Good News Ministries was started in 1978 by two World Outreach missionaries from New Zealand, Lorraine Dierck and Valerie Bateup. There are now 12 Thai Christians working in the Good News Ministries Team. We meet with Lorraine while we were in Bangkok.
Their Vision
20 million Thai children and youth have not yet heard a meaningful presentation of the gospel. 94% are Buddhist and 4% are from other religious backgrounds. Less than 1% of these young people know Christ as their Savior.
Thai youth are the key to the future of the church in Thailand. Yet, at the same time, thousands of them are being exploited and abused. For centuries, children have been regarded as merely commodities to be used for the best advantage of the extended family or village. They desperately need to hear that God loves them and can give them a new life in Jesus Christ. Continue reading Changing our World – Good News Team Thailand
Delhi Bible Institute was established over 40 years ago to train Indian church leaders. After 20 years, having trained 500 men, DBI changed to focus on Northern India, where half India’s population live, but where only a tiny percentage of people are Christians (most of India’s 4% that are Christians live in South India).
They also changed to work with semi-educated Christians rather than setting entry criteria of high school qualifications, and set a target of training 4000 in the next 20 year period. They trained 4078. The 2005-2025 vision is to train 30,000 church planters and plant 15,000 new churches in Northern India.
This strategy recognises three types of leaders, Type 1 – small group leaders – usually volunteers, Type 2 – self-supporting local supervisors who oversee the type 1 leaders, Type 3 – full time local leaders, who devote most or all of their time to the work of Christian leadership.
Continue reading Changing our World – Northern India
Myamnar
One of the projects we support is a partnership focused on the support of six church planters in various parts of Myamnar. When we were in Asia we didn’t go on this leg of the trip, but the report by Kevin Honore can be found on this link. http://www.brighthopeworld.com/report.asp?report=173
The church is alive and well in Myanmar. Please take the time to read the report and pray for these people.
Peru
We also have received exciting news from the partnership project we support in Peru.
This past April we visited for a second time a Shipibo village to make preparations for the missionary team that will seek contact with an un-contacted tribe in that general area that has shown that it wants to come out of hiding. On a previous visit in October 2008, we were informed by the church that there was a favorable location a day’s trip away (by canoe) where contact could probably be made. However, on this second visit, the church leaders counseled us not to go to that place because it was not safe, due to drug traffickers frequently using that route to transport their drugs. We were told that there was a safer place to set up ……. Continue reading Changing our World – Myanmar & Peru
Title: An Enjoyable Evening For Women
Location: The Church
Come and enjoy an evening out with The Anchor Women. Our guest, Dawn Murray, will be speaking about God’s love and the healing power of his word. We will also have a time of sharing, worship and enjoy some hot apple pie.
Contact Rachel if you need more information on 04 233 8690.
An RSVP is not necessary but for catering it would be helpful if you could let us know if you can come.
Let us think of one another and how we can encourage each other to love and do good deeds – Hebrews 10:24
Start Time: 07:00 pm
Date: 14/6/2009
End Time: 08:30 pm
ITDP was a programme we visited in Chiang Mai and in the hills around there. The families in the villagers very graciously hosted us and explained what this programme meant to them.
Mike and Becky Mann, missionaries in Thailand, have provided support to the hill tribe villages in Northern Thailand and surrounding regions for 14+ years. Through ITDP, the hill tribes now have an alternative to the lifestyle they had resulted to in the past: selling their children into prostitution, selling drugs, and committing crimes.
The coffee we use (and sell) at church comes from this programme.
ITDP has a mission to glorify God in all the earth by crossing cultural boundaries to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
Their vision is to
1. Assist villagers in a holistic and sustainable way by increasing their economic and social opportunities.
2. Assist village leaders and project personnel in areas of empowerment, capacity building and participatory approaches.
3. Be a resource for northern NGOs / donors to assist resource – poor hill tribes in integrated development.
Check out a video here http://www.nextlevelmissions.org/SDCC2009.html.
The programmes they run include
