Dear Family, Friends, Partners in Ministry,

I must confess that this last Sunday was one of those Sunday’s where my heart was filled with joy. It was a very special Sunday for us here in Northern Thailand. It was a great time where we celebrated for the first time in our new building both of the ordinances that our Lord gave us to do until He returns. We began our service with the Lord’s Supper, had a time of worship and singing, followed by believer’s baptism and many other activities. 

Baptism is a really special time for us because it is normally a time where we have several people representing several different unreached people groups being baptized. Remember, we are in Thailand where over 95 percent of the 67 million people who live here are Buddhist believers. Thailand is considered the most thoroughly Buddhist country in the world. Yet, God is actively working in and around Northern Thailand reaching down into families where those families have never ever had a follower of Christ in their family. However, through His grace and mercy, God is allowing us to be a small part of seeing people baptized who are the first person in their entire family heritage.

Several of those 6 new believers that were baptized this past Sunday were the first person in their family to become a follower of Jesus. But this is just the beginning of a great work of God in the days ahead.

Today we just wanted to share this good news with you and to thank you for your prayers and for your financial support as we together join God in His great work of Redemption. Please remember to pray by name for these 6 new followers of Christ: Nong Nok, Nong Pat, Nong Wan, Nong Boom, Nong Bum, and Nong Gook-gik.

This is an 8 min video that we ask Gahn to put together for us and wanted to share the link with you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-IY93qUdfM

Here is a link to our Baan Athitaan Facebook page where you can see short videos of each of the people baptized

https://www.facebook.com/BaanathitaanChurch

This is a link to all of our pictures that we have stored on Facebook so that you might be able to see them as well.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=BaanathitaanChurch&set=a.7588400487867364

May God richly bless you. Thank you for your generosity and for sending us to Thailand. Any gift you would like to make to our normal, everyday ministry, no matter how small or how large, helps us reach people who are the first persons in their entire families to know Jesus.

 

Until the People in and around Northern Thailand know Him,

Michael for the team

“For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.” 2 Corinthians 4:5

-----------------------------------------------------------

Financial support can be given through NTIM....

Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM), P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 USA Main Website: www.gontim.org

NTIM is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization based in the USA. We are committed to connecting people in need with people who care and are focused in the heart of Southeast Asia where poverty is high, education is low, needs are great, unreached people groups (UPGs) are all around us, and the love and message of Jesus is needed to transform lives. 

                                                                             

 

 Dear Family, Friends, Partners in Ministry,

As I begin writing this update, I am sitting at my desk in Northern Thailand, drinking a cup of coffee, sitting in our new building, in my new office, and thinking about the goodness of God and what God might want me to share with you today.

Since you have not heard about our children’s English Outreach in quite a while, let me take just take a few moments and walk you through certain things that are going on that will help you know how to pray for us.

Jesus loves children. And children loved Jesus. It is amazing how children seem to have this “6^th sense” about people and they respond well to people that they sense are “safe” people.

One of the ways we serve God here in Northern Thailand and reach out into our community is through a partnership with Grace Language School and Baan Athitaan Church. It has been my honor a privilege to lead both of these organizations from the time we founded them over 20 years ago.

*GOD HAS GIVEN US AN AWESOME ESL OUTREACH FOR CHILDREN ON SATURDAYS

Several years ago, we saw the need to open up an ELS outreach to children grades 1-6 in our community. This has been a great way for our church – Baan Athitaan Church – and our school – Grace Language School – to work together in reaching the precious Thai children. This is also a time where we get to train and equip some of our university students in teaching as well. Please pray for us as we continue to grow. Before Covid we were running about 70 children every Saturday. However, since covid those numbers have dropped to somewhere around 50. Please pray for all of those involved in the Children’s ESL Outreach program on Saturdays. As I write this update, there are 6 different groups of Children studying English in our new – multi-purpose facility called the Lighthouse Learning Center. Our Thai Staff, under Ball’s leadership, along with several of our church’s awesome university students, lead this ESL Children’s outreach. Please pray for Ball, Ja, Jay, Pat, Nat, Mon, Mali, Yim, Thip, Jeerawan, and Nana as they help with our ESL Outreach to Children.

