Baptism!

Tammy and I were so proud of our friends of the Ao Udom Church and the Pravinae Church, as they baptised 8 disciples today.

We have invested a lot of our time in Thailand working with Ao Udom Church, which planted the Pravinae Church in Bowin and it was gratifying to see 8 of our friends who we enjoy fellowship with, whom we try to encourage and whom you all pray for (w/o seeing their faces), make the decision to take the "plunge" and be baptised in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

Ao Udom's leadership really is quite careful on whom they will baptise, which can somewhat be cause of debate.  It is their conviction that baptism is so much more meaningful, the way it should be, when those who choose to obey this commandment know enough of the Lord and know of what He requires to follow Him, to count the cost, and to be 100% sure they want this new life that Christ promises. 
These 8 friends:  Noi, Chaard, Jak, T, Keoh, Kame, Sue, and Geow are passionate about following Jesus.

One of our friends, Keoh, had his mother come to the church, and she became Christian today!  Here's a picture of the 2 of them embracing and weeping tears of joy of redemption!

Thanks for praying for our ministry... This is special day for us and our friends, and for you who have been faithfully following us on this blog, praying for us, encouraging us, and giving generously to our ministy, investing in things that are eternal out of your love for Jesus and out of your love for us.
Treat yourself out for a coke zero and some french fries, on a job well done!

Noi has been christian for several years, but decided to really get baptised today.  He once struggled using and selling drugs long ago.  Now he helps others who struggled with that kind of criminal activity, sacrifices his saturday of work to invest in the youth of Ao Udom Church.  He is in the worship band.  His joy and sense of humor and love for God is contagious.  He helps with the home cells.  Please pray for him as his desire is to reconcile with his wife over differences prior to Christ changing his life.

Chaard is a great guy who Noi had shared Christ with.  He is a really funny guy, just like Noi.  Chaard had once used drugs and sold them, and now Christ has changed his life 180 degrees.  He enjoys love, peace and joy.  He's a great cook and just loves to tell everyone about the Lord.  Please pray for his wife, who is not yet Christian, but comes to church with Chaard and is enjoying witnessing the transformation God has done in her husband's life.

Jak is a great kid who came to the Lord several years ago.  Before he became Christian he was part of a gang, and loved to drag race and get into fights.  He came to Ao Udom Church last year, and quickly convinced his younger brother Tee to come with.  Tee, the younger brother, convinced the oldest brother M to come.  M is with the army right now, and unfortunately missed out on the baptism this year.  Jak loves the Lord and will be a leader of the youth.  He plays guitar very well and is on the worship team.  We help him with english christian songs, and help encourage him as with MM's material on how to build warm relationships.  Please pray for Jak as he matures through an awkward stage of life and overcomes some shyness, so that he can use his giftedness to serve the Lord.

Tee is Jak's younger brother.  He is a very talented musician- guitar, sax, drums...you name it, he can play it.  He is very tight with his brothers.  He was an awkward kid when we first met him, really stubborn and hot spirited.  But it is really neat to see how God has got a hold of that kid!  We play music together downstairs and I try to encourage him a lot to work and stay busy even when you're not employed.  He is with Pravinae Church now, and is a blessing to their ministry.  He's a lot more respectful and you can see how God's love has changed him.  Before he would go to the home cell and seem so bored and not have a lot to say to thank God, and I recall telling him it's nonsense not to have a single thing to thank God for week in and week out!  God is so good that there are amazing things that happen if you just seek Him.  I remember praying for him to have his own special encounter with the love of God.  Not too long after that someone out of the blue in Phuket donated a saxophone to Pastor Tae.  Tae didn't want it, but Phuket's pastor insisted that he have it.  Tae brought it to Ao Udom and told everyone about the sax.  Tee was so surprised because he is a sax player!  Since then, it seems, Tee has been a different kid.  I hear him on occasion on our couch singing his heart out to the Lord, playing guitar.  Please pray for him as he figure out his future with work and relationships.

Keoh is another great guy that goes to Bowin's Pravinae Church.  He seems to really enjoy seeing Tammy and me.  He is a really personable and patient guy, he really takes the time to try to communicate with us, through broken english.  Obviously he loves teaching as he teaches Tammy and I lyrics to christian songs in Thai.  He is currently a technician/operator in a plant in Rayong.  Please continue to pray for Keoh as he grows in the Lord and finds out what might be a greater calling, as Tae believes he might one day be a Pastor. 

Keoh's mother is in tears of gladness at the baptism. She became a Christian today!  She saw how Christ has changed her son so dramatically!

This young man, Kame, is one of our favorites here in Thailand.  Sometimes I consider him a pain in the neck, as antagonizing as if he were my own son.  He kids he wants Tammy and I to adopt him and bring him to the USA.  Kame is a university student and is going to graduate in a year or so.  He loves being sociable, which is good and bad depending on his choices.  Tammy and I spend a lot of time with this kid, as he is quite fluent in English.  He's been discipled through Multiplication Ministries Getting to Know God Personally materials.  Please pray for the Lord to continue to use him (quite often great things happen when he makes the time to come out to be with us from his distant university), and pray for him to make wise choices, and to have a strong work ethic that will serve him well as he seeks employment/career. 

Gossama (Sue) came in to study English at the request of Ajan Fang.  Over the months she gave her life to Jesus.  More details on her in the near future! (Tammy and I haven't spent a lot of time with her yet)

Geow is one of the technicians from SEIL factory whom we have discipled through Multiplication Ministries Getting to Know God Personally.  She and her husband Sing are always a friendly face to see on friday and sundays.  It's really neat to see her and the others from the SEIL factory become much more relational, joyful, and loving through time in fellowship.