It is our differences that make the body of Christ whole

Churches of different denominations working together in unity for the Kingdom – I believe this is a beautiful picture that makes our Lord Jesus smile. We were made for this! Yes – we are different. Churches are different from one another. Their lives are different. Sometimes their way of thinking is different. But despite our differences, we can have unity -because it is our differences that make the body of Christ whole. 

I believe that everyone is going through different things at different points in their lives. Some people may be happy, some may be sad – some may feel like life is quite normal –without many ups or downs at the moment. But we all have something that’s the same no matter where we are at if we know Jesus – we have His love and grace to take us through any situation.

Five years ago, when we first moved to Ratchaburi, the one big thing that was on our heart was to see the local Christians working together in unity.  Throughout the five years, we have prayed and we have shared our heart to see unity. We started to work alongside the local church – each church individually first. It was not easy – but we desired to be God’s instruments- in any area that could help to bring unity in the body of Christ here.

Some churches took more than a year before they would even begin to work with us. Some churches thought that we were like “wolves’ coming to steal their ‘sheep’. There were many walls that we have had to overcome, but God helped to us walk in love; sincerity; and faithfulness in serving them. Over the years we have begun to see the walls breaking down.

We have served the churches without thinking of any benefit that we ourselves might receive. Some people may wonder if nobody ever remembers your name should you continue working day in and day out without ever being able to claim any of the fruit as your own. I guess that’s the beauty of being a part of the Kingdom of God. The picture is much bigger than we could ever imagine – and while we might never be remembered one day for what we are doing in the church here and we will never be able to claim any fruit of our labor – it all belongs to Jesus at the end of the day. We work for His Kingdom… every Christian belongs to Him, no matter what church they attend.
The thing that I want people to remember, much more important than my name, is the name of Jesus, and His love for them.

Throughout the time that we have been working with the churches here, we have often felt that we could not see the fruit of what we are doing, but when we look back now we can clearly see that the fruit of what we are doing is: friendship, faith, trust, belief in one another, a sense of family, a feeling of being a part of the same team – that the churches have given to us. This is so valuable and means so much to us. Through all the things mentioned above, God has answered our prayers. Not just our prayers, but everybody’s prayers for unity.  On the 28^th of December, many of the churches in Ratchaburi will join together for the first time ever – and as YWAM Ratchaburi we will join them –holding an evangelistic Christmas event.

Through the friendships that we have developed over the years in all the churches, we are the one organization that everybody sees as neutral and I feel honored to have been asked to be the chairman of the committee that is organizing this event. We have named the planning committee – Ratchaburi 2010.
No matter how many people attend the Christmas event that will be held on the 28^th of December, we know that God will be pleased to see his body in Ratchaburi taking a big step towards working together as one. Loving one another and valuing one another for who He made them to be. All glory be unto Him!

Christmas in Ratchaburi

“Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas.” Dale Evans Rogers Celebrating Christmas in Thailand is quite strange. It’s not a public holiday, and even churches only have a Christmas service on Christmas day if the 25th happens to be on a Sunday.(Otherwise it's the Sunday before or after that a Christmas message is shared at the regular church service). There are big dancing Santa Clause mannequins in the supermarkets, complete with Christmas music (usually the same old cd played in every supermarket all day long for the entire month of December), and some fake Christmas trees and Christmas décor on display.

