ACMissioNZ SSE Asia Update – August 2013

Dear friends, supporters and prayer partners,

Greetings to you and thank you for your continued support and prayers for our brothers and sisters in South East Asia who serve the Lord under the Advent Christian banner. There is much happening for which we can thank the Lord, and there is much that we need to continue to pray about.

INDIA  In my last update I indicated that the Mission’s appeal in the Chennai Civil Court seeking to reverse the judgement against Mission Manager Immanuel and Rev Regi Christopher of the FBHC and Prabu Manuel (who is now a member of the rebel group) had been dismissed  and that our Advocate (lawyer) Ravi Paul was about to lodge a further appeal in the High Court against the original judgement, which he hoped and expected will be heard in an unbiased manner, unaffected by corruption.

Thank you very much for your prayers for this matter – they were answered in an unexpected manner!   As soon as our appeal to the High Court was lodged, which action would have been advised by the Court to the rebel FBHC pastors as the plaintiffs, they withdrew their original case in the Civil Court and that court issued orders accordingly. We believe that two factors caused this withdrawal – firstly the fact that the rebel pastors could not afford to defend the appeal and in any case knew well that it would be upheld in our favour, and secondly and sadly because corruption raised its ugly head once again, this time from the AC Conference. We understand that some of the Conference leaders had given the rebel pastors a letter of assurance that they would be given a very large sum of money if they withdrew the case, and they had arranged for one of the keen, potential buyers of the property to pay that money directly to the rebels at the time of the registration of the change of ownership.

The orders issued by the Civil Court following the withdrawal remove the injunctions on the three defendants and remove the “Status Quo” order that the court imposed in 2010 and also nullify the rebel pastors’ false claims that some of their number had been elected as officers of the FBHC. The withdrawal of the case also removed the major stumbling block to the sale of the property, for which we praise the LORD – please join us in thanksgiving for this.

There are still two cases in the Courts which are affecting the willingness of potential buyers to conclude the purchase of the property. These are cases brought by lay members of the AC Conference of India against their own organisation and although they are not as serious as the rebel’s case, they are still discouragements to potential buyers, raising the possibility of difficulties with the AC Conference, as a part owner of the land, should judgement go against the Conference. Immanuel and other senior leaders of the Conference are in discussions with the plaintiffs in these cases in an effort to find ways for these cases to be withdrawn or suitably amended. The main factor in these discussions is to explain to the plaintiffs that the legal agreement we have with the AC Conference concerning how the proceeds of the property sale are to be handled, virtually in perpetuity, would be extremely advantageous for the long- term, financial well-being and security of the Conference. Will you please pray for these discussions, and for those involved, that common-sense will prevail?

Now that the most serious case affecting the sale has been withdrawn, Immanuel is once again getting many expressions of interest in the purchase of the property, and some of these are bringing increased offers over and above the earlier price that buyers were prepared to pay. Please pray for wisdom and patience for Immanuel and our lawyer, Mr Ravi Paul, and for the leaders of the AC Conference, praying that the buyer of the Lord’s choice may soon be found and the sale and purchase completed and registered.

Following the information in my last update about Pastor Kirubakaran – the Baby Saver – who ministers in the Kolli Hills area of Tamil Nadu where he and his wife care for 30 orphans and underprivileged children in Namakkal, at the foot of the Kolli Hills, a generous donor in New Zealand has given a substantial gift towards the purchase of land on which to build a new hostel. Please praise the Lord for this gift which is about 11% of the amount needed to buy half an acre of land and pay government taxes and stamp duty on the purchase. Once Pastor Kirubakaran’s organisation is able to advise the government that he is operating from premises owned by them, the government will give them full registration and this will allow Brother Kirubakaran to recommence his ministry of “saving babies” and nurturing them in a Christian environment.

Please continue to pray for Pastor Kirubakaran and his wife and family and helpers as they indeed give “new life” to the 30 children in the NEW LIFE HOSTEL at the moment. They of course teach them about the “New Life” in Jesus Christ as well as caring for them and ensuring that they get a good education. Please pray also for Pastor Kirubakaran’s weekly ministry as he conducts Sunday services in several places in the nearby Kolli Hills.

THAILAND  Unfortunately, Surachai and his wife Nipon who were appointed to the position of Assistant Pastors at Christian Mission Naratchakwai from 1 April, decided to terminate their employment as of July 31. Surachai was not able to adapt to the team operation of the Mission and the leadership of the Mission was not prepared to give him free rein to do whatever he wished to do. Investigation has indicated that he has a history of problems in dealing with leaders, elders and superiors in almost every position he has held, including his time of study at Bible College. Please pray for this couple and their children as they seek other, suitable employment in the Lord’s service. Please thank the Lord for Pastor Jarat, the President of the Christ For All People Churches Association, who has been extremely helpful to John in what has been a very difficult employment situation with Pastor Surachai and Nipon.

