N.T.I.M.

Taking the Gospel to the Heart of the 10-40 Window

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST FROM THAILAND – OBEDIENCE – Update Oct 14, 2019

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Dear Friends, Family, Partners in Ministry,

I realize that many of you are wanting to know where we are with the building and we will give you an update very soon but during this whole building process one of my roles as Vice President and Director of Field Operation for NTIM is to help us all maintain focus upon what God is doing, why we are here in Northern Thailand, and what He is doing each and every day in the hearts and lives of people.

We still have many things to share with you about the building but please let me ask you to remember that we need your prayer not just for the whole building process but we need your prayers every single day as we seek to be deeply involved in making disciples and giving our lives out every day for the advancement of the great commission to some of the least reached people groups in our world today.

Today, I want to ask you to pray for me personally as I begin this Monday morning preparing for the important work of speaking God’s Word this coming Sunday morning here in Northern Thailand among both missionaries who need to be feed and among dozens and dozens of people who are genuine 1st generation followers of Jesus. God is raising up a new generation of believers to reach this part of the world and what we do here every Sunday morning is important to building the right kind of foundation in God’s church that we call Baan Athitaan Church.

Please pray for me as I begin to seek God's understanding and heart and begin preparations for preaching/teaching this coming Sunday morning on the very important topic of "Partial Obedience" from the life of Saul in 1 Samuel 15. Such a very rich passage and so many things that could be said.

Please pray for me that I would discern the most important things to say and to say them in a way that others may hear to Spirit of God speaking to them. Our church is filled with dozens and dozens of 1st generation followers of Jesus and there are many things that are will be difficult for them to hear but important that they understand the Holy and Righteous God that we serve that says, "to obey is better than sacrifice." 1 Sam 15:23

Much Love & Prayers from Northern Thailand. 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 some of the least reached people group areas of God’s World today through acts of love and compassionate is what NTIM and our ministry team is all about.


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A Call To Renew The Tenderness Of Your Heart – Update October 12, 2019

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This update will be a very different than our regular updates. Today, we want to speak renewal in the heart of all of our friends, partners, and prayer warriors.

Today I feel a special need to speak some encouragement in your personal relationship with God. 

I simply ask you to do 3 simple things, 1) Open your heart to hear what God wants to say to you through this song, and 2) Click on this video clip and take 4 minutes and carefully listen the words that are sung, and 3) thank God for His goodness to you in your life.

May you draw near to God…..He will draw near to you my friends.

Here is the song: 

May God continue to be pleased to use broken vessels like us for His glory and the advancement of His Kingdom.

Michael, for the team.

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." James  4:8

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God Is Raising Up A New Generation . . . . Update Oct 9, 2019

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Hello Friends. My name is Michael Johnson. Well over 20 years ago, the Johnson family sensed God’s call on our lives to leave our country of origin in the United States and follow God’s leadership to a place literally on the other side of the world that we call Thailand. We moved to Thailand as an act of willingly surrendering our lives to join God in taking the love and message of our Great Savior to the people living in this beautiful country of Thailand. Over the 20 years that we have lived here, God has allowed us the great privilege of seeing hundreds of Thai people and other Asians become the 1stor 2nd persons in their entire family lineage to become followers of Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, just yesterday, one of our staff members was able to lead a Chinese university student into the loving arms of Jesus. Yet, still today, 1 in every 100 Thai persons is lost without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and the staggering reality that grips our hearts all the time is that most Thai people have never even heard a clear presentation of the gospel. 

Yet in the midst of millions who have never heard, God is at work transforming people’s lives. Here is a recent testimony of one of our awesome Thai Staff who has been serving the Lord with us for almost 16 years. She was the first person in her entire family to become a follower of Jesus from the 3rd largest Unreached People Group (UPG) in Thailand. She is now serving as one of our key “mentors” and meets every single week for one-on-one discipleship with 12 university students most of whom are also 1st generation followers of Christ. Take just a moment and listen to her testimony before reading on.

It is clear to us that God has been moving and working in the hearts and lives of Thai people drawing them to Himself but we sense that God wants to do something very special this Christmas season of 2019.
We have almost a dozen Christmas Outreaches planned already targeting some of the least reached people groups in our world today. But in order for these outreaches to truly make a difference for the advancement of the kingdom of God, we are coming before the universal body of Christ and asking you and the local church you belong too to help us make a difference in Thailand this Christmas Season. 

What are the three ways each of you can help us? 

1) The first area you can help us make a difference is through your individual prayers. The Bible over and over encourages us to pray and even tells us in James 5:16 that, “…The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."

