SERVE GOD WITH TRUTH HEART

Shalom All,

Greeting in the Lord’s Name!

When I read the Romans 1 verse 18 - 20, “The wrath of God being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them”. Some people wonder why we need missionaries such like us if people can know about through nature. Although people know that God exists, they suppress that truth by their wickedness and thus refuse a relationship with Him. We sensitively expose their error and point them to a new beginning. People may believe there is God, they also refuse to commit themselves to Him. We help persuade them, both through loving words and caring actions. Moreover, we try to convince people who reject God of the dangerous consequences of their actions and helping the church obey the Great Commission. The most important, through nature reveals God, people need to be told about Jesus and how, through Him, they can have a personal relationship with God. By knowing God exists is not enough, people must learn that God is loving. They must understand what he did to demonstrate his love for us. They must be show how to accept God’s forgiveness of their sins.

In the 1 Corinthians 9 verse 1, “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?” Our changed lives were the evidence that God was using us. Does our faith have an impact to you? We can be a life-charger, helping others grow spiritually, if I dedicate ourselves to being used by God and letting him make us effective. At the verse 4, “Don’t we have the right to food and drink?”. We gave up our everything with the right hospitality to win people to Christ. When we focus is on living for Christ, our rights become comparative unimportant.

The purpose of the God’s Work in Luke 10 verse 7, “Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves their wages”. When Jesus told his disciples to accept hospitality graciously because their work entitled them to it. We, as a ministers of Gospel deserve to be supported and your responsibility is to make we have what we need. There is the way to encourage the people who serve God’s Work. First, see that the serving God have an adequate salary and supported emotionally. It is also to lift our spirits with special surprises from time to time and giving it cheerfully. Everyone have the responsibility to care for spiritual leaders and missionaries. It is also everyone duty to see that people serving full time for God in the ministry are fairly and adequately.

We must always alert ourselves. In the James 5 verses 1 - 6, “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you”. When James proclaims the worthlessness of riches, not the worthlessness if the rich. Today’s money will be worthless when Christ returns, so we should spend our time accumulating the kind of treasures that will be worthwhile in God’s Eternal Kingdom. Money is not the problem. Christians leaders need money to live and to support the families,, missionaries need money to help on spread the Gospel of Christ. It is the love of money that leads to evil and cause some people to oppress others in order to get more. This is warning to all Christians who are tempted to adopted worldly standards rather than God’s standards as well as an encouragement to all those who are oppressed by the rich.

Paul gave the some guidelines to follow in 1 Timothy 6 verse 10. We must realize that one day riches will all be gone, be content with what we have, monitor what you are willing to do to get money, love people more than money, love God’s work more than money and freely share what you have with others.

Almighty God has good, pleasing and perfect plans for his children. He wants us to be transformed people with renewed minds, living to honor and obey Him. Because He wants only what is best for us, and because He gave His Son to make our new lives possible, we should joyfully give ourselves as living sacrifices for His Service. Amen!

God Bless!

Blessing,

Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok

COMMUNITIES IN THE FARM

Shalom All,

Shanah Tovah (in the Hebrew Language) also called as Happy New Year!

This week, Jenny and I will be taking AirAsia flight to Guangzhou. We will stay there for two days before leaving for Kunming to work in the farm and serve the local community for at least one year.

“Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you (John 20 v 21).

It is not going to be easy for us, as our background and upbringing is urban and now we are going to live in a remote part of a mountainous village!

When I told this to my friends, they were incredulous.…”Are you sure that Jenny and you will adapt to life in the farm? ... yes, we can see that it is beautiful place but can you survive there without shopping malls, or even a 7 Eleven convenience store?”

Reading Isaiah 40 v 29 - 31 gives us the strength to say yes. . we shall overcome obstacles in our way, however difficult it might be, even with much testing when we might feel life crushing upon us, uncertain of our next step...yes, we are certain we can always call upon our God to renew our strength and hope. It is hard for us as human beings to completely understand God and His ways, yet we must obey Him if we want to serve Him...to seek His wisdom to know God's purpose better, 1 Chronicles 15 v 13 - 15.

Let me now talk a little about the Olive farm.

