MORE CHALLENGE WILL COME

Shalom All,

Greetings in the name of Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth!

The Lord God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you” - Hebrews 13 verse 5 (b).

This wonderful assurance from God gives us hope to move in life each day.

When Jenny and I left for Chiang Mai, we brought along a minimum-our passports, a computer notebook, ukulele, camera and some clothes ... all other non essential, we left them behind in our home since October 17^th, 2011.

We plan to go back to our home in Bangkok to retrieve a few more things this week, as we are not certain how long the flood will continue unabated.

We are still awaiting for confirmation from our mission agency when we should depart for Cairo to begin mission work there … it could be end of November, or early December 2011.

Between October 19^th to 22^nd, 2011, we were in the hometown of a church elder from Jaisamarn Full Gospel Bang-Pa In, in Phrae City, Phrae Province. This place was also affected by the flood.

The following day, Sunday, I was invited to preach the Word of God in Manebnoprat AG Church, Chiang Mai. One of the church elders offered us a room for temporary stay as they understand the flood situation in Bangkok. The church elder also provided us with an old motorbike for our use. Praise the Lord!.

During our stay in Chiang Mai, we also went to help out in a farm warehouse and also helping people to move house.

We took 3 days to complete the above drawing and gave this as a gift to the Manebnoprat AG Church, Chiang Mai the following Sunday.

Jesus' message in the Picture is sharing the Kingdom of God is, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near". Matthew 4 verse 17.

The church pastor also invited us to share our testimonies, to encourage and challenge church members to be strong in the faith.

I have made this video clip about Bangkok underwater. The situation in Bangkok the next few days or weeks is still uncertain.

I am told water has even reached areas near my home. Crocodiles and snakes have been sighted there.

The nation of Thailand is currently undergoing great strain and stress. Let us pray together for Thailand, and to lift up the Thai people to God for mercy from their hour of sorrow and despair.

The Lord has guided me to read the following passage.

“The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble” - Psalm 9 verse 9.

May God continue to give strength, faith, hope and love to the people of Thailand.

Blessings,

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

FLOOD SITUATION IN BANGKOK WORSENING BY THE DAY

Shalom All,

“Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed”, Psalm 57 verse 1.

The flood situation in Bangkok is getting critical by the day, with relentless pressure of floods from the northern and northeastern provinces of Thailand above Bangkok.

Below are two pictures showing how floods in central, northern and northeastern of Thailand look like.

Last Friday, my wife Jenny had a vision from God about floods in Bangkok. She told me that we need to get out of Bangkok immediately on Monday, that is yesterday. But I felt that there was no urgency to leave Bangkok after listening to the news from government sources that Bangkok would remain safe, with little likelihood of floods.

Therefore I just ignored her urging.

Yesterday evening, Jenny spoke to her friend who works as a university lecturer. Her friend shared her flood experience in the Nonthaburi (the province to the west of Bangkok). She narrated that flood water came into her house within 3 hours from ground level to the chest level just a few days ago.

We also contacted a church elder of the Jaisamarn Full Gospel Bang Pa-In Church who lives on a higher ground of the Bang Pa-In area that has never before experienced floods. But late on last Saturday evening just before they were about to retire for the night, suddenly flood water came rushing into their house and within 2 hours, the water reached the level of their neck. They rushed out just in time to get back to the safety of their hometown, some distance away.

This afternoon, we also contacted another Christian brother. He told us that the flood water has already got into their home. This happened on Sunday late evening and the flood water level reached the chest level within an hour. They did not have enough time to save their car in time and so it is now submerged under the floods.

Radio and TV news from Bangkok are now getting more pessimistic. They broadcast news that the water barricade in Navanakorn District has been breached. Thus the situation is getting more serious and flood water may soon endanger the people in Bangkok and its surrounding.

