MichaelJohnson

Wow…. Things Only God Can Do …but He allows us to join Him and see Him work wonders…..

January 19, 2019 By MichaelJohnson

Dear Friends, Family, Supporters, Partners, and Prayer Warriors,

Please take a moment and look at this picture that was taken sometime in January 2015. This picture was taken 4 years ago with my “level 5” class at Grace Language School where I have the privilege of serving as both a teacher and the Director of this awesome school.

When I look at this picture I am reminded of several very important things that I want to tell you about today.

The first thing that I want to say is that when this picture was taken 4 years ago, I was the only follower of Jesus in that room on that day.

We live in a place in God’s world where only 1 out of every 100 people know Jesus as their personal Savior.

I didn’t really know it on the day that pictures was taken, but God was at work in a mighty way in the lives of at least two of the four students in that classroom. God was using many different people, some through our language school and others not related to our language school, but all to play a part in helping two of these four students take steps closer to Christ.

Little did I know that 5 months after this picture was taken, that the young man on my right – Nong Ball – would give his heart to Jesus and become the first person in his entire family to become a follower of Jesus.

Not only that, out of the 100+ people groups that make up the people of Thailand, Nong Ball is from the 3 largest Unreached People Group (UPG) – The Khon Muang or Northern Thai. This UPG is made up of about 7 million people mostly living in Northern Thailand but some also in Laos and in Burma and possibly in Southern China.

Since Ball graduated from Rajabhat University over a year ago, he has been serving on my staff and is growing deeply in his walk with our great Savior and is learning how to serve the Lord with all his heart and we are very glad to have him as part of our team.

Not only was God at work in Nong Ball’s life when this picture was taken, but God was at work in the life of another university student that was sitting on my left.

About 7 months after this picture was taken, the young lady on my left – Nong Nok – would give her heart to Jesus and become the first person in her entire family to become a follower of Jesus. Similar to Nong Ball, out of the 100+ people groups that make up the people of Thailand, Nong Nok is from another unreached people group called the Lu Mien or the Yao. This UPG is made up of about 1.6 million people primarily located in China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.

Nong Nok has since graduated from Rajabhat University and became a teacher and last year spent her first year after graduation teaching at the school she went to as a child in her home village. She is continuing to grow in her relationship with the Lord and is active in sharing her faith with her family and with those around her.

God is using Grace Language School in a very powerful way to truly reach into some of the least reached people groups in our world today and to make an impact in the lives of young people especially those studying at one of the two universities that are near our work.

Please remember to pray for us and for our team as we seek to be used by God in greater ways in the days ahead and pray for all the Thai and international students that we come in contact with that their hearts will be open to hear the greatest message which is “good news for all the people.”

Until the People in and around Northern Thailand know Him,

Michael for the Team

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Donations can be given through NTIM, P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 USA Online giving can be done at our main website: www.gontim.org

CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF SERVING GOD AND SERVING THAI PEOPLE IN THAILAND

January 14, 2019 By MichaelJohnson

Yesterday, January 13, 2019, was a very special and significant day for Hope, Jessica, Liz, Joshua, Caleb and myself because it was on this 13^th day of January that we all landed for the first time as a family in Thailand 20 years ago. For all practical purposes yesterday was Hope and I’s 20th year anniversary of living and serving God in Thailand. When we got off that plane 20 years ago in Bangkok, we had never heard of this awesome city called Chiangrai in the Northern most part of Thailand filled with enormous natural beauty and filled with dozens of unreached people groups, each with a rich cultural heritage and language but some of the least reached people groups in the world today. Below is a picture of our family 2 months after we arrived in Thailand 20 years ago as Caleb made his appearance on the day of his birth in Bangkok on March 10, 1999. When we landed in Bangkok Jessica was 9, Liz was 6, Joshua was 1&1/2 and Caleb had been in mommy’s tummy 7 months.

We had yet to discover that after we would spend 2 years in language and culture learning in Bangkok, that we would sense God’s leadership to move our family of 6 at that time to Chiangrai and begin what we then called “OPERATION CHAINGRAI.” “Operation Chiangrai” was a “vision” a “dream put in our hearts” to join God in establishing an English language platform that God might be pleased to use as a tool to reach hundreds and possibly thousands of Thai young people and be the starting point for planting this church that we now call Baan Athitaan Church, and a tool in the future that could be used to facilitate church planting not only in Thailand but in neighboring “closed countries” as well and still be “under the radar” of a legitimate legally registered English language school.

20 years ago we did not see the future very clearly at all but we loved, trusted, and knew God well enough to trust Him with all of our heart and not to lean on our own understanding and to acknowledge Him in all of our ways and we believed that God would guide and direct our steps just as His Word promises us in Proverbs 3:5-6.

