SMALL BEGINNINGS

Though I’ve been on the field for a little over four years now, these first three months in Khon Kaen have made me feel like a rookie again in some ways. After living and becoming established in Chiang Rai over the past four years, to pick up and move 500+ kilometers away and start over again has not been the easiest transition but I thank the Lord for His faithfulness as we embark on this new venture.

“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin….” -Zechariah 4:10

This scripture came to me one day as I was running and talking to the Lord. As I began to pray, seeking the Lord’s guidance and direction for what He would specifically have me do here in Khon Kaen, I decided to look at and draw out a map of Khon Kaen, especially noting the 9 sub-districts that still have no church. As I continued to pray, one day I felt like I heard the Lord say, “Start in the north.”

From there I continued to pray and chose one of the sub-districts in the northern part of Khon Kaen, and began to drive around through the villages on my motorcycle and pray. One day, I took Tim (my pastor’s son) with me. As we drove around, asking God to lead us. We crossed over into the next sub-district, Non Ton. As soon as we entered Non Ton, I felt something different. I don’t know how to explain it, but I simply felt a draw to this place.

As I continued to pray, I felt like the Lord was leading me more and more to Non Ton, so I stopped exploring the first sub-district and began to focus on scouting out Non Ton, visiting each village, praying for God’s guidance, and simply trying to build relationships and make connections.



As we went through the villages in Non Ton, there were two villages that the Lord seemed to continue to draw me to. Starting from scratch has been a process of learning once again to trust the Lord and follow his leading. There have been numerous times where I felt the Lord was speaking and giving me specific direction about where to go or who to talk to, but was unsure if it was really the Lord or if it was simply my own thoughts. But I made the decision to follow, trusting that the Lord would meet me as I simply tried to follow His lead.

One day, I was planning to go to another village, but I felt like the Lord said to go to a particular school. I didn’t understand why and even told the Lord that I didn’t really have any reason to go there. However, I decided to go in faith, trusting that the Lord had a reason.

It was at the school that I meet a small group of boys playing soccer. After playing with them for a little while, we sat down and we began to talk. Each of the boys come from broken families and 3 out 4 of them live apart from both parents. Since that day, I’ve had the opportunity to encourage and share about Jesus with these boys. We’ve connected with one boy in particular, Best (in the blue shirt).

Best’s mom is currently in prison and his dad lives in another province. It turns out though that the women’s prison ministry team from our church knows Best’s mom who has come to know the Lord during her time in prison. 

Another day, I was praying and ask God where we should go and what we should do the next day. As I prayed, the village chief came to mind. I had tried to visit him a number of times before, but he was not home when I arrived at his house. I honestly thought that he probably wouldn’t be home this time either, but I went anyway. Of course, he was home that day and told us about a very poor family in a nearby village, asking if we could do anything to help this family.

The next week, we visited this family bringing some groceries and asking about their needs. After a few weeks of visiting them and sharing the gospel with them, we decided to focus on their son, Kai Kow. After talking with my pastor, we decided to to bring Kai Kow to stay with me and found some work for him through one of the church members.

Having Kai Kow stay with me has been a huge adjustment and a sacrifice of time, energy, resources, and my own personal space. To be honest, the first full week was difficult for me, but the Lord used it to teach me more about what it means to die to self and to truly love others. I did not realize how selfish I actually was until having Kai Kow come to live with me. But after getting over myself a little, I’m starting to enjoy investing in his life and I am really happy to see how God has begun to work in Kai Kow’s life in just the month or so that he has been with us.

Every morning, Kai Kow and I spend time reading God’s Word and praying together. It’s really amazing to see him begin to know and understand who Jesus is. Right now we are going through the book of Mark together. It’s fun to see Kai Kow’s reactions to the stories of Jesus miracles, as he has never heard anything like this before. Just the other day, I had him start reading a book about developing a close relationship with God, and when he read that God created the universe he was almost in shock. “P’Josh, God is the greatest [or most powerful] person in the world! God really created the world and the universe???!” 

God is truly amazing!