Burgess Road Baptist Church

May 2020

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you all for faithfully praying for our family. God is so good, and He continues to prove himself faithful, especially with all of the new situations we are facing. Because of the government mandated restrictions trying to minimize the spread of infection, we are still having online services only. This has presented many new learning experiences. I would say that almost every pastorand missionary is doing a lot of on the job technical training. And that the phrase “technical difficulties” is becoming part of normal vocabulary. Yet God’s Word continues to go out, and in many respects we really don’t know the impact or scope of how far the Lord is taking the message of the Gospel.

When the quarantine started so many things just had to be placed on hold. During this past month we have begun to do some of our more normal ministry activities but this time through the virtual platform. Please pray for grace, especially as we are speaking Spanish via technology which sometimes makes it harder to understand. Please also pray for grace because in a video format our deficiencies are exaggerated.

As I mentioned last month, this crisis has presented new economic struggles for many who were already struggling financially. God has been providing for these unusual needs through some very specific gifts from supporters in the States but also through several members of the church here. It should not surprise us at God’s provision, but sometimes it does. In reality it should encourage and challenge us to trust more fully in the Lord because of the example of others who are similarly experiencing pressure, yet trusting the Lord and giving by faith. Just like Paul said in 2 Corinthians 8:2 about the believers in Macedonia. It is very humbling and joyful to simply be a conduit of God’s provision for others.

With the restrictions we are all experiencing throughout the world I am sure everyone would heartily agree with the desire for things to get back to normal. But many have asked, so I wanted to share a glimpse of what our current normal looks like here. We are restricted from going to the grocery stores except on our assigned day (based on the last digit of our ID number), and vehicle occupants are limited to 2 per vehicle. We have also been able to use delivery services to have some items from the grocery store delivered to our home. All restaurants and most other businesses are closed completely. With these restrictions, Cori and the kids have not left our neighborhood since the quarantine started (6 weeks ago) and as you can imagine one of our daily struggles for the kids is fighting boredom. That being said God is good and we are so blessed. One thing we have been focusing on as a family is daily saying something for which we are thankful. When we stop and think, the list of His blessings can very easily grow long. And a thankful heart does produce a joyful heart. Thank you again for your faithful prayers for our family.

Prayer Requests

• For God to give us understanding of the Spanish language and that He would help us be clear as we minister in Spanish.
• For the Lord’s provision for many of our church family who are being affected economically by the quarantine.
• For the Lord to continue to guide us in creative ways to present the gospel.

From Honduras,

Nate and Cori, with Mykenzie, Grant, Blake and Savanna.

May 2020

Dear Friends,

Operation Dorcas

I am just going to start this off by letting you know that I am overwhelmed by your response to Operation Dorcas. Your trust in me and the grace of God in our life never ceases to amaze me! What started out as a project to help 100 families turned into 300 families and now I am working on the second set of 300 more families. On May 14, 2020 I was able to give out 300 sacks of rice; 300 trays of eggs; 300 packages of hotdogs, noodles, sardines and powder milk for those who have babies. Odek and I and our two children were still under home quarantine and so I had the food items delivered to the house. I designated several people from our church, who had government passes, to give out stubs to the people. Odek called our local Barangay (Vicinity) Captain and got permission to give out food to 10 people every 30 min. On those stubs, there was an indication what time they were to come. It was a blessing that we did not receive any interference from the local government. The word of God was freely preached to a group of 10 people at a time.

 
2nd Wave Operation Dorcas

This second wave that we are working on is being done differently. We have learned that when you have a private vehicle you are allowed more privileges. The checkpoints are very lenient towards us and we are able to travel around more freely. My husband, Odek and I have visited over 40 families, delivering food and sharing the word of God. The Lord has already opened the door for new bible studies. We visited one compound on the edge of the dumpsite and within this compound, the matriarch has 16 children, 10 of them are married with children of their own. They, the married children and families, put together shacks all around this compound and there are over 80 people living there. They were overwhelmed by the food we came bearing and intently listened as Odek told them about the greatest gift of God which was his only begotten son Jesus Christ, so that we can be saved. The mother was moved to tears as well as her children. I have attached pictures of several houses that we visited today.

Barangay Tipo Bataan

Zone 4 Landfill New Cabalan Olongapo City

 
Once again, I want you to know that I am so very grateful to the money you sent that has enabled us to be a blessing to so many people both physically and spiritually. May God bless you fourfold.

Love,
Annalisa Valbuena

 May 2020

Dear praying partners,
 

Current Situation
Like you, we are being affected by the COVID virus. Thailand has been under curfew and many travel restrictions. Our church has been meeting online for over a month. Fortunately, no one has been affected by the virus, and attendance via online meetings has been well attended, and everyone’s in good spirits.

Visas
Praise the Lord Mike’s visa was secured with no problems. The Covid-19 situation actually helped expedite the process from 3-4 hours to 15 minutes.

Ministry in Thailand
The Lord has blessed by allowing our foundation to finally get approval for the branch offices in three other provinces: Chaiyaphum, Phitsunalok, and Bangkok. The establishment of these branches will help the missionaries at those locations in their church planting ministries. They won’t have to spend large sums to establish another foundation, and they’ll be able to acquire visas and work permits for the missionaries as well as those coming to assist the ministry. The brother I mentioned in our last letter got saved three weeks ago!  Even while having to do services online, he faithfully attended and finally came to the point of readiness to accept the Lord. Seeing a Thai get saved is a rare occurrence and always an exciting time. Dtom, the senior Bible student, has started to teach him a creation to Christ class as the first step in his discipleship. Additionally, the teen sister of one of our members has also been recently saved. It is a blessing to see our members faithfully communicating the glorious gospel to friends and relatives.

Bible Institute
The online Bible school has six people registered for New Testament Survey. It is an exciting time in the expansion of the Bible School. It is especially encouraging to have the advanced Bible students proctor the online students. In addition to the online students, the classes continue via Google Meet. Christian Leadership and the Christian Family are the two current classes being taught. Additionally, Mike is teaching Biblical Greek to four students from a sister church.

Prayer Requests
Salvation: The husband of a member who has been attending for five years. Two members who have not been faithful to church for several months that they would return or find another good church. Continue to pray for Mike’s students and fellow teachers at University.

Faithfulness: Pray for the Bible students to continue steadfast in their studies. Pray for a new couple in our church for spiritual growth in being newly married as well as her visa application to the USA. Pray for the new Christians to grow in the Lord and to follow the Lord in baptism after the COVID restrictions are lifted. Please also pray for wisdom and faithfulness while we continue to serve the Lord in Thailand. The longer we serve the Lord, the more we understand how weak we are.

May the Lord bless you richly as you continue to serve Him.

For Christ in Thailand,
Mike & Francis Frederick

www.thaimissions.org      Facebook: thaimissions.org

mike@thaimissions.org

(Skype Phone) 864-640-4654