According to the Lisu traditional culture, once a year, non-believers would set a special day for the past love ones, even worship and pray to their ancestors. This is one of the most important days or events for the Lisu people. This event has caused division among the Lisu Christians across the board… from China to Myanmar to Thailand. There is no decisive solution on this issue: for some, they believe this event should be considered as an evil-worshipping day, others view it as a memorial day. Non-believers have labeled Christians as being no-gratitude-having descendants; for Christians, it is about worshiping God alone. What should we believers do for this day? Since the Wong’s family was one of the first Thai Lisu families to become Christians, many people have always been watching them closely. The Wong family has contextualized this event into a memorial service, not only to remember the dead one, but to Jesus Christ, who died and rose from the dead; not only looking back to the past, but putting hope to the future, that one day every dead will rise and be transformed into the heavenly body. So each year, the Wong’s hold a church service at the tomb. This year, Stephen preached on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 at his father’s tomb. In the midst of Covid crisis, it turned out to not only being a fellowship time but also an evangelistic event.
was in charge of testing for covid
During Easter, Stephen was invited to preach at several churches. However, he and Mary decided to go to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, to preach at a church which is located in the middle of an impoverish neighborhood. The members of this church are primarily migrant workers from other countries. These people fled their homes because of war and lack of work in their countries. Many of them live in fear because they don’t have the same rights as Thais. They are facing many challenging issues in a foreign land and country. With this context, Stephen encouraged them to live a resurrected life with Jesus Christ in this chaotic world, being different and living different from the rest of world because of our faith in the Resurrected Messiah. Stephen and Mary had a great time with these Christian friends. However, after two and a half years of lockdown and strict regulations, they were a bit nervous when they saw large crowds. Nonetheless, it turned out to be a fruitful and blessing-filled trip for them.
in a building
Asians For Christ has worked with several mission organizations; God has blessed us to go to places other could not go, to accomplish tasks and projects other could not do. There was a Korean missionary who focuses on building church in small villages as their ministry. This Korean missionary helped the village in Mae Taeng build a new church building by teaming up with Asians For Christ in this specific task. After several months, at this point, the church building is about 80% completed. Recently, their missionary team invited our family to have lunch with them to discuss about this ministry; we all rejoice at the success of this specific project at Mae Taeng. If you read a previous post, you would see how God works in wonderful ways, especially with this project. When Stephen and Nick made a visit to the sick in Mae Taeng, the people asked if Asians For Christ could help them build a church because at the time they were meeting at a grain storage building, which after harvest season, had no room. Stephen and Nick prayed for them and went home. As we pulled up to our house, the Korean missionary called us out of the blue and said their team wanted to help build a church and if we had any recommendations. We were surprise at how quickly God answered our prayers. God is good indeed!
Other ministries
After hearing our evangelist team’s report, Mary packed up some clothes and shipped her recent lot to help the people in Shan state, Myanmar. The clothing ministry continues to grow as the needs grow on the mission field. We can see God providing in this ministry because some clothing stores have given more from their excess clothes on top of what we buy, logistic employees have given some discounts, and people have stepped up to help distribute the clothes. The most important thing is that the clothes made it to the people who really need it and they are able to see Jesus’ Love through this.
to several villages
wearing them on that day!
Stephen, Nick, and Becky continue to teach online through zoom. The Christian leaders studying with Stephen from Myanmar, Thailand, China and even Malaysia have all expressed wanting to learn in an intensive setting; so, Stephen plans to have an actual in-person course in the near future. At the moment, we are figuring out the location and the time to have this weeklong class.
with the students in Myanmar
Since countries have been opening up more and more, we are now getting ready to go into other countries. After so long, some of our passports have almost expired. Nonetheless, it’s refreshing to see that tourism in Thailand is increasing and that more planes are beginning to open routes to Laos, Myanmar, and even Vietnam. Recently, thanks to IDES we have the funds to help the people struggling in our target countries and now we are planning our trips to these areas. Prayers for the tasks to be accomplished successfully would be greatly appreciated.
Family
The family has had a great time finally being able to spend time with relatives and friends. We are slowly building courage to go out into the world again. When we do go outside, we feel out of place because it’s been awhile since we actually ate at a restaurant or traveled to a gathering. Ultimately, we are super happy to finally get to spend time with people in person.
from his soccer team
A great news is that Nick is engaged to his fiancé named “Khao” (nickname – meaning rice). They plan to get married in January or February of 2023.
As we wait for Jesus to return, we encourage other Christians to remain strong in Christ and we share the Gospel to the non-Christians. We thank you for being a part of our missions in Southeast Asia and China!
