We thank God for the week that has just passed, for the football/soccer activities in the village that went really well because of the grace of God. After preparing for 2-3 months, we were able to hold a tournament to help build relationships in the village. There were 6 teams that came together to play. The results: we received great responses from the teams and people in the villages as well as the other teams that came to take part.
At the same time, younger people and children in the village observed, learnt, and even showed more interest in playing soccer. They have shown a desire to come together and develop their skills and abilities in playing soccer. They are showing an interest in taking part in the soccer program that I want to run in the village from the end of March until mid April. We want to help build these children up and reach them through soccer. In order to do this we will run the soccer program in my village and will have a schedule for soccer training in the morning from 6:30-8am and in the evening from 4-6pm. This will be for the under 16’s in the village (around 12 people are interested).
We are really excited at how God is using soccer ministry to build relationships and share His love with people who have never experienced it. This then gives us the chance to explain through both words and actions what God has done for them. This is our main goal in running these activities.
I am really thankful to God and to all of you for your continued prayers and support for us. We are very in need of this support from our family in Christ and always will be. Thank you so much!
If anyone is interested in finding out more, becoming involved or supporting this project through sending sports supplies, please contact me at numlek@gmail.com or for those in Thailand you can call me at 084-483 9883.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Bpa Tia Cup Complete!
THANKYOU everyone for your prayers and support in the last couple of weeks as we prepared for and ran the Bpa Tia Cup (a soccer tournament for youth and young adults in Noom's village). The tournament went only for 2 days (14th-15th March) but the planning and preparations were taking place for more than 2 weeks beforehand.
The tournament was a success, giving us the opportunity to build relationships as well as be a witness of God's love to the people in the village. God even gave us the grace and opportunity to play Isaan worship music over the loud speakers during the breaks. We believe that through this tournament, whether it be through hearing the music or through watching the lives of the Christians involved, Noom's village and other surrounding villages were able to see and hear more about God. Praise God for His protection over the teams as they played, and for His willingness to use us humans to take a part in His will!
Personally, I (Karis) enjoyed my first chance of being involved in the running of the tournament by taking down scores and keeping an eye on the schedule, but would have loved to have more of a chance to talk to the women in the village and build relationships one-on-one. I am praying for the opportunity to do more of this and for the courage even though I don't have too much of the Isaan language.
Praise God also that the teams who were involved in the tournament were able to experience a kind of playing without fights, seriousness and yelling, but more so they were able to just have fun.
Thank you once again for all your support and in the next couple of days we will be updating more about the soccer ministry to come in the upcoming weeks.
The tournament was a success, giving us the opportunity to build relationships as well as be a witness of God's love to the people in the village. God even gave us the grace and opportunity to play Isaan worship music over the loud speakers during the breaks. We believe that through this tournament, whether it be through hearing the music or through watching the lives of the Christians involved, Noom's village and other surrounding villages were able to see and hear more about God. Praise God for His protection over the teams as they played, and for His willingness to use us humans to take a part in His will!
Personally, I (Karis) enjoyed my first chance of being involved in the running of the tournament by taking down scores and keeping an eye on the schedule, but would have loved to have more of a chance to talk to the women in the village and build relationships one-on-one. I am praying for the opportunity to do more of this and for the courage even though I don't have too much of the Isaan language.
Praise God also that the teams who were involved in the tournament were able to experience a kind of playing without fights, seriousness and yelling, but more so they were able to just have fun.
Thank you once again for all your support and in the next couple of days we will be updating more about the soccer ministry to come in the upcoming weeks.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Revelations - from Karis
Throughout the week of prayer from 21st-25th February, there were many things God taught me and many revelations He gave me. I would like to share just a few of these with you all. I pray that God will use these to touch your hearts as I strongly believe that the revelations were not just for me but for all of God’s creation. I feel that God has entrusted some of these words with me for the purpose of sharing them with others.
During the last week, God used movies, books, the Bible, and prayer to speak to me and challenge me.
