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.