All systems go…
It has been all systems go since we started working full-time with NightLight on Monday 1 July. We have hit the ground running and been involved with so much, no 2 days have been the same.
We attended the annuel TBMF (Thailand Baptist Missionary Fellowship) retreat at the beginning of August. It was a wonderful time of spiritual & physical refreshment and also great to catch up with so many other mission workers from around Thailand. This also provided some much needed rest for Sarah as she managed to slip in the shower 2 days before the retreat; causing a minor fracture to the third toe on her right foot! We are please to report 6 weeks later, it has healed well and she is walking around with no problems.
The NightLight coffee shop that we have being requesting prayer for; finally on Monday 9 September, during our regular Monday volunteer staff meeting, we began to hear the sound of banging hammers. Waiting for
De-construction & re-construction of CityLight Cafe
the building work to start has been a long time coming, so the sound of crashing bricks, clanging tools were the best sounds in the world! We all started to cheer and clap! The coffee shop which will be called ‘CityLight Cafe’; is situated in the heart of the red light district in Nana. It will once finished be used to reach out to the many men that frequent the red light area, we are hopeful that men will use it as a safe place to think twice before going to the many bars in the red light area. In the run up to this happening, we reported on the monthly outreach parties that we held and the surprising number of men that came to these parties; this was even when, the space was just an empty room void of furniture etc. just white walls!. Thank God that building work has now commenced, we continue to pray for wisdom on how the space will be used and for the many lives that will be transformed there. Besides the coffee shop on the other 4 floors, the outreach centre also houses the prayer room, conference room and a 24:7 prayer room. Once the coffee shop is finished Sarah will be involved in running regular workshops to teach the women to make cakes, bread, sugarcraft etc. to supply the coffee shop and expat community. Paul will be involved with reaching out to the men that come to the coffee shop.
God’s timing is perfect, with no idea when the coffee shop building work would start. On Monday 2 September, we decided to take a leap of faith and start teaching the women how to make bread.
Breading making workshop at NightLight
Sarah is working with another volunteer on this and the “Baking” project is evolving. The women are having a great time & lots of fun. Many of them making bread for the first time; the types of bread we are teaching, the Thai’s class them as bread for foreigners, so this is all new to them. They are so proud of the bread they are producing, they have a right to be, they look fantastic, taste delicious and are excellent enough to be sold! From October we hope to start supplying an International School in Bangkok and the Expat community. We already have orders lining up. It is amazing that God uses all gifts & talents for His honour & glory. Yes! Even ‘Baking!’
Please pray that it will be a smooth process for the building of the coffee shop. On Saturday 14 September. One of our neighbours (a beer bar) to the construction project filed a complaint because the noise was disrupting her sleep at 1:30pm in the afternoon! An inspector came and now he wants a bribe to let us continue. The enemy trying to put a spanner in the works! We will not be paying the bribe, please pray for no further trouble. We hope that through our actions and words, we will be an example of Christ to our neighbours and the builders.
With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord – “He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.” And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. – Ezra 3:11 (NIV)
Join us in thanking God:
- For the spiritual & physical refreshment we had at the TBMF retreat.
- That Sarah’s fractured toe has healed well.
- For the building work that has now started on the coffee shop.
- For the new bread & cake making project that has recently started.
Join us in praying:
- For Paul to finish off the annual financial report accurately (he is translating a lot of it from Thai to English!).
- For the new NightLight jewellery collection being launched at the end of end of September. For production to finish on time.
- For the jewellery sales to increase. The sales from the jewellery provides the monthly salary for the women who have been helped by NightLight from sexual exploition.
- Wisdom to know which projects to undertake.
- For the smooth process of constructing the coffee shop. For understanding from our neighbours (which are both beer bars). That we as Christians will act wisely so that our actions will be a witness to them.
BMS World Mission partnered with NightLight International
Paul & Sarah in Thailand 