Here are some pictures from today and a link to all of the pictures on our Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=BaanathitaanChurch&set=a.7287424944631588

 

Many of the people we see come to Christ are the first person in their entire family to become an authentic follower of Jesus Christ. Please keep us in your prayers as we sense a great move of God during this time and as we begin this new year where Thai people seem to be very open to hearing the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

* OTHER AREAS OF PRAYER WE WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU

You have heard me say on many occasions, one of the most significant things that I do while serving as God has shaped and gifted me is to faithfully, boldly, gently, and clearly teach God’s truth almost every Sunday morning to our church family that is made up of over 23 different people groups from all over the 10-40 Window and is also a mix of several international groups. Our desire has always been to plant a community purpose driven church that welcomes every ethnic group of people that comes through our doors and not segregate their ability to serve based on ethnicity or nationality but based upon gifting, calling, and heart. We are truly becoming a vibrant and active community church and I believe we have the blessing of God upon us  at this time …… in this place ….. and for His purposes and His glory.

Please pray for what God is doing right here in the heart of Southeast Asia. As Henry Blackaby has said many times, God it truly at work all around us and He invites us to join Him in what He is doing.  

We love you and miss you, but at the same time, are very happy to serve our Lord Jesus in this place, among these people, at this season in life, and for God’s redemptive purposes.

May God richly bless you. Thank you for your kindness and generosity and for sending us to Thailand. Any gift you would like to make toward our normal, everyday ministry, no matter how small or how large, helps us reach people who are the first persons in their entire families to know Jesus.

Until the People in and around Northern Thailand know Him,

Michael for the team

“For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.” 2 Corinthians 4:5

-----------------------------------------------------------

Financial support can be given through NTIM....

Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM), P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 USA Main Website: www.gontim.org

NTIM is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization based in the USA. We are committed to connecting people in need with people who care and are focused in the heart of Southeast Asia where poverty is high, education is low, needs are great, unreached people groups (UPGs) are all around us, and the love and message of Jesus is needed to transform lives.                      

You can send donations to support God’s work to NTIM. All donations made are tax deductible and can be made either online at www.gontim.org or mailed to NTIM, P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL  35260

If you would like to get on our email update listing, please send me an email at pray4ntim@gmail.com 

 

Please join us in prayer for this very special weekend coming up today! Because of Covid we are not able to do the large Christmas outreaches that we love to do this time of year but we do have 3 major Christmas events coming up this weekend that we would ask you to pray about. 1) The first one is this Friday night (Dec 17) where we are celebrating Christmas with our Youth and College Age people. 2) The second one is this Saturday morning (Dec 18) where we are celebrating Christmas with all the Children grades 1-6 that study with us on Saturday mornings. 3) Our third Christmas program this weekend is for the Church family and will take place on Sunday morning (Dec19) in place of our normal corporate Sunday morning service. This is a time when God is moving in the hearts of Thai people drawing them to His heart. Please pray for these three upcoming events.

God has also put on my heart to remind you to pray for all the villages here in and around Northern Thailand this season. Here is a short video clip that will help you understand how we like to do outreaches in this part of God’s World. This is a clip of a Christmas Outreach that we did 12 years ago to one of the villages that we have a very special connection too in Northern Thailand. Watch, enjoy, and most importantly let what you see drive you to your knees on behalf of some of the least reached people groups in our world today that live here in Northern Thailand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9-XXDOWMFE

-----------------------------------------------------------

Financial support can be given through NTIM....

Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM), P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 USA Main Website: www.gontim.org

NTIM is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization based in the USA. We are committed to connecting people in need with people who care and are focused in the heart of Southeast Asia where poverty is high, education is low, needs are great, unreached people groups (UPGs) are all around us, and the love and message of Jesus is needed to transform lives. 

You can send donations to support God’s work to NTIM. All donations made are tax deductible and can be made either online at www.gontim.org or mailed to NTIM, P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL  35260

If you would like to get on our email update listing, please send me an email at pray4ntim@gmail.com 

 

 

 

 

ENCOURAGEMENT FROM NORTHERN THAILAND - Dec 8, 2021

When I was a kid, my Mom liked to make "breakfast food" for dinner every now and then. I remember one night in particular when she had made "breakfast" after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my Mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad.

I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed that the biscuits were really burnt bad. All my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my Mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that ugly burned biscuit. He ate every bite of that thing...never made a face nor uttered a word about it! When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my Mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I'll never forget what he said, "Honey, I love burned biscuits every now and then." (I really miss my Dad).

Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your Mom put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides--a little burned biscuit never hurt anyone!"

As I've grown older, I've thought about that many times.

Life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people. The important thing is how you treat people in those situations that are not so perfect.

I'm not the best at hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone else. But what I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults and choosing to celebrate each other’s differences is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.

And that's my prayer for you today...that you will learn to take the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the feet of Jesus and learn to be thankful for everything He has given you.

