Outreach Information!

I am so excited to tell you about our outreach to Thailand! Just as of this afternoon, I've received information about where exactly we're going and an idea of what we'll be doing.

Over the past 2 weeks, we have been going to God in prayer about where He wanted us to go and what He wanted us to do. In my last entry, I talked about some of the major things He spoke to us about outreach. Our leaders took that and prayed over the 110-120 outreach opportunities in Thailand and narrowed it down to about 12 locations. We then all individually read the descriptions and prayed over which ones we thought God wanted us to go to. Amy and Dave took our "answers" and prayed over them and came back today with the THREE locations. So exciting!!!

First, I'll tell you that we're going to be leaving either December 28th or January 1st; right now we are looking into our plane tickets, and are trying to get the cheapest price possible. Please be praying for a great deal! Anyway, we'll spend a few days in Bangkok, Thailand for orientation. Then we'll have a couple more days to travel by bus to our first location:

Aranyaprathet, a small town in Eastern Thailand that is right on the border with Cambodia. We will spend 2.5 weeks in Aranyaprathet. Here is the description of the ministry there: "In 2000, the Lord gave the staff at Mercy Ministries Foundation a burden for the people of Cambodia and in 2001 Mercy Ministries became a registered foundation with the Cambodian government. The physical and spiritual needs of the Khmer people is exceedingly great. Our goal is to open a children's home with the same vision for the Khmer children as we have for our homes in Thailand. Along with our vision for this children's home the Lord has directed us to open a preschool / feeding program for children 4-8 years old. Approximately half of the teachers in the public school system are volunteers due to the lack of government funds and the average primary school teacher has a fourth grade education. Our preschool is located in an urban slum and gives many children an opportunity to receive an education, good nutrition through the feeding program, and a chance to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ." You can go here for more information.

Next, we'll be going to Wattana Nakorn, which is a very small town next to Aranyaprathet. Here is a description... "The church in Wattana Nakorn is fairly new with 15-20 regular members... of which 20% speak Khmer, highlighting their Cambodian background. The opportunities are endless as the church has never had a team and is, in fact, located within an untouched region of Thailand. Your team can participate in such ministry as passing out tracts in the area, prayer walking in and around the town, as well as planting rice during the planting and harvesting seasons! Your team will also be invited to go into local schools and teach English to a wide variety of age groups. The church will also ask your team to preach the message, share your testimonies, do dramas, and even lead worship!" I am so excited about this little town! To think that we are able to go to an unreached area of Thailand blows my mind. God is so good! So we will be in Wattana Nakorn for 2.5 weeks too, and we'll also be going to Cambodia for one day.

Lastly, we'll be going to Mae Sot, which is on the Thailand/Myanmar border (western Thailand). We'll be in Mae Sot for 3 weeks. This is a ministry that 2 teams in the past year have gone to, and have had amazing success. I'll give you their description: "Pastor Michael is a Thai Pastor committed to working with Burmese refugees in the Mae Sot area, close to the Burmese border. He has developed a school called 'Morning Glory School' for Burmese and Karen refugee children and he employes struggling Burmese workers to teach the children. He has also begun small community development projects on the school property which help support the people. Ministry opportunities include village evangelism, children ministry, speaking at refugee camps, physical labor, Bible school teaching, and church ministry. This is a great location to minister with and to the Burmese people. Pastor Michael is a hard worker and has many connections throughout the area. Ministry opportunities never run dry here!"

I am so unbelievably excited for outreach! Please be praying for the outreach coordination to come together, as well as our ministry development, as we plan sermons, worship, dramas, activities, studies, etc.

Thank you so much for all of your thoughts, prayers, and encouragement. I am so blessed to have you partnering with me.