Faithful witness for mum and daughter

By Fiona Murray | Thailand in East Asia

Stock image by Ketut Subiyant, via Pexels.

Eight-year-old Achara* and her mother Ambhom* were due to move from Thailand to New Zealand where Ambhom’s partner, a New Zealander, had established himself in a good job in the South Island. Before they could leave, though, they had a big challenge: they needed to improve their English. Looking for help, they connected with ‘The Centre’ in Ayutthaya, Thailand, where SIM's Faithful Witness team provides a fun location to learn English with friendly people, both Thai and expat.

Faithful Witness in Forgotten Communities was established in 2019 to support workers with finances to reach the unreached – people just like Achara and her mum. The project aims to raise additional financial and prayer resources to provide short-term funding for those going from non-traditional sending countries to seven current team locations, one of which is Ayutthaya.

Recognising that God has called people from everywhere to anywhere, the project exists to empower countries that used only to be able to receive mission workers to send them too. The goal is to get multicultural teams to hard-to-reach places quickly by supporting them financially. Lynell, the Prayer Coordinator for Faithful Witness, says: “It was a call back to the roots and first love of SIM: to reaching into new areas and bringing the gospel to people who aren’t going to hear it otherwise…It’s about giving them a start-up and a helping hand to establish ministries and projects in strategic locations.”

Of course, in teams where people come from a such a wide range of backgrounds there can be tension. They each bring contrasting opinions and values about spending money, raising and educating children, and making decisions. But, when the love, humility and holiness of Christ are evident despite these differences, people like Achara and Ambhom are drawn closer to God. That’s why we must keep praying for unity and love in such teams on the front lines of the spiritual battle.

Finance is needed, too. Now that some workers are nearing the end of their initial three-year funding, they have begun returning to their home countries, knowing that going back to their place of calling will require full support to be raised.

As they go, they will share news of many encounters with people like Achara and Ambhom. Ruth, a SIM worker at The Centre, continues the mother and daughter's story: “They loved being a part of our community here. Over time with us, they heard the good news of Jesus. They expressed some interest in God. I gave Achara the ‘Jesus Storybook Bible’ which I believe she loves and has taken to New Zealand. I hope the experience here and the love they felt will stay in their hearts. We are praying they will be guided to a Christian community in NZ.”

Had there been no team in place, Achara and Ambhom might never have met a faithful witness for Christ.

There are people all around the globe who sense the call of God to be such a witness strongly in their lives – driven to move to the hard places, travelling great distances to spread the gospel. One SIM worker says: “I’ve met workers in Ethiopia who live on the smell of an oily rag and don’t eat enough, yet they feel very driven to go and share the gospel somewhere else.” They have a sense of urgency to tell others what Jesus has done for them, particularly for those who have never heard of him before.

But how are they going to get there?

Pray

•For Achara and Ambhom who have been impacted by the ministry of a Faithful Witness team.

•For unity and love in the multicultural teams.

•For funds to continue to be available to create teams in places where Jesus is not known.

More

For more information, click here to check out our Faithful Witness pages.

Give

To give to the Faithful Witness project, please click here to find your closest office and quote project number #99746.

*names changed for privacy