Thailand Final update

Hello All,

After a great trip serving God is Thailand one of the leaders has put together a video from the week as a summary of the highlights of what we encountered.

Here are some sights, sounds and testimonies from the October trip to Thailand. God did some cool things as we focused on church planting and human trafficking awareness. 178 people heard about Jesus and 13 are now walking with him. 4 small groups we call I Am Second groups were started and almost 100 people heard of the perils to human trafficking.

Enjoy the update and praise God with us for how the team was used in His Kingdom work!

Thailand Update 1

Sawat Dee from Thailand!

 

We wanted to share with you a mid-week update from the work happening here in Thailand.  There are a number of stories of how God has been moving here.  Enjoy and please continue to pray!

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We arrived October 19^th in the late evening after a very long international flight.  Customs went smoothly and we were in!  The team piled into our first song tow (group taxi).   This was to be our common mode of transportation where our fearless leaders would often stand on the bumper's back rails when it got too packed.   Weaving through this through this city of 2 million people on the "wrong  side of the road" with never a traffic light or hardly a sign in sight is an experience in itself! 

The hotel accommodations are nice with an open courtyard with trees growing up out of the area to help shade the eating area.  It feels safe and comfortable after a long day. We enjoy the food here that Kuhn Dang serves us each day.  Saturday was a recovery, training and city orientation day.  We prayer walked the neighborhood Saturday and prayed for the lost.  The number of Buddhist temples is staggering.  They dominate the city's corners and steeple the landscape everywhere you look.  Many of the city's young men are monks who need Christ just as we do.  What would it look like if they came to Christ and the temples were turned to churches that worship the true God?  

 

We were able to train on Sunday before church, and then we split up to worship and minister in different locations.  Jeff knew a missionary from his church in  NE and led their class.  God had 3 teens there that were not yet His sons, but that morning, they became part of His great family!  The pastor was excited and the teens are set to be baptized next week. 

Chad took the larger group to the supported church where we would work most of the week. They have a small but vibrant church there.  There is a strong group of age 30 and younger who want to learn to share their faith.   Joel and Ellen shared their testimonies of how God was faithful in their lives.  Later the pastor's wife shared with Ellen, "Your story is my story."  God was bonding our hearts together. We may be different people who live on the other side of the world, but we have the same stories and the same great God who makes our lives worth living. After the service, they shared a lovely meal with us. 

Nichole, Ellen and Kelli went to a local home for girls that have either been trafficked or are at high risk for being trafficked here in Thailand. They were able to share in joyful laughter through games with the girls. We closed off the night by educating the girls with the Priceless Cube about how to protect themselves and others from being trafficked. The girls then heard the Good News of Jesus and two accepted Christ and two more rededicated their lives!

Sunday night we prayer walked with the church around that neighborhood.  God led the Pastor's group to an apartment building which was owned by a man who was a Christian but had fallen away for 20 years.  He visited with us and said that he now wanted to help.  He was encouraging about allowing us to use his property for an 'I Am Second' Bible study that week. We prayed with him and asked God's blessing on him and his family.  The prayers that went up all through that neighborhood on Sunday were key to the next day's success in meeting people with open hearts over the next few days. 

Monday night was exciting as Pastor Kam Sean had the idea to go to the deaf school and witness.  Now who is going to be able to hear the Word there?!  But God had a teacher sitting at the gate watching the students who was friendly and willing to hear the truth that Christ would give him His merit.  Mit's heart was ready.  He prayed to accept Christ and said he would meet us the next day.   Other contacts were made through people we met many people who we witnessed to.  Nok will allow us to come back to her salon and study the Bible with her, but she can't accept Christ or it would dishonor her family and her traditions.  They understand the sacrifice it will take to "leave all and follow Christ."  This is the roadblock we keep hearing over and over.

Tuesday night we took the apartment owner up on having a study at his outdoor "lobby."  Jimmy led the group and 3 came to Christ!  Our prayers were being answered already.  On the same evening, some of the ladies in our group were working with the Priceless Cube (a human trafficking education tool) and the EvangeCube with women in a local park.  Nichole got to share Christ with a woman named Noi.  She had heard of Christ but never knew for sure just who He is.  Now He is her Savior. 

Wednesday brought more opportunities: We had part of the team witness on the college campus while the rest worked around the church's neighborhood.  We head back out tomorrow and will shoot out another update in a couple days...more to come soon.

Thanks for the Prayers!

The Thailand Team

  

FWD: A Salvation Story….No longer Sadat

Recently heard this story from a Berean Youth Pastor using e-balls in Uganda and wanted to share it...

(12 AUG '12) - 
by Along for the Ride... in salvation, Uncategorized 

We had never experienced roads in such disrepair on any of our previous journeys' potholes deep enough to swallow a taxi van whole! Our driver was intently focused on the road, or at least the remnants of one from years past.

It was our last ministry day in Uganda and we were going to a remote village to play soccer with a village team that had heard that Americans were in the region. It’s funny because we only had two guys on our team that actually played soccer–a coach from a local high school and his son. The rest of our ragtag team was thrown together to play on this humid Ugandan day.

We arrived after a rugged 1 hour ride, and the village Ugandan team was ready and waiting for the game to begin. So we played...and we lost.

After the game I asked Coach Clark to share his testimony and the Gospel of Christ with the team and many other village spectators that had walked to the game. Coach Clark shared the truth of Jesus Christ and in response 17 young men came to saving faith in Jesus! The entire soccer team plus a few spectators had been gloriously ruined by God!

One of the young men who was saved that day was Sadat. He was the coach/player of the village team. We said our goodbyes and began our rough trek back to our missionary compound. Our mission was complete. We were heading to Entebbe the next day to catch our flight home.

