OUR LIFE IS A MISSION

Shalom All,

Greetings in the name of our Lord!

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done" - Philippians 4 verse 6.

When faced with a tragedy or a storm of any kind, it can be a trying experienced, as well as extremely difficult for us to understand why such happenings have struck us. We may even feel apprehensive, frightened and lost. We may even be angry and try to play the blame game. In moments like this, a consoling voice will be very helpful and much needed. But from where? But our God works in mysterious ways, ways we may never know!

In the midst of our deepest heartache and pain, we will find hope and courage to carry on with our brokenness. And find Him, our eventual source of hope and strength. With God's help and the help of our caring Family of Christ and the encouragement through his Word and much prayer, we will surely receive the necessary strength to be an overcomer. And be blessed by Him!

Yes, one may be thinking, "I don't know how I could ever get through this." Or one may be battling powerful feelings of despair, suffering, confusion, fear, worry, and even anger. These are all normal responses to tragedy. But as difficult as the life storm maybe you and I in the Lord are not walking alone. God is with us always. He loves us and cares about what is going on in our life.

We must keep our faith and rebuild our lives after a tragedy or difficult situation.

In life we will encounter many challenges including some that may shake our faith to its core and leave us hurting. However, the most important thing when facing those times is to rise up with courage and strength!

The same challenges are faced in starting and building up a church. It is not easy at all to run a Church. We face many challenges. But we must press on even during difficult, or very difficult times.

Let me here share our burden with you so that you can continue to pray for us, as we pray for you too.

For the past 3 months, we received not much offering from abroad compared with last year and our Church receives tithes less than THB 300/per week (RM 32/USD 10) from congregations, mostly Christian refugees. This is just enough to cover fellowship meals on Saturday Church Service.

But we have so many expenditure needs to cover, such as for rental, property tax and other expenses related to the Church. My wife and I are not paid any salary as we commit to serve as volunteers in His service as we surrender our lives to serve our Great God. We pray that we can continue to sustain the Church and keep on serving our Mighty God. 

On 7th February 2014, we started the Diploma in Theological Studies program in our Church that is affiliated to Evangelical Seminary, Canada. Many students have enrolled and are attending the course. Among them are Christian refugees as well as one local Thai pastor. The reasons why they are taking the course are;

1. They want to know more about the Bible.
2. To improve their English.

To help them in their progress, I appoint a leader among them who is ahead of the class to explain to the rest of the class in their own language what I have taught. We hold the classes every Thursday and Friday from 7.00pm to 10.00pm. By helping the refugees in this way, we hope that when they migrate to a third country with the paper qualifications and basic English, they will be able to work for a Church or start a Church planting to serve their own community later on. This is one way to expand the Kingdom of God. 

Let me briefly describe here the plight of the refugees I have come to know being in contact with them.

1. They are not allowed to work by law but many did work illegally to survive.
2. If they are caught for this, they will be imprisoned and then sent back to their home country.
3. Visiting them, I saw them eating rice only without meat, sauce and salt.
4. So I decided to buy them some nicer food in my next visiting trip, treating them a meal once a week.
5. During the school holidays, their children will find work and they work very hard to earn more money so that they will have money to study.
6. One orphan has to work very hard to support himself.

We hope to start a 'handicrafts and bags' projects next 2 months and have had discussion with a few Malaysia Christians last 2 weeks ago in regard to seed funding and marketing. On seed funding, we still need to raise more funds to start the project. For sales, we are able to secure a few Christian friends to help out on the marketing. Praise the Lord!

The Christian refugees will do the production side and our team will focus on the logistics of sales. On design, we welcome suggestions.

How do we pay the Christian refugees for work done?

An example to illustrates.

If we sell a bag at THB 200 and we will pay the worker THB 70 for his bag and THB 100 for the other expenses (materials, logistics and administration) while the balance of THB 30 will go into a pool fund. We will use the pool fund to help the Christian refugees needing financial assistance such as for medical treatment, shortage of food, children's education and etc. In this way, we teach them how to fish instead of giving them fish. Also, there is less need to raise funds to help them for the long term. 

