A Lot is Happening Everywhere....

Even as I begin to type this blog entry, I’m conscious of the ‘turmoil’ that has been in the news for quite a while now: international strife; election campaigning; the housing market (did we mention we’re selling a house?) and extended economy. Movements that are impacting the west reverberate in Southeast Asia as well. For example, a couple of weeks ago I read about Sam’s Club placing limits on purchasing of rice. Now, here at the Top’s Supermarket – in the nation which is the biggest exporter of rice, world-wide, – the price per bag is more than doubled, and there are now signs posted: “Limit 3 bags of rice per family.”
This is very sobering, as rice is the main staple of most peoples’ diets in Thailand.
Perhaps that is why, in some ways, the last few weeks have felt almost surreal. Many inquiries have come since Cyclone Nargis’ overwhelming attack upon Myanmar became known world-wide. Then, the earthquake in China; this too has left families and communities devastated. For those who have questions about the situation in Myanmar and what can be done to help, please check out the United Methodist website: new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor where you’ll find that the United Methodist Committee on Relief is able to provide assistance, and how you / your congregation can help. Also, the UMCOR Advance Number for the Myanmar Emergency is #3019674. Of your gifts, 100% of funds received will go toward assistance).

All this being said, I am reminded of Dr. Wiseth at Pradumri. Often, in his preaching, Dr. Wiseth reminds Thai Christians that “the time is short” until Christ returns. He often analyzes world situations, and strongly believes that we’re living in the End-times. (For this reason, we should be steadfast, as well as evangelizing). I found myself thinking about the many that are suffering, as well as our limited ways of helping from a distance, and was drawn to open my Bible to the book of Revelation. Here’s two thoughts that emerged:
1) Where suffering abounds, we must be faithful in praying for the church of that area. Remember what the believers of the church of Philadelphia heard (Rev. 3): “You have little strength, yet you obeyed by word and did not deny me… Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it….” Believers in Myanmar as well as China are in particular position to be witnesses – even through their personal sufferings. We must pray for their strength, and that others will be drawn to Christ through their witness.
2) When things are ‘out of control,’ that’s not the ‘end of the story!’ Rev. 19:11 describes Christ’s return. Even his name gives us courage…. “Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. And the one sitting on the horse was named Faithful and True.” This is the nature of our Savior, and He can be trusted.

Well, as a final wrap-up, we’ve recently returned from visiting a city in Issan / Korat. (Northeastern Thailand). We were meeting with a group of believers in a community where there is no church. Please be in prayer for them, as they are hungry for the things of God, and they are seeking His will. We have a lot of trainings scheduled as well.
Blessings & appreciation for your prayers, support, and encouragement!

A new United Methodist Church in Pattaya

Life Center Church of Pattaya is now the fourth United Methodist Church in Thailand. Pastor Banya is a veteran pastor of this established church in Pattaya. The cell group from Pradumri UMC will join together with the present members of Life Center to form an even stronger church. A leader at Pradumri UMC, Khun Mary (on the far right) will be the new Cell Group Leader for ministering to Chinese people in Pattaya. You have been praying for over a year for the opening of a United Methodist Church in Pattaya, and now your prayers have been answered.

Pastor Banya's heart is for the children of Pattaya who get caught in a vicious cycle of poverty, no hope, and eventually falling into crime (prostitution, theft, and drugs usually). Pastor Banya wants to have a ministry that reaches children from 6-12 years old, offering computer skills, English skills, Bible schools, and Christian love. Pastor Banya knows that only Jesus can break this cycle of bondage.

At the present time, we are trying to develop the details and find the facilities for this new children's ministry center.

God has blessed us deeply!

All of our family is now in Thailand and God has blessed us deeply! Abby and Jim arrived last week, and now all of our sons and daughters-in-love are with us as well as our two grandchildren, Madeline and Michael Isaiah.

Abby and Jim brought their wedding pictures and gave us a 2 CD's of pictures for our computer, so we thought we would share them with you. Pastor Sungho Lee of Santa Clara Valley KUMC always jokes that if you show a picture of your family to other people, you owe them a dollar. So I guess by posting these pictures, we will be in debt to a lot of people.