Today, we want to honor God and give thanks to Him for His mercy and His goodness these past 20 years. We also want to take this opportunity to encourage each of you to walk with God, to trust God, to give you lives to God, to seek after His kingdom and His righteousness first and foremost in your life, and then…. enjoy the adventure of following Him and seeing How He allows you to be a part of as He is doing in His world as He seeks to save that which has been lost.

Let me be perfectly clear: Your life does matter. What you do and what you do not do has an effect on other people and on eternity. May God help each of us better sanctify Christ as Lord in our lives and to learn better what it means to seek God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness in our lives first above all other people and things. Let us resist the temptation to be driven by those things that drive the rest of the world but instead be driven by the love and purposes of God and the desire to honor him with all of our lives and to joyfully do our part in assuring that the message of Jesus Christ gets to every person in the world, even to those is some of the least reached people groups living here in and around Northern Thailand.

For more on the idea of “sanctifying Christ as Lord in our hearts,” please listen to a message I shared with our church here in Thailand just over a week ago. The link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xXarEzrOa4&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3xgMYv9Rawxqq6zyaQzBLSUk1epeF5iZ2-avBxq9poD-OAMyM3oq3yq38

It has been our honor to serve God and to serve Thai people in a special way these last 20 years…. We have tried to do it all for His glory and for the advancement of His Kingdom. One of our life verses is 2 Corinthians 4:5, which says, "For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake."

We thank God and we thank you for letting us be your representatives to the Thai people these last 20 years. I pray that God has been pleased with our service and that He will be pleased to allow us to serve Him here many more years to come for His glory and for the advancement of His kingdom in and around Northern Thailand.

There is still so much work to be done. The fields are ripe, ready for the harvest but the workers are truly few. This is not work for the fainthearted! Let us be faithful to find the course God has for us and then to stay on that course regardless of the difficulties and hardships that come into our lives.

Our lives do matter and as we truly reflect on the meaning of Galatians 2:20, we realize that God desires to live in and through us to reach the lost, to help the broken and the distressed much like we see our Lord Jesus doing in Matthew 9:36. The various unreached Thai people groups, the various unreached Burmese people groups, the various unreached Laotian people groups, and the various unreached Chinese people groups, simply to name a few, are some of the least reached people groups in our world today living in darkness without the light of Christ.

These precious people have been in darkness far too long now and it is time for God’s people to take the light and message of Jesus into every village and to every people group living in this part of God’s world…. and may it begin…. with us. “Here we are Lord, send us” is our prayer.

Here is one very practical and urgent way you can help. Most of you know that we sensed God’s leadership around 3 years ago to move in the direction of saying to the darkness in Thailand that God’s work of redemption is here to stay. We shared our vision for what we have called “Project: Lighting Up The Darkness.” We have been in “rented facilities” for the last 17+ years we have lived in Chiangrai and we believe it is God’s time to establish a more permanent platform for NTIM to reach the nations for Jesus with the home base being here in Chiangrai.

God has blessed us greatly and we are somewhere between Phase 2 and Phase 3 of our project. Phase 1 was completed when we purchased land in a very good location just 2 minutes from our current rented location. Phase 2 started the day we began raising support for the building process. God’s people and several of His churches have been generous but we are still in need of about $190,000 so that we can begin this building project with all the funds needed to complete the building phase of the project.

We are looking at doing a “running/walking fund raiser” here in Thailand, in the USA, and in Canada (and in any other countries where someone is willing to coordinate this effort) in the days ahead and will provide more information on that soon.

But for now, in honor of our 2O YEARS OF SERVING GOD IN THAILAND, we want to ask each of you reading this to consider giving $20, or $200, or $2,000, or $20,000, or even $200,000 (as the Lord prompts your heart) and send it to NTIM designated to go to the completion of our building project of “Lighting Up The Darkness.” Please remember that this is not for our sakes…but for the sake of the millions of people living here in and around Northern Thailand who have yet to hear the “good news which shall be for all people” much like the Angel said to the Shepherds in the fields watching over their flocks when our great Savior was born. Believe it or not, after 2,000 years of the great commission, there are still areas like where we live where 99 out of 100 people do not yet have their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. In Thailand alone there are 66 million of those people! For the last 20 years we have had to honor of joined God in seeing that alarming number change for the glory of God.

We have “in faith” submitted our paperwork to the government for the approval of our building project and according to our Architect as of yesterday, we expect to gain the approval to begin the building process this week. Please PRAY. If we can begin soon, we will be at a stage in the process where by June 1, we will need volunteers. We hope to have some of you come out this Summer on a mission team and help us put up walls for our classrooms and finish the painting. Derek & Jodie May are here from Mississippi serving as NTIM’s volunteer team coordinators for our building project and would love to hear from you. Again, let me say thank you in advance for any financial donation you feel that you are able to make toward this project at this time. We want each of you to be “invested” in God’s work here in Thailand because as Jesus said, “Where your treasure is there you heart will be also.” We want your heart to be in Thailand. Please open your heart along with us to love these precious people enough to join God in His work of redemption here.