The farm was started with a vision from a man of God who implemented this vision in 2003. It is now run under a mission-company. Currently, the company is not making any profit as last month was its first harvest of olive oil fruits.

In due course, when the company turns profitable, it will use the profits to expand the Kingdom of God by sending local people to do mission works. All the first fruits harvests, whether vegetables or other crops will be celebrated with the local farmers in a thanksgiving celebration in a free sharing of such harvests. Todate, there are over 10,000 olive trees (most from seedlings of trees is from Israel, some from Australia and others from Europe) in this farm ,besides the growing of some wheat, barley, fig trees, pomegranates and honey.

The farm, over 100 acres, is on a land elevation of 2,200 ft. above sea level.

All praise to our God for His mighty work and blessings!

We will be helping in administration work and promote the farm as a camp retreat, also as a farm tour and visit venue, with our own handicraft works for sale and added attraction. In addition, we will help out in the teaching of English and Thai in the schools, make home visitation to different villages in the vicinity and train new believers in the Word of God. There are so many opportunities waiting for willing and helping hands in the ministry of God in this neglected area.

The farm does not provide us any salary or allowance, except free accommodation. We help out on a volunteer basis.

There is always a problem in transport and we are praying about it. From the farm to the nearest small town is 20km just to get some necessary groceries. If we plan to go to Kunming city, it is 80km away...to get there by public transport is about 20km away from the farm. It is also difficult for us to go to the nearby villages for visitation as we need to walk uphill and downhill in this mountainous area. The only thing we can depend on are the farmer’s vehicle to bring us to more accessible roads, but we should not be imposing on them too often. We are seeking the Lord for a second hand car and will convert our license to Driving License for convenience.

We now have a 2-year multiple entry tourist visa that gives us a maximum stay of 60 days per entry. Therefore, we have to exit from China every 58 - 60 days to make our continued stay possible. That will require us to leave Yunnan to a border town nearest us in Vietnam…From Kunming by bus to the border will take us 12 - 14 hours on a single trip and it will cost USD 35 - 40 per person per trip.

Due to political and religious sensitivity, I will not be able to update you with the usual mission report. Instead, I will update you with a coverage of the social or community activities. As some of you may be aware, many websites have already been blocked by the government including Facebook, blogs and others. All emails sent out, will be scanned by the cyber police through Internet Service Protocol (ISP), as the government is very cautious about security threats to the country. Hence, we need to be more circumspect in what we send out. I hope you will understand

Finally, allow me to quote in closing verses from Philippians 4 v10 - 19;

“How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me….Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty…so you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this…I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness…I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus…And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus”.

Mission Contribution

We also want to invite you to visit the first and biggest olive farm in East Asia where you can do short ministry, retreats or relaxation.

Should you have this interest, do send me an email and I will be most happy to send you an itinerary and estimated cost. You are also most welcomes to Skype me (Username: macgyversteve) or any chat messengers so that I can bring you around the farm by video conference.

Thank you for your time, your prayers and your support in our ministry.

To God be the glory!

Blessing,

Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok and Sister Jenny P Kok

BUSY WEEKS DURING CHRISTMAS

Shalom All,

Reflecting on this Christmas season, aren't we all glad that the Lord Jesus Christ came to Earth just over 2000 years ago to save us from all kinds of sins? Christ is the only hope for sinful man. He plucks us from the claws of eternal death, as well as provides us with the only Eternal Light that shines for the lost and the unsaved. By His blood are all men saved. Hallelujah! Praise His Name! ...we can and do rejoice because our God gives each one of us another chance to receive the eternal life. All Glory to His Name!

When doing a research about Buddha’s teaching, I discovered that one of his priests, Brahman has asked Buddha what the characteristics of the Holy One will be like. The Buddha answered, "The Holy One who will keep the world in the future will be like this; in the palm of his hands and in the flat of his feet will be the design of a disk, in his sides will be a stab wound and his forehead will have many marks like scars.

About 500 years after Buddha left this world, these prophesy was fulfilled! When Jesus Christ died on the cross to take away human sin, each hand and foot was pierced with a large nail leaving a disk shape (John 20 v 20), His side was pierced with a spear (John 19 v 34) and His forehead had many marks on it from the crown of thorns the Romans put on Him (John 19 v 2).

