Friends,
Thank you so very much for your continued encouragement and prayers. It means so much to us to have wonderful people walking alongside us and supporting the ministry work God asks us to invest in. Continue reading
People
April Showers Bring May Flowers…
Well, not in this part of the world! April is the hottest month of the year here and is followed by an only slightly cooler May. This year May seemed to bring a few pleasantly cool days though and some refreshing for our souls as we have seen God at work. Here are some highlights for us in May:
- We’ve been working with Living Streams church to build up the international community. We’ve had our first of what we hope to be many small group gatherings. It was truly a sweet time of fellowship in the presence of the Lord as we all shared how we came to know Christ.
- Matt has been coordinating outreach efforts into a slum community with a group from the international community at Living Streams. They are partnering with our Thai brothers and sisters to teach English as a bridge, building relationships and sharing the gospel.
- Matt is also working with the church to do outreach and follow-up into a couple of other communities around Bangkok. Recently while doing follow-up with a new believer and her friend, the team felt led by the Spirit to start doing a Bible study with them, right there in their place of employment. As they were praying for these two precious sisters, they were baptized in the Holy Spirit and they started being filled with the joy of the Lord.
Home Visit Update:
We wanted to let you know we have finalized our dates for our visit and are starting to schedule times to connect with our partners and friends in the Colorado and Wyoming area. We will be arriving in Colorado on September 1 and will be staying in Colorado Springs through September 9, then we will head up to Northern Colorado/Southern Wyoming. If you’re in either of these areas and would like to have us share at your church or small group, or just meet for a cup of coffee or a meal, drop us an email and let us know some good times for you. We look forward to seeing you!
Real Life in Bangkok
Just this week we had a REAL BANGKOK LIFE moment we thought we’d share. On Thursday Matt went to pick up the kids and I as he often does after I have spent a day at Dton Naam. The trip is only about 7 miles round trip and with good traffic, only takes 30 minutes on the motorbike. (While we do have a car and use it often on the weekends, traffic during the week is such that it’s not as practical as the motorbike.) On Thursday though, traffic was so crazy that it took 2 hours from when Matt left the house to pick up the kids and I until we got home. Unfortunately, we were also running low on gas. Because traffic was so unexpectedly awful and gas stations in the city are few and far between, we ran out.
But the Lord was looking out for us and He gave us a sweet reminder we live in Bangkok in the middle of our not so sweet reminder we live in Bangkok… A guy pulled over with us when we were trying to find the nearest gas station on GPS and asked if we were ok. (I must admit we were driving a little crazy with sputtering and stalling out and then trying to do all we could to just keep going towards the nearest gas station) When we explained we were out of gas he told us he thought there was a gas station on the next street (turns out there wasn’t). He turned with us and told us he would help us. He started to push us along with his foot while driving his own motorbike. He proceeded to push Matt and Jed (Alizah and I hopped off to make it easier) all the way to Petchaburi Road (4 kilometers) until they were able to find a gas station and then refused to let Matt pay him for his gas. There are certain things I hate about living in this big city, but I am so blessed by the kind-hearted people God sends along the paths of our misadventures.
Happy 2019!
We are looking forward to what God will do in 2019 with joy and anticipation! We have felt that 2019 will be a year of increased fruitfulness for us and we believe God is positioning us for what He will do in the days ahead.
Christmas Dancers Open Door
Two of our neighborhood girls danced during a special Christmas service at church and one of their mothers came to church to watch. While we’ve had children from the neighborhood coming with us to church for months now this was the first time any of their parents showed interest in coming. “Joy” received prayer for healing of her leg which was broken in a bad motorcycle accident almost a year ago but still causes her pain and has kept her from working. She shared with us the next week that her leg is significantly better after receiving prayer. Please pray that the Lord would continue this healing work and continue ministering to her heart. She initially said she would like to come to church every week but has only made it to church once more since the Christmas service. Continue reading
Our Neighbors – Prayer Update
Over the past couple of weeks our little neighbors have continued to build relationships with us. We are encouraged to see how love is making a difference. Non, for example, has been asking for hugs from Matt when he comes to our house. This isn’t typical for Thais, who generally speaking, are hesitant to give or receive physical affection.
