News > Asia

Faith that keeps the work of Holy Spirit

“I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:23-24).

Last year in 2011, I earnestly prayed to God to help our Bible students to have absolute faith. But my prayer was not accepted, and I asked God why. I found I was in need of faith myself, so I chose Hebrews 11:6 as my New Year's key verse in 2011 in order to grow as a man of faith who pleases God.

Throughout 2011, I was very busy serving many programs as host of the Asia Directors’ Conference and the chairman of the Korea Missionary Association in Thailand. Especially, by God’s grace, I was blessed to serve more than 500 Korean missionaries, not only from the UBF ministry. In this busy situation, by the help of the Holy Spirit, there was a growing ministry among our leaders and Bible students. God used me to deliver a message on Acts every Sunday, and our Bible students were able to receive ownership, spirit, and faith.

2011 Thai UBF Ministry

1. 50th Anniversary of Korea UBF

Whenever I think about the work of Thai UBF, I realize that there were severe attacks from Satan. It gave us nothing besides deep wounds. But God worked and raised six leaders. Among those six leaders, Tam Paul, Luke, and On Pauline attended the worship service and seminar for the 50^th Anniversary of Korea UBF. They learned the faith and spirit of early Korea UBF and decided to be good leaders of Thai UBF. I pray that they may grow well as Bible teachers and disciplemakers, each serving at least one Bible student  Tam Paul has a serving spirit and serves well wherever help is needed in the Bible center. Luke has the gift of preaching, so it is possible that he will grow as a wonderful servant of God’s Word. I pray that On Pauline may grow as a mother of prayer and grow to be a good Bible teacher, feeding more than two Bible students. We pray that God may lead their marriages according to his will.

2. Summer Bible Conference  

We held the SBC at the same place as last year from Apr.29-May 1 in the Rachaburi province. At the end of 2010, the family of M. Peter Lee and some new students also attended. More than 30-31 members attended. This was the largest number of attendees for a SBC in Thai UBF history. The theme of the SBC was “Jesus called sinners" (Mark 2:17), and we prayed for the attendees to meet Jesus personally. During the SBC, two growing Bible students and one grandmother were baptized.

3. Disciples' Conference

There was a Disciples' Conference on Oct. 8-9. Every year about 20 members attend the Disciples' Conference, but this year, 1:1 Bible students also had the desire to attend, so a total number of 28 attended. Before the conference, there was news that the north part of Bangkok would be flooded. But one Bible student still decided to attend. Through this conference, we received the direction to accept Jesus’ calling for us as his disciples. During the SBC and Disciples' Conference, Luke proved to have a spiritual gift in preaching, so he also delivered the Christmas message on Dec. 25.

4. Christmas Worship Service

Since this year’s Christmas was on Sunday, I decided to have a special worship service two times on the 18 and 25. We prayed for 40 to attend. Through drama practices, the members grew in ownership and received the word of God. Even though I never learned to write dramas, I could write it, following the direction of the Holy Spirit. God blessed the graceful drama.

From this year, Daily Bread was published in the Thai language. I encouraged our members to start the day with manna. To make the book with a few leaders was not so easy, but they did it faithfully, and Daily Bread has been published quarterly ever since.

6. Chairman of the Korea Missionary Association in Thailand

During the 18 years of my missionary life in Thailand, God helped me to be a good influence to other Korean missionaries outside of UBF, and this year, I was elected as the chairman of the Korea Missionary Association.  Therefore, I served many meetings and conferences. I had the opportunity to associate with and learn from other missionaries. It was a heavy burden due to the need for famous lecturers and a lot of money, especially to prepare the conference for about 250. When I thought about this problem, I would get a headache, but by God’s help and the support of others I could finish this duty well.

Thanksgiving Topics:

1. In 2010, the Red Shirts demonstrated for a long time and caused a political turmoil. This year, there was severe flooding in many areas, including the north part of Bangkok. Many people died and many were evacuated in three months. But God protected our Bible center, my house, and my company completely, and I received much prayer support from UBF members worldwide. Even though half of our Bible students’ houses were flooded, they accepted that this was God working for the Thai ministry and they attended the Sunday worship service faithfully. Thank God who protected us throughout the flood and protected the hearts of our Bible students by making them happy instead of full of worry and sorrow. In reality, there were severe damages due to the flood that lasted for a long time, but I was encouraged by prayers and material support from abroad.    

2. In early 2011, there were six leaders, but at the end of year, one more sister decided to live as a disciple, so now there are seven leaders in Thai UBF. Thank God we raised seven leaders and three Bible students who have 1:1 Bible study faithfully and attend the Sunday worship service regularly.

3. Thank God we studied Acts for one year and learned gospel faith and the mission faith of Paul.   

4. Thank God for prayer support from abroad and the prayer support of my wife and my mother in Korea every day.

Repentant Topics:

1. I repent that I wasted a lot of time on the internet instead of praying and visiting buyers.

2. I repent for not doing Daily Bread and not praying in the mornings every day. I faced the limitations of human eagerness. Even though co-workers helped me pray more and more, I did not live a prayerful life.

2012

God loves Thailand and the work of the Holy Spirit can be seen continually. Leaders are standing firmly and are serving Bible students. In this situation, Satan does not miss the opportunity of tempting Bible students into losing an absolute attitude toward the Sunday worship service and 1:1 Bible study. Until now, I prayed earnestly for our members to keep the faith and keep Sunday worship services, but it was not easy because Buddhism is very prominent in Thailand, even though they do not go to the temple on Sundays. I fought against Satan’s attack continually, but when I look back on the past year, I still lacked prayer and faith before God. I did not learn enough about the prayer of faith. I am defenseless against Satan’s attack because nobody knows when and how Satan attacks. I need to pray more than ever, holding on to Jesus’ promise from Mark 11:23-24 so that I may experience mountain-moving faith and double our ministry this year.      

Prayer Topics:

1. Deep John’s Gospel Bible study and serve God's word to intellectuals

2. Restart early morning prayer, which I had stopped due to disappointments, so that I may experience prayer by faith

3. Victory in the self-supporting ministry

4. Receive God’s help in raising family of faith

5. Each leader may feed more than one Bible student and achieve doubling the ministry.

One Word : I want to learn the prayer of faith that God responds to

Reported by M. Peter Bansuk Lee