BLESS ONE ANOTHER

Shalom All,

Greetings in the Lord!

In the Gospel of Mathew 25 verses 35 - 40 are the following words from Jesus:

“.... I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me”. Then the righteous replied, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King replied, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ 

These indeed are touching words from Jesus, reminding us to extend a helping hand to those that need our help that they may be led to the Kingdom of God. 

Some Christian refugees from a neighboring country have come to our Church since July 2013, We empathized with the suffering they have gone through in their homeland the past few years, Unfortunately, it is quite a sensitive issue for us to share about their plight here but if you want to know more, please drop me an email at faithwithyou@gmail.com.

In my previous reports, I did mention that we have offered them, as well as the local Thais, free language courses in English and Thai. This is a small step to begin with.

Our Church has been approved by an Evangelical Seminary from Canada to conduct a Diploma certificate course in Theological Studies. We plan to start this course in mid January or early February 2014. The Seminary will provide the materials for teaching and the marking of examination papers and the awarding of certificates.

However, there will be some conditions for those wishing to take up the course. They need to attend our Church for more than 3 months, have volunteered to serve in our Church in an area of work and are aged 21 years or older. If they don't meet these conditions, they need to pay a minimum fee for the course. With this training, we hope the trained can use the qualification to find a job or serve the Lord. This is one way to build and equip them with the Word of God.

This course will be conducted in English. We hope the Thai Christians will also avail themselves of this opportunity to take up the course to learn English, as well as the Word of God.

We now have two volunteer teachers and would like to invite more volunteer teachers to come and teach the course.

Next, we plan in a limited way to employ a few refugees ... hiring a lady to clean up the Church twice a week and pay her THB 200/per day (RM 20/USD 6.30) and also some men to help with painting the 3 - 5 floors of the Church, as well as doing some minor repairing jobs. If they do well in the job, we will recommend them to other people who need cleaning or painting. This is one little way to help them.

Thirdly, we plan to teach some of them to do handicraft work, such as cross stitches, souvenir items made from beads and beans, plastic flowers, paintings and etc . However, we need talented volunteers to come and teach various types of handicrafts, as well do the marketing for completed handicrafts.

Lastly, I need to apply for my Thai Visa extension for one year this December 2013 and I pray that there will be funds for the Church to support my application for the visa.

Thank you all for your concern and prayers.

We will have an early Christmas celebration on 14^th December 2013. If you are in Bangkok, please do come and join us in the celebration. 

Below is a slideshow with captions of our Church activities in recent months.

Let us know your thoughts if these will help us improve our work for the Lord.

With blessings and love,

Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok

SURGERY WAS SUCCESSFUL

Shalom All,

Greetings  in the name of our  Lord!

Truly, God has heard and answered our prayers. All praise to our mighty God, who did not ignore our prayers or withdraw his unfailing love from us - Psalm 66 verses 19 - 20.

Here, let me also thank all of you for your prayers for my wife, Jenny, your prayers are a great testimony of  God 's work in your life. Praise the Lord!

On the 3rd November 2013, the children from our Church accompanied Jenny to the hospital. Jenny was admitted to the same ward of 20 beds but a different bed from her first surgery.

The surgery was scheduled for the following day. She went to the operating room at 9.00am (+7 GMT) and came out around 1.15pm (+7 GMT). She looked much better after the second surgery compared with the first surgery.

“Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!" - Psalm 103 verses 1 - 5.

During the surgery, I prayed and petitioned the Lord.

“Lord, please send your angels to assist the doctors in the surgery and sustain Jenny in the healing process, so that she will be healthy and made whole again. Amen" Praise the Lord, He is faithful to our petition and He heals.

It is truly a miracle that Jenny did not lose her voice and felt no pain at all. She was able to walk to the restroom to do her body cleaning after 6 hours' surgery. The following day, she asked me to accompany her to walk to the market inside the compound of the hospital and she was able to walk half a kilometer!

The doctor checked her calcium level on 6 November 2013 and noted that the calcium level at  8.0 was low. A day before, the calcium measurement was 8.1. The stable calcium level is 8.5. The surgeon did not remove the parathyroid gland (right side) during the surgery. Pray that her parathyroid will start producing the hormone (calcium for the body). Since then, there has been a slight improvement in the calcium level to 8.3 on 7 November 2013.

