Meeting Between TCLC and Rev. Bugbee, President of Lutheran Church-Canada

Rev.Dr. Leonard Harms (L) and Rev. Robert Bugbee, President of the LCC (R)

For a number of years the Lutheran Church-Canada (LCC) has been providing support for Sahathai Takuapa Lutheran Church and Sahathai KhokKloi Lutheran Church in southern Thailand.  Their financial assistance, training and prayers have been very important for strengthening the churches and helping it grow. 

On January 20, 2011 Rev. Robert Bugbee, President of the LCC, met with members of the Thailand Concordia Lutheran Church (TCLC) in Bangkok.  Rev. Bugbee was kind enough to open the meeting with a devotion and to inform the group about the LCC and its ministries.  He also heard a presentation about the history, structure and ministries of the TCLC.  The Lutheran Hour Ministries director, who serves as the TCLC secretary, joined that meeting and was able to get to know Rev. Bugbee better during informal conversations.  She also had the opportunity to do a presentation about the ministries of the Lutheran Hour in Thailand.

President Bugbee (L) wearing the Thai shirt that he just received as a gift from TCLC

In the afternoon Rev. Bugbee participated in a discussion on the agreement and relationship between the LCC and TCLC, the relationship between the LCC and Sahathai Takuapa Lutheran Church and Sahathai KhokKloi Lutheran Church and other issues. 

At the end of the day everyone was very pleased with the meeting and happy to be able to gain better understanding and to build stronger connections between the groups. 

The members of TCLC are very grateful to Rev. Bugbee for traveling so far to personally learn about Thailand and TCLC.  We thank Rev. Dr. Leonard Harms, former director of Luther Institute Southeast Asia, for arranging Rev. Bugbee’s trip to Thailand.  We thank God for blessing our meetings and pray that the partnership between the LCC and TCLC will continue to be strong for many years to come.

Children’s Day Activity

Some parents who live in the area of LHMT office brought their children to Children's Day Activity

Many people in the community around our Lutheran Hour Ministries Thailand (LHMT) office, don’t know much about who we are and what we do.  To have a chance to meet more people and help them get to know us better, we decided to do something special to celebrate Children’s Day. 

From 3:00-5:00pm on January 6 & 7 the LHMT staff set up a small booth near the street in front of our building.  They invited children from the neighborhood to come and play some fun games and to receive some small gifts.  Included in the gifts were some Gospel tracts and an encouraging children’s magazine.  A total of 40 children came and had a good time.

We’re very happy that so many children joined us for these activities and that we had a chance to share Jesus with them.  We plan to make follow-up contacts with the children and their parents in the near future.

School Christmas Program in Bangkok

LHMT gave Christmas information book to the director of each school

The new school director and teachers at Wat Thong Plaeng School in Bangkok invited Lutheran Hour Ministries Thailand (LHMT) to join the school’s annual Christmas party and to teach the students about the true meaning of Christmas. 

Because the school is so large, the LHMT staff were assisted by Pastor Chatri Jitsopee and ten members of Thonburi Full Gospel Church.  As the LHMT team and church team arrived at the school shortly before 10:00am on December 23, they could see many bright decorations, pictures of Santa Claus and a number of teachers and students wearing red and white Santa hats.  One small group of students did a dance routine to “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and a teacher talked about how the students would be receiving gifts from Santa that morning.

From 10:00am until 12:00 noon, the church group and LHMT team did presentations for the entire school about the true meaning of Christmas.  The church team worked with the kindergarten students and half of the LHMT did a presentation for the primary grades 1-6.  They had a good time singing Christmas songs about Jesus, playing games and watching the Lutheran Hour Ministries animated Christmas video, “Red Boots for Christmas.” 

The other half of the LHMT team spent the time with the junior high classes 1-3.  They also had a good time singing Christmas songs and playing games, but instead of the animated video, they did an activity with the letters in the word “Christmas” that presented a clear message about the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus.

As all of the students received their gift packs at the end of the morning, nearly 1,000 students, teachers and parents had learned that Christmas was about the birth of Jesus.  That God had come to the earth to save people from their sins. 

In a conversation with the new school director, just before the LHMT team left the school, he apologized for telling the students that Christmas was just about Santa Claus.  Now that he knew the real story, he promised that the school’s Christmas program next year would be different.  He also said that he planned to accept Pastor Chatri’s invitation to attend the church’s Christmas activity that weekend.

The LHMT staff enjoyed working with the team from Thonburi Full Gospel Church and look forward to doing more programs with them in the future.

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LHMT Does Christmas Program with Into Light Church

Pastor Sompong Hanpradit giving the Christmas message to the community

When the Lutheran Hour Ministries Thailand (LHMT) staff and church leaders from Into Light Lutheran Church in Bangkok decided to conduct a community Christmas party, they prayed that 100 people would attend.  When the party started at 4:00pm on Saturday, December 19, with a prayer by Pastor Sompong Hanpradit, the group wasn’t very large.  But, as the LHMT team started to sing Christmas songs, more people from the shops and homes surrounding the church began to come.  By the time the program ended at 8:00pm with Pastor Sompong’s closing prayer, at least 105 people had attended.

A number of students from the church’s English program attended, which gave a good opportunity for the pastor and other church members to get to know the students.  One of the goals of the English program is to connect the students with the church and to invite the students to attend worship and learn more about Christianity.

Although those who attended the Christmas party ranged in age from 5 years old to more than 60 years old, everyone enjoyed singing the Christmas songs, playing the games, watching the “Red Boots for Christmas” animated video and receiving the prizes and gift packs.  Through the songs, the video and a short talk by Pastor Sompong, everyone learned a lot about the true meaning of Christmas and who Jesus is.

As everyone held lighted candles during the singing of “Christmas is a Time of Love” near the end of the program, the smiles on the faces around the circle were a good sign that they had been touched by God’s love that evening.

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A New Wife and a New Life in Christ

Mr. Tienchai Tanho is from Lampang Province and moved to Rayong Province.  His wife has died and he has one child.  Sometime after his wife’s death Mr. Tienchai met another woman, who is a Christian.  Three months before they married she shared with him about God.  In the beginning he was not interested, as he had heard this from World Vision, which gave a scholarship to his child.  At that time he was not interested in knowing about God.  He felt that he was able to live and meet the challenges of life himself, though it was a struggle.  He tried to acquire the things of this world, so that his life would be stable.  Though he depended on his own ability, he came to realize there must be someone who created him and he did not need to carry his burden.  As he thought about this, he became interested in God.

His girlfriend was a Christian and regularly listened to the radio program produced by LHM Thailand.  It was aired on the community radio station, Unity Christian Radio FM 91.0 MHz in Rayong.  She encouraged him to listen.  He listened to the program, “The Cheerful Life.”  When the program ended he said, “This program is very good and provides knowledge about God.  It helps people to have courage to live.  Those who feel like giving up will be encouraged by this program.”  Since then Mr. Tienchai has been regularly listening to the program and has gained new ideas, which he applies to his spiritual life.  God has led Mr. Tienchai to faith and since coming to faith he says “My life has completely changed and I do not have to depend on my own ability, because I know that God is beside me.  This makes me confident.  I do not have to depend on myself, because I know that God cares and helps me.”  Mr. Tienchai has met the true God and he now understands that God has created everything and he believes that sacred things come from God.

Mr. Tienchai was baptized on December 28, 2010 and is being nurtured by Aekaparb Church in Rayong Province.  He has found the Light of Christ through the witness of his wife and Christian radio programs.  Please pray for Mr. Tienchai, that his spiritual life will continue to grow.