On Saturday, we spent the day at Nong Nooch Garden with Beth
Coale, who is serving as a short term missionary at Blessing Home. Beth is a student at Moody Bible Institute in
Chicago, and is training to be a missionary.
She is spending her summer break working hard at Blessing Home and going
to language school in the evening to learn some Thai language.
We are very blessed to have Beth working with us this summer.
Beth uses Facebook and constantly writes about her experiences
here in Thailand. Here is one of her
articles in Facebook.
There are Buddhist
temples in every village. There are shrines and idols with offerings outside
buildings on every street. The smell of burning incense is everywhere.
There are so many
children, young girls, women, and men (some only former) everywhere in this
city with the beach (where they sell their bodies) looming in the near
distance. For a poor person (in Pattaya or in the outside regions) the tourism
Pattaya is known for is always in the back of their minds as a last resort for
money. Children are vulnerable to being sold while they are young and innocent
and have no say.
“It makes you feel as
if you couldn’t sit still. You must do something, try to do something, anything! … Oh to get into that stronger, calmer
current, out of the feverishness of human haste. Do please, dear friends, ask
that we may exchange the eagerness of the flesh of the Spirit and so move in
the force of that Holy Wind that we shall be carried along by His great calm.”
(-Amy Carmichael; Taken from A Chance to Die, pg 126)
Please pray this for the Thai Christians here
and me. The circumstances here are so saddening and overwhelming. Ultimately,
the purpose of Blessing Home is to keep as many children as possible away that.
It's like the man who was throwing back starfish into the sea. Though there
were so many and it didn't seem like he could even make a dent - each one
mattered.
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| Beth Coale is serving the Lord at Blessing Home this summer. Beth is feeding the children, who are all have powdered faces to keep them cool. |
This past Sunday was the Grand Opening Service for the new
Blessing Home building. We had a soft
opening three months ago, but this service was very big, with Christians from
other churches and ministries in the region attending to consecrate the new
building. There were so many people in
attendance, that most of the church members had to stand outside during the
service to make room for all of the guests.
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| Pastor Neo translated for Mike at the Blessing Home Grand Opening service. There were many foreigners there, so the service had to be in both Thai and English. |
We were honored that special guests, Rev. Cherlue Vang, GBGM Thailand
national director and Mrs. Mang Vang, blessed us with their presence and
support.
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| GBGM missionaries, Mrs. Mang Vang and Rev. Cherlue Vang |
Pastor Ahlung and members of the Pattaya Akha UMC also came to
the Grand Opening. This church is a
thriving church that struggles financially.
They meet in a small building, packed together tightly as they worship
the Lord each Sunday. The Thailand
Methodist Mission purchased a video projector and screen for their church and
gave it to them after the Blessing Home Grand Opening service.
Now for a prayer request, but it is not for Thailand. It is for a precious church in Kentucky. The members of Dennie Memorial UMC in Lebanon
Junction, KY have been faithful and enthusiastic supporters of TMM. They have had many special events and regular
monthly giving to support the mission, and they have given generously so that
Blessing Home and the Life Center UMC in Pattaya can have a beautiful building.
Last Wednesday, we received an
encouraging card in the mail from the members of Dennie Memorial, who signed it
and sent it with their prayers. On the
same day, we received news that their church building had burnt to the
ground.
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| Please pray for the members of Dennie Memorial, as they rebuild their church. |
The members of Life Center UMC in Pattaya and all of the
Christians from other churches in this region of Thailand are praying for the
members of Dennie Memorial, that the Lord will help them to rebuild and that
they will grow stronger than ever before.
Our hearts are burdened because they have given so generously so that we
can have a building, and now they do not have one. Brothers and Sisters of Dennie Memorial UMC,
you have hundreds of Thai Christians praying for you. God has great plans for you.
