SPOTLIGHT ON MISSIONS: Siripong & Jessie Yaebeang• Thailand

It has been a busy but blessed month in several ways. Below are some updates. Thanks for reading this update, supporting us and loving us!

• Ouan Internship — Toward the end of last year, Mr. "Ouan" started doing an internship with me through Thai Expositor Ministries. He committed to doing the internship for six months. February was his final month! He completed all the required work, which also included several reading and writing assignments and preaching at our church a couple of times. Seeing what the Lord has taught him and how God has used him throughout this time has been a blessing. His desire is to continue to learn, grow and serve in/through our church. A couple of other guys in the church have shown some interest in doing an internship as well, so we will keep talking and praying. Please remember Mr. Ouan and the other men in our church for their spiritual growth.

• A Picture — We saw a random picture online not long ago. It just looks like a normal picture at first. But when we looked closer, we were surprised to see several of my books in it! We assumed it was probably from some Christian event in Thailand. We praise God to see Him at work in different places/ways, even ones I'm unaware of.

Various Updates on the church/ministries

• A Short Series on Ecclesiology — I decided to do a short series on the church since we started meeting at our new building. This was to remind ourselves of what the Bible teaches about the church and what the church members’ responsibilities and privileges are.

• Raising up leaders in the church — We are continuing to raise up leaders within the church. Several members are learning to use their gifts to serve the body in different areas. My wife, Jessie, leads a women’s group, and a young man leads a children's class. This past month or so, some members led the men’s group, women's group and children's class for the first time!

• Members Serving — Now that we have our own place, there are more responsibilities than when we met at the hotel. For example, people needed to start helping with the cleaning and meal plan (we eat and fellowship after church every Sunday). So, different members have signed up for weekly cleaning and meal planning. It’s neat to see the body come together and serve one another!

• A Guest Preacher — It was a delight to have Pastor Brad from Arkansas with our family and church for a few days! He preached a wonderful message from Luke on Sunday, and we all got to fellowship with him. I first met Pastor Brad in Thailand in 2008, and he has been such a faithful/great brother and friend all these years. I know it’s a long way for him to make his way here to Thailand, but his visit greatly encouraged our family.

Encouraging Visits

• Visiting a Local Pastor — I had the privilege of sitting down and visiting with a local pastor named Pastor Tong. I know him a little, and we run into each other from time to time. Interestingly, his church is closer to our house than our own church! His church is Pentecostal/charismatic, so there are several doctrinal differences between us. However, it’s beneficial to visit and get to know him better since we live so close. This way, we can better pray for him and his church.

• Visiting with a Fellow BMA Family — A fellow BMA family from the Philippines reached out to us because they were visiting a sibling in Bangkok. I had the opportunity to meet with them and enjoyed a brief time of fellowship. It was my first time meeting them, and I was encouraged to hear about the important work they are doing in their home country. Since it happened to be when Jessie and the boys were doing school, it didn’t work out for this family to meet them. Please pray for the work in the Philippines and other parts of the world!

• My Little Sister's Wedding — My family and I took a short trip to attend my youngest sister's wedding (I have four sisters — two younger and two older). The location was beautiful, and everything seemed to go smoothly. On the way back from the wedding, we stopped to visit one of my mentors. He’s always a great blessing to spend time with. Additionally, we had the chance to connect with like-minded missionary friends who are planting a church in that area.

A Devotional Thought

As we mentioned in our previous update, in addition to the videos we post, another thing I do a couple of times a week is write a short devotional thought on different topics and have our church post it online. Here is one sample from last month (translated from Thai), in case you may want to read it:

Christians Still Need the Gospel Daily

Too often, Christians think the gospel is meant only for non-Christians and that it’s solely for those who need to hear and believe. Consequently, those who have already believed may feel they no longer need to be interested in or learn much about the gospel.

However, this is a significant misunderstanding because Christians still need the gospel daily! Instead, we should consistently preach the gospel to ourselves by contemplating what God has done for sinners like us through the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have never preached the gospel to yourself or have been absent for a long time, start today! (Rom. 1:1-17; Rom. 3; I Cor. 15:1-4; Eph. 2; Col. 1:12-14)

May God bless you and your family. I look forward to sharing more updates with you in our next newsletter!