Because in the end, He's the only One who will be able to give you a relationship where a burnt biscuit isn't a deal-breaker! We could extend this to any relationship. In fact, understanding and love is the base of any healthy relationship, be it a husband-wife or parent-child or friendship or work-relationships.

So, please pass me a biscuit, and yes, the burned one will do just fine.

Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Financial support can be given through NTIM....

Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM), P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 USA Main Website: www.gontim.org

NTIM is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization based in the USA. We are committed to connecting people in need with people who care and are focused in the heart of Southeast Asia where poverty is high, education is low, needs are great, unreached people groups (UPGs) are all around us, and the love and message of Jesus is needed to transform lives. 

You can send donations to support God’s work to NTIM. All donations made are tax deductible and can be made either online at www.gontim.org or mailed to NTIM, P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL  35260

If you would like to get on our email update listing, please send me an email at pray4ntim@gmail.com 

Dear Family, Friends, Partners in Ministry,

As I begin writing this update, I am sitting at my desk in Northern Thailand, drinking a cup of coffee, sitting in our new building, in my new office, and thinking about the goodness of God and what God might want me to share with you today.

Since you have not heard from us in quite a while, let me just take a few moments and walk you through certain things that are going on that will help you know how to pray for us.

Let me begin by saying that even though our world may seem to be falling apart, God’s work of redemption, reconciliation and restoration is continuing to flourish here in Northern Thailand. Even during one of the most horrific pandemics our world has ever seen, God continues His work of transformation.

* GOD IS AT WORK BUILDING HIS CHURCH

Many people have a misunderstanding of the local church. They seem to think that the local church is the building where people congregate for meetings. But the truth is that the local church is not a building but it is a group of believers that come together as a church family.

Another misunderstanding of the local church is that meeting together on Sunday morning is man’s idea and it  is not really important. However, that idea goes against what the Bible says in Hebrews 10:24-25. The great news we want to share with you today, is that in the heart of some of the least reached people and people groups in our world today, God is at work changing lives and building the church here in Northern Thailand, and one of those local churches is called Baan Athitaan Church.

We thank God for the recent opportunity to open back up from the previous COVID restrictions. We had a wonderful church service this past Sunday with 160 people praising our Lord together in our new building. God is Good. If you have Facebook and would like to see some pictures from this past Sunday you can simply click on the link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.6714210025286419&type=3

Many of the people we see come to Christ are the first person in their entire family to become an authentic follower of Jesus Christ. Please keep us in your prayers as we sense a great move of God during this time and as we begin to approach the Christmas season where Thai people seem to be very open to hearing the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

* GOD HAS OPENED UP ENGLISH CLASSES THROUGH GRACE LANGUAGE SCHOOL

As many of you know, one of our most effective outreaches into the community here in Northern Thailand is through the avenue of teaching English through a genuine English language school platform called Grace Language School (GLS). It is also our legal platform where we can get a teaching visa and work permit and work as English teachers who are “ON MISSION.” GLS is designed to target junior high, senior high, and university age students but we also have a number adults that also study with us a couple of evenings each week. There are also a few children’s homes that are a part of our church family that we bless in a special way by giving them scholarships to study at GLS. Over the 20+ years of teaching English, we have seen hundreds of people begin their journey of become genuine authentic followers of Christ by studying English at GLS and what was formerly known as the Lighthouse Language Center. Pray for us as we are always in need of good Native English Teachers who want to build relationships with Thai students for spiritual purposes. Please remember to pray for our current teachers by name: Susan, Michael, Dallas, Hope, Liz, Jay, & Ball (and pray for God to send us a few more teachers).

*GOD HAS GIVEN US AN AWESOME ESL OUTREACH FOR CHILDREN ON SATURDAYS

Several years ago we saw the need to open up an ELS outreach to children grades 1-6 in our community. This has been a great way for our church – Baan Athitaan Church – and our school – Grace Language School – to work together in reaching the precious Thai children. This is also a time where we get to train and equip some of our university students in teaching as well. Please pray for us as we continue to grow. Before Covid we were running about 70 children every Saturday. However, since covid those numbers have dropped to somewhere around 50. Please pray for all of those involved in the Children’s ESL Outreach program on Saturdays.

*NEW BUILDING UPDATE – Multi-Purpose Facility.

Praise God for this new multi-purpose building. It is both beautiful and extremely practical for us. We still have some final touches that need to be done for Building A and Building B to be completed but the building was well enough to move in on July 17, 2021 and on that day we had lots of help from many places and especially from the awesome young people at Baan Eden. 

