We wish you a Blessed Christmas

Everyday we are grateful to all of our prayer warriors who lift this mission up to the throne of God.  We see the power of God at work in the people and ministries in Thailand, and it would not happen without your prayers.  Your prayers are the powerhouse of the Thailand Methodist Mission.

We know people are praying because whenever we ask for prayer on a specific issue, many prayer warriors will send emails to us asking for an update.  When we started the fundraising effort to expand the Blessing Home Ground Zero facility, many of you have asked us how much has been raised so far.  Well the answer is over $15,000 of the $110,000 needed has been raised.

It is expected that most churches that take offerings for the Blessing Home Building Fund will be doing so in the next 2 weeks and we will not receive those offering until after that time.  So we pray for a big surge to happen after Christmas.

We wish you a Joy-filled Christmas and may the Lord bless you greatly in the coming year.

Yours in Christ Jesus,
Mike and Sherri Morrissey
Thailand Methodist Mission

Building Fund Update

We need to purchase the building adjacent to Blessing Home for much needed expansion for the ministry and  housing for our new missionaries.

We are now back in the States for a 10 weeks to raise funds for an urgent need at Blessing Home.  Blessing Home needs to buy the row-building adjacent to us that is up for sale.  It is urgent for two reasons.

1.  We need to buy quickly before it sells out from underneath us.  We need to expand the sanctuary on the first floor to accomodate overflowing groups in worship at Life Center UMC and to hold all of the guardians of the Blessing Home kids for trainings and special events.  If we miss out, we may never be able to expand.

2.  As an answer to our prayers, we now have new career missionaries coming to serve at Blessing Home Ground Zero.  Joshua and Jessica Johnston will be serving with us and are currently raising support so they can begin serving in the summer of 2015.

It is very difficult to find housing near Blessing Home that is safe for a family with three young daughters that is also affordable on a very modest missionary income.  So we need to have missionary housing at Blessing Home Ground Zero available for them.

We must raise $110,000 to purchase the property and make it usable (it is a bare concrete and brick shell at the moment).  As always, by Thai law, foundations cannot have mortgages or any financing, we must pay for all properties with cash.  So we are asking all of the churches and individual supporters to give generous special offerings to the Building Fund.  It is our goal to have all of the funds raised by the end of January 2015 so we can purchase the building.

We have been in the States for one week now, and so far, over $9,000 has been given to the Building Fund.  We will be excited to see this chart get colored up.

Donations can be sent to:
TMM
P.O, Box 56
Mannsville, KY 42758

OR Online at:
http://thailandmethodist.org/donate.html

Please be sure to designate your giving to the Building Fund, if that is what you desire.

A special request for Kentucky United Methodists

A special request for Kentucky United Methodists

The Kentucky Annual Conference voted this year to lower the apportionment rate to churches from 15% to 13%, creating a 2% reduction in “Our Mission Covenant” commitments for 2015.  While local churches will receive a 2% reduction in “Our Mission Covenant” commitment, funding to extension ministries such as Campus Ministries, Urban Missions, and Camps would be cut significantly.  So the Kentucky Annual Conference is encouraging churches to re-designate the savings from the reduction to support the Extension ministries.  We affirm this and pray many congregations in the Kentucky Annual Conference will commit to re-designating their 2% reduction to support fruitful Extension Ministries.

As an Extension Ministry within the Connectional Structure, we request Kentucky United Methodists to prayerfully consider making the Thailand Methodist Mission to be one of the Extension Ministries that your congregation will commit to supporting.  Please pray and do as the Lord leads you.

A Personal Story Sandwiched Between Two Praises

One of our two new church plants in process this year is in the village of Nongplasawai in the northern province of Lamphun, about a 10 hour drive from our house.  This new church plant in progress is a daughter church of God is Good church, which is about a 20 minute drive from our home.  God Is Good church was just planted in last year, but is already in the process of planting two new churches in counties that have no Christian church of any type.  So how did God Is Good Church decide to plant a daughter church a 10 hour drive away?