Please pray for John as he has commenced searching for another Thai assistant pastor or couple to assist with the ministries and thus relieve him of some of the responsibilities and pressures of the very busy program at CMN. He has sought part-time assistance from some members of the Christ For All People Churches Association, of which CMN is a member, and has been blessed with very helpful responses. Pastor Boonta will bring the few members of his very small congregation at Laobada to Naratchakwai one Sunday each month and will preach the sermon on that day. Other pastors have also agreed to visit occasionally to preach. One of the senior girls who has been staying at the Mission for several years – Bee, who is a fourth year university student studying English, and who has committed her life to the Lord Jesus Christ (see picture), has agreed to prepare and present a 20 to 30 minute talk on topics directed specifically at the teens in the congregation, on one Sunday service each month. She will present her first talk on Sunday 18 August. These two offers will relieve John of the responsibility of preparing and presenting two addresses in the Thai language each month and will free up many hours to allow him to be involved in other aspects of their ministries. Please thank the Lord for the willingness of Pastor Boonta and Bee to serve in this way.

Please pray especially for Bee as she has committed to what for her is a major step into a new area of service for her Lord.

John’s prayer requests for the month of August are as follows…

1.  Thank and praise God for the four girls – Bee, Pan, Lita and Beem 2, that he has sent to live and work here and accept Christ here. The last couple months have been a bit difficult and problems were resolved when Surachai and Nipon chose to leave and go back home. Information received since they left indicate that this was God’s intervention because many of the seeds they were sowing were not good. Since their departure, and thanks to our girls, my workload has begun to decrease.
2. Thank and praise God that we are already seeing good as a result of the above.
3. Pray for Jane and Fanta. These are two girls who have moved into the house vacated by Surachai and Nipon and have begun to help Bee in the singing and English program, providing great assistance. Pray that Christ will light up their lives and they will accept him.
4. Pray that God will provide a solution to the {village} visitation problem we have here. We never seem to have enough time. I know the time is there in God’s plan, but ask for him to let me see it. This is a major problem for us right now.
5. Thank and praise God for all he has done for us and all the blessings he has given us.
6. Pray for the Laos program that we may become more involved and establish communications and relationships with them.

John also asks for prayer for Dtee – Maeo’s brother and his brother-in law. John comments…

This is not the same brother-in-law I knew 5-6 years ago. This truly seems to be a new man with new ideas, new thoughts and new ways of doing things. He has problems in his family in that his wife is not a Christian – at least by actions – and it grieves him. Both his son and daughter used to attend the Christian Mission but have left to follow the money and fun trail down around Bangkok. Pray for strength for him and that he might become a strong witness in his family and as he grows be of service here in the Christian Mission. I see a budding Bible teacher for children – he loves them.

Dtee is asking about correspondence courses for Bible Study. Pray that I can get something set up. He has problems reading, so I am going to see if I can get him a tape machine so he can listen to the Bible in Thai and I have a lot of sermons in English with Thai translations that would help him learn English also. He has low self-confidence and self-esteem, so I will be working with him slowly. Pray that I will be a good mentor and example for him.”

MYANMARPastor Timothy, one of the leaders of the Advent Christian Conference of Myanmar, recently reported as follows…

“My home church had 13th anniversary service of my family mission work for unreached people at new house. Rev Keisum preached Word of God in this service.  My family arrived to Yangon in 2000 year and started family prayer service with 4 adults and 4 children on Sunday second week July 2000. Now God blesses us with many people for His glory. He is so good and so faithful to us all the times. I am sending some pictures to you, anniversary service and our free education class for poor students from community.”

From the first service with four adults and four children present, Timothy’s organisation has grown to have three churches in Yangon and four in other parts of Myanmar. Those seven churches have more than 320 members, including children, with eight full-time workers. Timothy and his wife Hoi Van care for 19 orphans as well as their own five children.

I would like to share the interesting story behind the name that Pastor Timothy gave his organisation – The Advent Christian Church of Myanmar – as he began his own ministry in Yangon in 2000. It is a story which reminds us of the Lord’s use of His written Word and the value of our printed literature.

During the time that he was studying at a Bible College in Yangon, Timothy came across a small booklet in the College library. No one knew then or knows now how or when it got to the library, but it had a profound effect on Timothy and his future ministry.

