We had many Let’s Start Talking groups teach English using the Gospel

Every Thursday the church ate together before spending time in worship

Mark in Chiang Mai

Asian Mission Forum was a great time to be together as missionaries and worship

We taught English at the district court-

house and met many friends I led a group of summer interns from Abilene Christian University

“One year?” some asked. “Yes, one year,” I would reply. April 15, 2010 I emailed Rob-ert Reagan, the missionary I had worked with in 2007, and asked if I could come back to Thailand and work a year. The next day he emailed back with great excitement and said that he was 100% behind my com-ing back to Thailand. Many of my classmates were surprised that I would go for a year to do mission work. A year seemed so long for them, but for me now I know that it is not long enough.

After a year in Thailand I have met so many people who would have never known God if it were not for someone who came to teach them. It was interesting for me to meet these people and hear each of their stories while continuing the work by plant-ing seeds. When I went in 2007 for 8 weeks I only experienced the “summer camp” feeling, but when I stayed a year I was able to re-ally make friendships with the people I ministered to and worked along side. You

learn that everyone has their good and bad days; their ups and downs. Life happens all around the world and I was able to walk alongside many people as they learned more about what it means to be a Christian. God blessed my year with strong team-mates from Texas A&M, Amanda (Shoe-maker) Bowen, Hilary Crowder, and Kara (Keith) Garner and teammates from Thai-land James and Bon. It was a wonderful ex-perience to work with my teammates and to grow together.

Blessed Through One Year of Service

We worked together with other Christians

in Thailand at annual camp

I believe that most of you reading this newsletter have no idea what that first sentence says. Neither did I when I arrived in Thailand. Nor did I think learn-ing Thai would help me to minister to forty-three Chinese students. Before leaving for Thailand I had several people ask me, “Will you study the language while you are there?” And in reply I would always say, “I want to, but it looks really hard with lots of curly letters and vowels on top and bottom of the letters.” Well, a few weeks after I arrived in Chiang Mai, Robert Reagan mentioned a course at Payap University that I could join to learn Thai with Chinese stu-dents studying abroad. Robert had learned of this program after working with several students that took the classes the year before and also came to the Christian Zone to study English. He told me this would be an op-portunity to learn Thai language and culture, but I was scared. We went to speak to the professor and she told me, in perfect English, that she would love for me to join the program. After a few changes in the start date of the classes I got an email telling me that the students would arrive at the airport November 3, and we would begin class the next day. I was nervous as I walked into a room full of Chinese students all speaking Chinese. I thought, “How is this going to work?” Then the teacher got up and started talking,

in English, about class procedures and what we

would be learning for the next eight months. After

the teacher finished I had time to mingle with my new

classmates. When I started talking to them, in their sec-

ond language, I realized they were more nervous than I was. I

knew that this would be fun and I was excited to see how much I would learn. After returning from class I realized that maybe I was not in this class just for studying, but God could use me to teach my classmates about His son’s com-

God Opens Unexpected Doors

Children getting ready to pray together

before eating at one of our parties

How can young people from Thailand, China, Malaysia, U.S., Singapore and Japan possibly work together in Cambodia to spread the love of Christ to children? That was the question that several mis-sionaries asked six years ago while visit-ing Siem Reap, Cambodia. The next year groups from Thailand, Singapore, Ma-laysia, and Japan joined together to start Angkor of Faith where groups enable the street children to be kids again. Each year close to 150 youth get togeth-er to play, feed, and teach children, some as young as four, who have been living on the streets selling souvenirs to tourists just to live. It has been a joy to both the served and the servers. This year we spent about thirty minutes everyday singing VBS motion songs with the kids. It was exciting to see the kids learning about Christ’s love in a fun and memorable way. Some of the kids still re-member the songs even after six months. I pray that I can attend again this year! Check out Faith Ng’s video online. http://vimeo.com/27775505

Working Together

Groups Serve at the Zone During my year in Chiang Mai there were several different volunteers who came to help out with our ongoing ministries at the Payap Christian Zone. One organization that participated during the year was Let’s Start Talking, LST. I was encouraged to work alongside five different LST teams from Texas, Nebraska, California, and New Mexico. LST sends teams around the world to teach English using the Bible. It is an easy way to participate in short term missions. If you would like more information about Let’s Start Talking visit http://www.lst.org. Other groups from Ft. Worth Christian, Aggies for Christ, and Abilene Christian University volunteered in Chiang Mai to work and serve with us at the Zone. With so many different people coming through I made many new connections and was able to share my passion for missions with them. Also, through some of the friendships I pray that we can work together to continue teaching the Good News around the world.