That location was chosen because of one of the elders at God Is Good Church, whose name is Kajad.  Kajad found the Lord Jesus Christ when he moved from the village of Nongplasawai to Chonburi, where he met some Christians who loved him, prayed with him, and led him to the Lord.  Since that time, Kajad has grown strong in the Lord and is one of the leaders who started God Is Good Church.  Kajad has led his family back in Nongplasawai to Christ, but there is no church in that county, so his family remains spiritually vulnerable and his hometown and county remain unreached.  Kajad has been praying for 8 years for a church to open in his hometown so his people can hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

Kajad (right) taking a selfie with his older brother from the village of Nongplasawai

A view from Nongplasawai village to Mt. Inthanon.  Absolutely beautiful.

Kajad and the elders and pastors of God Is Good church have been leading evangelism teams to his home town frequently.  The issue right now is that the church needs a place to meet and the pioneer pastor needs a place to live.  But when Kajad went to find a place to rent, there was only one place available, and the owner refused to rent to Christians that wanted to start a church.

Just this past week, Kajad signed a long term lease agreement for land in his village and soon they will begin to build a house for the pioneer pastor and a meeting room for the new church.  When Kajad told Sherri about the plans for building the church, he showed his arm and said, "Every time I think about this, the hairs on my arms stand up!  I am very, very excited!"

And we are excited too, because now there will be a church in a place that has never been reached for Christ throughout history.  Please pray for this new church plant that it will progress quickly and be fruitful.

Now for a personal story.  We are near the end of the rain season, and we have been pummeled with downpours.  Last week, it rained so much that our village flooded and the water came within inches of our front door (praise God our small driveway and house are raised about a foot from the road.
During the flood the electricity blacked out too, so we had to use our phones as flashlights so we could lift valuables off of the floor (in case the flood waters entered the house) and pack a few days of clothes and office items to evacuate.  It was good that we evacuated when we did because the flood water on the main road was already very high and our small car is pretty low.  We have had several times our car has floated in flood water, and we try to avoid having this happen again.  Now that the flood has dissipated, many of the main roads are washed out and dangerous, having edges and sections that have caved in.  We have had to use alternate routes to travel to Blessing Home now.

The large classroom for Blessing Home Isan is complete now (the building on the left).

 Now for another praise.  The final phase of Blessing Home Isan construction has been completed for a month now.  The large classrom building is used for teaching students at Blessing Home Isan as well as it is used as a sanctuary for Almighty God UMC.  It is beautiful and it is so helpful, because now Carol and Vicki can teach two classes concurrently, increasing our capacity for ministry.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for making this possible.

HELP IS NEEDED – YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

This year, TMM is again taking steps of faith to ‘enlarge our territory’ (1 Chron. 4:9).

                         

            Our next goal is time-sensitive. We have both a need, and the opportunity, to expand the facilities

 of Blessing Home Ground Zero, by purchasing an open unit which is immediately next to our present facilities.  We need to purchase this facility before it is sold to another buyer. 

            Expanding our facility will accomplish three goals: 1) We will be able to expand first floor space – enlarging the sanctuary to accommodate more LCUMC worshippers; 2) We will be able to provide safe, on-site missionary housing (which is needed, as a new missionary family is preparing to arrive in the summer of 2015); 3) We will have more room for trainings, and BH educational & enrichment classes. 

To accomplish this “God-sized task” we need $110,000 (USD). We are praying churches will consider this need when preparing for Christmas and Love offerings, and that individuals and families will help through sacrificial giving.

If you or your church group would like to give to this project, please designate your gift to the Building Fund.  
We hope to have all of the funds needed to purchase the building by the end of January 2015.  Please pray about what the Lord will have you to do.

TEAM THAILAND 2014

TMM missionaries Carol and Vicki were just beaming when they told us the story of Bo, who is a member of Almighty God UMC, the church that worships at Blessing Home Isan.  Bo is a 19 year old who comes from a family of subsistence farmers.  Her parents sacrificed greatly to provide for her to graduate from high school and she was a top student in her class.  Bo was admitted into nursing school (the Thai equivalent of an LPN degree and certification), but her family had no way to pay for her to go.  Bo and her family were devastated that she would not be able to go to college.  

But we just received a mission team of United Methodists from South Carolina and Kentucky called Team Thailand.  Two Team Thailand members who are members of St. John UMC of Aiken, SC brought a financial gift to be used for Blessing Home.  This gift came just in time to send Bo off to nursing school to help pay for tuition, books, board, food, and uniforms.  Bo is the first in her family to go to college, and this will change the life of her and her family for generations.  All Bo and her parents kept saying was “Thank God!  Thank God!”.

