News from Chachoengsao

Good February to you all!!

When I last left you it was just after Christmas, and many noteworthy things have happened since then, including a location change for my team near the end of January! Here she goes more or less chronologically.

DMI

About the second week of January a man named Reg Toews came to Thailand on behalf of Disciple Making International in Abbotsford. Disciple Making International, or DMI, is an organization dedicated to evangelism worldwide. Reg came and taught a seminar to the members of the three churches on how to share the gospel with their friends in a clear way. Following the seminar came ten days of intense evangelism! We spent the first few days in Ang Sila, where we had been living for more than two months by that time, and had the opportunity of personally sitting down with friends we had made in the community and sharing our testimonies and the message of the gospel with them through the use of a translator.

One testimony from that time that really encouraged me involved my teammate Thomas. Thomas had become friends with a young man in the community named Gaan and often went down to the market on the pier to help Gaan self fish. He had wanted to share the gospel with Gaan but was nervous to do so, because he was worried that if Gaan took offense or thought differently of Thomas because of it then their friendship would end. It is particularly difficult to make friends in this country because the communication barrier is so large. In the end, Thomas decided to share with him, because in not doing so he could only guarantee their friendship for this lifetime. Thomas met with Gaan and a couple of older Christian men from the church, and the Holy Spirit moved in Gaan. He recognized his need for a saviour and accepted Christ. It’s with joy that I can say that in sharing, Thomas guaranteed their friendship for eternity, and last week was able to stand beside Gaan as he was baptized. Eternal life with Jesus is a pretty sweet gift to give to a friend!

Many amazing things happened during DMI as we moved to all the different church locations. It was a pleasure for me to watch Thai people share with their friends and family and to be able to speak about my own life as a testimony of God’s love and power and to see Him use it to move the hearts of Thai people to want to receive Christ.

Chachoengsao

After DMI my team moved to the Beth L church plant about an hour and a half away from Ang Sila and about an hour’s drive from Bangkok, in the city of Chachoengsao, The scene here is quite different from that of Ang Sila. Beth L church is situated in a country neighborhood in the middle of many rice fields and large factories,and directly adjacent to a canal. The four of us live on church property in a grass and bamboo hut that was erected about three days before we arrived. There is a wall separating the girls from the boys, and we use the church bathrooms and water pumped from their new well to shower. It is a ways to the closest market, but we often make the trip for food in the mornings or late afternoon. For me it felt like home immediately, as it reminded me of my months at WilderNess camp this past summer. We are the first TREK team to live in Chachoengsao and the only foreigners in the neighborhood, but we have felt so welcomed by everyone. There is a large Burmese population in the area who live and work at factories nearby, so consequently the congregation at Beth L is made up of Thai and Burmese believers. Last weeks sermon was in three languages!

Our ministry in this area is mainly sharing Jesus’ love in new areas by running kids clubs at various neighborhoods and factories in the surrounding area. We travel to the locations in a big group and Burmese and Thai leaders from the church make connections with parents while we teach bible stories and songs in English to the kids. Our team has been most affected by the factories and the people and condition of life there. There are mostly Burmese people working in the factories and they work for very little money and live in shanty-towns on factory property. They don’t often leave and few have their own means of transportation. We have all been given a special heart for the children and people there and visiting is often the highlight of our week. Pray that the Holy Spirit reveals himself to more people in these places and that they can receive deliverance through Jesus.

Recently the four of us have also been working on the church property. Just a few weeks ago the building was only a gazebo with no walls, and now it is a full building with windows and a shaded patio in the back. It has been painted and worked on by visiting teams, missionaries and many men in the community. Our team has spent some hard days digging holes in the dry clay ground and bringing in bags of soil to make visions of a shaded garden area a reality. We now have a bunch of young trees and flower plants and even grass on the property.

Life in the country is very pleasant; we work on the grounds, swim in the canal with the neighborhood kids and enjoy building stronger relationships with the Christians in the community. Please pray for a continued deepening in relationship with God of the church members. Last weekend there were baptisms here (and at the other two churches as well!), so praise God for his goodness! Praise him also that there is a spirit of encouragement and accountability within the church, and pray that it will continue.

Me and Team

Living in very close quarters with one another has been a new experience for our team. It has been a pleasant opportunity to work on team dynamics and get to know one another even better. Conflicts have been happening less frequently and we are getting better at extending grace to one another. Please pray that this will continue and that we would daily humble ourselves and love others first. Please pray for us also in decision-making, that we would recognize bad patterns of doing this and seek to right them.

Over the last few weeks I have been massively enjoying my personal devotions and quiet times! As a team we are working through the book A Purpose Driven Life, and each day I am learning new things about God’s character and things about me that he would like to change, to make me more like Him. It seems that every time I pick up my Bible or a book certain things jump off the page and scream at me, and I can’t learn, read and journal fast enough! I have never experienced such a time of learning that was just between God and myself and didn’t involve pastors and teachers. Praise God for his spirit of teaching and his patience in helping me “prune” the garden that is my character. Please pray that I would continue to have a teachable heart and would apply all that I am learning to my thoughts and actions every day. This part of my life has been so wicked!

Thanks

Thank you so much to those of you that take the time to read my entries and send me encouragement. Your words always lift my spirits and your prayers are powerfully affecting what happens here. If you would like to contribute to me financially I am getting very close to my needed amount, but am still about $1200 dollars away and would appreciate your financial blessings.

Praise God for you and your love and support for me!

Carmen Ricard

PS: I will post pictures of my sweet grass hut just as soon as I am able, as I know you are all dying to see it!