I had the chance to watch The Nativity Story, as I wanted to observe Mary’s relationship with God (I’m a visual person!). I was shocked at how, even though at times many things/people were against her, she still stood strong in God’s promises for her life. Not once did she get mad at God for “destroying her life” but she was willing as she said, “I am the Lord’s servant, let it be done as you have said” and then accepted the consequences. Because God saw her obedience, and because His plans for her were GOOD plans, He stuck up for her to Joseph - and finally, Mary had someone to walk alongside her, someone to believe that she was telling the truth. Through this God’s message to me was SURRENDER. Submitting to God and to His will for our lives will make the bond of our relationship with Him stronger and stronger.
I had the chance to watch The Nativity Story, as I wanted to observe Mary’s relationship with God (I’m a visual person!). I was shocked at how, even though at times many things/people were against her, she still stood strong in God’s promises for her life. Not once did she get mad at God for “destroying her life” but she was willing as she said, “I am the Lord’s servant, let it be done as you have said” and then accepted the consequences. Because God saw her obedience, and because His plans for her were GOOD plans, He stuck up for her to Joseph - and finally, Mary had someone to walk alongside her, someone to believe that she was telling the truth. Through this God’s message to me was SURRENDER. Submitting to God and to His will for our lives will make the bond of our relationship with Him stronger and stronger.
I also had the chance to read “The Heavenly Man”. God challenged me through Deling, Brother Yun’s wife. Their life was unimaginably hard, but she trusted God and continuously surrendered to Him and died to her own desires of a “safe and stable family life.” When her husband wasn’t in prison for God, he was traveling and sharing the Gospel. But she never condemned Yun for giving up so much of his family life. She expected that he would give it up in order for the Gospel. And all of a sudden, I saw Mark 8:35 and Matt 10:39 in a new light! That day I was praying for my relationship with my husband, Noom. If I try to cling onto my life (in this case, marriage) by holding onto all these expectations of things Noom should be, I will lose it (whether that be through losing the passion or through losing even more than that). But God showed me that if I am willing to give my marriage life up (lay down all my expectations and desires) and follow Him, I will have a strong marriage life. God also revealed to me many things that I need to change in order to bless my husband. He gave me the word SACRIFICE for my family life (marriage life and life with the guys we look after). With ministry, God showed me through prayer how important it is to be a servant leader and I will definitely be working on this more.
During the week He also led me to Matt 14:22-33 which is the story about Jesus (and Peter) walking on the water. When Peter stepped out, he had faith because he was focused on Jesus. But as he started to take his eyes off Jesus and focus on the wind and waves (everything that was coming up against him) he doubted and started to sink. But still, as he called out to Jesus, Jesus reached out and saved him immediately. I felt like God was showing me that I needed to have more FAITH. Also, stepping out in faith might appear dangerous sometimes, but we are never in a dangerous place if we’re doing what God calls us to do - and even when we doubt (as long as we call out to Jesus) He is there to lift us out. On the day God showed me this verse, I was praying for healing. He gave me many revelations on his grace and mercy in our lives, and even though some of us may not experience healing in this life, because of what Jesus has done for us we can experience total freedom and peace with God (and that alone is already so much more than what we deserve). Will we have consistent and persistent faith that God can heal us? And until the day we receive healing, will we stand and praise God for what He has done and is still to do? Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (and the Spirit of the Lord lives inside us). I was told I’d never be able to fast again because of my stomach problems. But I have fasted, with no stomach pain, only because of the grace and mercy of my Lord.
As I prayed for our town, again I got the word SACRIFICE - and the revelation that we can bring the word of God through offering our own lives as a living sacrifice for Him, ie. dying to our own desires and choosing to do what God wants, living to worship Him. This is all we need!!
There were many things God showed me which I am still processing. If anyone wants to know more, please feel free to contact me! Thank you to everyone who held me in their prayers during the week - they really did make such a difference!
There were many things God showed me which I am still processing. If anyone wants to know more, please feel free to contact me! Thank you to everyone who held me in their prayers during the week - they really did make such a difference!
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