Sunday Ministry

Today we awoke in Ubon after a late night of church planting and a 2 hour drive. We headed to Non-Prassert. Non Prassert is were the ministry of the Mercy Foundation and Mekong Evangelical Church (Baptist) are located. The service began at 10am and we arrived sharply at 10:10. We walked in to a room of about 200 believers (of less then 5 years) worshiping with nothing being held back. It was an awesome service. We shared the drama, sang, and preached. They fed us a great spread of food (mostly identifiable but all good).

Sunday afternnoon we loaded the bus and headed for another village Don-He. This is a village that actually had a church about five years ago but the leadership left and the church all but folded. There was one family that continued to pray for God to bring a church to their village. They even had a church building that had been built years ago. We set a huge stage up and had a blowout service. This village has about 700 homes and the largest Buddha Statue you have ever seen. There has been a guy in training at the seminary here at Mekong Bible Seminary that has been discipled over the last 4 years and will be Pastoring the plant. We had a massive turnout with a similar service clearly storying through God's plan of creation, the fall, crucifixion, and restoration of man. Each person who came got there first Bible.

Saturday Nights Ministry

Wow! the last two days have been a whirl-wind of ministry. The ministry in the Non-Jik was incredible. This village has several 100 homes. We had a meal for the community and then a service. During the service our team participated in several fun songs to get people involved and give them a chance to laugh at the funny farong (Americans/foreigners). Our team shared the drama once again and then after the scene of the crucifixion David preached with Chansamone translating. After sharing with them the good news of a Creator God who has made a way for us to be restored to Him through Jesus. the drama team ended the service with the resurrection and restoration scenes. The service was very effective at laying a foundation for future evangelism and giving the believers a starting point to begin sharing Christ with their friends and neighbors. One lady said, "we have NEVER had anyone come to our village and talk about God." After the service we laid hands on the planting team and prayed for them as they begin this venture. The implications of this ministry are huge as they are just a few miles from the Cambodia border.
One funny note is that we Farong we quite mesmerized by the giant geckos devouring the bugs on the illuminated wall behind the stage. We are talking 10-12 inches long and heads 2 inches wide.

Ministry in Ubon Ratchachani

We arrived in Ubon Ratchachani via Bangkok yesterday (friday). Ubon is a province in Northeast Thailand. The ministry here is a amazing. This morning we awoke early ate breakfast and headed over to a property recently purchased for Mekong Church Ubon. The church was begun about ten years ago. Chansamone was teaching English at Ubon University and launched the church with University students. The first Convert was Pu who is now the Pastor of the Church. They are in the process of building a 300 seat worship building and we had the privledge of helping to pour 7 of the foundational columns.

This afternoon and evening we will be working in a village called Non Jik to help launch a new church. There are atleast 1000 people living in this village. There has never been a Church in this village. This is the home village of Pu (the pastor of the Ubon Church). Pu's father became a Cristian and then other families followed. They have been traveling back to Ubon 2 hours for the last 2 yrs. Since Pu followed Christ 10 years ago several Non Jik families have also believed and the time is ripe for a church plant. We will be doing a Drama depicting creation, the fall of man, the crucifiction of Jesus, and resurection and salvation of man. David will be preaching and we will be singing.

Sunday we will worship in Non Prasert, were the mother Church is located. Directly after church we will drive to another village in the Lueng Nokta District (another 2 hours away).

tsunami orphans

The last several days we traveled to a local school where we met with orphans who have been adopted by relatives/friends after the tsunami. We sang songs, played frisbee, and blew bubbles. Dave shared the gospel to the orphans and their families. He explained the importance of the bondage that sin brings as well as repentance, which brings so much freedom and life. Tom, Suwanne, Suay, and Muay have been insturmental in the rebuilding of lives, and houses after the devastating wave. We are learning some Thai words and also getting used to the heat! We took a ferry ride today to go and see some of the houses that Mercy Foundation built after the tsunami. So far this has been a great trip. We have enjoyed getting to know Tom and the others.