This will be my 8th Christmas in Thailand and being here each year has made me think a lot about the real meaning of Christmas. I do celebrate on the 25th of December, but to me it really isn’t much more special than any other day anymore. I now consider Christmas an extraordinary opportunity to share God’s love with other people. Every day is an opportunity to share God’s love and celebrate what God did for us through his Son Jesus, but Christmas opens a special door for us to take the Gospel to those who have never heard it, and to bring gifts to those who have may never have received a gift before.  For the past few years in Ratchaburi, we have travelled around to different places in and around our province throwing Christmas parties for different groups of people. We have been to many schools; the local university; a large village; the local prison; a home for mentally handicapped children; a community of Burmese laborers; slum areas in town and worked alongside many of the local churches to help them run their own Christmas parties.     This year we will be running 2 Christmas parties of our own. The first will be on the 10th of December in the Burmese community, and the second on the 20th of December at the home for mentally handicapped children. We will be helping with the organization of many of the others that the churches will be running. On Christmas day, we will also be sharing the message of Christmas on the military radio station. We usually collect second hand clothes for the Christmas party in the Burmese community and also collect donations of non-perishable foods and toothpaste, shampoo etc (or monetary donations to purchase such items). We also provide a meal and some special gifts for each location that we host a Christmas party at. If you would like to be a part of helping us to do that this year, you can contribute online by clicking here Donate towards YWAM Ratchaburi's Christmas parties or contact us for more details on other ways to give. (If you donate online, please be sure to state the purpose of the donation as "Christmas party".) Every little bit makes a difference! If you are in Thailand and would like to join in the fun – please come and join us – we would love to have you!    Our prayer over the Christmas season is that, in the heart of everyone that hears the Christmas message of God’s love and hope for them, a seed will be planted that God would water and cause to grow. Please pray with us. Christmas began in the heart of God.  It is complete only when it reaches the heart of man. --Anonymous

YWAM Ratchaburi November update

“Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice!” Philippians 4:4

When months go by without an update from us you can be certain that it is not because we have nothing to say, but rather that we have much to say, but often have run out of time to say it! We have begun to prepare ourselves for Noiy to take on the new position as Central Region leader of YWAM Thailand as we mentioned in our last update, while still continuing the ministry here in Ratchaburi. New things excite us and we are truly excited about what God has for us in this new position and to be a part of what he will continue to do in Ratchaburi.

Radio show

There are also new things happening in the ministry in Ratchaburi, one of which is that Noiy was invited to speak on the military radio station about Christianity during the month of October. The host enjoyed the show so much that she invited him to come back again.  The next radio show will be at the end of this month. If you are in Central Thailand and would like to listen, you can do so on FM 99.25 MHz from 14:00-15:00 on Saturday the 27^th of November. Please pray for Noiy as he shares - it truly is an amazing open door through which we believe so many Thais can be reached with God’s truth and love.

Rice Seeds Child Sponsorship

Our Child Sponsorship Program is now into its fourth month and we are so thankful to the sponsors who are helping the families of the 18 children involved to stay in school. Our hope is that when the new school year begins in May 2011, families will be willing once again to allow their children to stay in school when they would otherwise have stopped school and begun working (usually at the end of Grade 6). Please pray with us, and if you feel on your heart to help with the sponsorship program please contact us – we still need sponsors!

December

We had planned a camping trip for the Burmese children’s church during the month of October, but the trip fell through and we had to postpone it until December. It is coming up on the 17^th -19^th of December and the kids are really excited. We have found another beautiful location that we have been granted use of for free! Praise God for the things that He puts on our heart to do that we don’t always have the finances for; He always has a way of making possible!

December is always an exciting month for us with the Christmas parties that we run. It is a chance to share God’s love and to be a blessing to those who are really in need during the Christmas season. This year we will be running Christmas parties in the Burmese community that we work with and a mentally handicapped children’s home, as well as a many alongside churches that we work with both in Ratchaburi and the surrounding provinces. If you would like to give towards our Christmas parties this year, please contact us. We always collect second hand clothes from people in Thailand for distribution, but we also purchase non-perishable food items for the people in the community and provide a meal at the Christmas party. If you are in Thailand we would love to have you join us this year!

Family 

It’s been more than a year since Noiy’s father passed away now, and while his mom and sister have been attending church most weeks, they just didn’t seem to be growing in their understanding of what it meant to be a Christian. Noiy made a commitment a few months ago to meet with them and teach them the Bible once a week and they have since grown a great deal. Discipling one’s own family members is a unique challenge –please pray for Noiy, his sister Patchali and his mom Piew.