Bo received a Blessing Home scholarship for the nurse assistant (LPN) program at the Panomwan School of Health Technology.

Bo's mother cries as she helps Bo unpack her belongings into her dorm room.

Bo is the second student to receive a college student to receive a college scholarship from the Blessing Home ministry.  We could not do this without your prayers and support.  Thank you and special thanks to the generous Christians at St. John UMC of Aiken.

TEAM THAILAND 2014 was a great blessing to us and the mission.  They painted the second and third floors of Blessing Home Ground Zero, lifting the spirits of the staff and Pastor Banya.  They taught English to the teens at Blessing Home Isan.  They visited and uplifted members of the Pattaya Akha UMC who live in the most humble of circumstances yet have victorious spirits.  The team helped to pour concrete at the Ta Phraya church near the border of Cambodia.  And they lifted up the spirits of the TMM missionaries.  They worked hard in the tropical heat and were a great help to us.  TMM missionaries and the staff of both Blessing Homes thank them for their service and we hope to see them again. 

We will be sending information on next year’s mission team opportunities some time in the future.

TEAM THAILAND members help Carol and Vicki teach English at Blessing Home Isan.

One of the TEAM THAILAND members will be serving as a volunteer at Blessing Home Ground Zero for the next two months.  Shelby Gillespie is the daughter of our good long time friends, Darren and Paula Gillespie.  Darren is an Elder in the Kentucky Annual Conference serving at Radcliff UMC.  We have known Shelby since she was a baby, and it is a great pleasure to have her serve here with TMM.

Shelby leads the older Blessing Home Ground Zero students in fun English songs.

One last thing…..

If you are a shopper with Amazon.com please consider using AMAZON SMILE  at this url >>> smile.amazon.com  Amazon donates 0.5% of each purchase to a qualified charitable organization of your choice.  The Thailand Methodist Mission is registered with Amazon Smile.  The cost is the same as if you used the regular Amazon website.  The only difference is a portion of your purchase will go to TMM for the Lord’s work.

Three Praises! God is Good!

We have been back in Thailand for 5 weeks now, and this is the first week we have been working from home.  It has been a slog of hard traveling and we are very happy to be in one place for a week.  It gives us time to get recuperate and to do things like writing this blog, which we have wanted to do for two weeks now but did not have a chance.

All praise be to God for answering your prayers on behalf of Vicki Brown.  Vicki is feeling much better and both Carol and Vicki are doing well now because of your faithfulness in prayer.  Prayer warriors like you are the powerhouse of the mission.  Thank you.  And all praise belongs to the Lord.

Carol and Vicki are servants of the Lord who do life-changing, life-saving ministry at Blessing Home Isan.  Last week Sherri met with Saow who is a member of the Almighty God UMC in Nonsomboon.  Saow has a 17 year old daughter named Khawpoad and a 13 year old grand-daughter named Namdaan who are provided weekly services through Blessing Home Isan.  These two girls receive full scholarships for uniforms, books, transportation, and school fees to attend school as well as after-school English classes with Carol and Vicki.  

L to R: Namdaan, Maeng, Saow, Ann, and Khawpoad

Saow and her husband Maeng are subsistence farmers who also work odd jobs to live from day-to-day.  They are Christians and their lives have been transformed through Jesus Christ.  Saow radiates the love and joy of a new life in Jesus Christ to all around her, and she is great blessing to all of us.  But the crushing poverty and illness in her family caused them to run out of funds for school for the children in their household.  If it were not for the ministry of Blessing Home Isan,  these two teenage girls would have to be sent to the big city to find work because they could no longer educate or feed them.  These girls would be in great danger of being trafficked.

When Sherri met with Saow, she wept with tears of joy and thankfulness for all the help her family has received.  She said that Blessing Home Isan has changed the lives of everyone in her family.  Then Sherri told Saow about all of you in the States who support the ministry with your donations and your prayers.   And Saow wants to say thank you to you.  So now we are relaying Saow’s gratefulness for your generosity which is making all of the difference in the world to her and her family.

