Greetings Everyone in the Name of Jesus!
Wow, time flies when you are having fun! On the 16th of October 1996 we arrived here in Thailand with all our possessions in our suitcases and Jesus in our hearts. Ready to change Thailand into a Christian nation! lol Well, 20 years later, we still have a lot of work to do for that vision to be complete but many have been saved, changed, healed and delivered in these 20 years!
I remember the first few years of traveling all over the Northeast of Thailand visiting pastors and staying in their homes, encouraging, ministering and helping them. We did several outreaches and revivals everywhere. Some places we went there weren't any hotels and we wound up sleeping in the back of our truck. I wouldn't trade those days for anything and we saw many souls come to Jesus during that time.
Here is a picture video of the early days for your viewing: https://youtu.be/7V_DxwCEkL4
After about 5 years of this we settled down and helped one church for about 14 years and saw it grow from about 50 people to over 300. We stayed there helping developing, discipling, and mentoring leaders. Then 4 years ago after Annie's recovery from her stroke, we felt God moving us out to minister in small churches again. So, we have now been helping about 4 churches and their pastors to develop and disciple within their churches. Also we have been doing church camps and visiting other nations around us. God truly does have a sense of humor because two of the churches we minister in now are all teenagers mostly. Lol. Over the years we have progressed from being Pastor Ralph and Annie to Pastor Father and Mother to Pastor Grandpa and Grandma! But we love it! Hanging out with these young people makes us feel younger too.
We praise and thank God for the calling which he has placed on our life. During this journey we have tried many things, had good times and bad times but it all has been worth it. I was thinking the other day that if we did not go to these small churches, no one else would. We have been faithful to the little guys for 20 years now, going and not looking for offerings but looking to be a blessing! Which makes me think about all of you who have supported us over the years and made all of this possible. Some of you and you know who you are have supported us all 20 years faithfully never missing a month! Wow, Annie and I appreciate you so much and pray for you every day!
As we go into the second 20 years, Annie and I are still full of energy and our health is still good so we will continue on serving God here as long as we are able and have churches to minister too. We just added another small church full of young people and will be ministering there every month from now on. We met the pastor of this church when he was 11 years old and now he is 27. His church is growing fast and wants us to help him strengthen his church and we agreed to do it. Praise God! We are now fulfilling the vision God gave us 20 years ago before we made the big leap. We are now a spiritual father and mother to the young pastors and able to mentor them and disciple the church members every month. I see our value as a leader and mentor is so much more today than what it was 20 years ago and now we can truly sow into these young ministers lives and encourage them and help them through the struggles of ministry.
We will still be going to the nations around us as the opportunities open up for us. We will be visiting the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and hopefully Nepal in the near future. So here we go, we are ready to see what God has in store for us in this next phase of ministry and life!
Please continue to pray for us in every area. We need prayer for our provision, health, energy, strength, and wisdom from God as we continue on. Amen? Thanks again for your prayers and provision in helping us fulfill the call of God on our life!
You are all a blessing to us and we love every one of you!
Ralph and Annie
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