Dubbed "Basketball Mission" Church, we launched this on 2^nd February 2014 attended by many enthusiasts, many of whom would otherwise spend their time on computer games, social chatting and watching movies. Our ideas are to teach and train the young to be more active in sports activities. It is good for their physical health and mental health also. Many parents allow their children to come and learn basketball. This gives us an opportunity to share the gospel with them. Even the older ones are drawn to watch the game. We have a professional coach to train them for free. Every Sunday evening, we have inter-district Basketball tournament and I was given an opportunity to share 10 minutes of the Gospel to the Basketball teams and crowd. Many of them have taken the first step to accept Jesus Christ as their personal saviour. Thus, God has opened the door, but it takes time to let the seed grow towards maturity.

In God, we trust His mighty hand in the spread of His Kingdom.

Many blessings to all in the Lord.

Blessings,
Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok

GOD"S PLAN FOR OUR CHURCH

Shalom All,

Greetings in the Lord!

But you are near, O LORD and all your commands are true - Psalm 119 verse 151. 

I believe that one of the areas in which God is calling us the Church  to do today is to set our hearts firmly and finally in the right direction, that is, to get  ever closer or nearer to Him! Friend, I believe God desires to share an intimate relationship with you and He will go to any length to attain that closeness with you! However, there is a barrier called sin that separates us from Him. He must deal with this! For you must understand that God cannot and will not tolerate sin! That’s why He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross! He who is sinless suffers and bears your sins so that you and I will be made righteous before GOD.

Towards New Year Eve, my Notebook failed me and so I could not type my reports nor do any work on it. However, I want to give thanks to God that some big hearted brothers and sisters came to my aid with some funds for me to buy a new Notebook. 

On 26 December 2013, I sent out a video clip on Jenny’s testimony. Currently, her health is still weak due to radium treatment and she lacks hormone in her body. She will see her doctor again this coming mid February 2014. The radium treatment weakens her physically and she often feels cold. With the weather in Bangkok getting colder, she feels the cold more than ever before. 

As most of you who follow the daily news are aware, the political tensions in Bangkok and even the south of Thailand are not getting better and now a state of emergency has been declared. The curfew imposed on Bangkok and surrounding provinces. Our area is not affected, however, even though it is quite close to the protest area, 5km - 6km away. Do continue to pray for sobriety and reconciliation to return to Thailand again. 

It is difficult for us to do God's work without a car. Thank God for a Christian brother who helped us with a down payment to purchase a new pick-up truck, Mazda BT-50 Pro 2.2 Hi-Racer. We took up a hire purchase for 6 years, servicing the loan at THB 8,091 (RM 890/US 275) per month. 

In January 2014, we have so far received less than half in mission contribution compared with the same period last year 2013. In 2013, we received THB 25,000 - 35,000 (RM 2,740 - RM 3,840/USD 847 - USD 1,186) per month. We decided to transfer from Jenny’s medical fund of THB 64,206 (RM7,055/USD 2,176) for use by the Church after getting the approval from the majority contributors on 9 January 2014. You can read this in our financial report. 

In my previous report, I have hoped to offer some help to the Christian refugees in our Church. However, it is not easy to raise funds to help them. So instead, I tried to find a way to start a handicraft project to support them. The refugees will make the handicrafts and we will help to sell  for them. A cell group from Malaysia will help start the handicraft project and buy some of the handicrafts for sale in Malaysia. This is one way to help the refugees. We would appreciate any support you can give to make this project viable. Share each other’s burdens, in this way we obey the law of Christ - Galatians 6 verse 2.

The slideshow shows our Church activities between December 2013 till January 2014 with the captions.

On the 5 January 2014, I was appointed Church Pastor of Basketball Mission Church in Bueng Kum District, Bangkok by their Church committee. The Church is growing rapidly and is almost always full worshippers are mostly Thai. 

Two independent Churches (Minburi, Bangkok and Nakhon Luang, Ayutthuya) are affiliated with our Church since December 2013. 

Let me close with a quote from Mathew 28 verses 18 - 20. “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” 

Blessings,

Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok

A VIDEO OF SPRING VALLEY COMMUNITY CHURCH - CHRISTMAS EVENT 2013

Blessings,

Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok

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