God Opens Unexpected Doors

A group of youth at the AMF having

some fun after an evening lecture

ing to earth to die for each of them. My classmates planned to be in Thailand for eight months and then go back to their university in China so I knew that there was no time to lose. During the Christmas holiday the interns and I planned a lock-in for all of classmates at the Zone. The Stay.ca.tion was meant to introduce my classmates to the zone and al-low them to have a place to cook and have a fun day together. 500 homemade Chinese dumplings and a jam-packed day later, I felt that my classmates became more comfort-able around the Zone and around us. As the year progressed we had a Let’s Start Talking group come to teach English using

the Gospel of Luke. This was an excellent chance for my classmates to come learn English as well as begin a study of the Bible. Before and after studying the stu-dents would hang out and play games or we would go out to eat with each other, times where bonds of friendship and trust grew. During this time my friend Seven and I became best friends. After the LST group left he still wanted to learn more about the Bible. He was a little older than most of the students in my class and more willing to ask questions. As we studied he began to ask why I be-lieve in God and why we sing songs to God. It was a growing time for me as well having to answer all these questions. As time went on he started coming to church every Sunday and I gave him his own easy-to-read Chinese Bible so that he could continue to study on his own. It was exciting to see him grow in his faith. The week before Seven went back to China I asked him, “Do you think Christianity can be for Chinese people or just for white people?” He quickly responded, “For white people.” Later he told me, “I can see that it can become Chinese.” That was the time that I knew he was changing. Forty-three students heard about the Gos-pel of Jesus and a seed was planted. We do not know where that seed fell, but I pray for each of these students daily. Before Seven got on the plane he wanted to show me what he had in his backpack. He opened it and he had three Bibles. He told me, “I WILL keep studying!”

Lord, Where Shall I Go?

Faithful 4 Fifty was the theme of the 50th annual Asian Mission Forum held July 30 to August 3 this year in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Before I left for Chiang Mai, Robert Re-gan asked me to help him with planning the Asian Mission Forum, AMF, that was to be held in Chiang Mai that year. Soon after arriving we started planning and get-ting everything sorted out. After many months of emails, phone calls, and web developing it was time for the annual forum. We had speakers, class teachers, and over 250 registered guests representing at least 12 countries. I was re-ally apprehensive about our remembering all the details. As everyone started checking in, there was an atmosphere of excitement and an-ticipation to see how God was going to work through the speakers, classes, and conversations over a cups of coffee. After the first night speaker I knew that God was working in this place as a group of the youth assembled just to sing for an hour. It was inspiring to see so many people my age with a passion to spread the Gospel in Asia. AMF was a great blessing to all who at-tended. Check out Robert’s video online. http://vimeo.com/27726972

Hope in the Future

After spending a year in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and working with so many young people that are on fire to share the Gospel, I feel that I am called to continue working in South Asia to tell others about Christ’s love for each of them. As of now I would like to visit my classmates in Kunming, Yunan, China, and see how I could work with them and their families. Also, after working with many young people in Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, and Thailand, I would love to join together to plant churches as a multi-national mission team. In today’s world there are many opportunities and I have been extremely blessed to go and serve in Thailand and I pray that I can continue to serve God’s people whereever I am. During the next couple of months I will be spending time in prayer and discernment for the coming years of my life. Please join me in prayer for places I can be used to spread the Good News.

Prayer Requests

2509 Lincoln DriveAbilene, TX 79601-2022

Please pray for continued growth in faith for the following friends:

My Chinese best friend, Seven Ching, Kid, and sister Ling Ling

My Thailand sister, Aun Aun Awn, my friend from the courthouse

Ivy, Prow, Faith, Iris, and Neem Palm is a hardworking learner

Cut me out and put me on your fridge!