Getting on board for the journey

No matter what stage we are at in life, we are travelling on a journey ... a journey that hopefully the Living God is directing us on. Life is short and uncertain, so it is wise to ensure our journey is God's best for us. We can discern God's best by listening to Him and seeking His Heart. In this we can be assured that He has awesome plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11-13).

Our journey at this point in time has us training leaders in the new church plant in our local slum community. Like any journey it is quite challenging - trying to understand people's nuances when they speak which are often immersed in culture that is still 'foreign' to us. Also, there is challenge in knowing how best to train these humble people .... we definitely don't train in the same way we would in Australia. We need to fit into their culture and relate and serve them in the best way for them to understand. So, I ask you to "get on board" this journey with us by praying for wisdom, resilience and faithfulness on our part.

Image 1: A Thai Family on a journey together in Samut Prakan

We have been on the Leadership Development phase of this journey for at least 3-4 months already. Like the Thai family in Image 1 above, the journey has sometimes being a little uncomfortable as we try to fit together and meet their needs. It is our role to serve these new leaders who have only been followers of Christ for around 1-2 years. Please pray we remain faithful and obedient in this Leadership Development phase and that they continue to grow in caring for one another and reaching out to the communities around them.

As we listen carefully to God we believe the next stage of our journey is taking us to the Isaan Region of North East Thailand, where around 22 million people live - most of whom have not heard about the Good News. God is preparing the way for this journey with many details being worked out before our very eyes - even before we ask for them!

Image 2: A group of friends on a journey down an Ubon Ratchathani city street

Like the people grouping together on a journey in Image 2 above, we desire to serve WITH Isaan people and others that God chooses to bring alongside us in Ubon Ratchathani and the surrounding provinces of Si Saket, Surin and Kalasin. Please pray the path ahead would be clear (like it is for the truck in Image 2) and that many would join us to go on this journey together. Again - a reminder - praying with us means you are on this journey with us to reach the unreached. Be encouraged because God will bless your partnership as we "travel" together :-)

Reaching the poor - Isaan strategy

You have probably caught up with the fact that we are intending to move to the Isaan Region of North East Thailand by the end of this year to start a new team "Sowing Seed to Plant Indigenous Churches".

Seed sowing is an important occupation in this large region of 21.5 million people. It is mainly poor rural communities that make up Isaan - main industry is agriculture, with the production of Sticky Rice accounting for 60 per cent of the cultivated land in Isaan. However, Isaan is the driest and poorest region in Thailand - all of Thailand's 10 poorest provinces are in Isaan (the poorest province is Si Saket, which is just to the west of Ubon). Isaan has a history of being dominated and oppressed by various regimes over the last 800 years - which paints a painful past for the ethnolinguistic groups that occupy the region (Isaan, Lao and Khmer).

We are excited about the potential here for great things to happen and for building on the work already started by others in some parts of the region. In early May we are making another survey trip to the Isaan and visiting with a Thai Christian worker in the needy province of Si Saket (poorest province in all of Thailand) to see how we can partner with him in the future.

What is a picture of the need in Isaan?

The following statistics give a stark picture of the spiritual need in Isaan and are what God is using to drive my heart toward the unreached .....

Population per 1 evangelical Christian

Regional Data - Thailand (174), Isaan (634), Bangkok (113), Chiang Mai (20), Chiang Rai (17)

Isaan provincial data - Khon Kaen (528), Ubon (844), Surin (1,076), Si Saket (1,068), Kalasin (1,303)

This data shows that in order to evangelise their respective provinces, each Christian in Chiang Rai only needs to reach 17 people, while each Christian in Kalasin needs to reach 1,303 people. Much God-honouring work has been done in the past in areas like Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai and we celebrate the progress of the Good News in those places. But these figures demonstrate the enormity of the missions task STILL to be done in the Isaan region and its true nature as a largely unreached area.

Crowds of Isaan people gather at a concert in one of the cities

My heart cries deeply as Jesus spoke about the harvest being plentiful but the labourers are few. This truly reflects large sections of Thailand, with a heavy focus on the 20 provinces that make up the Isaan region.

Challenge to pray

Will you pray with us as we seek to build a team strategy, survey and build a plan of action over the coming months to reach the great unreached region of Isaan in North East Thailand. Please pray that seed would be sown in relationship building that lasts for eternity to give people an opportunity to hear the Good News about Jesus.

