As I shared with one of our close friends from
France yesterday, what a great joy to serve the Lord and invest in making
disciples and joining God in changing the lives of Thai teenagers from at least
6 or 7 different ethnic language/people groups in Thailand, including the
Mueang (Northern Thai/Lanna People), the Akha, the Hmong, the Mien (Yao), the
Lahu, the Central Thai, and the Isaan just to name a few. Some of these
teenagers are the first or second persons in their entire family heritage to
become followers of Jesus as is half of my awesome Thai Staff.
Praise God for opportunities like these to invest
and prepare a new generation of Thai followers of Jesus. Thank you to all those
who donated through Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM) for our work here
in Chiangrai, Thailand and those who gave through Baan Athitaan Church here in
Chiangrai as well. Thank you for everyone who prayed. Thank you for everyone
who helped. Thank you for the open hearts of these teenagers. And most of all,
thank you to God who is worthy of all our devotion we can give Him. We believe
God blessed this camp in a very special way and we sensed His Special Presence
in all that we did together to invest in these precious teenagers God has put
in our lives for discipleship and for the advancement of God’s kingdom and for the
glory of God. Here is a short video clip of the Youth Camp “Same Same But
Different.” It is only 6 minutes long but I would ask you to watch it and
listen to it even though you may not be able to understand the words which are
in the Central Thai language. But one thing you can see is all of the genuine
smiles on these teenagers’ faces. These are not fake smiles, these are the real
deal, real expressions of hearts that are being transformed by the Word of God,
The Spirit of God, and the church of God as we seek to reach some of the least
reached people groups in our world today with the life-changing message of
Jesus Christ.
Here is the link to this video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M4Kjsy4tgk&t=2s
Please remember to pray for the 50-60 people who
were either “campers” in the camp or “helpers or teachers” in the camp. I am
reminded of a passage tucked away in the Old Testament from the Prophet Habakkuk
that reminds us to, ““Look to the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Be Amazed!
Because I am doing something in your days—You would not believe even if you
were told.” Habakkuk 1:5.
God is doing some amazing things in Northern
Thailand.
This coming September 17, 2026, we are coming upon 25 years of setting up a legitimate
and government registered English language platform now called Grace Language
School. God has allowed us to teach thousands and thousands of teenagers over
the years and many of them have become English teachers in the educational
system here all over Thailand. But what is more important in my mind than that is
that hundreds of these teenagers and young adults that started their journey of
studying English with us, found out through our relationships, not through the
classroom, that there is a God who loves them and has a wonderful plan for
their life and hundreds of these teenagers have become followers of our Lord
Jesus Christ and when we have camps like this where there is no English at all,
these teenagers open up there hearts and God begins another level of transformation
in their hearts, but not just in their hearts, but in the hearts of those who
are helping and teaching and equipping. Let me just say very clearly, I have
seen God do some incredible things reaching some of the least reached people
groups in our world today which most of those people have been teenagers. Oh,
that God might open the eyes of our hearts to see the great value in discipling
and teaching these young people that yes, we are the same as every human (same
same) But we have a very different lifestyle that God has given to us and He has
empowered us to go into our schools, into our families, into our neighborhoods,
into our work places, into our friendships and let the love, kindness, and
message of Christ flow through our lives. One of our main theme verses in this
camp was Romans 12:1-2 that says this, “Therefore I urge you, brothers and
sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy
sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And
do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable
and perfect.” Rom 12:1-2
All of the teaching and activities and focus of
this “Same Same But Different” Youth Camp was wrapped around this passage from
Romans 12. But there is another important verse that we try to instill in all
of our teenagers, university students, and adults and that is Galatians 2:20.
This verse tells us from the heart of the Apostle Paul to live like he chooses
to live and that is to let Christ live through him. Listen to these words, “I
have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives
in me and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God
who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
Here are quickly 5 ways I feel led to ask you how
to pray for us:
1) Pray for Grace Language School and our current
urgent and important need for a few “English Teachers” that could come and volunteer
in our work here both in Chiangrai and in Payao. If you are interested in
hearing more about this opportunity, please write me personally at [email protected]
2) Pray for more jr. high and high school students
from the community to come and study English with us at Grace Language School. Our costs are not very
high because much of our costs are offset and subsidized by those who give to
the Johnsons through NTIM. We also offer scholarships to for free tuition to
those children’s homes like Baan Eden that are an integral part of our church
family. It is another way that NTIM serves some of the children’s needs in our
community and helps provide them with good language skills that will help them
get into a good university and help them get a good job when they are at that
stage in life.
3) Pray also for more “university students” from Chiangrai
Rajabhat University as well as from Mae Fah Luang University. We continue to build
bridges of relationships to these two universities and have greater access to
reach them and bless them in the name of our Lord. We are in the process of
organizing some special scholarships that we would like to offer to students at
both of these universities and are currently working out the details. Please
pray for us for this strategic partnership in the days ahead.
4) Pray for our current Teachers. We seek to honor
God by being the best English language school in the community. I personally think we are
already but we seek to improve the quality of our English Education through help
our teaches become the best English teachers they can become. Also pray for our
teachers to use their relationships they build with their students as the “platform”
to let Christ live through them and never use the classroom as a “preaching
point” but always as a softener to change attitudes, perspectives, and plow the
ground of the soil of their heart that it will be tender and ready to receive
the good seed when the timing is right to plant it. This is really the hard
work God has given us and that is to prepare the soil. There will never be a
great harvest unless someone plows the ground and prepares the soil for this
good seed. That is what we do as we teach English with integrity and with quality.
5) Pray for our awesome Thai Staff that serve in
many ways and serve both in our language school, in our foundation, and in our
church.
Please say a special prayer for Pii Jay and for Pii
Boum who serve as our leaders for our ministry to the Jr. & Sr. High School
Teenagers. Here is an overview of our ministry focus for these teenagers.
Please remember that there is one thing I have
learned over the 40+ years of being a follower of Jesus and that is the truth
that God listens to prayers of His people when they come to Him in
faith, in humility, and in dependence upon His grace. Another passage that came
to mind was a passage I memorized over 30 years ago from Jeremiah 33:3 that
says, “Call to me and I will answer you and will show you great and mighty
things which you do not know.” God
listens to the prayers of His people. Be one of His people who draws near
to God and God will draw near to you as the Bible declares in James 4:8.
Please remember to keep us and all the people
living in an around Northern Thailand in your prayers. Grateful and Happy to be
Serving Our Awesome God through NTIM as a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable
organization based in the USA. We are committed to going to the least of the
least reached people groups primarily 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.
———————————————————-
Financial support can be given through NTIM.
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 made online, you can click the
“general” button and these funds are directed to the NTIM team Field
headquarters in Chiangrai and overall finances that I personally manage, or you
can click the “project Payao” button and these funds will be directed to the
NTIM team in Payao led by Doug Piper. If you would like to get on our email
update listing, please send me an email at [email protected]