Until the People in and around Northern Thailand know Him,

Michael for the NTIM, GLS, and BAC teams,

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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

URGENT PRAYER FOR THIS SUNDAY, Jan 6, 2019 – Update Jan 4, 2019

January 4, 2019 By MichaelJohnson

To all my friends, family, and partners in ministry, please take a moment and read this prayer request and then we would ask that you pray for me in a special way as I finish preparing to share God’s Word with our church family here in Northern Thailand on the subject of “sanctifying Christ as Lord in our hearts” from 1 Peter 3:15-16. The whole passage reads this way, “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; 16 and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.”

This Sunday is the first Sunday of the new year and I deeply desire to be more intentional in this new year to join God in what He is doing here in people’s lives in and around Northern Thailand where there is great darkness regarding the knowledge of God. But even in the midst of millions who have never heard the message of Jesus Christ, God is at work transforming peoples’ lives and equipping them to join God in His great work of redemption and transformation.

As I am writing this prayer request, I have taken a short break from my preparation of the message I will share this Sunday from God’s Word. We want to ask you to go before the throne of grace on our behalf and on behalf of all of those here in Chiangrai, Thailand who will gather together as Baan Athitaan Church family this Sunday. Our church family and the “audience” that will be hearing this message is a very culturally diverse group of people from many different ethnic people groups and countries. We can identify over 23 different people and language groups that make up our church family, most of them from UPGs here in Northern Thailand. Many of the people in our church family are the first persons in their entire families to become followers of Jesus.

These new followers of Jesus need to know what it means to “sanctify Christ as Lord in their hearts.”

There are many - do I dare say “all” = in our church who struggle with the pressure they get from trying to live a God honoring life in the midst of a community where 99% of the people do not know Jesus as their personal Savior and who live out a very different set of values and priorities in their lives and who come from a very different religious framework of thinking than we who call ourselves “followers of Jesus.”

Since we are deeply committed to being a “community church,” welcoming everyone in our community into the family of God, we also have a good number of missionaries and expats who are involved in various ministries in Chaingrai who love Thai people and want to be a part of helping them grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus. They also need to be encouraged and strengthened as well to “sanctify Christ as Lord in their hearts” and to be encouraged to continue to improve their walk with God and their partnership with God in His work in Thailand and in neighboring countries.

I share all this background to help you know how to better pray for us because we really believe the Bible when it says, “the effective prayer of a righteous person accomplishes much.” We also believe that part of our role before God is to encourage, invite, and provide opportunities for you to join God in what He wants to do in this part of His world.

God is doing some amazing things here in Chiangrai and using your prayers, your donations, your missionaries, and many, many different people... but we, specifically as a Baan Athitaan Church family, desire to honor God and join Him in what He is doing in this part of His world.

Please also remember to pray for my translator this Sunday whom we all know here as Nong “Bas” Marut Thapthimthed Bas. He is currently a student from Mae Fah Luang University and is from the largest unreached people group in Thailand, the Central Thai people. He is the first person in his entire family to become a follower of Jesus. We have been intentionally mentoring and investing our lives in him for over 2 years now and he loves the Lord deeply and has become one of our most respected and capable translators we have ever had.

He has now grown to the place where we ask him to translate for our services about two times a month. He does not get paid for this but sees this as one of the ways he serves God and use his gifting and abilities to honor God and serve his church family. This is what we call “natural Christian leadership training.” Please remember to pray for this godly young man named “Bas” who will be translating for me this Sunday.

Thank you for your faithful prayers for us and for God’s work in and through Baan Athitaan Church.

Until all the people living in and around Northern Thailand have a chance to become followers of the One True God and His Son Jesus Christ.

Michael

“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.

Reaching, Teaching, 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.

CLOSING OUT 2018 ON PURPOSE – Dec 31, 2018

December 31, 2018 By MichaelJohnson

CLOSING OUT 2018 ON PURPOSE - LET US BEGIN THE NEXT 365 DAYS BEING MORE FULLY ON GOD’S AGENDA – December 31, 2018

Today is the last day of a 365 page book that covers everything you and I have done, everything you and I have said, and everything you and I have thought for the last 365 days of 2018.

This morning as I begin to write this devotional thought on behalf of God’s Work here in Thailand, I would like to take a moment and share from my heart to your heart as we come to the close of this last page of 2018 and prepare for the first page of 2019

God has been doing some absolutely amazing things here in Northern Thailand and I am normally very quick to report on God’s Working here in Thailand because I want my family, my friends, my neighbors, and my partners in ministry to know that God is good and that He is very active in using the people here at NTIM, Grace Language School, and Baan Athitaan Church in God’s work of reaching and transforming the lives of people from some of the least reached people groups in our world today. BUT TODAY, God has prompted my heart to speak to you (and to others whom you feel led to forward this to message to) about ending this last page of the book of your life in 2018 on a good note by intentionally preparing to make some changes in your life as you begin a new chapter of the book of your life during 2019.

