Being the Church

This week, I returned to Phang-nga for a few days to worship with our group in Deen Khao and to encourage them and help them understand their role as the Church in their community. I must say that I was the one who was encouraged! They are continuing to meet on their own and encourage and pray for one another. Last month, Gao had surgery on his hip to close up a bedsore. We all praised God because He provided a doctor who really showed compassion and skill in patching him up. Gao and Nit said that they shared with three others in the hospital. They were themselves greatly encouraged by another missionary couple, David and Joy, who prayed with them and played Uno with them in the hospital! Jiu continues to share her testimony with others also. Pray for the health of the members of this group and pray that they will continue to grow in their faith and share Christ with their community.

3 Day Prayer "Push"

Last week, we asked our prayer partners to join us for a 3 day "prayer push." Following our time of prayer, we went out looking for opportunities to meet people and share the good news. The biggest blessing was sharing with my next-door neighbors, a young couple named Bow and Dtam. They both confessed that they would like to believe, but said that it is impossible for them to leave their religious community without persecution. Pray for this young couple that they will give their lives to the Lord and determine to follow him no matter the cost. In addition to this young couple, many doors were opened for Tracy at the local hospital and for me with the many people that we made acquaintance with during this time. Pray for these that the Lord will open the door for them to hear the good news.

Starting Over

This past week, we have spent a great deal of time beginning to set up our ministry. For me, that means a lot of emails. We plan on using various types of teams from U.S. churches to help us enter the communities regularly for the purpose of sharing Christ.
This week, I also had the opportunity to go out a couple of days to start meeting people and developing relationships. Satoon is filled with tea shops. (This people group does good tea, both hot and cold!). The Lord blessed me with getting to sit and talk with several groups of men (a restaurant owner, some men at a bus stop, and some men at a tea shop). I have much to learn and covet your prayers. My desire is to share the gospel through these relationships and pray that the Lord will lead us to men of peace who will in turn connect us with others.

Moved In!

We are finally in our new home in Satun, Thailand. It has been an eventful week. We lined up a big moving truck to pick up all of our stuff on Tuesday and spent the whole Monday finishing up packing and sorting everything to be ready to put onto the truck the next morning at 8:30 am. Then, Tuesday morning 8:30 am arrives... no truck. 9:30 am arrives...no truck. I tried to call the owner of the truck. There was some confusion as to what he said, then he hung up. What??? 10:30 a.m...no truck. 11:30 a.m...We ask Ong to call and talk with the owner, who says that he will contact the driver for us. Okay...I guess we wait. 2:30 p.m....still no truck. Ong suggests that we start looking for another one. What fun!
But, Praise the Lord, He provided a truck locally in just a few hours and we asked them to come at 7 a.m the next morning.
Now, after a long day of loading, driving, and unloading and 5 more days of unpacking, our house is starting to look like a house again. (Although we are not there yet).
Thanks so much for your prayers!!
Keith

Gosone and Deen Khao

I went by to visit with Gosone (who I have talked with now five or six times) about the gospel and trusting in Jesus. He would have been working today, but was apparently he had disturbed a bee's nest while weed-eating. He was stung 6 or 7 times and his face was swollen. However, I was glad that he was home and we had the chance to talk. He told me today that he must make a decision soon. He told me that he cannot walk on two paths. He will either choose to remain Buddhist or become a Christian. Please be praying for him!

We also had a wonderful meeting today with our Deen Khao group. Gao (who has the bedsores) was MUCH BETTER! Thank you Lord! and thank you to those of you who lifted him up in prayer. Not only that, but I can see that his faith is increasing. He prayed a beautiful prayer during our meeting today. His wife said that he said that when he can walk again, he wants to share the gospel. I pray that day will come! (Ong and Ning also joined us today from Krabi and that made it extra special).

Prayer opens doors to proclaim the Gospel

As we traveled through the province looking for a house these past few days, it was easy to be overwhelmed by the task before us and I wondered how we will be able to freely proclaim the Gospel among this people so blinded and held captive by a false religion. This morning, as I was reading from E.M. Bounds in my Quiet Time, he says....

"Prayer opened doors of utterance, created opportunities, and made openings to preach the Gospel for the apostles. The appeal by prayer was to God, because God was moved by prayer. God was thereby moved to do His own work in an enlarged way and by new ways. Prayer...gives not only great power and open doors to the Gospel, but it also gives facility to the Gospel. Prayer makes the Gospel go fast and move with glorious speed." (E.M. Bounds - The Possibilities of Prayer)

Please make this your prayer for us and for all the workers here in Thailand. Pray that God will give us many opportunities to share the Gospel, because it is "the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes." (Romans 1:16)

"Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance." (Colossians 4:3)

House Found

Thank you so much for praying for us in our search for a house. Tracy and I went back to the province and looked another 2 full days before finally concluding that we should go with the original house we found. It needs some work in make a kitchen area and other things, but we praise the Lord because it is right for us in many ways.