What an amazing confirmation of the Truth! Our Lord Jesus Christ is truly the savior of the world! Hallelujah!

Now for a brief update of our report.

On December 14th, 2009, Jenny and I took a flight from Shenzhen back to Bangkok. It was a long journey just before this as we took a train from Kunming to Guangzhou that took us 25 hours on a third class seating to reduce expenses. We stayed one night in Guangzhou. The next day, we took a hi-speed train to Shenzhen, staying one night there before our return to Bangkok. (We have bought a return flight ticket back to Guangzhou from Bangkok on January 7th, 2010. We should be back in Kunming on January 10th or 11th latest).

During our first week in Bangkok, we went about buying some basic Thai foods, noodles and medicines in preparation for our upcoming trip to China again....I will explain our situation in Kunming more fully in my next email as we do need your support.

On December 19^th, 2009, the Lumpini Evangelism Group invited us to join the Morning Christmas Celebration at Lumpini Park. There were about 140 - 150 people attending the celebration. Seven churches (3 from Bangkok and 4 from other provinces) shared the joy of celebration together with the people. The elders of the group presented me with a gift-a wooden picture frame showing Jesus in a manger - as a token of appreciation for sharing with them the joy of Christmas. I was touched and humbled. All Glory to the Lord!

On December 20^th, 2009, Jaisamarn Full Gospel church invited me to join their Evening Christmas Celebration at Bang-Pa In, Aytthuya. We were warmly received upon arrival and were quickly filled with overflowing love and bonding with these wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ. As we shared the love of the Lord with one another, with the pastors, the elders and church members, celebrating the joy of Christmas, there was such great joy in our fellowshipping with one another, singing praise songs and dancing with joy. There was also an invitation by their elders for us to join their Christmas Carol at Nakhon Luang, but unfortunately we couldn’t accept this invitation as we had another engagement in Pattaya during that time. Since I have brought back with me the first fruits olive oil from Kunming, I used the oils to bless each member of the church, as a reminder for them that our Lord, Emmanuel, is with us in this celebration of joy!

Our journey there started one early morning December 21^st, 2009. A group of 8 members from Jaisamarn, together with Jenny and me, traveled towards the Province of Pretchabun. The distance from Bangkok to our destination is about 380 km. Our objectives are to distribute winter clothing, books and toys to the Hmong Hill Tribal people. When we reached Khao Kao, we worked together with the local pastor there. This place was rather wet and cold. After distributing our gifts, we also took the opportunity to share the Gospel with the people gathered there. In the early part of the evening, we joined the local people celebrating their Hmong New Year and later we gathered them together to attend a church service. Once again, I took the opportunity to anoint them with olive oils to bless them.

The following day, we went to a church in Khek Noi. The church was built by a Korean missionary and one of the students in the Bible College. When we arrived, the children had already started their Tuesday service for some time, and we later joined them with some Bible quizzes and games to brighten their school lessons. With the lessons over, we then distributed the winter clothes, toys and books.

Next, we rushed to Ban Nam Khao for evening church service. There was no pastor in this church and it was run by one elder. This settlement is under military control. Here, we also gathered the people together for church service and anointed and blessed them with oil, before distributing them with the gifts we have brought.

On the third and final day, we joined the Hmongs to celebrate their New Year and played games with them, and then returned to Aytthuya.

Jenny and I got back to Bangkok around 1am. At 8am, we left for Pattaya to join the Christmas Carolers under the wings of 20 churches, singing Carols in the red light area and commercial area of Pattaya.

We stayed overnight in Pattaya and left the next morning for Bangkok to attend a Christmas Celebration Dinner at the invitation of Jaisamarn Full Gospel Vibhavadi Church.

Here is the evidence of the Good News hitting the streets of Bangkok. Today, any one walking the main road between Central World and Pratunam can hear local evangelists speaking through loudhailers proclaiming the message “Repent from your sins, receive eternal life, enter the Kingdom of Heaven, End Time is near!” Printed leaflets proclaiming the Good News is freely distributed to people in the street that I help distribute the leaflets for short while.

Our work for the Lord keeps us constantly on the move, and this can be quite exhausting even for people of our age. But in doing the work we do for our Lord, as we are called to do, we feel within us great joy and peace and are invigorated with the fullness of the spirit of the Lord to move on and on for Him… truly, God gives us strength everyday to do His work, for which we are so thankful. We serve an amazing God, who loves us, keeps us, protects us and sustains us.