We as follows of Christ get sidetracked so easily from what is truly important to God. Life is not about gaining more stuff…. Better housing, Better Cars, better furniture, better phones, a larger savings account. No, that is not what life is all about.

Life is also not about having more fun. Now don’t misunderstand and think that it is wrong to have fun, no there is nothing at all wrong with have fun from time to time. I have fun almost every single day and have lots of fun when teams come out and serve with us in expanding God’s kingdom here in Northern Thailand. But, the motivation of our lives should not be seeking to have more fun. Rather we should seek God’s Kingdom and His righteousness first and learn to have “fun” being obedient to our Master who has commissioned us with the task of joining Him in going to all people groups in our world and making disciples.

Listen to what God’s Word says about the meaning of life and where we are to find our direction for life in Deuteronomy 8:2-3, "You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.” Deut. 8:2-3

As followers of Jesus, our lives are not to be wasted. As followers of Jesus, our talents are not to be wasted. As followers of Jesus, our financial resources are not to be wasted. As followers of Jesus, our time is not to be wasted. As followers of Jesus, our lives are to be driven with a deep desire to be obedient to live according to what pleases God.

The Apostle Paul wrote to a young Pastor named Timothy and basically said something along these lines: “Timothy, the goal, the objective, the purpose of everything I have ever taught you is directed down to paths. The first path is to love God and the second path is to love others. But this love that you learn to give to God and to others should be a love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a genuine faith. That is the Michael Johnson paraphrase version. Here is what he technically said in 1 Timothy 1:5, “The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.”

Today is the last page of our lives for 2018. You cannot go back and change what has already been written in your book but you can learn from it and intentionally choose to write a different story for 2019 starting tomorrow.

God understands that we slip up and fall and make mistakes from time to time. But He does expect us to not be driven by the same values that drive those who do not know Christ. We are not to be driven to gain more stuff but really to learn how to give more stuff away as we “store up treasures in heaven” not store up treasures here on the earth. We are not to be driven to have more fun. No, we are to learn to be more obedient to God and live in a way where we “have fun” doing the will of God for our lives.

Today God has given us an opportunity to reflect on 2018, rejoice where we have pleased God and recognize where we have not pleased God like we should have and INTENTIONALLY choose to start the new year off right with the helping our first page of the book of 2019 be written as a living sacrifice please to God.

We love you and have shared our heart with you and want to say Thank you for sending us to Thailand and supporting us as we seek to lead a small part of God’s work to reach the least reached peoples in this part of God’s World.

May this new year of 2019 be a year where you and I are more intentionally focused on seeking God’s Kingdom and His righteousness above all other people and things.

Much Love & Prayers. Your Servant to the Nations in and around Northern Thailand,

Michael for the team

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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

Reaching, Teaching, 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.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THAILAND – Day 20 – Dec 25, 2018

December 24, 2018 By MichaelJohnson

DAY 20 – Merry Christmas – Dec 25, 2018

Please accept our apologies for getting a little behind with our daily updates. God has been doing some amazing things and we just got a little behind in writing them up for you. We will be doing that in the next several days but for today we simply want to say MERRY CHRISTMAS.

As I write this update, I it is already Christmas afternoon here in Thailand and it has been a great morning. We have two of our biological children here with us as well as one of our son-in-laws and we enjoyed spending time together on Christmas Eve sharing the Christmas story, singing Christmas Carols, and as has been our tradition, opening one of our presents.

Last night as I was sharing about the Christmas Story, I shared about the words found in Luke 2:10-11 which say, “And the angel said to them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.”

What a great joy it has been for us these past several weeks to have been able to join God in His Work of announcing this great news to thousands of Thai people in many different places. After all, the Angel said this is good news “for all people” and “all” means “all.” As you pray and thank the Lord for His goodness today, remember to pray that “all” people will have a chance to hear this good news of our Great Savior.

Prayer Example:“Lord, again today we have been reminded that You are clearly at work in Northern Thailand opening doors that no man can open and using your people to boldly and lovingly declare the good news much like the Angels shared with the Shepherds the day our Savior was born. Thank you Lord for letting us join you in prayer as we have prayed for those in Northern Thailand who have already declared this great news to thousands of people over the last few weeks, most of whom have never heard about you before. Thank you for loving us enough to send someone into our life to tell us about your good news. We thank you for all those who work through NTIM, Grace Language School, and Baan Athitaan Church as they have shred this good news with so many people this Christmas season. May your Spirit continue work in their hearts in a mighty way and draw them to the Cross. Thank you for the opportunity to lift up the name of Jesus and share this great news of our Savior in and around Northern Thailand where people have never heard this message. May Your Spirit move in the hearts of all men to draw them to Jesus. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.”

