Recent Updates
Latest ministry update from Thailand!
"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12
Greetings from Thailand. We are being tested during this season of COVID-19, but it pleases me to report that our hope and prayer continue stronger than pre-COVID. As with the rest of the world, Thailand has been in lockdown for several months and recently started reopening. We have begun our church services in person for a few weeks now while maintaining strict protocols. Worshipers are happy to be back in churches.
The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the lives of many people, especially the poor. Many of our rural church folks come from impoverished backgrounds and are daily labourers - which means no work and money. Vision Thailand (VT) is coordinating some help from a distance with our limited resources. It is so good to see the church coming together to show care and compassion.
VT Ministries has four main mission priorities:
- Church Planting
- Leadership Training and Development
- Outreach and Evangelism
- Compassion Ministries.
Compassionate ministries are mandated by the Thai government for all charities to give back to the community. Several other endeavours include church planter training, supporting pastor's families, prison ministries, ministry to abandoned children in the slum area, Thai Bibles and Gospel booklets, and projects that create livelihoods for missionaries like fish ponds, pig projects, chicken projects, and mushroom projects.
COVID-19 ASSISTANCE
We send a limited amount of food aid to assist our church communities. The Thai Board appointed Regional leaders to purchase rice, noodles, eggs, oil, and a few other staples to distribute among the most affected. We hope to continue this assistance through the Summer months. Thank you for supporting our relief efforts.
CHURCH PLANTING
Our churches are open again. Praise God. People are enjoying worshiping together while following strict protocols. In Thailand, open churches mean baptisms for the Vision Thailand churches. Just in the last month, there have been fifteen baptisms in four of our churches.
PARTNERS INTERNATIONAL CANADA AND VISION THAILAND CANADA
Partners International has been partnering in a limited way with Vision Thailand Canada for about three years in planting churches. The long-term goal was to continue our conversations to see if we can join together as one mission, under the Partners International umbrella. We are happy to report that our deliberations have been moving forward despite COVID-19, and we have just put together a document of Guiding Principles to become one mission. So far, it seems like a good fit for our philosophy of ministry to empower national churches to do mission, and we partner with them. Please keep this matter in your prayers. Lord willing, if this merger comes together, we can significantly impact Thai communities in Thailand. If all goes as per our plans and God's blessing, we hope to become one mission starting in 2021.
PRAYER REQUESTS
- Please pray for our pastor's families and the people in our churches, as we pray for you!
- Pray that they are kept safe (physical and spiritual).
- Pray for continued open doors for the Gospel, even amid crisis.
- Pray that we keep our vision sharp and not deviate from it under this pressure.
On behalf of everyone at Vision Thailand Ministries, THANK YOU for your partnership!
IN THE PAST YEAR
2,000 people heard the gospel | 150 new believers | 120 baptized
35 communities impacted
