Happy Thanksgiving from Thailand

Open Doors

While in Pattaya, Lorena was able to teach a children's ministry seminar. The next day she took some of the students to a neighborhood where some missionaries had been gathering the kids for English lessons and medical attention. Lorena taught the children "the Wordless Book" (a simple explanation of the gospel through 5 colors). Most raised their hands to accept Jesus!

Lorena and I are excited by the open doors for children's ministry here in Thailand. Lorena learned that English speaking foreigners have an open door to go into the public schools and teach morals or English using the Bible.  It appears that these lessons can be taught in English and translated into Thai.  The government is very eager to teach their people English in order to improve their economy.

After Pattaya, we had the opportunity to go to the beach for a few days!  On Monday we start language school full-time back in Chiang Mai (about an hour flight from here). 

Lorena took this shot at sunset

Again thanks for all your prayers!  If you are interested in joining our Prayer Team, please contact Teresa Muller at Teresamuller7@gmail.com.

Blessings,

Brian and Lorena

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We made it to Thailand!

We've been spending our time learning Thai language and culture. Having 5 tones is challenging, but not impossible. Good street food is everywhere. In fact, food is so important to the Thai, that it's part of their normal greeting, "What are you eating?" or "What are you going to eat?" We've pictured some of the more interesting foods we've found below!

God has already begun bringing us amazing contacts, as He said He would. We've found amazing friendly missionaries to fellowship with, a good Thai church, a wonderful bi-lingual Thai pastor, and lots of friendly Thai people all around to practice the language with.

We leave soon for a few weeks to minister in Moldova with a team from Redding. Please join us in prayer for this poor nation that is hungry for God and the Evangelical Pentecostal churches that will be gathering for us.

If you are interested in joining our Prayer Team, please contact Teresa Muller at Teresamuller7@gmail.com.

Scorpion on a stick!

Learning the Thai language. 

Scary looking fruit, but actually delicious on the inside!

Hmm, baby octopus?

How about some crocodile?

Don't know how to rotate picture in Google :(

OK, now we found something we can't pass up - fresh fruit juice!

Thank you everyone who came to our send off parties in Redding and Orange County! We appreciate your friendships, prayers, and support so much.

Blessings,

Brian and Lorena

Support Address:

Transforming Lives Ministry 

1908 S El Camino Reald

San Clemente, CA 92672

Trip to Moldova

We just had a wonderful time in the country of Moldova.  We went with a fantastic team but only made a video of what Lorena and I were involved in.

You can see the video at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQgkeSt8BZs

A Sign of Good Things to Come!

“You’re late!”  the lady behind the ticket counter said.  We thought arriving two hours early was good enough, but the only seats left on the plane were by the emergency door that would cost us each $100. more or we'd have to sit  separated from each other and be in the middle, in-between people.  Brian likes isle seats, so after we got our boarding passes, he prayed that we'd get better seats without paying another $200. I said they were already assigned, but he said, "God is outside of time!"  I took my seat in-between a mother and her large grown son.  Before take-off however, the son left!  He took one of the $100. seats!  Brian took his seat between an older couple.  Looking incredulously at Brian, they said they were told no one was sitting between them.  Brian offered to exchange seats with one of them so they could be next to each other, but that was not what they wanted either.  Feeling very awkward, Brian prayed silently again for a miracle.  “Lord, will you please open up a better seat for us?”  Then the man next to Brian told the stewardess that his movie jack didn't work.  So she moved him to a $100. seat!  I soon found that my headset jack was also broken, so the stewardess moved me also to a $100. seat!  It gets even better.  The mother who was next to me also left!  We don't know where she went.  So Brian took the entire row where I was and laid down to sleep, while I had one of the most spacious seats on the entire plane, next to the emergency door!!!  Father God not only answered Brian’s prayer for an isle seat, he gave us the most perfect extravagant seats!  We believe this is sign of good things to come!

More Than Survivors

On March 15th, 2019, the deadliest tropical cyclone in the Southwest Indian Ocean hit the district of Buzi, Mozambique, where our dear friends and beloved  Pastor Jacob and his wife Cecilia live.  Unaware that the category 3 cyclone was heading their way, they shockingly woke up to knee high water in their bedroom.  Confused, they opened their front door.  A wall of water gushed in, quickly filling their home to waste deep.  Cecilia and Jacob grabbed their children, but nothing else.  All was left behind as the wind and torential floods destroyed their cinder block home, ripping off their tin roof with gusts of 175 mph winds.  "Grab the trees!"  Cecelia and Jacob shouted to their four children as they gripped a child in each of their hands.  The family struggled through rapid currents of ocean water pouring into their village streets, which was quickly rising up to their shoulders.  None of them knew how to swim. Seeing the gravity of the situation, Jacob yelled over the storm to Cecelia, "Do you have faith in God?!"  "Yes!" She screamed back, as the water was now reaching their necks.  They continued in the dark with their children, grabbing any standing tree trunk they could see to stable them as they fought against the current.  "There it is!  Now climb to the roof top!"  Jacob instructed his family as they approached the strong government building in the center of town.  Others they recognized joined them as they too lost their homes with nowhere else to go.  Soon the roof top filled with drenched terrified villagers.  Here they spent the night in the storm with no shelter over their heads.  Rain and wind continued the next day with no food or water in sight. The second rainy day passed, again with no sign of relief. By day three the entire town was under water with just a few tree tops and roofs of a few tall buildings in sight.

"A boat is coming!" a villager exclaimed.  Soon all who were on that rooftop for 3 days without nourishment were rescued to Guara Guara.  There they joined others who were also rescued as well, many from scattered tree tops.

Surrounded by discouraged, desparate new neighbors, Pastor Jacob and Cecelia felt God's compassion and love for their people.  They began sharing the hope of salvation with those in Guara Guara and healing the sick in Jesus' name. By the end of three weeks, the waters receded enough for everyone to return to their villages, but this family now left behind a church of 30 new believers birthed out of this cyclone catastophe!  Today they visit this new church regularly, one of many they have planted in this district of Buzi.  "All things to work together for good, for those who love God and are called according to His purpose" Romans 8:28.  With Jesus we are more than mere survivors!
Picture of them with motorcycle

With washed out roads making bike travel difficult and newly planted churches far away, we saw the need to purchase this motorcycle for Jacob and Cecelia.

About Cecilia and Jacob:
Cecilia is a gifted Bible teacher, regularly conducting women's seminars for Iris Global churches throughout the province of Sofala.
Pastor Jacob and Cecilia pastor their own church and serve as district pastors for Buzi. They also continue to actively plant new churches, and oversee their many established churches.  Pastor Jacob also serves on the commission for the province and teaches seminars as part of our pastoral discipleship team for Central Mozambique.
Below is their church which we built while we were in Mozambique, with the "Church in a Day" project.  The cyclone destoyed this roof, but missionaries there now helped them restore it once again.  Thank you to all who have prayed for Mozambique and donated to her restoration. 

New Prayer Cards

We have new prayer cards.  If you would like one please send us your address.  You can email me at pastorbrianwood@gmail.com