Pictures from Christmas Day Party

University students who came to the Christmas Party

Nim, Me, and Beau (SPU students-non-believers)

Manow (unbeliever) and Me

Me, Twang, and Champ (unbelievers but Champ is seeking)

Christmas Day in Bangkok!

Christmas Day in Bangkok was unique but was a great blessing. I didn't have any presents to open because none of them had arrived in the mail yet but that's o.k. I actually slept in which is something I love doing when the opportunity arises. I left my apartment about 11:15 to walk to Tim and Jill's house (my co-workers) so I could be there by 12:00 to help Jill clean her house, cook, or do whatever she needed to help get ready for the party that evening. I love walking even though I sweat a lot because it is at least 90 degrees here every day.

I got to their house before 12:00 and started preparing food for that night. I cut up lots of pieces of chicken and then made a marinade to put them in for a few hours. I made frosting and frosted a cake. I cooked garlic pork and several other things. I really enjoyed cooking because it is something I rarely do since I don't have a stove/ove. n in my condo. The only problem is that I needed to leave by 3:30 so I could get home to take a shower and be back by 5:00 for the party. I wasn't able to get everything done but I did help as much as I could.

I walked half way back to my condo and then took a taxi because I was in a hurry. I quickly got a shower and got ready and then headed back to their house to help with anything else that needed to be done before guests arrived.

It ended up being a terrific party/night. We started eating around 6:30 and then sang Christmas songs and then Tim shared from the Bible and one Thai lady shared her testimony. There were about 50-60 people who came. I was really excited because several of the University students came and they heard the story of Christmas. One of the guy students (Champ) told me he got goosebumps listening to Tim tell the story. He told me he never knew Christmas was because of Jesus birthday.

Praise the Lord for the many unbelievers who came and heard! It was a great Christmas!

Christmas Service

Puy and Me (Puy is not a believer. She graduated from SPU this last semester. This is her 2nd Christmas to come to Canaan.) She has heard the Good News but has not responded yet. These are 2 students from the class that I help to teach on Monday nights at the BSC. This is the first time they have been to church and heard the story.

Ham, Nice, Puy (back) me, Piaw, and Ann (front) Ham and Puy non believers from SPU. I have discipled Piaw, Ann and Nice. All 3 have been baptized and are growing in their walk with God.

Pimjaay's friend, me and Pimjaay. First time for both of them to come to church and hear the Good News!

I am a little late to post about our Christmas service last Sunday (19th). It was a great service. There were about 70+ people that came which is pretty good for a small church that averages about 20-30 people on a weekly basis. There were at least 25 or more non-believers that came and several of them came to church for the first time!

I was a little sad because most of the University students that I invited could not come because they had mid-term exams on that day and the next day. Since Sunday is not a religious day here they have classes and exams on Sunday just like any other day of the week. I was really sad about that but God has a purpose in everything.

I was excited though because Pimjaay (a Thai teacher at ULS) came and she brought a friend. Pimjaay was one of my Thai teachers from almost 2 years ago. I love how God has brought her back into my life through the BSC.

It was a great day of celebrating Christmas together all day long like a big family! God is so good!

The next big outreach will be this Saturday (25th) at my supervisor's house. Students are available to come to this one so we are expecing even more people than at church.

Ler's Story

Ler (in the red shirt) and Joanna

Ler has been a Christian for about 3 or 4 years. I am not exactly sure. I put her picture here with Joanna because Joanna is the one who brought Ler to the Lord. Ler became a believer as a high school student and Joanna was her math teacher :) Now Ler is a University student and has become a very active member at Canaan church. Ler is currently being discipled on Sunday afternoons from 1:00-2:30 with a small group of ladies. One of the lessons was about Baptism and Ler wanted to be obedient and be baptized. Ler is the only one in her family that is a believer but she has openly shared her faith with her family.

I am most amazed at Ler's dedication to the Lord and her desire to grow in her walk with the Lord. She memorizes scripture every week and is faithful every Sunday to study a new lesson or to help teach an old lesson to a person that missed a previous week. She is a very valuable member of the church and I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for her. She is a person that is very easy to train and lives what she teaches so I am praying that she will be used in 2011 in a mighty way on her college campus and to her family and friends.

P'Jib's story

Jill and P'Jib. Jill disciples P'Jib every Sunday afternoon from 1:00-2:30

P'Jib listening to the explanation of why we are baptized at the beach.

First I will explain why I wrote P'-- in Thailand if someone is older than you you should address them by saying P' and then their name. It is polite. At first I didn't like students and younger people calling me P'Ann but now I love it because it makes me Thai or at least almost Thai.

P'Jib has an exciting story too. She started coming to Canaan church years ago because her daughter (who is now in her late 20's) became a believer and would bring her mom to church with her. P'Jib came only to church when her daughter was in town. her daughter is a travel guide and is out of town a lot. P'Jib was not a believer at the time but she came whenever her daughter came. P'Jib had a lot of questions and began studying the Bible with Jill and became a Christian. Af first, she still only came to church when her daughter was in town because she lives far from church and doesn't know how to travel alone using the bus system.