Day 19 – What a Wonderful Opportunity God has Opened for us Today

December 19, 2018 By MichaelJohnson

DAY 19 – What a Wonderful Opportunity God has Opened for us to teach English at a Temple school today – Dec 19, 2018

As I write this update, I am reminded that sometimes we forget that when Jesus died on the cross, he was making the payment for sin for all people including these 100+ young men that are studying at a temple school and preparing for their future. Jesus loves these young men and through our English language platform, God has given us the opportunity to teach them English and in so doing share the heart of the message of the gospel in a natural way.

We love doing English Fun Days. Yesterday, our team and a team from a partner church go to go into Payao and do an English Fun Day as well. Today, God gave us a wonderful opportunity to go into a Buddhist Temple School here in Northern Thailand and do an English Fun Day. As I write this update, the good news of the birth of our savior is being told to these young men for whom Christ died and based on my experience, I would say that most of them will have never heard the real meaning of Christmas before today but let me assure you….today the message of the love of God was clear and shared from the heart. Here are a few pics so far:

Please pray for these young men to think about the story that they have heard today and to reflect on what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

Prayer Example:“Lord, we have been reminded today that You are clearly at work in Northern Thailand opening doors that no man can open and using your people to boldly and lovingly declare the good news of our Savior much like the Angels shared with the Shepherds the day our Savior was born when they said, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; 11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Thank you Lord for letting us join you in declaring this great news to these young men, most of whom have never heard about you before today. Thank you for loving them enough to send us to tell them this great news. Help their heart to reflect on your great love and the sacrifice for sin that has been made on their behalf. May your Spirit work in their hearts in a mighty way draw their hearts to the cross. Thank you for the opportunity to lift up the name of Jesus, that all may be drawn to Him. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.”

Understanding the Task of Reaching Unreached People Groups

December 18, 2018 By MichaelJohnson

DAY 18 – Understanding the Task of Reaching Unreached People Groups

As I write this update, I am sitting in my office in Northern Thailand reflecting on what God is doing in this part of God’s world that many have described as the most thoroughly Buddhist area in the world today. I want to thank all of you for joining us in this Spiritual Adventure and Season of Prayer. We need your prayers. We want your prayers. We ask for your prayers. We believe God is asking you to pray for His work that He has entrusted to us as stewards.

This time of year is always a very reflective time for me personally where some of the deepest desires of my heart are to not only join God in what He wants to do but also to invite and to facilitate others joining in on God’s agenda to reach the “nations” for Jesus Christ.

Back on DAY 1, we shared with you about “God’s Heart for the Nations” and the meaning of “Panta Ta Ethne” as it relates to the Great Commission so I will not review that now but ask you to go back and look at that later. Here is the link for that discussion if you would like it: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/A-30-Day-Spiritual-Adventure-Of-Praying--For-The-Unreached-in-Thailand----Nov-24--2018.html?soid=1103335986076&aid=iuR5A-bJcoE&fbclid=IwAR2So8j-nhni4d1J1bY0LSC8Q_ZzNOT_sPIBFBtdS93hHmvZSOm9S5cXYKU

Jesus has empowered His followers to go into all the world with His authority. Jesus stared that great commission passage with “All authority has been given to me in Heaven and on Earth….. Therefore GO and MAKE DISCIPLES “PANTE TA ETHNE” (of all the people/ethnic groups of the world.)

Think with me for just a moment. What is the “business” of Toyota? I would describe the business of Toyota as a company is to meet a transportation need of people who want to get from one place to another place by relying upon their own vehicle to drive. It is not just about selling as many cares as they can…when you really think about it, it is really attempting to meet a felt need in the consumer’s life. What is the “business” of SHELL? In a similar vein, I would say that the business of shell as a company is to meet a transportation need of people who already have a vehicle and need the fuel necessary to get from one place to another. It is not just about selling gas… it is an attempt to meet the felt need of people who own cars and trucks and need fuel to get them to their destination.

You might think it strange that I ask these question. But let me take your thoughts a little farther.

Now, let me ask you this question? What is the “business” God has commissioned His Church to be about? Jesus commissioned His disciples to join God in His work of redemption and of life transformation (discipleship) of every people group in our world today. We are in some ways to be like international farmers…. Taking the good seed of the gospel of Jesus Christ to very dark places that have been steeped in traditions that have been handed down from one generation to another for thousands of years.

We are to go to those places as farmers and we must till that hard soil. If we don’t work that hard soil, this good seed of the gospel will never enter into Thai people’s hearts. We will never have a huge harvest if we do not spend time preparing the soil for this good seed.

