Here is the written version in case it is hard to read from the attached file:
I thank the Lord who has led my wife and I
to His ministry in Kenya, Africa during November 30, 2012 – December 23, 2012
and returned back to Chiang Mai, Thailand. Originally, we planned to stay in Kenya until January 15, 2013, but
because my father’s leukemia condition worsened we had to return to Thailand
immediately on December 23, 2012. We were worried about my father so much that
we have spent much time in prayer for him while we stayed in Kenya.
I was overwhelmed with worries for my
father as I have been apart from him for a long while. We had consulted with
Bishop Henry Mulandi and Dale Bauman, and they allowed us to go to Thailand to
visit my father before the scheduled time. We spent much time in prayer while
on the plane heading back to Thailand. When we landed, we were held up at the Bangkok
Immigration for almost three hours for not having the yellow fever vaccination
before entering the kingdom of Thailand. Aside from this incident, we arrived
in Thailand safely.
I would like to give thanks to the Lord
because He is faithful and He had answered our prayers. When we arrived at our
hometown we went to visit my father. I saw with my own eyes that he was healed
by the grace of God! His condition had improved significantly. We have
confidence that the Lord is merciful and His healing came upon him according to
our prayers.
Shortly after, we left for Chiang Mai.
During the first week of January 2013, we stayed with Sarah’s brother’s family,
who owns a restaurant in Chiang Mai. We spent over a week searching for a
suitable house to rent. Fortunately, we found a new half-furnished house that
has a kind owner. Normally, the owner
would rent the house for foreigners at about $500 per month, but because we are
also Thai citizens, he reduced the rent to $300 per month for us. We thanked
the Lord who always reveals His everlasting love to us.
We see that His provision to us is always
great. Even though our supporters were not ready to support us during the month
of January the Lord was there to provide. We thought that we would be starving
and could not survive during January; however, we were able to get by with the
grace of God.
Moreover, by His grace and His plan the
Lord has led us to explore His field in Laos. We had an opportunity to go to
Vien Tiane and the surrounding areas. There, we saw exactly what the Lord Jesus
has said, “The harvest is plentiful, but
the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out
labourers into his harvest” (Mat. 9:37).
I had an opportunity to visit a group of
Lao Hmong university students who gathered together at an elder’s house for a Bible
study. The house was used as an underground church. In addition, at the
outskirt of the city, I also visited a church with a large congregation whose
members are hungry and thirsty for the Word of God.
Moreover, there are 14 young people from
Laos and Vietnam who came to Chiang Mai seeking to have Bible studies and
leadership trainings so that they can go back to be church leaders at their
local churches in Laos. I volunteered to be one of their teachers at the Bible
Institution.
In the future, I am planning to follow
these young people back to their rural villages and start church planting. I
also would like to support them and provide mentorship and leadership training
so that we can expand the kingdom of God.
On February 7, 2013 God has sent three
explorers from Canada, Mathew Sou, Milo Stauffer and Nathan Lichti to come
visit us in Chiang Mai. Together, we travelled to Phayao Bible College to seek
some Laotian Bible students who have vision to build a church in Vian Tiane.
Unfortunately, we found none. We had a focused prayer for a chosen student who
God will send to be a student at this Bible college. I also plan to mentor this
chosen student to be an evangelist or church planter in Laos. I am thankful
that the Lord is gradually opening doors for South East Asian gospel ministry.
Now I am planning to start the church
ministry at the Friendship Church, Chiang Mai. There are about 30-50 young
people who attend the church, but they have not been coming regularly. Most of
them are young people who are studying at universities; there are also some
young couples. I will follow up with them through visitations and will
challenge them to become permanent church members. Then I will start
discipleship and leadership training at the church. I am also planning a
dormitory project in Chiang Mai where I will invite some university students to
reside at the dormitory. This will provide an opportunity for me to spend more
time with them and train them to be Jesus’ disciples and church leaders in the
coming future.
Please pray for us, the Friendship Church,
the dormitory project in Chiang Mai and the South East Asian ministries in Laos
and Vietnam. We need more financial support for these projects. We see that God
is working in our lives, the Friendship Church and South East Asia Ministries.
Sincerely,
