Sinclair-Peters in Thailand
Running into the Kingdom
Only Ask and I will give you the nations as your inheritance Ps2:8
Silent Night Holy Night
The Burmese Church was in the middle of their Sunday night worship when I got an emergency phone call. I quickly ran to the front of the church and whispered in Pastor Isaiah’s ear, “Quick! Turn-off all the lights. THEY’RE COMING!”
The room went dark and everyone became silent. No one even dared to breathe. Then, from around the corner, a large group of people came to the front door… and we held our breath.
From outside we heard in Thai: “Silent Night, Holy Night.” We listened quietly in the dark for a few minutes, as is the custom in Thailand. Then, we threw on the lights and yelled, “Merry Christmas!” We quickly ushered everyone in from the cold. (okay so maybe it wasn’t exactly cold :D ) And then the party started! Pastor Isaiah and the worship team started to rock down the house. Everyone started to dance and worship the Lord!
When we reflect on the small beginnings of the Burmese church three years ago and the wall of prejudice and mistrust between the Thais and Burmese that God has slowly taken down through the power of his Love, we feel overwhelmed with gratitude to God for the unity and sacrificial love that we now witness everyday between our Thai and Burmese brothers and sisters. I just have to shout it out: “THANK YOU GOD! BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!!”
Can Revival Come through One Man?
Time to be honest: Last year at this time, we were totally discouraged about the spiritual state of our adult believers at the Bethel Church. Many of our first believers had fallen away and were going back to old addictions and “the things of this world.” We cried out all year to God for a break through. Then, a few months ago, P’ Chin got a contract to build houses in Buriram, Isaan. He was relieved that he could get away from all the headaches and troubles in our little slum community. Little did P’ Chin know that God had a plan to revive his faith again.
One day while he was in a store, he met a man who invited him to church. When P’Chin arrived, he was surprised to see that there was no parking available. People had been lined up to worship the Lord since 7am in the morning!
During the service, P' Chin saw many people come to faith in Christ, he saw people set free from evil spirits and he saw people healed. That day P’Chin went forward for prayer. He asked God to reveal himself to him in a new way. During the months that followed, P’Chin had a new hunger to immerse himself in the Word of God and have fellowship with other believers. One day God convicted him about smoking. He had tried before to quit before but it had always felt too hard. This time P’ Chin went to his cell group and asked for prayer. Then he fasted and prayed for deliverance. His desire was to become a godly leader. The enemy came after P’ Chin hard. On the first day of quitting, P’ Chin got a fever and started throwing up. One the second day, his employer started fighting with his wife. Since they could not agree, they fired P’Chin. P’ Chin couldn’t take the conflict. He needed a smoke! But instead he called his care group. They took turns calling him on the cell phone and praying for him every hour. We prayed for him here at Bethel too. After 10 days, P' Chin returned to Bethel church rejoicing and praising God for his victory over cigarettes!
Now, P’Chin has been back in our little slum for the last 2 months, turning the world upside down for Jesus. By his testimony and encouragement, he has caused many of our old members to turn back to the Lord and led a few others to give their lives to Christ. Pastor Naat has a new leadership team now that is on fire for Jesus and ready to serve... Yes, Revival CAN start with just one man. Hallelujah!
A New Church?
When Kai and Kaew moved into a new sub-division with over 1000 homes we started praying, "God save these people, open their eyes to see your glory and greatness." We kept praying, even through many obstacles. Finally, God opened the door in a way we could have never foreseen. Edd and Ingrid Russell, MB Mission workers, were suddenly looking for a place to serve. They asked about Chachoengsao and we showed them Kai and Kaew's sub-division. They started praying and even asked God for a house with a mango tree.
On Dec 16 we setup a huge stage, held a carnival and had a blowout Christmas party, with food, music and games. The Bethel church did it all (with some help from our amazing TREK team and Lisa, Bernie, Tammy, Ray and Jo from Gretna, MB). Pastor Naat preached the good news of Jesus coming to earth to over 400 Buddhists and at least 40 people prayed to receive Christ. And to top it all off Edd and Ingrid got a house with a mango tree. This is the start of something big!
Miraculous Provision
Running Into The Kingdom
This year, at our Burmese Christmas outreach, God rocked our world! When pastor Tu Ja gave the invitation to receive Jesus Christ as Savoir and Lord and repent of their sins, an amazing thing happen: People literally, started running for the front of the stage! About 60 people accepted Christ. Please pray that our leadership team will be able to follow up and disciple many of these new believers.
Loaves and Fishes
I don’t know how we did it. How did we give away a thousand presents with so little money? Sandy had only one answer: “Loaves and Fishes.” The only explanation for always having enough presents to give out to poor children who have never heard the Gospel is that God LOVES to multiply the little offering we have and make it a HUGE demonstration of his miracle working power.
God also multiplied our strength and gave us much needed rest through the hard work and generosity of Richard and Lu, the Manitoba Team and the Trek Team. The organizational genius and CEO of this operation was of course; Sandy Fender. HUGE thanks to everyone for making hundreds of cookies, packaging gifts, running an amazing carnival and loving all those kids!!