This newsletter will be quite personal, and it is my hope that it is an encouragement to you.
I’m still in
Norway
, but not for long. In this letter I’ll be sharing my future fall plans with you.
News about the Shan.
My thoughts continually go to the un-reached Shan people along with my friends there. I pray for them daily and have been told that things are going well. Two weeks ago the Shan team baptized 8 new Shan believers plus a local Thai lady named Pi Amhara. This lady runs the Guest House I lived in at Fang this winter. She became a Christian just before I left
Thailand
in May. I am very encouraged that she is taking her newfound faith so seriously and even took the step to get baptized.
Mea Mau, the house Church that I wrote about in my last newsletter, has faced some new challenges. The Shans are refuges and often live illegally in
Thailand
. They depend on people, such as those running the rice fields, to give them work permits. Some of the people in the 
house Church had to leave the village because they no longer had a work permit, which means church attendance is down. However, the church workers now have the opportunity to reach all of the new people coming there.
I’m really looking forward to going back into
Thailand
. I’m not sure when I’ll leave, but I will go there before Christmas, hopefully in November.
--------------------The baptism of Pi Amhara
My health
My ill health still hinders me from going to
Thailand
on a full time basis. I wish I could give you good news on this subject, but that isn’t possible right now due to the fact that my health changes all the time. Some days I have problems with my breathing and my throat, other days with my stomach and still on other days I have a very bad headache. Occasionally I have all of the problems at once and at other times one thing is good and the other is bad. I cannot predict when or if I will have a bad day. It becomes very frustrating. One positive thing is that my breathing problem has improved slightly, but it still isn’t stable.
These health problems make it difficult to be social with people, which is very tough.
Even though some days are very hard, I haven’t given up hope. I know what God has called me to do, and I know that God will set me free from this burden. Jesus said that we should come to Him when we have heavy burdens and He will give us rest. I know that a day with rest from this sickness will come.
Jesus also took the curse of sickness when He died on the cross. Gal
3:13
says that Christ bought us free from the cures that comes by the law, because He became a curse for us.
To touch his garment.
Sometimes I feel like the woman in the Bible that bled for 12 years (Mark
5:25
-34). She tried everything and suffered under many doctors. She spent all of her money trying to get well, but her health just worsened. But when she saw Jesus, she thought to herself: “If only I touch his garment, I will be healed.” She did and was healed!
I know that God loves you and me as much as he loved this lady and he also wishes to set us free! I still believe that this sickness is not from God, because Jesus walked about and did miracles, healing people that were oppressed by the devil. I know it’s all about touching His garment. I think that we who live in the west have a lot of erroneous thoughts about God, which can hinder us from seeing and experiencing miracles. These thoughts sometimes cause us to not trust God. I don’t feel condemned by this, but I know it is a fact. I also believe that we don’t have to do a lot to get healed, because it is all about grace, and we are not living under the curse of the law. But still, we have lots of thoughts that rise against the knowledge of God. It’s a fight, which is sometimes tremendously heavy especially when you have struggled for a long period of time without seeing any results. At that point, you need a refilling of faith.
To the
USA
This summer I spoke to a friend of mine that also works in Youth With A Mission. He had some contacts with a prayer centre in the States, and had visited there. The place is called International House of Prayer (IHOP) or Friends of the Bridegroom. Mike Bickle runs the place, which is located in
Kansas City
,
Missouri
. After the conversation, I sat down by my PC and went to their website. The more I read about it, the more I felt encouraged that God wanted me to go there. The centre has worship 24/7, lots of good teaching and many healing rooms to be ministered in. I think this is a good place to seek God and to meet Him. I hope to receive more teaching about the supernatural gifts, like the gift of prophecy, and to see them used while I am there. I’m really hungry to see more of these gifts functioning in my life and amongst the Shans.
I think it is also a great place to help prepare me for going to the Shan people. I think it would be a good place to visit even if I wasn’t sick.
God has been faithful to me too, by providing housing. Through a person that my friend knows, I have a place to stay not far from the centre and it appears to be inexpensive. God is good!
If you wish to know more about this centre see this website: http://www.fotb.com/
My travel schedule for this fall
On the 23rd of August I’ll be leaving for the
USA
, and stay there for six weeks until the 30
th of October. Then I’ll go back to
Norway
again. Sometime in November I’ll go back to
Thailand
and stay there for at least half a year again.
The financial side
God has been faithful to me when it comes to money, however I’ll be facing a financial challenge this fall. I have had lot of bills to pay for doctors, the dentist (the problem can be in my teeth), special food (I need a very special diet), medicine etc. I have probably spent over $1200 USD on this since I came back to
Norway
in May (with no insurance to cover this). I could have worked this summer, but I have not been able to because of my sickness.
My budget will last up to October, but after that I have a challenge. An increase of $120 USD per month to my income would truly help my budget. Right now this is my measure of faith. Please feel free to pray with me to see this happen, and if you would like to support me with some money (it doesn’t have to be $120) per month, you can just contact me on torej@btww.net or visit my home website (see the link below). Here you can pay with your visa or master card. And for sure; one-time gifts are helpful, too.
See this page: http://www.btww.net/donation.shtml
Or use the form below
Video
This summer I put together a presentation video for the ministry amongst the Shan. It’s made for use in
Norway
so the short text on the video is in Norwegian. If you wish to see the video go to this site:
http://www.btww.net/tore/thailand/video.shtml
It is beneficial if you have a broadband, if not it will talk a long time to download.
Prayer subjects
- Pray for my friends in
Thailand
, both the missionaries and my Shan and Thai friends
- Pray for protection for the new believers, and especially the people that got baptized.
- Pray for protection for our Shan co-worker Ching and his family.
- Pray for the house church in
Fang
,
Thailand
. That it will again grow and reach many new Shans that have not heard the gospel.
- Pray for me when I visit the
USA
. Pray that I will meet God. (I know that God will meet me, but we have an enemy that doesn’t want me to meet Him in a new way.)
- Pray that the sickness will loosen its grip.
- Pray for my economic challenges this fall. I need approximately $700 USD before Christmas.
