Burgess Road Baptist Church

August 2016

Thailand just had a referendum on the new military guided constitution.  Thailand has averaged a new constitution about once every four years since the 1930’s.  We try to stay out of politics as much as possible.  But the new constitution will basically pave the way for a military-appointed prime minister and allow the military a very heavy hand in the rule of the country.  However, more concerning than this is the push to make Buddhism the official religion of the country.  It is difficult to know just how much traction this is getting, but it is brought up often.  Please pray that Thailand will remain open for the preaching of the Gospel now and in the future.

Church Events: As I mentioned in our last letter, we will be leading a missions trip to Cambodia in January 2017 (not 2016 as I mistakenly said in the last letter).  We have had several folks give special offerings to use in this endeavor.  We will be departing on January 24^th and returning to Thailand on 3 February.  Lord willing we will be visiting three churches, two in Phnom Penh and one in Kampong Chom.  This is a great opportunity to expand the vision of many of our church folks and be an encouragement to those involved in church planting in Cambodia.  In spite of being neighbors, these are two very distinct countries politically, culturally, and historically.  There has not always been the best of relations between the two neighbors.  This is our Samaria and we feel burdened for them.  We already have a missionary sent form our church raising support to go to England. What a blessing if the Lord would call someone to go to one of our neighboring countries.  We are praying that this will increase the burden and desire to see churches planted, not just in Thailand but abroad as well.  The trip will cost about $280 per person.  Everyone is sacrificially saving money to pay their way, but as you might imagine, it is a difficult and sacrificial task to effectively save a month of income for a one week ministry trip.  If anyone would like to help in this endeavor, you can designate special offerings to “Frederick Missions Trip” and send them to our mission board at BWMOM.  All funds will go to our church members.  My wife and I will save and pay our own way. Feel free to contact me directly at Mike@thaimissions.org for more information.

Vehicle:  We praise the Lord for about $2000 that churches and individuals have given for us to use toward another vehicle.  We still need about $3000 in order to have an appropriate down payment.  I always hate to ask for help, but this is becoming more of a need with every passing repair bill on our older vehicle.  If anyone would like to donate to this project you can send funds to BWMOM and designate them as Frederick Vehicle.  We are so thankful for those who have already given.

Outreach:  Mike will be teaching at the University again this semester.  He should have about 70 students.  We will be having game nights and movie nights to try to make better connections with the students.  Additionally, our helpers are continuously teaching in a local elementary school.  Together we are reaching many youths.  In addition to this we have been dabbling in Facebook advertising.  Our first ad was a salvation testimony by a Thai Pastor.  For about $20 we were able to reach over 1500 Facebook accounts within 10 miles of our church and the video was viewed by more than 400 people.  We are continuing this unique outreach by posting interesting questions and answers weekly.  Not quite sure of the effectiveness, but considering the specialized target area and cost (i.e. inexpensive), this is an exciting area to investigate.

Please pray for:  Mike’s students and fellow teachers for salvation, backslidden members to return or find a good church, Hannah (our youngest daughter) for her college school bill and her university studies, Bible school students and myself (for teaching them clearly), Al Allshouse (our associate) for ability in learning Thai, wisdom in ministry matters, results of outreach, fundraising for Cambodia missions trip, and funds to purchase another vehicle.

May God continue to bless you as you serve Him

For Christ in Thailand,
Mike & Francis Frederick

www.thaimissions.org

facebook: thaimissions.org   and/or  www.facebook.com/groups/60656871213/

mike@thaimissions.org

June 2016

Dear praying partners,

Praise the Lord that the rains have finally come and we have been getting lots of water. We are still in a water crisis but it is looking better with every rain. Like the weather, our ministry has come through a particularly dry patch but hopefully has turned the corner.

The young man who I mentioned in our last prayer letter has been faithfully attending services. He was also baptized recently. He won’t be able to attend Bible Institute because of his university schedule, but praise the Lord for a faithful young man with a desire to grow in the Lord.

Bible Institute: We recently finished our third semester. We have just started the first course of Systematic theology. It is a joy to teach eager students the Word of God and the importance of proper doctrine. Although our current students are all female, we praise the Lord for church members with a hunger for the Word of God. These young ladies will be part of a strong foundation for our church for years to come. Please continue to pray that the Lord will lead men to want to study God’s Word and have a desire for ministry. Most churches in Thailand have very few if any men. We do not want to be the ones who call anyone into ministry, but that the Lord would stir hearts.

Church Events: We recently had the privilege of traveling to another Northern province to celebrate the fourth anniversary of a sister church. We took nine of our church members with us to help the missionary pass out tracts and just try to encourage the new members of this church. All of our members that went paid their own expenses to be a blessing to this church, which is 5 hours from us. What a blessing to see Christians with a heart to reach and bless others. With that thought in mind, we are planning on a missions trip to Cambodia in January 2017. Each of the people wanting to go must fund their own expenses. It is estimated to cost about 10,000 Baht (about $280) each. We will be helping a missionary in Cambodia to distribute literature, work on the church property and any other things we can think of to be a blessing. When considering the cost, it seems rather cheap, but our folks average about 10000-15000 a month. So that would be like an American raising $4000 or more to go on a missions trip. A few folks that have found out about the trip have expressed an interest in helping. If the Lord leads to help, we would use any donations to help the group (outside of my expenses). We would ask that no one supports an individual, but helps the group. All are sacrificing. You can designate any special gifts to our mission board.