Sunday @ Khao Lak

We arrived in Bangkok on saturday with all but 4 bags (which have been returned, save 1). Caught a connecting flight on AirAsia to Phuket. Dinner and some shopping for supplies at the Lotus (walmart + foodcourt= thai mall). We finished our journey of about 40 hours in Khao lak. This is the sight of much of the Tsunami damage. As we drove into town we desended from a hill with a resort from much many of the videos that captured the devestating wave were taken.
Today (sunday), we had breakfast and worshiped the King of the Universe. We are presently getting ready to visit with 60 Tsunami Orphans to share with them the love and hope of Jesus.
We are also prayful for our church home Longview as it is 1:42pm here and 1:42am in MS. As you awaken this morning we attest and affirm that the Lord's Mercies are new every morning. We pray for the service at Longview that Jesus is lifted high.
David

all together

We are finally all together (except for Levi who is already in Bangkok). We are about to board the plane for Bangkok. We'll check in soon.

Arrival in Hong Kong

We are in Hong Kong. Well.......atleast 9 of us. 4 of us got bumped in LA and put on a later flight about 1.5 hours. Don't weep for them too quick, they got first class on their flight. We should all meet back up in Hong Kong and be together on our flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok. Other exciting events included Sarah losing her boarding pass from gate screening to the gate (like 200 steps). And Ashley leaving her bag at the screening check point (causing some sprinting by the gate agent to recover the bag). Overall God has been gracious to us and worked out the challenges. Keep Praying for His Sovereign hand to guide us.

Thailand Mission Trip 07

May 31st is rapidly approaching.
Please be praying for our missions Team.

5/31 - 7/26 Team:
John Allen
Sarah Puddephat
Erin Price

5/31 - 6/13 Team:
David Anglin
Joey Pomeroy
Levi Bump
Barak Griffin
Jake DeVantier
Adam Clark
Clay Debolt
Becky Moore
Ashley Roberson
Haley Cochran
Holly Long
Check back for regular updates.

Reflections

(Cumulative Timmies = 52ish)

Hi!!

We're the Deffett twins! (Erica and Aaron - 17 years old as of today) Guess a number? ...JUST KIDDING!!

This is Erica, the oldest of the two, and is fortunate enough to be writing this blog for many of reasons. My mother's friend, Jariane, had told her about The Journey Church many years ago and as of a few months ago I have become an active member...and I just love it! Over the last few months I have been blessed to meet soo many wonderful Christ followers who have truly impacted my life. In July 2006, LHBC Youth's Missions Team had visited Toronto, Canada where they brought their love and passion for God for the others of the GTA to witness. Once they had left to go back home, did I realize how much they touched my life and I thank each one of them for that. A few months ago, I gave myself to Christ and it was due to my church's love for Christ and the relationships of those from the trip that lead me to this decision. I am soo thankful for the Journey Church because without them our paths would not have crossed. I am looking forward to this summer coming! :)

This is Aaron, the youngest of the two, but the biggest. I have had the great pleasure to have started my Journey with Christ this year, with the Journey Church. I started my journey before I knew I was on one. My mom kept bothering me to come to this, "church", and being a Catholic I was kind of sick of the whole "Church" rituals and routines, so I brushed her off for about a few months. Then last Mother's Day, I didn't get my mother a gift, and I said if I come with you today to church, will that be good enough, and obviously she said yes! So I went and just loved what I was learning, each week,I learned that being a believer was about relationships rather then rituals and I loved that and I was excited to go every Sunday, something that surprised me more then ever. Then June 26 I believe, there was a BBQ at Sam and Kelley's house, current members of the Journey Church. That night I met a kid named Tyler, from Georgia, who lead me to Christ on the front porch and my life has changed for the better ever since. A couple weeks after accepting Christ into my life, a group from LHBC came up and all of them taught me more about being a follower of Christ, quiet times, how to represent God to others and since then, with some ups and downs and a few challenges, I've learned to trust God more and more and my relationship with him has grown stronger. Along the way, I was proud to see my sister and mother grow and accept Christ into their hearts as well and my life is so much more joyful with the support of both my families, my church family and my immediate family.

Early this morning at around 9:00 a.m. we departed the Adam's house and headed up to Barrie for some snow tubing. We had a lot of laughs and grew even closer together. After a few runs, we all headed up to the chalet where we ate lunch. The morning was soo much fun that we were ready to hit the hills once again. While in line, some of us were able to spark a few conversations about the Journey Church and were able to hand out a few tracts.

It has been a wonderful experience and have grown in our relationship with Christ by being in fellowship with our brothers and sisters.

// Erica and Aaron Deffett

Day 5 - R.A.K.

