SITUATION IN MIDDLE EAST IS SENSITIVE

Shalom All,

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Hebrews 11 verse 8 says, “It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going”.

In less than 10 hours, Jenny and I will fly from Bangkok to transit in Kiev (Ukraine) and then head towards Istanbul (Turkey). In total, it will take about 14 hours of flight time from Bangkok to Istanbul.

It is by no means easy to find accommodation in Istanbul, especially for a foreigner and one not already there. It has taken me almost a month to find a reasonable short term accommodation. Since the past 4 days, I have been able with considerable difficulty to find the lowest accommodation that costs USD 200 for two weeks and that also after much bargaining.

The weather in Istanbul is getting colder and some part of the day will be snowing.

After Istanbul, we will be heading towards Ankara (capital of Turkey) staying for a short period there to arrange for an Iraqi visa for Jenny ... no need for a visa for me as Malaysia has good relations with Iraq.

We will not give you the usual report while we are in the Middle East. Any reporting on our mission work would have to await our departure from the Middle East. We need to be cautious and wise.

We can’t say now how long we will be there ... it all depends on how long God wants us there. I also don’t know exactly why God has asked us to go there, just like His sending Jonah the Prophet. Only when Jonah reaches Nineveh, God tell Jonah to call on the local people to repent of their sins.

Trust and have faith is all that I can say. Will just have to wait and see what God wants me to do there. God knows and will always have a good reason for me to be there.

May God continue to bless and lead you.

Do pray for us as the tasks ahead will not be easy for us to carry through, without much prayer support. Thank you.

The Lord be with you and for you.

Blessings,

Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok & Sis. Jenny Ruth P. Kok

For mission contribution : http://faithwithyou.blogspot.com/2009/02/mission-contribution.html

TRUSTING THE LORD'S MISSION

Shalom All,

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

We truly appreciate encouragement received from readers who emailed us as we prepare to leave for Turkey and Iraq for mission work.

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless...." (Philippians 1 verses 9 - 10).

This prayer of Paul is so wonderful and relevant, to this day and time even for today's believers. It is a good prayer for us to pray also.

Paul surely has the mind of Christ when he writes to other believers, "I pray for you with joy. I'm confident God will complete the work He is doing in your life. I have you in my heart and I long for you. I pray that your love would abound more and more, that you may be pure and filled with the fruits of righteousness."

As I have shared elsewhere, that was also how I felt as I prayed ahead of my departure to my new venture to the Middle East.

As I turned my thoughts towards God, He seems to assure me, "I have you in my heart and I pray for you with joy."

We know Jesus prays for us and the Holy Spirit prays for us. How do you think they are praying? Maybe much like today's prayer in Philippians and so much more ... what kind of persons will we be if God's prayers for us are answered?

On January 29^th, 2012, we will depart from Bangkok, at 6.00am and arrive in Istanbul, Turkey at 2.55pm the same day by Aerosvit Airlines (one of the Ukrainian flag carriers). I have spent a few weeks searching for the cheapest guest house but still have to get one, because every guest house charges between USD 15- 20 per night/person and renting an apartment will cost around USD 240 - 300 per month. This is too expensive for us and so there is a possibility that on the first night, we will sleep in the airport to save one night cost.

I have tried to make contact with the local Turkish churches but failed to get any response from them after almost a month. Today is miracle day, two local Turkish churches from Istanbul and Ankara replied and will welcome us to their country and assist us with accommodation and fellowship arrangements. Praise the Lord for prayers answered.

We may encounter difficulties ahead of us in our missionary journey, such as shortage of funds, culture shock and belief resistance but we will move forward to fulfill the calling from God, sustained by our faith in our God, the provider and the protector.

There is so much for us to write or report on a our mission activities from April - December 2011, the past year, but I regret that due to constraints of time, I am unable to write a long detailed account in this email.

Kindly read from the captions of the photo stories attached below, or through the mission blog : http://faithwithyou.blogspot.com.

Please continue to uphold us in your prayers. God be with you, too, as always!

Blessings,

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

Launching New Revised Thai Bible (Thailand Bible Society) on April 2^nd, 2011

Preaching in Udomkarn Church, Bangkok on April 3^rd, 2011

Installed LPG (4 Valves Pump) on April 4^th, 2011

Sharing at the Cell Group in Bangkok on April 6^th, 2011

Easter Drama "Power of His Love" on April 10^th, 2011

Songkran Water Festival (Thailand New Year) on April 13^th, 2011

Pre-Easter Day in Lumpini Park on April 23^th, 2011

Launching New Jaisamarn Church Rama II, Bangkok on April 24^th, 2011

Teaching English and Cell Group in Aytthuya on April 28^th, 2011

Visiting friends in Amnat Charoen Province on April 29^th, 2011

Pakse, Southern Laos on April 29^th, 2011

Good News Church in Pakse, Laos on May 1^st, 2011

Lumpini Park - 7 May 2011 on May 7^th, 2011

Thailand Christian Congress 7.5 (1^st day) on May 10^th, 2011

Thailand Christian Congress 7.5 (Third and Last Day) on May 13^th, 2011

Sharing and Evangelism in Bang-Pa In, Province of Aytthuya on May 18^th, 2011

Giving out Honey Milk to the Homeless in the Lumpini Park on May 21^st, 2011

Dr. C. Peter Wagner - Equipping the Business Leaders on May 25^th, 2011

Preaching in Dayspring Church, Chonburi on May 29^th, 2011

Good News Church in Surat Thani on Jun 11^th, 2011

Cell Group in Penang on Jun 14^th, 2011

Nikos Cell Group in Klang on Jun 20^th, 2011

Preaching and Distributing Gift in Romklao Church (Minority - Hotspring), Betong, Yala Province on Jul 17^th, 2011

