Dear Family and Friends,
We arrived in Bangkok just a couple hours before the start of the New Year and spent the first few days looking for a condo to rent for the three months we are planning to be here. By the grace of God, we did find one in the same building as last year. This was an answer to prayer since we were first told that this building only rents on a one-year lease agreement. We desired to be in the same area because we are familiar with certain places to eat and the ease of travel to where we will be teaching. There were several individuals who work at the building who seemed happy to see us again. One is a woman security guard Lyndell befriended last year and has been in correspondence with her since we left last April.
We stayed in our hotel for 6 nights but were able to at least get our luggage into the condo before meeting another couple at the airport who had arrived from our church early on Friday Jan. 6. We had planned to join up with them for 10 days on a prayer ministry with Todd and Karen Indehar, Bethlehem Church missionaries in northern Thailand. So, after a 7-hour car ride the four of us met with the Indehars in Uttaradit and found lodging in a guest apartment of a Christian school where they are residing as well. The church there runs two schools, one pre-k through kindergarten and the other first through 6th grade. We had dinner that night at one of the three pastor’s home and met some of the church and school staff at that time.
On Saturday we visited a pastor and his wife for prayer, specifically praying for a large outreach event they are planning a year from now to share the good news of salvation in Jesus while asking the Lord to reveal His healing power for many that will come with various problems. He was brought to tears many times as he expressed what he felt would be a fulfillment of a vision he had received 5 years ago. He said he was so thankful that we had come from such a long distance to pray for this event to become a reality so that many would eventually come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
We then drove over an hour to a village near the border of Laos where 20 people from this area had begun to attend the church where we had just visited, because they had no place they thought big enough to have new villagers come to hear the gospel. They believed they needed a building for people to be interested in attending a worship service (“Build it and they will come”). Apparently, many of the villagers equated having a building to be a sign of power and would be a place worthy to worship, since the Buddhist faith has so many large beautiful temples (wats). We were taken to two potential building sites and prayed for the Spirit to guide them on which area would best serve the needs of the people.
Sunday morning, I was invited to preach at the church that owns the school and a short walk away. I spoke on the topic of obedience as evidence of God’s saving work through faith in Jesus Christ, contrasting the different responses of Jonah who was commanded to go to the Ninevites and the Apostle Peter who was called to go to Cornelius a Gentile. Karen did a great work of interpreting what I had to say. Here is a link to the service if anyone is curious: https://www.facebook.com/TheFullGospelChurchOfUtttaradit/videos/689390856013216/
After the service we visited a man who works for the church and was bed ridden because of a heart condition. We prayed that he would regain enough strength so he could have an operation to implant a pacemaker. We found out now as I am writing this that he has improved enough for that operation to take place. Praise the Lord!
The following day we spent most of it helping around 100 children in the two schools learn some English while teaching them two songs with hand motions: “Jesus Love Me” and “Hallelujah, Praise the LORD”. We also performed a short skit that involved teaching them about how much Jesus loves little children. They really seemed to enjoy participating in the singing and motions.
The next day on Tuesday morning we hired a driver and van to begin driving us around for 5 days to visit 5 different provinces (like our counties) where we planned to meet with pastors and other church members to pray for specific needs they had personally and for the ministry. The entire country of Thailand has less than 1% that are Christian and in these provinces it is even much less than that and very difficult to share the truth in the Bible on how to find everlasting peace and joy through belief in Jesus Christ.
In one area we stopped and met an elderly man, actually the same age as me (ha, ha), whom Todd and Karen had met before. He was from a people group of around 1,500 that has no church nor anyone trying to engage them with the gospel. The Indehars are seeking the Lord’s guidance on how to effectively begin to work towards planting a church among these people.
During our travels we encountered some of the extraordinary beauty of God’s creation in this part of Thailand. The roads are often narrow and very windy up and down the mountainous region which can help to make for some motion sickness. God spared us from that. The temperatures are much cooler in these areas as well especially during the evening, one morning was even down to 55 degrees. It was gloriously peaceful and quiet with usually only the sounds of birds during the day, roosters at the crack of dawn and frogs at night breaking the silence.
We were able to arrange a meeting with a sweet young man we’ve known since before he became a believer in Jesus. Lyndell had him as a student on one of our earlier teaching trips. He had recently moved back to his hometown area near the Laotian border to build a small house and do his work remotely. He is the only Christian in this town. We dedicated his home to the Lord and our prayer was for his protection and continued growth in faith so that the love of Christ would spread from this lighthouse for God’s glory.
We traveled over 4 hours to visit Trevor Schwarze, a new missionary from Bethlehem. We enjoyed learning about what he will be doing which involves a broadcasting ministry to help people of this area who suffer the largest suicide rate in the country. The local pastor and his wife were gracious in their hospitality and prepared a delicious meal for our dinner. We spent time in prayer for the needs that Trevor has at this time and for the pastor and his family also.