The famous Christian prayer warrior Corrie Ten Boom once said this, “the wonderful thing about praying is that you leave a world of not being able to do something, and enter God’s realm where everything is possible. Nothing is too great for His almighty power. Nothing is too small for His love.”

Please pray for the millions of Thai people to hear and receive the gospel this Christmas Season and for their hearts to embrace Jesus as their Savior. The first area we need your help is in the area of your individual prayers.

2) The second area you can help us make a difference is through advocacy and mobilization. Please tell others about this opportunity to make a difference in Thailand this Christmas Season. Help move other people onto God’s Agenda and forward this message to other followers of Jesus. Advocate and share this message with any Christian small groups you are involved in. Share this message with the leaders in your church family and ask them to pray as well. One person can truly make a difference but if we mobilize others as well, then our effect is significantly multiplied and others will be moved more onto God’s agenda. Let’s make a difference in a special way in Northern Thailand this Christmas Season through advocacy and mobilization.

3) The third area you can help us make a difference is through your giving. Jesus tells us the importance of storing up treasures in heaven. Your gifts, your donations, and your generosity toward missions is the 3rd way you can help us truly make a difference among some of the least reached people groups in our world today.

We seek to provide good quality evangelistic outreaches that touch the heart. We do not consider these “expenses” per se but rather we consider them “investments” into the lives of people for the purpose of the expansion of God’s Kingdom and for the glory of God. We are estimating our “investments” for all of our Christmas outreaches in Thailand to be somewhere between $6,000 and $10,000. Please prayerfully consider making a special donation to NTIM to help and to join God in what He wants to do in Northern Thailand this Christmas Season. We begin doing Christmas outreaches in November and do them all the way up to Christmas. Your generous donations allow us to be the hands and feet of Jesus here in the heart of the 10-40 Window.

We realize that some of you give to a Christmas offering like “Lottie-Moon” and I, too, give to that as well and, we would encourage you to continue to give to those offerings this year as well. However, let’s also make a difference this Christmas Season specifically among some of the least reached peoples in our world today through giving generously to NTIM on behalf of reaching the unreached in and around Northern Thailand.

May God richly bless you and your church as we join together to make a difference in Northern Thailand 1) through our Prayers, 2) through our Advocacy and Mobilization, and 3) through our generous donations for the advancement of the gospel among 100s of UPGs in and around Northern Thailand.

Until all the people in and around Northern Thailand have a chance to embrace our great Savior,

Michael

For those living in the USA, click here to make a tax-deductible donation to NTIM:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=NgpZ7HqJurZSMEnklJhZwH-m65MMl4JjV4b2IwapamkItXOGO-2EQusGTTTXXZkAicW0X0&country.x=US&locale.x=US


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2 Minute Video Building Update – September 20, 2019

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We are pleased to provide for you a short video update of the construction on The Lighthouse Learning Center here in Chiangrai. Two days ago we sent you a long written version update with lots of pictures but today we wanted to send you a video update. It is only 2 minutes long so please take a moment and watch it and then take some time and bring us before the throne of grace where with God, all things are possible......



Please pray for God's Work of transformation here in Northern Thailand and remember the words of Corrie Ten Boom who once said, "The wonderful thing about praying is that you leave a world of not being able to do something, and enter God's realm where everything is possible. Nothing is too great for His almighty power. Nothing is to small for His love." 

From the Team, Bro. Michael 

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Praying Friends – Need for Prayer – Northern Thailand Impact Ministry Update – Sept. 18, 2019

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Praying Friends - God is at work in mighty ways here in Northern Thailand and today I want to encourage all of you who pray for us with a quote I recently read from Corrie Ten Boom talking about the very strategic nature of prayer. Corrie Ten Boom once said this "The wonderful thing about praying is that you leave a world of not being able to do something, and enter God's realm where everything is possible. Nothing is too great for His almighty power. Nothing is too small for His love."

Please continue to pray for us, the funds needed to complete our first ever building project we are calling "The Lighthouse Learning Center," and for the continuing outreach and discipleship ministries that go on every single day here in Chiangrai, Thailand.

We are pleased to announce that the construction on The Lighthouse Learning Center here in Chiangrai is continuing to progress. Most of these pictures were taken today but a couple of them taken last week. We are at the stage of beginning to pour concrete for the second floor structure and wanted you all to see the progress being made - even in the rainy season!!!!! Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to press on with construction and as we continue to raise funds for this very strategic building that say to the darkness here - God's Work of transformation is here to stay!!