With this improvement, the doctor discharged her on 7 November 2013.

In the following month, Jenny still needs to go to the Chulabhorn Research Institute for cancer treatment.

Her schedules is as follows;

- 9 December 2013 - Medical test

- 13 to 17 December 2013 - Medical check-up

- 18 December 2013 - Admit to the Chulabhorn Research Institute and to undergo Iodine 131 (nuclear treatment) radiotherapy

- 22/23 December 2013 - Discharge Hospital

- 22/23 to 30/31 December 2013 - Stay alone in the room

For  the Iodine 131, treatment she must follow the procedures as follows;

- Keep a distance of 2m from human and animal

- Flush the toilet twice

- Separate plates/spoons/forks/cups/clothes

- Drink a lot of water

- No iodine/salt/seafood

- No travelling abroad for 90 days

This journey will put us on another step of faith.

Again, the Lord is sovereign and so we will have complete trust in our Lord, who is in complete charge and control over everything. But we know that the Lord is with us … in every way and all the time.

In Him we trust and obey. Amen

Thank you dear brothers and sisters in Christ, for all your prayers

God bless all of you.

Blessings,
Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok

CHURCH SERVICE SCHEDULE CHANGE

Shalom All,

Greetings in the Lord!

It is announced the Church Service schedule change.

    - Every Friday evening (7.00pm - 8.00pm) will be Prayer Evening Watch - effective in early 2014.

    - Every Saturday evening (5.00pm - 7.00pm) will be our Worship and Church Service – effective on the first week of November 2013.

    - Every Sunday morning (10.00am - 11.00am) will be the Bible Study - effective in early 2014.

    - Every Sunday evening  (4.00pm - 6.00pm) will be Family Sports Activities - effective in early 2014.

There are a few reasons why we needs change our Church’s activities;

    - Due to my wife’s surgery and radiotherapy treatment, we need to change Church schedule. 

    - The homeless Christians could not attend the Sunday Church Service because they are being forced to attend Sunday group meeting.

    - It is more easy to invite local Thai preachers to share the Word of God on Saturday evening. 

We would like to invite the volunteer pastors or preachers to come and share the Word of God on Saturday evening. Should you be interested, we welcome you to write us. 

For the lay Christians, there is a lot that can be explored and done together for the Lord with the local community, training in language learning ministry, healing ministry and etc. Also do write to us. 

May God give you more and more mercy, peace, and love.

Blessings,
Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok

	Mission Contribution

UPDATE THE SECOND SURGERY AND MOVING CHURCH REPORT

Shalom All,

Greetings in the Lord!

Do you have the gift of speaking?  Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you.  Do you have the gift of helping others?  Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies.  Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ.  All glory and power to Him forever and ever! Amen - 1 Peter 4 verse 11.

We are given gifts to use in God's Kingdom for two reasons; firstly, it is to bring glory to God and secondly, it is to bless others. Whether we serve or speak, we are to do so with these two goals in mind, knowing that God will supply the strength to do what he has gifted us to do.  

In regards to Jenny’s second surgery, we went to meet up with the doctor on 30^th September 2013 at the Thammasat University Hospital and the surgery will take place on 4^th November 2013. She required to stay in the hospital for 5 - 6 days till the blood stop bleeding on the neck.  The doctor told us that there is no guarantee whether she will have the voice or not after the operation because it is the second round surgery.  The doctor also told us that if they can find the parathyroid, then they will not take it out, otherwise Jenny require to take calcium pills forever.

On the 8^th October 2013, she went to do all the basic medical check-up before surgery.  The doctor discovered a few dots in her chest through the X-ray.  Therefore we need to go back to consult the doctor next week. 

Six weeks after the surgery, they will need to perform the Iodine-131 nuclear radiotherapy at Princess Chulabhorn Research Institute for 4 - 5 days and we need to make an appointment for this with the doctor next week.  As the treatment will fall during Christmas week, therefore it will be necessary to find a replacement Pastor or Bible College student to help out our Church between November 2013 - January 2014.

During this October 2013, Jenny is busy preparing for her first semester, second year examination of Early Childhood Education in Ramkhahaeng University.  She is trying her best to complete the degree programme within 2 ½ years and then she needs to have one year practical teaching experience in the school before the Ministry of Education will issue the Teacher’s License.  With the license, she can start a pre-school for the Church and another opportunity to share the gospel.