Missions Conference: As far as our missions program is concerned, we recently had a faith promise missions conference. What a blessing that our church was able to take on our second missionary. We currently support Tom Britten, who is sent from our church to England and we now support a missionary from the Philippines who is church planting in Thailand. Our church is small but has a huge heart for others and understands that we as church need to reach out. It is humbling to serve such a group of believers.

Truck: We praise the Lord for about $1500 that churches and people have given for us to use toward another vehicle. We are still need about $3500 in order to have an appropriate down payment. If anyone would like to donate to this project you can send funds to BWMOM and designate them as Frederick Vehicle. We are so thankful for those who have already given.

Please prayer for: Mike’s students and fellow teachers for salvation; backslidden members to return or find a good church; Hannah (our youngest daughter) for her college school bill and her university studies; bible school students and myself (teaching them clearly); wisdom in ministry matters; results of outreach; and fundraising for Cambodia missions trip.

May God continue to bless you as you serve Him

For Christ in Thailand,
Mike & Francis Frederick

www.thaimissions.org facebook: thaimissions and/or
www.facebook.com/groups/60656871213/

May 2016

Beloved Prayer Partners

Psalm 78:4-8 reminds us of the importance of the gracious works of God for each generation and the solemn and sacred duty of each generation to ensure that those coming after them would remember God’s gracious acts from the past. In essence, each generation should be motivated to place their confidence in God and His Word. Otherwise, failure to remember God’s gracious work would lead future generations to forget God and to repeat the mistakes of those whose heart and spirit were not right and steadfast before God. Note that 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 demonstrates the reason and the purpose for the written Word of God.

Discipleship ministries:

1. Bible School Students – Simeon Koech, Mike Otieno, Silvanus Agisu
2. Sunday afternoon Bible Training – Simeon Koech, Mike Otieno, Silvanus Agisu, David Ouma.

Church Ministries:

1. We have continued to work closely with church families struggling in their spiritual lives and facing financial challenges as well as life decisions. Note that we are faced with cultural beliefs as well as prosperity or materialistic mindset in the lives of many. Biblical counseling is truly important in every ministry and growing believers.
2. We have been faced with deaths in relation to our church members and we have been engaged in funerals one after another. Though a time to comfort, also opportunities available for us to share the gospel.
3. Sicknesses have been a challenge with church members also following each other. Desmond Agisu/Roseline/Stephen’s uncle, etc.
4. We have seen good progress in every department of ministry with new families, young adults, and children from the community joining the church. We have seen more commitment to ministry service and involvement. Pray for more desires and commitments.

Outreach Ministries:

1. House-to-house visitation during Easter this year gave us a great opportunity to reach out to a great number of homes with tracts and invitations as we shared our faith without fear. We held an afternoon seminar on “God’s Provisions” at the time as well that has led to a continuous visits thereafter.
2. Early this Month, May 8^th 2016, David Ouma led our Youths on a mission to Sing’ore Girls High School where they shared the Word of God.
3. Sayare Radio program continues to be a blessing and an avenue for us to reach out to the outcast of the city of Eldoret and the larger Western region of Kenya.

Building Project:

1. Faced a challenge with the builder and have come to an agreement with a new builder who is ready to finalize the work.
2. Financial challenges exist but we thank God for the progress. Although not much, the church is making their building contribution as we progress. On May 2016, the church will be putting together the collection from different departments. Pray for success and commitment of all.
3. We desire to begin the final part of roofing after the heavy rains that continue around the country. Pray and support this progress with whatever God lays in your heart for God’s glory.
4. We desire to officially dedicate the facility in February 2017 along with celebration of our 10^th Your support is appreciated dearly.

Family Life:

1. We thank God for His provision and protection under His wings. Ian, Regina, and Rena are keeping on with school, this being their last semester for this school calendar year. Pray for them as they get into their final year of High school (Ian and Regina) and Rena going to her final year of elementary (primary) school.
2. Edna continues to be a blessing to us all at home, church, and in ministry. Apart from taking care of her family, she serves as a Sunday school superintendent, Sunday school teacher, Lady’s Bible Study leader, etc. amongst others.
3. Stephen is busy with preaching and teaching and leadership of the ministry apart from dealing with legal issues and building project and weekly pastoral duties. Pray for us daily.

We, thus, pray to our Lord and savior, “Spur my desire to search this work which you’ve finely wrought, Frame my poor mind to comprehend its treasured fill, Mold all my heart to love the truths you’ve kindly taught, Grant me the faith to do your good and perfect will.”

In His Care,

Stephen & Edna Muindi
Ian, Regina, Rena
Ephesians 2:10