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The Thailand Tribune
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Volume five August 2004 Issue two


 

 

 

BANGJAK BAPTIST NEWS

Wow, was July a great month!!
The Lord has blessed in soooo many ways!!
It is a joy to share how the Lord has moved in our midst.


“TEAM USA 2004”
          Our home church in Titusville, FL sent over an evangelistic team of 20 to be with us the first two weeks of July. We were thrilled to know they were coming and began in May booking places where they could present mime dramas and teach English. Being in a Buddhist country where Buddhism is a part of every schools curriculum, it is not always easy to get into schools and universities to present God’s word. Our staff began praying in May, sending out letters, and making contacts throughout Bangkok and three other provinces. It was an answer to prayer to get confirmations from one college, three high schools, two elementary schools, two malls and four churches. All in all, we had the opportunity to present the gospel through drama and literature to over 7,000 people.


          We held English Classes five evenings in Bangkok and another four in Nakompathom where each team member had a group of four Thai students.  The students were given questions from which to interview their American guest. Each team member had a chance to witness one on one each evening. As a direct result, we saw three accept Christ and many contacts were made to introduce the churches in the respective areas!


“10 YEARS OF SERVING GOD”
     
Bangjak Baptist Church had their 10th anniversary with the theme of “Stepping Out in Faith.” It was a great day of worship with over 160 adults present, an all time high attendance. Service were held at a nearby hotel. We had six different nationalities and seven different languages represented! It was thrilling to see so many people take part in the preparations of displays for all the different outreaches in the church and also in bringing friends and relatives too. Upon .returning to the church for lunch, a young man also received Christ!  We just praise the Lord for His Blessings.


BAPTISMAL SERVICE
Sometimes following a great week with high attendance, the next week seems to fall short in excitement but we were thrilled to see eight adults “Stepping Out in Faith” to follow the Lord in Baptism. What a joy it is to see the Lord add to the church.

 

 

INCREASING IN NUMBER AND SIZE
 As we have talked about, a good problem to have. We have experienced many Sundays having standing room only in our church. The Lord has opened a door for us to rent the building next door and to knock out the wall in between the two buildings to make our meeting room larger. We understand this is only a temporary fix until we can build something more permanent that will fit our needs on the property in back of our present building. It will allow us to continue to grow while raising the funds to build in the back.  Please be praying as we take the wall down. This is one time you don’t want a domino effect. The buildings are 20 years old and have some cracks in the walls already.

SPECIAL NEEDS
We thank the Lord for the great opportunity we have had in reaching our people for the Lord. Right now we have two special needs that we ask for your prayers and consideration .

  1. Every year we hold a teen camp in which we present the gospel to those who have never heard about Christ. Every year we thank God for souls saved and young men surrendering to full time Christian service.  However we need your help. Every year we try to subsidize some of the cost so that people can afford to come. We realize that 15.00 a person is not a lot for one person to go to camp for five days including food and lodging. For many families that represents 20 meals or 3-4 days wages for just one child to be able to go to camp. We would ask if your church might be able to take a special offering for teen camp so that those who have never heard may have an opportunity to hear Gods word.
  2. As the church has stepped out by faith in renting the building next door we are needing an extra $3,000 to rent for one  year. The building will help us to enlarge our worship capacity, deaf ministry, which has outgrown their room, as well as our children’s ministry area.  Thanks so much for your prayers and concern in this matter.

May God Bless,
Ricky Salmon

Salmon's facts stranger than fiction:

When do you plant rice? Only your ox knows for sure!

Every May there is ancient ceremony (which the King presides over) called the Plowing Ceremony. During this ceremony, two royal oxen are chosen to take part. This day in May, being the official ground breaking day in the rice fields, is so important to the Thai people that it has long been an official public holiday and marks the beginning of the planting season. To foretell whether it will be a  good or bad year for the rice harvest, the sacred oxen will plow and then are given their choice of food. This year, the royal oxen, who are called Rung and Roj, finished plowing a piece of land and were offered a selection of food and drink placed in platters including wine, water, beans, rice, grains and sesame seeds. This year they both chose corn and water and thus it was predicted that there would be abundant crops of vegetable, rice and other agricultural products this year. And that my friend is the truth..... right from the oxen’s mouth.


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