Please continue to pray for us, the funds needed to complete our first ever building project we are calling "The Lighthouse Learning Center," and for the continuing outreach and discipleship ministries that go on every single day here in Chiangrai, Thailand remembering the words of Corrie Ten Boom,  "The wonderful thing about praying is that you leave a world of not being able to do something, and enter God's realm where everything is possible. Nothing is too great for His almighty power. Nothing is too small for His love."

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 15:58

Michael for the team.

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Celebrating a Special Day – NTIM Update – Sept 11, 2019

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September 11, 2001 is one of those days that is now a significant day in world history, especially for those of us who consider ourselves either Americans for friends with Americans. It was a day that culminated in reflecting a deep hatred in the heart of a small, but very powerful group of people who hat America and despise some of the values that are reflected in America like freedom, liberty, love, and tolerance of others. This day was a painful day in the lives of many but it was also a day where the courage of men stood strong and where people gave their lives to protect and defend others who only sought after harm and destruction.

Not only is September 11, 2001 a day that all of us at NTIM will remember, but 2 years after this horrible attack of 9/11 something very positive happened in the heart one of the great states of Alabama that reflected another value that most Americans share and that is the value of the freedom to take the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ into all the world. You see, on September 11, 2007, two of board members – David Howell and Michael Johnson – went down to the Jefferson County Office in Alabama to register the Articles of Incorporation of NTIM as a charitable, non profit organization committed to taking the love and message of Jesus to some of the least reached people groups in our world today living in and around Northern Thailand.

After almost two years of seeking God’s face, praying, planning, casting vision, organizing, recruiting, installing board members, and writing up Articles of Incorporation, God birthed NTIM. September 11, 2007 was that day and since that day some 12 years ago, God has allowed friends, family, churches, volunteers, and NTIM personnel to join Him in transforming the lives of thousands of people, one life at a time.

My family has now lived and served our great Savior, for 20 years and we are so thankful to all of you who have supported us through your prayers and financial donations to the work the God has placed in our hands to lead.

As I sit at my office this afternoon on September 11, 2019, and write this update, I want to encourage each of you to do all that God has called you to do.

Words cannot express the great joy I have in my heart when I reflect upon the last 20+ years our family has lived in Thailand and the awesome experiences we have had. We have had so many opportunities to learn how to walk with God in obedience in the work He has put in our hands to do.  God wants to use ordinary people like you and me to respond to Him in Obedience and join Him in His work to reach the nations and all the unreached people groups in His world today.

PRAY, GIVE, and GO.

Would you also please consider giving a special donation to NTIM as a “birthday gift” and help us continue to make a significant impact in this part of God’s World.
To God be the glory for the great things He has done.... and is doing.... and will do in the days ahead! Not for the glory of a man or of men, nor for the glory of an organization, but for the glory of the One who chose to leave His throne in heaven and become a man, to go to the cross and pay the ultimate penalty for the sins of all men, and then to empower His followers to go to all the unreached people groups of the world today with the message of our Savior, remembering that "all authority has been given to Jesus" and that Jesus said He will build His church "and the gates of Hell will not be able to stop it."

May God continue to be pleased to use ordinary people like us for His glory and the advancement of His Kingdom.

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 reaching some of the least reached people groups in our world today and are focused in the heart of Southeast Asia where poverty is high, educational needs are great, unreached people groups (UPGs) are all around us, and the love and message of Jesus is needed to transform lives.



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5 years ago today, Nong Boom declared to the world that she belonged to Jesus….

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Today is one of those days that the tears of joy continue to flow from my eyes as I reflect on the goodness of God and how much God loves Thai people and is moving here and transforming the lives of people and has allowed me and my family to join Him in His work here in Northern Thailand. 

5 years ago today, Nong Boom was baptized.

As I think about that day 5 years ago and I think about how God is continuing to truly transformed this young lady's life, I am humbled to have had the honor to Pastor this young lady for the past 5 years and now to have her on my Thai staff. She is not perfect just like the rest of us, but one thing is very clear: she is not the same person she was a little over 5 years ago before she gave her heart to Jesus.
God wants to transform our lives, let us yield our hearts to Him and let Him make us into more authentic followers of Jesus Christ more every day. We love you Boom and are joining God in helping you become the woman of God that He desires in your life. Here is Boom's Baptism 5 years ago today.

God is at work. We have joined God in this work and ask for your partnership with us in this great work of God. 

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21 Years ago Today – International Mission Board Appointment Service – July 21, 1998.

