Wednesday 26 Jun
Jesus is at work in and through our lives.
Glenn in Thailand writes, "Recently I had the joy of visiting our believing friends in the rural area. On the drive out I was listening to a devotion based on the early parts of Paul’s letter to the Romans. The devotion reminded us that Jesus is a history changer.
Not only was history changed some two thousand years ago, but that Jesus is able to change the history of our lives, of our families’ lives, of our communities. The devotion goes on to say that Romans is a world changing book. It was after reading Romans that the lives of Augustine in the year 386 CE, Luther in 1514 CE and Wesley in 1738 CE were changed, and as a result, also the course of the world. It got me viewing things differently.
As I was driving out to the rural area, it got me thinking of the team members that have gone before us, ministering to our friends, and changing the course of history in these places. While Buddhism is the official and predominant religion of the area, I know that through the work of previous team members, Jesus has changed history in this area.
While the Communities of Faith are still small within their communities, it is so encouraging to see the difference that Jesus has made in their lives. Over the weekend, Dema, Carolyn, Muana and myself were able to come alongside the leaders of the faith communities in training in the Bible and discipleship.
During a worship time, some of the believers shared stories of seeing Jesus act in their lives. One of the hard things that Ethnic Thai new believers sometimes struggle with, is making the transition of removing the physical religious things in their life, such as spirit houses, statues of buddha, amulets etc.
One believer shared that she had been praying for an opportunity to remove her spirit house. Culturally, this is not an easy thing to do, as it requires a monk to come and perform a special ceremony before the structure is removed. But she said that one day a tree miraculously fell directly on the spirit house, allowing her to be able to remove it.
Another believer shared about a time when a flood miraculously washed their spirit house away. It was so heart-warming to hear through these stories of Jesus working in their lives, making a way forward for them. History is reflecting their belief in Jesus.
As a team we have been excited to see the recent baptisms of the local believers, and we can see that right now is an important time of renewed stability and growth, both in faith in Jesus and willingness to share their faith with friends and family.
We can see that God leading us to step into new endeavours. One of these endeavours is to have a place that the Communities of Faith can call there own, a place to be able to come together and worship Jesus in their own distinctive way.
You can find out more about that here >>
Watch video with captions >>
Local Income Generation project (code: TMwh707)
The other endeavour is a pilot project that will see our team come alongside our friends and help them find ways to sustainably generate more income. Just last week we were out in the rural areas, when we heard from MT, one of the strong hearted leaders in the community.
She shared how, while it has usually been tough to make ends meet to provide for her family of three, this year she has been finding it even tougher, with changes to the way things are done here leaving her feeling very uncertain about the future.
This project is about developing pathways for increased agricultural production, coupled with practical and financial training to provide a toolkit for the families involved to find their feet in a safe and supported environment.
We invite you join with us in this opportunity to stand alongside the Community of Faith in rural Thailand and support them, showing God's love in both word and deed. You can find out more about this project here >>
Thank you for your partnership!"
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