Light shatters the Darkness. Truth shatters the Lies.

Today I had a great opportunity to visit with two men I who have shown much interest in God and even faith in the past. Both Dang and Gosong come from Buddhist backgrounds and have been very confused, but they are both now reading God's Word and asking questions. Dang had many questions concerning who Jesus is. Pray that God will answer these questions for him and help him to trust in Him. Gosong also has been exposed to many false religions, but is seeking the Truth. Pray that God will give both of these men a hunger for the Truth and bring each of them into a right relationship with himself.

Looking for a house

We are getting ready to move to a new province as many of you know. Please continue to pray for us in regards to a house. We had thought that we found one, but there are too many problems with it. The Hong Kong brother we met volunteered to look for us after he returns from a meeting on Friday. We have commitments here through Monday, so we will leave Tuesday morning. Please pray that we have peace about where the Lord would have us live. We will keep you all posted.

Deen Khao Update

Keep praying for Gao and Grandma Arom. Both of these have been sick with fever (Quite likely malaria). In addition, Gao is experiencing continual problems with bedsores. (He sleeps on a pad about an inch thick and he is paraplegic due to a lumber accident). We had a great meeting this afternoon in Deen Khao with everyone present except for the sick. Keep praying that this group will be faithful to meet regularly and grow in the Lord.

Update on Bang San

You may remember that Bang San is the Mus!im man who I befriended several months ago. I got the chance to visit with him for a couple of hours this week. I met him at his home where he lives with his wife (wives?) and a couple of grown sons. I had already shared with him the gospel and had given him a Bible to read. This week, I got to share with him more extensively. He actually has quite a bit of knowledge about what his holy book teaches about Jesus and the differences with what we as Christians believe. It is so difficult for him to consider that his book may be in error. Please join with me in praying for him. Pray that God will reveal himself to him and that his eyes will be opened to the truth. Pray that the doorway will remain open for the gospel. Thanks so much for your prayers.

Glad to Be Home!

July was a busy month for us. We were away from home the whole month. We helped with a camp for MKs, went to our annual meeting, and I was able to take two weeks of seminary classes in Chiang Mai that helped me learn how to better communicate with the people of southern Thailand. This past week at home we have been catching up on some essentials and also taking some rest time. This coming month, we will be looking for a house to rent in Satun, a province a little further south. We believe that it will be a strategic move for us. Please be in prayer for our family during this time.

Our house group in Deen Khao met on their own while we were gone. They did have a few obstacles to overcome such as malaria and lots and lots of rain, but praise the Lord, they are becoming more confident in the Lord to help them be the church in this area. Please be praying for Gao, however. He called today to tell me that he is sick with fever. Pray that God will bring healing to his body.

MK Camp

Tracy and I and the kids just finished a week in Chiang Mai at our annual MK (missionary kid) summer camp. It was a lot of fun. Tracy was the director this year and did a great job. I am very proud of her. One thing that I really like about this camp is that it is staffed by fellow missionaries. They lead the games, teach the bible studies, act crazy, and even cook the food. I am blessed every time I go. Thank you for praying for us. Pray for our meeting this week also that it will be God-directed. God bless you all.

Training Believers

We had a great day with the NC team as they led a training day for our Deen Khao believers. They led them through the Old Testament from Creation to the Flood to Abraham to Moses all the way through King David. It was a real blessing as we seek to help these Thai believers understand the big picture of what God has done in the past and what he is doing to bring people to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Almost all of the believers were present and wearing their Deen Khao Church shirts.

In addition, the three ladies on the team spent the day helping teach English in a big public school here in Phang-nga town. One of the ladies has not been feeling well. We would appreciate your prayers for the health of the team as they serve the Lord this week.

Please keep on praying for this team that God will use them to draw people to himself and "make disciples" during this next week!

the two brothers

Yesterday (Tuesday), I went back out to visit two mus!im men and take a video cd to them. They are always glad to see me, and I really enjoy talking to them. Abdullah is the younger of the two. He doesn't say much and I believe that he is not playing with a full deck, but he smiles and shakes my hand and is so glad I came. Malet is his older brother. He likes to talk too. He was showing me yesterday how his people greet each other and even helped me to write it down in Thai. He has the Book, but I noticed he hasn't started reading it yet. I read him the story of creation and encouraged him to read it himself. I pray for these two, that through his Book and the video CD, they might begin to trust in Jesus.

