Ministry in the Hmong Villages

It is harvest season here in Thailand. I (Somboon) took the students who live with us to help some people harvest rice. We want to build relationships with the people who live around us and it opens opportunities for us to share about God with them. The students are very excited. Some of them told me that the field is like their school because it teaches them lessons of life. That made me praise God.

Last month my youngest brother brought a team here from Rajaphat University. They taught our students about evangelism. As part of their outreach, they showed a movie about Jesus to people who live here and then took our students in small groups to do door to door evangelism. It has given our students more courage in sharing the gospel. Also, two people prayed to accept the Lord. Many of the students here gave testimonies about the outreaches and they were very excited about it. Many of our students are very, very shy, but when they went out to share, they said they couldn't figure out where the courage and bravery to share came from! They said they couldn't figure out where they got the courage to share Christ with adults! These things are making the students more mature and helping them grow up in their faith as well as giving them more courage.

Please pray for the staff here to have wisdom to know how to teach and build up the students here to be true disciples of Jesus Christ.

God bless you.
A. Somboon

October Update

I praise God for the part that all of you have had in the work of God here. We are teaching the students here, both boys and girls, about evangelizing and sharing their faith. Every Saturday evening, we teach the students to play various musical instruments and we have worship practice. One of the students here leads worship on Sunday mornings. We are seeing the students grow spiritually a lot more than in the past. Every Sunday afternoon, Susan takes the students to a Hmong village to do a children's club in the village and share about Jesus with the children. The students here play games with the children, sing songs, teach new songs, and share from the Word with the children in the village. We are seeing that the students here have more of a heart to serve God than they did before. We are seeing many changes in the students here, including not being so selfish and they also have more of a heart to share Christ with the children and with their friends at school. There are many students who really want to know Jesus. It's really exciting to see the lives of the students change for the good.

There are some students who have shared with the staff that after they finish high school, they want to study Bible so they can serve God. Two boys will graduate high school this year and they want to go on to college, Wee and Tong. Wee has decided to study Bible for sure. Tong is still in the process of deciding what he's going to do, but he says he wants to study Bible also. Please pray for both of them. Both of their fathers are witch doctors, and it won't be easy for either of them. I believe that God has a plan for both of them. Please pray for their tuition for Bible College as well.

God bless you.
Somboon

New Update on Khai's Mother & Prayer Request

Hello.....

Praise God and thank you to everyone who prayed for Khai's mother in Laos. In the end, she had x-rays done at 2 different hospitals. Doctors at both hospitals said that nothing is wrong with her. We don't know what happened, but we believe that is a miracle of God. At first the doctor said that it was cancer, but now they say nothing is wrong and they don't see anything. Praise God! Her symptoms are now much better. But they ask for continued prayer because there are evil spirits in their village that bother them frequently. Some of the villagers don't like Christians and many of the villagers perform spirit ceremonies asking the spirits to harm their family. We believe that our God is a great God and that He will protect them and keep them safe in His hand. Please continue to pray for them.

Thank you to all of you who have had a part in praying for this family and thank you to those of you who have given money for hospital expenses. May God bless you.

Pastor Somboon

Update on Khai's mother

NOTE: The email below is from Pastor Somboon concerning the cancer surgery needed for the mother of one of the Laotian Hmong students who came to study the Bible at the Bible Training Center in Chiang Khong. Khai had studied the Bible and went back to his country. Recently a generous gift was given to provide for her surgery. Here is the story of Pastor Somboon’s trip to give Khai’s family the money:

I went to Laos last week and gave the money to Khai’s mother for her operation. Their village is Luang Prabang Province, which is in the northern part of Laos. It’s the rainy season and travelling is very difficult. I didn’t get to Luang Prabang. When I told them that I couldn’t make it to Luang Prabang, they said they would like to go to Vientiene as the hospitals and doctors are better there. When I got to Vientiene, they called me and said that they couldn’t make it there as there had been so much rain that it had washed out the roads and vehicles couldn’t get past. They ended up staying overnight half way between Luang Prabang and Vientiene. The next day another vehicle came by and they were able to get on that bus and get to Vientiene. While I was waiting for them to arrive in Vientiene, I called a Hmong pastor that I know there. I went together with him to pick up the family. When we met up with them, they said that their bag with all of their clothes, passport, medical documents, etc. had disappeared along the way as there were so many people travelling. We were all startled and didn’t know what to do. The pastor that I was with said “Let’s pray.” We prayed and then went back to look for the bag. When we got back to the place where we had met them, there was a person standing there holding their bag for them. It was a miracle! It’s not like that in Laos. When something disappears, it is GONE. We then hurried to the hospital. I didn’t go to the hospital, because when the hospital staff there see someone from outside of Laos, they will automatically give a higher price. So, the Hmong pastor I was with took them to the hospital. I gave the money not to Khai’s mother, but to the Hmong pastor to use for medical expenses. That way, we know that the money is being used for it’s intended purpose. There have been other incidents where money has been given to a sick person for medical expenses, and the money gets used for something else entirely. So, I gave the money to the Hmong pastor for safekeeping. But there was another miracle! At the hospital in Vientiene, she went in for an X-ray, and they said there is no cancer! I don’t know exactly what happened, but they said she just has a bad case of stomach ulcers. The doctor said to come back in 3 days for another check up, and when she went back, there was still no sign of the cancer! The doctor gave her medicine and told her to come back in another 3 days and see how she’s doing. It hasn’t been 3 days yet. But she’s had 2 different X-rays in Vientiene now and they both have come up negative for cancer. Please pray for her. She says she has a biting pain in her genital area, and she’s scared that is cancer, but we don’t know why she’s having that pain. We know there is nothing that man can do, but we know that with God all things are possible. The pictures I’m sending are of her.

Thank you for your update on the money that people have given. Everyone here is fine. Thank you for your prayers and concern.

Somboon

Joe is the newest member of the Training Center team. He is now back at the training center assisting Pastor Somboon. Joe's Thai name is Jue Li and his Hmong name is Rwg Lis. He is the one of the first students who studied at the training center. After studying the Bible with us for one year, he went to Bible school to earn his bachelors degree. When he finished his four years of studying the Bible, he came back to help at the training center.

Answered Prayer

This past May, Somboon's father accepted Christ as his Savior. We have been praying for his father's salvation for a long time. As many of you know, his mother died a little over a year ago. Somboon's father has lived with him for several months. His father has been going to church with him. You can read his note below.

Pastors Wutichai and Leng are on the Hmong Committee for the foundation. They are very godly men who love the Lord.

Please pray for his village (some of you have been there) that the message of the Gospel will reach many of the non-believers there. God bless!

His servants and yours,
Duane & Kathy

Hello Pastors and friends,

Thank you for praying for my father. Last night my father accepted the Lord! He has been a witchdoctor for over 40 years. There were many times that he had said that he wanted to become a Christian, but now he has finally accepted the Lord. 2 weeks ago he told me that he wanted to receive Christ as His Savior. Yesterday I invited Pastor Wutichai and Pastor NyiajLeng here to explain the gospel in greater detail to my father, and he prayed to receive Christ! When my mother first accepted the Lord, my father didn't like it at all. When my mother died, my father was more open to the gospel, and now he is saved also. Thank you again for your prayers! Please continue to pray for him that he will stand firm and steadfast in the faith. On June 2nd, we are going to return to my village and my father will burn the spirit altar in the house along with all of the spirit paraphernalia.

God bless you.

Somboon