Hello,

Today was the day for random acts of kindness. While that's what I'm going to talk about (pronounced "a boat" up here) at some point, it's hard not to recap the whole week thus far.

Some high points are:

Sunday - Leading worship for the journey church, meeting the people from Ghana, France, England, Ireland, Canada, etc. The food fellowship was most definitely Baptistic, wow, these ladies can cook. We met the twins and got to know them (new believers that God has planted in the journey church). "Do you want some gum?"

Monday - Our group rode the Go Train into downtown Toronto and worked with a local university. This was awesome.

Tuesday - Chris H. and I surveyed a local neighborhood for spiritual interest. Chris climbed the porch stairs on at least 30+ houses and rang the door bell even though it took a lot out of him physically. This was definitely my high for the day.

Which brings us to Wednesday.

Today we were entrusted with money and had to decide 1) in what use will the money be most impactful in touching individuals for Christ and 2) how can we maxmize the money we have been given to reach the most people in that way. We split into two groups. My group decided to minister to the needs of parents with children. We made gift bags to give to children along with water bottles and snacks for both children and parents. The overwhelming majority gladly accepted the gifts given in the name of God's love for them as a representation of the greatest gift they can ever have, that is Jesus Christ. People are very receptive to God's love, but Brampton is an area of over 420,000 people and 50% are immigrants. The journey church website had several new visitors in the hours after our ministry work.

This evening, the Langley family came over to the Adams' house and we were able to encourage them and love on their four sons, all under the age of 7 (one 4 mos.). Jeremy Langley is the only IMB college pastor in Ontario and has worked over the past several years trying to reach the Ontario university student population (over half a million students). God recently called his family to plant their lives in Southeast Asia. Talk about few laborers. Pray for his family as well as the students here.

May _your_ light shine among men that they may see _your_ good works and glorify _your_ Father in heaven.

-D. Windham

Day 4- More Surveys!!!!

(Timmy Count- 7)
Today started out a little more mellow compared to the rest of the week. We had a "Sanctuary House" from around 9:30am till around 10:15am; where we got to have our time alone with God and really pray diligently about the days we still have ahead of us. We ate an early lunch at The Mandarin, a great oriental restaurant in town (awesome Sushi!!!). Then after a group picture or 10 we headed back to the house. But it doesnt end there. After getting back to the house, We got together in our groups and got ready to go door to door in a nearby neighborhood. At first we were all really excited to go out and do it again, but after the 4th house telling us that they didnt have time we got a little discouraged. The Lord gave Clint and I a reassurance that he was with us when he led us to Sonny. Sonny was outside washing his car when we approached him and at first he thought we were sketchy, after finding that we were trying to share a little Jesus with him he lightened up and informed us that he was attending a baptist church in another part of town but that he would love more information and that he was 100% supportive of what we were doing. The team was able to make several great contacts with new people in the area with a variety of responses. We met back at the house at 4 ish and had a short break before eating an early dinner. We headed out of the Adam's house to make room for 8 women to meet together with the Kristie for a Women's Bible Study. We joined up with the Journey Youth for a fellowship of Laser tag (connected with several youth prospects also).

Day 3 - monday : : Toronto

(Timmie Count= 5)

Today we jumped on the GO Train to run around Toronto. We spread out on the GO train to look for opportnities to talk with people commuting to Toronto about the Lord. The highlight of our time downtown was a visit to Ryerson University to do some "Spiritual Interest" surveys. The University is right in the middle of downtown and has a student population over around 70,000. We offered $2 Tim Horton's gift certificates in exchange for the survey info. It was very interesting and inspiring to see the way the people responded to some of the questions. For example, one of the questions was, "Which area of your life are you most concerned with?" The multiple choices were: a)physical, b)emotional, c)spiritual, or d)intellectual. Most of the answers to this particular question were emotional and intellectual. Seeing how emotionally drained and wrecked the people were without having a relationship and dependency upon the Lord was heartbreaking. God was moving upon hearts today and bringing conviction, and it is really amazing to see Him reaching out to them and how much He loves them. Overall we got between 45-50 contacts with Ryerson students. 14 of them indicated openess to learning more about being a follower of Christ. About the same number indicated they would be interested in coming to a church plant or Bible Study geared for College students if it was offered.

