May – Aug 2015

PLACESPEOPLE PARTICIPATE

News Resurrection!The Singapore Stopover

Model, Assist, Watch, Launch

All Change

全て変化

As it is with the individual so it ought to be with an organisation seeking to follow God and do his will.

Since 1865 we have been adapting our work in response to the circumstances presented to us. Having to leave China, yet moving into new countries and then to other people groups, training indigenous leaders and making the most of evolving technology to reach those untouched by the gospel, all stands as evidence of God using circumstances to shape OMF.

In this issue we explore how God has changed OMF International in order to keep us working for his kingdom among East Asia’s people.

Chris WattsEditor – chris.watts@omfmail.com

The individual’s walk with God is a journey of change. Through the teaching we receive and the experiences of life, God changes us to become more like Christ.

We serve the Church and seek to bring the gospel to all the peoples of East Asia. We help place Christians with professional skills in China and other Asian countries, and share the love of Christ with East Asians worldwide.

Through God’s grace we aim to see an indigenous, biblical church-planting movement in each people group of East Asia, evangelising their own people and reaching out in mission to other peoples.

Heart for Asia. Hope for billions.

From The Editor

AUSTRALIA18-20 Oxford StreetEppingNew South Wales 2121Tel +61 2 9868 4777Fax +61 2 9868 5743au@omfmail.com

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News 4 The Singapore Stopover 6Change marked the CIM throughout the mid-1900s

Resurrection! 8 The Rebirth of the Chinese Church

Broadcasting Over Barriers 10Long distances, disparate people

Model, Assist, Watch, Launch 14 Cross-cultural discipleship

DIRECTIONSWhat is our Mission? 12Consistent for 150 years

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News

Selected snippets from OMF's work with East Asians around the world.

PEOPLE

It’s more fun in the PhilippinesI arrived in a place called Trece Matieres in the Philippines, a relocation site for thousands who had been moved from a rail-side slum in Manila. I was exhausted from the early morning journey and I fell asleep when I arrived. I was there to help with a medical mission as part of my two-month stay in Manila. When I woke up the medical clinic was in full swing. The place was in chaos. Everyone was too busy to give me a task and I felt completely useless. I had no medical skills to offer and no language with which to communicate. I just wanted to go home. I soon noticed however, that there were many children sitting around with nothing to do. With the few words that I knew, I began to play some games with the children. They ended up loving the games so much that we played into the evening after everyone else had gone home. I realised after that day that everyone has something to offer, and all of our contributions are equally important. I believe that God valued me on that day just as much as he valued the doctors. We all showed love to the people of Trece Matieres with the skills and abilities that God had gifted us with. We should never be afraid that our abilities aren't good enough, because each and every believer has so much to offer if they put their trust in God and show love to others.

Laura

Family Matters‘Family Matters’ is an anthology of stories focused on family life in cross-cultural contexts – specifically devoted to the CIM/OMF 150th anniversary theme, ‘God’s Faithfulness’.

The stories describe ways in which the protection, provision and presence of God have been experienced in real and personal ways by 29 missionary families. Most of them describe first-hand experiences, written by those for whom these stories are part of their family history. They are powerful testimonies that will inspire, move, challenge and encourage readers.

Glenys Goulstone

Our Story Begins…How do you squeeze 150 years into three and a half minutes? Take one talented animator, an international team of OMF media types and a lot of beautiful archive material. Mix together over a number of weeks. The result, an engaging, thought-provoking, eye-opening look at the story of OMF International.

The fast-paced, wonderfully animated video takes the viewer on a journey from 1865 when Hudson Taylor paced Brighton Beach, through to OMF International today. From the Lammermuir party to today’s Diaspora Returnees Ministry, the animation highlights key moments in our history and some of the people God has used, and is using to fulfill his purposes.

If you only know OMF as it is today, or want to share with your friends, small group or church how OMF began, then please share this great resource.

