Larry and Jan Martin, International Ministries Ban Luang, Thailand July 2004
Dear Partners in the Gospel:
It looks like we may have missed a month in our prayer letters. Thank you for the expressions of encouragement and sympathy that many of you sent after my Father’s death. It was a good time remembering my dad and his life and Christian commitment during our short time in California. Thank you for praying for us.
We say that our primary work is in Evangelism and church Planting but occasionally other opportunities present themselves. Recently we have been into development work. A team of young people that came on a mission trip brought some money with them and asked to do a physical project in the area. The government has local committees that oversee the spending of government money for development in rural areas. We talked to the head of this committee and from several projects that he suggested we chose building weirs. With the money the group was bringing he thought there was enough for 2 weirs.
We helped in the planning and when the team came they also helped in the mixing and pouring of cement as it was all done by hand. We actually worked on 3 weirs while they were here. When they were done we looked at the funds and discovered that there was enough money for another 3 weirs to be built. Why? Because, unlike the government funded projects, the local people provided all of the labor free as the projects were helping them directly. Also there was no main contractor who needed to make a profit and no skimming off of money by any officials.
We were happy at the way that God multiplied this money beyond the expectations of us, the locals or the church that provided it. We are excited about the number of families that have been helped to provide for their families through these projects. We have also been excited about the new segment of the community that we have starting relating to as a result of these projects.
Right now our neighbors are involved in planting both rice and corn. Rice to eat and corn as a cash crop. We have been able to help in both and this makes the weirs especially meaningful as we experience where the water will be going. God has provided for us with his bounty and we are happy about the way that God’s family helps in that.
We also had a chance to worship with the church in Payamengrai, where we were last term, and were happy with the reports of new families committing to a relationship with Jesus Christ and new baptism classes.
Prayer Points
· Pray for the families here that they will continue to work together for their communities.
· Please pray for the church in Payamengrai as they continue to reach out to their community.
· Pray for us as we look to these new relationships for new ways to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.