The top picture is my favorite wedding picture of Jim and Abby. The second picture is our family (left to right: Jude (who is holding our grandson Michael Isaiah), Michael Patrick, Anthony (holding our grandaughter Madeline Sophia), Abby, Jim, and Sherri and Mike.

We especially enjoyed getting to know Abby's parents and her younger brother, Michael. They worked very hard to make Abby and Jim's wedding a truly beautiful celebration.

On the ministry side of things... we will be doing our first training event with the new interns from Phayao Bible College on Monday. Sherri will be giving a workshop on leading and multiplying cell groups.

Next Sunday night, there will be a big first anniversary celebration for Bowin UMC. Sherri will be preaching the Word at this joyous event. We will have pictures for you next week of this event.

We are celebrating the wettest holiday in Thailand

We are entering the week of Songkran, which is the Thai traditional New Year Festival. Thai people celebrate the Western New Year's Day for a whole week, Chinese New Year for a whole week, and Thai New Year (Songkran) for a week or even 2 weeks in rural areas. Thai people celebrate Songkran by throwing water at each other. There are huge barrels of water out near the street with a hose to refill it. A bucket is handy for kids and adults to dip water out of the barrel and throw at anyone within reach. There are also roving pickup trucks with water barrels and people skilled at doing drive-by soakings. So we know that we will get wet every time we leave the house in the next seven or eight days.

This year, we will celebrate Songkran with our oldest son Michael Patrick, our daughter-in-law Jude, our grandchildren Madeline and Michael Isaiah, and our son’s friend Allen. Michael will be working as a teacher at Anuban Chonburi School and will be helping us with writing Christian Education materials and with setting up our Thai website which will feature free downloadable Christian teaching and training resources. Jude will also be writing Christian Education materials and will serve as the staff writer for our fellow missionaries in Laos and Vietnam. Allen is seeking a job at this time and needs your prayers. He will be helping us with his computer skills on our Thai website.

We apologize that it has been more than a week since we last posted an article. When our son Michael Patrick arrived in Thailand, he had a medical emergency which required him to be admitted to the hospital upon the first day here. He then had to go to the hospital for the next 6 days in the morning and in the evening. This and other duties have consumed our time. Praise God, Michael Patrick is mending and is on his way to recovery. Hopefully, when the Songkran Festival is over, he will be fully recovered and they will all begin to learn to use the public transportation systems here and learn to ride motorcycles so they can gain some independence.

God has truly blessed us beyond all measure. One of the most difficult aspects of being missionaries for Sherri and I was moving away from our grandchildren. And now God has brought them to be with us and we are overflowing with joy! God is good!

Both Pradumri UMC and Bowin UMC are receiving new interns from Phayao Bible College. These four interns will be training to be Christian workers and ministers and we are glad to have them be a part of the United Methodist mission in Thailand. We will be introducing them to you on the blog in 2 more weeks when all of four interns arrive at the churches.

We also have good news concerning Pattaya, which many of you have kept in your prayers for a long time. We have a new United Methodist Church and a new ministry in Pattaya which we know the Lord will bless tremendously. Pastor Banya and the members of the Life Center Church of Pattaya have become the fourth United Methodist Congregation in Thailand. Pastor Banya is a strong, veteran Christian leader who is also the regional director for the Evangelical Fellowship of Thailand. His will provide wise and effective leadership for this new work. Working together with Pastor Banya is Khru Mary (Khru means “Teacher”) Teacher Mary is a Chinese Thai woman who is a strong leader at Pradumri UMC. Mary helps to lead a cell group of Chinese Christians in Pattaya and is a gifted pastor. She will be serving as assistant pastor at Life Center Church and will be the pastor for Chinese Christians. This will help to make Life Center Church strong because it will fill a need that is not being filled at the moment, by providing a church where both Thai and Chinese people can attend. There are many couples where one spouse is Chinese and the other is Thai. Before this new ministry, these couples could not attend the same church but now they can. We will introduce them in a few weeks on this blog when we are able to get pictures to post. We just wanted to let you know the good news now.

