The Williams Family @ Grace International School: February 2013

Stepping Forth With One Vision, One Purpose Week Three March 2013

G r a c e I n t e r n a t i o n a l

S t u d e n t s a n d S t a f f,

A m b a s s a d o r s o f t h e

L o r d J e s u s C h r i s t:

Stepping Forth With One Vision, One Purpose Week Two March 2013

G r a c e I n t e r n a t i o n a l

S t u d e n t s a n d S t a f f,

A m b a s s a d o r s o f t h e

L o r d J e s u s C h r i s t:

Chiang Mai Ministry Center Proposal (revised from 2008)

Baptism Service in Chiang Mai

Brief Summary

The goal of this project is to develop a multi-purpose ministry center in Chiang Mai, Thailand that will provide for a worship hall, a ministry training centre, a center for outreach, and space for holistic ministries.

The project is being developed by The Mission Thailand Annual Conference of the Free Methodist Church in Thailand, led by Superintendent, Rev. Art Chutong. This conference represents 5 local churches and 2 Church Planting Projects found in Bangkok, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Lampun.

The long-term goal of the Conference is to see Free Methodist churches planted in each of the 63 Amphoes (districts) of Thailand with special concentration in gateway cities, especially Chiang Mai and Bangkok. The development of a multi-purpose facility in Chiang Mai, the second largest city of Thailand, is a key component in the achievement of these long-term goals.

Purpose of the Project

Vision Statement:

Our desire is to establish Free Methodist churches in each of the 63 Amphoes (districts) of Thailand with special concentration in gateway cities, especially Chiang Mai and Bangkok.

To help achieve the intention of this vision statement there is a need to develop several facilities throughout Thailand. Currently, Bangkok has two very good centers; Chiang Mai has a very small inadequate, rented facility. Chiang Mai is in serious need of a center:

which will serve congregations as worship and training centers
which will allow for visible impact in the North Chiang Mai area.
which will provide special services for outreach to social needs
which will be income-generating and self-maintaining
which will enable the support of various outreach ministries

The first step, which is a work in progress, is for the Chiang Mai FMC is to cast vision to its current members, mobilize prayer, take ownership through giving and start working toward the vision of having a multi-purpose center for holistic ministry.

The second step will be for the Board of Administration (BOA) of Mission Thailand to develop attainable plans for the physical and spiritual aspects of the ministry in Chiang Mai. Architectural plans have been presented to the BOA and approved. Careful attention is being given to location, cultural aspects, sustainability, and both short and long term goals.

The third step will be to find partners to pray about and give toward this project outside church members, who will also be asked to partner, pray and give.

The fourth step will be to purchase a suitable property or building on which to develop a multi-purpose facility.

The fifth step will be to provide accountability and continue partnerships for long-term effectiveness and sustainability.

Background Information

Chiang Mai is the largest city in Northern Thailand (Lanna) and is the cultural, and arts and crafts center for Thailand. Approximately 1.6 million people live in Chiang Mai. The area is an important center for outreach to all of Northern Thailand, Laos, China and Burma. Many missionaries live in Chaing Mai. It is also a major hub for tourism.

The Free Methodist Church began work in Chiang Mai in 2003. Pastor Joshua and his wife Onn oversee the work. In the past two years alone they have led to Christ, discipled, and baptized 25 people. Additionally, there are approximately 50 members who attend the church regularly.

The meeting space only accommodates around 30, has poor lighting and poor air ventilation. Also, the church is located on a road with no public transportation and no place for parking.

Desired Outcomes from the Project

The first centre to be located in Tambon Pha-Tan will seek to achieve the following outcomes:

identifiable location for Christian worship
space for a Ministry Training Centre
space for holistic ministries
space for income-generating enterprises

1. Identifiable location for Christian worship

- a well-located property to establish Free Methodist presence

- located in Tambon Pha-Tan area to serve established congregation

- size suitable for congregation up to 300 persons

2. Space for a Ministry Training Centre

- Several classrooms for 30 students each.

- kitchen suitable for food preparation for church and training events

3. Space for holistic ministries: Children’s ministries, reach out to the poor families.

4. Space for income-generating enterprises

Currently there is one property under consideration. Joshua looked at this property recently. It is in a great location, which would achieve all the goals, mentioned above. The price for the land would be around 2 million baht (US $60,000). The building will be another 1 1/3 million baht (US $40,000).

Stepping Forth With One Vision, One Purpose Week One March 2013

Grace International Students and Staff, Ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ:

Prayer and Praise Points March, Week One 2013

Prayer Points

Our last full week in the states before leaving for Thailand. Pray all the last minute details will come together.

For our Katelyn and Michaela. In particular for Michaela as this is when the reality of mom and dad being thousands of miles away begins to set in.

Seth as he celebrates his birthday on the 3rd of March.

