News & Prayer
Keeping The Faith
From the April 2019 Prayer Focus
From that day, Brother Pramote experienced the touch of God, he was never the same.
He came from a very poor Buddhist-animist family in northeast Thailand. He would rather catch frogs than attend school, finishing in fourth grade. Being a slow learner, he was only able to finish fourth grade. Later, he headed off to Bangkok to find work. He worked hard, however, he was lured into alcohol and other vices. Unable to save any money and struggling, he was willing to take any job, even if it meant committing a crime. He became a hired killer.
When his father died in 1982, he decided to return home. He learned that a Christian in the village, together with his mother and wife, had been helping his father on his sickbed until his death.
After the funeral, an influential man in his village hired Pramote to kill this Christan. He was told that this man was a communist and was causing division and trouble in the village. So, one Sunday morning, with a gun inside his shirt, he went to the church, mingled among the crowd and pretended to listen to the preacher. As he listened, something strange happened. Tears ran down his cheeks!
“I wondered why I couldn’t control my tears while listening to this man of God. I had never cried like this before, even when my father died,” he shared. “That day I accepted Jesus into my heart.”
Brother Pramote later confessed to the Christan man, who happened to be Ajan Phon, our worker in the northeast. One month later, Ajan Phon, who became his mentor, baptized him, together with six other new converts.
From 1984-1986 nearly a hundred young people and children came every Sunday to listen to his sharing. “I was on fire to share the gospel and had a burden for the youth. I felt that I needed training so I could teach others with confidence.”
In 1986 Bro Pramot enrolled at the School of Workers (SOW) training in northeast Thailand. He soon became the main coordinator, training in northeast Thailand and Laos. He was instrumental in connecting these two nations, where hundreds of leaders from both countries were trained, strengthened and empowered through his leadership. His home became a safe haven for many Lao tian church leaders who fled to Thailand because of persecution by the Lao authorities. He took care of them and taught them God’s Word. He also helped coordinate Bible deliveries to Laos.
Pastor Pramote passed away on 14 January 2019, after months of battling with diabetes complications.
He was 59 years old.
Pastor Pramote never stopped serving since his first encounter with God. He kept the faith and passed it on to committed workers. His work will surely continue. Many of those trained with SOW under his leadership are now top leaders in their churches, faithfully serving God with unwavering faith.
Pray for his wife and two children to continually be encouraged to serve.
Christ’s gifts of the five-fold
The Lord has been speaking to us at Mission Outreach about the need to encourage the churches of Asia to embrace and walk in the Five-fold gifts spoken of in Ephesians 4. It is this scripture that inspired Matthew Jeffares to pull aside from his normal duties and write the book ‘Christ Gave Gifts’. We would like to share some of this teaching with you as this is what MO is planning to introduce firstly to the churches in Nepal to equip them and assist them to move into the next level of their walk with Jesus. We trust and pray you will enjoy this teaching.
MO Board
‘Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.’ Eph 4:11 (NLT)
This is the first of four articles on the roles and functions of the five ministry gifts that Christ gave his church. There are many questions concerning these gifts and how these roles relate to the church and to the work of missions. Before we look at the five gifts Christ gave, it is important to establish the significance of verse 10, which states that ‘Christ not only descended but he ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things’. This verse clearly states Christ’s mission statement. He came to win mankind back to himself and to put all things under His feet so to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. (Eph 1:10). To accomplish this purpose, in His absence from the earth, He gave the five gifts of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher to take lead roles in overseeing the government of his church. The success of the work of the Church is directly proportionate to the operation of these roles.
A simple analogy that helps us understand these gifts is to see them functioning as the five senses do on the human body. The Apostle can be likened to our sense of sight. It is the body’s most dominant gift, just as scripture states that God appoints apostles first. (1 Cor 12:28) Apostles play a key role in leading and spearheading the advance of the church. The Prophet could be likened to our sense of hearing. They help the body hear what God is saying. Evangelists are like the body’s sense of touch; they help the body reach out and interact with the world. The Pastor is like our sense of smell; they help discern the health of the flock of God; and the Teacher is like our sense of taste; they help the body to feast in the word of God so the body can come into a place of maturity.
Christ gave these gifts so the Body can be commensurate to Christ the Head. This is what Ephesians 4:12-16 establishes. For Christ to be all in all so he can fill all things, it is necessary that he has a Body that measures up to the stature of the fullness of who He is. (Eph 4:13) These five ministries help the Body perform as one unified being under the headship of Christ to play their part in establishing his cosmic reign over all things. What an amazing invitation Christ has extended to his Body. Those who share in His labour will also share in His reward as He offers up the Kingdom to his Father once he has put down all rule, authority and power. (1 Cor 15:24)
Prayer for the Nations
THAILAND
1 & 2 (Sat & Sun) Pray for Thai Christians to be united in prayer and intercession for the harvest of souls.
3 (Mon) Pray for successful evangelism from August 6 to 8. Churches in 24 provinces will conduct simultaneous evangelism programs.
MYANMAR
4 (Tue) Many Rohingya women and children have reportedly become prey to traffickers. Some children were abducted and sold into forced marriage to other countries. Pray that this problem be resolved by the government.
5 (Wed) Pray for peace in Kachin State. Many have been displaced since the fighting.
BANGLADESH
6 (Thu) Pray that the staff and children in our school in Dhaka be protected from water-borne diseases due to flooded classrooms. Pray that they can move to a new property soon.
7 (Fri) Pray for comfort upon the Rohingya women, rape victims of the Burmese Army, who have given birth to unwanted babies.
