The first person we want to share about is John.
John is from a small town about 80km from the city where we live.
He became a Christian when he was 20 years old. His friend's sister was a strong Christian and was faithful to share God's love and the gospel with him. It took two years of her inviting him to church before he finally decided to go.
The first time he attended church, he didn't end up making a decision for Christ, but he said he could feel the love there and he felt like he had worth. The second time he went back, he made the decision to become a follower of Christ!
After becoming a Christian, John felt discouraged living his same old life.
So he sought out an opportunity to go to Korea to work. However, none of the doors were opening for him to go. One evening, when he felt deeply discouraged, he prayed that God would make this come together for him. And that night he felt God telling him, "Don't be scared, I will help you." The following morning he woke up to a phone call informing him that he would be able to go!
While he was in Korea, he grew greatly in his relationship with Jesus. He went to bible studies, attended church and participated in evangelism weekly. As his time in Korea was coming to a close, he felt called to begin a coffee shop ministry back at home. He knew a pastor who ran a successful ministry through a coffee shop, and wanted to do the same in Thailand.
Praise the Lord, he now runs a coffee shop, Cafe Vie Nouvelle, near the local university which he uses as a base to do ministry.
And here's where we come in...When we first arrived in Sakon Nakhon, we were eager to plug in to the students at the university. We were praying that God would provide a way to gain access into that community, and then we met John.
We were excited to be able to partner with him and utilize his coffee shop as the base for our English ministry to reach out to the university students. Every Thursday night, we meet at Cafe VieNouvelle and spend about an hour playing games and practicing English conversation. Afterwards we have a time of studying the Bible and seeking the truth about who God is. It has been amazing to see God's hand over this time each week.
We feel so blessed by John's commitment to serve the Lord and feel grateful to be able to do ministry alongside him.
John would appreciate your prayers. He greatly desires to see people come to know God through his ministry. So let's pray for that and pray that the coffee shop would be finacially sustainable.
Also, please pray for John's family to come to know Christ. John is the only Christian in his family so far.