Dear all, may you, too, be richly blessed by the same loving God, Jesus our Lord. Hallelujah!

God Bless!

Blessing,

Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok and Sister Jenny P Kok

MERRY CHRISTMAS

WORKING LONG TERM IN OLIVE FARM & COMMUNITIES

Shalom All,

Greetings in the name of our Lord!

We are so excited that we want to quote Psalm 89 v 1-2 to express our delight in the Lord

“I will sing of the Lord’s unfailing love forever! Young and old will hear of your faithfulness. Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens” - Psalm 89 v 1 - 2.

Now isn't that expression wonderful for anyone to feel and have?

Indeed, it is not only our deep felt joy to express it but also our responsibility and privilege to make known the story of God's faithfulness. We are and must be committed to telling our stories of God's abundant love and faithfulness, and so we hope, by passing on this torch of joy it may bring same to you and many others as well.

I am posting here some recent snapshots taken, showing the places where God has brought us to, and will soon plant us:

It was such a privilege for us to visit this Olive Farm in Kunming following an invitation from an Anglican Rev Canon from UK whom we met in Bangkok in October 2009. The Canon had then suggested to us to make a short trip to Kunming to see the place for ourselves and perhaps consider the possibility of us (Jenny and I) being of service there.

In Kunming, where we are now, we have had a good meeting and fellowship time with the manager of the farm, together with his family, and the Rev Canon. The manager tells us he has been praying hard for a couple like us (Malaysian cum Thai) to help out in community service and related work in the farm, and now he says his prayer is answered! Praise the Lord!

This immediate week, we plan to hold a “Thanksgiving for the First Fruits Olive Oil Celebration”, together with a Christmas celebration.

After this, we will return to Bangkok briefly, to better prepare ourselves for a longer stay in this planting, as well as to purchase some necessary general supplies, such as medicines, foods and clothings, to bring these with us to Kunming. We will most probably return to the Olive Farm from the second week of January 2010.

We plan to be stationed here for at least 2 -3 years , God willing We have accepted this new challenge because we feel a deep sense of peace within for this calling,and for being willing and available for service to this new community into which God has called us.. We are not paid any remuneration nor other living benefits,except free accommodation. That is why we have to purchase our own sundries and foods and we walk absolutely by Faith.

“Because you trusted me, I will give you your life as a reward. I will rescue you and keep you safe. I, the Lord, have spoken!” - Jeremiah 39 v 18.

Yes, Lord, Amen to that!

Please continue to uphold us in your prayer and keep communicating with us, as we too will continue to do so here in Kunming and wherever the Lord sends us.

God Bless you all!

Blessing,

Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok

UPDATE MISSION REPORT

Shalom All,

There will be some changes on the mission report update due to the security reasons and safety on our ministry. By God's grace, we are updating all the reports at Google Group and if you want to be in the list of this mission activities, kindly send the email to faithwithyou+garchive-84526@googlegroups.com or personal send me the email to me faithwithyou@gmail.com.

Thank you for your intention and God bless!

Blessing,
Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok

MAINLAND COUNTRY CHALLENGE

Shalom All,

Greeting in the Lord’s Name from Thailand!

It's been 4 - 5 months since our last report before we travelled to China for missions thus were thinking of all of you! While we were there, it was too risky to write any report which would circulate around the world as the Chinese cyber-government detects all kinds of email as well as tapping mobile telephone lines. In mid - July 2009, the government blocked various websites including Facebook, blogs, religious websites, company proxies etc. We are thankful to God for protecting us while in China although the Lord spoke to us to exit from China on June 23^rd, 2009. Had we not left the place and returned back to the city (i.e. been disobedient to God’s instruction), we may have been arrested or deported as there were many warnings by authorities. As such we decided it is better not to write anything about our mission there and this time and instead we are planning to return again later on. …like the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie Raw Deal, “I'll be back!”.