For the church in America. That she would continue to have a heart that beats in unison with the Lord's. And that her activities would engage the congregation in transformation in her Jerusalem, Samaria, Judea, and the utter most parts of the world.

The church in Chiang Mai. That as they consider and think about the part they can play in funding the project seeing how their widow's mite becomes the faith that moves a mountain. Also that the Lord would use their faith to encourage others to exercise their faith, step out and give.

Praise Points

The college student who was obedient to the unique call on her life to give up a cherished possession.

For great meetings in Chiang Mai for the Board of Administration. Clarity on the Chiang Mai Ministry Center moving forward. Please check out the project to Learn More. $60,000 is needed to buy land and another $40,000 to build the new church. What a praise to have the national church in Chiang Mai bulging at the seams in it's present facilities.

Don's blood pressure had been slowly creeping up. He had an exam today and it was 116/84. This is a huge praise.

Check out the wonderful PRAISE announced at Grace International School this week! Please join us in giving thanks to the Lord.

Our Story of How We Entered Missions as told by Don

24 years ago I was working on a doctorate in E Texas, at Texas A & M at Commerce, I was an educational consultant working with schools across America and taught and wrote curriculum for a start-up business for what was planned to become a franchise of private K-12 schools across America. Kathy was working in a hospital as a med-tech. We had two sons with a third on the way.

At the time Kathy picked up a book written by Melody Green about Keith Green's life entitled, "No Compromise." She recommended I read it. Before she could finish, I got a hold of the book and was deeply moved by a particular section where Melody tells how Keith came to realize, through the Spirt's prompting, that as a Christian musician he had made his music and ministry an idol. That somehow, he'd come to love his ministry and music more than he loved the Lord. Keith, deeply convicted, determined he would lay down his music and ministry and never pick them up again, unless the Lord gave them back.

The Spirit of God used these same words from the book in my own life. Like Keith, I was prompted by the Spirit that I had made idols out of working on a doctorate, being an educational consultant, and developing a business plan to start private schools across America. It is not that any of these things are wrong in and of themselves. It is what I made of them as a Christian, that the Lord was speaking to me about. I had fallen into the trap of putting these things first, loving them more than I loved the Lord.

Deeply convicted, I went to Kathy, who was a couple months pregnant with our third son and shared how the Holy Spirit was working in my life. I told her I was going to resign from the doctoral program, as an educational consultant and as a participant in the endeavor to start private school across America. Deep down I knew that I didn't love these things more than I loved the Lord, though I wasn't behaving as if this were true. My actions as a Christian were not consistent with my beliefs. I'll never forget Kathy's response, "Just let me have this baby."

I resigned from all three activities. As a result, as you can well imagine, I had a great deal of time on my hands. That time was spent reading the Word and praying. The more I prayed and read the Word the more the Lord revealed. He was doing a deep work in my life. At times I found myself prostrate on the floor, overcome with conviction for the sin He was pointing out. The Word of God was opening up and speaking to me in ways I'd never experienced before. I began to see how my life up to this point had basically been spent on things with little to no eternal consequence.

It was as if my eyes were lifted above the horizon by the Lord and there was this deep sense of calling to live life with eternal purpose, eternal perspective and eternal consequence. The Word of God challenged me to think about and ask, "If I stood before the Lord in that very moment, would what's revealed, in how I had lived my life, amount to a pile of wood, hay or stubble OR would what's revealed be gold, silver and precious stones? Would all that my life produced, up to that point, be burned ashes OR be purified by fire and not destroyed. Again I found myself flat out before the Lord as I acknowledged that what would be revealed would result in a pile of ashes.

The Word again spoke to me that unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground it would remain alone. There must be death before there can be life. The hard outer coat of the seed must fall off before new life can fully emerge. The Lord was breaking away every hindrance to His life and His good work showing up, flowing in and through me.

The Word helped me to see there were some good things accomplished in and through my life but that the one thing the Lord had against me was that somewhere along the way, as a Christian, I had lost my first love. Once again, deeply convicted, I cried out to the Lord as I longed to re-discover returning to that place of Him being my "first love" and to more fully and consistently living life from that place.

It became clearer to me as I spent concentrated and consistent time with the Lord in the Word and in prayer of what was on His heart. The Lord gave me insight into why the disciple John was referred to as "the Beloved" by Jesus. When the Word says that John would lay his head on the breast of Jesus, it occurred to me, he couldn't help but hear the heartbeat of Jesus. I believe that John not only heard the physical heartbeat of Jesus but he also came to know what Jesus' heart beat for. You know it is possible for anyone who spends time leaning into Christ to discover what is on His heart. I began to hear what was on His heart and my heart started to beat in sync with the Lord's.