Watch Online vimeo.com/omfmedia/ourstorybegins

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OMF UK National ConferenceThis year’s conference was entitled ‘Mission Accomplished?’ Reflecting on our 150-year anniversary we wanted to use the weekend to look back at what has gone before us, and pray into what God has ahead of us. We heard from Asian leaders who flew to the UK from all over East Asia to speak to us about their contexts and we had bible messages from Sri Lankan theologian Vinoth Ramachandra. To listen to some of the seminars and bible talks that took place at the conference follow this link–

Listen Online omf.org/uk/2015audio

Rachel‘It’s my third year at the National Conference, I came along to help out with the kids programme. It has been lots of fun and I have really enjoyed myself. It was great to meet new kids who haven’t been before. I also enjoyed chatting to people over dinner, meeting people who’ve led inspiring lives. I managed to get along to some of the Asian Bazaar (while I had a break from the kids programme), it was great to get a glimpse of what it’s like in some of the countries OMF works in.’

Dick‘I really enjoyed the content of the theological track. It was well pitched and presented.’

Carol‘I came to the conference because I feel that God wants me to go to East Asia. It’s great to meet others who also have a heart for East Asia. I’ve most enjoyed the fellowship and atmosphere at the conference. I have sending churches who are committed to praying for me, but they don’t have the knowledge of what it’s like in Asia, so it’s great to come to the conference and be welcomed by people who know what it’s like, and have wisdom about how to look after me as I go. I’ve been very blessed by the friendship. ‘

Chris‘The weekend has had a fantastic atmosphere. Over 400 people singing ‘Facing A Task Unfinished’ on Sunday morning was a highlight and Vinoth’s talks have provided much food for thought.’

Here are some short examples of why people came along, and what they enjoyed:

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The Singapore Stopover

在 星 加 坡 短暫 的停留

Change marked the CIM throughout the mid-1900s, although it drastically altered how the work looked, the mission never lost the traits inherited from Hudson Taylor. Indigeneity remained a focus, inclusiveness was paramount, and innovation was required to cope with immense challenges. Here’s a story of one such challenge.

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October 1949: The People’s Republic of China was formed, and with it came a new obstacle to mission work. Chairman Mao Zedong and his Russian-supported Communism were particularly wary of foreign presence in the new Republic. To many Chinese at the time, white faces represented Western imperialism, the kind they had fought hard to discourage. Missionaries were often living deep in the heart of China, where suspicion of foreigners was most prevalent. Even though the CIM missionaries had no imperialist agenda (imperialism would hinder the growth of a uniquely Chinese Church) they were still seen to represent the West. Things were getting dangerous for many in inland China.

A decision had to made; would the CIM leave China or remain, not knowing how difficult it could get? But the question of whether to leave China was tied to another question: where would they go? The missionaries had spent years with a burden to spread the gospel in China. Was God calling them to stop that ministry?

Urgent action was needed. The General Director, Bishop Frank Houghton called a meeting in Kalorama, a retreat centre not far from Melbourne. All the CIM’s leaders were to attend. The decision had to be made – would the CIM leave China?

John Sinton, the CIM’s China Director, an unflappable, ‘hands-on’ leader, certainly wasn’t ready to head home yet. After much prayer he was convinced that the way forward was to reach out to the many Chinese overseas from China. But that decision wasn’t

his to make, and he would have to meet with the other leaders of the CIM and convince them this was God’s call for the Mission.

Sinton’s trip from Shanghai to Melbourne was not a straightforward one; the required overnight stop in Singapore was one Sinton could have done without as he made his way to the pivotal meeting. But it was this overnight stop that God would use to confirm his calling for the CIM.

As Sinton made himself comfortable at Raffles Hotel in Singapore, awaiting his next connection, a group of Singapore-Chinese churchmen heard of his arrival. They sought Sinton out and presented themselves to him at the hotel. Sinton did not know the men, nor how they came to find out about his presence in Singapore, let alone the specific hotel he was staying at. As of yet he knew no one in the city and had told few people of his stopover. Nevertheless God brought the men into Sinton’s path. They implored Sinton, ‘bring the CIM down here, to Singapore-Malaya’ and to the Chinese there. The churchmen were impressed by the work of the CIM in China and would value input in their own church planting. If the CIM were to expand it must have been at the call of God and into areas where their work was welcomed. This unplanned meeting confirmed not just the call of God in Sinton’s eyes, but also verified that the work of the CIM would be valuable to the churches outside of China.

Sinton could not make an immediate promise to the churchmen as he was yet to meet with the remaining leaders of the CIM and the decision to leave China hadn’t yet been made. He thanked them and promised to extend their invitation.

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When Sinton arrived in Kalorama it quickly became clear that the work of missionaries in China would have to come to an end. Bishop Houghton sent final instructions to all the CIM’s missionaries to leave China. The long task of withdrawal began; a ‘reluctant exodus’ as Phyllis Thompson dubbed it. In late autumn the leaders of the CIM assembled to discuss its future ministry. Where would they go? If the CIM were to work outside of China would its name change? Did a change of name accompany a change in policies? It was a long agenda, but nothing could have given the members of that meeting more confidence than hearing of John Sinton’s experience with the Chinese churchmen in Singapore. God’s confirmation to Sinton helped the leaders decide that the CIM would

continue to work; they would use cultural experiences gleaned from China to be witnesses to the Chinese diaspora.

The decision was taken to change the name, and ‘the China Inland Mission’ became

‘The Overseas Missionary Fellowship of the CIM’. All the historical polices of the CIM remained; finance, indigenous church planting and pioneering into new areas endured with utmost importance.

Many missionaries who were previously in China moved out to Singapore, Malaya, Japan, Thailand and other areas of South East Asia. Through a time of great uncertainty God provided the mission with an answer and a new focus. As we look to the future, we know that we will continue to face uncertainty, but we can look to our past and see that God has always provided an answer.

Josh Kinghorn and David Huntley

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PLACES

Resurrection!

回顾与展 望

The amazing rebirth of the Chinese Church

By 1952, the ascension of Chairman Mao Zedong meant Western missionary presence

in China would cause more harm than good to the Chinese church. It was the end of 150 years of strenuous Protestant missionary endeavour. Many thought this also signalled the end of the Christian faith in China, which to quote one academic, had been ‘swallowed up in the overwhelming tide of Maoism.’ For many years it looked like the pessimists had been right. The Chinese Church entered a dark period of persecution under the atheist regime. ‘Three Self Patriotic Movement’ was set up to oversee the church and to bring it under the ideology of the Communist Party. By 1958 ninety per cent of China’s churches had been closed down.

Then in 1966 Mao unleashed the ‘Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution’. Fanatical Red Guards desecrated any remaining churches. Many Christians were martyred or sent to labour camps. The visible church was totally eradicated.

But then God worked a wonderful thing. Faithful Christians went underground, daring to meet in twos and threes for small prayer-meetings. As most Bibles had been confiscated or destroyed, Christians memorised whole chapters of the Bible.

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I was in China when Mao died, in 1976. Not a single church was open for Chinese believers. But things began to ease. In 1978 I had the joy of giving a Bible to a young man in Shanghai who remembered it as ‘a good book’ from back when he was able to attend Sunday School. In the spring of 1979 I witnessed the reopening of the TSPM churches in Beijing. Elderly believers wept as they took Holy Communion for the first time in 20 years or more. Week by week numbers grew as people

flocked back to churches. Something significant was happening.

The Chinese Church had not died. Marxism, failing to deliver the promised atheistic paradise, had opened many people’s hearts to seek God.

Even before the TSPM churches opened, house-churches began to proliferate across the country. The sacrificial testimony of men and women who had suffered twenty years or more in labour camps for their faith was now bearing fruit. Elderly saints emerged unbowed from prison; Wang Mingdao and Li Tian’en in Shanghai, Allen Yuan and Moses Xie in Beijing, Pastor Lamb (Lin Xiangao) in Guangzhou, Sister Yang Xinfei in Xiamen and many others. Dozens and even hundreds squashed into small courtyards and homes as I can testify. Young and old were hungry for the Word of God, so long forbidden to them. In rural areas, preachers travelled by bike or on foot to spread the gospel, they found poor farmers whose lives had been blighted by poverty and famine, but ready to hear the gospel.

By the early 1980s many parts of China were experiencing rapid church-growth, even revival. Government statistics show that the Protestant Christians numbered less than one million in 1949 on the eve of the Communist takeover. By 2015 numbers have soared to at least 70 million.

The TSPM now have over 60,000 registered churches and meeting points. Unlike the 1950s and 1960s the message preached is overwhelmingly evangelical. Statistics show

that over 23 million believers worship in TSPM churches now –

the remaining 50 million or more attend unregistered house-churches.

This spiritual awakening, by any sober reckoning, is the greatest church-growth since

Pentecost, and it is still continuing.Government researchers recently warned the

Party leadership that if unchecked, the number of Protestant Christians in China could reach 200 or even 300 million over the next few decades. 2014 saw a massive crackdown in Zhejiang province with the demolition of newly built mega-churches (even government approved ones) which had held thousands of worshippers, and the forcible removal of crosses from over 400 churches.

A new nationalism is stirring and some of those in power still see the Church as a potentially subversive threat. In fact, most Christians in China are apolitical and concentrate on being ‘salt and light’ in society and winning people to Christ. They have the goodwill of the majority of people and despite continuing pressure and even persecution the Church is likely to continue to grow.

A mature Church is developing, attracting people from every level of society. China now has the largest evangelical community in the world. Many young people including students, graduates and professionals, are offering themselves for missionary service to unreached people within China and to the Muslim communities of Central Asia and the Middle East.

In 1865 Hudson Taylor paced Brighton beach before founding the China Inland Mission. Today the wheel has come full circle as grateful Chinese Christians commit themselves to God’s mission. A new era of world mission is beginning in which the Chinese Church will play a major role.

China now has the largest evangelical community in the world

Tony Lambert

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Broadcasting Over Barriers

バリアを 超 えて放 送

Long distances, disparate people, even governments can be barriers to the physical presence of gospel workers. Broadcasts however, are not inhibited in the same way.

The large cities of pre-Communist China provided plenty of opportunities for privately owned radio broadcasting. Chinese Christian and wealthy businessman, Mr Lee, owned a Shanghai station known as XMHD which provided Chinese and English Christian broadcasts. The CIM missionary Revd. George A Scott produced the English language content, including a 30-minute programme called ‘Young People’s Hour’. He frequently received letters from his Chinese listeners who often referred to him as Uncle George.

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The Communists arrested Mr Lee in the late 1940s.

He died before his trial but not before he managed to send $20,000 to the Far East Broadcasting

Company (FEBC). This funded the construction of the radio station

KSBU in Japan, which was able to continue broadcasting the gospel into

China. As technologies developed, countries changed and new ministry opportunities

emerged, broadcasting has remained a great way of reaching the unreached across East Asia.

Much of the island of Hokkaido, Japan, consists of bare volcanic plateau and thickly forested mountain slopes. The island is roughly the size of Switzerland and Denmark combined, with a population of 5.46 million people, a third of whom live in the largest city of Sapporo. There are around 400 Protestant churches with an average attendance of only 32. Sixty-two per cent of towns and villages have no church at all. In the light of such vast need, the ministry of the Hokkaido Gospel Broadcast seems miniscule. It is a major financial struggle to host just two weekly evangelistic programmes: Lifeline TV (30 minutes) and the radio show Light of the World (15 minutes.) But spiritually, their impact is immeasurable, reaching many who would not otherwise be reached on the island of Hokkaido:

Mr Ueki stood on a railway bridge full of despair. He saw a train in a distant station and decided ‘When the train gets near, I’ll jump’. He waited and waited but the train showed no signs of moving so he eventually gave up and left. The next day he discovered someone had jumped in front of the very train he had thought to end his own life with. Not long afterwards, early one Sunday morning, following a sleepless night, Mr Ueki found himself inadvertently watching a Christian TV programme called Lifeline TV. This programme was the spiritual lifeline he so desperately needed. Through Lifeline TV he discovered a local church and in time became a Christian together with his wife.

And Mr Ueki’s story is not the only one. A 62-year-old businesswoman wrote that she had been watching Lifeline for two years.

‘One Sunday I was feeling upset and restless at heart,’ she wrote in January 2014. ‘I was wondering if I should find out more about Christianity. As I watched, I felt as though I were being given a push of encouragement from behind. I talked to my husband and then took the step of contacting a pastor.’

What an encouragement it was to hear later that she had been baptised on Easter Sunday 2014.

Mr Maruyama wrote: ‘I was 28 when my mother died very suddenly at the

age of 53 of a brain haemorrhage. I was overwhelmed with grief, shock and guilt for not having been in touch with her more. I drank and smoked heavily, kept changing jobs and got into severe debt. I was like a sail flapping in the wind with no rope to hold it down, blown wherever the wind took me in a completely abandoned, indulgent fashion. I was a bundle of anxiety and loneliness. Physically and emotionally at the end of my tether, I came across the TV programme Lifeline one Sunday morning. Usually I would be sleeping like the dead but that morning the smiling face and heartfelt words of the Christian pastor brought a ray of light and warmth to my heart.’ (From the January 2015 Japanese Hokkaido Gospel Broadcast Newsletter.) Subsequently, Mr Maruyama also started attending church and was baptised.

These are just a few stories of how broadcasting has been used, and is being used to share the good news of Jesus Christ in areas scarcely touched by physical means. In China after 1951, radio was used to help support the growth of the Church without a foreign presence. In Japan, bringing the gospel into the privacy of someone’s home is a rare privilege. Yet broadcasting through TV, radio and the internet has provided unique opportunities to connect with Japanese people inside the privacy of their houses. Let’s pray that God would continue to create opportunities to share the gospel through broadcasting.

When the train gets near, I’ll jump

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我們的使命 是什麼?

Every so often we need to re-examine how we express those objectives. What certain vocabulary and terminology meant to one generation can miss the mark or mean something quite different to

another, for that reason OMF has adopted a new Mission Statement to communicate afresh what it is we believe we’re called to do…

What is our Mission?Structures, strategies, and spheres of ministry may have changed but OMF's essential objectives have remained consistent for 150 years.

DIRECTIONS

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A brief exposition may help unpack what – 150 years on – OMF understands its mission to be.

Partnership‘We’ encompasses the community of OMF in its widest sense, including the churches from which mission partners are sent, those who stand with us in prayer, together with our brothers and sisters in the churches of East Asia with whom we partner for the sake of the gospel. The effectiveness of what we do in mission often boils down to the quality and extent of our relationships.

A unique, saving messageOur central focus is to bring the

good news of Jesus Christ to a sinful and broken world. And central to the good news is the unique, saving message of the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Whatever the starting point for our sharing of the good news, our ultimate goal is to see men and women of all ages become disciples of Jesus Christ and

living for the glory of God.

A comprehensive mission

Good news finds its roots in Isaiah

40–66. Isaiah 52:7 is foundational for the New

Testament’s understanding of the gospel; the themes of peace, salvation and kingdom are brought to

fulfilment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The

good news is that God reigns

and that his purposes for the whole of his creation are centred in Jesus – Saviour and Lord of the world. We exist to make all of this known.

The phrase we share the good news of Jesus in all its fullness is a replacement for the word ‘evangelization’. Historically, the CIM talked about the mission’s ‘full-orbed ministry’, and understood ‘evangelization’ in holistic terms, encompassing medical care, education, famine relief, confronting the opium trade, working for the liberation of women and the care of orphans, and all the while, and in every context, sharing the gospel, planting churches and seeing lives and communities transformed.

The verb euangelizomai (to announce the good news) is used by the Apostle Paul to describe a range of evangelistic and teaching ministries – from initial proclamation, through to discipleship and the grounding of believers in the faith.

We have a comprehensive mission, and the gospel we proclaim is not a brief ‘formula’ but a person and a story – the whole biblical story of what God has done in Christ to bring redemption to the whole of creation.

We seek to follow the New Testament example of a way of mission that fully proclaims the gospel of Christ by word and deed, in the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:17–18). Our aim in ministry, like that of the Apostle Paul, is for the obedience of faith, not for conversion only, but for the life of obedience that flows from faith in Jesus (Romans 1:5; 16:26).

Appreciating the broader dimensions of the gospel is crucial for a proper understanding of the Church’s mission.

Peter Rowan

A supreme motivationOur new statement reaches a climax with to the glory of God. This crescendo underlines our motivation and passion for the mission we believe God has given us. All we seek to be and do springs from the gospel itself and flows from a desire to live and serve for the glory of God. Our supreme motivation is that the one true and living God should be known and glorified among the peoples of East Asia.

Authentic messengersFinally, statements and words only go so far. As a Fellowship we are committed to communicating the good news of Jesus by our saying, doing and being; by word, deed and character. As Howard Peskett wrote in One Passionate Purpose, the most powerful and effective way of making the good news known ‘is through lives which are themselves characterised and transformed by it.’ [Howard Peskett, One Passionate Purpose, (Overseas Missionary Fellowship), 1990:27–28].

As a Fellowship we want to be characterised by the gospel we proclaim. It’s an incredibly joyful yet serious task. The history of the CIM/OMF, as well as the experience of East Asian Christians in many places today, testifies to the fact that this good news is so important that it is worth dying for.

Our Mission Statement seeks to express that OMF remains committed to sharing the gospel – speaking it, preaching it, living it, demonstrating it, in all its biblical breadth and richness, and to allowing this good news to have its full effect in us as a Fellowship and amongst East Asia’s peoples.

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PARTICIPATE

The OMF teams in Thailand are well acquainted with this pattern;

first modelling being a disciples of Jesus, then helping new believers in their faith, before stepping back and ‘watching’ indigenous believers begin evangelism themselves. Finally when the indigenous church is grown and maturing, missionaries are able to ‘launch’; they can hand over all ministries into the hands of the Thai people and praise God for the work he has done.

Model, Assist, Watch, Launch

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For missionaries, making disciples in a cross-cultural context consists of four stages; modeling, assisting, watching and launching.

ModelingTim Noble – Modeling IncompetenceA few years ago, our family relocated to the Ayutthaya province to work alongside a church. Our aim was to encourage church planting throughout the province. I was quite inexperienced in direct church planting, having spent the previous ten years teaching English in a university. What could I – a veritable newbie, offer this church which was already functioning quite well on its own?

Surprisingly, my weakness turned out to be my greatest asset. No one could mistakenly think I had come to lead the church. I was dependent on church members and leaders to help work out how we could bring glory to God in more than our little corner of Ayutthaya.

As we prepared to go on home assignment, I tried to encourage the church: ‘You know that I’ve made my mistakes, and yet God has been at work here in our midst. If God can do this much through me, imagine what he can do through you!’

Just prior to going on home assignment, Mos asked me what he should do. I thought for a moment, before explaining that we need to be willing to work outside our areas of gifting. For example, I don’t consider myself a gifted preacher, but I am always glad to

preach whenever given the opportunity. Not long afterwards, Brenda overheard Mos telling Kai,

‘You really should try preaching. Ajaan Tim says that sometimes we need to serve in

areas outside our gifting.’When we returned from home

assignment, we were amazed to see that the church had almost doubled in membership. Not only that, they had maintained the vision to plant

other churches in neighbouring districts. Now, this church of about

40 members is involved in planting two other churches!

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Assisting Emanuel Zwygart – You do, I Help Our family is part of a church plant that was started in Nakhon Sawan, Thailand, more than three years ago. Assisting people in ministry is an important part of our life. As we serve the Lord together, we try to assist new believers in the area they serve and where they are gifted.

Me, a student in her twenties, had been watching people from the church hand out tracts for quite some time. Others hearing about Jesus excited her. Was ‘evangelising’ a gift the Lord has given her? People without Christ were obviously on her heart.

One day, I saw Me getting involved in a conversation with someone she met. I heard her saying: ‘Your life will get better when you believe in Jesus.’ At this point, I joined their conversation and supported her.

After the experience we went through the discussion again.

First of all, I wanted to affirm her in how I was encouraged to see her sharing Christ. But I also wanted to help her to keep the message of the gospel clear.

I asked her three questions: ‘What would you say is the heart of the gospel? Why should we believe? What do we like to add to the gospel?’ We came to the conclusion: ‘Yes, the Lord can change situations and can do miracles, but there is no bigger miracle than Jesus dying for our sins so that we can have the forgiveness.’

It is not easy being Christian at Me’s university, but since our conversation she has helped a friend to come to know the Lord.

Discipleship takes time and ongoing involvement, it is training on the ‘job’. Assisting does not always lead to success. There are setbacks. But it is worth taking the risk and I am excited to see local believers growing as we support them.

WatchingSijmen den Hortag – Displaying Discipleship One day a new lady joined our house group. Niam, one of the church members, introduced her to me as her neighbour, Mae Lop. Though she showed interest in the gospel, she kept it at a safe distance by talking about it as the ‘new faith’ of her neighbour: ‘her God is helping her, her God has changed her.’

I wondered if I had to visit Mae with Niam for a more personal conversation about Christ. But I soon realised that I wasn’t needed. Niam looked after her neighbour, praying together, pointing to God’s blessings in their lives and encouraging her to read the Bible daily.

Weeks passed, but one Tuesday night Mae Lop changed her wording to ‘Our God is helping us and answers our prayers’. From that moment Mae Lop started taking steps to trust God more and more. Just as we were able to help Niam to grow in her faith, she was now helping her neighbour.

Mae Lop developed a hunger to see other people come to know the Lord. She started to pray for her son’s salvation and shares Jesus with her co-workers during harvest season in the fields. If she can’t answer difficult questions from others, she will take them to Niam and ask for her advice.

There are many people to reach in our area of Thailand, and we try to reach as many people as possible. It is an answer to prayer that we now see a young believer training her sister in Christ. Hopefully soon, the church in our town will be able to reach out to others without our help.

This model sounds wonderful, but in our first four years we hadn’t been able to go beyond the ‘assist’ stage. We are still involved in a lot of assisting, but by God’s grace we are starting to ‘watch’ young believers ‘assisting’ new believers.

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we could sense her hunger for the word of God

LaunchingLaunching a Cell Group LeaderAs we spent time doing personal Bible study with Somsee, we could sense her hunger for the word of God. She had the potential to become a great cell-group leader in the church-planting work at Tachang district in Singburi Province.

We brought her along to see how we led the cell group at Wat Yai Soi village. In leading the cell-group, we make sure to follow a fixed format: worship, thanksgiving, Bible study and intercession. Sometimes during the study, we asked Somsee to explain a theological truth using her own words and illustration. We soon noticed she that she may have the gift of teaching.

Not long after this, the need to start a new cell-group at Takham village arose. We asked Somsee if she could co-lead the group with us. With careful consideration, plus a little bit of fear, she agreed. Some weeks she led the worship and thanksgiving. Other weeks she led the intercession part. Then we got her to lead the Bible study section. We tried to give her feedback and suggestions at the end of each session. After six months we were ready to let her lead the cell-group fully (with us still in attendance). Today Somsee is leading the thriving Takham cell-group without our presence, she has even trained someone to be her assistant leader!Eng Kiat & Anong NG (Singburi Province, Central Thailand)

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