March brought Easter early, and our team enjoyed having a special service on Easter Sunday. Our church had special color sheets that showed the Resurrection story and an egg hunt for the children. We also presented a 15-minute video of the Crucifixion and Resurrection, told from John’s perspective, narrated by our staff member Pi Singadt. The video was shown to our children during Junior Church also. We had our second Lord’s Supper service in the evening service on Easter Sunday.
Our family makes visits each week to see different church members. One night we stopped by to see Khun Yai Meow. Khun Yai comes faithfully every church service with her two adopted girls. They live very simply because Khun Yai is disabled and cannot work. She shared with us that the little village where they live has had major water shortages. This has caused many issues for their family during the hot season. The Lord provided money for the church to buy Khunaz Yai an extra water container. They now have two containers that will allow them to have water in the evenings also.
We are constantly asking God to make us more aware of the needs of our people. If you are looking for a small way to make a financial difference in someone’s life here, please let us know, and we can share specific needs with you!
Last Thursday evening during our church-wide soul winning, Missy, Miss Shari House, Lauren, and Khun Jaow went to a little area situated just outside the walls of a temple. They were out during the time when the monks chant their prayers over the loud speakers. The ladies could feel the spiritual oppression. Jaow, who became a child of God from Buddhism just last year, was afraid when the ladies began to give the Gospel to a man who had been a former monk. She knew his status by the idol-encased necklaces of Buddha, which he wore around his neck.
This middle-aged man and his wife were resting in the cool of sunset when the ladies stopped by their door to talk. The couple kindly invited the group in and allowed Jaow and Miss Shari to talk with them about the Lord. The man was not rude but said that he did not believe in Jesus as his way to Heaven. When we asked his wife, she smiled and said, “Is it okay if I’m the only one?” She sweetly accepted Jesus that night while the monks’ lifeless chanting could be heard in the distance. What a victory for our Saviour!
The Lord has brought many different people groups to our church. Among those groups are a handful of European folks, some of which are men who have married Thai ladies and are living permanently, or spend months at a time, in Thailand.
Nicholas first came last December for our church’s annual Christmas Banquet. One of our other European church members had invited Nicholas and his wife Patty.
Since then, Nicholas has become a faithful attendee. He has grown in the Lord and went out soul winning for the first time last Thursday evening. He has shared his burden for his Buddhist wife’s salvation. Nicholas had never married, and at the age of 60 during a period of time where he was away from God, he met Patty. They have been married for 15 years.
Patty has visited the church several times but has devoted most of her free time to studying at the temples to become a better Buddhist.
A few weeks ago, we visited them in their home, and we had a wonderful time of fellowship. Please pray that Patty will see what she is missing in the empty rituals and vain idol worship of Buddhism.
We are seeing our people gain strength to serve Him and watching as God blesses our efforts to get the Gospel out and teach our converts how to do the same.
Thank you for our faithful support and prayers!
Tim Shook
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- Nicholas singing “In Christ Alone” with the guitar
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- Patty with Missy
