“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus . . . .” (Ephesians 3:20-21) We are seeing God do exceeding abundantly above what we have asked of Him as He brings new people to our church. Last month a few of our Karen church members were telling their neighbors, a group of Laotian people, about our church. One Sunday morning the Laotian folks found out where our church van does pickups, and 9 of them asked Khun Pong, the van driver, if they could come to church also. Some of these dear people have been saved and were thrilled to find a church that, in their words, “preaches the Bible.”
One of the men told me that they had been looking for a good church since they left Laos to work here in Thailand at a pineapple factory. He told me that their boss required them to work Sundays, but they told him that Sunday was the Lord’s Day. They told the boss that if he wanted to keep them as employees, he would have to give them Sundays off so that they could go to church. There is a group of about 20-30 Laotian people who work at the pineapple factory, which is about half an hour away from our church. For the past month, 10-20 of these precious Laotian Christians have attended our church on a regular basis. God is allowing our church to reach 5 different people groups at this time: Thai, Burmese, Karen, Laotian, and English. Please pray as we train and disciple these folks to go out and reach their own people for Christ!
Our church’s missionary to Laos, Brother Kampai, recently came down to visit our ministry with his wife and son. He preached to our people and was able to meet our Laotian church members (pictured below left). One Sunday afternoon he and a couple of our church men drove up to meet the rest of the Laotian people who work at the factory. Brother Kampai preached salvation, and several were saved that day! Since then some of those folks have been baptized also.
Recently Brother Randy Shook (with help from Brother Inman and Khun Singadt) built a platform for our baptismal tank and arranged for it to be moved to the front of the church building. Previously, our baptistery, which is a large ice cooler, was located in the back of the building where we have a water hookup. We moved the tank so that everyone could enjoy seeing the baptisms each church service.
It was exciting to see how God used this the first Sunday that is was up and running. One lady, who has come for weeks, had been saved but never baptized. After she watched a newly saved couple follow Christ in baptism, that day she said, “Wait! I want to do it now too!” Our neighbors and those driving or walking by were very intrigued by it as well. To God be the glory!
As you pray for our team and ministries here, I would like to recommend that you also read the personal prayer letters of each of the team families: Bro. Randy Shook, Bro. Scott Mercer, Bro. Chad Inman, Miss Shari House, and Bro. Tim Shook. God is using these folks and their willingness to work as yielded servants for Him to do the work that He has called us to do as Team Thailand. May God bless you as you give faithfully to God’s work here and as you serve in your Jerusalem. We thank God for you!
Tim Shook & Team Thailand
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- Bro. Kampai and our Laotian members
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- Bro. Tim Shook baptizing in the front of the church
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- Our Laotian members on the bus