Good Friday Service and Easter Sunday Baptisms at Bowin UMC

Mike had a wonderful Holy Week with Bowin UMC. On Friday, we had a combination Maundy Thursday/ Good Friday worship service. We celebrated Maundy Thursday by having a footwashing service that was full of joy and prayers for each other. It was wonderful to see the people of Bowin love each other by serving each other humbly and giving blessing prayers to each other. We also celebrated Good Friday service through a modified version of a Tenebrae service. We love the spirit of the people of Bowin UMC who love the Lord Jesus with a passion that reminds me of our first love for the Lord Jesus. It is inspiring to be in their presence, because worshipping and fellowshipping with them makes me want to be closer to Jesus Christ in my daily walk.

On Sunday, Mike preached the Easter sermon and served communion. They practiced communion in a different way than their norm, by serving each other by intinction (dipping the bread in the cup). After Easter service and our meal together, we went to the local reservoir for baptisms. Pastor Jerron and Mike baptized 10 new believers. We prayed for those being baptized and then we went out to the water. The baptismal candidates would each go through a cross shaped bower covered with flowers and come to Pastor Jerron and Mike to be baptized. It was a joyous occasion and several people were so overflowing with joy, they danced in the water all the way back to the shore to the singing and cheers of their fellow sisters and brothers of Bowin UMC. The baptism service was shorter than usual because there was lightning, and a few times it struck near us.

We are all back in Thailand now. Sherri and Anthony arrived Wednesday early morning. It is good to get back to our ministry here, where the Lord has planted us.

Back from "Vacation"

Wow, it has been a long time since we have blogged because we have been on "vacation". That word "vacation" is in quotes because it was a whirlwind of work. On our "vacation" we sorted, packed, stored, and disposed of all of our belongings, as well as the belongings of our 3 sons and their families. Be the end of April, all of our family will be in Thailand with us. God is good!
We also had many legal issues to deal with to repair and sell our home in absentia. Sherri and I spoke at many churches and at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary. Also, our son Jim married Abby on March 14th in a beautiful wedding ceremony. Mike is now back in Thailand working and Sherri and Anthony are still in the U.S. for one more week. Sherri is in Chicago at this time trying to secure visas for our son Michael and his family. She is also interviewing people who are interested in serving as missionary Bible College professors in Thailand. Please pray that the Lord will send workers for the harvest here.

While on vacation, I (Mike) have received dozens and dozens of Birthday cards, Birthday e-mails, and e-cards. My cup overflows with joy at the kindness and thoughtfulness of God's people!

There are several people who wrote letters to us while we were away from Thailand. These letters expressed that their UMW circles were having a meeting on Mike's birthday and that they would like information on the Thailand Mission to make a presentation at the meeting. Unfortunately, I did not get home until the day after my birthday and could not respond to these in time. If you are one of those people, please accept my apologies and we will send belated information to you with the hope that you can share this at a later date.

Right now, I (Mike) am preparing for a special Good Friday service at Bowin UMC and will also preach there on Easter Sunday. After Sunday worship, we will go to the local reservoir to baptize over 20 Christians from Bowin. May the Lord be praised!

Now that I am back in Thailand, I will update this blog frequently. Our apologies for the dry spell on articles during the last 3 weeks.

May the Lord Bless You!

Nothing happens without your support in prayer and finances

We are always aware of the wonderful support we receive from so many churches and individuals. Support in prayer. Support in words of encouragement. Support in funds to enable the planting of churches and mercy ministries to be made possible. We want to express our appreciation, gratitude, and joy for all of the people who support the Thailand Initiative.

Although apportionments helps to pay the many expenses associated with sending us to Thailand (salary, rent, travel, office expenses, language education, and many other expenses), there are not funds apportioned for planting churches and mercy ministries. Each pastor who receives salary, each orphan who receives shelter, food, and education, each pastor and lay leader who is trained, each church building which is rented, each outreach program that is funded, is funded by special giving through the Advance.

Our greatest need right now is for gifts to the Thailand Initiative, Advance #00403A . We have churches and ministries that are ready to be planted, but need funds for pastor salaries and rent.

