When your full-time job is serving others, such as that of a missionary, you are given the opportunity to spend your “working hours” getting to know your people. Some may view a pastor or missionary as a “weekend worker,” since a lot of the work comes together on Sundays during the church services and then on Wednesday evenings for the Bible study. But what we get to do, that is not seen, is take our time during the week to invest in our church members’ lives by visiting them, getting to know them, praying with them, and encouraging them in the Word of God.
My wife and I have made it a priority, as a family, to take two to three days a week to visit our church people in their homes. These visits have given us insight into our members’ lives, and it has allowed us to get to know them on a more personal level. One visit this past month stands out to me. We stopped by the house of a single lady who has come, on and off, to our church for several years. She has since started coming more regularly. When she saw our car pull up to her house, she ran out to greet us. She hugged my wife and said, “You know, I was praying just today that God would send someone to fellowship with me. I get so lonely living by myself, and look, here you are. God did this!” During our visit this dear lady shared with us her conversion story and how she has remained close to the Lord through great heartache. What a joy it was to hear her testimony of faith in God through tough times! Although we do not clock in to a job site each day, our days are filled with visits, Bible studies, church-service preparation, music practices, soul winning, discipling converts, foreign language studies, and giving our time to the people whom the Lord has called us to serve—and what a privilege it is!
God is allowing our church ministries to reach five different people groups: Karen, Thai, Burmese, Laotian, and English. In the other picture below, you will see the faithful group of Burmese men who come each week. The young man with the gray shirt and glasses, Myatmin, has been saved for several years. He and his wife moved to Thailand over five years ago in order to have a better job to provide for their family in Burma. Their three children still live in Burma with their grandparents. Myatmin has been coming to our church faithfully for over a year now, and his wife has come several times also. One Sunday Myatmin’s wife told Missy that she has watched her husband read his Bible every day. She knows that his life has been changed, but she has yet to trust in God herself. Missy gave her a Burmese Bible that day and encouraged her to read it. Please pray that she will get saved!
Missy and I were able to see 9 people receive Jesus as their Saviour while out soul winning this month. The people are open to the Gospel, and we have the opportunity to teach and train our converts freely. Thank you for your faithful support and prayers, as they encourage us on the field!
For Him,
Tim Shook
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- Faithful group of Burmese men who come each week
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- Our Karen service
