From the Field – Epiphany – Jan. 6, 2019
Mark Bohde will be leaving for Thailand on Jan. 22nd and continuing to work in SE Asia until returning to the USA on March 15th. He has three new groups starting up in Thailand. You can contact him directly. Pray.
Following are excerpts from the most recent previous Reports from Mark Bohde on SE Asia Outreach (In certain sections names of countries are deleted to prevent any information going out which would allow hostile governments to interfere.) You can get on his mailing list by contacting him at comabo [at] consolidated [dot] net
” We began our conferences this year in the small city of Chiang Khong located on the Mekong river in northern Thailand. We have labeled the groups by number. Group #1 met September 24 – 26. … This group is composed of mainly Laotian immigrants who now reside in Thailand. The people in this group are leaders. Because there is a sharp difference between men and women in Hmong tribal culture (unlike U.S. culture), I encourage women leaders to come so they can impact Hmong women. Only men are permitted to be pastors and overall leaders, but women can still have a great impact on other women and children. Group #2 is a smaller group and is composed of all Laotian citizens. They come to our conference … because of their desire to study the Bible. Group #2 met in Chiang Khong September 27 – 29. If you refer to the calendar I sent to you before the trip you can see which books each group is studying. The purpose of the training is to teach them what God’s Word says so that what they believe and teach is the clear Word of God. I also give them books that are composed of only verses from the Word of God (without the admixture of human reason) so they can build a resource library. In addition, it is expected that the students will teach others the material when they return home. The Lord is blessing His Word…
We scheduled a conference with a new group from … that was to meet Oct. 1-3 in Chiang Khong, Thailand. Unfortunately the … authorities at the border would not permit them to come. We have had this problem before. The enthusiasm from the pastors is strong and their need is great. We decided after our Spring conferences this year that we would seek to establish conferences in ,,, I will explain everything in my report about our trip …
The next scheduled conference was in Nan province in the city of Chiang Klang October 4 – 6. It was school break time so a couple of parents brought their children to listen. This was my first group from several years ago so we know each other quite well. We normally have a Hmong style barbecue on our last night together. This is a lively group that is growing in the Word. This year was unusual because 5 men from … made their way there and “crashed” our conference. They asked to please let them listen. I normally want everyone to start with the book on God’s Word and then progress through the books. I do that so I can build them up systematically in God’s Word. The group asked that they might remain so we agreed and printed books for them. We will start a new group in the Spring for them. On our second day, I was told that a pastor had taught one of them that if they committed 10 sins but only repented of 9, they would go to hell. Needless to say he was worried. It is this kind of heresy that I am trying to combat by teaching Scripture systematically so that what they believe and teach agrees with the clear words of God. After the question I spent an hour going through verses of Scripture with them concerning sin and salvation. In the Spring we will study Salvation which is the next topic… Thank you for your prayers and support. Our Lord continues to bless His Word… After the conference in Chiang Klang, Thailand, I went to Chiang Mai to work on getting my Visa to go into… I arrived in Chiang Mai on Sunday October 7. In the past, some years ago, it took several days after applying to receive the Visa from the … Government. I allowed extra time in Chiang Mai to accommodate any delays. What I found out in Chiang Mai is that they have eased the process of granting visas. I was informed that I could get my visa at the border, prior to entering …, in about 20 minutes for $35.00. I didn’t go to… until October 13. I used the extra time in Chiang Mai to allow for any meetings and to rest. I flew to … on October 13. From October 14 – 20 I taught two groups … All of the men I teach in … are pastors. They continue to take the books we study and teach at their own conferences. One of the pastors told me that his congregation insists that he come (and he wants to) and teach them what he has learned when he returns home. Group one was smaller than normal because of health and work issues. It is a pleasure to teach men who are so intent on learning God’s word. They want me to start more groups in… I told them I will do so according to the Lord’s leading.”
In Is. 60 it was prophesied that Christ, the Light of the world, would draw people from all nations to His light. As you look over the geographical places mentioned they are from all four directions, from near and far. We see this continue in Southeast Asia even though there is rising persecution there. Praise God for His great love to us and all.