A newsletter from Good News for the Shan People – our ministry in Northern Thailand.

Here comes a spring newsletter from us, and in this edition, we’re sharing a bit more personally.

We’ve now been in Norway for over six weeks and have a little more than two weeks left. Time has flown by! We’d like to share a bit about what we’ve experienced – especially one highlight. In addition, I want to include some stories from just a few days before we left for Norway.

But first, I want to share something that means a lot to me: May 1st holds a special significance in my life (see the text below the video).

When God Revealed the Un-reached Shan People To Me

The photo above is from the first time I visited the Shan people back in 1999.

It was 28 years ago – on May 1st, 1997 – that God first revealed to me and called me to the un-reached Shan people from Myanmar. At that time, I had never heard of them, and I didn’t even know where they lived. When I first learned about them, only 0.02% of the Shan people were Christians. Today, that number has increased to 0.1%. They are still considered un-reached, but it encourages me to see how God is working.

This calling came during a prayer school with Youth With A Mission at Skjærgårdsheimen in Norway. Now, 28 years later, I’ve returned – this time together with my Shan wife (see the first photo) – and I’m still working among the Shan people. It’s a very special memory for me and a clear reminder of God’s faithfulness throughout all these years.

I just want to mention something important: There have been rumors in one place in Norway that the Shan people have already been reached with the Gospel, but that is absolutely not true. They still need a lot of prayer, and it’s important that they are not forgotten!

A people group is considered “reached” only when at least 2% of the population are Christians. We are still quite far from that point.

I can’t share the whole testimony and story in this newsletter, but you can read my story at this page (The text is in Norwegian but you can run it trough Google translate or ChatGPT: https://bibelundervisning.com/kall/


What’s Happening in Thailand?

At Easter, we held Bible teaching for the Christians in our church in Thailand. We received great help from a team from Bangkok who contributed to the teaching. It turned out to be a very successful event.

Otherwise, our ministry is doing well, and it is being well cared for by a Canadian couple, the team from Bangkok (who were with them for almost three weeks), and our faithful staff member, Nong Mon, who will be starting university in another city this summer.

Powerful Encounters and Difficult Life Stories


We also want to share some stories from a busy time just before we came to Norway at the end of March. It was an intense period, and we experienced many powerful and challenging situations.

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One day, we visited a former student from our Saturday school at the hospital. She is the granddaughter of a Shan grandmother who attends our church. This girl, who is the same age as our middle daughter—13 years old—has no parents and lives with her grandmother and an aunt. We’ve known her since she was around seven years old.

Around New Year, her grandmother called us in despair and told us that her granddaughter was pregnant. It turned out she was already quite far along, and on the Thursday before we traveled to Norway, she gave birth to a baby boy.

The father of the child is a man over 20 years old who is already married. This was a serious assault, and in Norway, he would have received a harsh prison sentence. Yet, the girl is being blamed by the man’s family, who have money and influence. She, on the other hand, is Shan, a refugee, orphaned, and living in poverty—without rights in the Thai system.

The perpetrator promised to cover the hospital costs, but they still received very little help from him.

What an unjust world we live in!

We feel deep compassion for this girl and will do what we can to support and help her. The Canadian couple who are assisting us will follow up and look after her while we’re in Norway.

A Family in Crisis

Another family in our church has also gone through a very difficult time.

The man in the family had been struggling with drug addiction for a long time, and one day while he was out buying pills, he was arrested by the police. He managed to send a short message to his wife saying he had been imprisoned, but after that, no one heard anything from him.

His wife was in despair. They have a small four-year-old child, and she didn’t know what to do. We supported her in prayer, and she continued attending our meetings. After nearly three weeks, she grew more and more desperate, but neither she nor anyone in the family dared to contact the police.

Because the arrest was drug-related, we initially chose not to get involved. But on a Wednesday morning, the week before we were due to leave for Norway, Mawkkham strongly felt that we had to act. She called the wife and suggested they go to the police station together to try to find out where he was.