Here is a great video clip of our move date – July 17, 2021 that Gahn Rattanasongkarm put together for us. Thank you Gahn for loving your church family and being a good example of what it looks like to serve God through your church. Love you. Pii Michael. 

Here is the short video clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ukLMVh8ESw&t=39s

We also thought you might want to see a picture of the property 4 years ago and then 4 years later taken in the same spot.

We also took some pictures just a moment ago and posted them in Facebook. If you have Facebook, just click on the link: https://www.facebook.com/www.gontim.org/photos/a.5120976741251435/5120973177918458

Even though we have “moved in already” we still have some construction and projects that are still far from being complete. One picture below was taken today of “building C” which will be designated for female staff housing as well as a guest speaker apartment.

God has truly been gracious to us through many of you who have given and blessed us with funds to be able to take care of this whole project completely debt free. Thank you for your generous gifts and partnership as we seek to build platforms that will serve God’s purposes and plans for many generations to come and maybe even until our Lord Jesus comes again. Keep us in your prayers as we come to the completion of our building process and begin to plan a “New Building” dedication. We are still uncertain about the date but thinking sometime in March or April of 2022. Suggestions welcome to be sent to pray4ntim@gmail.com 

*EQUIPPING THE NEXT GENERATION – Theological Education Through Online Studies at Thailand Baptist Theological Seminary (TBTS) in Bangkok.

We believe in joining God in equipping Thai leaders and helping them to grow in their ability to lead. Over the last 10 years, we have been very intentional about inviting guest speakers who are very capable Bible teachers to come for a week or two weeks and dedicate that time to equipping our full time staff with both Biblical knowledge and skills to interpret the Bible as well as equipping our full time staff with other leadership skill like “time management,” “team building,” and many other topics. But because of the COVID problems we have not been able to have any volunteers come from out of country and God opened up a door for 4 of our 5 Thai staff to become “on line” students at the Baptist Seminary in Bangkok. I am so thankful for the relationship that we have with A. Chaiwat and for his opening up the opportunity for our Thai staff to study online at TBTS while still living here and working here in Chiangrai. What a great blessing this has been and we would ask that you specifically pray for Ja, Jay, and Ball as they are in their second term of studying 3 courses while working full time and also pray for Bee as she in now taking 1 course this term. Please pray for them and for their growth as a new generation of church leaders.

* OTHER AREAS OF PRAYER WE WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU

You have heard me say on many occasions, one of the most significant things that I do while serving as God has shaped and gifted me is to faithfully, boldly, gently, and clearly teach God’s truth almost every Sunday morning to our church family that is made up of over 23 different people groups from all over the 10-40 Window and is also a mix of several international groups. Our desire has always been to plant a community purpose driven church that welcomes every ethnic group of people that comes through our doors and not segregate their ability to serve based on ethnicity or nationality but based upon gifting, calling, and heart. We are truly becoming a vibrant and active community church and I believe we have the blessing of God upon us  at this time …… in this place ….. and for His purposes and His glory.

Please remember to also pray for Dallas and Liz and Mary Ella who have recently moved back to Chiangrai sensing God’s leadership to return and serve the Lord in various ways. We are so very happy to have them here.

As I put the final touches on this newsletter yesterday, Liz was teaching level 4 at GLS, Dallas was teaching level 6 at GLS, and Hope was at home having some grand parenting time with Mary Ella. Please keep them in your prayers as they make adjustments and follow the Lord’s leadership step by step for His glory. Here is a recent picture of Dallas, Liz, and Mary Ella.

Please continue to pray for Hope as she now in her 2nd year of taking the lead role as Head of School at Chiangrai International School serving along side Khun Ning. God has gifted and prepared her for this role for such a time as this. Please pray for them as they seek to create an environment where the light and love of Christ can flourish in this international school environment and the help the teachers to embrace the love of Jesus that can then be poured out into the lives of all of their students.

Please pray for what God is doing right here in the heart of Southeast Asia. As Henry Blackaby has said many times, God it truly at work all around us and He invites us to join Him in what He is doing.  

We love you and miss you, but at the same time, are very happy to serve our Lord Jesus in this place, among these people, at this season in life, and for God’s redemptive purposes.

May God richly bless you. Thank you for your kindness generosity and for sending us to Thailand. Any gift you would like to make toward our normal, everyday ministry, no matter how small or how large, helps us reach people who are the first persons in their entire families to know Jesus.

Until the People in and around Northern Thailand know Him,

Michael for the team

“For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.” 2 Corinthians 4:5

-----------------------------------------------------------

Financial support can be given through NTIM....

Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM), P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 USA Main Website: www.gontim.org

NTIM is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization based in the USA. We are committed to connecting people in need with people who care and are focused in the heart of Southeast Asia where poverty is high, education is low, needs are great, unreached people groups (UPGs) are all around us, and the love and message of Jesus is needed to transform lives. 

You can send donations to support God’s work to NTIM. All donations made are tax deductible and can be made either online at www.gontim.org or mailed to NTIM, P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL  35260

If you would like to get on our email update listing, please send me an email at pray4ntim@gmail.com 

Greetings Family, Friends, and Partners in Ministry,

Today we come to you with a little different kind of update. 

I know some of you are wanting to know about what is going on with the building ….. and I will give you an update on that this week. 

Some of you are wanting to know about what is going on with Grace Language School and Baan Athitaan Church ….. and yes, I will give you an update on that too, this week…

but today, I want to do something different. I want to ask you the question:  WHAT ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT?

I get a chance to serve and teach and share God’s Word here in Northern Thailand almost every day but I don’t get the opportunity to serve you very often in this matter and I want to do that in this update. This is not really an update per se but is more of an encouragement to you.

Would you please take the time and listen to this message I shared with our people just this last Sunday on the subject of worry? 

I believe God was moving very clearly as I prepared this message and as I delivered it just yesterday to our flock here in Northern Thailand. It was also translated by a young lady who gave her heart to Jesus this last Christmas and who has gotten plugged into our church. She is a university student at Mae Fah Luang University and is the first person in her entire family to become a follower of Jesus. She did a tremendous job translating this past Sunday and I would ask all of you to keep “June” in your prayers as she continues to grow in her walk with her Lord Jesus Christ and as we seek to be intentional about discipleship and training our young followers of Christ like June.

I really want to share God’s Word with you about this critical topic of worry. Would you please give me the opportunity to serve you in this way by clicking on the video and let me speak to you about some practical ways we can combat this horrible tendency we have to worry. Here is the link on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79MyqM18jnQ

We will be doing a few more updates this week to help you be informed about a few things but wanted to let me serve you in this way first.

If you would like more information on the awesome work God is doing in Northern Thailand and how you can be involved, please write me, Michael Johnson at pray4ntim@gmail.com

Until the People in and around Northern Thailand know Him,

Brother Michael for the team

“For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.” 2 Corinthians 4:5

-----------------------------------------------------------

Financial support can be given through NTIM....

Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM), P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 USA Main Website: www.gontim.org

NTIM is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization based in the USA. We are committed to connecting people in need with people who care and are focused in the heart of Southeast Asia where poverty is high, education is low, needs are great, unreached people groups (UPGs) are all around us, and the love and message of Jesus is needed to transform lives.

Reaching, Teaching, Caring, Discipling, Equipping, Training, and Serving People in God’s world through acts of love and compassionate is what NTIM and our ministry team is all about.

PLANTING TREES WITH MEANING IN NORTHERN THAILAND – BUILDING UPDATE – July 12, 2021

Dear Family, Friends, Partners in Ministry,

I continue to be amazed at the Lord’s Lovingkindness and declare along with one of the writers of the Psalms that “The Lord is good and His Lovingkindness never ceases” Psalm 100:5a. Even during one of the most horrific pandemics our world has ever seen, God continues His work of transformation and preparing for the future. God is moving mightily changing lives here in Northern Thailand and preparing a building that will give us a long-term foundation for joining God in expanding His kingdom for many generations to come.

As we shared with you in our last update in June, for well over 20 years, we have seen God reaching deep into families in this part of God’s world where there has never even been one person who was a follower of Jesus and then through the context of relationships and teaching English and sharing our lives with people, God begins to draw that young person – normally a senior high school or university student – to our Lord Jesus. What a great joy it has been for us to continue to see God working like this and allowing ordinary people like you and me to join God and see an amazing God do extra ordinary things. I could go on and on telling of the great things our God has done but today I really simply just want to give you an update on our Building progress.

UPDATE ON LIGHTHOUSE BUILDING PROGRESS

It doesn’t really seem like it but, in May we passed the 2-year mark of construction. Even in this horrible pandemic, God has continued to provide us with the funding and workers to bring our main building project closer to being finished. As I shared with you last month our target move in date was in July and that date is here. We are preparing our first move of things this Saturday July 17 and will begin the next week in our new building.

As we shared with you last month, we will still have a few “projects” to work on after this building (A and building B) have been completed. We will soon be working on a few projects like “Thai style Outside Kitchen,” “a Sala and eating area,” “an extra restroom and shower facility,” “an extra guest Housing quarters,” “Landscaping” and a children’s playground.