LAOS
8 & 9 (Sat & Sun) Pray for provisions and comfort for those who have lost their homes and loved ones when the partly-built hydropower dam in southeast Laos collapsed after heavy rains in July.
10 (Mon) Pray for our country team who are working tirelessly for the furtherance of the Gospel.
CAMBODIA
11 (Tue) Pray for continued peace and security in Cambodia.
12 (Wed) Pray for churches to be established in every village along the borders of Cambodia.
13 (Thu) Pray for Christians in government office to become faithful witness to the Gospel.
NEPAL
14 (Fri) Attacks on churches have become more common this year. Pray for strength upon those affected.
15 & 16 (Sat & Sun) The new criminal code, punishing religious conversions as well as all activities of evangelism and proselytising, has taken effect last month. Pray for our Christian brethren to be wise as they exercise their faith.
BHUTAN
17 (Mon) Pray as Christian leaders focus on training children and youth.
18 (Tue) Christians are persecuted for leaving Buddhism and religious services have been forced underground. Pray for Christians to be strengthened to remain in their faith.
KAREN REFUGEES
19 (Wed) Since last year, support to the refugee camps has been cut to 40% and this year, 60% of that has been cut. Pray that the refugee camps will find other sources to support their needs.
INDIA
20 (Thu) Pray for the spiritual decline in NE India. They are becoming more religious and traditional.
21 (Fri) India is said to be the world’s most dangerous country for women due to the high risk of sexual violence and being forced into slave labour. Pray for the government to strictly enforce their laws to protect their citizens.
22 & 23 (Sat & Sun) Pray the ongoing revival will affect the people of India to follow Christ.
ETHNIC TIBETANS
24 (Mon) Pray for the Christians’ goal to share the Gospel to 50,000 Ethnic Tibetans by 2020. They have been able to share to 35,000 people already.
25 (Tue) Pray for our local missionary to be strengthened even as he serves his sentence in jail. His two daughters are in the care of fellow missionaries.
NORTH KOREA
26 (Wed) The recent summit has given hope that Kim Jung Un will improve the human rights situation. Pray that he will be true to whatever has been agreed upon.
MALDIVES
27 (Thu) A Sow for the Harvest (SOWH) training was successfully held in the Maldives in July. Pray for the safety of those who bravely went through this training. May the Holy Spirit guide them as they reach out to Muslims.
SRI LANKA
28 (Fri) Buddhist monks who led attacks against churches are said to have been aided by the pro-Buddhist authorities. Pray that these attacks will stop so that believers can live peacefully.
VIETNAM
29 & 30 (Sat & Sun) Pray for churches to experience revival once again as they celebrate the 30th anniversary of the House Church Movement. Pray for the young people who attended the youth camp last month that they remain zealous in their walk with God. Pray the 5,000 recently printed Banar full bibles safely reach the hands of those who greatly need them.
From The Prayer Room
1Kings18:37 “O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”
This is the scripture the Lord gave us for the Uyghur and those working amongst them. Pray for seeing eyes to be made blind and hearing ears to be made deaf and for the Lord’s covering and protection on His people amongst the Uyhur.
This scripture is our hearts cry for all those we pray for, that the Lord would hear ours and their prayers, for the brethren and nations they have been planted in.
Eddie & Betty Cairns:
As the founding father and mother of MO, we thank and bless the Lord for Eddie and Betty and for the loving, faithful and sacrificial care given by their daughter Glennie. Please pray for abundant grace, strength and healing for all those in this household. We pray and bless their family also. We pray for God’s covering and protection over Betty from falls and that the joy of God’s presence will be their portion.
Nepal & Himalayas:
Psalm 34:7 “The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.”
There have been recent reports of increased persecution of the Church in Nepal by Hindu radicals. Six churches have been burned and pastors arrested, but thankfully also released.
Pastors are receiving life threatening phone calls including Pastor Samuel Rai. Please pray for God’s intervention in these situations, for His guardian angels to encamp around His people, and for the grace and goodness of God to overcome such difficult situations. Samuels reply to a threat of being on their hit list was that they were on his hit list as well. Let’s keep all these radicals on God’s ‘Hit List’ the list that keeps such people in prayer before our heavenly Father that they may be saved. We prayed for the grace to forgive the persecutors. We prayed and declared Ezekiel 18:27-32 over this nation and region.
We continue to pray for the preparation of the first of the ‘1000 Equipping Centres in One Year’ seminars to be held in October this year, that the Lord would go before those planning and preparing, that the printing machines will not faulter as they print the first of the 80,000 ‘Christ Gave Gifts’ books and other printed material. Pray also for the health and safety of all those involved. Also for the Himalayan harvest field because this project is not just about Nepal, but the whole Himalayan region and beyond.
Afghanistan:
We continue to pray, seek and knock according to Luke11:9-13, so our prayers for this nation continue that we may one day see doors open, walls fall down and spiritual breakthrough. We prayed for justice to prevail and that God would disempower lies spoken and release favour and finances. Pray also for new believers, that the Lord would ‘make them more than conquerors’. Pray for the team there this month, that God would open way for them to go where they have not been before and that He will mobilize the angelic realm so they can stand on that untrodden ground to declare and claim it for the Kingdom of God.
Latest Update on Eddie & Betty
Last month we mentioned the need for Eddie and Betty to go into care and as this report was being written, the Lord had already opened the door for a special room for Betty.
The family are still also believing for a special place for Eddie in the same home.
The family have chosen a home where Eddie & Betty’s other daughters work which gives wonderful opportunity for the family to keep close contact with them.
Your prayers are so appreciated. Please continue to lift this family up before our Mighty Saviour.
Eddie and Be y release to you their abundant blessings and thank you for your faithful support of Mission Outreach.