Re-engagement!

TODAY is three weeks since we arrived back in Thailand, and I could not be more pleased and blessed with the transition.  I can easily say that week one was spent finding a house.  Week two was spent moving in, and this past week we have had a chance to re-engage the community, the farm, the school, and our lives here in Thailand.

This past week, we had the opportunity to preach and share with the congregation at Baan Athitaan Church in Chiang Rai.  We have known and partnered with this ministry team in many ways over the years, and it is exciting to see how God is using this ministry to grow God’s Kingdom in this region through His Church, and through an English Language School.  This Church is about 85% Thai speakers and does an amazing job reaching out to college students at nearby Chiang Rai Rajtchabat University and also Mae Fa Luang University.  There were more than 200 people present for the Sunday morning service and we look forward to our continued partnership and growth there.

Sunday Evening, we were invited to preach at the Chiang Rai International Christian Fellowship.  This is a group of foreigners from around the word that has moved to this region to live, and serve our King.  CRICF meets twice per month to pray, worship, and be encouraged by the teaching of God’s Word and fellowship.  I spoke Sunday about the “Narrow Gate” and talked about the state of evangelism in Thailand, the need for obedience through discipleship, and encouraged the group in their call to serve.

Since last week, Pattie has begun to prepare her classroom at Chiang Rai International Christian School.  New rooms have been constructed and this will be the first term to use the new wing of classrooms.  This week is full with teacher in service days, and the kids arrive on Monday.  Our involvement with CRICS is such a blessing to our family and so many other missionary families, and also more than 30% of the students are from the local Thai community and some come to know Jesus every year in addition to gaining a world class education.

The farm is doing great!  Our team has done a great job taking care of business this past year, and as I reconnect with the team and farm, we are starting to plan for the future and how to make our project self-sustainable.  Right now, I am focusing on involvement with daily tasks and administration so that we can be strengthened and prepared for growth.  Our manager, Phi Nat is working diligently on developing outside sales locations and markets.   This past week, we have had multiple opportunities to host visitors and guests from the community, including my best friend Pastor Adison Rungsiripipat from Mae Sai.  He brought a group of volunteers to see and experience our Business as Missions (BAM) project.  In the coming weeks, we will be hosting missionaries from TEAM (The Evangelical Alliance Mission - Asia) to discuss BAM projects, and in September we will have a team from OMF (Overseas Mission Fellowship) to attend a workshop in our farm about engaging the community with the Gospel through Business as Missions.

Our vision is to see Thai and ethnic cell groups of believers started in North Thailand that will develop into churches that reach out to their communities and to the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Brittan Family operates a church planting and outreach project located in Chiang Rai, Thailand, that exist for the ultimate purpose of bringing God Glory through the expansion of His Kingdom.  The basis of this outreach strategy is a goat farm and dairy that is a model for the agricultural and business community in Thailand that utilizes the people, resources, and relationships of the organization to open doors to the community that will allow for us to demonstrate God’s love to community where we live and work.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Praise God for progress and ease in the transition process.
• Praise God for new members in our monthly financial support team.
• Pray for favor and logistics for acquisition of Work Permits and Visa extensions for Harry and Pattie.
• Pray for continued financial provision for ministry expenses and missionary support.
• Pray that God’s Kingdom come and Will be done in North Thailand through the Narrow Gate Project and the Brittan Family.

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support.  We will continue to keep you posted about our travel progress

Blessings from The Brittan Family to yours…
Harry, Pattie, Hattie, Louise, Harry V, and Nellie

Send Letters and Tax Deductible Contributions to:

MDE

36216 Freedom Road

Farmington, MI 48335

Please include a note referencing:

The Narrow Gate Project - No. 216155

Online Giving Please use this link to go direct to : Narrow Gate Online Giving

Contact us on Facebook, or at hbrittan@gmail.com

"Good to be Home!"

Our last six weeks in the States were a whirlwind of travel, speaking, and activity as we prepared for our departure to come “Home”!  “Home” can be anywhere, really.  But no matter where you are, Home is very much, “Where the heart is.”  We arrived in Chiang Rai, Thailand on the warm balmy afternoon of August 4.  We started looking at rent houses the next day, and by the weekend, we were blessed with the most beautiful little house that we have ever seen.  The homeowner is a coworker with some of our friends at the University nearby and she is very friendly and nice.

In addition to house hunting, we used the first few days to reconnect with the Farm Team, old friends, and ministry partners.  We have eaten all of our favorite foods, and even explored some new ones.  Because the house was not ready right away to move in, we also had several much needed days to rest and relax.  Packing, moving, storing, visiting, and traveling for six weeks had made us very grateful for the time to unplug and recuperate a bit.

