Being in Thailand this time around has been eye opener!
It has taught me to rely on Jesus Christ even when you have a team that you work with! For the Jesus Camp, I had to rise up in a leadership capacity. I didn’t understand how much of this was I required to get ready for! It was my first Jesus Camp, first time coaching a team of evangelists and presenting a one-on-one evangelism three circle session!
FOUR DAYS TRAINING
We saw a total of 100 students in training. They came from various provinces to be equipped and trained for evangelism. There was a strong hunger among them to see their regions impacted by the gospel.
TEAM COACHING
From class, we formed teams to do practical! This helped us to carefully guide, advise, and demonstrate to each student how to preach the gospel! We call this an exhibition! They used a format we often carry out in schools, and they excelled!
BANGKOK OUTREACH
We went out to the busiest streets of Bangkok to share the gospel! Some were nervous, but we were to encourage our teams to be bold and brave. It was such an exciting and fulfilling experience to see them step out of their comfort zones and spread the message of hope.
LAST DAY – CRUSADE
Students were given various opportunities; some preached, led worship and prayer, prayed for the sick, and shared testimonies. We also had others giving out food parcels to those in attendance as they were from the slums of Bangkok, where the crusade was held!
We had senior pastors, reverends, and even a retired professor on my team, and these people humbled themselves to learn from us how to GO out and boldly share the gospel!
CRUSADE IN THE SLUMS OF BANGKOK
All that they learned in class was practically applied in the streets, and we heard powerful gospel messages! An altar call was made, and many people received the Lord Jesus Christ!
GRADUATION CEREMONY
We concluded our assignment with the graduation ceremony! Each coach accompanied their teams and handed them their certificates! What a blessed time this was and we thank the Lord Jesus.
TESTIMONIES FROM GRADUATES!
Since I returned home to South Africa, I have received incredible testimonies from the team I coached! This is why we do what we do – to replicate ourselves and shine the light of Jesus Christ wherever we GO!
Friend, may you also be encouraged to know that your seed that made it possible for me to go to Thailand, together with your prayers, are not in vain!
Ohhh may you reap a harvest from what you have planted.
Aree is a graduate!
When we started working together, she was unsure of herself. She had never done anything else outside of interpreting for the deaf in church, and as a result, she was challenged to open her mouth and be heard by others. She broke out of her comfort zone since she graduated from Jesus Camp and hasn’t stopped sharing the Gospel in her region.
In the picture below, she shared with me and said, “My team and I went out to visit a deaf member and prayed for his mother.”
This is Hui’s story!
She wasn’t a student, she only came through to interpret for me as those in my team weren’t fluent in English. Only from interpreting, she caught the fire of evangelism! She didn’t graduate but went home and shared with her church everything that she learned.
She has already trained her church with the bit that she caught and has started to go out and share the gospel with her community. She has also been to schools to apply the model we were using! What a wise servant of God!
YOUTH CRUSADES IN SARA BURI PROVINCE
We concluded the camp with the graduation ceremony! We had to prepare for the Youth Crusades training the very next day! It was on the evening of Saturday that I was asked to lead a team of missionary evangelists assigned to Sara Buri, a province with 13 districts.
I led a team of eight evangelists from different nations (Thailand, Philippines, Iranian-Norwegian, Nigerian/London). These people are strong in many ways, and they stretched me! The Lord has a way of training and raising us up to lead!
On Sunday, we travelled by minibus and headed to Sara Buri.
Last year, I had the opportunity to work in Sara Buri province, but it was closed as many schools were writing exams, and we couldn’t get in to preach. This discouraged us and more so, we were already in trouble with the immigration office, after appearing on the national news, when one of our brothers posted on social media that “monks are receiving Jesus!” This time around, however, we came under the threat of the church in Thailand not trusting us. As a result, we only had one church working with us.
However, the senior pastor was fully behind us!
He helped connect us with the drivers in the church, who are clear on the gospel message. Some were even encouraged to be trained for missions, having learned how easy it is to share the gospel! After having spent a week with us, the pastor’s preaching on the following Sunday was full of fire and power!
We were welcomed with open arms, and I am grateful to the Lord! Thank you Jesus
We saw the youth receive Jesus, getting lost in the presence of the Lord and welcoming the Holy Spirit. Teachers were left amazed, and many wanted more. Children testified that they felt embraced, and some said they thought it was their friends! Doors of opportunities to preach the gospel were swung wide open for us. For this, we praise the Lord.
THANK YOU!
Thank you for every sacrifice you made, the things you had to forego to see this mission trip a success! One hundred graduates are now serving in other parts of Thailand to fulfill the Great Commission of the Lord Jesus. May the Lord, who sees all you did in secret, reward you and your loved ones openly.
Friends and Partners, I want to thank you for standing with me during this mission assignment and for your prayers and financial support. I had to reach out to those who were available to ask for “emergency” prayers because I had meetings. The Lord stretched me so much when it comes to leadership! I had to push myself to learn to ask for forgiveness even when I wasn’t in the wrong but to set a good example. I had to learn to reconcile those who were not getting along and threatening to quit, and to encourage them to return to the mission set before us.
These are key leadership roles I wish I had seen being modelled by those I used to submit to, but what I learned in the past cannot be taken for granted either and has taught me to depend more on Jesus.
May you see the Lord’s favour upon your life and that of your loved ones. Together, we reached out to the unreached! We trained and equipped Thai people to continue with the work in their own land. May the Lord reward your faithfulness.