Dear friends,
This past Monday was the monthly meeting of the Karen leaders in Omkoi. It is a growing group of Karen church leaders that share, pray, plan in the morning and then finish with having lunch together. The devotion was on Jonah and challenged me in the following way (see questions below):
Among missionaries we sometimes talk about the 4 fields of ministry:
1st Field - the people group / area that God has called you to. No church or believers yet. The empty or entry field.
2nd Field - abundant gospel seed sowing to your target people. The sowing field.
3rd Field - some people respond and grow. This field needs discipleship/watering, etc. The growing field.
4th Field - the harvest field, believers are gathered together as a church. The maturing or harvest field (see an illustration of the four fields in the Mekong prayer guide on p. 6).
Do you know your Nineveh? The place or people that God wants you to go and share the Good News with? From Jonah’s example: If you do, you better follow through! Are you abundantly sowing God’s word with them? Are you coming back to water and nurture your ‘seedlings’? And do you help them to form a church with leaders that will look for the next empty field? These questions are for ourselves as much as they might apply to you as well!
This encouraging group of leaders shared about hard things and about things that are going well. The last two months the sharing has been along the lines of how God uses suffering or hard times in our lives to accomplish His purposes (or in things that we don’t want to do, see Jonah). This is encouraging for me to hear from this group since at other times God's (material!) blessings can take a bit too much of a front row seat. Pray that they will keep their eyes on the giver of blessings (God Himself!) and not get derailed or distracted by the blessings themselves.
Pray for one Karen man who shared the gospel and as result there are now seven new Christians in nearby villages. Pray as he goes back to ‘water and nurture’ these new believers. Pray for those who responded that they will get grounded and rooted in Christ. That, eventually, they will gather together as a new little group of believers, as a church of their own.
Pray for an opportunity later this month to take one or two Karen from Omkoi to a refugee camp where other OMF workers have found that there are a good number of Karen that need to hear and have the Gospel explained in their own language.
To follow-up from the last letter: Noah has just this month (Sep 1) officially started his apprenticeship. He had been working for this company over the last six weeks already so he is actually quite familiar with his work. Praise: He has recently started a small group in his town and it has been beneficial for many as they study the book of Galatians together.
Praise: Luke is getting a good dose of what work life looks like as he often works heavy physical work each day from 7:15am to 5/6pm, or sometimes later. Before this summer my cousin, who Luke works for, wasn’t sure how much work he would have for Luke but now it looks like there is plenty of plastering and construction work for him. Pray for Luke as he will start Bible School in Albania on September 20!
Continue to pray for Selah and her schooling. We decided to switch her schooling from English to German which is a big learning curve for her as she had done grade 1-7 in English so far and has only fairly limited knowledge of the German language. Now she attends the German school in Chiang Mai and has to read and write in German! It is not an easy switch at the age of 13 but she has been a trooper so far.
Pray for Deborah's health. She has had many ear infections this rainy season. As one side heals up the other side seems to start with a new infection.
Thank you everyone for your continued faithful support! We don't take it for granted but appreciate it a lot.
Thank you for standing with us and praying!
In Him,
Oliver for the Mayers
Serving in Thailand with OMF International, Mekong Field
OMF International - Canada
10 Huntingdale Blvd, Scarborough, Ontario, M1W 2S5
E-MAIL: [email protected]
PHONE: 905.568.9971
TOLL FREE: 1.888.657.8010
OMF Deutschland e.V.
Am Flensunger Hof 12
35325 Mücke-Flensungen
EMAIL: [email protected]
TELEFON: 06400/900 55
OMF International - U.S. Headquarters
10 West Dry Creek Circle, Littleton, CO 80120-4413
E-MAIL: [email protected]
PHONE: 1.800.422.5330
Leaders' meeting in Omkoi: About 30 leaders gather regularly on the last day of the month ...
Leaders' meeting in Omkoi: It's a time of encouragement, sharing from God's Word ...
Leaders' meeting in Omkoi: ... looking ahead, singing, praying together!
Oliver - After attending a youth retreat when I was 16 years old, a youth group started in my small town. What impressed me about the couple that led the youth group was that they practiced what they preached. This in turn made me want to find out more about Jesus and the Bible. During this first year of the youth group, I opened my heart to Christ. During the youth retreat we had studied the story of Joseph from the Old Testament and looking back I find it really helpful and encouraging to have learned from the beginning that “others might mean it for evil but God has a good plan (Genesis 50:20 NIV 20 “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”)
My call to Thailand came when a missionary visited us at the beginning of 2010 while we were serving at Holsby Bible School, the Torchbearer Bible School in Sweden. He shared with a number of students about his work in Northern Thailand and Deborah and I were really impressed. At his recommendation we got in touch with OMF. Three years later (February 2013) we were sent out by OMF Canada to work in Northern Thailand with Mekong Minorities. We have now been with the Mekong field for over 11 years.
Deborah - I grew up in a Christian family. My parents were involved in ministry and I had a lot of exposure to Christianity, but it was when I was 7 years old that God convicted me of my sin and my personal need for Him, which led me to accept Jesus as my personal saviour. Ever since, He has been so faithful to teach me and guide me in the truth. Around the age of 14, I knew that God was calling me into missions. Though I was a little resistant at first, God began growing a desire in me to learn more, which I did by reading many missionary biographies, watching mission films, and learning whatever I could about other cultures. I got involved in an international student ministry in Calgary, and I also went on two short-term mission trips to Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. God used those experiences to cement that ever-growing desire to be involved in what He is doing overseas.
My Current role in OMF
We are involved in church planting and discipleship among the Karen minority group in Northern Thailand, with a special desire to see Karen believers equipped to share the Gospel with unreached Karen villages, near-culture people groups, and beyond.
We want to challenge the Karen to be rooted in Christ and His Word. Out of a close and vibrant relationship with Him the individual Karen will bear fruit (see John 15:1-5, especially 'If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit'). This will have an affect on other locals (believers and unbelievers), other churches, other villages and beyond.
As we are now based in the city of Chiang Mai, Deborah has been able to get involved in some ministry in the city as well. She is part of a Christian team of language consultants, offering English language services to medical students and faculty at the local university. This has opened many doors for sharing the gospel with students and mentees.
About OMF
OMF is a global fellowship of Christians with a heart for East Asia. We share the good news of Jesus Christ in all its fullness with East Asia’s peoples to the glory of God. We are passionate to demonstrate and proclaim the good news to East Asia’s billions, many of whom have never seen or heard it.
In places where there are no churches or limited resources, we humbly and prayerfully engage in church planting. In places where the church already exists, we serve alongside it to strengthen and extend it.