Most of us are very willing to help with the harvest at harvest time…but some of God’s people must go and do the hard work of preparing the soil? If we truly desire to reach unreached people groups and have a good harvest, we must never ever forget that it is critical that we work hard at preparing the soil of the heart so that when the seed it planted, it may bear fruit. How do we do this? This is where we must work hard at changing people’s attitudes and beliefs about God, Christianity and about Christians. In Thailand,

Christianity is seen as the religion of “the white man.” They have a saying and thought pattern that says, “To be Thai is to be Buddhist.” These are some of the strongholds that keep the soil of the heart hard and unwilling to accept the good seed. Let us be good and wise international farmers and make sure the soil of the heart is being prepared through love and good deeds through lives that are full of kindness and truth.

One of the ways that have seen God at work changing hearts and attitudes is though identifying some of the felt needs of these people groups and then helping meet some of those felt needs in a way the allows the love of God to flow through our lives and touch them at the heart level and in a very relational way. This is one of the reasons we spend so much effort, time, and resources on Teaching English, conducting English camps and English Fun Days. Yes, these are fun, but let me be perfectly clear that we do these things not because they are fun, but because we are fighting over the souls of people who have been trapped in darkness in Thailand for thousands of years and it is our honor to be able to serve God in a way that blesses the Thai people, helps change attitudes toward Christians and toward our Savior, and love Thai people enough to invest and pour our lives into them in order that we might have a chance to join God in seeing some of them become followers of Jesus and have their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

If teaching English helps advance the kingdom of God then I am willing to become a teacher of English who desires to live my life in such a way that others see the love of Christ in my life and am drawn to this great Savior. This is the hard work of preparing the soil of the heart and after 19+ years of doing this, I have seen God do some amazing things that only God can do. As I think about all the lives we have been able influence for the advancement of His kingdom, I am deeply humbled that God would use sinners like us.

Please pray for all of us in Northern Thailand who are working the fields and plowing the soil of the heart through teaching English, through meeting felt needs, and by taking the message of our great Savior to people during this Christmas season.

Prayer Example:“Lord, We want to begin our prayer with thanking you for the awesome opportunity that you have given to NTIM, Grace Language School, and Baan Athitaan Church to celebrate Christmas and share the message of Jesus with thousands who have never heard and some from the least reached peoples in Asia. We thank you for their English teaching ministry that is truly reaching into the community and changing attitudes and beliefs as they allow your love to flow through their lives. We pray that you would work in the hearts of these unreached people groups and help them to see the love of Christ demonstrated through good works and help their hearts to become more tender toward the gospel of our Lord Jesus. We recognize that our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with spiritual forces of wickedness. Please help your faithful servants to stay the course of preparing the soil, sowing the seed, removing the weeds that choke out the gospel and be faithful at being fishers of men! We pray this in Jesus name. Amen”

Until all the Thai people know Him,

Michael

VP & Director of Field Operations for NTIM

Day 17 – Celebrating Christmas With Intentionality to Reach the Lost – Dec. 15

December 17, 2018 By MichaelJohnson

DAY 17 – Celebrating Christmas With Intentionality To Reach the Lost – Dec 15, 2018

As I write this update, I am reflecting on all the events and the time of celebration we had with the community of Chiangrai this last Saturday. We prayed, planned, prayed some more, invited a partner church from Mississipi to come and help us, prepared, helped mobilize our church family, and anticipating this single largest evangelistic Christmas celebration of the year at Baan Athitaan Church…and then Saturday came.

What a great day it was filled with lots of love, joy, and peace as we celebrated the Birth of our Savior with somewhere between 400 and 500 people, some of them hearing the story of the Birth of our Savior for the very first time.

So very thankful for the cooperation of our church family in preparing some awesome food booths, some great skits and performances, and spending lots of hours getting set up before and then cleaning up afterwards.

Thankful for your support and faithful donations given so that we can reach and disciple 1^st generation believers from some of the least reached peoples in our world today.

Thankful for the team from Gulfport, MS that came to help us. So very thankful for the chance to help God's people be intentional about joining God in what He wants to do in this part of God's World. We had somewhere between 400 to 500 people at our festivities and all of them got the chance to hear a very clear message of the "The Hope and Warmth of Christmas" by a very good friend and partner in Ministry Pastor Israel Cox. Please continue to pray for the seeds of the gospel that have been planted.

Some of you have Facebook and you can see all of our pictures by clicking on this link:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/BaanathitaanChurch/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2599386620102134

For those who do not have Facebook, here are just a few pictures.

