A Great Trip to the Village

This past Monday-Wednesday I made my first trip to the village in a couple months. I was able to visit Mae Hoi, the village where our Bible School is located and after that I went to another village in Mae LaNoi where Lemuu, one of the missionaries sponsored by Antioch Baptist Church here in Chiang Mai, is serving.

I had the opportunity to teach there for 3 hours Tuesday morning, 2 hours Tuesday afternoon and another 2 hours in the evening, all of which had to be translated from Thai to Karen, the local dialect in the village.

Lemuu asked me to teach on the local church. However it became clear that after we looked at the purpose of a church in Matthew 28:18-20, they didn't have a concept of making disciples. I spent the morning teaching about salvation. I emphasized over and over that in order to be saved one must repent and put their trust in Christ. After 3 hours I asked if they understood and the answer was no. I came back in the afternoon and taught for 2 more hours and asked if they understood and again the answer was not really. Over supper I prayed that God would help me make it clear to them. In the evening, I again taught on salvation and as we grew to a close, I asked the all important question, do you understand and some said yes. I then asked those who understood what they needed to do and one man quickly answered, we must do it. I asked do you think this is truth? He quickly answered yes. I asked do you think this truth comes from God or from me. He replied, "from God". I then asked if anyone was ready to repent and put their trust in Christ. Another man in the crowd quickly put up his hand. As we closed, I asked those who wanted to make this decision to stay and the rest were free to leave. Praise God, 3 men stayed and put their trust in Christ.

Please pray for PawnChai (far left), DoeWaa and PawnChai (right of me) who made this important decision. Also pray for Lemuu as he disciples them and continues to teach the others about salvation.