Giving to the Advance can be done in two ways, online and through your local United Methodist Church.

You can give online at http://secure.gbgm-umc.org/donations/advance/donate_select_project.cfm
Be sure to type in the Thailand Initiative Advance #00403A

You can also give a check to your local United Methodist Church. Please write in the Memo section: "Thailand Initiative, Advance #00403A. The church treasurer will then forward the money to the Annual Conference Treasurer, who will send it to the Advance.

Again, we thank all who have made the planting of churches and mercy ministries possible. You are making a difference!

North Carolina VIM team serves in Chonburi, Bowin, and Bangkok

Pastor David Haley led the North Carolina VIM team. They served by conducting Christian art workshops at Pradumri UMC, Bowin UMC, and Prarachagit UMC. In Thailand, Christian art is rare and expensive to the point of being unaffordable for most Thais. This VIM team brought plaster molds and showed the people how to make Christian art for their homes. They also brought woodworking tools and showed them how to make crosses too as well as several other projects. Now all three churches has the resources to make these crafts.

Thai culture places great importance on art. Most Buddhists have their homes filled with beautiful Buddhist art. When these people become Christians, they rid their homes of Buddhist idols and art, and it is important to replace these with symbols that remind them of their faith in Jesus Christ. We thank the NC VIM for helping meet this need.

They also painted the childrens room at Pradumri UMC, and the room is very beautiful now.

We praise God for all who come to minister here in the name of Jesus Christ.

Meet our new daughter

Our son Jim is a missionary teacher at Sammuk Christian Academy in Thailand, which is very close to our house. He came here in June 2007 immediately after graduating from college to serve the Lord here. A few months before Jim arrived at Sammuk, another missionary teacher named Abby Sullivan arrived in Thailand to serve as a music teacher at the same Christian school.

These two missionaries met, became friends, and then fell in love with each other. They will be getting married in her home state of Illinois on March 14. We will all head back to the States for the wedding.

We are very happy for both of them. We love Abby and she is already a daughter to us. We look forward to meeting Abby's parents when we go to Illinois for the wedding. Her parents did a great job, because they raised a daughter who loves the Lord with all her heart and serves the Lord faithfully.

Pictures from the Historic First Annual Southeast Asia Mission Conference

Friday, February 1, 2008 was a historic moment for United Methodists as we celebrated the first historic annual Southeast Asia Mission Conference of the Thailand District. For the first time in history, 6 pastors received pastoral appointments by Bishop Goodpaster. There was a sense of awe and a humbling of spirit as we all knew that this was a great milestone in United Methodism. We are blessed beyond what words can express to be a part of what the Lord is doing here in Thailand. We thank you for making this possible.

Minutes for the Historic First Annual Southeast Asia Mission Conference

Minutes for the historic first annual meeting of the Southeast Asia Mission Conference, Thailand District.
Friday, February 01, 2008, 7:30 pm
Bishop Larry Goodpaster – presiding bishop
Chonburi, Thailand

The three Thai United Methodist churches were in attendance with over 140 participants. These three churches are:
Pradumri UMC of Chonburi, the first UMC in Thailand, with the founding pastors, Dr. Wiset and Sarah (Mui)
Pradumri Bowin UMC of Bowin, the second UMC in Thailand, which was birthed by Pradumri UMC with their pastors, Jerron and On
Prarachagit UMC of Bangkok, the third UMC in Thailand , with the founding pastors, Dang and Maow

Pastor Sarah of the host church, Pradumri UMC, gave the welcome to celebrate the first mission conference of Southeast Asia Mission (SEAM) in Thailand and also the 5th anniversary of Pradumri UMC.

Pastor Sarah prayed the opening prayer.

Pi Nao was the worship leader for the praise team. Pi Nao is one of the key leaders on the Administrative Council of Pradumri UMC and is on the regular rotation of worship leaders. He currently leads two cell groups and is training to be a lay preacher.

Sherri Morrissey introduced K. Nittaya, the translator for the conference and gave the missionary greeting to the conference. SM said that this is a historical event that we will all remember. She said words of honor concerning Pastors Sarah and Wiset, the founding pastors of Pradumri UMC and the inviting pastors for the UMC in Thailand. SM also introduced Bishop Goodpaster, the presiding bishop and gave gifts to the special guests.