Thank You for Praying!

I took Gao to the hospital Monday morning. (Gao is paraplegic due to a lumber accident 5 years ago). He has severe bedsores and a motorcycle injury which had been infected. He looked awful and finally agreed to go to the doctor. The doctor admitted him to the hospital that day. He told me that the last time he was admitted to the hospital, they made him stay 3 months. He and his wife, Nit were convinced that they would make him stay at least a month. We and many of you and the believers in our Deen Khao church group began to pray. Then, yesterday (1 day later) around 5 p.m., he called me to say that the doctor has released him to heal at home. Praise the Lord. He already looks much better as well. The infections seems to be gone. He gave praise to God many times for allowing him to not have to stay long term at the hospital. Let me ask you to keep praying for him that God will continue to heal him. Thanks so much.

A Copy of the Book

A couple of months ago, I got into a nice conversation about Jesus with a couple of men with long scraggly beards on the front porch of their house. They were very talkative and hospitable and invited me to come back. So, today I went to visit them. They invited me in and I noticed that they had as visitors two other young men dressed head to toe according to their religion. We talked about many things, but eventually we started talking about Jesus. While these men were all devout in their religion, I praise God that they were open to talking about these things. Personally, my goal was simply to be friendly, show the love of God to them, and not to debate. When I left the house, I told one of the young men that I would give him a copy of the Book if he would read it. He said that he would. I ask you to join me in praying for these men that they will read the Book and hear the truth.

Dang Nab It!

Dang is so close to believing. He is the man we met a few months back who expressed his belief in a creator God. Yesterday morning, I met with him again. I found that while he is reading the Bible some, he was not understanding it because he was treating it like a book of proverbs that you just open somewhere and read some good sayings that will help you be a better person. I took some time and explained about some of the books of the New Testament and how it is so important to read them through from the beginning to really understand what God has done for us. He seemed really excited after that so I pray that he will read it and that the Lord will open his eyes to the truth and give him understanding. I made an appointment to see him again next week. Please join me in praying that this man and those in his family will believe and trust in Jesus.

Exciting Days!

Praise the Lord! I just finished three days leading a second workshop in Ranong Thailand on planting house churches. Ong and I led a similar workshop there about 2 years ago. Both Thai and Burmese believers were at the workshop, along with their pastors. Both men are encouraging their members in starting small groups. In fact, they have already started many house groups in their area and are concerned with training leaders to lead them. One of the pastors in particular has a real vision that his church become a center for training lay-evangelists, lay-church planters, and lay-pastors. Praise God! I am truly humbled and thankful to have a small part in this work.

A Sad Story

I greeted her with a hug and the tears began to pour down my face. I said, “I don’t understand, Aunt Siang. Why would you throw God away? You have to explain this to me.”

Aunt Siang had come to visit our small group that met on Saturdays in her village. She had expressed an interest in the story of Christ. It wasn’t long before she believed and followed the Lord in baptism. For nearly two years we have watched her grow in her faith. She could quote scripture and oftentimes would have a scripture to share with the group. Keith met with the group weekly and often brought them together for extra training. Recently, Keith noticed that her countenance had become sad and restless instead of the happy and peaceful lady we had grown to love. Then one day she went to visit Ju, one of our group members, bringing her Bible with her. She told Ju that she was going back to Buddhism and was on her way to the temple to ask the monks to forgive her for becoming a Christian. She tried tempting Ju to come with her, but Ju would have no part in it. She handed Ju her Bible and left.
Money seemed to be at the heart of this decision. She told Ju that since becoming a believer, she had not won any money in the local lottery. This was a big surprise to us that she was betting in the lottery and something she had kept from everyone. She stated that having a good life now was better than worrying about life after death.
Today, she told me that her family’s constant harassment had worn her down. She said there were other things that I would not understand. The Holy Spirit began to speak things to my heart to say to my friend. I know it was His voice, because I honestly have no idea what I said. I hugged her good bye, told her that I loved her, and that I knew the Lord did too. This has been the biggest disappointment for me on the mission field. I have examined everything I ever thought I knew about her. I have questioned every part of what we (Keith) had taught and still nothing makes sense to me. The all-time evil question (at least in many things) of WHY keeps coming back. My thoughts on that will come in another blog as I think this is already too long.
Please continue to pray for Thailand and that God’s Kingdom would come to this land.
Tracy

Bangkok Mission Team

ENERGETIC! ZEALOUS! and LOVING! are words that describe the group of young people that came down from Charoen Krung Friendship Church in Bangkok.

