April 2019 Update
Hey everyone!
First off, I want to say thank you so much for your prayer and financial support to Jason and myself. We are grateful beyond words could truly express for your love and generosity. We have now been in Thailand for almost 8 years now (I know, where did the time go, right?!). It’s been an exhilarating adventure with our Most High God: Being a part of the work He is doing in Thailand, witnessing His transforming power in people and experiencing His faithfulness and goodness ourselves. Truly, we have never been in want. And you guys are a part of that.
So, this is a quick update/summary of what the Lewises have been up to these past few months. By the way, we’ve created a secret Facebook group for our friends, family, and supporters. We update it more often that our blog. If you are not on it and you want to be in it, please let us know and we will invite you in.
Okay, here we go…
Peace Church Ao Nang
Jason continues to serve as pastor of Peace Church Ao Nang, and a few months ago, we built a new church building.
We also got to host a YWAM DTS Team and Jason taught them a class on the Identity of Christ.
If you want to listen to Jason’s sermons, you can go to this link: https://soundcloud.com/jason-lewis-630043289
Bar Ministry
Early last year, Gonny, a missionary from the Netherlands, and I have partnered together and started going to the bar strip in Ao Nang to build relationships with the women and ladyboys (transgender) working there. Since then, our group has grown to 4 people: Gonny, myself, and two Thai believers (Radt and Ariya). Our vision is to offer anyone willing to leave the sex industry and give them an opportunity to learn a new skill for their livelihood. But most importantly, our vision is for them to know Jesus.
We go there once a week. We play table games and laugh with them, but most significantly we spend our time listening to their stories. We are genuinely interested about who they are and where they come from. We also pray for them. Sometimes they ask for it, sometimes we ask them. They know we are Christians, and they know that we pray to Jesus.
We’ve made friends with several women and ladyboys in the area. They come and go a lot, looking for ‘better’ opportunities in nearby bigger, busier red-light districts. But there are a few who have stayed, and with them we’ve had the opportunity to have conversations about faith and Jesus. We always bring up Jesus. {Pictures are posted on our secret Facebook page. We don’t post them anywhere publicly to protect the women and ladyboys’ identity.}
On Valentine’s Day of this year, a team of 8 from Peace Church went out and shared Jesus’ love to women working at the bar strip here in Ao Nang. We each gave them a rose attached with a short love letter from Jesus and a tract about the “Foreigner” they’ve all been waiting for. These women tell us their hope: to find a foreigner, who would love them enough and rescue them out of the bars. Isn’t that exactly what Jesus’ story of love is? Who they really long for is Him, but they do not know that and have wrongly placed that longing onto other men.
The women were so happy to receive the roses that night, hungry for true love and hugs from people who see them as women with value. Each were so ready to receive a rose and a hug. It was such a sight to behold: to see Jesus invade the enemy’s camp and burst forth with His love and joy through our team.
House of Refuge Thailand
We have great news! House of Refuge Thailand is underway. We are joined by a Thai-believing couple (Wutt and Radt), who are going to serve as house parents when we finally open our doors. As of now, we are working towards making us legal since working with women from the sex industry is a sensitive matter and needs proper documentation before we can begin. We are doing this by operating under a foundation, which we have named “Sowers Foundation.” Right now, the papers are still in the local municipal office and have to undergo review from their officials. We have a few prayer requests that fall under this ministry:
- Pray for the fast approval of Sowers Foundation that we may begin work immediately and open our doors for women who may want an opportunity for a new life and freedom from the sex industry.
- Pray for a property we can purchase or a Thai local believer who may want to donate their land for use for the ministry.
- Pray for our team’s covering. There is so much darkness involved in this work and the enemy is definitely not glad that we are bringing light in to expose him.
Evangelism
Every Thursday, some of our Thai believers and myself go door-to-door evangelism in the area. We’ve gone to several streets; we were welcomed in some homes and got to speak about Jesus to men, women, and children. We’ve encountered people from all sort of faith backgrounds. We’ve prayed over Muslim and Buddhists for healing and salvation. We’ve also had some interesting conversations with them. Below are some pictures of the women I go with.
With Adnan, a muslim guy we shared the Gospel to.
Thank you, once again, for being a part of God’s work through us here in Thailand. Please let us know if you have anything you want us to pray for. I leave you with His word from the Book of Psalms:
The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And in the night His song shall be with me—
A prayer to the God of my life. {Psalm 42:8}
In Our Messiah’s Love,
Jason and Kezia