This week we have also been working on planting trees and today they will begin laying grass in a few areas where we can put it down. Here are a few pictures of the building taken yesterday.

Here is a short video clip of the crane lowering one of our trees that we thought you might want to see. Here is the link on Youtube:

We are planting 4 different kinds of trees that will bloom at different times of the year and below is what they will look when in full bloom. However, the most significant tree is called a "White Meranti" and in Thai is "พะยอม" and has the word "ยอม" in it. Since the flower is white, for many Christians, it carries the idea of purity and holiness when we surrender "yom" to God. It will be a beautiful tree and for us represents the purity of God’s Light reaching out into the darkness with the love of Jesus. We also have several other trees. We also have 2 "Flame Trees" which are a beautiful burnt orange color, 1 "Indian Oak" tree which has a beautiful reddish flower, and 1 "Milettia Brandisiana" tree which has a beautiful purple flower. The Lord sent us "Pii Wii" who is part of the church family to help us both with helping Travis design our "Nursing Mother's Room" on the second floor, as well as helping us with our landscaping and keeping our costs low. God has been good and it will be beautiful when these trees begin to blossom.

We are still working on the stage and sound system, working on the fencing around the property, working on the landscaping, and many other areas.

Here is our Facebook link if you want to look at all the pictures that we took a couple of days ago:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=www.gontim.org&set=a.4709315275750919

Here is a picture of our sign we are looking at putting on the building to the left. 

Please keep us in your prayers. These are very busy days and things in Thailand are getting back to normal so to speak. We still are not vaccinated yet and do not have access to any of the vaccines but they will be here soon as I understand it.

May God richly bless you. Thank you for your generosity and for sending us to Thailand.

Until the People in and around Northern Thailand know Him,

Michael for the team

“For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.” 2 Corinthians 4:5

-----------------------------------------------------------

Financial support can be given through NTIM....

Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM), P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 USA Main Website: www.gontim.org

NTIM is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization based in the USA. We are committed to connecting people in need with people who care and are focused in the heart of Southeast Asia where poverty is high, education is low, needs are great, unreached people groups (UPGs) are all around us, and the love and message of Jesus is needed to transform lives. 

                                                                             

 

Dear Family, Friends, Partners in Ministry,

This is not technically an NTIM Prayer Newsletter or Update but we see this as a wide-open door for Christian Educators to come to Thailand and at the same time join us in our work to reach Northern Thailand with the greatest message we could ever tell.

Most of you know that God opened a door for Hope to lead one of the international schools here in Chiangrai as Head of School. She had previously served in other capacities but last August she assumed this new role. Chiang Rai International School has completed their school year and Hope and the rest of the administration at CRIS are busy recruiting and preparing for the upcoming school year that begins in August 2021. They have almost all of their positions filled at this time but are still in need of hiring 2 secondary science teachers.

If you know someone who has science teaching degrees and experience or even someone fresh out of college and has an interest in teaching science here in Northern Thailand, please have them contact Human Resources at crishr@cris.ac.th

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as God continues to give us greater and greater access to the hearts and lives of the people here in Northern Thailand and beyond.

Until the People in and around Northern Thailand know Him,

Michael for the team

“For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.” 2 Corinthians 4:5

Dear Family, Friends, Partners in Ministry,

Let me begin by saying that even though our world may seem to be falling apart, BUT God’s work of redemption, reconciliation and restoration is continuing to flourish here in Northern Thailand. Even during one of the most horrific pandemics our world has ever seen, God continues His work of transformation. God is actively at work transforming the lives of people all over the world. I cannot attest very clearly about what God is doing in other parts of the world but what I can tell you today is that God is moving mightily changing lives here in Northern Thailand.

For well over 20 years, we have seen God reaching deep into families in this part of God’s world where there has never even been one person who was a follower of Jesus and then through the context of relationships and teaching English and sharing our lives with people, God begins to draw that young person – normally a senior high school or university student – to our Lord Jesus. What a great joy it has been for us to continue to see God working like this and allowing ordinary people like you and me to join God and see an amazing God do extra ordinary things. I could go on and on telling of the great things our God has done but today I really simply just want to give you an update on things and ask for a fresh commitment to keep us in your hearts and in your prayers.

UPDATE ON GRACE LANGUAGE SCHOOL & VOLUNTEER TEAMS

As most of you know, because of the pandemic we have had to stop all one-on-one teaching at Grace Language School for many, many months now but things are getting back to a “new normal” and we are now allowed to resume teaching English again next week.  This is our main GLS English program aimed at reaching the youth, college age, and young adults. We are pleased to say that we will resume teaching in this program beginning June 15 and will have 3 more classes to teach after that to finish out our term and the next new term will begin in July.

