Gordons in Thailand
Hey! We just want to say thanks so much for spreading the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ throughout Asia through your partnership with us! Together, we partner with God to see His Kingdom come and His will done here!
God Bless You,
The Gordons
There’s a lady who sells beverages along the beach that we’ve had the pleasure of meeting several times over several months. Her husband died not too long before we first met her. As our team prayed for her several weeks ago, the Lord removed a tumour from her foot. Later she received Jesus. We met her again this week, and she had a huge smile! She says she thanks God every night for the healing He brought to her. She introduces us to her friends and wants us also pray for them as well. Please pray for this precious lady to take the next steps in getting connected with a body of believers and begin discipleship.
Sara bolding using the opportunity to share with this young man who received Jesus several weeks earlier. We met him again, and invited him to connect with a local church.
This was so fun! We paid for a night with ‘M’ so she could leave the bar where she works and we could take her out to eat. Away from the hub-bub of dancing girls, flashing lights, loud music and sex tourists, we were able to go deeper in conversation and get to know one another a bit better. She shared that when she was a child, she read some Gospel tracts, and through them learned about Jesus. We were able to share a bit more about His love and sacrifice for her so that she could be free and live a full abundant life with Him. She said she would remember and consider what we shared, especially when she’s going through a difficult time, but admitted she wasn’t ready yet to give her life completely to Jesus. This honest answer was such an honor to hear, as it communicated to me that she trusted me enough to tell me the truth rather than what she thought I wanted to hear.
She has three young children waiting for her in the far North of Thailand. Her eyes mist over when she talks about them. This may be the ‘Land of Smiles’, but so often there’s deep grief masked behind those smiles. In order for ladies to leave their job at the bar for the night, we have to pay anywhere from $40-$200 to the bar owner. This is what sex tourists spend for a night with them. For us, it’s a way for us to show them their worth, treat them to something nice, and to take them some place where we can really go deeper in connection and conversation. This is often more difficult to do in the midst of the loud chaos of the bars with bosses watching and ‘customers’ mingling.
Would you like to sponsor a night of freedom for one of these ladies to get away and have the opportunity to hear how much God loves them and how valuable they are? Imagine the impact.
This is TM. It was her first night in Phuket. She was sitting at a bar getting advice from an experience ‘working lady’ about what the job entails. She was job hunting. I pleaded with her to look for healthier employment, told her how valuable she is and recommended a couple of occupational training programs run by a local Christian ministry. I could see she was vacillating between the tempting allure of the ‘easy’ money from prostitution, and the fear of what that ‘easy’ money would cost her.
As much as I would have loved to have convinced her leave the bars and never look back, I knew that I was at risk of pushing her away if I said any more. I walked away with a heavy heart, praying for her to see her worth, to encounter Jesus and to choose a better path than prostitution. Will you pray for her too, and the thousands like her throughout Asia?
Tim preaching the resurrected power of Christ in us at our Thai church here in Phuket.
We met our neighbor, Barry, while walking our dog one day. He was so excited to meet a fellow Canadian, he struck up a conversation that lasted at least 30 minutes, sharing much of his life history! He considers himself Buddhist but had a significant encounter with God years ago when he was deeply ill. He frequently stops by our home to chat and ask questions about life and Jesus. He loves coming to church with us and often cries during the singing portion of worship. He challenges us with lots of deep questions and tells us how grateful he is that we’re here. We just continue to love him and share the truth with him. It’s such a privilege to witness God patiently drawing Barry to Himself. Will you pray with us for him?
We are on Week 6 of our Alpha Course, an 11-week course that creates a space where people are excited to bring their friends for a conversation about faith, life and God. This has been a very challenging undertaking. There have been weeks when no one has shown up and other weeks when there were 14 people in attendance. As time has gone on, it has been so encouraging to hear how deeper friendships are forming and guests are feeling encouraged in their walk with the Lord. More recently, as smaller groups share and pray for one another, there’s been an increase in vulnerability and connection and it is deeply moving to witness God touching hearts as tears flow. We’ve had a number of newer Christians coming who are going deeper in their relationship with God, and are learning new ways to share their faith. Some who’ve been following Jesus for decades are finding community and deeper friendships through our Alpha meetings. Some have brought neighbors and friends who aren’t yet following Jesus, and one of those friends gave her life to Jesus a couple weeks ago.
We celebrated Tim’s 50th birthday this month, and he was so blessed by your words of encouragement, prayers, gifts, videos, memories and messages. Thank you so much for helping make his birthday extra special!
Tim, Samantha, River and Karena Gordon