When CrossTies Asia joined Reach A Village (RAV) we had no idea what God had in store. We were encouraged to see how God was using RAV to help national leaders start churches in Cambodia and Myanmar but had no clue how this would work in Thailand. Little did we know God already had a plan.

Since then we’ve had the privilege to visit Pastor Somsak in Phetchabun province. When we met, he shared what his organization was doing and how God was using it to start churches. We were surprised to hear that since December they had planted over 50 house churches. What surprised me more was he was using the same church planting principles I saw being used in the other countries. When I asked Pastor Somsak who taught him these principles his answer was “Jesus, I just started doing what the Bible says He did.”

I have been back to Phetchabun several times now and have visited many of the house churches and spoken with many new believers. It is an exciting place to visit. People are coming to the Lord daily and new churches are starting weekly. Every month dozens of people are being baptized. This is an indigenous movement of God that is totally self-supported.

As Pastor Somsak and I talked over the past months he shared his concern about the growing pains of this organization. He doesn’t have the tools and resources to manage the rapid growth. He then asked if we would partner with him to help with this. I said yes because I recognized God had been preparing us to do this when we joined RAV.

I have developed software to assist in the management of their churches, members, church planter activities and budget. On September 4th, I am driving to Phetchabun to train his team on these tools. They are internet based tools to update and track church growth data using smartphones and computers. This information will be online so others can see and be encouraged by what God is doing.

When I asked Pastor Somsak how the movement is funded he said, “we use whatever funds God provides from members. Sometimes we run out of funds and stop until we have saved up enough to continue”.

As a partner I asked if we could help raise funds so they can continue to plant churches. Funds to be used for purchasing Bibles, evangelism/discipleship materials, church planter training and gas money. He said yes, as long as we didn’t pay any salaries. We agreed to this.

Would you consider being part of this movement of God. They are planning a big evangelism push into 30 villages during the Christmas season. We are confident many will come to know Jesus and many churches will be started because of this effort. We need people to pray for Pastor Somsak and his team as they share the gospel to these unreached areas of Thailand.

They also need additional funds to do this. We have committed to raise $5,000 for them. If you sense God asking you to be a part of this please visit http://crosstiesasia.org/rav1 and give a gift. As a bonus, a generous donor has offered to double your gift. So, if you give $100 it will be doubled to $200. $500 will be doubled to $1,000.

Thank you for being a Blessing,

Dwight & Mary Kay Martin

http://crosstiesasia.org