Update on mission trip to Thailand Sept. 2019-March 2020

Santisuk English School Silom January Session

Our time in Southeast Asia has about come to an end after teaching (4) month long English sessions at Santisuk Silom English School in Bangkok. In addition to this mission trip, we were able to travel and teach with Training Leaders International to India and we had a short visit to speak in a church and Bible school in Yangon, Myanmar. Our previously planned two week medical/dental/optical mission trip to Myanmar (Burma) was recently cancelled due to government's concerns regarding the COVID-19 virus.

We trust that the Lord has used your prayers for us over these past 6 months to sow seeds of God’s gospel truth among our Buddhist students and some of the Ahmadhi muslim Pakistani refugees we’ve met. We have also tried to encourage pastors, long term missionaries and Bible school students who are doing God’s kingdom work to spread the news about Jesus Christ, specifically in India, Thailand, and Myanmar.

We were thankful to have been able to celebrate Christmas with our oldest son and his family in Germany, which divided up the time we had committed to spending this season in Southeast Asia. It also gave us a renewed awareness of the tremendous need for evangelism among all nations of the world, including Europe.

We wanted to include some pictures of our experiences since our last blog post and to thank each of you who have prayed and provided financial support to our work here since September. One young law student in particular has shown a sincere interest in discovering the truth claims of Christianity. Gary has met with him every week for Bible study the past couple months and will continue to do so until we travel back home. Both of us have also taught him in our individual English classes. We pray that the truth of the gospel will reach his heart and bring about a transformation to receive Jesus as His Lord and Savior. Buddhism has strong roots deep into the Thai culture and family relationships that can only be overcome by the work of the Holy Spirit. So please pray with us that he would believe the truth and the truth would set him free.

The past two weeks we had the opportunity to visit the International Detention Center in Bangkok and also some refugee families when we teamed up with a missionary pastor’s wife to bring food supplies. Some had fled from Pakistan on account of religious persecution and under threat for their lives. No pictures are permitted in the detention center, but the conditions are miserable and severely over-crowded for the inmates. Many are there because they do not have UN refugee status and thus are here illegally. They cannot get out unless bail is given, or they can be relocated to another country. Some have been detained for many, many months and separated from their families on the outside who they are not permitted to see. Therefore, a family member brings food to the detention center with the hope that someone would come and enter into the facility for them, taking the food to their family. Once inside we found the conditions to be dirty, smelly and noise level so loud that we could only try to communicate by shouting at the top of our lungs. We stressed with them the words of Proverbs 24:18 which says, "Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off."

The refugee ministry of the one churches we worked with can only reach about 70 families of the more than twice that number whom have asked for assistance. Some of the refugees we visited have been in Thailand illegally for up to seven years living in squalor conditions of rundown apartment buildings that are filthy and extremely depressing. A family of four sleeps in one bed in a one room apartment about 10’ x 10’ in size. Often no schooling is available, so they try to teach their children with the limited supplies they have been given. Besides the food we were able to share the hope we can have in Jesus Christ and this message was treasured by the Christians we met. The Ahmadi Muslim men and families we were able to share the gospel with have a high respect for Jesus, but they have not yet come to believe that He is actually God who came in the flesh. So, we had some dialogue to discuss from the scriptures and answer any questions they had. We spent about an hour with each family and prayed for them before saying goodbye.

We were disappointed of course to have learned that our mission to Burma had been cancelled, but Lyndell and I decided to go there anyway after being invited to preach and speak at a Bible School in Yangon. We also had a blessed time to hear the stories of our friends who have been working in that country for years and encouraged to see the growth of their ministry, since we first started going there 14 years ago. One of our first interpreters at that time was a Bible student who is currently the director of the Bible School which has about 170 students, many who are taught using online extension centers. Another of our friends who currently organizes our mission trips in Burma and interpreted my sermon is founder and director of a children’s ministry program in Myanmar that has been able to reach about 2 million children since 2010 with the stories of Jesus. We are excited to attempt to go back there with our Health Teams International team perhaps next year.

The Corona virus has come to Thailand as well and people are very fearful of what might happen. Masks and alcohol gel bottles are everywhere for people to use before entering all public places including restaurants, malls, buses, trains and the subways. This has been a wonderful occasion to share the peace and hope we have in Jesus Christ with our students and which they can have as well.

So we are preparing to soon leave Thailand with thankful hearts for your help during our time here and with prayers that the Lord will continue to direct our future paths to spread the news of Jesus Christ for His glory and our joy. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Family time in Europe in December

Karen Indehar- Santisuk Silom Director and long term missionary

Level 3 Class January session

Coconut ice cream with students at end of January session

Level 2 Class dinner at KFC

 Some members of Women's Bible Study Fellowship (BSF)
(women from at least seven different countries)

Japanese Bible study participants

Before masks became fashionable worldwide

Reason for masks being a part of our wardrobe

Evening snack after English Friendship Group on Fridays

Refugee families

Wife who cooks for her husband and daughters in detention center

"Lyndell, you can't take pictures here!"

Uneven sidewalks and water taxis can be treacherous

When a bad ankle hinders walking, there are options.

Another option- Songthaew in Saran Wrap
(Imagine riding in this when it's 95 degrees and humid!)

Resourceful passenger using motorcycle taxi
(I'd have a hard time balancing my one backpack while holding on for dear life.)

A typical lunch for us before teaching

Ok, another lunch example with description.
(Pad krapow moo kai dow, Som Tum, and mixed vegetables
 with mushrooms on white rice) 

Another luncheon choice- Pad See Ew Goong

Mango sticky rice, mandatory dessert in Thailand

Any takers for a treat given to Gary by his student?
Crispy crickets!

Just to make sure you know you're getting the real deal
(chicken or duck?)

Visit from missionary friends in Indonesia now in Philippines

Traveling along in water taxi on Chao Phraya River

Yes, Gary remembered Valentine's Day even in Bangkok
(roses actually so much less expensive here)

River crossing each evening after teaching class

Thai know how to present their delicious food

Potters doing exquisite work for 4 generations

When they say fresh barbecued pork on the hoof.
They aren't kidding.

Level 1 Class February Session

Level 3 Class February Session

Pizza night with Level 3 class

Pizza night outing with Level 1 class

Lunch at home of refugee family
(bed serves triple duty as table and chairs)

Here it is, the "original" coconut ice cream stand! 

Preaching with interpreter at Water of Life Church

Found the source of their logo in Yangon hotel
(dozens of these were hanging from the ceiling)

Pastor Jubilee and wife Mo Mo in Yangon

Preaching with Jubilee as interpreter

Bible School Faculty in Yangon

Speaking at Bible school in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma)

Yangon church and Bible School we visited in March

Missionary couple from Burma working in Thailand

"I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you." Ezekiel 36:25

Our hope and prayer is that the people of this land will turn to the living LORD GOD and receive the salvation that is only found by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. We ask you to pray along with us for all the long term laborers who are working for that to become a reality before Jesus returns in judgement.