Carol and Vicki have not only been teaching English to the teenagers who are served at Blessing Home Isan, but they are also doing finance training and micro-loans with members of the Almighty God UMC.  Saow has been receiving business training and we believe that her family will pull out of poverty in the future. 

On another praise note, Pastor Nampon of the Almighty God UMC recently married Joy.  Joy is a friendly hard-working young man who was Pastor Nampon’s first love many years ago, before they were Christians.  They were separated for many years, and since then, both of them became followers of Christ.  They met earlier this year at a Christian training event in Northeast Thailand and things took off from there.  We had the privilege of attending their wedding, which took place in the fourth building which is being built at Blessing Home Isan.  This last building will be the sanctuary for her church.  At the time of the wedding, it had a concrete floor and a roof but no walls, making it a perfect “picnic shelter” for the ceremony.  Since that time, construction has restarted, and the walls are being built.

Thank you for your prayers and support.  May the Lord Bless You.

L to R: Prauw (assistant to Carol and Vicki), Vicki Brown, Pastor Namporn and Joy, and Carol Fare

Final phase of construction at Blessing Home Isan

The final phase of the Blessing Home Isan (our second Blessing Home center which is located in Northeast Thailand) is under way.  The sanctuary/large training center is currently under construction.  This building will be used as a sanctuary for the Almighty God UMC as well as for large training events for Blessing Home Isan.  The church has been using the classroom building at Blessing Home Isan, for Sunday worship but it is crowded.  This new building will give much more room for the church to grow.

Here is a video that TMM missionary Carol Fare posted a few days ago of the foundation being poured by mixed and poured by hand.

Please pray for TMM missionary Vicki Brown, who has been having health problems.  Living in Thailand can be a challenge for anyone's health, especially if you work with poor children and families.  Serving at Blessing Home taxes the immune system of missionaries and staff alike, so your prayers are needed.

Carol and Vicki sent out a delightful newsletter from Blessing Home Isan.  Here is a link to download it.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1sGfSTQ-m5HQTVKd0M2d0ZTbk02MGN1R3Z5Tl9BUThlVmp3/edit?usp=sharing

First week of school at Blessing Home Isan

TMM missionary Carol Fare, Prau (assistant to Carol and Vicki), Frame (Prau's younger son), and TMM missionary Vicki Brown

The new school year had begun at Blessing Home Isan and we are very excited that the second Blessing Home center is now fully operational.  It is through the ministry of TMM missionaries Carol Fare and Vicki Brown that middle school and high school students will now stay in school through graduation rather than be sent to Pattaya and other places to work and send money back home to their extended families.  The trajectories of the lives of these teens at Blessing Home Isan is being changed so that these children will not be trafficked.

These are 14 of the 17 at-risk students who are receiving scholarships at Blessing Home Isan for this school year.

Carol and Vicki are helping teens at Blessing Home Isan to thrive in two ways.  First, they are providing scholarships to at-risk teens to keep them in school.  Teens that cannot afford to stay in school end up in Pattaya and other places, and they are at great risk of being trafficked.  Carol and Vicki have discovered 17 teens and children who are most at risk and given them scholarships to attend school.  These scholarships cover their school uniforms and shoes, books, transportation, and food.

Second, Vicki and Carol teach English to a group of 32 students (14 of these are scholarship students) so they will have extra advantages in education and vocation.  English is the language of international commerce, so Thais that can speak fluent English can get jobs that pay very well.

Vicki Brown teaches English to the teens at Blessing Home Isan

Altogether, there are 35 children in the Blessing Home Isan program in its first week.  What a great start!  Thank you prayer warriors for praying for this ministry.  Please continue to lift up Carol and Vicki in your prayers.

Pray for Peace in Thailand

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, has been removed from office along with many in her cabinet.  We are requesting for prayers for peace in Thailand at this time.  Because we must remain neutral, we cannot speak to political issues.

Here are some links to news articles for more info.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27292633

http://asiancorrespondent.com/122433/yingluck-and-9-ministers-removed-from-office-but-caretaker-cabinet-remains/

Deadline for the the Summer Mission Team is May 20

The summer mission team dates are July 31 - August 12, 2014, which is just around the corner.
The deadline for sending in your applications and funds for the summer team is even closer.... May 20!

