Our emphasis the last 2 months has been to Behold the Man Jesus and all that He did for us during Passion Week. It is easily one of the most important time periods in all of history with the Lord’s Supper, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. It is spoken of in great detail in God’s word and countless lives have been changed as a direct result of Christ’s life. This continues to be the case precisely because He Lives!
Ministry Highlights
Pa-Oh Ministry
As we prepared to share this great truth of Jesus to the Pa-Oh in our discipleship groups, we were given an open door to also present it to their neighbors and friends in the different work camps where they live. With many people having the Thai New Year off from work (also based on the lunar calendar), we held a fellowship and outreach night for the Pa-Oh. It was the first time for all of them to see the movie “The Passion of the Christ”. As they told us afterwards, it really changed the way they understood God’s love for them. In fact, some of their friends who knew very little about Christianity started to cry during the movie as they saw what Christ endured for our sins. There really is no greater love!
Good Friday – Food and Fellowship while watching the movie “The Passion of the Christ”
Some of the kids joining us from a labor camp
“But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”– Romans 5:8 (NASB)
Trip to the South Camp
During Palm Sunday weekend I was able to team up with our friends from Christian Far East Ministries at a Karen camp south of Bangkok near the Burmese border. It was the first time in 2 years that I’ve been back to where Tiff and I first worked together and got to know each other. So it was a joy to be back!
When we were hiking into the camp (which only takes 1 hr instead of 2.5hrs due to a new path), we were met by many kids. After playing some games with them and getting to know them, we turned our attention to the evening service of worship and teaching. With the people coming from many villages to this meeting place, we also held a special Palm Sunday and Easter morning service. It was great to see God continue to work as several came forward for prayer and a deeper relationship with Jesus.
Lot’s of kids and lot’s of fun!
Palm Sunday and Easter Services
Grace House Children Home
We had a busy stay at Grace House recently as the kids were finishing up with school, summer break was coming on the horizon and construction projects were in the works. To our delight, we received a sneak peak of all the kids’ grades and they all passed! Even our sweet Naomi (who’s had some learning problems before) did remarkably well in all her classes. As a result of their hard work, we treated the kids to a special fun night with good food, activities and a movie. It was great to be with our wonderful kids again!
Clothes, Food and Fun at Grace House
In between all our fun time, we also went to work on a new roof. And so it was out with the old and in with the new! The kids did a great job helping out with the whole project. It turns out they are very agile on bamboo! (I, of course, am not.) We also had several villagers pitch in and help too. As a way of saying thank you and celebrating, the kids decided it was time to butcher our home pig and share in the goodness. Even after several meals and showing our appreciation to those who helped, we sold enough pork to buy another pig in the near future.
“Whoever will call on the Name of the Lord will be saved.”
– Romans 10:13 (NASB)
With the end of the school year, it also means hot season is officially here and it’s not so easy to work in the 100 degree heat. With that said, a few of the kids are taking advantage of this time and going back to their villages in Burma and in the refugee camp. Canaan and Esther, our two oldest girls, were two that went back into Burma as they haven’t seen their families in about 4 years. They aren’t sure what they’ll find once there, but we are glad they have this opportunity and we ask for continued prayers for them and the other kids as they travel.
We also want to take this time and say THANK YOU to all our prayer and ministry partners. We are so grateful for each of you and for your heart to serve those in need here in Thailand and Burma.
*If you would like to partner with this ministry, please visit our Get Involved web page. Check us out on facebook for additional photos and information.