We have just had a short but wonderful visit from Bronwyn’s mom and will have her dad visiting with us in December.  We are also planning a visit to South Africa in February/March 2011, so lots of special family time coming up in the next few months.

An answer to prayer

We have begun travelling to visit different ministries in the Central Region to see what is in store for us next year and we are truly blessed by what we have seen. There are many more visits to come and much more travelling to be done. Noiy is doing some of the trips alone at this stage, but we hope that next year we will be able to do many of them together. One of the things that we have been praying about since considering taking on the position is a helper for our family – someone who can help us at home when we need to work, and who can come and help us take care of the kids when we need to travel and have meetings. We have found someone to help us – and what a blessing she has already been! Her name is Daow. Please pray for Daow – she is wonderful and our children love her – we would love to also have the opportunity to lead her to Jesus while she is working with us. 

 Much work is ahead of us – but we take every day as a new and exciting challenge. To quote Dr. Seuss:  “Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So… get on your way.” 

Blessings

Noiy and Bronwyn

The Lord's tents Camping 2!

 In April, we helped to make the dreams of a group of Burmese children come true by taking them camping for the first time. With the help of friends who helped us to purchase tents and sleeping bags for the first camp, the trip was a huge success. We now have the equipment that we need and have decided to take the kids camping a second time.

On the weekend of the 22-24 of October we will be taking our Burmese Children's Church kids on a camping trip. The team from Kings Kids Thailand will be joining us again and we are looking forward to more learning experiences for the kids. Our prayer is that they will learn more about living life with Jesus and that He will meet them where they are at during the time on the camp.

Please pray for the time that we will be camping and also for the time leading up to the trip. We had to contend with some spiritual warfare during the last camp with some of the parents having dreams that harm was going to come to their children and then preventing them from joining us for the trip. We pray that this time all of the kids will be able to join us and that the parents would be happy to let them do so. We also pray for  protection during the camping trip and travel to and from the campsite.

latest news update

Child Sponsorship Program

This month will be the third month that we will be helping 18 children in the Burmese community with

the cost of attending school. Thank you so much to those of you who have contributed to this. We

believe that this is a small step towards big change in the community. We would like to see the kids stay in

school – and while we cannot make that decision for their families, we believe that helping to lift the

financial burden will help the parents to make the decision to keep them in school for longer. This past
week we were astounded when a donation came in for three children’s school fees from someone who had never met us, or them, and just happened to read about what we are doing on our website. Sometimes we feel like we are alone in this fight for the kids, but when we hear stories like the man who just read about what we are doing and gave, we remember all of you, and so many more, who belong to the same Christian family as the kids in our Sponsorship Program. Please continue to remember our small group of kids in your prayers and if you would like to help them financially (only US$30 per child per month).

Teams

During the month of August, we had a team of volunteers with us. It is always wonderful to see how the ministry opportunities just open up when we have more people helping us. The team spent a large amount of time in the Burmese community, not only with the kids, but also with the moms. We had a very special time together on Thai Mother’s Day.

We also had the opportunity to return to the local prison with the team – this time to teach the Bible. The prisoners who had invited Jesus into their hearts on previous visits took communion for the first time. The team also purchased a guitar for the group of prisoners that will gather together to worship.

We hope for many more opportunities to take teams into the prison.
   

                          

Family

Our family is excited to announce that this coming April, Noiy will be taking on the position of Central Region

Director of YWAM Thailand. This is a decision that we have prayed and sought council about for many months. Thank you to those of you who prayed along with us, encouraged us and shared your thoughts with us –we appreciate each one of you and are so grateful that we have such a large family that we can trust. If you would like to see more about the region that we are involved in, please go to the YWAM Thailand website – click on locations, and then central region to see all 5 provinces with their different ministries.

