On Friday, Matt went with Dtong to the house of a man he had prayed for at the hospital a couple of weeks ago. Uncle Biak had gotten much better after the first time we had prayed, but he had not fully recovered. He asked for us to pray for him again.
Continue readingWe are Not in Bangkok Anymore, Toto…
It’s been a month since we returned to Thailand and we are happy to report, “We are not in Bangkok anymore, Toto!” We are so happy to be settling into our new home in Map Ammarit (Map is pronounced somewhere between ‘map’ and ‘mop’, but has nothing to do with maps or mops).
Continue readingMerry Christmas from the Baldwins!
2019 has been a full year for us! We are so blessed by what the Lord has done and excited for what He will do as we continue to trust Him. We hope you enjoy our Christmas and New Year’s Letter. We love you and are blessed by the role you have played in our 2019!
Continue readingThe Golden Thread
Have you ever been completely undone by a tapestry?
In June of 2017, we were among some of the last people to ever have the profound privilege to enter the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall and view the Arts of the Kingdom exhibition that was housed there under the sponsorship of the Queen Sirikit Institute. It closed indefinitely to the public in October 2017 to honor the passing of King Rama 9.
Continue readingWhy Church Planting and Education?
“Are you sure you’re going to get a lot of people coming to your church?”
This was the question posed to Matt when he was sharing with someone we met while we were out one day and sharing about what we will be doing in Thailand. And it’s a good question when you take into consideration that Thailand is only 0.6% Christian. Yes, you read that right. Thailand is not even 1% Christian. Many folks have an idea of what church planting looks like that comes from the way things are done here in the US. When someone is wanting to plant a church in the US, they might gather a team of other believers who will help lead the church, work to develop their mission and values, secure a building, set a target launch date, and send out invitations to the entire community announcing the new church. And while nothing is wrong with that model and in fact it works well for many churches here in the US, it doesn’t work the same way in countries where there isn’t a Christian background or heritage.
Continue readingWhy Chumphon?
We are so excited for our upcoming move to Chumphon Province! But to be honest, when we first heard about the little town we will be moving to, the school Amy will be working at, and the small group of believers who we will be partnering with to plant a church it didn’t appeal to us. So what shifted?
Continue readingVideo Update: Our First 2 1/2 Years and What’s Ahead
We put together a little video we thought you might enjoy sharing some highlights from our first 2 1/2 years in Thailand and what we feel lies ahead. Continue reading
Preparing for Map Ammarit
Hi Friends!
In just two short weeks we will be back in the States for a visit. (Yes, I know, we had said in our last update that we might be heading that way this week, but it ended up working out better for us to go to Singapore for a quick visa run instead.) The past month and a half since we sent out our last update has been full on. Here’s some of the recent happenings: Continue reading
The Big MOVE
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
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.
Baldwins Go Global 