God has been using youth to do amazing things in one of the additional areas in the Asia-Pacific Region. Recently, Burmese youth refugees currently living in Thailand have helped over 90,000 refugees come to a closer relationship with the Lord. The movement started unexpectedly when a well-to-do family in Myanmar was displaced from their home by the civil war. Fleeing to Thailand with absolutely nothing, this family (whose names are not being disclosed for safety) initially had trouble adjusting to their new lives without some of their former comforts. However, eventually, the family came to understand that, though they had nothing physically, they could read the Bible and pray.
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This new mindset changed everything, and immediately the family started transforming the refugee camp around them, one life at a time. Starting with small Bible studies, the family’s daughter used her knowledge of English to build a large community of believers, to whom the family is currently ministering. Their small change in mindset from what they didn’t have to what they did have made a huge difference, making them want to change others, too. Now, there are many young Burmese pastors in Thailand ministering to tens of thousands of refugees.
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| Photo courtesy of JESUS Film Harvest Partners
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The family’s daughter currently holds her district license and is working to complete the Course of Study, which should give her increased capacity to carry on the work she has already started. God has used this family to become Paul and Silas to the displaced people of Myanmar. Both were individuals who faced significant challenges and turned to God during their struggles, thereby positively impacting the lives of those around them. While not everyone might get the chance to minister to these people, we can, as a global church, support this movement in prayer for this ministry. We can pray for God’s provision in Thailand and for more stories of how God can turn even the worst things into something new and beautiful.
Story by Judah Stewardson, a Missionary Kid on the Asia-Pacific Region
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As a result of the generous giving of the Japan District Church of the Nazarene, the denomination entered Thailand in 1989, with two missionary families: Michael and Rachel McCarty, and Richard and Jean Knox. The Thailand District was organized in 1990 with two churches: Bangkok First Church and the Khmer church in Surin (which later dissolved when refugees returned to Cambodia). Michael McCarty was the first DS of the Thailand District from 1990-1993, and the Bangkok First Church was officially organized on Pentecost Sunday, 1991. Siripawn Malagul was a charter member. In 2010, there were five organized churches and three Preaching Points.
(Information taken from the Asia-Pacific Region website.)
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- Pray for those in Thailand and around the world who are displaced and have suffered great loss.
- Pray for young Nazarene leaders in Thailand who are bravely sharing the Word of God and seeing thousands saved and discipled.
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| - Praise God for Nazarenes who have chosen to share the gospel even in the midst of great suffering.
- Praise God for young Nazarenes who are raising up many new pastors in Thailand.
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NMI Central is available in a curated PDF archive. To read previous editions, click here.
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