This does not mean that we will stop the work that we are doing in Ratchaburi. We will continue to live here and do what we were doing, but will also have added responsibilities with the new role. We will be doing a lot more travelling to visit ministries in other provinces. Something that we are praying about is possibly selling our family vehicle and purchasing a new one to help with the travels. Our vehicle has done us well in and around Ratchaburi, but some of the places that we will be travelling will be quite far out and we are concerned that our little car may not be so reliable off the beaten track. We have been looking around and the second hand cars that would best suit our needs are all around 350 000Baht (US$11 000). At the moment this is just something we are praying about as we don’t have a cent towards another vehicle. Please pray along with us and if you feel you would like to contribute towards this need – please let us know.

Something else that we are praying about is a trip to South Africa in Feb/March 2011. It’s been a while since we have been back to South Africa and we have planned a slightly longer trip this time in the hope that we can catch up with more of you. We are also hoping to be able to spend some time sharing about what God is doing here in Thailand in some churches/cell groups/youth groups – so if you would like to have us come to yours, please let us know and we will see if we can arrange it.

Naomi turned one this past week and Daniel is now almost 2 and a half. They are bundles of energy most of the time but they keep each other entertained quite nicely these days – making life slightly easier for Mom and Dad. We love watching them grow and look forward to see what new things they will learn each day. In Thailand, most children start school at the age of 3. As Daniel will turn 3 before the next school year begins, we have begun to pray about where he will attend school. There are not that many options in Ratchaburi, but we trust that God has the right place and timing for Daniel as He has placed us here. Please pray for wisdom for us as we consider this decision.

Blessings

The Prommathat family

Noiy, Bronwyn, Daniel and Naomi

Mother's Day

God made something so special when he made the relationship between a mother and her children. Without a mother, none of us would exist. She is the one that God uses to bring life to us and to nurture us. She is the one that serves her children selflessly, sacrificing many things that her children may never know about. Yet, so often a mother is not shown the appreciation that is due to her.

The 12th of August is Mother's Day in Thailand. It is the one day that children take a few minutes to thank their mother for what they have done for them. This year, we decided to take the time to help the children in the Burmese community that we minister in to make their mother's feel loved.



The kids prepared and practiced a song and a skit for weeks in advance. We had a team of volunteers with us and they shared a message. The highlight of the morning however, was when each of the children fetched a bucket and a towel and washed their mother's feet. Many of the moms and their children were in tears as they expressed something in this gesture that perhaps any number of words that they could have spoken could not have expressed. The morning ended with every mother receiving a rose from each of their children.

There are so many ways that we can minister love in a community. We know that each of the mothers in the community was touched by the love of Christ during the time that we were with them on Mother's Day. We pray that God will continue to open the doors of their hearts for us to build on the relationships with them in the months to come.

A helping hand out of the cycle of poverty

Many people in the world are born into poverty. It is not something that they choose, and many times it is something that they simply cannot choose to get out of. They grow up going to schools that have below standard equipment and a shortage of teachers. Most of them must drop out of school early on in their lives to help their family pay the bills.

Two years ago,we stumbled on a community in Ratchaburi that we believe God has called us to show His love to. They are a community of Burmese laborers, living and working on a construction site. Most of the children were born in Ratchaburi and have never been to Burma- yet they are not Thai. Though they are looked down on in Thai society, we believe that God has a special plan for each one of them. We have been working with the community in different ways over the past 2 years – mainly with the children.

We believe that if given the opportunity, certain people will be able to step out of the cycle of poverty. It is not everyone who has the strength of character to make such a change, but then, too few poor people are ever given the chance. In order for the children in the community that we are working with to stay in school for longer, families would have to have carry the burden of keeping them in school. This is beyond what they are able to do, but we see it as a way that we can help.

