Report from Thailand

We are in our new building! We are so thankful to the Lord and to you who have stood by us through the trials and delays and who gave generously to make the ministry building possible. We finished moving out of the old house yesterday and prepared it for handing back to the landlord. Whew! Moving is grueling work!

*We had a great PT last week with 33men--LaHu, LiSu, and A’hka–during the middle of the big move. I was compelled to spend the week dealing with the doctrine of the Trinity as the oneness groups have been busy with their heresy here in S.E. Asia. Matthew began teaching through the book of Acts.

*On September 20th we had our 1st service in the new building. I spoke on, “Why We Are In This Place.” We are here out of our Lord’s direct command to His churches, “Go ye, therefore, and make disciples..., baptizing... teaching them to observe all things...”

*We are teaching preachers who have had little opportunity for learning through formal education. They don’t have the blessing of good solid books or Bible conferences with which we have been so blessed.

*Also, we are training up future leaders through our home and through the Learning Center. Moses, our 20-year-old, came to us with almost no English as an immature 17-year-old. Now he is fluent in English and has become a right arm to me with his oversight of the younger boys, his assistance in the Learning Center and his faithful interpreting. He has a servant’s heart and is always looking for ways he can be of help to Susan and to me.

*All our children have become proficient in speaking, reading, and writing in English thanks to Susan. We have been thrilled to see them grow incharacter. They have worked diligently to help us, doing the heaviest lifting and hauling without complaint through the sweltering moving days. It is a joy to speak to them each morning from the Bible and then also to gather with them for evening devotions and prayer time.We’ve found that our kids have brought other young people into our orbit, providing another outreach to the community. Friends come to play football (soccer) and sometimes stay for devotions.

*I plan on traveling to villages on Sunday mornings and then returning to have a service here in our building on Sunday afternoons. We plan to establish a multi-language church (English, Thai and LaHu). We already have one contact --a worker on our building --who has said that he and his family will come and we hope the English students will also attend. Susan is planning a Sunday School for neighborhood kids and perhaps an advanced English class before the service to make it easy for the students to stay for the preaching.

*We are excited about two big events before us. First of all, we hope to have an open house for the Thai neighborhood. I am planning on giving a brief message about who we are and why we are here (the Gospel), and then showing them the various ways in which we hope to be available to them in service with English classes, etc.

*Then in November we are planning a Dedication of the building and property. This probably will be attended mainly by LaHu, LiSu, A’hka and some fellow Americans. This is a big undertaking as we will probably have from 500 to 1,000 people attending the celebration.

*We are settling in to our quarters on the second floor of the ministry building, although we are still dealing with glitches and delays. We don’t have internet or full electric power yet. Only a few devices at a time can run. Also, the filtering system for our water isn’t finished. We are still bathing in water that is a little bit brown. The good news is that work has begun on the boys’ dorm & preachers’ sleeping quarters.

*The preachers in Myanmar are doing well. The border remains closed, but they are keeping in touch. It is a joy to see how they are spreading the Gospel to new villages where the Gospel has never been preached. I was also thrilled that they have established a PT for training new preachers. Two of the men wrote me last week and told me they were teaching the things that I had taught them. What a wonderful fulfillment of the goal the Lord laid on my heart from Timothy 2:2 before I came to Thailand! I’m here to teach faithful men who will teach others also.

*A faithful LaHu preacher just contacted me to ask me to meet with representatives of about 20 villages that are new to us. The Lord willing, I will be meeting with a few of their leaders next week. Again, thank you for your prayers and financial support!

For Christ count everything but loss... Bro. Paul