Meet two of our Blessing Home University and College Graduates

It is a great victory when our Blessing Home move on to go to University or Technical College, and it is an absolute life changing event for the whole family when they graduate and move on to their careers.  

You all have been very faithful and generous in your support, and we hope you are blessed reading the stories of these two graduates.

Pleng Pleng is the daughter of Pastors Sila and Wassana, who lead the Thailand Wesley Church Organization (a Thai independent Wesleyan denomination).  Her mother Wassana is the Director of Blessing Home Minburi, located in Bangkok.

Pleng Pleng has always been a indispensable worker at Blessing Home Minburi, teaching English to the children and teens (English proficiency is a valuable skill, since it is the language of international commerce).  Pleng Pleng also serves at Prasiri Wesley Church as Worship Team Leader and leads in ministry to children and teens at her church.

Pleng Pleng has now graduated at Assumption University in Bangkok with a B.A. in Marketing.  And she is now working at Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC), a Christian ministry that provides local Christian radio and media broadcasting in 50 countries in over 152 languages.

We are very proud of Pleng Pleng, whose work with FEBC is helping to bring the gospel of Jesus to Thai people.  Pleng Pleng has to spend 4 hours per day going to work and back home on public transportation, so her work days are quite long.

Our second graduate is Kai Mook, who is a graduate of Blessing Home Isan.  Kai Mook and her older sister Yok (also a Blessing Home Isan graduate) are fervent workers and leaders at Blessing Home Isan and Grace Methodist Church in Nonsomboon.

Kai Mook and Yok are Sunday School teachers for the children at Grace Methodist Church.  They also serve on the Worship Team.  Kai Mook is a key leader in the Church Multiplication team being led by Pastor Corn, who is the Director of Blessing Home Isan.  This Church Multiplication team is planting Pioneer Pastor Churches in three unreached counties in their region.  We are amazed at the fruitfulness of Kai Mook's ministry.  She is an effective evangelist and disciple-maker!

Kai Mook earned her Associates Degree in Business Computer Applications and now works at a Christian company in the city of Nakhon Ratchasima that makes signs.  And she travels home on the weekends so she can serve with Grace Methodist Church and Blessing Home Isan.

We praise the Lord for both Pleng Pleng and Kai Mook.  They have been blessed greatly and now they are a great blessing to the Thai people.  God is good!

YOUR DONATIONS MAKE THIS MISSION POSSIBLE

If the Lord leads you to support Thailand NOW mission, you can donate by mail, online, or with estate gifts.

Donations by mail:  Checks can be made to Thailand NOW and sent to our treasurer at Thailand NOW, P.O. Box 56, Mannsville, KY 42758

Donations online:  Visit our website at >  https://thailandnow.org/donate

Gifts of stocks, bonds and other estate gifts: Please contact our treasurer, Terri Gabehart via email at terrigabe@windstream.net

A new Blessing Home Center in Kalasin Province

 A new Blessing Home Center is opening in Kalasin

Thailand NOW missionaries Nhia Wahn and Mao Her have opened a new Blessing Home Center at their new home church in Kalasin province.  Pastor Corn, director of Blessing Home Isan, brought a group of her Blessing Home young adults and teens to help give this new center a great start.  And then the numbers have taken off, and the place is totally packed with children and teens.

Above is Pastor Korn leading the children at Blessing Home Kalasin in worship songs.  Pastor Corn has been accepted into the D.Min. program at Asbury Theological Seminary and will begin her studies at the end of July.  Most of the work is done online, but she will need to come to Asbury once per year.  We are very proud of Corn!

Above is the young children's group at Blessing Home Kalasin with Thailand NOW missionary, Pastor Mao.

Above is the teen group at Blessing Home Kalasin, with Pastor Mao on the left and Pastor May on the right.  Pastor May serves as Director of the Abundant Life Financial Training Program and also as President of the Life Upon The Rock Foundation.  This new Blessing Home Center in Kalasin is registered with May's foundation.  The village chief was very happy to meet with May and to discover that this new ministry was being done under a legally registered foundation with the Thai government.  It is important to do things the right way.

This new Blessing Center (Blessing Home Kalasin) also has a new Pioneer Pastor church being planted.  Pastors Nhia Wahn and Mao Her are veteran church planters, and we know that this new church plant will be a center for planting many Pioneer Pastor churches in the Isan region, which is the most unreached part of Thailand.  Please pray for this new Pioneer Pastor church and for Pastors Nhia Wahn and Mao.

