Saturday, May 31, 2008
FUNDRAISING UPDATE :)

Weeks & weeks back, after some discussion the team set our deadline in faith, for all our funds to hopefully be raised by the end of May.

However as the weeks went by and money didn't seem to be coming in as quickly as before, we started to wonder abit & relook at our budget.

But amidst it all we continued to pray & believe, knowing full well God has always been & is always fully in control!

AND SO, as the last day of May has arrived... & with certain amts of money expected in, we have officially HIT OUR AIM FOR OUR FUNDRAISING! :)

THANK GOD for His amazing timing! Not a day earlier or later but just nice. It's just a real encouragement to be reminded that in all we do, God's got it all in His hands! All glory to Him!!

And thanks loads! To all our supporters who have contributed in prayers & financially to help us reach this amount! Your support is deeply appreciated & we thank YOU once again for walking this journey with us! :)

Sarah:)

Thursday, May 29, 2008
mission trip preparations - souvenir hunting!

On tues, we went hunting for gifts for Thai youths.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008
update from the treasurer

hello! to all our fellow supporters!
the mission team visited my church last sunday :)



just wanted to give a quick update regarding fund raising.
over the weekend, our supporters gave us money for our upcoming trip!
really appreciate their gifts and we wanna thank God for providing!
Praise God for the abundant blessings poured out on our team!



right now, the team has $400 left to raise!
and we're going to continue to trust God to provide for all our needs.

thanks once again for those who have given us money and for those who are praying for us!!
continue to keep us in your prayers as we prepare for the trip :)

ruth

Tuesday, May 20, 2008
insightful session with KA &K!

Yesterday was Vesak day.
But do you know why Buddhist celebrate Vesak day?

Vesak day is a day to commemorate Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death.

We had a seesion with thai missionaries, KS & K yesterday.
They work with the Boys Brigade in Thailand.
oh ya, by the way, K is a Thai christian. how cool. they met each other in BB Thailand. haha. It was a great session yesterday with the couple, who shared with us about Thai culture, Buddhism in Thailand, the many personal and social barriers to Christianity in Thailand. We truly learnt alot from their insights into Thai culture, how being Thai equates to being a Buddhist. Buddhism is really so intertwined with Thai culture.

For example, Songkran, the famous water throwing festival.
Songkran signifies a new year for Thais, and a day to make merit by paying respect to parents and elderly people. In the past, they used to pour scented water on their parents' or elders' hands and they in turn would bless the younger ones with luck and wealth. Now, people just throw water to extend kindness. Having said that, the concept of merit making is Buddhist in nature.

We started to wonder, if a Thai were to become a Christian, would it mean he would no longer be a 'real' Thai? It also got us to think and imagine the complications a Christian Thai might face. Thais are collectivistic and are communal in nature. Meaning to say, alot of emphasis is placed on family, village, and community.

Therefore, a decision to embrace a new religion may be faced with objection from parents & friends. For a Thai to become a Christian isnt as easy as just saying the sinner's prayer. A Thai's journey into Christianty is pretty different from the typical Singaporean's one. Hence it is important on our part not to just go with the idea of imposing our faith on them but to work with the missionaries there, so as to prepare new believers for what may come their way.

Therefore, we shld never give up doing our part and that is part of the reason our team is going to thailand - to share our lives with the friends we will meet, & our stories of God's love & trust in our lives, and wait with anticipation for what God has in store ahead for all involved!

So do continue to pray with us, for sensitivity to Thai culture as we interact with the Thais during this journal we are going to take.

pra cao ruk prateet thay!
ruth

Labels: thai culture

Monday, May 19, 2008
updated prayer letter :)

Dear Supporters!
Thank you so much for your support and prayers all this while. Our Thailand team of 4 will be setting off on the 10th of June for Lopburi, Central Thailand, and will be back on the 15th of July. However, one of our team members, Shaun, will be returning earlier, as he has to attend his graduation ceremony.

So far, our team had been having bible studies, reading books and attending lectures pertaining to cross-cultural mission. We even had the opportunity of attending a course on Thai culture, given by a Thai missionary.

On the 21st - 23rd March, our team left for Batam on a mission training camp organised by the FES (G3 Programme). During the short 3-days camp, we were greatly challenged, as we were given real life scenarios of mission work. We had to look for accommodation and food, as well as visit churches and prepare evangelistic programs. Indeed, the camp was a real eye-opener for us to the mission field. More importantly though, we were better able to understand and accept each other’s strengths and weakness, and we realised the importance of entrusting ourselves into God’s hands.


Lop Buri (thai: ลพบุรี)
Is one of the central provinces of Thailand. 153 kilometres north of Bangkok, it covers an area of 6,199 square kilometres. The province is subdivided into 11 districts(amphoe). The districts are further subdivided into 12d4 subdistricts (tambon) and 1110 villages (muban).

The population of 770,000 is still predominantly made up of Buddhists (99%). Buddhist sculptures and monuments are prevalent throughout the province. Thai culture and Buddhism values are often intertwined together, and Thais share a nationalistic pride of being a Buddhist.
All these make the Thais resistant to the Gospel message.


During our stay
In Lopburi, we will be liaising with the TCS (Thai Christian Students) missionaries located there. We will be interacting a lot with the Thai university students, organising English Language Courses, and attending their Youth Houses programmes. The Youth House is a place especially set aside for university students to stay and have fellowship with each other. During our time there, we will also be attending an OMF Thailand Conference from 26th - 29th June, and will be in charge of childcare and programmes for the youths. To us, the coming trip is one full of excitement and uncertainties, but we pray that in everything that we do, we will be able to humble ourselves for the glory of God.





PRAYER REQUESTS
Sarah(team leader):
Even with the trip drawing near, my prayer is for the team & myself to be clear about the spiritual lessons we hope to draw from this trip & be open to how God will teach us these lessons. Pray for God's purpose to be the centre of all we do & for His strength to take us through. May His love overflow from us to the people in Thailand we have yet to meet! :)

Shaun(asst. team leader):
Pray that God will teach us and mould us to be the people He wants us to be.That we will be receptive to the lessons God has for us. That we will function as the team God wants us to be.

Andrew(logistics):
Pray that I will learn and experience God’s heartbeat in mission during this trip, that I can learn to grow and be more like Him. Pray too that I am able to share the gospel boldly and lovingly to the Thais.

Ruth(treasurer):
Pray that my faith in Christ will grow as I trust Him to guide me during the trip. That I will be bold to share God's love and truth to the Thais and be a blessing to them.


HERE’S HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT US!
We recognise and acknowledge that we do not walk alone in mission. Therefore we really desire you to be part of this exciting journey with us.
Currently, our team has fund-raised and received love gifts of a total of $4400. Although, we are still short of $900, we believe God will provide the rest sufficiently. We would like to invite you to continue to support us financially and prayerfully.
Yes, I would like to:
( ) Support the team in prayer
( ) Support the team financially with a love gift of $ ________

[If you like to mail us a cheque or support us financially,
please contact us on how you can reach us]
We would like to send you our prayer letters and update you on the team’s progress.
Or you can mail us at lovethailand08@googlegroups.com

Name:
Contact no:
Email:

Thank You for giving to the Lord’s work!
พระเจ้าอวยพร God Bless You! :)

Labels: prayer letter

hello to all supporters out there!

we've just completed a updated version of our prayer newsletter.
will add it here as soon as it is done :)