-Britt

Day 2 (Tim count 2 trips)

With this day being Sunday, we had the privilege of participating in worship with the Journey Church; this year, there were more there than usual in several different ways. First of all, there were about 35 people present at worship. Because we were anticipating more than usual for worship and lunch, we had to shift our place of worship from the Adams' house to the Brown's house. Second, the worship today was very multinational; some of the countries represented were France, Ghana, and the United Kingdom. Thirdly, with some of the different nationalities came different religions and cults including Ba'hai and Mormonism. However, even with this variety on many different levels, something occurred that rarely happens on any given Sunday in eastern Canada-- the preaching, teaching, and worshiping of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, this church in Canada does not grow as fast as some churches in the U.S. However, it is still amazing to hear some of the stories of the people who are now involved and associated with the Journey Church; it is an absolute God thing how some of these people and families have made it here, where, last year, these people were not even on the radar. God is definitely testing our patience. We must continue to trust His guidance. Please continue to pray for us as we head out on Monday to get our hands and feet involved in serving Jesus. --Jonathon

saturday :: the journey to toronto

The day started off very very early (5am). Mark Cantrell took us to the airport and dropped us off. We got through to the terminal with no problems and saw Jessica Renfrow at the airport as she was heading to Hilton Head. We had a good flight to Dallas and ate lunch at TGI Fridays. After lunch it was time to get on our second plane which brought us to Canada. We mostly slept on the plane rides. We finally made it in to Toronto, Canada about 3p.m. While going through customs Britt realized that he left his passport on the plane. So he got interrogated by the Canadian custom officers. Also, Clay was so nervous that he wouldn't get in the country for some reason that he caught the attention of border patrol and they gave him an extra round of intimidating questions, but every thing turned out just fine. Then Britt finally got out of his interrogation and was able to join us. We got our vans (Clint is now ready to be the soccer dad that he has dreamed of driving a "pimped out" maroon [Go STATE!] Dodge Caravan)and drove to the Adam's house. Of course we had to stop by Tim Horton's before getting to the house. We all needed the caffeine!!! The Adam's family welcomed us with open arms and opened hearts. I was told the Adam's girls were little, but they are almost teenagers. We all got settled and then headed out to dinner. We ate dinner at Swiss Chalet and had great fellowship. After dinner we all went back to the house and crashed.

Amber
Clint

Toronto 07

The LHBC 20 Somethings are in the final stages of preparation to journey north for the Toronto Mission Trip 07, from March 10-16, 2007. This is our forth year partnering with the Journey Church, Brampton Ontario. http://www.thejourneychurch.ca/ . Please be praying for our team:
David Anglin Britt Hodge
Clint Loudermilk Amber Smith
Bethany Goodman Tuyet Nyugen
Clay Debolt Jonathon Clay
Chris Herndon David Windham
Pray that God would gives us His eyes, ears, hands, and feet. Pray that he would lead us into Divine appointments to share the love and message of Jesus with many Bramptonians. Pray that would be able to encourage the Journey Church and help them as they seek to impact the lostness of Brampton and Toronto.

june 9- Friday

today was hard work... but the joy of the Lord was our strength. We knocked down two walls, moved 30,000 Bibles, got attacked by all kinds of bugs and plants, moved 30ft metal poles, cleaned up debris from construction of an outdoor meeting hall, but it was all for the kingdom so it was great. Its hard to see times like today as ministry but it facilitates the spread of the gospel among the Issan people so praise the Lord that we were considered worthy of the task. after the hard work we got to go back to the Mekong and cliff jump and swim a bit more. by the night, rest was our goal and the bed never felt better.
- until He comes- Erin

June 8- Thursday

today the team spent into two groups. the guys started on the construction work... they began the hard work of cleaning out rooms and knocking down walls to renovate a new study area and library for the seminary. the girls continued english classes at Mercy Christian school and we helped organize the schools library. after lunch we got to pass out Bibles at the elementary school and at the preschool. it was amazing to see the children actually reading them... one of the teachers actually began a lesson from the little new testaments. the Word of God will not return void (isaih 55:10-11) and it is such a privilege to be a laborer for this harvest. For dinner we drove to Kemmerat and ate from street vendors and got ice cream from the 711! it was a nice treat!
-until He comes- Erin

June 7 - Wednesday

Today, we took part in the chapel service for the Mercy Christian school. All of the students filed into the church sanctuary with their special Wednesday uniforms on. They sat on the floor in perfect rows and sang Thai, Christian songs. David and some of the others from our team and the team from Iowa taught the students the song "Our God is So Big" in English. The students really enjoyed the song and put their hearts into the hand motions. After the songs, David had volunteers come up on stage and act out the story of Shadrack, Meshack, and Abed-Nego as he told it. This story really hits home here in Thailand where idol worship is a huge focus. Several of the volunteers were quite the actors. It was precious and a great message to share with these students. It was a great reminder that God is the only true GOD and that when we choose to follow HIM, we can overcome the most difficult of circumstances.

After chapel, we taught English classes at the school. The students are so respectful and excited to learn English. Many of them have been captivated by our "white" skin, which has been fun to watch. We also continued to practice Christian songs with them in English.

We all split into teams again and went out evangelizing in the villages. We went to rural areas today and presented Bibles to the people. The Gideon Bibles that we are using makes evangelizing without a translator possible, b/c they are half English and half Thai. I have been able to read and point out verses in English and then have them read the same verses in Thai. The locals seem to be more receptive to the Word when an American presents it to them. As Kelley has already posted, receiving Christ in Thailand is a very difficult decision, b/c it affects every aspect of your lifestyle. By God's grace, I was fortunate enough to witness an older Thai lady surrender her life to Jesus. Apparently, she had been seeking the Truth and had heard about Jesus on Christian t.v. She was so overwhelmed and gave her heart to Christ after asking questions and reading the Bible we presented to her. She finally found the only ONE who could fill the void in her life! PRAISE the LORD!!! It was amazing. Evangelizing here in Thailand has been a challenge to me. I realize how serious deciding to follow Christ is and should be. It is not just fire insurance or a free ride through life (as many in our culture treat it) and should not be a decision that is made in haste. We as AMerican Christians should allow Christ to affect every aspect of our lives as well, and we should stand out as "different" even in our own culture! Thanks for all the prayers! God is definitely at work here!

In HIS grip~ Audie=)

June 6- Tuesday

Today we began our first day of teaching in the Mercy Christian English School. Most of us were a little unsure of ourselves and what this task held for us. We were given a schedule of classes and upon entering the classroom a workbook out of which to teach. The children all stand and say, "Good morning teachu!" After the lesson, some of us taught the children to sing "Jesus Loves Me".
After lunch, we headed out into the village of Natang. This village was much more rural than the village from the day before. People in the more rural villages are even more ensnared in the rituals of temple life. As we passed out Bibles, it was exciting to drive up the street and see people reading their new Bibles. The were for the first time reading and learning the Truth that is God's word! One specific man we visited, called "Mr. P." whom Tom (a pastor of one of the village churches) met a couple months ago, had a form of leprosy in his left hand and in his left foot, was greatly deformed as a result of serious infection that it has almost completely eaten away at his foot (from a injury twenty yrs. ago). In his seventies, Mr. P. is living in his house like hermit because of his deformities. We were able to share with him about the love of Jesus and His power to heal. God has already brought some healing in his hand and has been softening his heart to Christ. Pray for Mr. P's salvation. He will be coming to church this Sunday.

June 5- Monday

A Little Background:
To reach people here in the Ubon province of Thailand is a complicated undertaking. The villages and communities are very resistant to Christ and Christianity. Village life surrounds the Buddhist temple of each village. If someone becomes a Christian they are cut of from the temple, community, and possible kicked out of the village. Mercy Foundation was created to establish a Christian Community infrastructure for believers and to help serve and love the community with Christ's love.

To accomplish this there is an orphanage for needy children. They have also built a radio station that broadcasts into the surrounding villages and even the neighboring country the message of Jesus. There is also Mercy School which provides a Christian education for children from about 3yrs to 5th grade.

Today:
We built up some muscles this morning as we moved the Mercy Orphanage to its new building. Its hot here...real hot... and living with bugs and geckos seems like home now. After lunch we went out to the village of Kammerat where one of the daughter churches is located. We helped the church family there distribute about 500 Bibles to the people living there. Most of these people have literally never heard the Gospel and have never touched a Christian. It doesn't get much better than standing outside the gates of a lavish buddist temple in a little wooden shack telling someone about a Savior who is alive and who has come to love them.

-until He Comes- Erin