People Series: Part 5

Assumption University HuaMak campus

We meet Luke** last Christmas season. Before we had even started the Alliance University Center, Keith started a on-campus Bible study. And last December we threw a Christmas party for that group. Most of the people who came to the Christmas party had already come through the Bible study, but then there was Luke. Luke is a professor at the university and he happened to be on campus that day. So he was invited to come in for some cookies, snacks and party activities.

After the party, Keith exchanged contact information with him and they set up a time to meet. Before they even met for the first time, Luke wrote Keith a message that said, if he wanted to meet as friends that would be fine, but don't tell me about Jesus and try to convert me because I am not interested.  Keith agreed to meet with him.

He and Keith met several times and every time the conversation would naturally drift to Jesus. Then Keith went away to Australia to help out with missions mobilization there for six weeks. When he returned to Thailand, he began to follow up with several of the people he had been out of touch with while he was away, one of whom was Luke.

After receiving Keith's message, Luke immediately responded that he had been thinking of Keith and would love to meet up and discuss something that happened to him recently.

So they set up a time to meet and Luke shared that he had a dream. In his dream he stated there was a presence of evil like he had never experienced before, not something that was a typical nightmare. Previously his mother had told him if he ever experienced evil and felt in danger, he should do Buddhist chanting and prayers, but for some reason this time he felt inclined to invite Jesus to come into his life and get rid of this evil. So he invited Jesus into his life, the evil left, and he said it was one of the most impactful experiences he has ever had in his life. As Keith talked he re-iterated the gospel message, about believing in and following Jesus. Keith then asked well, I guess you believe and are following Jesus now, right? Luke responded yes, and proceeded to tell him his life has been completely renewed through Christ.

May you be encouraged with the people in your life who you are sharing the good news of Jesus with. Even those you believe are too far away, our job is simply to be faithful in the proclamation, and God will bring the success.




**names have been changed to respect the individual's privacy

People Series: Part 4

 

One Sunday morning, just after the preparatory prayer time before the service, one of the ladies from the church approached Keith about going to pick up some kids from a nearby neighborhood. Keith was busy, preparing his heart for the upcoming service and getting ready to preach the sermon. However, he decided to follow whatever God may be doing and take her to go pick up these kids. 

Although, he decided to trust God and go, that didn't mean that he wasn't a little bit skeptical, 

"Are there going to be any kids when we drive there?"  

"Is this even OK with the parents?"    

"Do the kids actually want to come to church?"    

People Series- Part 2

Next in this series is our friend Joom.

From the time Joom was a teenager, she lived a devout Buddhist life. She followed all the right rules and was always looking for ways to do good deeds. She even became a strict vegetarian, so she would not receive any bad karma for eating any killed animals (since that's a sin in Buddhism). She followed the ways of her family, specifically her Grandmother, in trying to live a pure life. But she felt empty inside, and could never be perfect.

People Series-Part 1

We are really growing in our friendships and connections here in Isaan, Thailand. So we thought that it would be nice to use this space over the next couple months or so, to share about the people who are impacting us. We hope this will be an encouragement to you and help you get a better picture of our life and ministry in Northeastern Thailand.


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.