Moving on in tears ....

Yes, we are planning a move from Samut Prakan to another part of Thailand by the end of this year - to do similar ministry. After 3-4 years of sweat and tears, God blessed us with the official opening of our church plant in our local slum community (see photos after this 1st paragraph). This seemed impossible 7 years ago (end 2004) when we did the surveying and then even more impossible when we started the reality of working there 4 years ago in 2008. But God does more than we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20,21 - my life favourite verse). During that time we have seen God bring people to Himself in a new faith, and taken us through some incredibly difficult times, given us strength through discouragement, gave us the opportunity to train a team of Thai leaders and now He gives birth (officially) to this new church! We are hanging around for a few more months yet, until we are sure they are fully equipped to reach out to new slum communities in our city.

Picture 1: The church gathering from the back

Picture 2: The "front door" of church :-)

God is faithful .... as a quote from my autobiography says "Never doubt His faithfulness and His character to do more than what you can ask or imagine. Believe in the impossible and what mankind says is unattainable until, through God’s strength, it becomes possible and attainable."

Moving on doesn't mean abandoning an area or ministry (i.e. the urban poor) .... it means giving it freedom to 'fly on its own' - in a similar way that God called us to do with our children when they became adults. 'Flying on your own' grows maturity and dependence on God like nothing else - we've seen that with our own children. Now we hope to see it with this new church plant.

God has convicted me strongly in this country (and taught me through some very hard lessons) to be careful to hand things over to local believers (when the time is right) and remove myself from the temptation of squashing their initiative with my control tendencies.

I have observed Jesus' example and Paul's example of an incarnational approach to ministry. But they never stayed in a place for very long. In Jesus short time of ministry He lived in at least 3 different places (Bethlehem, Egypt and Nazareth). In His ministry He travelled extensively to many places - moving on when He sensed the time was right! Paul, while being very incarnational, only planted himself in any location for up to 2 years (his longest was in Corinth for 2 years).

I firmly believe I see the best fruit when God uses me (only by His Grace for an deserving sinner like me) to pioneer a new work where people haven't heard about Jesus, see God bring them to Himself and then grow them into a new church. What comes next is incredibly hard for me - MOVE ON !! God is now telling me to do just that. He is also telling me to maintain an apostolic connection for the rest of my life with the slum ministry in Samut Prakan. He is now telling me to follow His path to work in reaching the great unreached region of Isaan.

I choose to obey my God - in tears I choose to move on .... watch this space over the coming months as we share more of the vision to reach the 21.5 million Isaan people group of North East Thailand - where the poorest of the poor live in this country.

Good news story

By God's Grace we have been interacting with people and working in our local slum community for around 3 years now. Our approach has been very simple ....

- pray ... into strongholds and for new openings,

- serve ... the community according to their needs,

- build ... relationships through whatever means God opens and provides,

- search ... out 'a person of peace' (c.f. Luke 10:1-9),

- pray & prayer-walk ... regularly through the community,

- pray ... again and again,

- wait on God ... for opportunities to share about His Grace while praying again,

- wait on God ... to bring people into a believing faith of Him while praying again,

- celebrate ... new birth and encourage new believers,

- meet ... with new believers regularly, with emphasis on getting them into the Word of God and praying with believing prayer,

- build ... a new church around the original 'person of peace',

- seek God ... to build a vision of outreach into new communities and pray together for these communities to start the process over again.

With praise to God we celebrated 5 new believers in this community last week. :-) Our small fellowship has grown by 50% overnight. It is by God's Grace that these new believers will remain faithful over the years. I don't know the outcome of that at this stage. Other new believers in our other slum community, a further distance from where we live, have struggled. BUT, the new believers in our local slum community who met Jesus around 18 months ago are going strong and loving new discoveries in the Word of God.

Jen & I with 3 of the new believers of 18 months ago and 2 of the original members of this church plant

It is beyond my human comprehension how God begins to transform a community that once had no hope. Ephesians 3:20,21 reminds me that nothing happens in my human comprehension anyway. It is an awesome privilege to serve the Living God and be a part of what HE is doing. In our 4 years here there have been huge setbacks and unbearable periods of pain (physically, emotionally and spiritually). But it is all worth it when a community begins a process of transformation before your very eyes!! It is all worth it when the God of the universe decides to involve the worst of sinners (i.e. me) in His plans!! There is very little else that brings such tears and weeping to my heart and eyes.

