God is On the Move
When Under the Son Ministries began five years ago, we had no idea what God had in store for this ministry. We just trusted that God would give us the guidance we needed as the ministry started to grow. What started as a children’s home has grown to include village outreach in several provinces.
With this growth has come the realization that we need to be spending more time in Thailand. With God’s blessing we will be splitting our time between Thailand and Missouri beginning this summer. We ask for your prayers as we transition into this new season in our lives.
“God is on the move in many mighty ways . . . God is on the move in the world today.”
Church Visits
We have been making church visits and will do several more before our return to Thailand in July. A special thank you to Isadora Church of Christ, Ravenwood Christian Church, Sheridan Christian Church, and Crossroads Christian Church for inviting us to present the work of Under the Son Ministries.
We have scheduled visits with the churches listed to the right and will be sharing how God has been moving in Northern Thailand. If you are interested in joining us at any of our upcoming presentations, please contact us for times. We would love to see you!
April 3 – Clearmont Christian Church
April 10 – Bethany Christian Church
April 17 – Antioch Christian Church
April 24 – New Market Church of Christ
May 1 – Hoover Christian Church
May 22—Barnard Christian Church
Evangelism Seminar
One of the highlights of our trip in January was the opportunity to help Christian leaders share the gospel in their villages. Soon after we confirmed our coming to Thailand, Titus started planning a seminar that would be held at Gethsemane Home. Titus let us know that they would like the theme for the seminar to be on evangelism. Mike Flinchum, Wayne Boswell, and Steve Sherry were the speakers. Mike chose the subject “Discipleship—Jesus’ Strategy For Evangelism”, Wayne’s focus was on the different aspects of what it means to be an evangelical Christian, and Steve shared lessons from the book of Acts on how the early church evangelized. With teaching and singing starting at eight in the morning and lasting until eight or nine at night, we were so humbled by their faithfulness. There were a total of 32 people who attended the seminar representing 15 different churches.
Newest Additions
Our three newest additions at Gethsemane Home are the youngest children we have had. Afuu, Amee, and Alei are all four years old and from the Lisu tribe. Amee and Alei are twin girls.
Their names are Lisu names and dependent on birth order. If you are a first born boy, your name is Afuu. If you are a first born girl, your name is Amee. The second born girl is named Alei. This is something we did not know and explained why another Lisu girl at Gethsemane Home is named Aluu, fifth born girl.
These three have brought an increased amount of joy to Gethsemane Home. They are always smiling and very active. It’s hard to get them to stand still long enough to take a picture.
We are pleased that sponsors for these three children have been attained. Thank you for stepping up to take on this responsibility.
Crossing the Ocean (Wayne’s Story)
I’m sixty years old and one of my “claims to fame” is that I have never seen an ocean. To say the least I am not a very well-traveled person. So when the opportunity arose for me to travel to Thailand to see the work of Under the Son Ministries, I had no idea what to expect. Twenty-four hours on an airplane was not something that I was looking forward to, but the time I got to spend with some of my brothers and sisters in Christ half way around the world made the trip more than worth it. I was privileged to speak to the kids at the orphanage and to preach at two of the village churches along with teaching classes during the preaching seminar held at Gethsemane.
I was so impressed by the dedication of the people that attended the church services and especially the seminar. The preachers that attended this seminar not only had traveled a distance to get there, but then were willing to eat and sleep outside on the ground while they were there. I was humbled by their faithfulness.
As I spoke I noticed that every one of them was taking notes and being very attentive. The topic of the seminar was evangelism, and these men seemed eager to learn about how they could take the gospel back into the hills and talk to the people in their villages about Christ.
When we attended churches in the hill tribes, someone always wanted to feed us. We would go to their homes, and they would serve us as if we were someone very special. Looking around it was obvious that they were sharing everything they had with us to make us feel more comfortable. I felt so unworthy of such special treatment.
Phil. 2:3 says, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.” The people I met in Thailand practice this every day. I had gone to Thailand to teach, and I ended up learning so much more from these people than they could ever learn from me. Without understanding a word they were saying, they were teaching me through their actions how to humbly serve God and serve their fellow man.
It was a great trip, and I would recommend that if you ever get the chance to go and see the work going on in Thailand, do it. This is a very worthwhile ministry that deserves your support. I would like to thank Steve and Donella for letting me tag along.
In Christ, Wayne Boswell
P.S. Since the airline asked everyone to leave the windows shut during the trip, I have still never seen an ocean.
Painting the Wall
The construction of the wall around Gethsemane Home has been completed. When we arrived there in January, half of the wall was finished and ready to be painted. We took on this task and completed the painting in two days.
Both the inside and outside of the wall needed to be painted. We started with a primer and finished with a peach color that Newa had selected. It looks great and is the added protection we needed. We hope to paint the rest of the wall when we return in July.
