“To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” (II Timothy 1:2)
I believe the number-one goal of a foreign missionary is to reproduce himself in the people he is trying to reach with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every missionary needs to produce a son in the faith; otherwise, he is wasting his time in a foreign country. The Apostle Paul wrote of several young men that he had invested in. Let me tell you the story of one young man who has proven himself worthy.
The Lord knew that I would need some young men to carry on the work of reaching Southeast Asia with the Gospel long after I’m gone. One special young man God gave me is named Tan. Angkul “Tan” Juntasung turned 23 years old this past July. He wasn’t even born the first time I entered into Thailand in August of 1994.
When I first arrived in 1999, I can remember Tan attending church with his mom and step-dad. He loved children’s church and always wanted to win the quiet-seat prize. His folks were faithful to come to church-wide soul winning every week. He loved to tag along with me and my soul-winning partner, because he knew Brother Bowen would buy him something at the 7-Eleven after soul winning.
Tan was attending public school when we moved to Thailand. It did not take long for him to pick up the English language, and he even began to interpret the Gospel for me and others. I knew, however, that he needed to start attending the Christian school that his church had started. Attending the Christian school helped him to grow in the Lord and allowed him to learn the English language even faster.
Tan became a great personal soul winner as he grew up. He would spend all day Saturday with me on my bus route, along with several other young Thai men. Of course, he looked forward to eating lunch at Brother Bowen’s house. Those young people loved my wife’s cooking, and Tan especially loved HOT DOGS!
Thailand experienced a devastating flood in October 2011. We lost nearly all of our earthly possessions. Tan, at the time, was only 13 years old. He stayed with me and helped deliver food and water every day to the members of the church and our converts’ homes. He was a great help and blessing to me and the Lord during this time.
After the flood, I continued to raise support for publishing the Word of God. I moved my Bible-distribution center to a new location. Since we were once again living in America, I would make plans to arrive in Thailand before the containers of Scriptures would come. It was always about making sure the Scriptures were distributed.
It became increasingly hard to remain in Thailand until the containers arrived. Tan told me that he would be willing to take on the responsibility of receiving the containers and distributing the Scriptures. As of today, Tan has become the main coordinator of the BEST Missions Distribution Center in Thailand. He also oversees the printing of Bibles, New Testaments, and other Gospel materials in Thailand. He is also an assistant on staff with Missionary Tim Shook, the head of FBMI Team Thailand.
Since COVID struck the world, Tan has stepped up to the plate and has basically taken charge of the work in Thailand. He has overseen the delivery of four containers so far this year and the printing of Thai soul-winning New Testaments.
He is literally in charge of that work of the Lord. I’m so thankful for a young national who received Christ at a young age and has given himself to the work of God. There is no way this work could continue without a young man named Tan. Please pray that God would keep this young man of God safe and also give him a good wife.
“For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.”
(I Corinthians 4:17)
The month of August has become a very difficult time for the country of Thailand and the world with COVID out of control and services being canceled. The Thai government has turned our distribution center into a COVID hospital ward for the Rangsit area. Even with the restrictions, Tan was able to get out 700 cases of material in the last 30 days. Praise the Lord!
There is also a container of Burmese Bibles sitting in the BEAMS warehouse in Gulfport, Mississippi, that is ready to be shipped. Hurricane Ida has brought everything to a standstill in the New Orleans area. There is also another container of Thai John and Romans to be loaded in Rogers, Arkansas, during our Fourth Annual BEST Missions Conference Labor Day weekend. At this time, we are not sure of the arrival of a container. It may be delayed.
Because of many of you giving to the printing of Bibles, I am able to take a check for $10,000 to the National BEST Missions Conference in Rogers, Arkansas. What a wonderful thing it is to be able to provide a copy of God’s Word to people who have never seen a Bible before. You are providing a Bible to those who would never be able to have one without your giving.
I am still traveling and trying to encourage others to give toward the printing the Word of God in Thailand and around the world. I am doing the best I can with the “equipment” (body) that is available to me.
I thank God for Dr. Curtis Hall, who has taken up the mantle of providing Scriptures. I am thankful to all the young men in locations all over the world who help with God’s work. As of today, we have sent 32 containers of Scriptures to Southeast Asia, and we have supplied many missionaries with the Word of God for their converts in 13 different nations.
The greatest thing we can do in mission work is reproduce ourselves in other people. I am at the point like the Apostle Paul said in II Timothy 4:11, “. . . Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.” One of the greatest joys of serving the Lord is to produce someone who is profitable to us personally and the ministry of the Lord.
Please continue to pray that the work of the Lord may continue to remain strong. After what happened in Afghanistan this month, we as Christians need to take note. It won’t be long before the Devil and his crew will soon be in charge of this old world. We need to be busy in the Lord’s work.
Thank you for giving unto the Lord. Without your help, the work could not continue. We are one step closer to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am not worried about me and my family, but I am concerned about those who will be “stranded.”
Into all the world,
Bro. Bowen
Philippians 4:13