What is it that his heart beats for? What is He passionate about? What is He willing to lay His life down for? I heard it beating for the Lost...it beats for those who don't know Him as Lord and Savior, that they would come to know and be in relationship with Him. His heart beats so that none should perish. The more time I spent with the Lord the more I was convinced that His heart beats for those that don't know his amazing forgiveness and love.

The Word of God also spoke to me through the words of the Macedonian call - "Come over and help us." It was a call the Spirit was applying to my life though I wasn't entirely sure where the "over there" was exactly.

Initially I thought the work the Lord was doing in my life was completed when I laid down consulting, the career in education, and graduate studies, those things I'd made idols. My promise to the Lord, just like Keith Green's, was to not pick them up again unless God gave them back. Little did I know the full implications of this decision, the journey just begun and the adventures that lie ahead.

Convinced with what was on the heart of God and determined to join God in what I sensed He was already doing... I went to Kathy to let her know how the Lord was impressing upon me a sense of calling for us, to join His missional heart and become missionaries - seeing people come to a saving knowledge of Christ. I wasn't sure what it meant to be a missionary but I was convinced this is what we were being called to do. Kathy's response went something like her first one...just let me have this baby and then we'll talk about it. There was a work that God not only wanted to do in my life, there was a work he wanted to do in our marriage.

I came to Kathy early on and asked for her forgiveness for the things the Lord would point out throughout this journey. In true typical male conquering fashion...we confess, ask for forgiveness and then we expect to move on. God wanted to do a deeper work in our marriage and it wasn't going to be as quick a fix as I'd thought. Over the years Kathy had followed me on this and that adventure. In her mind she's wondering, "Is this adventure going to be any different?" You see I'd lost her confidence and trust over the years and it would take time to regain both.

Well in time Kathy and I did begin to look into how we might fulfill the calling God had on our lives to be missionaries. We checked out Last Days Ministries - the training center started by Keith and Melody, from there we were sent down the road to YWAM and finally came across a short term mission experience in Paupa New Guinea with a group called, New Tribes Mission. By this time our third son, Josiah was born. He went with us to PNG while our two eldest, stayed with our pastor and his wife for six weeks. It was while we were in PNG that God brought Kathy and me together in our call to be missionaries. (Kathy share)

After our time in Papua New Guinea, we came back to the states, picked up our kids, sold our home and most of our worldly possessions and made our way into missionary training to become Bible translators and church planters. During our time in training, we were approached and asked to consider getting involved in the education of missionary children. A couple who were responsible for the education of missionary children kept asking to meet with us. We knew what they wanted. I just knew they would ask us to get involved with them in the education of missionary children. To stop them from hounding us we decided to invite them over for dinner. After the meal they started talking about the ministry they envisioned for us. The ministry they described sounded very similar to my educational consulting role I'd laid down never to pick up again. That's when the Spirit of the Lord spoke, do you remember the words you said when you laid down education, teaching and consulting? Of course I remembered. The Lord whispered into my heart in that moment and said, "I'm giving consulting and being involved in education back, now pick them up and bring glory to my name."

You see God not only knows how Kathy and I are wired, with the gifts and talents He's given, He also knows how He's wired you the reader. He wants to take each of our gifts, our passions, and talents - how He has wired us, and use our lives for His Kingdom, for His glory, honor and praise. He wants our lives to have an eternal impact, rewarded when we stand before him, where it is revealed how we have invested and spent our lives. Revealing whether the building materials used were gold, silver and precious gems that last forever or if our life was spent building with wood, hay and stubble that doesn't make it through the fire. The Word of God says it will be revealed at the end of our days how we have invested and spent our days.

Our Lord is a jealous God. If there are things in this world you love more than Him, He will faithfully and graciously point those things out to you by His Spirit, just as He did for us. May we encourage you who haven't yet heard from the Lord to let Him speak to your hearts about what is on His heart and listen to the very personal invitation the Spirit makes to have you join Him in seeing the lost, the least and the last brought into relationship with Him.

Your part in all of this is really quite simple...

It could be that your response is to pray. Praying for missions and missionaries does make a difference. Personally we have over 300 people who receive our weekly update, many of those readers are faithful prayer warriors. Please know, prayer for missions and missionaries makes a tremendous difference.

Another response could be to the call to support and give to the missions efforts of the church. We encourage you to find out about the different missionaries and projects the church supports. If you haven't already given to the mission budget of the church please consider this as a way to respond.

And finally there could be some in the church who will respond to a call to go - to be scattered - to be seeds planted...some for your neighbor's sake, some even serving as cross cultural missionaries... while others will consider and go on short-term mission trips.

What will your response be?

