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

REPORT AND BLOG WILL NOT BE UPDATE

Shalom All,

Greeting in the Lord’s Name!

I will not be updating any report when we enter into this country (stated my previous report) next week till we complete our mission for a year. It is because the authorities is monitoring the internet activities through ISP (Internet Service Provider) and blocked many websites. The authorities is still finding and prosecuting the people whom spread the Gospel of Love. Therefore we must be very careful when we are doing our mission there.

We do need your prayer support and also your financial support as our journey is getting longer this round. I hope that all my previous reports that I sent to you had encourage you as the Lord lead all of us. Our God is Good, Amen!

Blessing with the Love of Christ,
Pastor Steve Peter H S Kok

For mission contribution and contact, please refer to the right side centre

CAMBODIA AND VIETNAM MISSION

Shalom All,

Easter Sunday is around the corner as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Glory to the King of King!

We arrived back in Bangkok last week from Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam We had at first contacted the China Embassy in Hanoi and were informed that they could not grant any Chinese Visa if we come under a tourist visa to Vietnam as this is only done for those holding a work permit or resident permit in Vietnam. As such our original plan to go to Hanoi, has been cancelled, so we took a bus back to Bangkok just to apply for the Chinese Visa. The travel time from Ho Chi Minh to Bangkok is quite a long journey, about 22 hours, Praise the Lord for a smooth journey and we got our Chinese Visa in Bangkok immediately after we applied the next day!

We have booked our flights and will depart next Thursday for Macau where we will spend the first 2 weeks. We will depart to Guangdong by bus and from there take the train to Xiangfan City, Province of Hubei. The Lord has provided us with free accommodation during our journey and we will be able to stay on there for over one month. During our stay, I will be training the church leaders, evangelism, preaching and praying for the city.

After our mission in Xiangfan, we will be going to Nanjing and Beijing to have fellowship with the Christian communities for 2 - 3 weeks. We believe that God is going to transform China into a city which loves the gospel because the people are hungry to learn more about the Word of God.

Finally, we will go to Tianjin and settle down temporarily. I will seek for a job as an English teacher in Harbin and Jenny will be search for a course to study. Bro. Lee, my friend who offers his parents in-law home for us to stay, will also be providing us with free board as well. Blessed be our Bro, Lee and his family too.

Let’s get back to my report.

On 1st March, 2009, we went to Sa Kaew (eastern Thailand near the Thailand-Cambodia border) and spent quality time with Ajarn Anan and his family members together with Ajarn Pawpon. We visited a non-believer's home and shared the gospel with the husband and wife. She shared with us that she saw a shining white man standing in front of her and she felt curiosity about Him. We believe the white man is Jesus Christ as her husband was very ill. I prayed for the family as everyone laid their hands toward them and I believe that Jesus already touched her heart. The time has come for the Ajarn's to continue sharing the Word of God with them.

We would like to promote the above picture as Ajarn Anan’s wife makes these cloth dolls for decoration. I witnessed their joyful hearts on serving God full time and using their money to help the needs of people. She also taught Jenny how to make these dolls. If anyone is interested to buy large quantities of these dolls, please contact me for the arrangements.

On 5th March 2009, we travelled to Siem Reap, Cambodia. There we were invited to go to the school that is managed by an NGO. Then the school director invited me to teach English to the teenagers and I was given an opportunity to share about Christianity. They were so excited to find out who is Jesus Christ.

On the 7th March 2009, we went to Baray, Cambodia to continue doing my mission, as I had promised the local pastors in October 2008. Thus far, each time we have arrived to a new destination, we have been invited to attend a wedding ceremony! During our stay, we visited the primary and secondary schools as we spent time with the teachers and students there. They are so excited to see foreigners visiting their schools. When the local pastors saw us, they too were so excited to see me and to meet my wife for the first time! Praise the Lord as Pastor Kea shared with me about his padi field which gained a double harvest as he recalled that I had prayed for his field in October 2008 when I was there while his neighbors gained only a one time harvest. Others asked him how he gain a double harvest and he told them to “Trust the Lord”.

We met some obstacle during our mission in Baray. A mission team from DUMC Malaysia came to the centre to do some mission service, so we did not do much mission activity until they left for Phnom Penh. While they were in Phnom Penh, the mission leader gave a direct order to the local pastors through SMS requesting them to stop us from doing any activities there without any grounds or reason. When the local pastors saw the SMS, they were caught up between DUMC and myself. Although we never judge him, yet he would not talk to me directly but rather used a 3^rd party to communicate. We would not know if he have his own agenda. All of us are working on one direction, it is to bring the Good News to people while increase their faith and love. They really desire me to train their young pastors, youth leaders as well also attend the church camp while we conduct water baptism for the elders. Due to this situation, we decided to shorten our stay in Baray.

Then we left Baray and continue our journey to Kampung Speu (Southern of Cambodia) whereby the place has no toilet and electricity. We were invited by Evangelist Moses who had stationed there for two months after his marriage. When we were there, we were informed that the villages are 100% follower of Buddhism and we spent some good time with the community people there. Moses able to gather the some people around and I share the Word of God to them by parable terms. Then all of them who attend accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Praise the Lord! Then I met some men who love drinking alcohol and I shared wisdom Word of God to them. They started to wake up and they really want to stop drinking as they cried. We stayed for couple of days and then went to Phnom Penh. On Sunday, we received SMS from Moses and he told us that the people who drank alcohol went to the church. Let's give Glory to the Lord!

On the March 22^nd, 2009, we took a bus from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam that we don’t need to change buses when we reached the border.

This is how Ho Chi Minh City looks like and enjoy the pictures and movie clip.

We were invited by Rev. Dung Nguyen, a Vietnam pastor to attend his mission cell group. I was delighted to share about my mission experiences as well the Word of God to them.

In Vietnam, the Christians are not allowed to share the gospel to the people, if the police find out, they will face many problems and for foreigners will be deported from Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City is more relax city compared with Hanoi City. We must always careful with the situation there as well in China too. We must pray for Vietnam to open the door for gospel as well freedom of religion. Praise the Lord.

We do need your prayer support and also your provision support as our journey is getting longer this round. I hope that all reports that I send to you all will encourage you as the Lord lead all of us. Our God is Good, Amen!

God Bless!

Blessing with the Love of Christ,

Pastor Steve Peter H S Kok and Sister Jenny P Kok