With all this happening, I believe there is good evidence in Jenny’s vision. So we decided to pack our bags and rush to the Don Mueang Airport to catch a flight to Chiang Mai ... if we are able to get 2 tickets, by God's grace. While we were on the plane, Jenny took a few pictures from the air flying over Bangkok ... clearly, large tracts of land and many, many places near Bangkok are already being flooded. There is nothing much we can do now but wait for the floods to be over and then we will return to help the people to re-build their place.

On October 12, 2011, we went to the Relief Center in Thammasat Convention Hall to help flood victims there.

On October 12, 2011, a tornado hit Ayutthaya for two hours. Last week, there was an earthquake of 3.2 magnitude in Tak (below ChiangMai) and this quake shook the biggest dam of Thailand. Dozens of crocodiles have escaped from a farm in Ayutthaya's Bang Ban district after it was inundated by months of severe flooding and heavy rain.

Believe it or not, this is what we are told:

- Rojana Industrial Estate (Ayutthaya) has maintained that it has built the strongest embankment wall of 6m high ... yet this place is now under water.

- High-Tech Industrial Estate (Ayutthaya) also claims that its walls/embankments are made of solid soil capable of stopping rushing floods ... now this place sinks under water.

- Bang Pa-In Industrial Estate (Ayutthaya) also claims that it has protected itself with the strongest double layer sand bags ... now it is submerged by flood water.

- Navanakorn Industrial Estate also claims to be secure against any impending flood, because it has built a 5 m high wall, yet now it, too, is under water.

- Bangkok confidently says it has prepared for a worse scenario by making an embankment wall 50cm higher than all previous recorded flood water levels ... but could Bangkok save itself?

- Properties near Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok are also at risk, although the airport itself is said to be well protected. Let us wait and see.

What will turn up next for Thailand in the following days is entirely in God's hands.

We earnestly pray for His mercy upon this country, and that peace and serenity will return quickly to this land and its people by the grace of God.

Blessings,

Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok

WORSENING FLOOD SITUATION IN THAILAND

Shalom All,

Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth!

When we read at 2 Peter 3 verses 5 - 6 says “They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood”.

The flood situation currently in Thailand is getting from bad to worse and has hit almost every part of northern and central Thailand with unpredictable ferocity. About 33 provinces have been badly affected by the floods. The worst hit province is Ayutthaya province (former capital of Thailand). Certain areas of it have been under flood waters for about a month. With rising sea tide between 14 - 18 October 2011, the flood situation win Thailand can be expected to become worse The Thai Government is trying its best to pump the water out into the sea but to no avail as the water keeps on coming back.

The flood has also breached the embankment wall intended to prevent a back flow into Nakhon Sawan, the northern province.

Part of Bangkok is expected to be hit by the ongoing floods soon. Our home in Laksi, northern Bangkok, despite standing on a higher ground than the rest of the area nearby might also be affected, if torrential rains continue to pour. So there is a high chance that the floods from the north will push through even to Laksi. Therefore, residents in and around Bangkok should be prepared to face a worsening flood situation that would or might affect them.

The underground train, the Bangkok MRT has already started to build embankment walls to prevent water getting into tunnel entrances.

At the supermarkets and hypermarkets in Bangkok, food items are being snapped up and getting out of stock with price increasing because of panic buying.

Ayutthaya City, Ayutthaya Province, is experiencing the worst with the flood water reach the top floor of two-storey houses.

Yesterday, Jenny and I went to the Jaisamarn Full Gospel Bang Pa-In Church at Bang Pa-In City and the water increase 4 - 5cm. We are trying to find way how to help the people around and it is an opportunity to share the gospel to them. We are still looking at the floods situation in Bangkok first before taking another move to Ayutthaya City to help the floods victims otherwise we will help out in the Floods Relief Centre.

Even buying a small boat is very expensive that cost THB 7,500 (USD 244) and it is a long queue and early September 2011, the boat sold around THB 4,000 (USD 129) when the floods was not so serious.

Please do pray for the Christian brothers and sisters. Anyway, what do support financially, we will use the funds to help the floods victims.

Blessings and Shalom,

Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok