Conserva Chronicle Newsletter
133/297 Mooban Taweechoke, T. Talad Khwan, A. Doi Saket, Chiang Mai 5022066-53-868-723; 66-84-378-7940Email: mecons915@gmail.com; Skype: m_e_cons
magine living in a picturesque fishing village, surrounded by friends and family, with a view of spectacular sunsets every evening and enough fish to catch to keep you in need of nothing. Your home is on a strip on land with the river on one side and the open sea on the other. You are the king of your castle and the sole provider for your family.
And then one day, the sky opens and the wind blows. A storm that you think was just another typical tropical storm. There was no news of anything sinister on the horizon. No reports of any destruction to be prepared for.
Night falls and the sky is inky black. And the waves begin to come. Bigger waves than you have ever known before. The open sea crosses the delta and the village and joins the river on the other side. The path it takes is directly through your little home and the homes of your friends and family. The waves rob you of all your possessions and many of those you love. The sea that had given you all that you needed, now has taken everything away from you. All of your things, all your nets, even your boat…are gone in an instant.
When morning comes, your wife and 3 children are with you and you are thankful. So many of your friends have lost their families as well as all they own. You sit in the front yard of your empty home and look around you. Trees down, boats run aground and smashed into the houses of your friends. Your children ask you, “Daddy, what about school? Will we go to school today?” But the school building is gone, and you realize that the waves have also robbed your children of their future and their hope.
So you humbly wait for someone to come and help you. You, who were once the strong leader of your family, providing all the things that they needed. You are now reduced to a half naked, rain soaked man, waiting for someone to give you a cup of drinking water, a bag of rice. Someone to come and give you the hope that things will be better one day. That you will one day be a man again.
MYANMARBURMA UPDATE
Even though the disaster in Myanmar happened over 2 months ago and is not much in the news now, there are still great needs there and a long term relief effort is underway through ReachGlobal. ReachGlobal is the International Mission of the EFCA. Since the cyclone, the sole focus of Michael’s ministry there has changed. Reach Global has appointed Michael as the Regional Director for Myanmar and a lot of his ministry focus is now on disaster relief in the delta. He went to HK for an emergency meeting with the leadership of ReachGlobal and our partners in Myanmar to discuss strategies and the best way to help with this crisis. Michael is working with RG associates and partners to help them coordinate and distribute funds and relief. If you are interested in finding out more about how you can help, go to TouchGlobal’s website www.touchglobal.org and click on the Myanmar Cyclone. There you will find updated stories and field reports. TouchGlobal is the compassion arm of Reach Global.
In June, two our Myanmar partners, Chhuana and his wife Lunpi, came to visit us in Chiang Mai to have a break and to give us reports about the work, as well discuss the administrative side of the work. We really enjoyed having them in our home for about 5 days and are very impressed with their compassion and commitment.
BTCP/LEADERHSIP TRAINING
Drew (taller than Dad now), Dad, Chhuana & Lunpi
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Michael continues to be involved with a lot of teaching and training. In May, he conducted a seminar for a group of Burmese church planters on the boarder of Thailand and Myanmar in a town called Mae Sai. The subjects taught were Theology of the Church, Church Administration, and principles of church planting.
The following week in Chiang Mai, he had another training session with a large group of the Lahu pastors and students. This was also on Church Theology and Church Administration. He also was involved in a KAIROS mission mobilization seminar with the Santisuk Church in Bangkok. Immediately after the seminar a group of about 8 young people Thai people went to Myanmar to help with the relief effort. Now that’s mobilization at its best!!!
While he was home in American in March and April, he had a great time re-connecting with local pastors at the New England conference for the Evangelical Free Church. He was able to share our vision for Agape and for the work we are doing here in S.E. Asia.
FAMILY NEWS
Thanks for your email and interest. We are all doing really well. The kids are doing good. Cana is celebrating her 12 birthday, Seth is having a much better year in school. Drew just went to the hospital to get 5 stitches after getting knocked in head during a rugby match, but ha, itʼs cool to be at school with stitches in your face. Iʼm sure it wonʼt hurt his love life. Karis is in the States and is doing well at school. She is living with several other girls in an apartment on campus and Iʼm sure they are having a good time together. Ellen continues to stay really busy at the Agape home. She just recently had a short article of hers published in the EFCA Today magazine. The Lord is using her to touch many lives. For the past several months I have been very busy. I have taught several seminars and courses in different areas of Thailand and Myanmar. I will be posting some web pages on Googleʼs Picasa website within the next week so people can get a feel for what I do. During the months of Nov and Dec things begin to slow down because of the holidays, but there are a lot more local church activities going on. I will include some prayer requests at the end of this email.
Good to hear you folks are doing well. I understand what it is like having a daughter away at college. I wish my little girl were only a hour or so away, but she is over 10,000 miles away which really s*&ks. Anyway, God has been good and she has adjusted well.
In regards to your missions conference, I would love to be there, but Nov is a bad time of the year for me to be away. I also coach the high school basketball team so it is difficult to be away. When I was at the last NEDA conference I talked with Lou and he mentioned to me that he wanted me to do a missions conference for him next March/April when I was back in the States for the 2009 NEDA conference. I was actually planning on that for next year, but it sounds like you guys canʼt wait and are going ahead. Can you give me the dates for the Nov conference please. Usually when I go back to the States I stay for at least a month and line up preaching and ministry opportunities in other supporting churches as well. This makes the expense of going back more worthwhile and if people hear I am back in a particular area then they want me to make the effort to see them if at all possible. A lot of pressure to perform here. I try to go back every year for the NEDA conference in March and stay on through the middle of April. I am planning on being there again this year so I am not really sure what Lou is thinking. It would be good if you could find out and let me know as that would be helpful in my planning. If they donʼt need me to do a mission conference, but would like for me to come and speak then that is fine too.
Ralph, thanks for holding the ropes, keeping in touch and keeping us before the church. Please pass on our regards to everybody there. We are very thankful for the partnership in the Gospel of Grace EFC. I will leave you with a few prayer request and look forward to keeping in touch.
Mike
Prayer Items:
I have just prepared our budget for 2009 and our support has increased dramatically from previous years. This is due to the fact that I am now the Regional Director for Myanmar and have had to figure extra travel costs and training costs into our overall budget. The economy is also affecting our support level and it is difficult to face these challenges during such economic times like we are facing. Please pray that God will meet our needs and that we will not have to sacrifice ministry opportunities because of lack of finances.
Please pray for wisdom in planning for 2009.
Please pray for plans to visit Myanmar October 27-30 to arrange some planning with our national partners for 2009.
Please pray for the health and safety of our children.
Thank you.
