Sampling Durian!

 

Merge Visit to Roi Et Schools

 

Show up and Serve!

 

Partner with Merge....in Roi Et, Thailand!

 

MERGE, a Covenant ministry which trains and sends teams from US churches, has long desired to connect with the work of the Covenant in Thailand. This has become a reality with our first team in June 2024—a team Ruthie facilitated, along with church leadership in Roi Et. Bill Johnson and his son, Lucas Johnson, were our first Merge team, coming from Salem Covenant Church in MN!

They worked hard—visiting 3 different schools, with a programs we helped them design, teaching English and sports! These schools, many poorly-resourced, welcome input and provide opportunities to share our faith in this Buddhist context. They have also opened opportunities for Thai church members to develop relationships with teachers. On this trip our Thai friends were able to answer questions for some teachers who were genuinely interested in their faith. 

Prayer Requests

We're thankful for the chance to serve--and we are so grateful for the team of church leaders we have here.  If you'd like to hear more about any of these stories, please feel free to write. As always,  Peter & Ruthie Dutton

As you pray...   Praise We're still so thankful for God's grace in our Thailand Covenant Church.   We're grateful times of ministry both Ruthie and I have experienced in the last days--in India and Laos and Taiwan!  Thank you Lord! Pray Pray for planned outreach and ministries in the upcoming December/Christmas season.  Pray that our people would reach out effectively during this season. Pray for Pastor Siem and our other Thailand Covenant Church leaders...that they would have the courage, vision, and humility to lead our church in the directions God has for us... Recap We're still raising funds for some significant building projects here! Family Size Cabins -- $8,000 each Grace Center Worship Hall -- $45,000 Total Walls $15,000 Tile Floor $5,000 Windows & Doors $15,000 Lighting $10,000 Grace Center Dormitory -- $99,000 If you'd like more regular updates, please visit our Facebook pages or our blog..... Or if you can help bring some of the above projects into reality through a small gift.... Click here  to give online and put a note on your gift of “Thailand Camps”.     Ruthie's Facebook Peter's Facebook Peter & Ruthie's Blog

Vision: A Flagship Church

Vision:  A Flagship Church  So...how do you feel about church buildings?  Necessary?  Or a distraction from the real work of building the church? If you see them as distraction...you are in line with the ministry philosophy that I, and most of our Covenant missionaries, have had for the last 48+ years!  House churches--the core of the body of Christ--aren't they the key component in rapid church growth all over the world?

Something like this?  One idea from Siem, our denominational chair....

At one point, our Covenant denomination in Thailand counted more than 200 house churches throughout the Isaan region of Thailand.  Today?  We're down to less than 10!  What happened?  Attrition, disappearance, splits...and consumption by other church groups.  These are some of the downsides of house churches. On the other hand, Ruthie and I have witnessed, first-hand, some of the corrosive effects that often accompany building the church by building church-buildings.  Especially if the churches are... Built too soon!...Before there's a strong group of believers. Before the believers themselves see the need, gather funds, and initiate a building program. Have conflicted ownership!... Before there's a sense of shared mission, shared ownership--not where the church land is owned by any one person or family.  Without a clear mission consensus! ... That is, before a consensus and identity develops in a group...and a sense of God's will and blessing rests on the group.

Or like this?--Another vision our Thai team has for the church--able to seat about 100 people, with a good connection to our country surroundings outside the city of Roi Et.

So...why now do we want to build a church building?  In most cases house churches were a good start..and played a critical role.  But, in rural Thailand, homes are small and limit growth.  In this case, we believe the time is right: Of the estimated 1.5 million baht ($30,000) needed, we already have raised about half of that--from our people here in Isaan...and one gift from a church in the U.S.  We have a small chapel deep inside our camp ground; but what we need is a church building which faces out to our Buddhist neighbors--located at the entrance to this facility.   Will you to pray?  Pray that plans and dreams for outreach in this community will be enhanced, at that this new facility will play an important role in seeing them come to reality!

