Jennifer Tibbetts

Jennifer Tibbetts

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Church Planting Movement in Thailand!

August 27, 2018
Praises
A church planting movement in Thailand is seeing thousands come to Christ! 
God's continued blessings as we serve in Louviers, CO at Faith E Free Church and at OMF
All of our children are doing well
God helped Alysha in the situation of the dead goats
 
 
Prayer
Continued perseverance in ministry in Louviers and wisdom to know how to reach out
How to love others well while holding firm to the truths of the Scripture
God's work in China in this difficult time
Wisdom for Alysha in where to board Lady, her dog
 
 

Dear Friends and Family,

I am so grateful for those who continue to pray for Scott and me, our ministries and our family.  Some of you have been praying for us for many years!  
 
One of my great joys recently has been reading about a church planting movement that is occurring in Petchabun, Thailand.  Through this church group, there are 7195 new believers since September 2017.  From just a handful of churches in December 2016, there are now 238 churches. This is all happening through a group of Thai Christians!  I was excited to hear that in July, the Free in Jesus Christ Church Association (FJCCA) trained 40 Thai believers and 10 missionaries from the IMB, OMF, Mennonites and Covenant church in Northeast Thailand.  And in August, they trained 30 members of the Mahachon Church, a Baptist church in Chiang Mai.  Then the Mahachon church members went out and produced fruit immediately. In one week they led over 100 people to Christ and they add new believers daily.  Rejoice with me in how God is at work in this country that we love so much.  If you'd like to know more about this, let me know and I'll send you the updates I've been receiving.  
 
Alysha recently returned to Lamar Community College so we are back to being empty nesters.  Alysha is in her sophomore year of an Applied Associates degree in Equine Business Management.  She is settling in well as she has a church she really enjoys, some friends and a good job in the school office.  She finds her business classes challenging - her heart is really in the care of animals so the horse classes are fun!  Alysha took her dog Lady back to school with her and has been boarding her nearby at a ranch.  
 
Please pray for Alysha as she went through a traumatic situation last Wednesday. She went to the ranch in the morning to feed Lady and found that her friend's dog (also boarding there) had gotten loose and was running around.  When Alysha was walking the dog back to her stall, she found that in another pen that held 4-H goats, one goat was dead and the other was covered in blood.  The owner of the goats arrived and was very upset, screaming that she was going to shoot the dog (assuming the dog had attacked the goats), and make Alysha's friend pay for the damages.  Alysha had to go get her friend out of class and the sheriff was called.  However, the neat thing was that as Alysha prayed about the situation, she realized that the dog had no blood on it.  The sheriff also noted this and thus Alysha's friend was not charged or made to pay anything.  But the fear that the owner would try to hurt the dogs in retaliation has made the friend look for a new place to house her dog.  Alysha is also unsure if she should keep boarding her dog there.  Very stressful in Alysha's first week of school!
 
Meanwhile, Scott continues to enjoy pastoring our church.  He loves studying the Greek and Bible commentaries each week as he prepares to preach God's Word.  He has been working his way through Ephesians and this week will preach on "Children obey your parents in the Lord" (6:1).  Yesterday the two of us had a sweet visit with one of the couples in our church.  We also attended the art reception of another member of our church who paints beautiful cowboy art.  A number of our church members were at the reception so it was a good chance to connect.  Scott and I continue to pray about which people God would have us reach out to in our neighborhood.  In June, we passed the four year mark of living in Louviers.  This is the longest we have lived anywhere in our 28 years of marriage.  We are learning to persevere and dig our roots in as we seek to be faithful where God has planted us.
 
Recently, we've had a couple of harder conversations about homosexuality and the Bible.  I think it is challenging to convey that God loves those who have homosexual desires (including those who act on them) while at the same time continuing to believe that this is not God's best or God's design for people.  So many people are wrestling with this issue these days.  
 
Both of us would appreciate your prayers for our outreach efforts in town.  Scott has made many forays inviting guys to play horseshoes, to hang out, to talk.  So often people are busy or don't follow through.  Several of my Bible studies have been on hold for the last month or two as people have been busy with work or other projects.  How we long for people to be hungry to talk about spiritual things.  We have plans to have dinner with neighbors on a few upcoming weekends, and continually look for other opportunities to connect with folks as we walk around town, attend events or stop in for visits.  May God show us which people to focus on and how to shine the light of Jesus through our words and actions.
 
I continue to work 3 days per week for OMF.  With my boss carrying 2 roles this year (VP for Personnel and Acting Director), the workload has been heavy.  I work closely with him on many emails as we try to provide member care for our missionaries.  In July, 28 missionaries with their 18 children were here for our HART (Home Assignment Reunion and Training) - usually 5 days long, but cut to 3 days this time due to our National Conference (which we only hold once every 5 years).  It is always wonderful to see our missionaries and hear their stories from the field - lots of challenges, lots of victories.  While our workers were here, I met with many of them to discuss their financial support as one of my jobs is to make sure their support is at 100% in order for them to return to the field.  I also led a debrief group which allowed missionaries to share some of the joys and sorrows of living cross-culturally and sharing the love of Jesus.
 
Currently, China has been cracking down more and more on Christian freedoms.  Here is an article on hundreds of churches that were destroyed in one province:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/china/article-6034995/Christian-heartland-opens-window-fight-Chinas-soul.html 
 
During HART, I gave a workshop on "Training Kids in Child Safety" which I've developed for our missionaries.  Inappropriate touch is very common and considered normal in many of the places where our workers live.  Though I find this part of my job difficult, I believe it is so important to continue to train and screen our workers.  In January, I've been invited to attend an international consultation with our other OMF Child Safety Officers in January.  This will be my first time back in Asia in 6.5 years!  I'm praying about visiting some other Asian countries (including Thailand) while I'm there.  It will be neat to see some of my missionary friends, and also to see their work firsthand.  I know this will help me pray.
 
Updates on our boys - Matthew and Rachel continue to thrive in Tyler, TX.  Matthew got a promotion to be Sales and Training Coordinator at the beginning of the year.  He has enjoyed the challenge of developing the onboarding process and working on various projects for the owner of his company.  Rachel is halfway through her courses to get her Real Estate License.  She hopes to take her exam at the end of September.  They are going to begin working with the youth group at their church in September.  Joshua has been in the Navy for over 2 years getting lots of training.  In mid September, he will go out for his first 3 month voyage on a ballistic submarine, working as a nuclear tech.  He has been enjoying the beauty of Washington state (based in Bremerton), and has taken a number of hikes when he has time.  Nathan started working as a contractor for John Deere in June, doing embedded systems engineering on a hydraulic excavator which is manufactured in China.  He has had virtual meetings with Chinese co-workers as well as an Indian teammate.  Nathan is settling well into Dubuque, Iowa.  We are thankful that he has been "adopted" by the pastor and his wife of a large Evangelical Free church.  Nathan plans to join a life group for young professional men and also start working with the youth group.
 
That's probably enough of an update on us for now.  Let us know how to pray for you - we love getting your updates!
 
With appreciation,
Jennifer, Scott, and family

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