It only costs US$30 for one of the children in the community to attend school for a month. Only US$30 – but yet that US$30 is usually just too much of a burden to continue beyond 6^th Grade for these families. There are 18 children that we are hoping to find sponsors for – to be able to attend school and to be able to have the opportunity to study further. Our hope is that given the opportunity,  that these kids will have the strength of character to begin to step out of the cycle of poverty. Would you consider giving that chance to one of these children?  Please contact us if you would like to have a part in this project: ratchaburi@ywamthai.org  or  bronnismith@yahoo.co.uk or take a look at our sponsor/prayer page to see more details on how to send donations to YWAM Ratchaburi.

The 18 children in need of sponsorship

Bringing hope

“Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark.” George Iles

“Hope costs nothing” Sidonie Gabrielle

We are all human. We all make mistakes. We all make bad decisions. Most of us pick ourselves up and move on – learn from the mistake and continue life as usual. For a long time now it has been on our hearts to work with a group of people, many of whom will never live a ‘normal’ life again. They are the prisoners in the local Ratchaburi prison. There are more than 3500 prisoners.

One of the local churches in Ratchaburi has been going to share the Gospel in the prison every Christmas for the past few years. We have had the privilege of joining them for the past 2 years, but it has been on our hearts to begin to take volunteers to minister to the prisoners more than just once a year.




This past month we took our first team of volunteers (from America) into the prison. They spent time sharing with and praying for around 100 prisoners. Seven or eight of them had already converted to Christianity through the church coming over the Christmas period. On this day however, more than half of the 100 prisoners that attended asked to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.



Many of the prisoners have been in a place of hopelessness for a long time. For most, even their families don’t come to see them. Once they are in prison, they have nothing. Prisoners are given only two sets of clothes by the prison per year. Families bring them what we would consider daily necessities – soap, toothpaste, shampoo etc. Those prisoners whose families don’t come to see them go without such things unless there is a donation from an outside source. We know that bringing them the truth of Jesus Christ is the most wonderful gift that we can give them – eternal hope in a place where many had lost all hope. We also know that there are other ways that we can show them the love of God.

One of the things that we are hoping to do is to collect donations of men’s shorts and t-shirts (new or second hand) and toiletries to distribute to the prisoners. We have distributed Bibles, but would love to possibly start a Thai Christian library for them. We would love donations towards this too!

We are planning to continue to take teams of volunteers into the prison and want to specifically provide Bible teaching for the new believers while we are there. If you have a burden for prisoners and would like to come and serve with us, we would love to have you!

Love is what we want to bring to this group of men and women who are as special to God as you or I are - that they too may know the truth of God’s love and hope in it.

If you would like to contribute towards this project, you can do so online at: http://www.ywamthai.org/onlinedonations.php (please specify that the donation is for 'Ratchaburi' for the specific purpose of 'prison ministries').

YWAM Ratchaburi news - May 2010

“You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. “ ~Desmond Tutu


Noiy’s family
We are reminded again this month of how it was that God lead our family to come and serve in Ratchaburi. We are on a journey with God of seeing Noiy’s family restored – not in a way that the world would imagine, but rather in God’s timing and way – one that we do not always understand. When Noiy’s father passed away last year, we saw Noiy’s mom become more serious about pursuing her relationship with God. She has certainly had her ups and downs over the past 10 months, but has recently been in a place where she has returned in part to her old life. This past week, her father (Noiy’s grandfather) died. He was old and fragile, but to lose a husband and a father within less than a year is something that can shake anyone’s world. We are thankful that we are still here – standing beside her as she walks through this – and helping her to make sense of her faith at a time when she really needs God.