Prayer Example:“Lord, We want to begin our prayer with thanking you for the awesome opportunity that you have given to NTIM and to Baan Athitaan Church to celebrate Christmas and share the message of Jesus with many who have never heard and some from the least reached peoples in Asia. We thank you for raising up supporting churches like Crosspoint that want to join you in what you are doing. We pray that you will continue to work in the heart of those who heard the message of Jesus. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen”

Thank you for joining us in this SEASON OF PRAYER. Today is Day 17 of our Spiritual Adventure of getting to know and then actively praying for Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM) and all of the various unreached people group in and around Northern Thailand. Thank you for joining us for this great time of seeking the face of God on behalf of millions who have never heard the message of our Lord Jesus.

Until all the Thai people know Him,

Michael

VP & Director of Field Operations for NTIM

Reaching Thai Men Through Soccer Outreaach – Dec 14

December 14, 2018 By MichaelJohnson

DAY 16 – Reaching Thai Men Through Soccer Outreach – Dec 14, 2018

As I write this update it is actually the morning after our soccer outreach last night Dec 14, 2018. God has given us several platforms of reaching out into our community to advance the cause of Christ and one of those started many, many years ago and has continued to flourish. That platform is our soccer outreach platform. God has raised up 3 men that currently lead this ministry: Jay, Ball, and Glen. These men are involved in our soccer outreach each week but this was a very special time last night when we had about 50 men who are currently university students come out to our Christmas Tournament and have not only a great time, but got to hear two testimonies and hear the truth that the real meaning of Christmas is the celebration of the Birth of Jesus Christ who would one day die on the cross for the sins of all mankind.

We are thankful that both Ahyaw – a young man that is active in our church here – and Nick – a young man active at our partner church from MS – were able to share their testimonies of how God changes lives.

We were so blessed to have a team from Gulfport, MS to share in what God is doing through our soccer ministry to these young men and future leaders.

Please keep us in your prayers as we reach out to some of the least reached people in our world today.

Also please remember to pray for our outreach tonight – it is at Baan Athitaan Church and will our largest single outreach event of the year.

If you have Facebook and would like to see our pictures from our Christmas outreach, just please click the type button

https://www.facebook.com/pg/BaanathitaanChurch/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2595243343849795

Until all the Thai people know Him,

Michael

VP & Director of Field Operations for NTIM

Prayer Example:“Lord, We want to begin our prayer with thanking you for the awesome opportunity that you have given to NTIM and to Baan Athitaan Church to reach out to men at the university in their city. Thank you for the testimonies of both Ahyaw and Nick and may they be used to draw these men closer to you. We would ask that you open the hearts of everyone who hears and may we all be drawn coser to Jesus. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.”

Lighting Up The Darkness in Thailand – BEACH HEAD Vision – December 13, 2018- Day 15

December 13, 2018 By MichaelJohnson

DAY 15 – The Time Has Come For the Light to Shine Brightly – Dec 13, 2018

DAY 15 – “Lighting Up the Darkness BEACH HEAD Vision” - December 13, 2018

As we have shared many times before. We are seeing God’s hand at work in the heart of South East Asia changing peoples’ lives like never before. As you have joined us in this Season of Prayer these last 14 days we have tried to help you see How God is working in Northern Thailand reaching some of the least reached people in our world today. God is breaking down strongholds for the advancement of the gospel of Jesus. Jesus once said in Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church and the gates of Hell will not be able to stand against it.”

One of the places God is building his church is in Chiang Rai, Thailand, right in the heart of dozens of unreached people groups and among millions and millions of people who do not know Jesus as their personal Savior.

God has chosen to use a small group of people living in Chiang Rai to join God in making disciples of hundreds of Thai people, most of whom are 1st generation believers and these 1st generation believers are normally the first people in their entire families to become followers of Jesus. What started as a small group of 8 believers in the Johnson home some 17 years ago has blossomed into a growing, thriving, community church made up of people from over 23 identifiable people groups and involved in outreach - evangelistic ministries related to teaching English, caring for those affected by HIV/AIDS, caring and ministering to various children’s homes, reaching out to the community and neighboring countries, and most importantly very committed to making disciples of all the nations God brings across our path.

We are very grateful for the partners and friends that God has surrounded us with including our partnership with various churches, and individuals all over the world who support the Johnson family and their team of partners in God’s work here in Northern Thailand.

We have been very intentional these past 19 years of living in Thailand to focus upon language and cultural adjustments, evangelism, discipleship and building the people of God into a family. As I shared with our prayer partners and financial supporters since we began “Operation Lighting Up The Darkness” and want to repeat that again this year, the Thai people have been overlooked for far too long and we believe it is God’s time for God’s people to join Him in what He wants to do in this part of God’s World.