Community of hope? not at the moment

As I lay sick in bed from dengue fever during May and then unable to move because of back problems, God brought to mind one of our communities to pray for regularly. When I had the strength to pray, I wrestled with God over the plight of our larger slum community - a community in which we have worked for around 2 years now. Yet there remains little visible fruit from the hard sweaty labour. Unlike our local slum community (which is the smaller of the 2 communities in which we work) where the fruit has been good, we are struggling in the larger slum community to plant a strong community church with faithful people. We do have a small church there but it is struggling because of the veil over the community of no hope. God spoke directly to me, as I lay on my bed listening to Him, about the reasons for this - which is really the subject of another blog .... watch this space ! :-)

But in the meantime, God has provided for us to open a Ministry Resource Centre in this larger community - thanks to a generous one-off donation a few years ago from St James Menangle in Sydney ( http://www.menangle.anglican.asn.au/ ). We have named this Centre the House of Hope. It is placed in the middle of this large community that has no hope. Daily, in this community, we are faced with heartache and pain that would rip open even the hardest of hearts. It is a smelly, sweaty place that some residents desire to get out of ..... and some do if they are lucky enough to find a job and get some money. I have posted 2 videos below of the opening of our Ministry Resource Centre last Saturday - please check them out, but then please read on AFTER the videos as I share an opportunity in this community which God is urging us to jump at !!! ....

I wrote above that this Community has no hope. There are lots of reasons for this which stem from a spiritual stronghold over the place of drugs, alcohol, bitterness, jealousy and hatred. BUT the community is also bracing itself for the ultimate building of the Skytrain which will put a station right outside this place. The community of around 5,000 people is owned by one person who rents the swamp to poor people who build wobbly structures on it. This one person is now likely to sell his swamp in 2-3 years to developers to build condominiums for richer people to live next to the new Skytrain station. Residents will then be thrust out to other swamps/communities they can find to build makeshift dwellings. Many have lived here for over 30 years, so the breakdown in community that will occur is horrendous. BUT .....

God is in control and I believe this is a unique OPPORTUNITY to disciple new believers before they are ultimately thrust out to new locations. Could this be a strategy to reach the unreached communities in our city?, bearing in mind we have only impacted 3-4 of the 30 slum communities at this stage. Please pray for God to open hearts and bring down strongholds of hopelessness in this community and grow this opportunity to disciple people BEFORE they are thrust out in order to reach all communities. Will you take up this challenge with us and pray?

It only takes one Sovereign touch

I felt compelled to write this blog while recovering from Dengue Fever - a debilitating fever that requires rest for as long as it takes to recover. I'm only up to one week's rest so far, only God knows how long He wants me to rest. I never get bitten by mosquitoes, while Jen always gets lots of bites. But the one Sovereign bite I got must have been by a Dengue mosquito.

This reminds me of the Sovereign touch from the Spirit of God ... it only takes one powerful touch and then someone is infected by the Almighty Living God. We have seen that one powerful Sovereign touch in lives already. Have a look at the photo below and then I'll talk you through only a few stories of the touch from God ....

This was taken last week as we led some members of our small community church in Klong Da Nu slum community through a game putting together events from the Bible into chronological order. The 2 guys on the right (squatting) are Bom and Lung Bratheung (Bom's father). Lung Bratheung was touched from God around 13 months ago and is developing as a leader in this new church plant. His son Bom and some of his household have since been touched from God and also are now believers. The guy on the left in the white singlet is Lung Tui. Every week for almost 2 years I visited Lung Tui's little shack to collect his grandson who he cares for and bring him to the kids activities we were holding in a different part of the community only 2 minutes walk away. Lung Tui was always happy for his grandson to go with us because he liked us. Lung Tui was also touched by the Sovereign hand of God and has since decided to follow Jesus. Lung Tui has a hunger to 'eat God's Word'. Every week he has questions and is desiring to learn ... he loved this game because he wants to know how everything in the Bible fits together.

I was pondering on this during one of my many rests in bed this week. Let me introduce to another who had one Sovereign touch from God. He is in the picture below.