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Thanking God for the confirmation He chose to give us through the International Mission Board in our response to our sense of God's leadership to obey His leading to move our family to Thailand and begin following His leadership of learning how to love Thai people, to adjust our lives to live in harmony with Thai people, to learn one of the most difficult languages in the world, and to begin the process of planting a church in Thailand that God had in mind.
What a joy it was today to worship with that church family that we now call Baan Athitaan Church in Northern Thailand made up of over 23 different ethnic/linguistic people groups and some of the least reached people groups in our world today. What a great journey of faith this has been for us. We have stumbled from time to time and not always done everything right. We have had hardship and pressure to change the course, but God has been faithful to allow sinners like us to be a part of His great plan of redemption among some of the kindest, gracious, and most gentle people you will ever meet but among a people where 99 out of every 100 persons do not have their names written in the Lamb's Book of Life. We are grateful to have had a small part of serving an awesome God but we are not done!!!!! and are looking forward to serving God for as long as He allows us to serve Him. We are grateful for the awesome Thai partners God has placed in our lives for such a time as this.
Thank you to our awesome children that were patient with us in this new land. Jessica Davenport, Liz Vaughn, Josh Johnson, and Caleb Johnson
Thank you Sutasinee Srijai, Jay Lee, Boum Boom, Nattapong Khakaew, Bee Orranee and thank you to two great interns serving with us at this moment: Marut Taptimtait and Monrada Archa. Also grateful for our Western Partners who are serving with us today: Thank you Derek May, Jodi May, Alexa Diane, Keith Lihaven, Taran Lihaven, and Gary Gary Peña.
Have I told you lately I love my church family! Let us work together for the advancement of His Kingdom in and around Northern Thailand with all of our hearts for the glory of God. Much Love, Pii Michael
P.S. The news article write up was from the Goshen News in Goshen, IN after IMB Appointment July 21, 1998. Our family landed in Thailand on January 13, 1999  and at that time our family of 6 (Hope was 7 months pregnant with Caleb so we included him) landed in Bangkok along with about 15 or 16 pieces of luggage and began our awesome journey of joining God in His work of redemption in Thailand. Jessica Davenport was 9,Liz Vaughn was 6, Josh Johnson was 1+ and Caleb Johnson was "in the oven" and was born two months later on March 10.1999 in a hospital in BKK. We want to declare as the Psalmist declared, "The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." Psalm 126:3.

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Pouring Concrete TODAY In Northern Thailand – picture update July 17, 2019

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We have all heard it said a million times, "a picture is worth a thousand words." Well, we thought we would do a different kind of update today with very few words but with a host of pictures taken today in Chiangrai, THAILAND.

Thanking God for HIS Provision, the Generosity of His People, Supporters, Partners, Friends, & Family, and the opportunity to bring the message of Jesus to millions of the least reached peoples from dozens of the least reached people groups in our world today.

TODAY WE POURED CONCRETE.......PRESSING ON FOR THE EXPANSION OF GOD'S KINGDOM .... IN GOD'S WAY......IN GOD'S TIMING....and FOR GOD'S GLORY.






















Please keep us in your prayers and yes, we are still taking donations toward "The Lighthouse Learning Center" either on line at www.gontim.org or by sending a check to NTIM. Thank you.




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The Kingdom of God is Advancing – A Taste of Thailand – Update June 21, 2019

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This update will be a little bit different than our regular updates. Today, I want to share some thoughts with you that I have been reflecting upon regarding what I believe is on God’s heart and how that relates to us and God’s work here in Northern Thailand.

Many of you reading this email do not get Facebook and that is fine, but those of you who do have Facebook are much more aware of what great things God has been doing in this part of His world. We have chosen to use Facebook primarily for ministry purposes so that you will better know what is going on here and how you can join God in what He is doing in this part of His world.

A couple of days ago, I shared some of these thoughts on Facebook as I do quite often but realized that many of you do not use Facebook and thought these thoughts would be a blessing and an encouragement to you. Our Great God is alive and well transforming people’s lives in Northern Thailand. Many of these new followers of Jesus are the first persons in their entire family to follow Jesus.

Words cannot express the great joy I have in my heart when I reflect upon the last 20+ years our family has lived in Thailand and the awesome experiences we have had. We have had so many opportunities to learn how to walk with God in obedience in the work He has put in our hands to do.

I want to ask that you would stop reading and take a moment and click on this video clip and watch it first. Then come back and read the rest of my comments.


Please watch the video before reading on if you can.

This video reminds me that God has been at work in and around Northern Thailand long before we ever knew where Northern Thailand was. But this video reminds me that God has been at work in tremendous ways since we moved to Thailand 20+ years ago. 