There they learned that he was indeed in custody and that they could visit him the following day. When they went on Thursday, the wife was finally able to see her husband again. At the same time, they were told he could be released if bail was paid.

Mawkkham helped with the paperwork and guided them through the process across the different departments at the police station. We made it clear that we couldn’t contribute financially, but the family managed to raise the needed amount. He was released that same day.

That Thursday evening, we had a powerful house meeting where he shared how terrible it had been to be in prison—he described it as being in hell, and said he never wanted to go back. We truly hope he has learned from the experience, because if he relapses, the sentence next time will be much longer.

This event also became a strong reminder that we were all once bound in the chains of sin—but Jesus has set us free. At the house meeting, we taught on the importance of not returning to the old life, and on our new freedom in Christ.

Now, nearly two months later, he is still attending our meetings and is actively involved. Please pray that it will continue!

An Encouraging Experience

A girl we’ve been following up since she was around 13 years old—now about 21—shared some joyful news with us one Saturday: she has become a Christian. It came as a bit of a surprise, and Mawkkham couldn’t hold back her tears. Often, we don’t immediately see the fruit of what we sow, but in this case, what was planted eight years ago has now borne fruit.

We are deeply grateful that this young woman, Nong Keow, has now come to faith in Jesus. It reminds us that God’s Word never returns void, but works in people’s hearts over time.

She has also been a faithful help to us while we’re in Norway, but since she studies in another city, we won’t be seeing her as often from June onward.

What We Have Done and Are Doing in Norway

Many might think we’re just on vacation here in Norway, but that’s not the case. We’ve actually had quite a full schedule and have done quite a bit. Among other things, we also have to continue following up on the work in Thailand, even while we’re here.

In Norway, we’ve been able to visit family and friends, and we’ve spent time at both Youth With A Mission’s center at Grimerud and Skjærgårdsheimen in Kristiansand.

Soon we’ll also be traveling to a center in Sogndal, and on Sunday, May 11th, we’ll be visiting Elvebyen Familiekirke in Drammen.

We held a teaching day at the Evangeliesenteret Bible School near Moss, and I was interviewed by Visjon Norge one morning. In addition, we’ve shared about our ministry at Sentrumskirken in Strømmen, in Svindal (not far from Moss), and at Oasen in Våle.

One of our highlights was visiting our sending church last Sunday – Betania Kristiansand – where we were warmly welcomed. We shared extensively about our ministry and spoke on the theme: God chooses the things that are not.

Prayer Request: New Land for the Ministry

We are still in need of a new property, as the rent where we are now has increased by over 42%, and we are facing both limitations and unfair conditions. We are praying about the possibility of purchasing a plot we’ve looked at—approximately 6.4 rai (about 1 hectare) with a house, at a good price. However, there are legal and practical challenges involved in buying property in Thailand. At the same time, we are also exploring the option of renting another place.

Please join us in praying for God’s guidance and wisdom to find the right solution.

How You Can Support

Our ministry and project are run with modest means, but the work continues to grow, and we are reaching more and more people. To keep expanding and strengthening the ministry, we need additional resources.

The Project (Good News for the Shan People)

We are looking for a new property, either to rent or possibly to purchase, and to make this happen we need more regular supporters. We need funds to cover rent and other expenses. At the moment, we have only four regular donors specifically for the ministry, Good News for the Shan People. We encourage you to consider supporting our ministry.

If you are a member or a leader of a church, I want to encourage you to consider supporting our mission work among the unreached and marginalized people groups from Myanmar. We are also open to suggestions and ideas on how we can raise funds to strengthen and expand the project.

Please feel free to get in touch with us!

En prestasjon av vår tjeneste

Prayer Subjects

  • Pray for the young girl who gave birth as a result of abuse
  • Pray for all those we are discipling, especially those still struggling with alcohol and drug addiction
  • Pray for guidance regarding the rental or possible purchase of a new property for the ministry
  • Pray for protection over our ministry and project, especially the Saturday school
  • Pray for more regular supporters for the project
  • Pray for Myanmar!

Blessings
Gode News for the Shan team

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