All of the information that you need plus the downloadable application form are on the Team Thailand website at this URL >> http://thailandmethodist.blogspot.com/

But if you cannot come on this team, we will have more in 2015.  In the next few weeks, we will post dates and information for our 2015 mission teams.

Pastor Art Graduates.... and some prayer updates

One of the components of the Pioneer Pastor Program of TMM is providing scholarships for Bible College for Thai Christian leaders who have been called by God to plant a new church in an unreached part of Thailand.  We have been privileged to fully support Pastor Art throughout his five years of study at Phayao Bible College, and today he graduated with his B.A. in Biblical Studies and Ministry

Veteran Pioneer Pastor Jerron came to celebrate Pastor Art's graduation at Phayao Bible College.

Pastor Art will be planting a new church in Nong Pla Sawai, an unreached county in Lamphun province that has no Christian church of any type at this time.  Please keep Pastor Art in your prayers, because the first year of pioneering a new church is very difficult and isolating. 

Now for two prayer updates:

Many of you have been praying for "A" who is a boy at Blessing Home.  He is safe at Blessing Home now and will be in our nursery of an extra year.  He is gaining weight back and is healthy.  Pastor Banya is still working with the guardian to get him back in Kindergarten, but there are many issues to sort out.  We just praise God that the monitoring that the staff of Blessing Home does works to catch ones like "A" from falling through the net.

Also, the political situation here in Thailand has calmed down, at least for now.  Only the Lord knows how long this peace will last.  But we are enjoying it for now.

Thank you very much for your prayers that empower the mission.  When you pray, mountains move here in Thailand.

Great News. 2 New Churches

It has been our experience that newly planted churches have evangelism and outreach in their “DNA” and that they will usually open new “daughter” churches within the first few years.  This is happening again.

God is Good Church of Ban Bueng was planted last year.  Now this new congregation is planting two daughter churches.

God is Good Church in Ban Bueng opened last year as a cooperative mission with the Thailand Methodist Mission and Singapore Methodist missionary P. Boonchiaw.  This church has grown rapidly and we are now working together to open two new churches.  This will make a total of 22 churches that we have had the privilege of planting in Thailand in cooperation with Thai Christian organizations.  

Both of these new churches are being planted in counties (sub-districts) that have no Christian church of any type whatsoever.  This is the goal of the Pioneer Pastor Program, to help plant churches in unreached counties in Thailand.  We want every county in Thailand to have a vibrant Christian church.

The first church, Bang Sai church, is a daughter church of God is Good church in Ban Bueng.  Bang Sai is a highly populated urban sub-district with a population of over 80,000 people (not counting the soldiers at the Royal Thai Army Base in this sub-district).  This will be the first Christian church of any type in this county.

The God is Good Bang Sai Church uses the top floor of this apartment building owned by Pastors Nuc and Kaek.

Pastors Nuc and Kaek are providing pastoral leadership to this new congregation.  Pastors Nuc and Kaek have just completed construction on a new apartment building, and the top floor of the apartment building has been dedicated for use by the church.  The top floor is one large room for worship and some classrooms as well.  A cell group has already formed there, and we expect rapid growth.  

Pastor Mike Morrissey Sr. (Mike's Dad) prays with the leaders of God is Good Church at the new Bang Sai Church building.  

Pastors Kaek and Nuc hold a Scriptural Picture that will be displayed at the new church in Bang Sai.

The second church is being planted in the north at Nong Pla Sawai County (sub-district) in Ban Hong district, Lamphun province.  Nong Pla Sawai county and two adjoining counties are unreached, having no Christian church of any type whatsoever.  Mr. Kajad Dunam, a leader in the God is Good church, is from Nong Pla Sawai and he is very happy that his own people will be reached for Christ.  God is Good church has been sending evangelism mission teams to Nong Pla Sawai to begin the work there.

In March, Pastor Art, who TMM sponsors to study at Phayao Bible College, will graduate on March 17.  Pastor Art will move to Nong Pla Sawai to become the Pioneer Pastor for this new congregation.  Pastor Art was instrumental in planting the God is Good Church in Ban Bueng last year, and now the Lord will use him once again to pioneer the gospel in an unreached county in Thailand.

