Thailand Update

Reported by Ernie Schache

April, 2010 – Auckland, New Zealand

John and Maeo Middlewood (pictured) continue to minister at the Christian Mission Naratchakwai in the Nakhon Phanom Province in northeast Thailand.

Their work at present is mainly with children and young people and their main “bridge into the community” is the teaching of English to the young people who attend their activities and to children in a more than 30 schools in the area around their village.

They teach English because they recognise that young people who are able to speak English have a much better chance of getting good jobs when they leave school or university. They also provide tuition facilities at their home for their young people, including computers and internet access, which enable them to achieve higher grades in their education, particularly at High School and University.

This focus on education and English tuition is of course done with emphasis on the sharing of the love of God and the message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. John was recently able to report…

“We had 35 people in church this morning with 3 new teens and a promise of another one to be there next weekend. Praise God!!!! We have now 5 teens who have stood up and said they accept Christ and every one of them stood up to witness in church this morning – I almost had a heart attack; I have been praying for it for so long.”

Rejoice with John and Maeo and thank the Lord that their prayers for some of their young people to openly and publicly declare their faith have been answered. A number of their older young people have been trained to teach English and they are now involved in teaching other children at their regular “English Camps” held at various schools.

Pray especially for the young people who have publicly confessed their faith in Jesus Christ. They will inevitably experience severe pressure from their families and peers at school in this country where Buddhism, with its significant emphasis on spirit worship, is the predominant faith.

In that regard, I ask you to pray especially for the situation set out in the recent message (below) from John regarding one of their early converts and former church members – Nong. Nong is in her late 30s and is married with three children and is pictured with two of her children and Maeo and others of the congregation at right.

I ask for this special and specific prayer as I remember with great joy the way in which God answered our prayers for seemingly impossible situations during the years I was living in India – some of you will remember the miracles of the restoration of Rev. Magimaidas’ and Brinda’s marriage and of Pastor Jerald’s and Anu’s marriage as two wonderful instances. Both of these couples are serving the Lord with great enthusiasm – because we prayed and God kept His promise to hear and answer the prayers of His people! I believe that if we pray for Nong we will also see God’s power work in her life.

“I request prayers for Nong; one of our first members here. Satan has won the battle for the moment in her life. Her family and relatives are all spirit worshipers and have had problems over the last several months, including the death of her father. Her mother is one of the spirit leaders in this group. Nong has moved away from Christ for a year or so now. Today she came to withdraw her membership at the Christian Mission. Her family and relatives have blamed her and her attending church as the cause of all of their problems. It seems as though a fortune teller told the family the father would die within 3 days and he did. Since that time Nong has been carrying a load of guilt for her father’s death. The relatives, family and particularly mother have convinced her [that] the only solution is to renounce God and Christ and she has chosen that route. She was also told that the spirits would kill her mother if she did not renounce God. Please pray that God will intervene in this situation and give Nong strength, peace and light to return to God.

This is typical of the kinds of problems our children face when they go home to talk about Christ. If an adult has the kind of problems Nong has, you can imagine the effect it has on the children and teens. Please keep all of us in your prayers. God Bless, Christian Mission – John and Maeo”

May God bless you for your willingness to partner with John and Maeo in these ministries in Thailand by your prayers.

Yours in His service,

Ernie Schache

Reported on behalf of Christian Mission of Ban Naratchakwai by:

ACMissioNZ | PO Box 202162 | Southgate |Takanini 2246 | New Zealand

Personal Correspondence:

Ernie Schache | PO Box 80010 | Green Bay | Waitakere 0643 | New Zealand