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

We hope you’ve had a wonderful autumn! Here in Northern Thailand, we’ve experienced both rainy days and now delightfully cooler temperatures – weather-wise, this is the best time of the year for us, lasting until March.

As we look at the world around us, there’s much darkness, especially in the neighboring country. Yet, we continually see how God uses us to let His light shine through, bringing hope to people in the midst of darkness. The past three months have been eventful, filled with both challenges and uplifting moments. We are excited to share some of the stories that illustrate how the Gospel is transforming lives.

One of our greatest joys has been the many baptisms we’ve had in recent months – in August, September, and October. And even more baptisms are planned for this month! It’s incredibly encouraging to witness people taking this significant step of faith and surrender to God.

Christmas is also fast approaching, and we are preparing for a very special celebration this year. We look forward to sharing more about this.

Read on in this newsletter for more details about what’s been happening and what’s on our hearts for the future

Became a Christian and Baptized After One
Unexpected Opportunity to Share the Gospel

One day in October, we attended the funeral of the father of one of our church members. Due to the rain, some of the Christians were able to take time off work and join us, allowing us to bring ten people along. The funeral took place near a village we’ve been reaching out to over the past few months. We felt led to visit this village, particularly to see an elderly Christian woman who lives there.

When we arrived at the village, we were warmly welcomed. Not only did we have the opportunity to encourage the elderly woman, but we also gathered over ten people, most of whom were not Christians. Måkkham brought out a chart she uses when sharing the Gospel, and it was incredibly useful that day.

Among those who listened was a man in his forties. He had heard the Gospel before, but that day he understood much more. We felt this day was very special.

A few days later, this man called to say he wanted to be baptized at our Sunday service.

He faced some challenges getting time off work that day and didn’t arrive at the service until around noon. Måkkham took the opportunity to explain more to him, and he accepted Jesus. We baptized him together with another man who became a Christian in August.

Faith is Growing Among the New Believers

One Sunday in October, a young believer, an 18-year-old called Sei Kam who has been following Jesus for about a year, shared a recent challenge he faced. He recounted how he resisted peer pressure from friends who tried to get him to drink. When he refused, they teased him for his choice, but he stood firm in his convictions.

We are praying especially for Sei Kam, who has a big heart for God but can also be a bit shy. Please pray that he will have the strength to remain steadfast in his faith.

Hope in the Darkness: Sharing God’s
Love Amid Tragedy and New Opportunities

I believe in a God who can turn tragedy into something good. When we look at all the suffering in Myanmar right now, it’s easy to lose hope. But I believe that light will soon shine again over Myanmar and all its people groups.

My wife is from Myanmar, and recently she attended the funeral of a distant relative—a man she barely knew but was among the closest family members here in Thailand.

One day, she received a call from the sick man’s brother, and she visited them at the hospital that same evening. He had just undergone heart surgery, and the doctors gave little hope, as the only option would have been a heart transplant—an impossibly expensive procedure for them. As immigrant workers and refugees, they live in poverty. Måkkham prayed for the man, but just half an hour later, she received the sad news that he had passed away. He was in his early 30s.

The two brothers had recently fled the brutal civil war in Myanmar, fearing for their lives. They had only been in safety in the neighboring country for four months before this tragedy struck. Mawkkham took on the role of supporting the surviving brother (pictured left), and together we traveled the next day to the place where the funeral would be held, helping with the purchase of water and other necessities. Mawkkham and her niece also attended the cremation the following day, offering encouragement to the grieving brother.

The leader of the orange farm where they worked also showed support by covering most of the costs for a simple funeral. Amid all this, we had the opportunity to share a little about Jesus with the brother, who is not a Christian. He works on an orange farm with nearly 200 people and around 80 children.

We had originally planned to visit this orange farm while the team from Bangkok was here, but due to the rain, we had to postpone it. Instead, we are now planning to hold a Christmas celebration at the farm, where we can share the good news of Christmas with those who live and work there.


Please pray with us for the opportunity to reach these people during the Christmas season.

Our Christmas Celebrations This Year

This year, we’ve decided to make some changes to how we celebrate Christmas here. Instead of organizing one large Christmas party, which requires significant time and resources for our small team, we have chosen to go out to where people live and hold smaller, more intimate Christmas gatherings. This allows us to share the Christmas message in a more personal way while giving gifts, sweets, and creating a warm and joyful atmosphere.

Christmas Party for the Saturday School

On December 14th, we will host a Christmas party for the children in our Saturday School. We are expecting over 70 children to attend this daytime celebration, which is always a special occasion for both the kids and us as organizers.

Christmas Parties for the Parents

For the parents of the children, we are planning Christmas parties at the orange farms where they live and work. These farms are large, and we anticipate gathering over 100 people at each of these events.

Larger Christmas Party at an Orange Farm

As mentioned earlier, we also hope to organize a larger Christmas party at another orange farm. Here, we expect to gather up to 300 people, including both adults and children.

Overall Scope

In total, we are planning to hold eight Christmas parties over three weeks, with a total budget roughly the same as in previous years. By spreading the celebrations across several smaller events, we believe it will be slightly less intensive for us while likely reaching more people. Altogether, we anticipate sharing the message of God’s love with over 500 people this Christmas.

We are excited to celebrate with these communities and pray that the Christmas parties will be a great blessing to everyone who attends!

Feel Free to Donate

The ministry and project we run have simple and limited funds, but the work is steadily increasing, and we are reaching further out. We need more funds to continue expanding and growing.

Project

We are grateful to share that we now have everything we need for our Christmas parties, and we thank God and everyone who contributed to make this possible.
However, we continue to face ongoing monthly challenges. The monthly budget for our project is approximately $1,300, but currently, we only receive around $500 per month.
For now, we manage through faith and larger individual donations.
We pray for increased contributions, which would also ease our personal finances.

If you are a member or leader in a church, please consider supporting our mission project among unreached and displaced people from Myanmar. We are also open to ideas on how we can raise funds for the project.

Feel free to contact us!

You Can Support/Donate in This Way

By PayPal (use this link).  
Read more about how you can support here
(if you want to donate for us personally let us know)

By Bank
If you have a Norwegian account you can use Vipps 900 90 354
I have both a bank account in Thailand and private and project accounts in Norway. Please feel free to contact me if you need further details.

PRAYER REQUESTS

  • Pray for the email I am preparing to send to the embassy and for the process of obtaining the necessary marriage documents mentioned earlier.
     
  • Pray for our eight Christmas gatherings!
     
  • Pray for our trip to Norway in 2025—for everything from visas and finances to the planning process, both here in Thailand and in Norway.
     
  • Pray for the training of our new believers, so they can help relieve us by visiting other new Christians.
     
  • Pray for strength for Mawkkham and me as leaders. We sometimes feel weary, and we are currently in such a season.
     
  • Pray for Mawkkham’s sister and niece, that they may obtain their papers and find a place to live.
     
  • Pray for peace in Myanmar!
     
  • Pray for protection over our ministry and project.
     
  • Pray for the financial needs of our ministry.

Blesssings!

Good News for the Shan People team

Receive our newsletter