Taiwan--Thailand Cooperation

Taiwan-Thailand Cooperation We've been blessed, these past couple years, by our Taiwanese Covenant  brothers and sisters--especially Vernon Wu, Edward, and Simon!  Pastor Vernon and ministry teams have come twice now for special meetings here in Roi Et. And now we are beginning further cooperation--in both spiritual and monetary terms.  Starting next month is a 16-week training program--"The Life of a Disciple"--used extensively by churches in Korea and Taiwan.  This will be taught and facilitated by a Thai-Chinese pastor/friend currently being trained by closed circuit from Taiwan.

Further, Pastor Vernon has introduced us to several members of his church with expertise in agriculture and marketing.  Together, we are beginning a project we hope will grow into a large vegetable-planting and outreach effort to supply markets in Bangkok--and reach many in our Isaan area with the good news of the gospel.    4 of us took a trip to see vegetable planting, greenhouses, and ministry around Taipei.  We came back...fired up and jazzed about these new ministry possibilities.  Please pray for Siang and me (in Roi Et), Edward and Simon (in Taiwan) who will be spear-heading this effort for our people here!

Flood Relief...in Thailand's Dry Northeast

Flood Relief...in Thailand's Dry Northeast  If you have given to Covenant World Relief...we want to thank you!  So many times, these past years, CWR has stood with us mitigating disasters and bringing a better life to friends in Laos and Thailand. This past September Isaan experienced its worst flood in 30 years.  Fortunately, there was little loss of life!  But, large areas in Roi Et and surrounding provinces are just now getting out from under flood waters--months after the deluge.   We worked with several other churches in Isaan to bring relief and distributing rice to affected areas.  On behalf of our Thai brothers and sisters... thank you!

In the Heart of Isaan No. 89 Oct. 15, 2019 News from Peter & Ruthie Dutton

Thailand-Taiwan Co-operation!  We'reworking with our Taiwan Covenant Church to....hopefully....see gardens and veg like this marketed in Isaan and Bangkok!

Cora & Charlie. We couldn't ask for more!

In between our church visits, we've squeezed out some time in Atlanta, GA to visit the newest member of our family--little Cora, Kevin and Ramona's latest.  Our son and wife have been kind enough to host us during this time in the States.  Thanks, you two!  

A Year-End Celebration

Our school year in Thailand ends in March--and this year we had much for which to be thankful!  So, like last year, we celebrated all that had happened--both good and bad--in the past year.  And we gathered to listen to what God is saying to us--through a gifted pastor from the Chiang Mai area.  Our little church in Northeast Thailand--now 6 congregations--took courage from Pastor Praphan's theme of  "Growing Deeper In Christ". 



Besides a heavy dose of encouragement, we also took time to look at the playground we'd been working on--a gift from the Trinity Covenant Church VBS in Manchester, CT  last year!  Thank you, Trinity Covenant!  Even our adults had fun testing the various structures.  Here, Uncle Wichit and Jareephon, the wife of our denominational president, did a test run.  Later on....the kids showed us how they were really meant to work.
  

World Race--Adventures in Mission...in 100 Degree Roi Et

World Race!  Who are they?  What are they?

In our case, they turned out to be young adults who have given up a year of their lives to help churches and mission efforts, one month at a time, with whatever work they could do.  We heard about this organization through some Covenanters who have chosen to serve with them.  And we were blessed by 6 young women who...didn't complain, who worked hard, who laughed and smiled..and gave testimony to the reality of God's presence in their lives! 



They worked hard in blistering weather--helped build a playground, harvested fish, painted dorm rooms--and were a joy to hang around.  Please come back again, World Race!

Lao-Pomeroy Redux!

We just returned from visit with a group of dear friends--a team from Pomeroy Covenant Church in Iowa--that gifted us with grain bins and weeks of hard work back in our days in Northwest Laos.  That was 2001!

As you pray... (September 27, 2018)

Praise

• Praise God for the increased use our camp facility has seen over the past months!  
• Thank God for all who have encountered God through the various camps held over the last months.
• Thank God for the new initiative to reach Isaan people for Christ--and for all those who are reaching out over the past weeks!  

Prayer

• Please pray for many new believers in Isaan--and pray for the renewed effort to reach our neighbors for Christ.  .    
• Pray for the development of our camp.  For resources, for plans.  Pray we would sense what God's plan is for us--and to move in concert with that plan.    

