This is my first newsletter for 2017 and I know it is late in the month already but I want to wish everyone a awesome Jesus filled year! May you all experience the Father's love and care and be part in expanding His Kingdom some way or another!
December and January was the busiest time of the year and there were very little rest during this time. We had over 30 teams coming from all parts of the world to Thailand in the last 2 months and to handle all their logistics, orientations, transportation, invitation letters, liaising with Thai ministries and local churches etc. was by no means a small task but He gave me strength, wisdom and favour to accomplices it all.
We had an extreme team from New Zealand that caused quite a stir here in the north. They have used the prayer cards that we gave to them and they had many people experiencing healing and loads came to Jesus. We normally give boxes full of Gospel tracts, DVD's and Bibles to each team but this team handed so many out that we started to run low on tracts and DVD's. It is such a blessing to be part in a small way to give a seed into the hands of Jesus and to know that He will not allow for His Word to return void.I am in the process of looking into ordering another 60 000 tracts and also doing research into getting the Christian literature onto flash-drives instead of DVD's. Please pray for wisdom and guidance on this matter!
I also had the opportunity to go to Phitsonulok, a province in the middle of Thailand to go teach on evangelism to Thai's and westerners.This was great to experience another part of the country and to be able to impart in the student's life's. There was very little time to start with the preparation for my outreach, later this year, to either Mongolia or Nepal. I have hit a hurdle with traveling through China on my bike as the cost will be phenomenal and the red tape is scary!
I will explain and show photos about what all the teams are doing on their outreaches in my next newsletter.
Short prayer list for this month:
Please pray that God will open the hearts of the Thai's to see the truth and understand the good news.
Please pray that the Lord will continue to use the outreach teams for His Kingdom sake.
Please pray for wisdom and guidance regarding my motorbike outreach trips.
Please pray for wisdom regarding evangelistic tools (Dvd's or flashdrives) and the financial support.
Jono and Sara
This past December we went to Nepal to get some storytelling training and to look for Sara’s old language helpers, who could then help with a thesis topic for her Master’s degree in linguistics. Unfortunately, when we arrived we were asked to not attend the storytelling seminar, because we might put some of the local believers in danger, which is very understandable.
Another unfortunate situation is that Sara’s old language helpers all moved after the earthquake in 2015 and now she had to start from scratch. She met some possible contacts and got some data from them, but she is still searching for a good language helper. That was very time consuming. It was wonderful to meet all her old friends and see where she lived back when she lived there. We were both shocked by how much Kathmandu has gone downhill since we left over a year and a half ago. The air pollution and the politics has taken its toll on Nepal. We were both under the weather because of all the pollution. We decided to get away from all of the air pollution, so we went on an 8 day hike just before Christmas. We made it to 5000 meters even though I (Jono) had a fever. That was a tough climb. We did have some very productive meetings before returning to Thailand, so we will see what God does with those meetings in the future.
Since we have been back, I have taken on another roll at a Thai Church. That of being a preacher for the next six months. I have the privilege of preaching at a Thai Church every second Sunday for the next six months. What a privilege that is. I have a newfound respect for pastors since it does take a lot of planning and practice to do the preaching well and to be sure of what topics are on God’s heart for those people each week.
I am also undergoing some change in my position in YWAM Chiang Mai. I have been the Evangelism Coordinator where I try to encourage people to do evangelism, as well as organize events. Now I have been approached to be the city Evangelism and Outreach Leader/Supervisor. I am praying about this opportunity and would ask people for prayer regarding this position.
I have also partnered with a YWAM ministry called Share Bibles, http://www.sharebibles.com/, and have adopted a district in Chiang Mai to get the Bible to every one of the homes in that area. Share Bibles are extremely practical and even created an app for iphone and android for tracking who received Bibles and their response in order to do proper follow up and discipleship in the near future.
Please pray for:
· Sara’s Thesis work and for God to help her choose the right topic
· Language helpers for Sara
· Anointing for Jono as he preaches
· Staff for Jono as he has many hats and needs administrative help.
· Wisdom for Jono in this decision to be the Evangelism and Outreach Leader/Supervisor
· Provision for Bibles
We want to thank you all for your love and friendship. You all mean so much to us and we will continue to pray for you!
God bless
Len
