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Grace Baptist Bible Institute
March and April brought lots of change and some significant trials but we are thankful for the Lord’s provision through them all. At the beginning of March I had to fire my interpreter due to some disagreements in doctrine which was beginning to cause some issues with how he was relaying and interpreting important information during our daily classes. However, the timing was good as we were due for a break for the Thai New Year. I have been interviewing and meeting with potential candidates to hire to take his place but finding sound Christian workers in a country that is less than 1% Christian has its challenges. The few men who have applied have been unable to answer basic questions such as “Define what a church is” and “Who is Jesus Christ”…I’m telling you, its a tough crowd over here!
However, over the past year, the Lord has been raising up a young man here at the Bible School who has a huge desire to serve and is always eager to work. His name is Chanasak (nickname Long). I have never seen anyone pick up a language as quickly and effectively as he has. This young man could barely greet us in English when he first arrived a year ago. Now, he and I have regular theological discussions in English over lunch and dinner! Long has also been helping with editing and translation work for Grace Bannasan and even dubbing English sermons into Thai in his “spare time”. He still has a lot of learning to do but he is doing it along side me and I am encouraged greatly by all that the Lord is doing in his life. Please pray with me about the potential opportunity to use him and the gifts the Lord has given him for the interpreter position here at the Bible school.
Church and GBBI Property
In my last prayer letter, I mentioned the church we were starting here in Chiang Mai. We are actively looking for a place where we can meet but rent is expensive and we obviously can’t afford to buy anything at this point. Please pray with us about this need! Pray the Lord will provide if this is His will and that we may find somewhere within our budget that is close by.
Also be in prayer with us about our current rental property. When we signed our lease, covid was surging and rent everywhere was cheap. That is no longer the case. The property we have was previously used as a homestay and is so perfect for the Bible school because we have classroom space, living space, dorm rooms and office space…all in one property and for just under $650 per month! However, there has been recent discussion with our landlord about his desire to sell the property. We told him we were a long ways from being able to afford to purchase it and asked him to let us continue to rent. He has agreed, for now, but at the end of our current lease we believe he is going to potentially double or even triple our rent payment. What we pay now is cheap and current market value shows that it isn’t unfair for him to ask for this amount. We are prayerfully considering how to move forward if this happens. We have about 9 months to decide what we need to do. Please pray with us!
Grace Bannasan - Printing Ministry
In March we finished our first book: The Gospel of Jesus Christ by Paul Washer. The translation turned out great and the book printing went smoothly. Below are pictures of the books when we picked them up from the printer here in Chiang Mai. We plan to send these books to all of the villages we minister to as well as any churches nearby. This simple book on the Gospel is clear yet challenging and we are excited to use it throughout our ministry here in Thailand!
For HIS Glory,
Matthew Villandry