This is Pedro - a young Thai man who has been discipled by Noom (our son-in-law) and our daughter Karis as he lives with them in Ubon Ratchathani. Pedro is pictured here leading worship for us in the same slum community last week. God has sovereignly provided Pedro for us and brought him to live with Jen & I for the next 3 months to help us in the ministry. All this at a time when I need to rest and recover from my sickness. To have someone on our team who obviously knows the language and culture (especially at this time when God sovereignly knew I would not be able to do much) is an amazing Sovereign touch from God!

Please pray with us for more Sovereign touches from God.

The plan from here

The central business district of our city

In a few weeks, God willing, we'll be back in Samut Prakan after spending around 7 months in Australia. For the first 2 weeks we are staying at a friend's condo while we look for suitable accommodation in Samut Prakan in the same district we were living last year.

Communication will be a challenge for the entire month of February (and maybe into March) as we'll be restricted only to Internet cafes until we find a place to live and then get Internet connected there ..... so only email ... no blogs ... no VOIP phone ... no Skype!

Please pray for us in February that God will provide a suitable place in or near to our local slum community. We start by praying and walking the streets (that we know so well after living there from 2008 to 2010) and asking people and looking for lease signs. No real estate agents in our 'neck of the woods' !!

Some typical housing in our district

Please pray for us in March that God will provide a smooth process for our visa. We enter the country on a 90-day visa, but then need to convert it to our annual work permit associated with our new Foundation. If this is is not processed within 90 days of our entry (around 1 May) we will have leave the country and re-apply in Singapore for another 90 days. The work permit can only be applied for in-country.

Please pray for us in February to April that we will adjust to the oppressively hot weather (not uncommon for it to be 40+ degrees by April with high humidity - it's the build-up to the wet season). Also please pray in February to April that we adjust quickly back to ministry to the urban poor, that we give our very lives (".... we were delighted to share with you not only the Gospel of God but our very lives as well ..." I Thess. 2:8) as we build relationships and plant new fellowships that glorify God.

Also in February to April we have a few visitors who are 'checking out the work' in Samut Prakan with a view to where they may serve in the future. Please pray for clear direction for us and them.

Well .... that's the plan from here. But we are always mindful of the fact that "in his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps" (Prov. 16:9). Bless you our readers, friends and prayer partners that you would continue to feel a vital part of bringing in the harvest of the unreached urban poor.

Exciting Opportunities in Samut Prakan

We are increasingly focusing on our next term in Thailand (2011-14) and in which direction the Work is heading. Recently, there has been some exciting developments regarding longer-term visas, work with the Foundation, and future partnerships on the ground in Thailand, which we will write about soon to those who regularly receive our prayer letters. Our Home Assignment time in Australia over these last 6 months has been enjoyable catching up with many friends and seeing so much of our beautiful home country again. But, now it is preparation time for another term of service overseas.

We were blessed in the previous term (2007-10) with many short-termers visiting and this looks set to continue over the next year at least. But, one of our priorities over 2011-14 is to build longer-term team - given the enormous amount of work to be done in planting new cell churches in every slum community in the 1.2 million urban-industrial province of Samut Prakan. Yet, at this stage, it is only Jen & I working among this group on this task. So, here goes a little plug for the many job opportunities on the Samut Prakan team followed by 3 pictures depicting some life there ....

Our focus is on the urban poor. Our strategy is firstly to share Jesus holistically (as meeting spiritual, physical, emotional and mental needs). Secondly, to disciple new believers, in a church planting context, so they are equipped to reach out to their own people. This strategy is mindful of the need to adopt a learning approach and to offer ourselves as servants of the people – as shown by the examples of Jesus and the Apostle Paul. To this end, we need people who love Jesus and want to make Him known, have a desire to serve the urban poor and have skills, or experience and/or training in any of the following areas ...

- TESOL teaching
- Starting up micro-enterprises with the poor
- Youth and/or children’s ministry
- Sports ministry(soccer, basketball etc.)
- Community / health development with the poor
- Health professionals (esp. doctors, dentists)
- Musicians
- Artistic / craft design
- Providing addiction recovery
- Environmental management
- Training leaders and/or discipling new believers

If any of this speaks to your heart, then please contact us. Then we can journey in discovering together whether working in this exciting ministry is for you. If God is prompting you, PLEASE listen to Him :-)

Some of our kids in our local slum community on our last day with them in June this year

Our cell church in our local slum community

Living conditions for many are very poor - this guy's name is Phil :-)

Feel free to comment or discuss further and to pray and partner with us in Samut Prakan for God's Glory. Until we see Him face to face, Phil

Thailand Ministry Images

Check out our new video "Thailand Ministry Images". Some of you may have seen this video already as we have used it to present to groups over the last month. The video was made by a friend who visited us for a week in April 2010, so contains some excellent live images of bits of our work there. Why not have a look and leave feedback or a comment :-)



We continue to be on furlough in Australia and it is our plan to return to the work in Thailand with the urban poor in January 2011.

