October 2024 Newsletter

Dear Brethren,

October was a very busy month. It seems like we run from place to place without stopping. We continue to do all we can to glorify God with all our heart and strength.

We started the month by taking some of our students to practice their teaching skills. In order to do this, we have to find a place that will allow them to go and teach for a few days. Then we have to get permission from their school and from the government for them to go there and teach. Then we take them back and forth to the place on the arranged dates. We took five of our students to teach at a nursery school not too far from our dormitory. Before they went, they spent weeks preparing the materials they were going to use. They practiced teaching each other the lessons that they would teach the children. They did a great job. The head of the nursery school was very impressed. She said that we could bring our students there anytime. To thank the school for giving our girls an opportunity, we bought lunch for all the students.

We started the month by taking some of our students to practice their teaching skills.

As we reported last month, Northern Thailand has been devastated by flooding. The waters have now receded, but the massive cleanup is still underway.  Many places still do not have water or electricity. We have made food and bought food that we have passed out to flood victims. We have provided over 2,000 meals. We worked together cooking food at the church building.  It was a lot of fun working together to help others. We have passed out over 10,000 bottles of drinking water. We have also passed out hundreds and hundreds of cleaning supplies and tools to help with the cleanup effort.  It is hard to describe how truly thankful all of the people are who have received help. We are gathering and will soon pass out clothing for those who have lost all of their possessions. We also have more water to pass out. I want to thank those who have helped give relief to those who are suffering. Your love and generosity have helped many see the love of Christ. We will continue to do all that we can to help those who are still in need: we will help them with their physical need and share the love of Christ with them. If you want to help this effort, we will be continuing this work for at least the next two months.

We continue to help flood victims with food and water.

Preparing food for flood victims.

We had the first session of the Chiang Mai Bible School.  It was fantastic.  We were all encouraged and uplifted by studying God’s word together. We did an overview of the New Testament. Those who attended are still sharing with us how much they learned and enjoyed the school. We had 39 students who attended the school. All together with speakers, students, and cooks… I think there were around 54 people here for the week.  We had a lot of others who wanted to come, but due to the lack of sleeping space, we had to limit the number of students. I want to thank Greg, Perry, and Joey who came from the US and did the teaching for this school. They did a great job. I also want to thank a dear brother from Laos, Xai, who came and helped me do the translation of the lessons. He was truly a blessing and encouragement. I know that in continuing this school, we will help the church to grow spiritually, grow in knowledge, and grow numerically. Please note the picture of all the young men who are planning on being preachers!! While right now we only have a few workers here in the North, God is working to have a mighty force to teach His word. The future of the church here is very bright!! Our next school is planned for the first week in February. The subject will be the life of Christ. We will have men come in and teach these schools and then the time between the schools, we will go over and reinforce what was studied in the last school.

Young men who want to be ministers.

The money has been sent to pay for the Bibles that are being printed.  I can’t wait to get these Bibles into the hands of the people here.  This is so important!! It is God’s word that has the power to change people’s lives. It is His word that is the power of salvation. We need people to have God’s word, study God’s word, and live God’s word.

Chiang Mai Bible School.

One other update… thanks to your love and generosity, the land for the expansion of this work has been purchased. Phase 1 has been completed, we have the land needed. Now we will move into Phase 2… building.  I am working on plans for expanding our auditorium and building a new dormitory. Included in the plans for the dormitory are: temporary stay and long-term stay rooms.  There will be large rooms for people to stay when we have schools, camps, and gospel meetings.  There will be a room for men who are preparing to be preachers.  They will stay and study the Bible each day and also have practical experience by going and teaching each week. We would also like a suite for those who come to teach.  When we have this completed we will be able to allow all who want to come to the schools to come and study God’s word. We will be able to have all camps and gospel meetings here. We will also have a permanent preacher training and practice facility. If you can help with funds to build and expand our work together here, it will be greatly appreciated. I know that God will continue to bless us as we continue to work together to spread the gospel, expand the kingdom, and glorify Him.

God bless,
Michael