Our ministry would be greatly hindered if not for the efforts of Dr. Bob Bowen, Dr. Curtis Hall, and the BEAMS and BEST ministries that have worked tirelessly over the past 10-plus years at raising funds, getting Bibles printed, shipping them in containers, and donating them to our ministry. Every person who visits our church is able to receive a copy of John and Romans. Each new convert is given a brand-new Bible when they are baptized if they don’t already have one. What a blessing it is to live in a country that gives us the freedom to distribute God’s Word.
There is an orphanage about 40 minutes away from us that has 51 children, who are Karen and Burmese refugees, ranging in age from 3-18. An elderly Thai gentleman named Pastor Shatu runs the orphanage and has been taking in children for years. Since opening our church here in Hua Hin, we have been able to help them from time to time, and they have visited our church a couple of times for Christmas. In September, Pastor Shatu asked if we might happen to have some Burmese or Karen Bibles, as they only had two on the property for all the children and staff to use. We just happened to have some boxes that had been donated by the BEST ministry, and we were thrilled to go there and give them to the kids. The children were so excited to have their very own copy of God’s Word. If you’d like to see a video of this evening, click on this link: https://www.facebook.com/tan.juntasung/videos/1260918630712282/.
We held our 3rd Annual Bible English Camp in October, and it was the best one yet! There were 67 campers, 20 team and station leaders, and some other adults who just wanted to join in on the fun. This day camp is run very similar to a VBS. The children are divided into teams according to age, and the teams rotate through five stations throughout the day: English Vocabulary, English Conversation, Arts & Crafts, Games, and Bible Time. We were so excited to have Saint Jomhong as the preacher for Bible Time this year, and many kids trusted Christ as their Saviour. It was especially a blessing to me since I have known Saint (pictured on the left) since he was a teenager. He is now married and pastors a church in Bangkok. Also pictured below on the right is Tan, another man I’ve known for over 10 years who now works on our staff and is also a great example to the young men in our church. Please continue to pray for both Saint and Tan as they serve the Lord in full-time ministry.
About half of the campers that came to camp were from the community and don’t normally attend our church. We praise the Lord that since camp, several of them have been attending regularly. On the Sunday following the last day of camp, we held an awards and presentation ceremony at the church for the parents after our morning service. It was a great opportunity for them to get to know our church, our people, and hear the Gospel. Please pray that the Lord will continue to allow us to reap even more benefits from this effort.
As always, thank you for your continued prayers and financial support for the ministry here in Thailand. God is doing a great work!
Serving the Master joyfully,
Shari House
