I am on TEAM IGNITE!
Here’s my schedule for the next few days:
Friday: Last minute Wal-Mart run and laundry trip, drive to a hotel in Atlanta
Saturday: 3am wake up, fly to Bangkok at 7am.
Sunday: Arrive
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Tour the city
Wednesday: Depart for ministry
Here is where my team will be going and what our ministry will most likely look like:
PAK-CHONG (2.5 Hours from Bangkok)
Reverend Steve and Andrea McGowan, Pak-Chong, Thailand.
Steve and Andrea McGowan started their ministry in Thailand fifteen years ago to the hilltribe areas in Northern Thailand. After five years with the hilltribes with no running water, electricity or other amenities, the McGowans followed the Lord’s call to Pak-Chong, a market town northeast of Bangkok. It takes about two-and-a-half hours by taxi to reach Pak-Chong from Bangkok. The town has around 100,000 people, and the Christian presence there is very small. After ten years of working in the town, the McGowans are starting to see major breakthroughs in the community.
At Christmas, the McGowan’s hosted their first short
term team. Both Steve and Andrea are teachers in a huge local high school that has about 2,000 students. Andrea is the head of the English department. In the past, school administrators were leery of foreign guests and did not welcome them into their school. This Christmas, the McGowan’s short term team was given full rein with the classrooms, and was able to teach English and present the gospel to many students! Due to time limitations, the team was only able to reach a few classes. They had students lining up to meet with the short term team members, and were turned away, disappointed, when time ran out and the team had to leave.
Steve and Andrea believe that a strategic short term team to their area could reach every one of the 2000 high school students with the message of Christ. In addition to working with these high school students, both in the classroom and out, the McGowan’s have planted a church that now has about 60 members. A team could be a huge boost to the church plant through outreach to the community in the form of English classes, sports outreach, children’s ministry, etc.