 Abundant Life Financial Training for our Blessing Home teens and young adults gives them a great start

In April, the Blessing Home Isan young adults and teens joined an Abundant Life Financial Training Seminar provided by Pastor May at the Training Center in Buriram.  They were joined by adults from other churches coming for training in biblical principles of financial management and life skills.

Are hope is that these young people will learn biblical financial management early on so they they will not make the same mistakes of falling into deep debt and doing no budgeting and management of finances.  

Above is a group picture of everyone receiving certificates for participating in the Abundant Life Financial Training seminar.  Pastor May is in the middle of the front row.

Above: Participants learn how to use the envelope system of managing family and small business finances.

Above are three of our Blessing Home Isan young adults, and all of them serve with Pastor Corn at Blessing Home Isan and Grace Church.  These three are key leaders in the efforts being led by Pastor Corn to plant Pioneer Pastor Churches in the Isan region.  The one in the middle is Kaimook (which means Pearl) and she is one of our newest college graduates.  We will introduce her and other Blessing Home graduates in next month's blog.

YOUR DONATIONS MAKE THIS MISSION POSSIBLE

If the Lord leads you to support Thailand NOW mission, you can donate by mail, online, or with estate gifts.

Donations by mail:  Checks can be made to Thailand NOW and sent to our treasurer at Thailand NOW, P.O. Box 56, Mannsville, KY 42758

Donations online:  Visit our website at >  https://thailandnow.org/donate

Gifts of stocks, bonds and other estate gifts: Please contact our treasurer, Terri Gabehart via email at terrigabe@windstream.net

Sherri and I are grateful to all of the faithful supporters who make this mission possible through your prayers and generosity.  We are now completing 20 years of service in Thailand and we look forward to continuing to serve the Lord in Thailand and throughout Asia, as the ministry has expanded.

Missions Mobilization in Central Asia

In March, we enjoyed the wonderful privilege of training pastors in Central Asia.  These church planting pastors serve in many nations such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan,  and Turkmenistan.  Most of these pastors serve in Muslim majority locations.  We were asked to give training on how to make disciples and plant churches in these Muslim communities, and we were moved by the hearts of these pastors to reach the lost for Christ.

The location of the training was in Kyrgyzstan (which is located between Russia and India) which is a Shiite Muslim majority nation.  The day before we flew to Kyrgyzstan, the war in Iran broke out and Ayatollah Khamenei (who is a Shiite high cleric) was killed.  Our team in Thailand did not want us to go, but we knew we must go and we are glad we did.  The training was done at a compound that was surrounded by thick concrete walls and a large solid iron gate.  We had to stay on the compound and could not leave, for safety sake.

We enjoyed the hospitality of the people of Kyrgyzstan and look forward to coming back for future trainings.

Graduation Ceremony at Global Theological Institute

For the past 16 years, we have supported Global Theological Institute with scholarships and for 13 years was their primary sponsor.  Many church planting pastors from many denominations have been trained at Global Theological Institute, including many Pioneer Pastors serving with Thailand NOW.

In April, Global Theological Institute had 18 graduates.  Three of them were recipients of Pioneer Pastor scholarships, all serving in different regions of Thailand.

We are especially proud of Pastor Bangon, pictured below, who is the founding pastor of Ban Rat Church in Nakhon Ratchasima province.  Bangon planted Ban Rat Church together with Pastor Corn and the youth and young adults of Blessing Home Isan.  The Lord is working in a powerful way through Bangon.

Easter Baptisms

It is common in Thailand for pastors to choose Easter as a day for baptism of new believers.  This fits in perfectly with the ancient tradition in church history of Easter baptisms.  There were many Pioneer Pastors that contacted us to invite us to the baptism ceremonies, but we were back in the States for Easter.  But we enjoyed the pictures that they sent.

Thailand is a Buddhist majority nation with a significant Muslim population.  Most new believers come out of Buddhism or Islam for a new life and faith in Jesus Christ.  Most Christians in Thailand are first generation Christians.  

Below are some of pictures sent by Pastors Sila and Wassana of Prasiri Wesleyan Church in Bangkok.  They travelled to Bangsaen Beach (near where we used to live) to conduct the baptisms.

YOUR DONATIONS MAKE THIS MISSION POSSIBLE

If the Lord leads you to support Thailand NOW mission, you can donate by mail, online, or with estate gifts.

Donations by mail:  Checks can be made to Thailand NOW and sent to our treasurer at Thailand NOW, P.O. Box 56, Mannsville, KY 42758

Donations online:  Visit our website at >  https://thailandnow.org/donate

Gifts of stocks, bonds and other estate gifts: Please contact our treasurer, Terri Gabehart via email at terrigabe@windstream.net