Please keep Pastor Art, Pastors Kaek and Nuc, and the leaders of God is Good church in your prayers as they serve on the front lines of the Gospel.

Blessing Home Isan is NOW OPEN..... and urgent prayer requests

Praise the Lord!  Blessing Home Isan is now open.  The buildings of the original project are complete (we will soon build one extra classroom building which will also serve as a worship center for the church).  And TMM missionaries Carol Fare and Vicki Brown are now living and serving there at Blessing Home Isan.
Thank you for your prayers and your generous support which have made it all possible.   Now there will be a way for teens to continue their education to graduate from high school and receive special training and education enhancement so they can have a good future, rather than being sent to Pattaya to serve in the brothels.

Carol Fare, Prau, Frame, and Vicki help on an evangelism outreach in Ta Phraya near the border of Cambodia.

God is good!

We would like to introduce you to Prau and her son Frame.  Prau is a member of Life Center UMC in Pattaya (the church that sponsors Blessing Home Ground Zero).  Prau is now serving with TMM as a translator and assistant for Carol and Vicki.  Prau and her son Frame have now moved up to Blessing Home Isan and live and serve there.  Prau is a great blessing to Carol and Vicki and is truly a great asset to the ministry there.

Now for an urgent prayer request.  We have a five year old boy at Blessing Home, who we will call "A" (for his safety and that of the staff, we must not use his name or post his picture) who needs your prayers.  A's mother was a sex worker who abandoned him and a senior woman who is NOT related to A (very dangerous to have a guardian that is not closely related) now takes care of him.

A received care at the Blessing Home nursery until he turned five, and then he moved up to our school program, where he received a scholarship to go to school and also received monitoring and extra help.  But A's grandmother sells goods on Walking Street, which is the heart of the sex trafficking district.  And because she sells there, she works all night long and places A in the care of others at night.  Every night, A stayed in random houses, and more times than not he was not sent to school.  So the public school dropped him from enrollment and barred him from school for one year.  If that wasn't bad enough, A's  weight has dropped from lack of proper nutrition.  Evidently the people who took care of him were not feeding him well.  Praise God for the staff of Blessing Home.  The monitoring that they do works well.  They intervened to bring A back to the Blessing Home nursery so he can receive safety and good nutrition.  But a more permanent solution is needed.  Pastor Banya is going through the legal process for Blessing Home to receive full custody of A so we can place him in a loving Christian home in Thailand.  But this will require the approval of his guardian and relatives.  Please pray that A's guardian and relatives will do the right thing.

Soles-4-Souls and an update on Blessing Home Isan

We are always deeply touched by the hearts of children who have received a burden on their hearts for other children in need.  Several months ago, we were contacted by Johnna, who is the mother of Rachel Bolin.  The Lord placed a burden on this six-year-old girl to start a campaign called Soles-4-Souls, to purchase shoes for children that could not afford them.  Rachel wanted to help raise funds to purchase school shoes for the children of Blessing Home.  Rachel’s Soles-4-Souls campaign included an elementary school and her church, Russell Springs UMC.  Just before Christmas, Rachel gave the Thailand Methodist Mission a check which would cover the cost of shoes for all 70 children receiving full scholarships to go to public school this year.  Thank you Rachel and Johnna!

Rachel Bolin of Soles-4-Souls

We are on the final stages of construction for Blessing Home Isan and TMM missionaries Carol Fare and Vicki Brown expect to move in on February 15, if all goes as planned.  We are in the midst of installing electricity, air conditioners, and making modifications to the plumbing in one of the buildings.  The Thai Christians chose very bright colors for the buildings, as you see in the pictures. 

The yellow building is the computer and English learning center.  The green building is the missionary house for Carol and Vicki.  The blue building is the kitchen and restrooms.  A fourth building will soon begin construction also.  The fourth building will be a large room that will be used as a worship center and for large events.

We are very, very excited.  God is good!

This yellow building with the cross is the Computer and English training center for Blessing Home Isan.

These beautiful wood windows really pop!

Vicki Brown inside the Computer and English training building.  We still must install electricity and air conditioners.

This green building is the new home for TMM missionaries Carol Fare and Vicki Brown.

This blue building contains restrooms on the back side, and the front side (the opposite side) is a kitchen.