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Forward
After these vacations we came together with our whole community in Bangkok to spent time in Gods presence together: Worshipping, praying, sharing hearts together and also receiving inputs from our HELP International headquarters and community in Germany. And with our staff-team we also took the opportunity to share about the vision and expectations for 2019. Sharing vision and standing together for one another is great.
We see doors opening further in the slums and Amber is building and strengthening her team to increase the impact there. The Shelter is growing in staff-numbers and will involve the men looking for help in helping others themselves. And in 2019 we are sending the Revival School on the Move students once more to Pattaya City and are building the school-team during the year.
Good preparation
And our team is stepping up in skills also: We just hired a professional language-teacher for our staff-members to improve their English. We had an assent-meeting and lessons are starting in February. This will improve our teams ability to host international visitors and to connect with other branches of HELP International. And it’s fun to learn together anyways!
2019 started really good and we are hungry to see the best from God for us in Thailand in the coming months!
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Peace and a plan
Dom's old life was marked by hanging out with the wrong kind of friends: A lot of partying, drinking alcohol and doing drugs became very frequent. Not only Dom realised how this lifestyle didn’t only harm him, but also affected his family and the relatives he stayed with. Even though he realized he couldn’t stop doing drugs by himself, he refused to get help in a rehab and it got even worse. The payments of a new job were completely spent on ilea drugs. Dom was afraid. Afraid that something could go wrong, for example that he could get caught by the police - which would have severe consequences. From his relatives, only his brother-in-law was still willingly to help Dom by connecting him to some Christians who are meeting to play soccer regularly. That's where Dom met former drug-addicts and staff of The Shelter and soon he moved in with us.
»When I came to The Shelter I was touched by the peace and love of God, but in the beginning didn't know how to deal with it.« Dom remembers also how Jesus spoke to him right from the beginning to »not waste time« in the rehab. This and other occasions helped Dom to realise God's plan for him and that God wanted to give him a brandnew life. Today, Dom's life looks different: Fear had to flee. Hope came with Jesus. Where there was anxiety before is now peace!
»When I think about God now, it always makes me feel more humble about myself. I know God touched me and He is truly good - that's what I feel in my heart. God has done something within me that is really good!«
The brightest smile
Kob was addicted to drugs, did successfully the rehab at The Shelter and afterwards joined the aftercare program at our House of Friends. For about six month, he has been working as a truck-driver at a company of our neighbourhood. However, there was one thing of his former drug addiction which marked him: He was missing four front-teeth at his lower jaw.But Christmas brought a special gift for Kob: The dental clinic called to inform that his new teeth where ready! It’s hard to put into words what this means for him in terms of restoration and self-esteem. Thus we simply encourage Kob to proudly show his most beautiful smile to all the world!
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During morning prayers the Holy Spirit spoke to me that I would meet a woman sometime in the day wearing a white t-shirt with hearts on it. Of course, I was really curious to know how that would happen. I kept my eyes open and walked with my prayer partner along the beach. »Did I really hear the Holy Spirit talk to me?«, this thought kept on running through my mind ... and suddenly there she was, a lady in her late 30s. She was one of many waiting for clients. I approached her and told her that God spoke to me to watch out for a womean wearing a white t-shirt with hearts on it. She was shy and also a little embarrassed when she looked down at her t-shirt which read: I fall in love with you. Immediately, I thought that it was a prophetic word, »You are looking for love, don't you?« She nodded. »Jesus wants to be the lover of your sould and he wants to give you true love.« She was visibly moved and told us that as a teenager she was involved in a Christian group. At this point I was absolutely sure that the Holy Spirit let us to her. »Jesus hasn't forgotten about you. He knows you and he still loves you«, I encouraged her. Before turning back to her job, she said that she would love to talk to us again. God is going after her. He is faithful and he never lets us go!
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The river of God
Throughout the various teaching sessions he spoke about the river of living water that the prophet Ezekiel saw coming from the throne of God. Steve prophesied over the Thai people, that he saw this river springing forth from their hearts by the Holy Spirit, however, there was something unique about it: That river would not, like it is normal in Bangkok, flow south into the sea but this river of God would flow to the East. Our team was surprised - that was exactly where God led us for our outreach outside of Thialand. At that time we were already in preparations for a one-week-outreach to Laos PDR!