The Farm team was a great help to move in and set up the house.  It may still take a while to arrange everything the way we want it, but everything is here, and we are already enjoying having a place to call home.

Today, Monday, Pattie is off to school at Chiang Rai International Christian School where she has taught for more than 6 years.  This term, she will be teaching multiple sections of High School Math.  This week begins teacher “in-service” and she will be hosting testing, and getting her room ready for students on August 27.  Louise has already begun to attend dance classes at The Kid Dance Studio and will perform in the show in September.  Harry is visiting friends and riding his bike all over the neighborhood, and Nellie is playing and spending time with her friends that she missed so much while she was in the States.

The Narrow Gate Team has done a tremendous job taking care of the farm and ministry here in Thailand.  I am very proud of them all.  They have all grown in the roles and responsibility that they have for their work, and I look forward now to where God will lead them as we grow our project to the next level.  I will begin working at that farm this week as well, and am excited to get back into the day to day business at hand.  At the same time, God has been preparing in my heart a vision for the ministry in the farm going forward.  We look forward to expanding outreach projects through the farm and in the community, and most importantly we will be focusing on efforts to increase opportunity to share the Gospel with the Northern Thai People and expand the Kingdom of God through evangelism and Bible Study.

While we know we are “Home”, we still need your prayers and support as we transition to Thailand following our one-year Stateside assignment in the US.  Please lift up in prayer the following request:

Prayer Request:

• Pray for a smooth transition for our family and ministry partners during our return.
• Pray for Favor and granting of One Year Work Permits and Visas for work at the school and work for the Farm. (This needs to happen in the next 60 days).
• Pray for health concerns for our family as we return to Thailand.
• Pray for Guidance and Wisdom as Harry prepares to preach at Baan Attithan Church in Chiang Rai this Sunday.
• Pray for financial provision for our family and ministry through MDE / SEND International in the form of project gifts and monthly support partners. (Praying for $20,000 to complete this 2016/2017 term)
• Pray that God’s Kingdom will come and Will be done in North Thailand and the Brittan Family.

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support.  We will continue to keep you posted about our travel progress

Blessings from The Brittan Family to yours…
Harry, Pattie, Hattie, Louise, Harry V, and Nellie

Send Letters and Tax Deductible Contributions to:

MDE

3216 Freedom Road

Farmington, MI 48335

Please include a note referencing:

The Narrow Gate Project - No. 216155

Online Giving Please use this link to go direct to : Narrow Gate Online Giving

Contact us on Facebook, or at hbrittan@gmail.com

Follow ME ... We're on the way to Thailand!

As we wait in Dubai for our connecting flight to Thailand, it seems a bit surreal to think that in the next 24-hours we will arrive home in Thailand. The past month has gone by in a blur as we have had a chance to travel and visit friends, family, and churches in anticipation of this day.

Friday night, more than 80 people joined us at Spring Creek BBQ, and we had visitors from Birchman Baptist Church, FBC Benbrook, Trinity Bible Church, First Presbyterian Arlington, and Trinity Christian Academy.  It was so much fun to see longtime friends and make new ones.  We shared from John 21, where Jesus asked Peter to “Feed my Lambs.”  This passage challenges us to Take care of our Family, to Take care of our Goats and Business as Mission Project, and to reach out to the people of North Thailand for the purpose of starting new groups of believers in communities that do not yet know Jesus.

Our daughter Hattie, who remains in the US to continue her studies at Texas A&M, blessed us with words of Love and Affection and a very special gift that she hand-crafted for us.  In this, she graphically portrays how our feelings for Texas and Thailand are intertwined together with the Heart of our love being central to the two cities of College Station, Texas and Chiang Rai, Thailand.  This picture will occupy a very special place in our home, and Hattie will always have a special place in our hearts.

We shared during the evening service at Birchman on July 17.  And this past Sunday Morning we were sent off with prayers and blessings from Pastor Bob Pearle and the church after the morning service.

As we go… please be in prayer for housing for our family.  We will be looking at several options on Thursday this week and look forward to making that decision.  We praise the Lord for His abundant provision for our ministry and family.  God is providing for this project through special gifts and also through new monthly members on our support team.  Continue to pray for God’s blessing and financial support for the Brittan Family and our projects with Narrow Gate and our new sending Partner MDE / SEND International.

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support.  We will continue to keep you posted about our travel progress

Blessings from The Brittan Family to yours…
Harry, Pattie, Hattie, Louise, Harry V, and Nellie

Send Letters and Tax Deductible Contributions to:

MDE

3216 Freedom Road

Farmington, MI 48335

Please include a note referencing:

The Narrow Gate Project - No. 216155

Online Giving Please use this link to go direct to : Narrow Gate Online Giving

Contact us on Facebook, or at hbrittan@gmail.com