April 2007
Dear Partners in Christ’s Great Commission,
Greetings in the name of our risen Lord Jesus!
It’s hard to believe that it’s already spring, and
before long we will be closing up our apartment and heading back
to Thailand.
God is nurturing Mee and Por to equip them to do evangelization
for the Thai church.
One of the many highlights of this past winter was having Taweesak
(Mee), a graduate of Bangkok Institute of Theology (BIT), and
his wife Chureeporn (Por) visit with our family. It was a great
time to introduce them not only to New Mexico outdoor activities
like sledding and cross-country skiing, but also to the members
of the United Church of Los Alamos. It was special for the church
family to spend time with Mee and Por and to hear their faith
journey.
We are encouraged by how quickly Mee and Por have developed their
English proficiency (after only 10 months in the United States)
and by hearing how God is nurturing their faith and using them
to minister to others. What a joy it has been to partner with
the Wildwood Community Church in Oklahoma as they have stepped
out with visionary and sacrificial faith. Through them, the Lord
has guided Mee and Por on this initial stage of a faith journey
with the goal of equiping them for leadership in the Thai church
to mobilize more effective evangelism. Mee has been studying in
a specialized English program at the University of Oklahoma, and
both of them have been a part of Wildwood’s outreach to
international students. Thanks to their apartment in the international
student dorm and Mee’s exceptional soccer abilities, they
have developed many good relationships and have been able to share
Christ naturally with their neighbors, classmates, and teammates.
Now Mee and Por are waiting on the Lord’s guidance and
provision for how the next stage of this journey is to unfold.
It is very likely that the next step is Th.M. training at a seminary
and further exposure to a variety of creative and effective ministries
in evangelism. Please join with us in giving thanks for this exciting
partnership of faith and prayer and for these wonderful co-laborers.
Wiriya Tipvarakankoon earned a Th.M. from Princeton Theological
Seminary last year.
Another encouraging example of “missional” partnership
is the training of Wiriya Tipvarakankoon, a young pastor and faculty
member of BIT whom we mentioned in our newsletter of August 2005.
God has enabled Wiriya to take the first step in meeting one of
the key needs of the Church in Thailand—the need for scholars
trained at the doctorate level with a commitment to training servant
leaders and producing sound theological texts. Through the generous
endowment of Horace Ryburn, a former PC(USA) missionary to Thailand,
Wiriya was able to attend Princeton Seminary, graduating with
Th.M. last year. While at Princeton, Wiriya and his family (Tu
and Rung) met members of the Kirkpatrick Memorial Presbyterian
Church, who have lovingly befriended, assisted, and financially
supported them. Now, as Wiriya continues his training at the Lutheran
School of Theology in Chicago, the support of the Thai Community
Church (an ELCA congregation) and other partners with like vision
are vital for the successful completion of this faith venture.
Being and staying connected in “missional” partnership
is something that God has impressed on our hearts this year. The
people of our churches are eager to be connected to and invested
in what God is doing throughout the world. It is such a privilege
to be a part of facilitating these personal connections. As we
share with churches, we pray that God would open eyes and hearts
for people to see and participate in what God is doing and where
God is working.
Please join with us in prayer—and in other ways that God
may lead you—to invest in the lives and ministries of our
Thai brothers and sisters in Christ. Please include in your prayers
our future BIT faculty member, Woranut (Sim) Churnai, who is writing
her Ph.D. dissertation in Old Testament at Concordia Seminary
and is expecting her second child in June.
Thank you for partnering with us, for the glory of our risen
Lord and the highest good of those for whom He died and now lives.
Hallelujah!
Joyfully in Christ,
Carol and Leith Fujii
The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 119
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