As we began our drive back to Uttaradit on Saturday Jan. 14 we were invited to be on stage at the auditorium in the village where we had spent the night. There was a huge celebration of what was designated as “National Children’s Day” and we stood in front of a large crowd and sang “Jesus Loves Me” after taking turns introducing ourselves. Trevor was also introduced to the crowd which was a great opportunity for the community to meet him for the first time.
We then drove 2 hours to a remote 80 acre organic coffee farm, Pang Ma O, to meet a young man I had met last year in Bangkok. His father and mother had bought the farm 40 years ago from a previous owner who was Japanese. They said they had only 5 other foreigners visit their farm in the past four years and were happy to show us around and learn about their operation. We prayed for them before we left and I’m sure that was the first time this dear Buddhist family had ever had Christians pray for them. We hope to meet up with them again soon as the son and mother will be making periodic trips to Bangkok before we head back to the states the end of March. https://pangmaocoffee.com
Today we worshipped at the church where I preached last Sunday. This church was founded by to sisters who served as missionaries from Finland. Tonight we were invited to birthday party and treated to a delicious seafood dinner. On Tuesday we will be driving back to Bangkok to get settled into our condo and begin teaching on Wednesday at Santisuk English School.
Please pray that we can have good interaction with our students and help them learn more about the Christian faith. We dearly and humbly appreciate your partnership through your prayers and finances as we seek to make Jesus known among these dear people of Thailand.
For His glory among all the nations,
Gary and Lyndell
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| Arrived in Bangkok after 27 hours of travel |
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| We remembered what we were missing in Minnesota |
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| Now what should we have for breakfast? Maybe for lunch! |
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| We went for a traditional Thai breakfast and one of our favorites |
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| Lyndell's condo security guard friend Sky |
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| An attempt to try and keep corruption down- No bribes allowed! |
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| Our guard dog in Uttaradit with a gentle disposition named Sisu |
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Guest apartment sleeping arrangements
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| Dinner at Pastor/School Director's home |
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| Pet pythons- dark one found behind the school house |
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| Some members and three pastors of Full Gospel Church Uttaradit |
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| Pastor with vision for a large gospel outreach next Christmas |
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| Workers hard at work under the blazing heat of the sun |
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| Believers near border with Laos praying for a church building |
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| Farm field near the border |
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| Stopped to pray for a Bangkok friend's elderly mother |
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| Warning what not to do in this town when on a walk- $60 fine! |
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| Church where we worshipped for two Sundays |
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| Preaching sermon with Karen |
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| Two founders and current leaders of the church |
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| 102 year-old member came forward for prayer after the service |
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| Lunch at the church. It was delicious (Aroy mak- อร่อยมาก) |
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| Praying for man with heart condition resting at home |
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| Thai tea fancy presentation |
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| Exotic and serene setting to enjoy coffee and tea |
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| Silk loom used to weave intricate and colorful patterns |
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| Northern Thai food option for dinner |
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| Teaching motions for "Jesus Loves Me" |
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| Children's eyes glued on the foreigners teaching them the songs |
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This meal was outstanding, especially the shrimp durian curry
and tamarind shrimp. The fish was moist and seasoned to perfection. |
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| Unusual view while using the urinal. |
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Village leader from unreached/unengaged people group
and his sister photo bombing |
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| Strange animals they have around here in northern Thailand |
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| Pastor Manus and wife Jee laboring without salary |
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| Their beautiful new church where we joined a prayer meeting |
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| Lunch afterwards. Seems like we get to eat a lot around here. Traditional fried chicken, papaya salad, and sticky rice. |
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| God's creative work in the natural surroundings was astounding. |
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| Difficult to put the camera down as we traveled around |
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| Praise the Lord for allowing us such magnificent scenes to see |
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| Look at our alarm clock hiding in the tree |
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| God's reminder to us that it is still winter |
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Pastor Paisan Pratumrut from Chiang Rai
His father was led to the Lord by missionaries |
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| Team photo with Paisan, his wife Sompit, and grandson Jabez |
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| Our friend Nu's new home |
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| A view from his workstation in the house |
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| We had a time of dedication of Nu's home to the Lord |
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| Sap being collected from rubber tree |
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| Portion of rubber tree plantation |
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| Yes, one more photo of the surrounding area |
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| Hotel owner's definition of the family bed |
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| Unique use of old used tires |
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| Okay, okay I'm going to add just a few more scenic photos |
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| This is what they call Magic Mountain- reason unknown |
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| Sunrise with formation of the "ocean of fog" |
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| Tasty breakfast before hitting the road again provided by hotel |
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| Hotel owner and friend who needed prayer for eyesight problem |
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| Time for a Thai tea coffee break while traveling |
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| Coffee shop also favorite photo op for travelers |
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| Time for lunch at a roadside diner |
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| Dinner with Trevor and his host pastor at their restaurant |
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| National Children's Day event |
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| Todd's impersonation of the new Rush Limbaugh |
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| Enjoying coffee at the Pang Ma O coffee farm |
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Touring the coffee farm with the owner
 | | Birthday celebration for a friend named Ice Cream |
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Placing a Bible in the cornerstone as a symbol of building our lives
on the certain and true one foundation, Jesus Christ.
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| Dedication of a pastor's new home |
