November 2016
Posted on Nov 18, 2016 in Burma, Burma Christmas Blessing Project, Cambodia, Laos, Laos Christmas Blessing Project, Laos Orphanage, News, Peru, Peru Christmas Blessing Project, Thailand, Thailand Christmas Blessing Project | Tags: 10/40 window, Asia Missions, brian mark weller, christmas blessing project, evangelism, Feeding Center, fishers of men, great commission, Indigenous missions, Jim Randall, Message Ministries, messageministries and missions, mission quotes, orphans, peru missions, southeast asia
As we enter Thanksgiving season we have so much to be thankful for! I want to share some of my thanks-giving!
- I am extremely thankful for God’s love and grace, which brought me into a life-saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave His life for me and for the whole world.
-
I am tremendously thankful for my amazing family. I certainly don’t deserve a family as wonderful as them, but God gave them to me. I thank Him for that.
- I am ever so grateful for the opportunity to be a grandfather to our new grandson Noah – the son of our daughter Katie and her husband Mike. We all love him so much and feel very blessed to have a baby in the family again.
- I am overwhelmingly thankful to God for the opportunity to serve Him in world missions. I love being able to reach out with the gospel of Jesus and to help meet practical and spiritual needs by the grace of God and with an amazing group of caring people.
Let’s all be sure to focus on thanks-giving this Thanksgiving! We start to complain when we lose focus on the greatness of God.
- Do it because you care about the many poor children that have next to nothing.
- Do it because you want to bless them in the name of the Lord Jesus, whose birth we celebrate.
- Do it because you desire to foster that same care in your little ones. For many years our family had very little, but we always somehow found a way to give to those in need. Families that care together and share together seem to come together as they experience God’s love and blessings.
September and October have been busy months. I was in Nigeria for 30 days from early September to early October. I was home in Chiang Mai for a week then off to Vietnam. During that week, I was soooooo sick. I can’t remember having ever been more sick with flu type symptoms. I slept almost constantly for three days and ate lots of Amoxicillin that I bought from the drug store around the corner. I bought another course in Vietnam because I still had symptoms. I still have a slight cough but that’s it.
In Nigeria, I spoke in lots of churches and training seminars in the southern half of the country. We also had our First BAM (Business As Missions) Nigeria Conference. We had about 50 high level Christian leaders who came. We had several come from other countries in the region who want to start a BAM movement in their countries. I have been invited to Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Ghana. I will probably go to Nigeria again in March to conduct a seminar on how to put together a business plan in preparation for the next BAM Nigeria conference in October. We hope to fund two business start-ups that have a Missions focus. There are some very top Nigerian Christian business leaders who will be involved in seeing a Missions movement started in Nigeria. This is the beginning of the fulfillment of prophetic words I received from God 40 years ago.
I went to Hanoi to do Bible training for a group of about 50 pastors, most of whom are from the tribal areas in the far north near China. I then went to Saigon for another week to join in a Conference with about 250 pastors and leaders. I was one of about five leaders. It was very good and encouraging to see the zeal of the Vietnamese Christians. They are ready for a Spiritual Awakening to take place there. We gave Vietnamese copies of my two booklets on Leadership to each one.
Brian Weller will come in February to meet with leaders in preparation for a large Youth Summer Camp in July. We are expecting this to be the beginning of a youth movement in Vietnam. There will be between 200 and 300 youth in attendance.
My Jewish friend from Dallas is coming in December to look at two ministries for possible funding. She is not a Christian but willing to fund Christians who are doing some significant “humanitarian” work. I will take her to Cambodia to see the land mine victims who work at the Cambodian Harvest Dried Fruit Company. http://www.cambodianharvest.com// This company was started 11 years ago by an old friend of mine when she was 70 years old to provide jobs for victims of land mines who are now handicapped. They are usually missing a foot, leg, arm or hand after stepping on a land mine left from the Pol Pot era in the 1970’s. They need at least half a million US Dollars to expand. They have reached their maximum capacity. They have started a church and 70-80 % of the people have become Christian.
We will also go to Mae Sot to visit Life Impact Ministries. They rescue children from human trafficking and slavery. They are very successful a nd are the only ministry in Thailand that has government approval to go into any business or place to rescue children. The police have no authority over them. They only need half a million dollars. They already have 25 acres in Thailand but need another 35 acres and a facility across the river in Myanmar.
As you can see, I am busy. I have lots going on here in Chiang Mai with mentoring, consulting with ministries and writing. I am editing my fourth booklet on Strategic Planning. Burmese has been translated, waiting for funds for printing and Cambodian and Thai are being done now. I had 500 each of three titles printed in English in Nigeria in September for the conference. They are free online in English and Vietnamese and will soon be in Myanmar, Cambodian and Thai. Tribal languages are being recorded onto CD for leaders in Northern Vietnam. Some only speak or read limited Vietnamese.
If you would like to help with the cost of translation and printing of these booklets, let me know. Translation is usually around $75 to $100 USD and printing is about $.25 each. I give most of them free to leaders but charge if they want additional copies for their leaders. I only charge enough to cover the cost of printing more in the future.
The Thai Emperor has died. There is a one month mourning period that will go for another week plus a one year period of mourning. I was in Bangkok in 1982 taking photos at the Buddhist temple of the Jade Buddha when the King came to change the robe on the statue. He passed within 10 feet of where I stood. He reigned for 70 years and it is reported that his missionary English teacher prayed with him to become a secret Christian. Is there such a thing as a secret Christian? It is uncertain if the son will ascend to the throne but there is likely to be serious political trouble and possible revolt now that he is gone. The son (probable successor) has a bad reputation as a playboy and is not respected by many. Trouble has been brewing for years and this next year may produce a serious revolt now that the beloved king is gone.
If you would like to help with other costs like travel expenses or living expenses in SE Asia, please go to:
Please pray for:
- Health and safety.
- Political stability in Thailand
- Publishing of the leadership booklets
- Travel for the next two months and my Jewish friend’s visit/funding projects
- Funds for the work here
- Ability to hear clearly from the Lord.
God bless you and thanks for sharing in the Lord’s work here in SE Asia and Africa.
Thank you, Jim Randall