Prayer and Praise Points February, Week Four 2013

Prayer Points

The Mission Thailand Country Shares Account (CSA) for 2013 budget is $10,000 short in commitments. To find out what a CSA is please check out the link here. Country Shares

For the 300+ ministries of parents who send their children to Grace International School. Pray for the parents and children, their ministries and for God's hedge of protection around them physically, spiritually and emotionally.

For the staff needed at Grace International School for the 2013-14 school year. See the Link Here for current postings. Please pray and share the needs with others.

For us as we wrap things up in the coming weeks preparing for our return to Thailand. Pray specifically for reduced stress.

Praise Points

We are at 99% of our commitments for 2013. We have one church who has promised to give and when their commitment arrives in Indy we will be at 100%. It has been quite the journey seeing the Lord provide. Thank you for all your prayers and for those who signed up making a commitment. We are so very grateful. Thank you!

For the church plants in Chiang Mai and Lampun.

For the growing numbers in the FM Church in Chiang Mai and the opportunities this presents.

For the interest of what could be a key donor for the capital campaign for Grace International School. Pray the Lord's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Stepping Forth With One Vision, One Purpose Week Four February 2013

Grace International Students and Staff as Ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ:

Praise and Prayer Points for February Week Three

Praise Points

We now have 98% of our commitments for our 2013 budget. This is a HUGE praise!

Having Josiah and Whitney stay with us in Washington before they transition to life in another part of the state. Thank you Lord.

The gift of a vision from the Lord for the people of Thailand.

For ministries like The Set Free Movement whose heart beats as one with the heart of the Lord Jesus for the least, the last and the lost. And for Kevin Austin who is making a difference as the founder and leader of the movement.

Prayer Points

Please be in prayer for Set Free Sunday across America. Specifically that the church will engage in some way to make a difference.

For Josiah and Whitney as they move and settle into their new "home" in Port Angeles, WA this weekend.

Superintendent Matt Whitehead and others from the PNWC are traveling and ministering to pastors in India. Pray for their health and safety in travels. Also for open hearts for those hearing what the Spirit speaks through them as they minister to leaders in the church in India.

For David and Sherril Yardy planning the details for the Asia Area Retreat held the second week of March in Thailand.

Stepping forth with one vision, one purpose.

Grace students being ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Engage in the SetFreeMovement

Preach,
proclaim, worship,
learn, pray...
Let Freedom Sunday be a
catalyst for action,
moving us out into our
communities to create new futures.

Drink Coffee and Support the Set Free Movement HERE

Vision 2015 One Million Thais Come to Christ

How do you reach the goal of one million Thais becoming Christians by 2015? One Thai at a time, which in Thai culture can mean you reach a family, friends and possibly a whole community because of the high value Thais place on relationships.

Note is one of those "one at a time stories". Note met the Todds (missionary parents of students) in the GIS fitness room; they began a Bible study together. "At home, I put my Bible next to my family idol," said Note, a growing believer and young husband. "But for the next two years at university, I partied more than studied. But I read my bible when I was discouraged." Eventually he decided to resume honest Bible study and was baptized a month later. Then his animistic father said to leave home. but the HOld Spirit and fellow Christians helped Note flush his drugs, stop getting drunk, stop smoking, and stop playing video games six hours each day. He also learned self-control, to stop hitting annoying people and to stay with his wife, Gap, even when he felt no love. "I can't believe I was so blind," Note said.

Please pray for Note and the hundreds of others who have yet to hear the Gospel.

Our Community Week of February 10, 2013

Praise and Prayer Points for Week of February 10, 2013

Praise Points

For those coming to Chiang Mai, visiting Grace to check out potential ministry opportunities in March.

Safe arrival of Josiah and Whitney. Also for the provision of jobs for both of them.

Healing and improved health for Katelyn and Michaela who had been struggling with cold symptoms for a couple weeks.

Healing for Seth who picked up a rash and is now much better.

Prayer Points

For the positions open at Grace International School this next school year. We need advocates in our supporting churches and conferences as well as with our individual partners to be praying and sharing as you are able, the openings to come and serve at Grace in the 2013-14 school year. The link here lists all the opportunities. Some are teaching positions others include: administrative assistant (Don needs a new admin assistant), facilities director, school nurse, health services director, school counselor, etc. Please consider opening, printing and posting the list at church and sharing with your friends. Staff Positions

Josiah and Whitney could find affordable housing in their new community in the coming days/weeks.

For our transition and all the details involved as we make preparations to return to Thailand March 12th.

Love Expressed to the "Least of These"

Katelyn, Michaela and Josiah all participated in the ministry to Agape home children who live with HIV. In all they spent almost 10 years, once a month over the course of their secondary years at Grace International School being a part of this incredible ministry. Over 50 Grace students continue to minister to children at both Agape Home and House of Love, both homes for children with HIV.

Below are several shots of our kids interacting with children at Agape Home over the years while they attended Grace International School, in Chiang Mai, Thailand.