April 2008
Update
March
31 through April 4 we held our first Discipleship Training Week
(DTW). We had about 40 people involved in the training week including
members of 3 house churches in our provincial district, students
from our BJD discipleship dorm in Bangkok, and YWAM staff from
Bangkok and Kanchanaburi. The week was amazing and God met us
in power - giving each of our fellowship groups a boost of enthusiasm
in our faith and a deeper revelation of Himself. The only quiet
times at our home in the village, where we held the training,
were between about 1:00 am and 4:00 am. Other than that there
was singing, teaching and study, food and fellowship the whole
time!
We
baptized 7 new believers! I wish that we could sit down with each
of you and tell you more stories. This was a long awaited move
of the Spirit in our small Christian community in Kanchanaburi
and beyond. One thing I must mention is that A's dad, who we wrote
about in our last update (see picture, too), is on fire for God
and hungry for his Word.
Several people have said that they've never seen a new believer
so hungry and excited. He's the one who used to be a leader in
the local Buddhist temple, and it appears that his life-long pursuit
of the Truth is finally emerging into clear vision now that he's
following Jesus. When he shares what he's learning from the Bible
with other new Christians, people understand what he's saying
because he understands even more deeply than they do about the
Buddhist faith from which they come.
Praise God for his faithfulness in meeting with us, leading us,
revealing himself to us, and binding us together as a family of
believers through this time. We plan to have follow-up training
periodically over the next year, and we're meeting more regularly
in the village as well so that we can get to know each other better
before our group grows too big for everyone to know everyone.
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Worship
Time |
Soul
Food |
With
growing faith and excitement,
The Kanchanaburi Team
March 2008
Update
Greetings
from Mango Tree Village, where recent road improvements have left
only 7 kilometers of unpaved roads on the way to our home! We
recently got a new 6 month old dog that is really cute. Arun is
looking for wood for our new house, and once we have all of the
wood that we need it won't be long before it's finished. The rubber
tree plantation, part of Arun's project, is still in the research
phase and we're waiting for financial support before getting started.
Arun, Jeff and Darin continue to talk about this.
Pang is helping to teach English at our local school one week
each month for the 6th graders. If you're interested in bringing
a team here, then Pang won't be able to translate when she's scheduled
to teach English. Pang's mom is the only one who can catch fish
in the fish pond. Mom said that she prays before each time she
fishes, and that's why she can catch them. Now others have tried
praying, but we still haven't seen anyone else catch fish!.
On The Farm
About
70 new goat kids were born recently, and they are looking strong.
We see a good future in store for the farm. Arun's older brother
Tia's goat farm is doing very well. We see that Tia's life is
producing fruit, too, and no less than his goat farm! And Tia's
life is a witness that has a lot of influence with others in the
village.
God is Moving Through Our Church
These days at the home church we're studying the book of John
together, and we're preparing for our first short term discipleship
training (Discipleship Training Week) from March 31 to April 4.
After that we plan to baptize our new believers. Uncle Ngae, one
of our new believers, will be baptized and also join our training
week. He was a leader in our village's Buddhist temple. His daughter,
"A", is studying at Ramkhamhaeng University in Bangkok
and working with Paw Pan, the leader of YWAM Thailand's Outreach
Teams Department.
Uncle Ngae became a believer because he had the opportunity to
visit his daughter at BJD, a YWAM university ministry in Bangkok,
where he helped with Paw Pan's work. He said he experienced a
warm community and felt clearly that God really exists, so he
decided to get to know God in February. Pang's mom decided to
believe in God for the same reason, and in a similar situation.
This makes us see that many others will follow Jesus because other
young people from our village will go to live and study where
A is. We see God moving through the community at YWAM Ram 2 in
Bangkok and in our village!
Aunt Lek Has Her Operation
On
March 13 Aunt Lek had her surgery to realign her bone, and now
she's doing well and her health is getting stronger. Aunt Lek's
daughter, Taan, is encouraged now that her mom can eat again,
and she is more open to knowing God because she wants to have
a good future. We hope that we'll have good news for you soon!
Dreams & Visions
We see that God is working through the dreams of the Thai people.
This might be part of a revival? May God reveal himself at a time
when ears don't hear and eyes don't see, but minds are open to
receiving a vision from the Lord!.
Thank You
Thank you for all of your support! May God bless you in every
area.
With love,
The YWAM Kanchanaburi Family
