Recap of 2021

The year 2021 was a year of challenges in Thailand (as it was for all of us), but it was also a year of progress. Covid shut-downs and mandates may occasionally have slowed activities down, they also created opportunities to minister to the hurting and needy. Mekong Bible Training Center and Lighthouse Church were able to reach out with food and supply assistance, as well as the Gospel, to people in their neighborhoods and across the border in war-torn Myanmar. Bible classes, Bible studies, and prayer meetings continued despite needing to be online at times. New believers came to the Lord and were baptized in the new baptismal tank on the Training Center property. Christmas was celebrated with church parties and outreaches to neighboring villages. Also, great progress was made on the construction of the main conference building. See the pictures below representing all of these activities. Eagles Rest International Ministries was involved in all of this through financial contributions, consultation, and administrative services like bookkeeping and letter-writing.

In spite of Covid restrictions and the war in Myanmar, the church of God in Thailand and surrounding countries is growing. Praise be to God!

On personal notes for Pastor ChiChang, director of MBTC, and his family, they welcomed a new baby daughter into their household at the end of November. See the picture below. Also, their oldest daughter continues to do outstanding work in her higher education studies toward becoming a missionary doctor. ERIM is financially supporting her schooling. 

Doug and Jill have not yet returned to Thailand due to Covid issues, but we have been busy on the homefront in the U.S. with Bible studies, prayer meetings, and working toward establishing a viable home church modeled on the Book of Acts template. Also, at the end of the summer, Jill received her Master of Divinity degree from Regent University.

Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support. We could do none of these things without you! God bless you throughout the New Year!

Looking Forward to 2022

In 2022, ERIM looks forward to continuing to support the work in Thailand as we have been doing with the potential for a return to boots-on-the-ground there at some point during the year. As much as we love being home with our biological family and U.S. friends, we miss our dear friends and spiritually adopted family in Thailand and would love to hug them in person. 

Also, Men at Rest (MAR), the men’s Bible study sponsored by ERIM, will continue to meet Saturday mornings at 8 a.m. at the Riverside Town Hall in Dawson, MN. All men are welcome to dig into God’s Word together in a highly interactive and mutually supportive atmosphere. Ecumenical prayer will continue the third Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. with rotating churches hosting.  

Again, a heartfelt thank you for your prayers and financial support as we continue to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and reach out to people at home and abroad in His name. 

Happy New Year !!!!
I like starting off a new year with good news. I would like to thank everyone who helped us with our Christmas outreach. The Outreach was just great this year. We bought hundreds of pounds of candy for the kids. We were so excited going to the stores and picking out the best candy. We got the candy home and disinfected the bags. Danny and I sat at a table with hundreds of empty bags that needed to be filled with all that candy we purchased. We spent hours stuffing those bags. That’s quality Father Son time.

We then went shopping for the widows care boxes. The boxes were bigger and fuller than ever before. When we drove out to the jungles we delivered the boxes to each of the widows huts. We had fun ministering to the widows in their huts. One of the widows has been suffering with sever diabetes and kidney problems. She had been in bed for 7 weeks. The doctors had just removed part of her foot. Her sister had a dream the night before that God would heal here. When we prayed for her she got so excited she jumped out of bed jumping up and down yelling I’m healed. God is so good to us all.
We went to the church in Santa Cruz where we invited all the children of the village to come and get candy. We had a great time singing songs, talking about the birth of Jesus and praying for all the children. I always have so much fun playing with the children there. It was so funny to see all these children running around with their mouths full of candy. For most of the children this candy will be the only gift they get for Christmas.

When we finished ministering to the children we drove to the town of Xcan. When we entered the main street we meet a group of teenagers doing a posada. We stopped and talked to them about the meaning of Christmas. We prayed with 43 of the teenagers to receive Jesus in their lives. After we prayed for them we gave everyone in the group a bag of candy. We then drove around giving candy to children until it was all gone, We then Stopped and gave care boxes to a couple more widows.
It was a fun day for us. Thanks again to everyone who helped make it possible.

With much love Rick, Maricruz and Daniel

Christmas always reminds me about humbleness. God, the Creator of heaven and earth, left His royal mansions to be mingled with men. He chose to be born not in one of the noble places of the time but rather in the humblest. Throughout His life we see this happening again and again. Instead of feasting in the high places he chooses to share meal with the sinners. He is the one who possesses all the power and might. Even when he is standing in front of Pilate, it is evident that He controls the situation, not Pilate. Yet, He chooses again and again to be humble and kind. Great example for us, his followers in 2021 and, hopefully, in 2022.

Things to Remember
As we look back over 2021, we give thanks for all the encounters we have had with people in various faucets of our ministry and opportunities to share the gospel. As we look forward to 2022, we would ask you to pray for God’s peace in this place. It’s just been too much to carry for the people of Bashkortostan in 2021. Pandemic and economic woes were tough. People look anxious and worried about the future. Crime rates are high. Even some ministers look overwhelmed. Pray that the Lord would pour his peace into the hearts of people.

Young Generation
Over this year we have seen numbers of young people coming to the Lord. Please, pray that we would help young people put the Lord first in their lives and find freedom in Christ. We want to see young people committing to the Great Commitment and harvesting for the Kingdom. Most of them are the bearers of a different spiritual DNA, set more on the church as a function rather a form.

Friends and Family
We praise the Lord that a new music teacher for Tim was found. That we had our consultation times with several teachers in the local school to help him grasp the requirements of the program.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support for us in 2021. We wish you Merry Christmas and his richest blessings in 2022!

You can make tax deductible contribution to Ufa Bible Ministries which is recognized by the IRS as a 501c3 non-profit entity. Make checks payable to:
Ufa Bible Ministries
PO BOX 1761, Columbia, SC 29202