospitality” of several states in
America. Being such a place with rich history, at the same time, with modern
commodities, and a mix of different ethnic groups from all around the world
makes Chiang Mai a unique place. This uniqueness brings millions of tourists
into the country each year and also immigrants from many countries. Sadly, with
the pandemic in full swing, tourism is nonexistent and people are living in
fear. As soon as someone coughs or sneezes in public, everyone gives the person
an evil glare and rushes in the opposite direction so quickly you would’ve
thought they were Olympic sprinters.
At
this moment, coughing is extremely common in Chiang Mai because the mountain
that is the apex of the city is up in flames. To add insult to injury, Chiang
Mai is located in a valley so all the smoke just settles and sits in the city
for days on end. The air quality readings records Chiang Mai, Thailand as being
the most polluted place in the world! Therefore, many people have been
breathing in the soot and ash pm 2.5 particles and respiratory illnesses are
popping up left and right. This brings even more panic and fear because
symptoms of COVID19 and air pollution sicknesses are very similar, not to
mention the occasional flu and cold.
Thailand
is currently implementing a partial lockdown with a curfew at night. This
lockdown could potentially become a full lockdown with a 24 hour absolutely no leaving
the house situation. Crowd gatherings, all religious activities even church
services have been forbidden; the big water festival, Songkran, which is
considered to be one of the most popular holiday, drawing millions of people
into Chiang Mai, has also been canceled.
What makes this pandemic even more painful is the fact that all flights
to America have been cancelled indefinitely; we are sad that we may not be able
to attend our John’s wedding in America. Please lift John and his fiancée Anna
in your prayers as they are figuring out all the ins and outs of the wedding
and starting to plan life together.
During
March, we delivered funds for purchasing a scooter for our local partnering
evangelist in Laos. This was such a great gift for the mission works in this
under-developed country. The evangelists are now able to reach and evangelize
to even the very remote villages. In the midst of this pandemic, 134 people
were baptized and ready to start a new life of hope in Christ. PRAISE THE LORD!
The number of new believers and new churches springing up are just stunning!
God is moving in this country and we are blessed to be a part of his plan in
harvesting great amounts of souls.
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| The new scooter for evangelism! |
There
has been such an increase in new believers among animistic society. Now a days,
many shamans have turned to Jesus Christ. In animism, shamans are the main
person to speak to the evil spirits on behalf of the community because they
know how to speak to the spirits and how to operate the rituals. Without these
shamans, the new generations cannot perform their religious rituals. We are
hoping that many more souls will be harvested due to the conversions of these
shamans.
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| A group of new believers after their baptisms! |
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| Another group of new believers! |
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| Even in this muddy pound, new life is born! |
Further
great news that we would like to share is about a certain unnamed lower house
member of the parliament whom we wrote about several posts back. For safety
purposes, like in the past, sometimes we won’t reveal too many details
concerning someone or a situation. Anyways, we would like to report that his clan,
7 households, have also accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We are
very blessed to see God work in such miraculous ways. We are so happy to share
how God is working even in times of turmoil, sickness, failures, and chaos.
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| New Believer! |
In
addition, because of this pandemic, we realized how much of an asset online
media has become. Churches are having live services, many teachers are teaching
online, and even Bible studies are up online. Our team believes it would be
wise to start thinking about producing Bible classes in the various local languages and
develop a project to put these online. Even when this pandemic is over, we will
still be able to use these online media as additional tools for people who are
in various countries. It would even be possible for us to create video content
to show everyone what our missions is accomplishing in Southeast Asia and
China. As you may already know, several months ago, we produced gospel music
videos in the Lisu language which was a success and has been widely viewed in
the Lisu communities. This has been such a blessing for many. When we produced
the music videos, we rented and borrowed several recording equipment. In order
to self-run this online media project, we would need several tools that will
hopefully last for a number of years such as a camera, lighting, microphones
and a fast enough computer to run heavy editing software. After discussing with
videography friends, it will cost 8,500$ in order to immediately start this
project. In a world where everyone is connected online, this would truly be a
benefit to many. Please pray for this project as it would be a very great
benefit for thousands.
This is one of the Lisu gospel music videos we produced in December 2019. The title is Gethsemane, encouraging everyone to pray more like Jesus. (If you can't play it on here, here is the link: https://youtu.be/i8QWqR1J1iI )
As
for the Wongs in isolation, Mary uses this time to garden so that we can enjoy
our own home grown vegetables. Every morning, Mary, Becky and Isaac has also
been going through the Bible together. Stephen is in the office everyday
preparing for lessons to teach in Laos, Myanmar and here in Thailand once this
pandemic has settled, which seems like it will be awhile. Nick has moved to the
guest building because he has developed a cough, so please be praying for him.
At
time like this, it’s very tough to watch such a strange virus cripple the
entire humanity. However, we are inspired by the health workers all over the
world on the front lines of this war between people and something so minuscule.
Lab researchers all over the world working and hoping one of their concoctions
would work. These days, it seems like everyone, everywhere is struggling
somehow and at this moment, we are all just waiting… We are all probably at our
house, bored and some of us worried about what’s going to happen to our friends
or family. In this state of waiting… we can stay home in order to help lower
the transmission rates because hospitals are very overwhelmed with this
currently incurable disease. We can help donate to help those in need, whether
in our communities or other less fortunate areas, because we are all affected
by this. Most importantly, we can all pray. Pray for the sick. Pray for nurses
and doctors. Pray for our leaders. Pray for our elderly. Pray for his Kingdom
to expand even in the midst of this pandemic. Pray for your friends, family,
and even strangers.
Thank
you so much for your encouragement, support, and prayers especially in these
dire times. God bless!