When we arrived to Macau on the April 16^th, 2009, a friend who works in Macau offered us a condominium apartment to stay, Praise the Lord! We spent a week there during which time we had fellowship with Oasis International Church. I shared my mission experiences in various countries but concentrated on the Mainland. It was a tremendous fellowship together and we gained various insights towards the ministry in Mainland. During the 7 days in Macau, we met up with a Brazilian pastor from ICA and spent time praying together. As well, I could feel the power of Satan is very strong there because of the casinos and the historical buildings that are link to the Book of Revelation. Let us gather our hand together and pray for the country to weaken Satan's grasp. Jesus Christ is always the winner…Hallelujah!

Meanwhile, I was offered a position as a Business Lecturer in the college at Haerbin City, Province of Heilongjiang and had signed the contract to enable me to have an official title. When I accepted the job, I had not spent time on seeking the Lord’s permission to work for a college as the package seemed too good so my mind was overjoyed. Then weeks passed, I felt my spirit getting weak and asked God what happen to me. God sent me back to the past when God told me “Resign from your job and work for Me only". That time I had surrender fully to Him and the time was near. This made me realize that God wants me to fulfill the tasks that He had given to me. It's not been easy without a basic salary or stable mission support and having a family, but I must obey God’s direction and walk by faith. Therefore I decided to drop the employment opportunity with the college but even before the offer was finalized the college had already rescinded the offer! When God wants us to do something, we must do it!

On April 24^th, 2009, we left from Macau to Guangzhou, Province of Guangdong and spent time a night with an African brother Desmond who is doing a trading business there. The next day, we depart from Guangzhou and directly to Xiangfan, Province of Hubei. We had been offered an apartment to stay, Praise the Lord!

While in Xiangfan, we discovered something different from other countries we visited. The public bus will turn off the engine before the bus reach the bus stop, then pick up the passengers and then start the engine again. The young children trouser is cut below for free air to go in and we guess that the children can’t take cold weather. The senior people play Chinese Mahjong on the road side and the police don’t bother them at all. During our visits to supermarkets around China, most of the vegetables are extremely large due to the good fertilizers and watering.

We had a difficult time due to the Chinese Visa and we have to depart from China every 30 days otherwise we will be fine for overstay that it will cost RMB 500 per day (USD 73) even through we are having 6 months multiple visa but each entry is permitted 30 days inside China.

On the May 14^th, 2009, we depart from Xiangfan and directly do a transit in Guangzhou to Hong Kong. The train ticket from Xiangfan to Guangzhou cost RMB 330 per person (USD 48). When we reached Hong Kong, we stayed there for 4 days 3 nights. The guest room is very small (like a size of a normal car) and cost us HKD 160 (USD 23) per night. Everything in Hong Kong is so expensive especially the transportation and foods.

On the May 19^th, 2009, we went back to Guangzhou and spend a short time with Helen who is from Province of Hebei. Two days later, we took the flight from Guangzhou to Beijing and then we took a coach bus to Tanggu, Tianjin. One of my former office colleagues has a house there and offered us the pent room to stay. Praise the Lord again! We also met Stone from Wuhan, Province of Hubei there and spent time on sharing the Word. Almost everyday from evening till early morning, I spent time with the people online from USA and UK, to do counseling service and bring them to have Faith. Jenny kept telling me to spent more time on sleeping but I can’t, because too many people needs help even the morning sun rise around 4am, I was still awake. “How Greats is Our God who work 24 hours per day”.

We went to Beijing for a short trip from June 2^nd - June 5^th, 2009. It was great that we spent time with Bryon’s family and his friends together. We were amazed with the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) is very cheap, RMB 2 per entry (USD 0.30) anywhere you want to go. Our first arrival, we had been treated the Peking Ducks, the famous food in the world. We raised our hand to the Lord for the Lord is Good always!

We can’t stay long in Tanggu, therefore we left on June 15^th, 2009 to Hong Kong again to do a re-stamp the Chinese Visa and then return back to Guangzhou. We spent a week with the African brother Desmond and Helen before depart back to Kuala Lumpur.

When we were in Tanggu, Jenny felt the Lord want us to return back to Malaysia but I denied it. Till we were in Guangzhou, I felt my spirit is struggling and I keep insisting want to visit Xiangfan City. At the end, we decided to return back to Malaysia for a short break.

Blessing with the Love of Christ,

Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok and Sister Jenny P Kok