Then one Sunday P'Jib appeared at church about 11:00 alone. She had taken the journey by bus alone. Now she comes faithfully every Sunday and most of the time alone. She even took the trip to the beach with us to be baptized and showed up at the church at 6:00 a.m. for the trip (alone). Another aspect of this story that just touches my heart is that P'Jib only has up to a high school education. She doesn't read well and is very slow to absorb things but she has been memorizing scripture every week! I am so excited for how God is working in her life and am touched by her faithfulness despite all of the obstacles she has to overcome.

She is a precious lady and I love telling her story because it touches my heart. 2 stories down 9 more to go.

Piaw's Story

This is Piaw. She is currently a student at Ramkhampaeng University here in Bangkok. Her story goes back before I ever thought about coming to Thailand. Piaw originally studied at a different University that had a summer ministry team. That was one of the Universities at the time along with SPU (where I am at now) that had American students there as a part of a summer team ministry. So, 3 summers ago Piaw became a Christian. After that she came to church from time to time but was never really discipled. My first year in Bangkok (2009-2010) she was coming to Canaan every once in a while so I really didn't know her very well. When I did see her I tried to get to know her more but the relationship was very surface level. One night God just put it on my heart to talk to her on facebook chat. I began asking her a few questions and asked her if she was involved in a Bible study group/cell group at the time and her answer was no. Then I asked her if she wanted to study the Bible and she said yes! That was in August (2010). Our first Bible study together was august 24th (which is my birthday). We have been meeting almost every week since then. I have seen God do some amazing things in her life. He is transforming her. Getting baptized was just one step in the growth. She has now been faithful at having her Quiet Time with God every day for 3 weeks straight! We continue to meet every week to study the Bible together. God is so good and His plan is perfect! Sometimes all we have to do is ask!

A Precious Picture

Yesterday was such an amazing day but it was also a tiring day. I was exhausted to wake up this morning and go to Sripatum but I had an appointment to study the Bible with Piaw (one of the girls who was baptized Monday) so I needed to get up and get going.

As I was walking into the University one of the students named Manow was calling me to meet up at the cold canteen (cafeteria). Manow always eats lunch with Piaw and me on Tuesday and she knows that we study the Bible in the afternoon. Manow actually went to camp this past summer so she has heard a lot of the Gospel. She doesn't show a strong desire to know more about the Bible but she does want to hang out with me so we will take that approach for now.

Anyway, let me get to the point where the title comes from--I was sitting at a table with Manow, Piaw, Oma, Aof, and Eric. We all ate lunch and talked. I was talking to Manow for a while about different things and I looked up and Aof, oma, and Piaw all had their Bibles open and were reading something together. What a precious picture. All 3 of them were baptized Monday showing their profession of faith and now they are at the Univ. campus reading their Bibles for the whole world to see!!! It is so exciting!! What a great witness to Manow and others sitting around.

Later in the afternoon I had a great Bible study with Piaw. I feel very blessed to be here and to be able to study God's Word with these new believers!

God's Hand at Work!

(Joe, Oma, Aof, Tong, Poon, Liw, Jib, Piaw, Annie, Pooky, and Ong)

Today was one of the highlights of my 2 years of serving here in Thailand! There are lots of highs and lows in the journey and today counts as being on top of cloud 9 :) Today was a Thai holiday so we headed off for the beach at 6:00 a.m. this morning to baptize 11 new Thai believers! We rented 2 vans and 1 family drove their car. There were over 30 people in all who went for the day.

This is actually the 3rd baptism that I have been a part of for Canaan Baptist Church since arriving here in January of 2009. This one was extra special to me though because I was able to play a role in some of the lives of those being baptized!

*3 students from Sripatum University who have become believers since this past summer were baptized. (Annie, Aof, Oma)

*2 students from other Universities in Bangkok were baptized also. (Liw and Piaw). I have been discipline Piaw for several months now and was able to teach her the lesson about baptism and immediately after that lesson wanted to be baptized.

*3 people that we met through our ministry at the BSC (Baptist Student Center) were baptized. (Pooky, Ong, Tong)

*3 people that came to Canaan through God's divine purpose were baptized also! (Poon, Joe, Jib)

I could write a long story about each of these people and how God has done a mighty work in their life! Each one is unique and amazing on how God brings people to HIMSELF!

Today is one of those days that I will never forget! It encourages me to keep pressing on because there will be fruit in His time.

There will be more stories and pictures to come from this awesome day!! Praise the Lord!

Christmas

I don't really know why but for some reason it just doesn't feel like the month of December and Christmas time. Although I live in Thailand - a Buddhist country that doesn't celebrate Christmas- there are decorations all around Bangkok. Every mall has a huge tree and lights are everywhere yet it still just doesn't feel like it. Maybe it's because it is 90 degrees every day and that kind of weather doesn't go with Christmas.

I don't have plans to decorate my apartment mainly because if I buy decorations when the season is over I don't have anywhere to store it. I live in a 1 room condo with 1 wardrobe and some drawers for clothes. I live a pretty simple life with no space for extras. In some ways I think that is o.k.

The month of December is a huge ministry month. We are having several parties and Christmas celebrations to invite non-believers to and they will come because it is a party! I am excited about those events and sharing with people about the true meaning of Christmas.