Thailand is special to me. It is intimate. It means something extra special to me. This month those of you who support me prayerfully will be joining together, lifting up Thailand. Thank you all for spending the last two months with me in prater for China and South Korea, and I thank you in advance for your continued support throughout this journey.
This month=Thailand.
Last year, I went to a missions conference in Waco, TX, called World Mandate. I was able to hear smRebuildinge amazing speakers, meet some incredible people of God, and be totally refreshed and refilled. But more than anything else, one particular event sticks out to me: there was a point at which the speaker encouraged everyone to spend some time in prayer, asking God to put a specific country in our hearts. The idea was, once you felt like Good had given you a country, you spend your time praying for that country. Eventually, you escalate to giving to missionaries in said country. Finally, the last step was to ask God, through your continued prayer, if he wanted you to go to that country.
When I did this, I felt strongly that God placed Thailand on my heart.
I get this opportunity.
Thailand is infamous for being involved in the sex trade. The religious identity of this country is a mix of occult beliefs, Islam, and Buddhism. The Thai economy is undergoing noteworthy changes. Historically, Christian Church growth has been slow. Of the approximate 1 million students in Thailand, extremely few have ever heard the gospel. Because there are so many languages spoken here, not everyone has the Bible translated into a version they can read our understand. Rebuilding after the 2004 tsunami continues. There are local churches but they are small and growth, as well as skilled leadership, is rare.
So pray. Pray that God blesses the church that is already alive in Thailand; ask him to send his spirit to raise up leaders within the church who will sheperd their flock, and ask him also for the gift of evangelism to be given to Thai church members, so they can use the holy spirit's giftings to grow the church. Thank God in advance for the freedom that will be found there. Ask him to bless my squad, and other world race squads, while we are serving there. Ask him to prepare our hearts and spirits now for the work he has for us. Ask that he grow the bonds of the entire squad, even now when we have nothing but internet contact with one another. Thank him for assembling teams that will be perfect fits. Thank him for pair other people's strengths with my weaknesses. Ask him to bless the country of Thailand. Ask him to bless the people. And ask him to begin, right now, making himself known to the non-believers of Thailand.
Also, if you could pray for continued support for me on this trip and in the months prior to departure. I will need a crazy cloud of prayer to rebuke satan's attacks, grow, and be prepared for the life-shattering experiences of the Race. I will also need lots of money. Thank you so much to those of you who have been financially supportive thus far! Without you guys, I honestly probably would have thrown in the towel and quit already (which my give you something else to pray about–my ablility to trust God's provision). For the financial up date, we are just about 1/10th of the way there. I have to raise 15,500, and I currently have about 1,300. Having that much in the account is amazing, in and of itself, because it represents sacrifices from the church body in effort to support a bigger vision–God's bigger vision–among the nations. I appreciate it beyond words. Unfortunately, we still have roughly 14,200 dollars left to raise, and only 7 months left to do it. 7 months seems like a long time, but we have spent the past 5 praying and fundraising, and we have gotten 1/10th of the money raised. I really really desperately need God to step in here and give me the provision that is so intrinsic to his character, and I need the church body to continue to step up if financial sacrifice to see His work done in the nations; specifically 11 nations…in 11 months.
Thank you all so much for your continued support. I feel like I'm preaching to the choir, so to speak, because those people that read my blog are also the ones supporting me. So if you guys could do me a favor and share this with other church members–ask them to sign up for the email updates over on the left tab, and join me on the adventure I am taking with the Holy Spirit. Thanks again. You are all an encouragement….
And Happy Mothers Day.
