Thailand needs native English speakers

UPDATE THAILAND April 2006 Newsletter from the Hilderbrand's
NEEDED BY SUMMER:

Please pray about coming to help us. We really need native English speakers willing to be trained as language teachers. Next term we will be short teachers.

Website address: www.worldbasethailand.org

HAWAII

At the end of March, Kelly traveled to Hawaii to recruit teachers and raise money for our new building. It was great to see old friends and make new ones. Every day was filled with meetings, lunches and dinners. Kelly gained 3 pounds. Kelly also preached at Hope Chapel West Oahu one Sunday, was interviews by Ralph Moore at a Friday night service at Hope Chapel Kaneohe Bay and then preached at Hope Central the next Sunday. Many thanks to all the people who have given so generously to the ministry here in Thailand.

Support can still be sent to:
Foursquare Missions International
P.O. Box 26902
Los Angeles, CA 90026-0176
Designate checks to WorldBase Thailand ministries.

EASTER SUNDAY

Most people go to church on Easter Sunday, eat lunch with family and friends and enjoy the warming spring weather. Easter in Thailand this year was a little different. At church most members of Good News Church were dressed in black and then after a quick lunch we gathered in cars to travel 1 ½ hours outside of Bangkok to a temple deep in the midst of the rice fields of central Thailand.

Poppy’s father had died. Poppy is the daughter of a second wife and throughout her life she was beaten by her father. The beatings were often and vicious. Sometimes Poppy’s father would use large wooden boards to beat Poppy until she was almost unconscious. She finally left home to go to college and live with a friend. Her friend brought her to Good News Foursquare Church. There Poppy found Jesus and the healing that He brings. Poppy began bringing her mother to church and Poppy’s mother became a Christian.

Poppy then began to pray for her father. While most of us might hate a father like Poppy’s, Poppy wanted so much for her father to come to church and be saved. She prayed for him and kept inviting him to church. One day, he walked in and sat in the back. He left early, but he came. Off and on, Poppy’s dad would come to church. Poppy and others sat down with him to explain to him about repentance, forgiveness and the love of Jesus.

Shortly, before Kelly left for Hawaii, Poppy’s dad prayed to receive Jesus. Then shortly before Kelly returned from Hawaii, Poppy’s father died of a heart attack. God’s timing is perfect.

Thai funerals are seven days long. The last day is the cremation. While Poppy’s father prayed to receive Jesus, the rest of the family set up a traditional Buddhist funeral in the home village of Poppy’s mom. Easter Sunday was the last day of the funeral and the cremation was set for 3:00 p.m. Half the people present were from Good News Church. We had prepared a small pamphlet to hand out at the funeral. We included a biography of Poppy’s father, and a message about how he had received Jesus and how others could also.

The monks chanted. The family carried the casket three times around the crematorium. Once the casket was placed in the crematorium, people passed-by placing paper flowers near the casket. Then the casket was opened and coconut milk was poured over the face. The casket was again sealed and placed in the fire.

PRAYER REQUESTS

Please pray for four new English teachers by May 1. The school has grown to serve almost 800 students and our second Bangkok branch is also growing and in need of more teachers.

Please pray that the government will approve our application for a Foursquare Foundation.

We have applied for a building permit to begin construction on our new facility. Please pray that the application will be approved. We still need to raise $500,000 to build a seven story facility that will house two churches, WorldBase, Language school and several social ministries and offices.

Please pray for our language teachers by name: Anna, Evan, Gary, Josh, Maureen, Mui, Michelle, Nave, Paula, Simon, Sucharn, Kelly, and Angie. Pray that our teachers would develop friendships quickly and be effective in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Pray for the new Ram 2 church and its pastor, Max.
Continue to pray for our health and continued protection, especially as we travel.