VALENTINE’S FESTIVAL OUTREACH

The picture above is our team and a handful of others, including 11 of our Bible graduates from Laos, that took part in last week’s outreach. Every year for the past nine years (the week of Valentine’s Day) our team in Thailand takes the trek higher up the mountains to a village called Phu Chi Fa. For a three-day period, thousands of people, many of them coming across the border from Laos, come to be a part of the three-day Valentine’s Festival. It’s a wonderful opportunity for our team to pass out thousands of tracts and personally share the gospel with dozens of lost people.

The last two years we passed out between 8,000-10,000 tracts over the three-day period. This year we were able to pass out over 18,000 tracts, personally share the gospel with 127 people, and we saw 40 bow their heads and trust Christ. It was a blessing to have Pastor Kong, his wife Lily, and our recent Bible graduates join with us for this year’s Valentine’s Festival Outreach. THANK YOU FOR PRAYING AND GIVING!

PLEASE PRAY THAT ALL THE GOSPEL SEEDS THAT WERE SOWN WOULD, IN DUE TIME, BRING FORTH FRUIT!

PASTORS’ AND CHURCH LEADERS’ CONFERENCE

Every year, for the past seven years now, our team here in Chiang Khong has been hosting a Pastors’ and Church Leaders’ Conference. We invite pastors and church leaders from the country of Laos to spend four days with us. There’s teaching and preaching all day long (9:00 AM – 12:00 PM, 1:00 – 4:00 PM, 6:00 – 8:00 PM) and lots of good food and fellowship.  Our brethren from across the Mekong don’t have opportunities like this back home so it’s always a huge blessing.

Our theme this year was “Setting Our Affection on Things Above.” I had the privilege to do all the preaching and my messages were all from Colossians 3. I also taught for seven hours on a “Christ-Honoring Marriage and Family.” Brother Tom Sutrick, Brother Jay Chang, and Pastor Tzer-Chang, taught on topics like “The Importance of God’s Word,” “The Importance of Prayer,” “The Importance of the Church,” and “The Importance of a Pure Heart.” THANK YOU FOR PRAYING AND GIVING!

PLEASE PRAY FOR ALL THE MEN AND THE WOMEN THAT ATTENDED THE CONFERENCE TO CONTINUE TO SET THEIR AFFECTION ON THINGS ABOVE AND FOLLOW THROUGH ON THE MANY DECISIONS THAT WERE MADE DURING THE CONFERENCE!

NORTHERN THAILAND

We couldn’t be more excited about what God is doing on the old mountain top and in our extension ministries here in Northern Thailand. To be honest, our church family meets in a small village and the church has always been a fairly small church (most in Southeast Asia are). Sadly, the two years of COVID really hurt the church. The restrictions were very tight here, we weren’t allowed to meet in person for a good portion of the time, and very little ministry was allowed. Of course, once the restrictions were lifted it took a while for some of our folks to “find their way back home.”

God has been blessing over the past six months. While we do not count how many attends on Sunday or on Wednesday, it doesn’t take a “rocket scientist” to see that we have pretty much doubled our attendance in the past year. More importantly, our people are growing in their faith, in their love for the Lord, their love for others, and their commitment to Christ and the cause of Christ. Denise and I are getting more involved with working with our children and with our teens, as well as still teaching our adults on Sunday. THANK YOU FOR PRAYING AND GIVING!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR OUR CHURCH FAMILY, OUR TUESDAY MEN’S DISCIPLESHIP GROUP, AND OUR EXTENSION MINISTRIES!

CHILDREN’S HOME

Those of you that follow us know that our team tries to go to the Rong Ber Children’s Home every three to four months. It’s always a tremendous blessing for our team to spend a Saturday with Brother Chris, his staff, and the young people. As I have mentioned in the past, we go to the Children’s Home to be a blessing, and yet, we always leave blessed beyond measure. As always, lots of food, fun, and fellowship, along with a message from God’s word.  THANK YOU FOR PRAYING AND GIVING!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR BROTHER CHRIS, HIS STAFF, AND THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF THE RONG BER CHILDREN’S HOME!

BOY’S SOCCER LEAGUE

A little over two years ago, Operations Samaritan’s Compassion helped to finance a brand-new soccer league for poor children in the country of Laos. Our Bible college men run the league, coach the teams, love the boys, and have wisely used this league as a tool to get the gospel to these young men. Fifty boys signed up for the league, 45 of these boys were unbelievers.

Now, all these boys have been loved and have heard a clear presentation of the gospel numerous times. Most of them have attended a service. Fifteen of the boys have trusted Christ, with all of them being baptized and discipled.

Most of these 15 boys that have trusted Christ are not only presently attending the church services but have become an integral part of the church family. I believe eight of the boys spent the entire summer living with our Bible college students. Lots of good discipleship was going on there.  Recently, during a break in school many of them spent another week with the college students and even attended Bible classes with them. God has been good. THANK YOU FOR PRAYING AND GIVING!

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE BOYS THAT HAVE TRUSTED CHRIST TO CONTINUE TO GROW AND FOR GOD TO CONTINUE TO USE THE SOCCER LEAGUE TO REACH MORE FOR CHRIST!

BIBLE GRADUATES INTERNING

As I mentioned in our last update, our eleven graduates will be spending this entire Spring term interning at different churches in Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. We just had two of them, Tighawj (Tee), and Vee, spend a month with us. They were such a tremendous blessing. We now have four more of them (Sor, Fatee, Mai, and Pachoua) with us for the next four weeks. Mai and Pachoua are two of our “adopted daughters.” They both lived with us a few years back. Denise and I love them much and are grateful we get to spend some time with them over the next few weeks. As I mentioned above, all our graduates, but two, were able to be with us for the Valentine’s Outreach. Needless to say, they were a huge help and blessing. THANK YOU FOR PRAYING AND GIVING!

PLEASE PRAY FOR THESE YOUNG PEOPLE TO BE GREATLY USED OF GOD WHILE INTERNING AND IN THE FUTURE!

As always, Denise and I would like to thank you for taking the time to read our update, for faithfully praying and supporting us over the years, and loving us from a distance. We couldn’t be here, we couldn’t stay here, and we couldn’t do what God has led us to do but by His grace and your generosity.
 
Your Missionaries in Southeast Asia,

Johnny and Denise

PLEASE LISTEN TO OUR VIDEO UPDATE