Preaching in AIT International Christian Fellowship on Aug 26^th, 2011

Cleaning the Romklao Church (City), Betong, Yala Province on Sep 23^rd, 2011

Preaching in the Romklao Church (Minority - Hotspring), Betong, Yala Province on Sep 25^th, 2011

Open Church During the Wet Market on Sep 26^th, 2011

Ipoh Pastors' Fellowship in Ipoh on Oct 5^th, 2011

Back to the Home Facing Flood on Nov 3^rd, 2011

Flood in Cheangwattana Road, Bangkok on Nov 3^rd, 2011

Flood in Phahonyothin Road, Bangkok on Nov 3^rd, 2011

From Home - Cheangwattana Road - Bangkhen Road - Phahonyothin Road (the next day) on Nov 4^th, 2011

Sharing in Taksin Park, Bangkok on Nov 5^th, 2011

Sharing the Word of God in the AITCF Bible Study, Baptist Conference Center, Pattaya on Nov 18^th, 2011

NEW MISSION IN THE MIDDLE EAST FOR 2012

Shalom All,

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

Let me start the New Year 2012 with an illustration.

Here is an open book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words into it. The book is now called Opportunity. Its first page, first chapter is entitled New Year's Day. First words. ": I will live for God, today, tomorrow and every day hereafter ... Last page, last word : "Amen".

In 2007, I responded to the call of the Lord to serve in the mission field. I started by first going to Thailand then India and later Thailand's neighboring countries, Vietnam and Cambodia. Still later, China.

In Thailand I met and then married my wife, Jenny in mid 2008. Jenny then accompanied me to serve in India, for my second mission trip.

Throughout my mission trips these past years, the Lord has made it possible for me to meet various local people, sharing with them the Good News, evangelizing, equipping, preaching and helping in whatever way I could in meeting their spiritual needs.

Looking back, when I took up this calling in 2007, my home church (the Assemblies of God, Pentecostal denomination) did not recognize or empathize my mission zeal. But I took the bold step forward nevertheless, walking by faith without the blessing and support of my church. It seems as if I and later with my wife, was simply too bold and foolish to go to places unfamiliar and foreign to me and her, to share with so many strangers and new people we have met along the way, the Gospel of Jesus Christ and without any connecting links whatsoever - Seems like quite a crazy thing to do!

But we drew strength from Matthew 10 verse 16 : “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves”.

The Lord also provided and protected us in the way of Genesis 28, verse 20, “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing”

It is so good to be reminded of the command and promise given in Deuteronomy 30, verse 16, “For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy”.

So my wife and I live in obedience to this command and promise and will give all Glory to our Almighty God!

Since early May 2010, we have been back to Thailand, serving the people here until our next calling.

There is now an open door for us ... Northern Iraq! A challenging opportunity.... who shall I send, the Lord seems to say ... but we will go boldly forth, Lord, if you direct us there!

So once again, we will be taking another bold step forward to walk by faith without much financial resources, heading to the nation of Iraqi Kurdistan Region (northern Iraq).

I am not sure why I need to go there, but I can sense the Lord speaking and calling me to go and serve the people there for past few years ago.

My wife Jenny will accompany me. I know that the situation in Iraq is not very stable, there has been reported are violence since the US - Iraq war and local churches have been targeted and bombed.

This challenge is testing our faith and we believe and trust that the Lord will protect us in our mission journey and work.

Early December 2011, we went to the Turkish Embassy in Bangkok and tried to apply for one year multiple entry for Jenny but the consular staff say that they need to submit her application to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Turkey for approval and that will take at least 1 - 2 months. I have feared that the application for Jenny would be rejected and that would make me go alone to Turkey as I don’t need a visa to enter Turkey, leaving Jenny in Bangkok.

When we were in Kuala Lumpur for 6 days recently, I gave another try in the Turkish Embassy there, I have had a long discussion with the consular staff there, they saying my wife is Thai and she should apply in Bangkok, also the same procedures. I told them I have tried there, but their Bangkok embassy is not accommodating at all but I need my wife to accompany me. The consular officer then went in to speak to the Ambassador. Then he returned to report, “Ok, I will now issue you one year multiple entry visa for your wife with 90 days per entry." Praise the Lord!

So we plan to leave from Bangkok to Istanbul on January 29th, 2012 with the cheapest one way flight ticket we can get. We are not sure whether we have enough funds for the return journey. It is easier to go into Iraq from Turkey, rather than any of the borders like Syria, Lebanon, Iran and Jordan.

While in Turkey, I will try to get as much information as I can about the situation about their border entry into Iraq. We hope to reach Iraqi Kurdistan in March 2012.

Northern Iraq has a rich history of early civilization. In Genesis 10 verses 11 - 12, we find: “From there he expanded his territory to Assyria, building the cities of Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, and Resen (the great city located between Nineveh and Calah)”.

It is interesting to note that the Garden of Eden is near there, see Genesis 2 verses 10 – 14; “A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush. The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates”.

Further on ion Daniel 10 verses 4 - 6, “Now on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, that is, the Tigris, I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz! His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude.”

Interesting place and fascinating account, to say the least!

Because of the Christmas and New Year holidays, it might take awhile longer for the mission agency I am contacting for a confirmation reply from them on the opportunity of serving in Iraqi Kurdistan Region and also in Cairo, Egypt.

Below is our financial report for your review;

Nothing is impossible if we have Jesus Christ in us.

May God continue to put a new hope for you and a fresh New Year to serve Him.

God bless!

Blessings,

Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok

** If anyone have any contact with any Turkish, it will be helpful for us as this is the first time we are going there and not easy to find a cheap accommodation. Thank you **