Monday, July 2
220th General Assembly (2012)
Thailand
[photo caption] Pastors Warin and Sontana and their daughter, Immanuel, are investing their lives in members of the Bangkok and Samaysan churches.
A pastoral couple, Warin and Sontana, alumni of the Bangkok Institute of Theology, are making a difference in their world for Christ. Tanapat, a member of their church in Bangkok, moved to Samaysan, on the eastern seaboard of Thailand. Wanting to invest his life in others, he shared his relationship with Jesus with his neighbors. Working with Pastor Sontana, he began a cell group and held worship in his home. From its beginning six years ago, this group of believers has blossomed into a growing church reaching the fishing community and military bases. Almost all of the members of the Samaysan church are new believers in Christ.
When we visited the Samaysan church, Pastor Sontana introduced me to Ari, a new member. She told me how she came to know Jesus. ``My husband was an alcoholic and addicted to gambling. We have a severely mentally challenged son who requires full-time care. I constantly worried about who would take care of our son if I died. I was so anxious that I could not sleep at night. In desperation, I began to attend church. One day, I cried out to God and accepted Jesus as my Savior. I began to experience great peace and began to sleep at night. My husband saw how my life was changing, and he also came to believe in Jesus. He was able to stop drinking and gambling.'' Pastor Sontana says that everyone who knows Ari has seen the change Jesus has made in her and her family's lives.
Even though Christians comprise only 0.5 percent of the population, we see God mightily at work in believers' lives in Samaysan, and we see God growing the church in Thailand.
- Carol Fujii, PC(USA) mission co-worker, Bangkok, Thailand
Let us join in prayer for:
Partners/Partnerships
Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT): Rev. Siam Muang Sak, general secretary, Rev. Dr. Boonratn Boayen, moderator * Bangkok Institute of Theology: Rev. Rung Ruengsan-ajin, president * McCormick Hospital: Sangroj Pradubkeaw, M. D., F.A.S.A., director * McKean Rehabilitation Center: Elder Somchai Ob-boon, director * Payap University: Rev. Dr. Pradit Takerngrangsarit, president * McGilvary College of Divinity at Payap University: Rev. Dr. Pradit Takerngragsarit, dean
Presbytery Partnerships: Presbytery of Huntingdon, Presbytery of San Francisco, Presbytery of San Gabriel, and Presbytery of Scioto Valley with the CCT
PC(USA) Agencies' Staff
Bob Kukla, GAMC
Rev. Mei-Hui Chen Lai, GAMC
Vincent LaMazza, BOP
Let us pray
We thank you, Lord, for working in the lives of the Thai people to grow your church in Thailand. Thank you for students and graduates from seminaries and universities of the Church of Christ in Thailand. May you use these servant/leaders to help grow the church in Thailand and beyond. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Daily Lectionary
Morning Psalms 57; 145
First Reading Numbers 22:1-21
Second Reading Romans 6:12-23
Gospel Reading Matthew 21:12-22
Evening Psalms 85; 47