If you'd like more regular updates, please visit our Facebook pages or our blog.....

Ruthie's Facebook

Peter's Facebook

Peter & Ruthie's Blog

We're Dreaming!

We're excited to see our camp facility being used like never before!  But our goal is to able to host camps of up to 200 people.  In the middle of writing this, Ruthie came rushing in to tell me we've had a request for a camp of 200+ people in November 2019! 

We would love to find partners to help us complete projects and make improvements!  We'd love to...

• Finish off our large meeting hall.  Presently it is just a tall roof structure.  It needs walls, flooring, and sound system.  Our estimate?  $50,000 USD.

• Build more rooms and sleeping space.  We currently have two small cabins and 5 rooms in which we can sleep campers on floor mattresses.  We'd like to build more family cabins and some dormitory space!  Our estimate?  $8,000 USD per cabin to sleep 10 people.

• Finish off a meeting hall and improve facilities at our Chiang Mai camp.  The Covenant's camping ministry there has many bulding and outfitting needs!  $20,000 USD!

We are thankful for those of you who have given time and money to bring us to this point!  Please let us know if we can share a more detailed list and costs!  We're looking for people and resources to join us in this ministry!  If you have time--or if you can teach English or give some time to work... let us know.  We'd love to talk!

Another Blessing, Another Partner

Rolling Hills Covenant Church from SoCal came again this year--as they have every year since Ruthie and I returned to Thailand.  This time they brought an unusually large team.  And, together, we visited many local schools for a couple days--then finished off with a big ESL camp at our camp ground.  As always, this was an incredible blessing--and  a big help in our efforts to reach out to schools in our area.  Thank you, Richard & Cathy Smith, and the team you brought this time!  The relationships we've built with these schools, we hope, will continue to bear fruit. 

Encountering God

But it wasn't only with "outside" groups that we began to see our camp utilized.  Another wonderful experience these last weeks came from a sister Covenant church in Taiwan!  Pastor Vernon Wu, from Taipei, along with a group of 10 church members came August 22-27 to do a camp that has been a huge blessing to churches in Taiwan. 

Reports from our church members....were amazing!  One women spoke of how this is "the first camp she's been able to attend--and she just felt that God met her!"  Another participant said "this was the first Christian camp in which his son and daughter-in-law had stayed totally engaged and hadn't slipped out of the meetings."  Numerous others voiced similar thoughts.  Many remarked on how they felt so loved, so affirmed!

We are so grateful to the Taiwan team who came!  Many slept willingly on floor mats.  Some even got rained on one night as one of roofs sprung a leak! 

Camps, Camps, CAMPS!

What is our mission?  What should we "be about" given our people, resources, and capabilities?

As we've reviewed, one part of the answer has come!  God has gifted our church with a beautiful camp ground.  So....we need to use these facilities to see his church planted and body strengthened.
With the renewal of this vision, we have set about the work of sponsoring camps--and opening the use of our facilities to the work of the wider body of Christ in Thailand!


As soon as we made the decision to move in this direction, we were approached by a consortium of church groups who wanted to conduct a camp on church planting.  They wanted to hear about new developments and lessons learned from a movement to Christ in central Thailand--the Free in Jesus Christ Church Association.

A long-time friend of mine, Dwight Martin, has been a key contact and liaison with this Thai church movement.  Other key organizers from OMF, So. Baptists, and Mennonites were instrumental in pulling this meeting together.  Together, we listened to reports--and prayed together--that God would do a work in our Northeast region similar to what He is doing in the province of Petchabun.

That original vision, cast back in July, was followed up early September with another meeting of members in this  coordinated strategy.  We were thankful and gratified to be a part!  The reports that came back were very encouraging--several groups reported more than 25 new believers in the two month interim.  This is astounding news for Thailand!  Please pray with us.   

Visits from 2 faithful friends!

Byron Amundsen arrived for what will be his last official trip as our Covenant Finance guy!  After a brief visit he and Ruthie joined Dave Husby for a trip into Laos.  We're thankful for these two!   Byron has stuck with us--with encouragement and insight, through years and events, triumphs and trials.  And Dave Husby and CWR remain valued partners.  We're going to miss you, Byron!  And Dave, there is so much left to do!