We are grateful to see the country continuing to open up after COVID lockdowns and strict regulations. This is especially great timing, as we are preparing to leave for our furlough in just six weeks.
Even though restrictions are lessening, the country is still under military rule, which gives the prime minister (also the general of the Thai military) complete and absolute power. Recently, a law was passed stating that pictures of others cannot be taken and posted/shared without legal, signed consent. If a picture is posted or shared without consent, the person responsible for sharing the picture could be charged with going against the Personal Data Protection Act and can be fined 5 million baht (over $140,000) and up to one year in prison. This makes it a bit difficult for our ministries and missionaries to share pictures of our outreaches and services. We are not sure to what extent this law will be enforced regarding prayer letters and videos since it has just been put into place. Our Thai pastor, Sakrapee Jomhong, is a lawyer, as well as a retired police major. He has advised our team to proceed with the utmost caution as we learn more about this. We understand that our eyes affect our heart and that pictures and videos help our supporters to see a glimpse of what is going on here. We will do our best to continue to find ways to give you those snippets of life while we stay in line with the law. This will not hinder our work for the Lord nor our faithfulness to serve.
The teen soul-winning/training program led by our team staff member Tan is off to a great start. He meets every Saturday morning with the teenagers of our church. He has taken time to teach them thoroughly how to clearly give the Gospel, and he gives them a Bible challenge every week before they go out. Tan, Joom, and Missy take the groups out each week. Missy has enjoyed having a part in this new ministry. Just last week, her group met Mr. Doo, who kindly invited them to sit in his carport as they gave him the Gospel. He had studied different religions but had never heard why Jesus came to earth. This gave the two teen girls, Jip and Bua, who were with Missy, experience in how to talk with someone who had many educated questions about religion and salvation. Missy had the opportunity to talk with him for over 30 minutes. He was very open and asked if they could come back and talk more with him and his wife. Please pray for Mr. Doo, as our family plans to visit him this next week. Several of the teens have led their first convert to the Lord during the Saturday teen soul-winning time. What a joy it is to see our youth getting excited about reaching others for Him.
God has used our canvassing efforts in a great way. We have seen many open doors and folks ready to receive the Lord. Please continue to pray as we work to get the Gospel to our entire city and the bordering areas.
As I mentioned, we will be leaving for our furlough in six weeks. God has provided a beautiful, safe vehicle for our five months of travel this August through December. We are excited and humbled to share that Missy’s wonderful parents, along with the help of our supporting church, Faith Baptist Church (Pastor Dean Noonan), purchased a Honda Odyssey for our family. We have many things to finalize here and preparations to complete for our travels Stateside, but God has already gone before us in a mighty way. We look forward to seeing many of you as we travel.
Thank you for your many years of support and faithful prayers for our family. We love where God has called us to serve, and we look forward to serving Him here for years to come.
For Him,
Tim Shook