Bishop Goodpaster was given a plaque picturing Thai children, to remind him to pray for the children of Thailand.

SM introduced Dr. David Wu, Rev. Jong Sung Kim, Dr. Patrick Friday, and gave Thai handcrafted gifts to them.

Pi Nao led the recitation of the Apostles Creed.

Pi Nao led congregational singing in the contemporary style that Thai Christians of all ages love. Some of the songs were translations of English language worship songs, but most were Praise songs that are originated in Thailand.

Pi Nao prayed often between songs, which is also typical of Thai worship.

Bishop Goodpaster gave a greeting to Thai United Methodists. Bishop Goodpaster introduced the concept of annual conferencing to Thai United Methodists. Annual Conferencing is at the center of how we structure and function as United Methodists. Bishop Goodpaster stated that they have already had the Mission Conferences in the Vietnam and Laos districts.

Bishop Goodpaster said that the United Methodist Church is 14 million believers in 126 countries, with Thailand being number 126 to join.

Bishop Goodpaster appointed the pastors and prayed for each of them. Each pastor received a certificate of assignment as a Mission Pastor. Each pastor received the title of Mission Pastor, which will be used for this first year until we can have a certification process that is fully approved in place to certify local pastors.

Bishop informed Thai United Methodists that the next step is that he would form a Board of Ordained Ministry (Board of Ordained Ministry), which is a group of pastors already ordained, that would help to set up the credentialing process for United Methodist pastors in SEAM. The Bishop will work with Rev. Jong Sung Kim to form the BOM which will interview pastors next year to recommend them as Local Pastors to the next SEAM conference. The goal is to have the BOM be made up of Thai United Methodists, but it will take a few years to get there.

God has already been working here in Thailand in a great way. Bishop Goodpaster called on the pastors to give Pastor’s Reports.

Pastor’s Report of Pradumri UMC by Pastor Sarah
The church is now 6 years old. It started in their home with 3 families.
This grew into a large cell group, so they moved to a building owned by Pastors Sarah and Wiset. When they moved, Pastor Wiset stopped preaching at different churches on Sunday mornings as an evangelist and followed God’s vision to start a church.
All in the church are new believers.
Mission Cell Groups were also started in the surrounding cities of Bangsaray, Pattaya, and Bowin.
Pastor Sarah leads the church administration and Pastor Wiset does most of the preaching. Many strong leaders now do the ministry.
Patrick Friday and his wife first came to visit Pradumri from America. After that, they had contact with UMC for a two year process.
At the beginning of the process, they had 100 members and were all crowded at the church and could not invite more. So they moved to their present location which is much larger.
God provided this new building to rent at a very reasonable price.
The upstairs floors have apartments for church members and staff and a good parking lot and great location on the main street, Sukumwit Road.
They then gave birth to Bowin UMC
The members of the two churches still miss each other, so they meet for special joint worship services often.
They will soon open another church in Bangkok.
Over 600 people have come to Christ through the ministry of this church.
Many receive Christ every week.
They pray that the sanctuary will fill up again and trust that God will work to make it so.

Pastor’s Report of Pradumri Bowin UMC by Pastor Jerron
May 6, 2006, this church opened (it has been 9 months now)
30 members from Bowin moved from Pradumri UMC to start this church.
The church is growing and has 70 members now.
They concentrate on Bible teaching so it will be their foundation.
Pastors Jerron and On have learned much from Pradumri church.

They have cell groups, a Friday night prayer meeting, Sunday School and Sunday morning Service, Sunday fellowship dinner, children’s ministries, and evangelism ministries.

Many members at Bowin had large problems which God miraculously helped. So now they are strong believers in Christ.

They are now having cell groups that meet in homes. 2 cells meet in homes and one in a factory. The cell groups are entry points into the church for many people.

The 3 goals of the church
1. Solid Bible Teaching
2. Multiplying Cell Groups for Discipleship and Evangelism
3. Developing Strong Leaders

Mike and Sherri Morrissey are starting economic development programs to lift members permanently out of poverty.


