Some answers to prayer... The university student, Wa, who Tammy is discipling had some praises when God radically changed a situation that was causing her some tension. Wa couldn't believe the answer to prayer. Thanks for helping us by praying for that student.
Tammy is getting more independent as an English Teacher. She started out timid and afraid, but now she is getting more confident, and gets annoyed if I try to help. So praise God!
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| Tammy teaching 4 university students. |
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| Though it is a community-impacting outreach first and foremost, we also want to make sure Ao Udom Church's congregation takes full advantage of the benefits of having us there for that season teaching. Today I challenged the young man in the striped shirt to not shy away from the huge opportunity. 3 of the students in this picture attend the church. |
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| This man is an electrical engineer who wishes to volunteer his time as a technician for the water store, on an as needed basis. He attends Tammy's English class, and enjoys speaking to us and asking for special help with writing reports for his job. He and his wife are interested in being friends and they have invited us to go to the waterfalls with them in Rayong. It so happened that I had wished to go somewhere beautiful for my birthday, and the day I hoped for that, God sent Somchai to invite us to the waterfalls! God is good! By the way the unspoken expectancy for us is to build relationships/friendships that will give us opportunity to tell people of the God that loves them... |
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| Yoot #2 and wife Tuk. They are faithful to help Youngyoot #1 and Tae finish the job, though he has a new biz of his own. |
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| That's me sweating up a storm going over some of the piping. Pipes all over the place! |
The water store is coming together, it's just taking longer than expected. We'll be running water by next week on a regular basis. Today I had lunch with the OEM, Doctor Youngyoot and one of his workers. We shared the Gospel with the man (Nu-Gan) over lunch. We shared some testimonies about folks who struggled with alcohol. (Youngyoot and this man share an affinity for beer). Nu-Gan had once been a terrible alcoholic, but lately he's been okay since working with Youngyoot. I know in Thailand drinking is a definite no-no for most church congregations. Culturally, the Buddhist way is to stay away from it, though really most people don't. Ao Udom Church is conservative as well. Nevertheless, the message I had for him was not an anti beer campaign, but was clearly that drunkeness is not God's will for your life and can ruin it and get in the way of you ever getting to truly becoming reconciled to God. Nu-Gan asked to be a child of God today, confessed his sin, and asked Jesus to be His Lord and Savior today. He will be learning the Bible from Youngyoot's church and from Youngyoot. Praise God! Please pray for both Youngyoot and Nu-Gan, and that they can not be under the control of alcoholism, but more and more enjoy soberness and everything God has in store for them.
Regarding the water store, please pray for Youngyoot. He's a guy who really has deep convictions about helping churches with water systems. But sometimes he can't keep the price down as low as he'd like. Prices can go over budget, as did Pastor Tae's system. Youngyoot eats the costs and even sells his own assets sometimes to give to churches. Anyways, please pray for Youngyoots normal business outside of the charity he does for churches. Please pray also for further donations can come to Ao Udom- Pastor Tae's factor to help cover costs. So many donations have come in, but other costs are borrowed/financed by other ministries donations at low interest. The total cost for the system is over Baht 250,000 ($8,333). If you would like to have your organization/group make further donations, please email us at alextammy@multimin.com
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| Here's a picture that I think captures some bittersweet emotions to this project. It's a fantastic project that we believe will bring many blessings to the community and build many relationships that will help the Gospel be spread throughout Thailand. Youngyoot has given dramatic discounts to churches, but it is still a steep price to pay that will not necessarily turn a profit until a few years later down the road, given the capital expenditure. God has provided a lot already for Ao Udom's project, but still the majority of costs covered are financed thru the kindness of Christian based investors who do not expect interest paid, but an eventual gradual payment. I think this is a heavy burden for Tae this week as he pays the remaining fees to Youngyoot (who has already donated quite a bit himself to the project). This is when faith has to prevail that the vision was from God and not from our own wisdom. Even if Tae and the church receives not a penny more thru kind donations, we both believe this has been God's plan. He told me today that step by step God has brought things together. He did wonder what might have happened if Tammy and I never came to Ao Udom, if he would have still believed in having a water store (at Youngyoot's request). I realize our story together really inspired many to help finance the project and even has other organizations inspired to continue with their own water project. We have A LOT of work ahead of us, and we're going to need a lot of help from above to make it profitable, and not a money pit. We're gonna need willing helpers, business savvy, a strong marketing plan, favor from the local vendors, logistically strategies, else this can be an utter failure. Please keep all of these things in your prayers... Oh yeah, and personal safety running the equipment for us as well as Tae's family who lives in the factory's residential complex. |
Another praise is a powerful radio station had emerged and attempted to use the same frequency as the Ao Udom Church's radio station, 87.5 FM. After an uneasy discussion with them, thankfully, they have agreed to change their frequency instead of bullying the church. Praise God for that, because really we were at their mercy.
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| Doctor Youngyoot, PhD and his worker Nu-Gan embrace after Nu-Gan received the Gospel and asked Jesus to be His personal Lord and Savior. Dr. Youngyoot had faithfully visited Nu-Gan and his mother for many many years and helped support them with food, though Nu-Gan refused to ever work for him. Doctor Youngyoot was so faithful and longsuffering. It was a great honor for me to play a part in today and sharing in the moment NuGan realized he needed forgiveness and he needed God in his life. My prayer is that he truly follows the Lord as his own Master. It's a pity so many people want Him to be their Savior from "fire insurance" but refuse to have a true heart to follow Him. We can only hope and watch how Nu-Gan walks out what should be a life transforming faith in God's promises...a new life with the Lord. |
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| Youngyoot was in tears for his beloved worker that seems like a son to him. It's funny that it all happened while I was having my coke and they were having a couple beers (with lunch). That's the Jesus Movie that our friends Allyn and Vicky gave us, (in Thai language) in the hands of Nu Gan. |
Lastly, please continue to pray for blessings at the Q restaurant. We met a university student who has some clinical depression that is interested in getting better. Tammy told this person what God had done for her, and we've invited her to church Sunday. Please pray for that person?
God bless,
Alex and Tammy
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