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The Thailand Tribune
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Your Missionaries In Thailand

Volume six February 2005 Issue One

BAPTIST NEWS
Christmas at Bangjak Baptist Church was a great time to minister in many different ways to a variety of different people groups in and around our community. Our church family was involved more than ever before and it was a great thrill to see God’s blessings.

The Choir
The Bangjak Baptist Church had the opportunity to present the gospel in song at Seacon Square (the 2nd largest Mall in Southeast Asia) on Christmas Eve this year. It was the perfect opportunity to invite people to our Christmas services on the 26th. Then a neighboring mall also invited the choir to come on Christmas day to share about the birth of Christ in song. We try each year to be out in the public more so that Christianity doesn’t seem so totally strange. Many people who have heard Buddhism all their lives are starting to feel that Christianity is refreshing.

Christmas for the Kids
While celebrating Christ’s Birth with the children of our church, we also had a Christmas carnival with booths and all kinds of games. We had a fishing pond, dart throw, bowling, basketball throw and all kinds of other fun. We were amazed at the help from the parents of kids who came out to help us make Christmas for the kids a fun day! Prizes ranged from fake snakes, to school notebooks, puzzles and all kinds of goodies. At the end of the day, everyone got goodie bags with a color cartoon book about Christ’s birth and resurrection and a school notebook with pencils. We were thankful for the ministry of CEF who contacted us about the very nice Christian comic books for a very reasonable price. Our members gave a special offering to cover the cost of the comic books to give out in our church and also in the deaf school.

Christmas for the Deaf
This year at the handicap festival in November, we were allowed to set up a booth to give out literature and take blood pressures for free. We were so surprised when a teacher from a nearby deaf school came by and asked why we had never done anything at their school. She left her name and number and asked us to get in touch with the principal of the school. We had tried on several occasions to get permission to work in that school but we had always been turned down. Well, the Lord blessed, as we made a visit directly after that and they warmly received us and gave us as much time as we wanted to present a Christmas play and teach on the real meaning of Christmas.
It was great to take a team of 20 workers (hearing and deaf) from our church to witness to 300 deaf kids. We have had many of the deaf high school students visit the church since then.
The Christmas deaf party for adults was also a great success with about 65 adults coming.

Christmas Worship
This year we praised the Lord to have enough room for 100 people to sit and enjoy worshipping together. We are so thankful to have rented the building next to the church. Since knocking out the wall in the middle we have increased the size of our meeting room. Now as our members bring in their friends and relatives we don’t have to ask people to stand in the back!! It was a blessing to meet many relatives and co-workers of our members as each one had worked so hard to bring with them. We had a total of 119 with us for Christmas service.

The Start of a New Year!!
This year the Deaf group of our church asked to have a short retreat during the New Years Celebration to start the new year right. Tim Searles preached with examples of pottery and the work of a potter in our own lives. We showed a DVD of “The Passion,” played sports, had several plays, and by the end of camp, three men and two ladies had accepted Christ as there Savior. What a great start of a new year.

Prison Ministry
The Lord has also opened another door for us in the prison ministry near our church in Nakompathom. We have been asked to teach English and the Thai pastor has the opportunity of teaching Bible to another group as we teach Bible. Rick teaches a group of 20 men; Tammy teaches a group of 20 ladies and Pastor May teaches another group of 20. We have seen five, since Christmas, truly give their lives to the Lord.
          One of the amazing things that has happened is the opportunity to work with a drama team in the prison. Last June, a team from Temple Baptist Church presented three dramas that presented mankind’s' need for Christ. The Prison officials were so impressed that they asked us if we could train some of the prisoners to be able to perform the plays themselves. We thank the Lord for Temple Baptist Church in Titusville, FL for their generosity as they sent the whole kit to us and it was exciting to watch the prisoners perform the play during our Christmas party at the prison. .The officials have asked us to teach 2 other dramas in which they will travel to other prisons and present the dramas to other prisoners. Please keep us in prayer as we work in preparing those in the prison to present the Gospel of freedom to others enslaved in sin.
Another blessing...
While we were watching the play the warden asked us if we had the movie “The Passion.” He had heard of it but had never seen it. I said we did and I would be happy to give him our copy. The warden took the video and showed it on close circuit TV to all 2600 prisoners throughout the prison. It is amazing how God is using a Buddhist warden to help present the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God is opening so many doors. We just pray that people will see the need of salvation.

Suicide: A Sad Reality:
It was sad to see one of our English students who accepted Christ, go to be with the Lord this month at the age of 16. The circumstances were even sadder. As she had come to know the Lord, her mother forbid her to come to the church and the only time we saw her was when we visited her at her school or she could sneak away and come to the church. We found out two weeks ago at midnight, after a heated argument with her mom, she took her own life. At the funeral, her mom spoke often of how the church had meant so much to Chompu and that one day she would come to visit us there. We were so surprised that Chompu's mom knew us all by name and we are praying that we can continue to be a witness to her.

Salmon's facts stranger than fiction: