April Showers

Hello and Happy Easter!

Jesus said, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.'

John 11:25-26

The powerful gospel of Christ is the reason our team is going to Thailand. To share about the sacrifice and unending love of a Savior who conquered death. He is Risen!

Missions Monday

Pray for a number of people in our church who are contemplating a "Next Step" as they seek to serve God on the mission field; God's confirmation in their hearts & opening the doors for them to serve.

Team Prayer Requests

-- We are still searching for plane tickets with the best prices and most direct routes

-- Many of our team members have midterms coming up and are busy with schoolwork

-- This Sunday our team will have evangelism training. Pray for wisdom for leaders, and for team members to start sharing the gospel even before we leave for Thailand.

The Evening Post

Sawadee (hello) and khor thot (sorry) this post is coming out a little bit late.

Here were our two prayer topics from yesterday's meeting:

1. Spiritual Freedom

Thailand means “Land of the Free” because they were never colonized. However, the land is held captive in a complex web of Buddhism, traditional culture, spirit appeasement (even occult practices), and strong social cohesiveness, making it hard for people. For many Thai, their nationality and religious identity are inextricablty linked. Pray for spiritual breakthrough so that, in the Lord Jesus, the Thai may be free indeed.

2. Church Growth

After 400 yrs of Catholic work and 200 yrs of Protestant work, Thailand is still only ~1% Christian. Despite many missionaries and programs, there has been little growth.

a) The Church of Christ in Thailand, the largest Protestant network; pray for renewal

b) The Evangelical Fellowship of Thailand, hub of mission organizations and churches; pray for unity, effective collaboration, and accelerating growth

c) High standards in church life. Thai culture is very tolerant and relaxed, going against holiness in the church. Pastors need to lead by example, and deal with syncretism and high rates of backsliding.

d) Church growth and evangelism. Praise God for lots of vision for the country. Pray for leadership, recent projects (Vision 2010, Love Thailand, TEC), formation of a national prayer network, leadership development, etc.

e) The less-reached areas. Most churches are small and concentrated in Bangkok and the NW. 6,000+ of 7,415 subdistricts have no church.

One of the reasons our team has incorporated these prayer times is so we could have a better understanding of the issues Thai people and (future) Christians face. Our hope is that the more we can learn, the fewer barriers to the gospel there will be and it will be easier it will be to form relationships with people. Keep us in prayer! It's not easy learning Thai!

Also, please pray that we would be able to book our plane tickets soon.

Thanks!

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Missions Monday

Pray for the ongoing relief efforts in Japan; coordinated & cooperative effort would reach the most needed areas and peoples; open doors for the Church in general and the many Christian mission/relief.

Thank You!

First of all, thank you to everyone who helped prep on Saturday, clean, cook, eat, pray, or encourage us on Sunday! Our fundraiser was a huge success because of all YOU. We saw our team members working really hard together (the first time we've all been gathered together) and it was very encouraging having friends, family, and the rest of the church showing their support for our team. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul writes about the body of Christ and how "there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it." As our team goes to Thailand this summer, the body of Christ comes with us as all the volunteer efforts and prayers of those at home support us. We are all doing equal work for the purpose of glorifying God!

So once again, deepest thanks from Thailand team. :)

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Missions Monday
Pray for our missionary Joyce Jow in Japan: although she was not directly affected by the disaster, pray for her and others as they minister to the many that were affected.

It has been one-month today since the earthquake hit. Let's remember to pray for our brothers and sisters in Japan!

Busy Monday!

There has been a lot happening with our team the last few weeks, most importantly, commitment decisions! Below is the 2011 team... please keep them in your prayers!

Alex Chan
Alisa Wong
Caleb Choi
Doris Jew
Greg Lue
Joshua Yuan
Kara Lue
Lorraine Lau
Noreen Lue
Sonny Cheung
Stephanie Tomokiyo
Taylor Lin

At our last team meeting, we began praying through Operation World's country guide for Thailand. Those prayer requests will also be posted on our blog so you can pray along with us! Beyond the students we will be working with in Chiang Rai, we want to develop a heart of prayer for all the people in Thailand.

[from their website] Thailand has been an island of stability and freedom in a troubled region, but “The Land of Smiles” is also awash with difficulties. Pray for these pressing issues and for the wise leadership and reform needed to address them:

a) The political upheaval of 2006-2008 revealed deep fault lines among various political parties, the military and the royalty. Protests brought the country to a standstill.

b) The violent insurgency in the southern areas near Malaysia has claimed thousands of lives. It is a result of some discrimination against the predominantly Malay Muslim minority and the radicalization of the same.

c) Tensions with other neighbours, including disputes with Cambodia and more notably Myanmar, from which over a million have fled disaster and persecution into Thailand.

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Today's Mission's Monday prayer topic:

"Pray for the people of Japan: especially those being affected by the disasters; God would have mercy on the people of Japan and as a result of this tragedy that many would turn to Him."

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Lastly, please remember to come out to our fundraiser this Sunday! There will be oodles of noodles! You will have mein fun! We would really appreciate your support! Thank you already for keeping our team in prayer as we're still in our planning stage. :)

OODLES of NOODLES!

Thailand Team's 2011 Lunch Fundraiser will be Oodles of Noodles! After last year's popularity, we are doing a similar menu: noodles, noodles, more noodles, fruit, salad, and Fosselman's ice cream!

Sunday, April 10

12:45-2:00 in the MPB

For pre-orders or questions, look for our table between worship services on Sunday, or email us: 2011ThailandTeam@gmail.com

Please come out and support our team! It would mean a lot to us :)