Remote church planting

I called Jiap, my 16 year-old "little buddy", a few days ago to tell her we had returned from the U.S..  I mentioned her in this post .  Jiap lives in Uthaithani (pronounced "oo-tie-tan-nee"), a province about 3 hours north of Bangkok where we've made a few outreach visits.  The Well sponsors Jiap and her friend Mui in high school.  I call Jiap "my little buddy" not because she resembles Gilligan in any way, but because she's so incredibly cute and I'm so proud that she likes to talk to me.   We talk by phone amost every week, then I ask Judy about 3 or 4 times if we could adopt her. 

Jiap told me that Nin, the girl I wrote about in that same post who was to become a second wife, has been dismissed already and is back with her aunt in Bangkok.  She has no parents.  I asked Jiap to please find a phone number so we can visit her, perhaps invite her to The Well.

I usually ask Jiap about her cousin Nam.  Nam, about 17, got pregnant early last year and dropped out of school.  This morning (Sunday) I got a surprise phone call from Nam. I hadn't spoken with her for probably a year.  She just wanted to say hi, and find out when we were coming to visit Uthaithani again.  She said she was studying high school equivalency, and put me on the phone with her husband (not officially--marriages are seldom legalized among the poor), whom I've never met.  He sounded like a decent guy, and also asked when we would be coming.

The vision of The Well is to start churches across Thailand through former bar girls.  Nam's phone call illustrates the sort of impact we've seen in villages we've been to.  We know we can start a church in that area, and are simply waiting for the people and resources to do it--a vehicle so we can make visits more often, waiting for Gai and Ouey, our students from that village, to grow to a point where they can go back and lead.  They are getting there--Ouey told me last week she would like to attend a YWAM discipleship training school as soon as possible.

Michaela called from Buriram yesterday and reported that things are going very well there with Prang.  More on that in a future post.  I have a good idea Jesus is getting ready to rock that province.

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Bill Graver
Posts: 2

sweet
Reply #2 on : Mon July 23, 2007, 01:08:48

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Jesus is so cool!

If most of us were given the task of taking the Gospel to a nation, we would choose to use the great leaders, the visionaries, those who stand out, the 'super Christians,' the highly educated.

But not Jesus. He uses the ordinary, the fishermen, the tax collectors, the sinners, the prostitutes, the beaten down, the oppressed, the poor, the unworthy, the humble. The Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

I just think it is so cool that He takes these girls who have been devastated by the world, loves them, heals them, and then sends them out to tell their family and friends what He's done for them.

Isn't that the coolest thing you've ever heard of?

Roy Bessell
Posts: 2

Re: Remote church planting
Reply #1 on : Sun July 22, 2007, 18:23:15

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Praise God!