We have seen God use our English Language teaching platforms - first the Lighthouse Language Center (LLC) and now Grace Language School (GLS) in amazing ways to change attitudes, to change beliefs, and to change lives and to be light in a very dark place. We are truly making an impact in this part of God’s world for His Kingdom and the advancement of the gospel. However, our overhead expenses related to the rental of our property really hampers out ability to do all that God wants us to do. It is with great joy that I can share with you that God has already provided us with a small appropriate and strategically located piece of land and we are in the last phase of raising fund for the building which we would love for each of you to be a part of. We believe that it is God’s timing to now say to the darkness that “we are here to stay” through the building of a multi-purpose facility that would house our English language school, would be NTIM’s “beachhead field office,” would house offices for some of our partners in ministry, would be where Baan Athitaan Church meets each Sunday, and would be a facility that would be appropriate for housing camps, seminars, and conferences for the purpose of expanding God’s kingdom.

God has planted the “church body” in a place in Northern Thailand that is strategically located between two major universities in Chiang Rai – Mae Fah Luang University and Rajabhat University where there are approximately 30,000 students.

God has been gracious and God’s people have been gracious and donated enough money for us to buy a prime piece of land that has now been transferred into the name of NTIM’s sister foundation here in Thailand and Phase 1 of this project has been completed. Phase 2 of raising funds and planning for construction has been going on for about a year now and we are making huge progress.

We have had a couple of issues come up with our original construction plans and that has caused our cost of construction to increase a little bit from our original plans. One of those changes had to be made because of restroom space to meet new building requirements.

As of our latest changes in the building requirements, our estimated expenses for the building are right around $400,000 US Dollars. We currently have on hand around $188,000 US Dollars. We are in need of an estimated $212,000 Dollars. That is a God-sized number for us.

Apart from the Bible, one of the most influential books in my life is a book written by Henry Blackaby called Experiencing God. In this book, Blackaby helps us understand many very critical concepts and one of those critical concepts is Blackaby refers to as a “crisis of belief.” For Blackaby, a “crisis of belief” is not some emergency or traumatic event that happens to us. No, rather it is a part of an ongoing process of us continually giving ourselves over to God’s plans for our lives by trusting Him for not only the resources needed to carry out God’s will but also for believing that He can and will do through us what seems to be impossible by man.

Do we really believe that God will provide everything we need in order to carry out His will?

The idea of the “crisis of belief” is that we have come to a place in following God’s leadership where we can’t go any further with God’s supernatural intervention. Much like when the children of Israel had just be brought out of slavery in Egypt where they had been slaves for over 400 years and now the chariots and armies of Pharaoh have decided to go after them and bring them back, yet God has brought them all the way to the Red Sea with no way to cross over to the other side without some supernatural intervention. That was a crisis of belief for Moses and the children of Israel, and you and I know that God was with them but needed his people to humble themselves, turn to Him, seek His face, and ask for His provision and when they did, God parted the seas.

I believe that we are at a similar place in our ministry today. We have seen God move mightily these last 20 years and have seen hundreds of Thai people become followers of Jesus as we have tried to walk with God and honor God and join God in all that He wants us to do to reach the Thai people. Many of these Thai people are the first persons in their entire family to be followers of Jesus and most of them are from some of the least reached people groups in our world today. God truly is at work. We have sensed God’s leadership to say to the darkness that God’s work of transformation is here to stay.

We have seen God provide us with an awesome piece of land where our work among the 30,000+ university students can flourish and our platforms of Teaching English and of Soccer ministry can continue to advance the Kingdom of God. We are at that crossroads today. And we are asking God’s people to join us in seeking God’s provisions for an additional $212,000 dollars so that we can begin this building project with all the funds needed to make it a reality for the glory of God!!

We have submitted our building plans to the government and are awaiting their approval. Our desire is to begin building construction as early as January 2019 with the hopes that next Summer we can bring teams from the USA and other countries to come and help us with the final touches of the building with putting in the internal classrooms and doing all the painting for the glory of God.

Blackaby says that one of the church’s calling is to show the watching world what it looks like to follow the one true God – and to live lives that can only be explained by the fact that God is who He says He is!

Prayer Example: “Lord, we have been reminded today of how You are at work building Your church in Northern Thailand. We thank You for allowing us who have been praying to be a part of seeing young people give their heart to Jesus. We thank You for allowing us to see how You are using 1^stgeneration believers to reach and disciple other 1^st generation believers. We thank You for Grace Language School and how you are using them to reach out not only to Thai people but to Chinese people and Laotian people, and Burmese people and many others. We do sense that it is Your time for them to establish a more permanent beach head and to say to the forces of darkness that God’s work through NTIM is there to stay. We ask that You would open the storehouses of heaven and provide NTIM with the needed resources in money and personnel to do all that You have put in their hearts to do. Please guide them as they seek for the piece of property that can best be utilized for Your purposes in that part of Your world. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.”

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Would you like to join God in what He wants to build and in the process store up some treasure in heaven? Please consider donating to our building fund at NTIM. We are requesting that all funding from the U.S.A. or other countries outside of Thailand for this specific project be routed through NTIM. All of your donations to NTIM are tax deductible. Checks can be made out to NTIM, P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 or you may donate online at www.gontim.org