Pastor’s Report of Prarachagit UMC by Pastor Dang
Pastor Dang gave greetings to Bishop G and Pastors Sarah and Wiset
He invited his members to stand. 21 people came to this conference from his church in Bangkok.
He appreciates the opportunity to be United Methodist. He first learned about John Wesley in Bible College and later became interested in becoming United Methodist when they understood that we have Wesleyan theology.
His church began one year and 3 months ago on Nawamin Road in Bangkok. They faced many obstacles and problems and had to be bi-vocational, which limited their ministry. Now they can be full time because they receive support.
They have 21 adults that worship there with many children as well.
They are now multiplying cell groups, having 2 cell groups, one in the church and 1 a home. They also have a Thursday night prayer meeting.
He prays that United Methodists can work in unity of purpose.
They want their members to have opportunities to serve God.
They hope to start new music ministry and youth ministries this year.

Pastor Sarah gave a concluding report thanking each church for reporting what God is doing in their midst and invites people to give personal testimonies of how they have been blessed by God.

Khun Lek, a leader at Pradumri UMC is the first to testify.
Lek has been a Christian for 3 years.
Before he was a Christian, He was a businessman, selling cars and rice. But then his business started failing and his family relationships became broken.
He started going to the sauna, where he met Dr. Wiset, who evangelized there. He hated Dr. Wiset and wished he would stop talking about Jesus. One day he asked Dr. Wiset what he does, and he said that he prays for everyone that comes to the fitness center. Dr. Wiset explained the power of prayer and encouraged him to pray and read the Bible. He started reading the Bible and going often to the sauna to ask questions of Dr. Wiset. Dr. Wiset led him to receive Christ and he started coming to Pradumri UMC.

Khun Nuc, one of the key leaders and cell leaders at Pradumri gave her testimony.
She is the first Christian in her family.
Before Christ she was a successful businessperson who was only interested in making money.
She was also a strong Buddhist and leader at her temple.
She met her husband, Peter who was a Christian and he evangelized to her for 2 years.
He was a member of Hope of Bangkok Church. He kept inviting her to church and eventually she decided to go.
She started a business in Pattaya but had problems, so she moved to Chonburi. So she started going to the cell group at Pastor Sarah’s house at the urging of her husband Peter. She didn’t want to go but wanted to please her husband, so she attended.

She went to the Christmas party at the church and Dr. Somsak of Phayao Bible College preached. He gave his testimony without saying it was his own. Dr. Somsak had problems with drugs before Christ, and when he received Jesus, the Lord changed his life. She was inspired by his testimony to receive Christ.

When she received Christ, she received peace and joy and transformation.
God has helped her and Peter to overcome problems together that almost led to a divorce.
Now Peter is training to be a UM pastor at Phayao Bible College.

God blessed them with land to build an apartment building with a store on the first floor. This new business allowed them to leave their previous business and be in Chonburi every Sunday so they could become deeply involved in the life of the church.

Nuc now is in charge of taking care of new believers at Pradumri UMC.

Dr. Wiset gave thanks that many people have come to Christ. He introduced Missionary Boonchio of Singapore Methodists who was sent to help Pradumri UMC. He thanked God for the new cell group at Suwannabhumi.

On the screen was a picture of K. Dam with a very sick woman, who is just skin and bones, suffering from terminal cancer. The Singapore Methodist prayed for her (picture shown of this) and then she received healing. Now a new picture of the same woman in much better health is shown. God is doing miraculous things.

Bishop Goodpaster gave thanks for the testimonies and praised God for His miraculous work in Thailand.

His message is about how we are about to move forward.
As we seek to plant churches in Thailand, we must keep in mind the picture of the church in the Book of Acts.

God used his beginning church to reach the whole world with the gospel of Jesus.

Bishop G reads from Acts 2:42-
He prays that will be the model of the UMC in Thailand.
1. We have to be grounded in the Bible and read it constantly. John Wesley said we are to be “men of one book”, the Bible. The Bible teaches us how to serve God.
2. We have to be a community that cares for each other and serves others because we care and want them to know the Lord.
3. We must be a house of prayer, a people devoted to constant prayer.
When we pray, God will do great things.
4. We focus on Jesus. If we build a church for any other reason, we have not built a church. It is all about Jesus.

