Hello Friends,
As promised, this is an update of what has been going on the last month or so. It is always exciting to see God answering prayers, and that is exactly what we've been experiencing over the last month. When we started doing ministry in the Cambodian work camp we knew that it would be challenging and it certainly has. We have made deposits of the gospel into dozens of individuals, but few have stuck around long enough for us to really disciple because they are constantly moving from job to job. But one individual, Rön-- he became a Christian through one of our Bible studies about 8 months ago--has been meeting with us weekly for nearly 8 months now. First he led his wife to the Lord, then his brother, and then a couple of his friends as well. It has been clear to us that Rön was a special guy. Unfortunately Rön and his family were not being paid by their employer so they recently returned to their small village in Cambodia. But when we started this ministry we began praying that we could make disciples who would plant house churches wherever God may bring them after they leave this camp. 2 weeks ago Chheang, our Cambodian teammate, went to Cambodia to visit Rön and encourage him to start a church in his village. Rön was hesitant because he felt underqualified, but he eventually agreed. Well we just got our first report from Rön... for the last week he has been gathering children in his home EVERY DAY to study the Bible and he is starting a house church for the adults as well. He is now hoping to start a chicken farm to support his family so he can stay in the village permanently and plant this church. It looks like Chheang will be going back to Cambodia regularly to continue training and encouraging Rön. One construction who came to faith in Jesus while he was in Bangkok now has the opportunity to reach an entire village with the Gospel. This is why we do what we do! GOD is so GOOD!
The other answer to prayer was in regards to the facilities we were trying to acquire. We have recently been able to rent 2 seperate facilities. One is storefront where our international church (Thonglor Christian Church), the Cambodian church, and hopefully a Hindi/Tamil church will be able to gather for worship. It is a small space, but it gives us a public presence in the city for the first time. We are very excited and thankful for the Lord's provision in this. We were also able to rent a 4 story house nearby that we are using an office, house for residents and interns, and training center. In fact, last week we had 9 of our Indian brothers here for a week of training as part of our Asian Leadership Institute. These facilities are going to allow us advance the mission further and make our resources go further as well. We are praising God for giving these good gifts in His perfect timing. Thank you so much for praying with us!
To that end, here are our current prayer needs.
- One of our Indian partners in Chennai has a desire to move to Bangkok and plant churches to reach the 125,000 Indians living in Bangkok. He, his wife Monika, and their infant son Boaz are looking to move here to join our team in August. Please pray for them as they raise support over the next couple of months. We also need prayers for God to provide a good way for them to obtain visas. We thought they could get student language visas, but for some reason none of the schools in Bangkok want to give Indians visas to learn Thai. We have some other options we are looking at, but we need prayer for wisdom.
- Please pray for us to make many new contacts in the Cambodian camp. Pray especially for God to give Chheang boldness to proclaim the gospel as he makes new friends. We need to find another Rön. Pray also for Rön and his wife as they planting this church in their village. They are already meeting some opposition, but the Bible tells us to expect this, so we are not discouraged and neither is he.
- Lastly, we recently found out that our nanny, a wonderful Filipino Christian woman whom we have employed for the last 2 years, has some health issues she needs to take care of that will require her to move back to the Philippines. We are sad about this. It is difficult to trust our babies with a stranger while we are at work, but we had really grown to love and trust her. Pray for God to bring the right person into our path who can take care of Lindlee as well as our last nanny did.
We love you all so much and are incredibly thankful for you. Blessing and peace be upon you.
The Belcher's