Our second ESL program is a partnership between GLS and Baan Athitaan Church where we target children grades 1-6 and teach them for a couple of hours every Saturday morning. We are now planning to restart this program on June 19.

Please also pray for us as we begin to plan and map out when we would like to request teams from the USA and really from all over the world to come out and help us again. We still are under some pretty strict guidelines with the pandemic and as of today, most people coming in still have to undergo a 14-day quarantine once they arrive in Thailand before they can travel on to their next destination so it still does not make sense for us to plan any teams to come out until this restriction is removed. Please join us in prayer about that.

UPDATE ON CHRISTMAS OUTREACHES

YES it is JUNE but Christmas will be here soon. Please pray for us and for the possibility to have teams during the Christmas Season. Last year we were able to do some very small Christmas outreaches but we are hoping that the doors will be open much wider for us this year and maybe even have some teams come out and help us with the outreach time.

UPDATE ON BAAN ATHITAAN CHURCH

As most of you know, we have not been able to meet in person as a church for many, many, months as well. This have been so very hard for all of us because we need our church family and the fellowship that only a local church family can provide. We have been having Sunday morning services online and we have learned to have greater quality with them but it still is not the same as our being able to meet together. We are still under a less than “50” rule where we cannot have meetings in larger numbers than 50. So, we have a small group of singers, musicians, and technicians, as well as, the Preacher and Translator who come together on Sunday mornings for the online service.

As a way of helping stay connected with our flock, I have started to do short daily devotional talks both in English and in Thai that I send to anyone who wants to hear them. We just finished up a couple of weeks of talks on what it means to walk in the Spirit and be led by the Spirit. We have now started to look at some of the “words of Jesus” that are pretty important for us to consider. Here is an example of one of these devotions. If you would like to receive these each day, please send me an email and say “yes I want to receive the English version” or “I would like to receive the Thai version.”

UPDATE ON LIGHTHOUSE BUILDING PROGRESS

It doesn’t really seem like it but, in May we passed the 2-year mark of construction. Even in this horrible pandemic, God has continued to provide us with the funding and workers to bring our main building project closer to being finished. Some of you have already begun to write me and ask:  

When are you moving in?

We are targeting the middle to the end of July. We hope to have our first service in the new building the last Sunday of July but still not sure if it will be in the form of “online” or not. We still have to wait for the approvals on that. However, we are on the last phase of construction for the main two buildings. We will still have a few “projects” to work on after this but building A and building B have to be completed first. After the rainy season and the land settles, we will be working on a few projects like “Thai style Outside Kitchen,” “a Sala and eating area,” “an extra restroom and shower facility,” “an extra guest Housing quarters,” “Landscaping” and some small projects that can be done after our initial move in time frame.

Here are a few pictures taken recently.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=www.gontim.org&set=a.4622674727748308

Please keep us in your prayers. These are very busy days and things in Thailand are getting back to normal so to speak. We still are not vaccinated yet and do not have access to any of the vaccines but they will be here soon as I understand it.

Please also pray for us and our normal operating expenses. We are doing fine with all the building expenses but we have gotten really tight with our everyday operating expenses and would just ask for you to keep us in your prayers.

Again, let me say that this multi-purpose building will speak clearly to the darkness that God's Work of redemption in Northern Thailand is here to stay. It will be the home for NTIM Thailand (Channel of Blessings Foundation). It will be the home for Grace Language School. It will be the home of Baan Athitaan Church.

May God richly bless you. Thank you for your generosity and for sending us to Thailand. Any gift you would like to make to our normal, everyday ministry, no matter how small or how large, helps us reach people who are the first persons in their entire families to know Jesus.

Until the People in and around Northern Thailand know Him,

Michael for the team

“For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.” 2 Corinthians 4:5

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Financial support can be given through NTIM....

Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM), P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 USA Main Website: www.gontim.org

NTIM is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization based in the USA. We are committed to connecting people in need with people who care and are focused in the heart of Southeast Asia where poverty is high, education is low, needs are great, unreached people groups (UPGs) are all around us, and the love and message of Jesus is needed to transform lives. 

 PROVIDING HOPE IN NORTHERN THAILAND -An Update on the Building and Capital Campaign– Update Apr 23, 2021

So many of you have written and asked about our “Capital Campaign called “Building Hope in Northern Thailand” and our multi-purpose building progress. We sent out a rather detailed update on February 6, and this update will be similar to that one but with some updated progress on the building.