We witnessed the truths of what we have prayed many times, “Lord, give the Thais a burden for reaching their people. They can do it so much better and faster.”
When Thai Christians visit our small groups, you can feel the instant bond that they have with each other. The connection that a familiar face and language brings helps to give the stories we’ve told credibility. To know there are others who believe as they do strengthens their faith.

Extreme temperatures greeted the team each day. Some were sick with fever and sore throats, but nothing deterred them from their mission. To share the gospel and love of Christ with those they would meet each day.

It was also a learning experience for most of them had never shared their testimonies or presented the gospel to anyone. Keith pushed them out of the ease of telling stories, singing and doing drama for children to sharing one on one with a stranger the love of Christ. It was encouraging watching them grow in boldness for the message.

Please pray that we would continue to see a heart for missions grow in the churches of Bangkok. Pray that God would give them the vision to send teams and individuals to work alongside us and other missionaries to reach this country with the message. There are still so many who do not know that through Christ they can be made right with their Creator.

Blessings
Tracy

When Believers Meet

It is a wonderful thing when two new believers meet each other and share a love for God's Word and all the wonderful stories in it. That is what happened today when Nit (from the Deen Khao group) met Lek (from the nearby village of Bangkan). They hit it off. In addition, we have found at least 3 others in this village who are believing and want to start a group. Please be praying that the Lord will establish his church in this village. Pray for the team of Thai seminary students as they share their testimonies and the gospel with the people in this area.

Thai Student Team

This past week has been a lot of fun as a team of 9 Thai seminary students have been helping us with sharing the gospel, children's activities, evangelistic meetings, church group meetings, leading worship, etc. It has been really busy and it is not over yet. They will be with us for a total of 21 days.

Please keep them and us in your prayers as we share Christ with the people of southern Thailand. Pray for the team this week as we work with other local believers to encourage them and to help them share their faith also.

God is Working when you are Praying!

What an amazing day! We have a team of 8 Thai seminary students with us from Bangkok. They will be working alongside us until the end of the month. This morning, we spent time praying together and studied in Luke where Jesus sent out his disciples to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom. Then, we divided into four different teams to share. Today we met several people who were very responsive! In addition, we found several possible places to start seeker groups. We also talked with two ladies who used to attend one of our groups and both of them expressed strong faith in the Lord. We praise God because it looks like we may be able to start a group there again. If you have been praying for us... THANK YOU!

A Fruitful Day

Yesterday, I went out with my fellow missionary and mentor, Ross M. It was a very fruitful day. Not only did we meet a young man who was very interested in the gospel and learning more about our faith, but people kept giving us fruit. At the first home, we received a huge branch full of green bananas. It was so heavy, it took the two of us to carry it to the truck. Then later, we received a bag full of tamarinds and another bag with m'pahng (That's the Thai name. I have no idea what they would be called in English.) So we praise God full a fruitful day!

Here are some photos from the past few days!

 
 
 
 

Days 3,4,5

God has been doing amazing things here with the team from Highland Heights. Today, they helped to gather a good crowd of 60 people or so for an evangelistic meeting. The Lord has really been using this to draw in more people from the Deen Khao area.
Following that, we took a much deserved trip to Khao Lak beach for some souvenir shopping, a relaxing time at the beach, and a nice dinner. We left at 9 in the morning and arrived home after 10 p.m. This team has really been working hard.
The highlight of the day was the baptism of Justin, one of the team members in the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean)
What a blessing! Thanks for your prayers. Tomorrow we head to Krabi for another full day!

Day Two

We had another great day with our Arkansas team. Today we went into a muslim area where many muslim villages are and helped to paint the wall along the front and side of the school. This is a terrific way to show them God's love and to open doors for a witness of Jesus. We had a great time interacting with the children also by teaching English and just basic conversation with these 1st - 4th graders.
Then tonight, the team led a youth group meeting at a Christian church here in the city. It was a blessing all around.
Thanks so much for your prayers. Pray for the team tomorrow as we do similar activities and share the gospel in a Buddhist area.

Day One

The Highland Heights team has arrived and God is already at work. Yesterday, we spent the afternoon going into the boonies to pass out tickets for our food distribution to the Burmese in the Tungkangok district. The Lord helped me find a group of Burmese as soon as we pulled up and after explaining (in Thai) what we were needing to do, a young man (the only one who understood me) volunteered to go with us to lead us to the Burmese homes and explain to them how they could receive the food on Friday. For me, (since I don't work with the Burmese normally) it was a new experience because I (like the team) couldn't understand anything he was saying to them. THere is a lot of trust going on! haha.
Thank you for praying. Pray now that the Lord will open doors of ministry to the Burmese as other missionaries and Thai Christians begin to reach out to them.

