1 Corinthians 3:6-9a
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but
God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but
only God, who makes things grow. The one who
plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded
according to their own labor. For we are
co-workers in God’s service.
New Year’s Day is always a very special day for us. It is a day of thanksgiving and praise to the
Lord for the wonders that He bestowed in the year 2017. As we see all of the myriad ways God has
blessed the Thailand Methodist Mission, it humbles us because we know it is all
because of the Lord. We are just workers
in the fields fulfilling the purpose for which we were called.
Your faithfulness in prayer and generous financial support bless
us and the Thai people, and the Lord has made things grow. You make this mission possible and we are thankful
for your service to the Lord.
In 2017, the Lord
blessed this mission in numerous ways:
- ·
Over 300
children are receiving weekly services at the four Blessing Home Centers.
It is always thrilling to see the children in their school uniforms,
knowing that they will not be in the brothels and opium dens, but instead have
a bright future.
- ·
Three
unreached counties that never before in history had a Christian Church now have
one planted through the Pioneer Pastor Program.
In 2017, churches were planted in Nonthaburi, Chachoengsao, and Ubon
Ratchatani provinces. Now there are a total
of 35 churches planted in formerly
unreached counties in Thailand.
- ·
Seventeen
students graduated at Global Theological Institute, receiving their Bachelor of
Ministry and Master of Ministry degrees.
These graduates serve at churches throughout every region of
Thailand. Now there are a total of 76 graduates in the past 5 years, and
many of them have planted new churches.
- ·
Thailand Methodist Mission provided the majority
of funds to purchase a Sunday School building for Prasiri UMC in Bangkok. This provides permanence and security for
this church.
- ·
A children’s building was built at House of
Immanuel Church in Buriram province so they would have a place to teach the
Bible to children.
- ·
Over 85
Thai Christians are members of Abundant Life Savings Groups and are making
vital progress in saving money for emergency funds, getting out of debt, and
learning family budgeting and small business management skills. We see their progress as they get out of debt
and send us pictures of themselves cutting up credit cards. We see them develop as they speak with joy
about having saved money for emergency funds for the first time in their
lives. We see happiness on their faces,
as they learn and save together.
New Year’s Day is special to us, for another reason. We look forward to this coming year and all
the wonderful blessings God will shower down upon Thailand in 2018.
Through your continued support, we will continue to work “in
the field” to bring the love of Jesus to Thai people.
Our goals for the Thailand Methodist Mission for 2018 are:
- · 2 or more
Pioneer Pastor Churches will be planted in unreached counties in Thailand
(please pray as we are interviewing pastors and leaders now and seek God’s
Will).
- · Curriculum and videos for the Abundant Life
Savings Groups will be completed and a group of trainers will be educated and
developed.
- · We will begin planting churches and ministries
in the Southern region of Thailand. This
region has a high percentage of the population is Muslim. Four of the provinces in the Southern region have
a Muslim majority. We need your prayers
because ministry must be done in a different way here, especially in the Muslim
majority provinces. Please pray for
safety for the Thai Christians that will work with us in this region (and for
us as well).
- · Blessing Home Centers will become places where
Thai Christian leaders from other ministries can come to be trained in ministry
to children and youth. TMM missionaries
can help train Thai leaders and missionaries from other organizations for
fruitfulness.
Sherri and I are honored to serve as your Ambassadors for
Christ to Thailand. We wish you a
Blessed New Year!
And a RE-POSTING of an important article for online donors
Thailand Methodist Mission has recently needed to change our online giving portal to QGIV since the former company, JustGive has now closed. All of you who have automatic monthly donations through JustGive, your donations stopped last month.
We are asking all who are have automatic monthly donations through JustGive to please continue to set up a recurring monthly donation through QGIV by clicking on this link >> https://secure.qgiv.com/for/thametmis/Your giving is crucial to the operation of the Blessing Home Centers and other ministries of the Thailand Methodist Mission.
Our website (
thailandmethodist.org) is currently being renovated and should be up and running by the end of January. I (Mike) tried to change the old website to link online donors to the new QGIV site, but it was beyond my abilities. So I am waiting for the website renovation to be complete. However, I was able to change the link on our blog at
http://msmorrissey.blogspot.com/ so that it directs online donors to QGIV.
We are grateful for your faithful support of the Thailand Methodist Mission.
