Please read and pray and then do what the Lord leads you to do.
We have a challenging situation, and we are asking you to help. The
demand for leader training in the Abundant Life Program, and the training
pastors and church leaders through the Pioneer Pastor Program far exceeds our
capabilities.
Currently, we must travel long distances and many hours to get to
churches to provide training. It is not uncommon for us to drive over 12 hours
to get to a church location before the training event even starts. Even with
careful scheduling, this eats up too much time and money, and severely limits
the number of groups we can train.
Establishing a training center, where groups can stay for several
days to receive a complete module of training at a time, would help us to train
more people and do it within our budget. It will also be the best use of God's
resources that God’s people provide through gifts and donations.
This year, we are asking all the churches and individuals that
support the Thailand Methodist Mission to help by taking up special Christmas
offerings, so we can purchase land and build a training center.
This is a huge undertaking, and we must do it in phases.
The first phase will be purchasing land, bringing in soil to raise
the level of the land by about 5 feet (so there are no problems with flooding),
and building a retainer wall. This phase will cost $80,000.
Here are some of the next phases:
Phase 2: Construction of staff housing (needed on-site), and a Seminar
Room with connecting missionary apartment;
Phase 3: Construction of large meeting room with restrooms;
Phase 4: Construction of simple barracks style buildings with bunk
beds;
Phase 5: Construction of Office
Land will be purchased in Buriram province at Lam Plai Mat.
This is located in the Isan region of Thailand. This is a strategic
location for many reasons. Our ministries focus on the Isan and South
regions. These two regions of Thailand are "deserts of the Gospel",
being the regions where there are the least churches. One can
travel for many hours and never pass a single church.
Buriram province is highlighted in red on this map. It is
strategic because:
1. Blessing Home Isan, Blessing Home Ta Phraya, and Special
Blessings Korat are located within an easy two-hour drive, so going to these
locations will become day-trips.
2. Many of our most recent Pioneer Pastor church starts are
in this region.
3. Buriram airport is nearby. This is significant, as
it will allow us to easily fly to the Southern region where we also concentrate
effort through the Abundant Life Savings Group Program and the Pioneer Pastor
Program. A round-trip flight costs only $60, and saves us money on hotels,
gas, and several days on the road driving back and forth between regions. We
will be better able to serve the churches in the South, while spending less time
and money traveling lost distances.
This is the time of the year that most churches start to make
decisions concerning Christmas time. So please pray, and if the Lord
leads you, please ask to have a special Christmas offering for the Abundant
Life Training Center. We are praying that we have all of the funds needed
by the end of 2019 to complete this phase.
In times past, I (Mike) have made a simple chart to display where
we are on reaching the goal. Since I lack all artistic ability, it is
back to doing another simple chart.
This chart is in green, because the place that is being purchased
is currently a vibrant green rice paddy. We are already $6,000 into
progress on this goal, because of the generosity of Madisonville First UMC
taking a special offering at Easter time. Thank you, brothers and sisters
of Madisonville FUMC, for starting us out.
Please be sure to designate offerings as ‘Building Fund’.
Donations can be sent directly to Thailand Methodist Mission by
check or online.
Checks can be mailed to our treasurer at:
TMM
P.O. Box 56
Mannsville, KY 42758