My Thailand Visa will be expired on 16th October 2013 and the last stamp exit fall on the third week of December 2013.  I have been using a Non-Immigrant O (dependent spouse) visa.  The Royal Thai Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has had to change the requirement recently.  Last time, when I applied for the Thai Visa, I just need to show my bank statement of THB 100,000 but now the Embassy requires me to show THB 400,000.  If I apply at the Immigration Division in Bangkok, I need to maintain THB 400,000 for two months, then only the one-year Thai Visa will be issued.  Now, we are trying to figure out how to solve this visa issue as I do not have the required funds in hand.

Turning to the weather, parts of north, northeast and eastern Thailand have been facing heavy flooding several weeks now. Sakeow province is flooding around 1.3m - 1.4m.  There have been many great monsoons hitting Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar recently.  Most dams in the vicinity are full and they need to release the water.  The floodwater from the north and northeast is now heading towards Bangkok again.  It is uncertain whether the floodwater will pass through our place again and so we pray that it will not be a repeat of the 2011 Bangkok floods..

Church activities (Caption at the slideshow);

Should you be interested, we welcome you to write us and even visit us in our new place. There is a lot that can be explored and done together for the Lord with the local community, training in language learning ministry, healing ministry and etc.

Attached is the financial report for September 2013 for your reference.

All Praise to the Lord, as we seek His will ... Do uphold us in prayers.

God bless all of you.

Blessings,

Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok

http://www.facebook.com/springvalleychurch

	Mission Contribution

CHURCH GROWTH

Shalom All,

Greetings in the Lord!

Here is the promise of Jesus in John 14 verses 13 - 14, "You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

Isn't that assuring and comforting?

God is always awesome ... we know that He is always there for us when we need him, However we must show our obedience and faith, then we will see our prayer is answered.

Jenny and I would like to thank all of you who have prayed for her during her illness, as we relied on the Lord's use of professional medical doctors to heal her. Praise the Lord for prayers answered and for His great love and mercy. Amen!

We recently saw the doctor on 30^th August 2013. She said the second surgery can be done in two months time but not later than 6 months since the first surgery was on 7^th August 2013. The next appointment with her is on 27^th September 2013 and she will fix the second surgery between early to mid  November 2013. Six weeks after the second surgery, Jenny will undergo the Iodine I-131 treatment for a week.

Church activities.

We started the Spring Valley Community Church in early June 2013 with 3 worshipers. Today, the Church is about 3 months old and we have 40+ worshipers attending the Sunday Church Service. Many of them are Christians from other countries who have faced persecution in their homeland because of their belief. We are trying our best, with the limited resources we have, to help them by providing them with basic needs such as food and clothing. The collections and offerings from worshipers is around 300 - 400 baht/per week. We provide light lunch after Sunday Church Service.

To elicit greater participation and commitment to serve the Lord in the Church, two other members were elected become our temporary Church Elders. Praise the Lord for their willingness to serve.

At times, when we have a full house, we do not have enough chairs and tables to conduct classes in English, Thai or Malay. There is great interest among the local Thai people to learn English in particular. Our 10am - 12pm Saturday class is almost always full, with about 25 - 30 students. We will be opening a new class at 4pm - 6pm on Saturday and estimate to have 10 - 15 students. Our Thai and Malay classes are on Saturday, 12.30pm - 1.30pm. We are thankful to be used by God to extend a helping hand to serve the local community in this area too, because God loves them. Praise the Lord!

On 23rd August 2013, our Church received the official Church License affiliated to Bangkok Evangelistic Center under Thailand Assemblies of God.

Should you be interested, we welcome you to write us and even visit us in our new place. There is a lot that can be explored and done together for the Lord with the local community, training in language learning ministry, healing ministry and etc.

Below is the financial report for August 2013 and left column  is the mission support information for your reference.

May God bless each one of you in your journey with Him!

Blessings,

Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok

Spring Valley Community Church

Email : faithwithyou@gmail.com

	Mission Contribution

JENNY'S CONDITION AFTER SURGERY

Shalom All,

Greetings in the Lord.

