God is growing the church and ministry here as our members and converts are growing in the Lord. Khun Pat, who is a language teacher, has come faithfully on Sundays since she trusted Christ back in March. She has mentioned several times how amazed she is to see the people God is allowing our ministry to reach. Recently she came to me after the Sunday church service and asked if she could volunteer her time, free of charge one hour each Sunday afternoon, to teach Thai to our Burmese and Karen church members. For several weeks now, she has taught over 20 of our members. This will give them the opportunity have a better life here in Thailand.
Another area in which the Lord is growing our church and members is our new Junior Sunday School Department. It has been a burden of mine for our younger group of children to have a more concentrated level of Bible learning at our church. This past month we started three new Sunday school classes. Three of our staff members are the new teachers: Khun Singadt teaches boys ages 9-12, Khun Joom teaches boys and girls ages 5-8, and Khun Udomluck teaches girls ages 9-12. Brother Randy Shook is the superintendent of the Junior Sunday School Department. Brother Shook’s years of experience in the ministry and his enthusiasm to teach our younger members the Bible have been a definite encouragement to our teachers!
The first Sunday that the new Sunday school classes were announced, the children cheered loudly with excitement. They were given a song sheet and color sheets to bring back the next week. When the following Sunday came, the children had learned the first several verses of the song on their own and had their color sheets in a file folder ready to be turned in. Exciting times for our church!
Last week Khun Pong was picking folks up for church when 8 Laotian people walked up to the van and asked if they could get a ride to church also. The Laotian language uses a lot of the same words as the Thai language, and they can understand Thai. They gave a clear testimony of salvation and were very excited to find a church where the Bible was being preached! That is God working through willing servants to encourage His saints!
We are continuing on in the discipleship program and will be starting Book 3 in just a few weeks. Our people are growing and learning as fast as we can teach them. Please continue to pray for our team and ministry here as we obey the Lord in fulfilling God’s call in our lives.
Thank you for your prayers and support,
Tim Shook & Team Thailand