Our first 3 years in Thailand

We are enjoying our Home Assignment in Australia, experiencing an Aussie winter again after 3 years of intensely hot weather in Thailand. I have compiled a very amateur video of our first 3 years in slum ministry in Thailand. Please have a look, feel free to drop a comment and enjoy :-)

Also, use this to stimulate you to partner with us in prayer. The needs are great, only God can adequately meet all the needs through His riches in Glory in Christ Jesus (Phil.4:19). What a privilege it is to serve the Living God - made possible only through His sovereign Grace :-)

STOP PRESS - we will shortly have 2 more videos put up made more professionally by a friend with videoing skills .... watch this space.

Settling back into Australia

We have now been back in Australia for 3 weeks. Leaving Thailand seems like a blur, but before we know it we'll be back again to the ministry in Thailand in mid January 2011. Some things have been strange back in Australia such as:

- cars stopping for you at zebra crossings,

- relative absence of people in the streets (maybe because of the cold in Canberra),

- the rough Aussie accent (especially that of our new Prime Minister), which we appreciate would be hard for new learners of English to understand,

- the huge choice in the shops in varieties of Tim Tams and Easy Mac ...... and the list goes on!

But now we are back we are fully into re-connecting with people. It has been our priority to understand where many of our friends are at after 3 years and to appreciate their vastly different journeys to ours. We have also spent considerable time lately sharing with organised groups about the needs in Samut Prakan and the unfinished job at hand.

Our sendoff from our friends in Samut Prakan in early June seems sooooo long ago now, but below are a few images of this occasion .........

Some of our stuff is carried off by a friend to storage for the 7 months

I'm Saying goodbye to one of our key ministry partners - Ajarn Chaiyut

Two friends saying goodbye at Bangkok airport with Jen

Some of Matt's friends giving him a final hug

So, we have left Thailand for now. We ask you to pray that we remain faithful as we continue in ministry for these months in our own culture. :-)

1,033 days on ..... expectations exceeded

That's the length of time we have been in Thailand ... wow, what a journey it has been!! We look forward now to catching up with friends and family in Australia for the next 7 months.

We have seen God exceed our human expectations, but at the same time are not surprised because God can do immeasurably MORE than all we ask or imagine (see Ephesians 3:20,21). We have been "riding on God's Back" as He does His work in Samut Prakan - we have simply been His willing (and some days not so willing) servants. Sure, the heat and humidity and general daily discomfort of living conditions get to you, but in the end it is worth it seeing the Hand of God in people's lives and His transforming power to behold. Only last Sunday, after preaching on Mark 13 at church God gave me the blessing of praying with a friend from our local slum community as he received Jesus as his Lord and Saviour.

Blessing of praying with Brateung as he receives Jesus

What then are expectations of our time back in Australia?

Firstly, to have quality time with friends and family. We will not push ourselves onto you but will serve those who are willing to have the time. This we hope will include lots of laughter, but may also include some tears (depending on what you - our friends - and we have been through over these last 3 years).

Secondly, we would like to share our burden for cross-cultural mission in Asia and want to (with passion) share with those who will listen how you can be involved in a great movement of God's Spirit across Asia. We want to celebrate God's Goodness together with you.

Thirdly, we will need to take some rest time in our own culture for a change. So, we do expect to get to the surf and also to the mountains and Aussie bush at some stage. Also, getting to see the Rabbitohs will be high on the list - wouldn't it be great if they made the grand final this year?

In the meantime, please continue to pray with passion for our friends here that God would continue to transform lives in the slum communities of Thailand. Below is a picture of our last cell church meeting last week. We praise God that after 2 years of meeting every week with only one of these people in our local slum community that God has added to the number for His Honour and Glory. What a Great God have we!!