As I shared with you in February, we must first confess that we are totally blown away by both the mighty hand of God to provide resources and we are also blown away by the generosity of the people whom God has surrounded us with who have generously given more than we could ever ask or think. We are overwhelmed with gratitude and humbled when we think of the generosity of our friends and partners in ministry through NTIM even in the midst of a horrible world-wide health pandemic that our world has not seen since World War 2.

As we shared with you in our update in February, “As of an email I received on January 29, 2021 from NTIM’s Treasurer and good friend Donald Wood, we have not only reached the $300K goal but have exceeded that goal and have received $320,350 designated for this building. Wow. Words cannot express the gratefulness in our hearts to each and every contributor and to the God who not only gives us vision and His direction for advancing His kingdom, but who also moves in the hearts of His people to give toward that vision that will advance the message of Jesus in some of the darkest corners of God’s World today.”

Our God, who is rich in love and mercy and in lovingkindness, has not forgotten some of the least reached people groups in our world today and we believe that this mighty show of provision affirms that the Lord is clearly leading and guiding us forward to finish this strategic building project.

The building progress is coming along well. We are in the final stages of designing the stage and internal props. We are very busy with paining and finishing touches. We have finished the huge concrete handicapped access ramp. We have put up a retaining wall in a portion of our land that was more like a “ditch” and today finished filling in 41 truckloads of new dirt giving us a much larger area of usable land. After the rainy season and the land settles, we will be working on a few projects like “Thai style Outside Kitchen,” “a Sala and eating area,” “an extra restroom and shower facility,” “an extra guest Housing quarters,” “Landscaping” and some small projects that can be done after our initial move in time frame.

Many have asked about our “move in date” and we are planning on moving everything in July and that looks like a very probable date.

Here are a few recent pictures taken today – April 23, 2021.

Here is our Facebook link to all the pictures taken on Apr 23, 2021 –

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=www.gontim.org&set=a.4472297716119344

Please keep us in your prayers. These are very busy days and things in Thailand were getting back to normal so to speak but recently we have been hit with our 3^rdwave of Covid 19 infections and all educational institutions in Chiangrai, including Grace Language School and Chiangrai International School (CRIS) where Hope serves as the Head of School, have been closed to person to person teaching at least until April 30. We have now gone back to online services on Sunday and hope that this does not last very long but we here in Chiangrai still do not have access to any of the vaccines but they will be here soon as I understand it.

Please also pray for us and our normal operating expenses. We are doing fine with all the building expenses but we have gotten really tight with our everyday operating expenses and would just ask for you to keep us in your prayers.

Also, as we shared with you last time, please also remember to pray for our multi-purpose facility. We believe that through this facility, we will establish permanent roots that will continue to allow us to share God's Word with some of the world’s least-reached people groups for years and years to come and to continue to see people become the first persons in their entire families to become followers of Jesus. Just over the last 6 or so weeks we have seen two more Thai people become the first persons in their entire families to become followers of Jesus. One is a nurse at a local hospital and the other of a professor at one of the local universities. Praise the Lord that these two new followers of Jesus now have their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Again, let me say that this multi-purpose building will speak clearly to the darkness that God's Work of redemption in Northern Thailand is here to stay. It will be the home for NTIM Thailand (Channel of Blessings Foundation). It will be the home for Grace Language School. It will be the home of Baan Athitaan Church.

Additionally, it will allow us to take training and the expansion of God's Kingdom through evangelism, discipleship, and theological education to the next level of impact. We are even praying about the possibility of partnering with a possible Seminary in the USA (maybe one of our 7 SBC ones) that would like to partner with us and open an extension of their seminary here in Northern Thailand in order to provide some solid bi-lingual (English/Thai) theological education. We don’t have any seminary in mind but maybe some of you might know of one that might be a good fit for partnership. Keep us in your prayers as we seek to be the salt and light of Jesus here in Northern Thailand. 

May God richly bless you. Thank you for your generosity and for sending us to Thailand. Any gift you would like to make to our normal, everyday ministry, no matter how small or how large, helps us reach people who are the first persons in their entire families to know Jesus.

Until the People in and around Northern Thailand know Him,

Michael for the team

“For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.” 2 Corinthians 4:5

-----------------------------------------------------------

Financial support can be given through NTIM....

Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM), P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 USA Main Website: www.gontim.org

NTIM is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization based in the USA. We are committed to connecting people in need with people who care and are focused in the heart of Southeast Asia where poverty is high, education is low, needs are great, unreached people groups (UPGs) are all around us, and the love and message of Jesus is needed to transform lives.