A team of volunteers praying for Noiy's mom

Burmese families
It is not only because of Noiy’s family that God has called us to Ratchaburi. One of the communities that we work with is the community of Burmese laborers that live in our area. We interact with the community in many ways, but we teach the Bible to 18 of the children on a regular basis. Most of the children stop attending school when they reach 6^th Grade (around 12 years old) as they can then begin to work and help to lift the family’s financial burden. Over the past 2 years Noiy has been trying to encourage the parents to allow their children to stay in school for at least a few more years so that they don’t have to continue on in the cycle of poverty that their parents have always been in. We have seen some of the girls continue on for a few years, but never a boy. Three of the boys finished 6^th Grade at the end of the past school year(February) and have asked their parents about continuing on with 7^th Grade when the new school year opens in mid-May. Initially one of the boy’s parents said no, but he tells us that he has been praying and when he went back to ask his parents if he could enroll, they told him yes. We are over-the-moon! So excited not only that he has the chance to continue on in his studies, but also that he learnt a great lesson in faith. He learnt that God hears his prayers, and that He answers them. His name is Chaimon - please pray with us for him as he begins 7^th Grade this year.


Chaimon will start Grade 7 this month

New project
We have been considering other ways that we can help the families in the Burmese community to make the decision to send more of their children to study further. We are hoping to perhaps start some kind of sponsorship program for them (even the youngest ones) so that the families don’t feel that it is a burden to send their children to school. Schooling is free for them, but we have worked out that to pay for their transport to and from school as well as their meal while they are at school every day, will only cost $US25 per child per month. We are still in the beginning stages of drawing up the details of this project, but if you would like to be involved from the very start, please let us know!

April was an exciting time for us as it was the month that we held our camping trip for the Burmese kids. This is something they had been dreaming of for months and it was such a delight to be a part of seeing this dream come true. They learnt more about who God is and how special they are to Him. We know that it was an encouragement to them in their faith and we are so thankful to all of you who had a hand in helping this dream come true!


Teams
We have had a number of teams of volunteers already this year and are so excited about all that God is doing in the community and the churches here. We are currently hosting a team and are excited to report that they are the first team that we have been allowed to take into the local prison to minister.

Prommathat Family
Our family is also growing up so fast. Daniel celebrated his 2^nd birthday at the end of March and Naomi is now 8 months old. They love playing together, and certainly keep us on our toes. Both of them are very social and love to spend time with the teams of volunteers that join us. Daniel has taken to calling them all Aunty and Uncle and loves to hang out with them whenever he gets the chance.



Celebrating Daniel's 2nd birthday

There are many things that make converting to Christianity in Thailand challenging. One of those is that religion is so much a part of the culture here that when you become a Christian it almost feels like you have to give up a part of who you are as a Thai. It takes years for new Christians to understand what the commitment that they have made really means, and sometimes a very long time for their family to allow them the freedom to grow in the way that they need to.

Noiy has been a Christian since he was 17. His mom made a commitment about a year ago, and his sister and niece about 9 months ago – around the time that his dad passed away. Since that time, we have been encouraging them to take the step to remove the many idols from the house that they all live in. Noiy’s mom was ready a long time ago, but his brother-in-law was not ready to allow them to yet.

This past weekend, we received a phone call from Noiy’s sister to say that they were finally ready. With great joy we went along with our pastor to their house to pray with them and explain to the whole family what taking down the idols means for them in their faith with the Lord. On Sunday, Noiy’s sister attended church for the first time in a few months and we believe this is the start of something new for her as she taken a big step in faith. We are praying for protection on her whole family, especially her husband who hasn’t yet begun to walk in relationship with the Lord. Please pray along with us!

Only $100 to go!

We are so grateful to all those that have given towards our camping trip with the Burmese children in our children's church. It's just less than a month away, but we have raised almost enough to cover the entire trip already!

We have already been able to purchase the tents for the camp. At this stage, we are only US$100 short of covering the costs for the entire camp! Would you consider helping us to cover that last $100?

You can give online at: www.ywamthai.org/onlinedonations.php (please state the the money is for 'Ratchaburi' and specify that it should be given to 'The Lord's tents camping'.)

We took the tents to show the kids yesterday - they are so excited and being able to actually climb into the tents has only made them more so!