The booklet was a copy of ACGC’s  This We Believe which of course sets out the beliefs and distinctives of the Advent Christian movement. Timothy read it as best he could with his limited knowledge of the English language and was so taken with what he read that he asked a fellow student, who read and spoke English better than he did, to translate it into the Burmese language for him. The student who translated the booklet for him was Kenneth, who is now also one of the leaders of the Advent Christian Conference of Myanmar and presently holds the position of President. The two of them then studied the booklet together, with the Bible, and decided that what they read was clearly what the Scriptures taught. Timothy decided that this was the doctrinal basis on which he would base his church when he started it after he graduated.

The ACGC’s name and address was printed on the back of the booklet, and Timothy wrote to ACGC seeking further literature and the letter found its way to the then World Missions Director, Rev Harold Patterson. Rev. Patterson exchanged correspondence with Timothy and sent him supplies of other literature.

When Rev Patterson asked me to visit Myanmar in November 2004, Timothy’s name was on a list of a number of contacts from whom Rev Patterson had had letters in preceding years seeking membership or association with ACGC. I was not able to find and make contact with him on that first visit but was able to do so during my second visit in March 2005, and I was asked to attend and speak at a meeting of his house church. As I entered the large, front room of his house which was used as the meeting place, I was greeted by a sign on the wall which indicated that I was in an Advent Christian church! It was an Advent Christian church which had been meeting since the year 2000, and nobody in the United States had known that it existed! Later during that 2005 visit the Advent Christian Conference of Myanmar was set up, with Timothy as its first President.

Please thank and praise the Lord for that small piece of literature and for the present, growing ministry of the Advent Christian Conference which has developed from Timothy’s reading of it.

As Pastor Timothy mentioned, one of their ministries is providing free education for children from very poor families in the neighbourhood around their home.

They gather the children, who now number 58, to their home one day each month and assisted by their daughters Siam Hawi (at right of picture) and Hannah (at left of picture) Timothy and his wife Hoi Van do their best to educate the children who because of their poverty cannot attend school. They also share the message of God’s love with them of course.

Timothy’s new house for his family (5 children) and the 19 orphans they care for is nearing completion. They have dug a well and are presently waiting for sufficient funds to be available to paint the house inside and out and to pay for an electricity connection. Will you please pray with him that these matters can be attended to as quickly as possible?With so many children now attending these sessions, they have a desperate need for chairs and tables on which the children can do their work. Timothy asks us to pray for this particular need to be met.

I recently sent Pastor J a greeting for his birthday. When he wrote to thank me for the greeting he was able to tell me that he had received a wonderful blessing on the day of his birthday – he had had the joy of baptising a new believer. He asks that we please pray “that she will delight in the Lord and by her testimony many people will come to the Lord.”

Praise the Lord that the Holy Spirit is touching the hearts and lives of young people in Myanmar, through the efforts of our Advent Christian workers.

MALAYSIA   Please continue to pray for Sister Ruth Devairakkam and her husband Wilfred as they lead the little group of AC believers in Kluang. Thank the Lord for their continuing one-to one ministry to neighbours, friends and other contacts.  Rejoice with them for the following contacts which occurred a few weeks ago that the Lord blessed, and pray that the Holy Spirit will work in the lives of these folk.

“We met a Malaysian Indian business man (non-Christian) by the name of Sinniah at a restaurant recently. After a friendly conversation about current affairs in the nation, he asked us whether we were Christians. Because he asked us about Churches, we had the opportunity to tell him about Jesus and our personal testimonies. Praise to the Lord. We were able to witness to a total stranger for 30 minutes. While we were sharing, there were others nearby who were listening to our conversation, including the restaurant owner. The business man will be visiting us soon. Please pray that every word he heard about Jesus will take root in his heart and that the Holy Spirit will do a deeper work in him as we continue to share His Word with him.

Last month, we were outstation to visit our contacts. At our contact’s place, we were introduced to a wealthy couple who were on holiday in Malaysia. They are Malaysians who have migrated overseas. During our conversation, the gentleman told us that his father was a wealthy merchant in Kluang in the 1970’s. We then realized who his father was, as my late parents (Rev. & Mrs. T. Devairakkam) were renting one of his father’s houses, and that was where they pioneered the Advent Christian Church in Kluang. One of his nephew’s attended our ACC Sunday School. He is a Christian now, in another part of Malaysia. We shared Jesus to this couple, and they started to share about themselves. The Lord opened His creative way to share Jesus to them. They made a decision for Christ. After we returned to Kluang, our contact called us to say that they followed her to Church that evening. They have returned overseas. They said that they will find a Church to attend, together with their family. “

Many thanks once again for your prayers and your partnership with us in Advent Christian ministries in south-east Asia.  God bless you as you serve Him in this way.