Wrappin Up- What God Is Doing!!

We have been home for 2 weeks, Doug, Tiffany and Sybil are immersed in school, and Jess and I in work. But we have heard some WONDERFUL news from those we worked with in Pattaya. Praise God for letting us be a part of it. Here is the text of an email we got from the missionaries we worked with:

"It is so hard to believe that your God could love someone who has done things as bad as me! I am a terrible sinner!”

Ms. Pin had been scraping out enough money for food for herself and her 3 children by working on the streets of Pattaya. For the past several years, she had been living the life of a “disposable plastic bag”, where people used her for their own purposes and then threw her in a rubbish heap to fend for herself.

She was hanging out near the beach in the Thailand tourist city of Pattaya when a strange looking group of 4 people approached her. One of the local Thai Christians, Maliwan, was with the volunteer group.

They sat down on the sidewalk and began explaining about the hope available to all of us sinners through an extraordinary God/Man named Jesus Christ. They used an “Evangecube” to explain the story. Pin was completely amazed at the possibility that this Creator God had prepared a way for her to escape the misery of guilt and shame in which she lived. This was hard to imagine! To Pin, God accepting her was like a King wading down into a mud pit and placing a scarlet robe around a mud-covered vagrant and taking them home to live in the palace!!

But as the good News of there being a real God who loved Pin was explained, Pin knew that it was true. In her desperate lostness and guilt, she believed and decided to commit her life to this true God and He became her personal Savior and Lord. Hard to imagine!

The team had met Pin during the course of distributing thousands of Gospel materials during the week. YOU had been praying for them and their local Thai Christian partners as they built relationships with employees in businesses by teaching them conversational English. YOU had been praying for them as they moved throughout the tourist city meeting people. YOU had been praying for them as they visited in Buddhist temples to dialogue with worshippers there to tell them about the living God.

Team Member, Tiffany, with new sister in Christ, Pin

YOU had been praying for Pin although you didn’t know her by name. The team that met her had no plans that morning to go down that particular street. They had made a spontaneous decision to stop as they were passing by on their way to another place. Hard to imagine, but through prayer, the Spirit of God directed the team to the soul that He intended for them to meet that day.

The afternoon after making her decision, Pin telephoned Maliwan and asked when she could come to study the Bible with her and learn more about her new-found Master. Maliwan explained that members of their local Thai church and the volunteers would be having fellowship together that evening and Pin should come too. She did.

That evening after some of the volunteers and Thai church members had shared about the impact that the week of serving God had had on them, Pin stood boldly to share her personal testimony of what God had done for her that day: “I am such a terrible sinner and have done such terrible things. I had no hope. I am so thankful that these people found me on the street today and told me how God loves me and will forgive me if I trust in Jesus Christ. It’s hard to imagine that you would accept me as part of your God-family.” Pin could not contain her emotions as she continued to share and she wept uncontrollably, “This is the best day of my life! I am so thankful to know that God loves me and forgives me.”

Pin came to worship on Sunday and brought a friend with her. She came again to the Wednesday night Bible study. So did 4 others who had received the materials that were distributed by the team and church members earlier that week. Two of those 4 decided to give their lives to Christ that night and entered into the Kingdom for all eternity. The other two are very interested as well, but want more time to consider this decision.

It’s hard to imagine but at another meeting this evening, Pastor Saeng and his wife Maliwan said that Pin had witnessed to the father of her children and had him call Saeng and Maliwan. They led him to the Lord over the telephone. Pray for him too as he begins a new life in Christ. He has been diagnosed as HIV positive, so needs your prayers in that regard too.

AL portion of our GA/AL team

Hard to imagine! So much fruit! We saw so many miracles of God’s orchestrating encounters and circumstances working to achieve our connecting with those who were receptive to hearing the Great News.

Ms. Jip is a new Thai believer who went out with the team every night. She had been so sick with fever one night while were distributing materials in the market that we insisted that she go home and go to bed. On our final night of fellowship Jip explained, “I came home from work and was very sick and wondered if I should go out with the team that night. I had to go because I knew they had come from the other side of the world to help us share God’s hope with our lost Thai neighbors. I could not stay at home in bed.

THANK YOU for praying for us all last week!!! It’s hard to imagine that the many miracles we saw would have happened without your prayers.

Without prayer, we don’t believe the team would have connected with Pin. Without prayer, Pin and the others who responded would not have been ready to believe and accept. Without prayer, Jip, Maliwan, Saeng and other church members who fell ill during the week would have not been able to have strength to continue on and work so hard. Without prayer, the team would not have been able to persevere having traveled the 25 hour trip to Thailand, and then working 14 hour days before returning home.

Please continue to pray for those that are still reading the books, watching the videos and hearing the voice of God’s Spirit encouraging them to call the telephone number stamped on every piece of material or visiting the church.

It would not happen without YOUR prayer support. We are so thankful for you!!!!

Rick and Cooky