But Sadat– he lived in that remote village in Uganda. But Sadat was not the same young man he was prior to that day after a soccer game with the American missionaries. He was a new creation! (2 Cor. 5:17)

Sadat’s life was rearranged that day. In more ways than he could even imagine as he stood on that dirt road and began walking to his home in the village. He was excited about his new life in Christ and yet he was nervously apprehensive about returning home that day. You see, Sadat, was a Muslim, or at least he used to be.

Sadat’s father was the Leader in the Mosque in the village. Sadat knew that his father would not understand that his firstborn son had just surrendered his life to Jesus Christ and had renounced Islam.

As Sadat arrived in the village and approached his hut, a deep dread settled in his gut, but it was soon replaced by supernatural courage. He greeted his father and respectfully announced that he now belonged to Christ. Sadat’s father was enraged! He cursed and glared at his son. How dare he turn from the religion of his forefathers!

Sadat was renounced by his father– You are no longer my son! You no longer have a home here!

His father gathered all of Sadat’s belongings and destroyed them. The only thing he allowed Sadat to carry away with him was a 1 inch foam mat to sleep on. Sadat had gained Christ, but he had lost everything else.

Sadat has nowhere to lay his head at night–just like Jesus. He is living proof of what Christ proclaimed about being hated for loving and serving only Him.

Sadat, now known as David, wakes up every day not knowing where his next meal will come from or whether he will ever see his mom and siblings again. He changed his name because he wanted to be completely removed from his Muslim heritage. He wanted a new name to go along with his new life!

David now meets with his soccer  team mates weekly and they go through God’s Word together! They are all growing in their faith despite the horrible persecution they are facing from former friends and family.

Soon there will be a church planted in David’s village so that other Muslim men and women can come to know Christ.

David’s father and friends have repeatedly asked him to turn his back on Jesus and return to Islam. He refuses for he has discovered the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

In a text message to a missionary pastor, David texted just this morning–”I will never renounce Jesus Christ!”

Maybe this story makes you uncomfortable. Good!

What is it costing you to follow Christ? Ask Sadat...no, ask David that question...

Final Costa Rica Update

Last night we had our closing celebration. It was wonderful being able to see all the churches we've worked with throughout the week gather together and worship Jesus. It was an emotional night with lots of hugs and tears of joy. Particularly, as we said goodbye to our translators, they were our mouthpieces as we shared the hope of Christ with the Costan Rican people.

We celebrated and prayed over 538 gospel presentations, 368 professions of faith in Christ, 120 requested follow up visits to their homes, and 309 participated in new discipleship groups (I Am Second Groups).

God definitely met our highest expectations, and then some! The team did great, we are so proud of each and every one of them. Thanks again for your prayers and support.

Join us in Costa Rica next year!
Dates are set July 5-13, 2013

Contact Kris Cheek or Brad Brooks for more info:
cheek.kris@gmail.com
bablers2000@yahoo.com 

Brad and Kris are the sweet couple in the last pic...  :-)

Costa Rica Update #4

One of the Costa Rican pastors that we are working with this week is blind (see pic with Kris and man in red shirt). However, his physical limitation has not been a detriment to the spiritual vibrance of their church. They have a huge heart for youth and young families, and have been quite affective ministering to this demographic as well. We can see that the young people are attracted to the pastor and his wife's loving spirit and servant heart. It truly is a privilege to minister alongside and encourage this beautiful couple and church. We are reminded that we all have weaknesses that God's strength can be perfected in.

Pray for a strong finish. We will close our time with the Costa Rican believers by celebrating and worshiping with them tomorrow evening. 

P.S. The couple in the last picture is the e3 Partners Costa Rican Director and our group host for the week. They have taken such great care of us! Thank you Carlos and Xenia.

Costa Rica Update #3

Just wanted to update everyone on the evangelism and outreach opportunities after only two days in the field.  We have had over 220 individual gospel presentations, 175 professions of faith in Christ, and 90 people requesting follow up visits.  We have also been holding our I AM SECOND discipleship groups in the evenings and have had over 100 people attend to study God's word and pray for one another.  God has continued to use us to transform and renew the lives of Costa Rican's in San Ramon and has shown us his faithfulness and plan to reach His people.  It is a true blessing and privilege to serve this week in Costa Rica and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and see the transformation of lives for his kingdom.

Costa Rica Update #2

Today one of our teams worked in a community where there isn't a single church, of any kind among several hundred people. A pastor in a neighboring community, along with his congregation, had been praying for inroads into this needy area for over a year, particularly to the younger people and children. When the pastor heard about the partnership possibilities with our team (and e3 Partners) several months ago, he jumped at the chance to invite us into this unreached community. Needless to say, God works in mysterious and wonderful ways! We were able to build relational bridges with dozens of children, youth, and young families and visit numerous homes within the vicinity. Approximately, nine adults and children accepted Christ and requested follow-up contact.

This was just one of the communities where our team ministered today. Each area had it's own unique and powerful ways!

Our team also enjoys a special time of worship in the mornings before we depart for the day and a time of sharing in the evenings when we return. (see first and last pic)

Costa Rica Trip Update #1

We made it safely to San Ramon, Costa Rica! We are on day two already. Yesterday (Saturday) we spent the day acclimating to the rainy season we find ourselves in down here, as well as team orientations and introductions to the church leadership we will be serving

Our aim is encourage and train hundreds of Costa Rican Christ-followers in sharing their faith, discipling new Christ-followers, and facilitating new discipleship groups. With the goal of seeing these discipleship groups become new churches that are turning around and helping start the process all over again, establishing Gospel movements in villages and cities across Costa Rica.