August 21st was a very special day for United Methodists in Thailand. GBGM Missionaries Gary and Cindy Moon opened a new Mission Center for GBGM in Chiang Mai. It was a large celebration with guests from Thailand, Korea, and America in Attendance. Pastor Ekerin was chosen to be the worship leader for this historic event and Professor Werachot who is president of Phayao Bible College was the guest speaker. Others who took part in the celebration were a praise team comprised of Phayao Bible College Students, Dr. Tanapong (director of the Global Theological Institute and pastor of Lamppost UMC in Chiang Dao), Rev. Jong Sung Kim of GBGM, and Dr. Erlinda Senturias of the Christian Churches of Asia organization.
Mike celebrated at this event, but Sherri could not because she was busy teaching the second half of the Course of Study class on Pastoral Care as well as traveling to the Northeast to visit Pastor Nampon and the members of Almighty God UMC in Nonsomboon. This is a common occurrence where we must split up and be in different regions of Thailand.
While Sherri was visiting with Pastor Nampon, she was able to see the wonderful progress that has been made on the Pig Farm Cooperative, an economic development project that was started several months ago. Economic development projects, like the Pig Farm Cooperative, are developed in the churches and institutions to lift people out of poverty permanently while at the same time helping the churches and institutions to become financially self-sufficient. The Pig Farm Cooperative provides income for the church and helps 3 church families to have steady income. They have just completed their first cycle of raising pigs, and now they have re-invested some of the profits to expand the project even more. Sherri was absolutely pleased with the progress on this project. God is good!