Tracking Thailand's calling
Many times it has been prophecied over Thailand that this nation will be the birthplace of revival in Southeast Asia. As organisation we’re stirred by the question: What can we do to let this vision become real?So it was settled: With the On the Move team we would at least do one outreach to our neighbouring countries. We couldn’t make appointments with our contacts in Cambodia but in Lao PDR doors opened immediately. A short while ago, some friends moved there and had already started, despite the persecution of Christians, to advance God's kingdom. Thus our goal was set and we started to make preparations. Passports and visas had to be issued since it was the very first trip of our Thai scholars to leave their own country.
How free?
For decades, Christians have suffered persecution and oppression. However, there are still about 250 churches, and the name of Jesus is to be exalted in Lao PDR! We knew that we had to take our worship to public places. On the day of our arrival we found a spot in the capital city of Vientiane and put our idea into action. Since we had a rough night on the road and entered an atmosphere of control and depression, we had a hard time worshipping in that park. HOwever, we didn’t accept that at all. The next day we met in a room to prepare: We shared about what and how we could do better and a clear vision led into a great time of worship. So we desired to see that happening outside these four walls, too!
In order to bless the government and authorities of Lao PDR and to proclaim God's sovreignity over the nation we drove to the Victory Gate, the Patuxay, in the centre of the capital. Everything was different this time: It was easy to look onto Jesus and prophetic songs and bible scriptures filled the little park around the monument quickly. It surely didn’t take long until we got some curious looks. The presence of the Holy Spirit was tangible and we shared the Gospel with some Vietnamese tourists and revealed the heart of God to them by prophetic words.
In the evening we headed back to the park where we struggled to worship the night before. There too, the atmosphere was totally changed. The feeling of depression was gone and it turned out to be great fun to worship Jesus Christ in freedom and with creativity in public. Our friends from Lao PDR weren’t sure if anyone has ever done that in the country before!
Precious encounters
For two days, our journey took us out of the capital to the countryside - leaving paved roads and entering adventure! We met with Christians whose faith had been tested in many ways. There, church leaders and pastors had been put to jail because of their belief or churches and congregations would be mocked in different ways. To pray with these brothers in faith stirred a deep humility, for they had overcome by their faith to a degree that our team has never been tested to.It’s truly encouraging how the kingdom of God still paves a path. A Christian drug rehabilitation centre is helping quite young drug addicts for years, despite authorities trying to shut it down a few months after it was founded, because the Christian values of living didn’t fit their picture. To this day this rehab has been a place of restoration and life!
What comes next?
Being on the move with teams starting in Bangkok is on our hearts. We want to strengthen the relationships we have in Lao PDR which include future visits. Cambodia is in our focus, too, and when a door opens we will be ready to go.Preparations for the REVIVAL SCHOOL on the Move 2018 are in full progress already. If you want to get to know our ministry in Bangkok or want to get trained, you should not miss the opportunity of joining this school, for: Following Christ means being on the move!
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After having worked over many years mainly among drug addicts in Bangkok, we are going to launch our ministry into a much wider dimension. Our rehab center – the House of Peace – has become a place for many drug addicts and alcoholics where they experienced deliverance and found a home. We are sharing our lives at the rehab similar to an extended family through which our rehab guests find security, protection and release.
Paows Story
Paow’s boss sent him to our rehab, because he became violent and provoked disputes with his colleagues when drunk. At the rehab, Jesus got him by his love, he instilled his desire for comfort and love and showed him how precious he is. Today, Paow is back in his former job and his boss says: “After this one year at the rehab, Paow has become team-minded. He is working more efficiently, and he is concentrated on what he is doing. Thank you, dear staff!”House of Joy
We want to invest the gift of sharing our lives also with Thai people who are no drug addicts and don’t have such background. Bangkok is full of young people who are hungering for someone to take them by their hand, encourage and foster them. Our present aftercare house will there be re-named into House of Joy. Rolf & Trujit Niederer (leaders of HELP Thailand) have moved into this house and they will start a community and training center where young Thais are offered the opportunity to grow and mature in their walk with Jesus.
Of course, we are continuing with our rehab ministry now headed by Ping & Jane. For many years, Ping was addicted to heroin. He experienced God’s power of deliverance in his own life. For 18 years he has been free of drugs and meanwhile Ping & Jane are a happy family with three children ... and they have a big heart to see more drug addicts becoming free.