“Day by day, God added to the numbers who believed.”
God gives the faith, but God uses us to give the word.

Following the sermon, Bishop Goodpaster presented certificates of special recognition to Pastors Dr. Wiset and Pastor Sarah as the first appointed UM pastors in Thailand. All in the assembly clapped in appreciation for their faithful and fruitful service to the Lord.

Bishop Goodpaster appointed the pastors, credentialed them as Mission Pastors, and prayed for them, and gave each pastor a certificate declaring each to be a United Methodist Mission Pastor in the Southeast Asia Mission.

Bishop Goodpaster called forward Pastor Selah and his wife, who are presently serving at Pradumri UMC and will soon plant a new church in Bangkok near the Airport. He prayed for them as they prepare to open a new United Methodist Church in Bangkok in April.

The Bishop gave blessings to all who came.

Sherri Tabaka-Morrissey gave the benediction.

The Conference was followed by refreshments as is the custom of Methodists everywhere and in particular Thai United Methodists.

A Historic First Conference is coming on Feb. 1st

On Feb. 1st, we will have the first Mission Conference (the equivalent of an Annual Conference meeting) in Thailand. The Thailand Mission Conference will meet at Pradumri UMC in Chonburi. This is very appropriate because Pradumri UMC was the first UMC in Thailand. Bishop Larry Goodpaster of the Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference will preside at this historic occasion.

The Thai United Methodist Pastors will receive official appointments from Bishop Goodpaster, the first official appointments of the UMC in Thailand. Pastor Dr. Wiset and Pastor Sarah of Pradumri Church will have the honor of receiving the first official pastoral appointments in Thailand. As the founding pastors of the first United Methodist congregation in Thailand, they have a special place of honor at this historic first conference.

On the left is a picture of Pastor Sarah of Pradumri Church preaching during Sunday morning worship.

An inspiring service at Prarachagit UMC in Bangkok

Last Sunday, we surprised Pastors Dang and Maow of Prarachagit UMC, the first United Methodist Congregation located in the capital city, Bangkok. We surprised them by showing up unannounced for Sunday morning worship, and it was a blessing.

The congregation is small and spirit-filled. We were especially blessed when 3 women went up front to sing a special new song, teaching the congregation to sing with them. They sang with passion for the Lord and their love for the Lord was contagious! Two of the women demonstrate a real gift for leading worship.

But the highlight of the service was when a young couple gave their lives to Jesus Christ. They came to the front of the church, and Pastor Dang and us laid hands on them in prayer. We pray that they will grow to be strong disciples for Jesus Christ.

Prarachagit church joined the UMC last month. Pastors Dang and Maow now receive support that allows them to be full-time, and this frees up their time to work for the Lord more so there will be more fruit to their ministry. This young couple who came to Jesus Christ last Sunday was evidence of how their ministry in Bangkok is effective at making disciples.

Pray for the Lord to raise up more Christian leaders, both lay and clergy, all across Thailand.

Meet our new grandson

My name is MICHAEL ISAIAH.
I was born on JANUARY 1, 2008 at 1652 PM.
I am 20.5" long and weigh 9 lbs 0 ozs.

A New Addition to the Morrissey Clan on New Year's Day

It has been a wonderful New Year's Eve. We had the American missionaries at Sammuk Christian Academy over for supper, some videos, and playing games. While this social was going on, we were hoping for a call from our son Michael, whose wonderful wife Jude is pregnant and ready to go into labor at any moment. We were hoping that the baby would be born on New Year's Eve, which is their daugther Madeline's birthday. Well. no call came that day.

But we did receive a call a day later and our new grandson, Michael Isaiah Morrissey, arrived into this world. Michael Isaiah is not Michael the Fourth because both by grandson and my son have different middle names from each other and from me and my father (I am a junior). I won't get to see him for a few months until we come home to get our house ready for sale.