Riding on God's back

Whenever I go to either of our 2 slum communities I am greeted by several smiling little Thai faces calling out "kru fil ma laew ... khii lang, khii lang". Basically, what they are saying is "teacher Phil is here, can we ride on your back". Generally, these kids have no fathers, they live with their grandmothers or another relative and yearn for male attention and rough play. The only attention they normally get from adults is an aggressive hit over the head. So I respond to their plea by giving them a ride on my back. I pay for it the next day - most of the time with a sore and stiff back. I've come a long way from someone who (at times) couldn't walk because of my injured back, as a teenager I was told I needed an operation with at least 1 year's convalescence.

Check out the video below of a happy little 8 year old (called Jet) taken a year ago riding on my back. If the video doesn't load you can view it on my Youtube channel.

As we conclude our first term of service in Thailand it occurs to me that this is what we have been doing - we have been riding on our Father God's back. It is only Him who has kept us faithful during opposition. During this time He has established a ministry here in the urban slum communities. He has planted 2 cell churches to be a strong and faithful witness in these 2 communities. We have also seen people make commitments to follow Him as their Lord and Saviour. Let's not be under any illusion here - it was God alone who was preparing to do a work in Samut Prakan 3 years ago. We've just come here and have ridden on His back. Zechariah 4:6 confirms this when it says " .... not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord Almighty".

The video below shows a prayer time at the end of our cell church meeting in one of these slums. In this particular slum we started a small cell group (when we started a kids ministry) around 2 years ago with the only believer in this community. It is a huge blessing to see what God is doing as He "adds to the number those who are being saved" (Acts 2:47) and has raised up solid Thai leadership ..... no need for me to teach here anymore and we can feel thankful and 'blessed out of our boots' as we go on Home Assignment next month. Watch and enjoy what God has done :-)

Yes, riding on God's Back is the best thing we can do. What are you going to do in your life? I plead with you to choose to ride on God's Back - it is worth it, you get to see things from a HIGHER perspective, you get protected by the strongest back in the universe, you get to have fun !! However, it is a bumpy ride sometimes but I can testify it is worth it and I wouldn't exchange riding on His Back for anything else in this world !!! :-)

Cell church in the slum

Just wanted to give you a 'small peek' into the cell group we run in Klong Da Nu slum community. Every Thursday we meet with 3 believers and are often joined by neighbours or other interested people who want to see what it is like to worship the Living God. Klong Da Nu is a community of around 700 people.

This video was taken last Thursday. If you have problems viewing the video here, you can also view it on my YouTube page at http://www.youtube.com/user/malonephil
along with other videos there.

This is very early stages of church planting in an urban slum community. After 18 months of working in this community we feel a part of it. God has used this time to build credibility for His Name amongst a people who are hurting from a range of issues in their lives and background. God has given many opportunities from these many friendships to share about the Good News. It is long and hard work, but a privilege to testify to the faithfulness of God in our our own lives.

Faces of Klong Da Nu Community

Please pray for us as we continue to work in this community on days when the temperature reaches 40 degrees with high humidity. You may notice in the video a wet towel around my neck (this is a necessity at this time of the year).

We are now in the midst of the lengthy Thai summer break when schools are closed and many return to their rural provinces for time with their wider families. It is also the Thai new year in a couple of weeks. So, from Monday 22 March we will be on holidays for around 4 weeks (which will include a conference with our mission agency in the middle of that time) and include a celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary with all our children. So, we probably won't blog again until late April :-) Happy new Thai year.

A new year - God's work continues (part 2 of 2)

Part 2 of "God's work continues" features a small selection of the fellow believers that we work with - Thai people who love Jesus and desire to make Him known to others that have little opportunity in life.

Our church - this is where we meet with some great people on Sundays

Probably one of my greatest joys in ministry in Thailand has been to connect with this fellowship of believers (known as Muang Samut Prakan Church). I am thoroughly blessed as we meet together to worship the Living God - frequently, I am overcome with tears at the goodness of God as we worship together in that simple building pictured above. They have helped us grow our worship in Thai and have partnered with us in every aspect of the ministry in which God has called us to do here in Samut Prakan.