Volunteer Team from Arkansas

In just one week, we will be joined by a team of volunteers from Highland Heights Baptist Church in Benton, Arkansas. These 12 men and women will be helping us to share the gospel both verbally and through meeting physical needs as well. We will be sharing and working in schools and in villages. Pray for this team that God will prepare them spiritually and physically for the challenging week ahead of them. Pray that they will have a great week and accomplish much, but more than that, pray that they will bear fruit for the Kingdom's sake. Please keep them in special prayer from the 15th - 23rd of this month. Thank you for joining us in His work through your prayers. Prayers are effective!

Pray for the Word

One thing that greatly encourages me is that many of the men we are focusing on seem to be greatly interested in reading the Bible. They have mostly never seen one, much less read from one, but it is supposedly considered a holy book in their religion. (even the NT). I met a man the other day who was rather not interested in us sharing in his village, but when I read something from the NT, he asked to see it. After I explained what it was, he asked if he could have it. This is where, I believe, God is going to work among this people. Let me ask you who trust in the Lord to join with us in praying for these men that they will read these Bibles and see clearly that it is the Word of God. Pray that the Lord will clearly reveal himself to them in this way. 2 Thess 3:1 says, "Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you." (NASB) E.M. Bounds says that, "Prayer opens the way for the Word of God to run without hindrance. It creates the atmosphere that is favorable for the Word to accomplish its purpose."

Bang San

Yesterday (Tuesday) I was able to go back and see Bang San (mslm man who was interested in reading the Bible). At his house, we talked for quite a while. He says he is reading some everyday. As i understand it, he is sharing everything he is reading with his family. At this point, I do not think he is believing, but rather very interested and he does hold the Word of God in a very reverent manner. Please continue to pray for him that he will be convicted of the truth of the Word and that he will believe. Pray also for the other men (about 5-6 others) who have received Bibles in this village.

Now with a Sidecar

Finally, after months of waiting, we were able to purchase and install a sidecar with a roof on the motorcycle for the group at Deen Khao. This is important because it will allow them to pick each other up for our church meeting without my help. In addition, they will be able to use it to share the gospel with neighbors. Since Deen Khao village is spread out over a 5-7 kilo section of road, this will be extremely helpful. Special thanks goes out to Rich C (fellow M in NE Thailand) for supplying the motorcycle and also Flintgroves BC in NC for supplying the sidecar with the roof. Sorry I don't have a picture yet. I plan on putting one up soon.
Thanks again guys!

Pray for this Team

Pray for the team from Highland Heights BC in Benton as they prepare to come next month. Pray that God will prepare both us and them and use us mightily to bear fruit for His name. They will be sharing the gospel and doing a few projects to help us get access into communities. They are led by Bub and Mandy Thomas. Pray that God will prepare their hearts to do his work.

Update on Bang Sahn

I went back to visit the men in the village that I gave Bibles too. Unfortunately, the only man there was a man who I didn't get to talk with the week before (a son-in-law of Bang Sahn. I shared with him a little. He told me that Bang Sahn(the head of the house who I gave the nice Bible to) has been talking about this with the family every night. That is all that I know about them, but that may well be exciting news if he is believing what he is reading. Please keep praying for Bang Sahn and his sons and family. May they seek the Truth and find it.

Hungry for the Truth

Today i was driving through a m*slim village, looking for a place to park so that I could walk from house to house, pass out booklets, and talk to people about the Lord. A man saw me and yelled "hello!" (a foreigner is a rare occurrence I am sure). I drove past him and when I got to the end of the road, I still hadn't found a place, so I turned the car around and when I got back to the man, he was standing beside the road ready to talk to me. Well, praise the Lord, I started to talk with him from the car window. Another man came up and they both seemed interested enough, so I just parked the car right there and we sat down in front of their house and talked. Another older man came up. I thought that he might object to my sharing about Jesus. Instead, he said that he was really interested. I noticed that he especially liked the Bible I brought. When i told him he could have it, he was just stunned. I ended up giving all of them NTs and we talked for about an hour. I just love it when God plans out these meetings. When i got home, I asked Tracy if they had been praying. Sure enough, they had had a special time of prayer that I would meet someone hungry for the truth! So today I am thanking God for people who pray for me. (many of them are reading this). Thank you!