Michael Isaiah is a whopping 9 pounds! He must be like a bowling ball in shape. Our prayers are for a swift recovery for Jude as this has been a very difficult pregnancy and labor.

We praise God for the blessings of technology. Here we are across the world from Kentucky, and we receive a call from our son Michael saying the baby just came into the world 15 minutes ago. In the background, we could hear baby Michael Isaiah loudly wailing (nothing wrong with his lungs!) Michael Patrick (our son) then asked if we wanted to hear the baby, and then our whole room was filled with his newborn voice. Because of cell phones and internet phones, we could connect across the world and hear our grandson and share the joy of his birth with his parents.

In a few days, I should be able to post a picture or two of baby Michael Isaiah. Please bear with the proud grandparents. We can't help it. We are very much in love with this little guy we haven't even met yet.

Eighteen people receive Jesus at Pradumri UMC's Christmas Outreach Program

Pradumri UMC always does their Christmas program on a large scale. This year, they printed invitations so that members could hand these reminders to everyone they invite to the Christmas program. The church was packed to overflowing with people, there were not nearly enough chairs, so many had to stand wherever they could find room.

The program began with a huge buffet outside at the front of the building. Pradumri UMC is located right on the busiest road in Chonburi, so there were many people who stopped to see what was happening and stayed for the free meal. The food was wonderful, plentious, and many different types.

Next, we all went inside for the Christmas program. There was great singing, but the highlight was a drama of the "Prodigal Son". Many members of Pradumri worked on this drama. We prayed with the group of drama team members and with many of them individually. Many of the drama team members had family and friends in attendance who do not know the Lord. We prayed that the Lord would open their eyes and hearts to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The drama team did a fantastic job. When we looked out at the people, we could see them really listening and responding to the drama. We could tell that God was working on their hearts. When the drama was done, we prayed with the drama team again and told them that God was opening the eyes of their family to Jesus Christ and His love.

We prayed with one young man for his mother and father who did not know the Lord but were there at the Christmas program. With another young man, we prayed for his wife who is not a believer.

After the drama, Dr. Somsak of Phayao Bible College gave a Spirit-filled sermon on who Jesus is and that Jesus forgives all sins when we repent before Him. We could see that the Holy Spirit was convicting hearts because of the people's response as he preached. Then at the end of the sermon, Dr. Somsak invited all who wanted to give their lives to Jesus to raise their hands and pray with him. Over twenty people raised their hands and said the prayer to receive Jesus as Saviour and Lord!

After this, Pastor Sarah invited everyone who had raised their hand to come to the counseling room. 18 people came to the counseling room, including the parents of the one young man we prayed with and the wife of the other young man we prayed with. We were praising God and crying tears of joy to know that these people have eternal life now. It was a wonderful time of celebration because God answered our prayers.

Pastor Sarah encouraged each person to come back in the morning to worship with us on Sunday. Most all of them did, and it was a privilege to be with them as they received communion for the first time as members helped them to understand the meaning of the symbols of bread and juice.

God has truly anointed the ministry of Pastors Wiset and Sarah.

Prayers for the coming Election in Thailand and the Special Christmas Program at Pradumri UMC

This Sunday, Dec. 23rd is Election Day all across Thailand. Please pray that a civil government will be formed that will heal the divisions that precipitated the military coup last year.

Pradumri UMC usually has their large Christmas Outreach Program on the Sunday evening before Christmas. They always do their programs BIG. Lots of singing, dramas, food, games, and the giving of gifts to members and visitors alike. But this year, we could not have the Big Christmas Event on the Sunday before Christmas because it is Election Day. On Election Day, public gatherings where free gifts are given is banned, to prevent any vote-buying or even the appearance of evil. So we will all be celebrating tonight (Saturday, Dec. 22).

We have been praying for this event because we know many people who are not Christians will be there and they will have a chance to hear the gospel in preaching, in song, in drama, and in acts of love and service.

Anthony, Jim, Sherri, and I wish you a blessed Christmas Day. We thank all who have remembered us by sending wonderful Christmas cards and e-mails. These acts of love sustain us and inspire us. May the Lord bless you greatly!