This video also reminds me that God is currently at work, and He will continue to be at work in reaching some of the least reached people and people groups in our world today until the Lord Jesus comes again. But at this time, in this place, at this moment, God is at work changing lives in Northern Thailand and invites ordinary people like you and me to join Him in His great work whether that is through praying, through giving, through advocacy and mobilization, through going short term, or like us….going for as long as God wants you to go.
This video reminds me of the strategic nature of teaching English through a legitimate platform like Grace Language School and how teachers and volunteers play such a vital role in being the hands and feet of Jesus. During this time this video was produced, we had a team from our home church - Shades Mountain Baptist in Birmingham, AL and another team from Hunter Street Baptist in Birmingham, AL working together with us for the glory of God.

PRAY FOR 2 VOLUNTEER TEAMS THAT ARE PREPARING TO COME IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS

Please pray for the team from our home church – Shades Mountain Baptist Church from Birmingham, AL - and the team from another partner Church in Mississippi from Gulfport named Crosspoint Church. Both of these teams will be with us in less than 2 weeks. We love volunteer teams from churches. They help us in so many tremendous ways.
This video also reminds me that God has been calling people from all over the world to join hands together with us - originally through the IMB, but after 2005 through the formation of NTIM, Grace Language School (previously the Lighthouse Language Center), and through the establishment of a new type of church in Northern Thailand called Baan Athitaan Church. God is truly transforming lives and we want to thank you for your faithful partnership with us.

This video reminds me that God is in the business of making disciples and transforming lives every day like Nong Faa and Nong Ao as the first followers of Jesus in their entire families. Both of them are from the third largest unreached people group in Thailand, the Khon Mueang, where not even 1 in 100 people know Jesus as their personal Savior. This 3rd largest unreached people group has 7 million people living in Northern Thailand.
This video was shot on March 16, 2008 - during a time of great growth and expansion of God's Kingdom here in Northern Thailand. A few years earlier, we went through a very difficult transition time of leadership and direction and great uncertainty about the future, but we had a confident faith that we were being obedient and faithful to God’s call to pour out our lives into the people here in and around ChiangRai and stay the course God had set for us. One of our life verses has been Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not lean on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge Him, and HE WILL DIRECT YOUR PATHS." God has truly directed our paths.
GOD HAS DONE GREAT THINGS. We consider it a great honor that the Lord has allowed ordinary people like us to join Him in what He is doing. We are very excited about the great things our Lord is doing and will be doing in the days ahead for the expansion of His great kingdom. 

As many of you reading this email know, we here at NTIM are in the process of saying to the darkness here in Northern Thailand that "God's work is here to stay." We started making that statement after we purchased land in 2017 and are currently making that statement as we have begun the construction process of a permanent multi-purpose building called the Lighthouse Learning Center. Here are a few pictures that we just taken this morning as I walked and prayed around the property.
We are still in need of raising about $300,000 USD to complete the building. We thought we might be able to be in the building before Christmas but looks like it will be the first of next year if things go with the current plan and the Lord provides us with the additional needed resources. Please pray for us as we seek to expand God’s Kingdom among the Unreached In greater ways in the days ahead and say to the darkness very clearly “God’s work is here to stay.”

Thank you for your love and partnership with us over the years. Some of you reading this have prayed for us every day since before we arrived in Thailand on January 13, 1999. This has been God's idea and vision and He deserves all the praise for the hundreds of lives that have been transformed by the cross of Jesus in this very unreached part of God’s world. We are so thankful we didn’t quit when times were difficult, but by the grace of God we have stayed the course and tried to be faithful to obey all of God's directions for our lives. May God be honored and pleased with both our lives and the work He is doing in and around Northern Thailand.

To God be the glory for the great things He has done.... and is doing.... and will do in the days ahead! Not for the glory of a man or of men, nor for the glory of an organization, but for the glory of the One who chose to leave His throne in heaven and become a man, to go to the cross and pay the ultimate penalty for the sins of all men, and then to empower His followers to go to all the unreached people groups of the world today with the message of our Savior, remembering that "all authority has been given to Jesus" and that Jesus said He will build His church "and the gates of Hell will not be able to stop it."
May God continue to be pleased to use broken vessels like us for His glory and the advancement of His Kingdom.

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 reaching some of the least reached people groups in our world today and are focused in the heart of Southeast Asia where poverty is high, educational needs are great, unreached people groups (UPGs) are all around us, and the love and message of Jesus is needed to transform lives.

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