Petrie Memorial UMC donated Bible in Felt Kits

Last Sunday (June 15, 2008), we had a Children's Christian Education Seminar which was attended by Christian education workers from Chonburi, Bangkok, Bowin, Pattaya, and Ban Buang. Over 28 workers attended the seminar.

These Christians who teach the children every Sunday do so without resources. There are precious few Christian Education resources available in the Thai language. Every teacher makes their own lesson with nothing but a Bible as their resource and they do a great job.

When we discussed this lack of resources with Mark Pafford of Petrie Memorial UMC in Kentucky, he asked if there was anything they could do to help. We talked about the possibility of them providing Bible in Felt kits, which could be used to teach all of the Bible stories from Genesis to Revelation. Mark and the members of Petrie Memorial UMC responded back that they would donate enough to buy and ship 6 large kits to the Thailand Mission.

It took awhile to get the kits out of customs here, and then it took awhile to get the resources translated into Thai, but now each of the churches is fully resourced to teach their children about Jesus!

Everyone was very excited, because no one has ever seen such great resources for teaching children the Bible. Because of the generosity of Petrie Memorial UMC, thousands of children will learn about Jesus and become disciples.

The most excitement came from children, who kept coming into the seminar room to thank us for the kits. But we told them that the kits were provided by Christians across the world in Kentucky who love them and want them to learn about the God.

God is good!

Life Center UMC of Pattaya reaches out to the poorest of the poor children

Last Saturday, Sherri and I went to Pattaya to go visit the families of children that the members of Life Center UMC minister to. Pattaya is a tourist city and has many beautiful resorts. But near the railroad tracks, there are many tin shack slums called "chungchon" where people live in desperate poverty with no water, no electricty, and no sanitation.

Very close to Life Center UMC are 5 slums with hundreds of poor children, many of them orphans who are now cared for by grandparents, or in many cases senior adults who are unrelated to the orphan but have chosen to be merciful. The senior woman in the top right picture (with her orphan "adopted" grandaughter and Mike) cares for an orphan who is not even related to her. This senior lady brings the girl with her every day to pick through garbage cans all day in the searing heat to find recyclables to sell. Neither the woman nor the girl drink or eat anything all day long. The girl cannot go to school because she does not have a birth certificate. She was abandoned at the hospital, and no certificate is given to abandoned children. With no hope of an education, they must sell tissue and other items on Walking Street which is the worst "red light district" in the city. When they are older, they cannot obtain a work permit because they do not have documents, so they can never be employed. Someday we need a legal ministry which helps to get documents such as birth certificates for children, so they can go to school and have a future with hope.

Pastor Banya and Teacher Prantip visit the children in these slums every week to have Bible Club meetings. Teacher Prantip brings a blanket and sets it out on the ground. The children learn Bible lessons, sing worship songs, and play games.

Some of the children are brought to the church each day for care and receive instruction in reading and writing as well as lunch and a snack. We would like to start a children's day care center to take care of these children but we need funds to do this. Gifts for this project can be given to you UMC church treasurer for Advance #00403A - Thailand Mission Initiative.

Most of the children in these slums receive little or no medical care. One girl named Benz (bottom picture, on the left with her "adopted grandmother" and sister Frame, is deaf and mute and has never been to a doctor. She is now 5 years old. We are making arrangements for her

to receive medical care and we are praying for a miracle. Benz and Frame were orphaned and now this kind woman cares for them. They live in a tin shack that has collapsed (second picture from the bottom)

The need is very great here and we are praying that God will provide the resources to meet the needs of these orphans.

Where's the flame?

Last year when Bishop Jung of Chicago came to preach at Pradumri UMC, the church had not yet put up their new sign with the UM cross and flame symbol. They did three red crosses on the front of the church. When Bishop Jung saw the red crosses, he asked, "Where's the flame?"

Well, a few months ago, Pradumri UMC put up a huge sign that you can see here. Now there is a two-story high cross and flame! Pradumri UMC is proud to the the first UMC in Thailand.

We had an historic meeting at Pradumri on Sunday aftennoon, June 1. The clergy and lay delegates from the three UM church in Thailand met together to vote on the new board members for the Thailand United Methodist Church Foundation. We are in the legal process of forming an NGO foundation which will be in charge of mercy ministries here and will own the land and buildings which the UMC churches will use (similar to the Board of Trustees of an Annual Conference). The group pictured above are the delegates of the Thailand District of the Southeast Asia Mission.

We have been teaching many training sessions with pastors, church leaders, and Bible college interns. We have been teaching about how to plan and prepare sermons and cell group lessons, how to lead and multiply cell groups, and spiritual formation.

We are also busy with the new house we are moving to. We are painting the rooms before we move in, and we are getting as much paint on ourselves as on the walls. The new house will give us more room and also air conditioned office space, which is greatly needed in this equatorial climate.

God is good!