And many thanks to all who have prayed for my wife Jenny.

It is indeed a blessing to have brothers and sisters in Christ on our side in prayer. God is good always and He has a great plan for us. We just need to seek Him and be obedient to Him. Praise His Glorious Name!

Jenny's surgery on August 7 was successful. The doctor removed the tumor (2cm) and half of her thyroid (3cm) cutting  across the neck (10cm). The doctor had said that she might lose her voice after the operation. However, the surgery went well and Jenny's voice was not affected. Praise the Lord!

The pathology report on August 20 shows that Jenny has follicular carcinoma thyroid cancer. She requires a second surgery to remove the balance of the thyroid and parathyroid ( which produces hormone in our body). After that, she needs to go for further treatment-radioactive iodine therapy with I-131 (uranium, plutonium fission etc) to kill all the cancer cells in the thyroid area. Many opinions from different doctors and ex-patients told us not to wait and get it out immediately before the cancer cells start to spread to lymph (tissues to the bloodstream) and it will be high risks.

For now, she needs time to wait for the wound to recover and soften (1 - 2 months) before the second surgery. For the second surgery, the doctor had said that she will lose her voice for weeks, months, years or forever.  

The overall treatment is going to be expensive (estimated cost to the max THB 130,000) especially the radioactive iodine, therefore I need to start planning. I will sell our Toyota Corolla 1.3MT (1994) next week and use the money for Jenny’s treatment. Sources say second hand car prices will drop in the next 2 weeks, and if I don’t sell before next week, I will not get much money back. A dealer is willing to buy now at THB 100,000 but after next 2 weeks, it will be THB 40,000 - 70,000. We will use public transportation for the time being until we have enough funds to buy another car.

I will update the Church’s report soon ... lots of great things are happening. All for His Glory!

Blessings,
Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok

	Mission Contribution

TRUSTING GOD

Shalom All,

Greetings in the name of Lord, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving Psalm 28 verse 7.

Going over this verse reminds me of the day when Jenny and I were in India in 2008, We had intended to visit the State of Orissa to encourage the Christians there, as well as give a helping hand to an orphanage there. However, the Lord spoke to Jenny to return to Bangkok. So we returned to Bangkok in obedience to God’s plan. Ten days after our return, violence broke out in the State of Orissa and thousands were killed in that violence.

In China in 2009, Jenny and I visited a city in Central China. I was given an opportunity to preach in a House Church to uplift their spirit and encourage them to worship the Lord with greater vigor. We spent one month with the local people there, and then we left for Hong Kong to re-stamp our passports with the intention of returning to the city in Central China to continue to train and equip the people there but then, Jenny asked me to go back to Kuala Lumpur instead, saying God wanted us to get out from China. So we left for Kuala Lumpur. Later, a brother in Christ from that city told me the police were looking for me and they planned to arrest me.

We strongly feel that in these two instances God has intervened in changing the plan for us at the right time to steer us away from trouble. He indeed is a God who is always faithful to us when we surrender ourselves to serve Him, for He will rescue us at the right time ,or chosen time, before greater trouble comes. Hallelujah!

Tomorrow morning, Jenny will be in Thammasat University Hospital for a surgery to remove a tumor growth from her neck (near the thyroid and voice fold area). She is expected to remain for observation for 3 days. We appreciate and thank you for your prayer support.

I have been offered a full scholarship to do a Masters Course majoring in Bible and Theology by an Evangelical Seminary. The course will take 1 - 1½  years to complete it.

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble - Psalm 46 verse 1.

During the past month, a number of Christians from abroad Asia neighboring countries Vietnam and Pakistan have visited us, as well as attended our Sunday Church Service. Some of our visitors have suffered persecution for their faith. However, I can’t reveal much about them here but if you want to know more, please drop me a personal email These visitors are also in need of material support to sustain them in these trying times and so your interest and support in any form will be most welcome.

We will be starting 2 more cell groups soon, so with the existing one, it means we will have 3 cell groups. Our Church is growing step by step as the Lord leads. Praise the Lord!

We walk by faith and are always obedient to Him, with constant prayers and supplication to Him for all our needs.

In God we completely surrender and trust.

May God bless you all in your love and trust as well.

To Him be the glory

Blessings,

Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok

	Mission Contribution