It’s also beautiful to see Jed learn how to pray for his neighbors. Each night before bed he asks to pray for his friends and will ask Amy to sing “Jesus loves me” for JJ, or one of his other friends.
We would love to ask you to join with us in prayer this week for our neighborhood as we have had a special opportunity come up to reach them. Each month, the house of prayer we are a part of does an outreach into one of the neighborhoods around the city. This past weekend, they informed us that they would like to come to our neighborhood specifically to pray for the families of the children who have been coming to our home and to share the gospel with our neighbors. The leadership of the House of Prayer has been aware that the neighborhood children have been coming to our house and relationships have been forming, but the Lord was the one who put it on their hearts to specifically target our neighborhood with their upcoming outreach. Please join with us in praying that the Lord will move powerfully this weekend and bring those in our neighborhood into a radical encounter with Himself.
Thank you for reading our updates, for praying and believing with us that Jesus will have His inheritance in this nation and in our neighborhood.
Much love,
Matt, Amy, Jedidiah & Alizah
Pʉ̂ʉan-Bâan Kɔ̌ɔng-Rao (Our Neighbors)
In the last month, we have been praying for God to open up doors in our neighborhood for us to share the Gospel. Though we had been having one of the neighborhood children come to our house often prior to praying for an open door, since then we’ve been having seven kids come to our house on a regular basis, which is a little stressful some days, but is an amazing opportunity to love. We really believe God is entrusting us with this as we didn’t go seeking these kids out- rather they came to our door and we welcomed them in. Continue reading
Reconnecting with May
At the beginning of the month of May, I (Amy) recently had an opportunity to meet up with one of the ladyboys I had mentored when I had lived in Pattaya in 2010. May is now living in Cambodia, his home country, so it truly was an unexpected treat when he reached out to let me know he was in Bangkok and would love to meet up. Continue reading
To Narnia and the North
We recently had a new student join Dton Naam. He comes in each day with bright eyes and a gentle, yet enthusiastic heart. When it came time to meet with him the first time for English class, we quickly realized that his English is already quite good. We decided to get a book to read with him, thinking it may mean one-on-one sessions as his English is more advanced than our other students. Continue reading
Reen
Recently we have had opportunities to have deeper conversations with students at Dton Naam about life and faith. One thing we have recently heard from “Reen”, one of the Dton Naam students who is not yet a believer, is that he has seen how Christians give of their lives and bless others because they genuinely love people from their hearts. Reen contrasted this with how he has seen Buddhists do things for others only to make merit and ultimately benefit themselves. Because of our partners to do what God has laid on their hearts to do, we have been able to be a part of seeing God’s love made tangible to these guys. We are so thankful to each of you who have given of your lives so we can give of ours.
Sanam Luang Outreach
Last night I (Matt) went on an with another local Bangkok ministry into the Sanam Luang area of Bangkok near the Grand Palace. During the day the Grand Palace and Wat Pho draw some of the biggest crowds of tourists in all of Bangkok. After these well-known tourist attractions close for the day and the sun sets, this area is a notorious gay prostitution area where Thai men come purchase other Thai men.
Two Months Already?
At times it seems crazy to me that we’ve only been in Thailand for two months. So much has happened and our days are full. We are entering our second month of language school, which is going well. Learning a new language has its challenges but it also has its joys – like those moments when you actually understand what someone is saying or when you’re able to carry on a bit of a conversation with someone in your new language.
Our Thai Class
Between language studies and finding our new life rhythm as a family, we’ve began getting to know the staff and students at Dton Naam, we’ve found a church we love, and we’ve gotten connected to a local house of prayer. We feel so blessed to have gotten established in so many ways so quickly as we know it can take months to find these kinds of connections when moving to a new city.
Baldwins Go Global 