Our friend and church pastor - Ajarn Chaiyut

Ajarn Chaiyut did his theological training in America, so he can speak English. However our friendship has been built with him using only Thai language. On the rare occasions when I preach (about 3-4 times a year), he translates into Thai for me as I am not confident enough to preach in Thai yet. He has a good understanding of the Bible himself and faithfully teaches and preaches God's Word. God used him to start this church around 12 years ago. It has since grown to now have somewhere between 70 and 90 regular attenders (including children). Every Tuesday morning for about 2-3 hours we meet with and pray with Ajarn Chaiyut as we work very closely on proclaiming Jesus in Samut Prakan and growing fellowships of believers in the many communities in which we work.

Mae Dukada - one of our "mothers" at church, aged 82 years

Mae Dukada speaks of renewed energy in her life since meeting Jesus for the 1st time only 3 years ago (at the ripe old age of 79). She lives a very simple lifestyle in a poor community but Jesus has provided everything she needs and she is satisfied with her new life in Christ. Last year she was attacked and robbed and suffered injury and bruising, but God protected her from losing her life. She says the only priority in her life now is to read God's Word and pray - God does everything else. She is a living example of God's faithfulness to the other older ladies in our church that come from poor communities. Praise God for Mae Dukada, we love her very much :-)

Jen with Jemoway in her house in the smaller slum community

Jemoway has worked with us for over 2 years now. She is full of the joy of the Lord despite having very little of her own things. She lives in one room that is her workroom (where she makes clothes), her kitchen and bedroom altogether ..... note the ironing board in the picture with a garment on it that she is making. Until recently Jemoway was the only believer in the smaller slum community in which we work (now, there are a few teenagers as well that Jen is discipling after the Christmas outreach). Every week in her room (pictured above) we have read God's Word together and prayed together for the establishment of God's church in her community. God is at work and the gates of hell cannot prevail against Him (see Matthew 16:18).

Please pray with us for these and others we work with who already know Jesus. Pray that we will encourage them to disciple the Thai church so that it grows into the next generation as a strong church that reaches the nation, the region of South East Asia and beyond.

A new year - God's work continues (part 1 of 2)

I was reading Colossians 4 a few days ago and God drew my attention to the following in verse 18 "... see to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord". There are 2 very important truths here - firstly, God requires resolute faithfulness and obedience from me ("complete the work") and secondly, this ministry in the slums of Samut Prakan comes from God, belongs to God and is for His Glory ("the work you have received from the Lord"). So we are into a new year, and I have no idea what it will bring. God willing, the year can be divided into 2 parts - ministry in Samut Prakan up to early June, then Home Assignment in Australia for the rest of the year.

So, in this blog, let me introduce you to some typical people that we work with who don't know Jesus (next blog I'll introduce you to some people we work with who do know Jesus) .....

This is the Committee Chairperson who runs/governs the larger of the slum communities we work in.

God has enabled us to find favour with him while he has observed our Saturday work with the many children in his community. It was this relationship that paved the way for the Christmas outreach to be held in the central community area where somewhere between 400-500 people attended and heard about Jesus for the first time.

This lady also comes from the same community - we teach her English each Thursday and have a very good relationship that opens the door in sharing the Good news with her.

She helped us tirelessly with the Christmas outreach, providing sweets for the 300+ kids who turned up. She also cooks us something yummy each week and/or takes us out for lunch. We have many good conversations with her, but she is tied to the cycle of "doing good to receive good".

This 8-year old boy from the larger slum community has hung with us for a year now. He is slowly growing into a friendship with Jesus.

His name in Thai means "ant". He displays typical behavioural problems associated with a child who has been abandoned by their parents. As he learns to trust Jesus fully, I firmly believe God will bring the healing he needs to be a whole person. He is seen here at the Christmas outreach throwing down his ticket number which was not called out for a present because we ran out of presents.

This lady lives in the smaller slum community in which we work.

She makes pegs - 10 hours work for a mere $2. She is very needy and has the added responsibility of caring for her grandchildren who have been abandoned by their parents. She loves chats with Jen and stopped me in the street yesterday to tell me how much she has missed us over the last week or so when we were away. As we share the Good news with her we are reminded that Jesus loves her and wants to see her come to Himself.

I have just opened a small window to only 4 people who are fairly typical of those in Samut Prakan for whom Jesus died and cares for, but still don't know the saving Grace of a friendship with Jesus. Please pray with us over the next few months in Samut Prakan that God's work will continue for His Glory and that we will remain faithful as the temperatures soar to over 40 degrees (celcius) and humidity hovers around 90-100 per cent.