The Speights: Serving as Missionaries in Thailand for more than 30 years. - News-letters from Thailand

May 2018

5/1/2018

May 2018
Dear Praying Friends,

We continue to visit supporting churches here in the United States. As I have been speaking in different churches, my desire is to motivate folks to follow Jesus and consider missionary service. Here are some suggestions:

Be Available- Abandon yourself to God and to His call on your life. Tell Him you will go anywhere and do anything that He shows you as His will for you.

Be Informed- Don't hide behind ignorance. Gather all the information you can so you can pray and seek the Lord intelligently. If you know where the needs are, it will be easier for you to meet some of them.

Be Inspired- Watch missionary videos and get hold of some inspiring missionary biographies. You'll find out that most "missionary greats" are just common people who decided to let their love for God and their love for the lost overrule their own desires in life - allowing God to use them in bold and wonderful ways.

Expect An Open Door- Expect God to give you an opportunity to fully serve Him through this new information you are exposing yourself to. Then when He opens the door - walk through it!

Continue to pray for us as we make our preparations to soon return to Thailand. Joy and I will be returning to Thailand for the first time without any of our children. The Lord has greatly blessed during the past 30+ years of ministry and we look forward to many more years of sharing the gospel in Thailand.

Yours for Thailand
David M. Speights

“Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.” ~ William Carey

January 2018

1/4/2018

This past month my father-in-law, Worth Worley died. Rev. Worley faithfully served the Lord as a missionary in Korea, Singapore and Russia for more than 50 years. Worth Worley was a huge encouragement to us during our many years of service in Thailand. The Lord used him for the advancement of the gospel in the lives of countless people.

I thank the Lord that we were able to attend Bro. Worley's funeral. It was a time of celebration and praising the Lord for a life well lived in service to Jesus. Though we are all sad to see him go, we have experienced great peace to know that he was ready and anxious to meet our Lord.

I am reminded once again of the wonderful hope we have as followers of Jesus. During my many years in Thailand, I have attended several Thai / Buddhist funerals. It is common practice for monks to chant and display four banners that say: "Go, never return / Sleep, never wake / No resurrection / No escape."

ไปไม่กลับ / หลับไม่ตื่น / ฟื้นไม่มี / หนีไม่พ้น

This proverb gives a pretty accurate picture of the certainty of death. “No escape.” Indeed. But it breaks my heart to consider the hopelessness of death for my Thai Buddhist friends.

I thank God that followers of Jesus have the blessed hope of the resurrection! We look forward to continuing to share the wonderful gospel of HOPE with the people of Thailand.

Nov. - Dec. 2017

11/10/2017

For our first few months of furlough, we were staying in a one bedroom missions house. It was a huge blessing to have a house provided for us during that time. But, this past month we moved into a rental house, once again. After all of these years as missionaries, I guess we should be used to not having a “permanent” place to live.

During this time I have also been traveling to visit our supporting churches. Being in Thailand for so long, it is a great blessing to reconnect with old friends and meet new ones. Please pray that the Lord will continue to give us safe and productive travels.

Sixteen years ago we helped plant the Streams of Blessings Baptist Church. (คริสตจักรกระแสพร) They just celebrated their anniversary this month. Pastor Ohm has done a wonderful job of leading this church forward.

It is a great encouragement to see folks who we discipled years ago continuing on in the Lord. And this church is just one example of how God is using all of us together to reach Thailand for Christ.

We look forward to having the opportunity to lead many more Thai people to Jesus and see more churches established. Please continue to be in prayer together with us for the people of Thailand.

Pray of Oh.

8/14/2017

Whether we are in the USA or Thailand, it can be difficult to be away from friends and family.

Some of you may remember me mentioning my Thai friend, Mr. Oh. We have been studying the Bible together for many months. Oh has been a great encouragement to me. He has suffered with debilitating diabetes for several years and it has taken a serious toll on his health. Because of the diabetes he is completely blind and has to endure dialysis three times a week.

In spite of these serious health issues, Oh is a faithful follower of Jesus. I am often amazed when he talks about all of the ways that God has greatly blessed him. He realizes that his physical health is nothing compared to his relationship with Jesus

I recently heard that Oh had his foot amputated. It breaks my heart that I can not be there right now to encourage him in the Lord. I would like to ask that you pray for Oh. His family who he lives with takes care of him and treats him well. But they are Buddhist and have expressed little interest in Christ. Oh often prays for them that they would come to know Jesus. Please pray that the Lord will use Oh's consistent witness to bring his family to Christ.

In spite of life's difficulties, those who know Jesus can trust in Him. I praise the Lord for our family and friends in America & Thailand. And I am thankful that I can commit them to the Lord's care. Thank you for your continued prayers for the people of Thailand.

Back in the USA!

6/2/2017

Since arriving safely back in the USA, we have been able to visit with most of our children, reconnect with and meet grand-kids and move into a temporary house. Whenever we return to the states there are plenty of adjustments to make.

One of the most shocking differences between Thailand and the U.S. is the fact that there seems to be church buildings EVERYWHERE here. Everywhere we go we meet folks who claim to be Christians and we see references to the Bible and the gospel all over the place. It seems so strange after living in Thailand where less than 1% of the people claim to be Christian.

It reminds me of a quote by Oswald Smith who said, “We talk about the second coming of Christ. They haven't heard about the first coming yet. Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice before everyone has heard it once?”

There are still millions of people that have yet to hear the Good News that Jesus lived, died, was buried and rose again. Without someone going they will never have an opportunity to hear. The Gospel is worth sharing. It’s worth living for. It’s worth dying for. It’s worth eternity.

We will never reach the nations by staying in the U.S.A. The overwhelming number of lost people, 3 billion, exist outside of America. This doesn’t mean that everyone must go to a foreign mission field but it does mean that we all must be involved. The pioneer missionary, Hudson Taylor said, “the Great Commission is not an option to be considered, it is a command to be obeyed.”

Thank you for your prayers as we spend these next few months here in the states. There is much to do while we are here and I am already wondering if it can all be accomplished before we return to Thailand in 2018. We will also be traveling extensively and we look forward to seeing many of you in the next few months. Please continue to be in prayer for the ongoing work of the gospel in Thailand.

April 2017

4/1/2017

When we first arrived in Thailand we had only two young sons. Levi was 6 years old and Zachary was 3. Now more than 31 years later, we have successfully raised five children to adulthood! Our youngest daughter Jasmine was born here in Thailand 20 years ago. The time has now come for Jasmine to return to the United States.

Jasmine is still in the process of exploring her options for the future. Please be praying for her as she adjust to life in the USA and seeks the Lord's guidance.

We will be returning to the USA with Jasmine for a time of “home-assignment” this month and will be staying in Jacksonville, FL. Joy and I are planning to return to Thailand again in 2018.

We are looking forward to seeing family in the states and meeting our one year old grand-daughter for the first time. We are also anxious to re-connect with many or our friends and prayer supporters. If you would like to schedule a time for us to visit your church, please feel free to contact us right away. My e-mail address is:
davidspeights@hotmail.com

We are thrilled that we will soon be seeing friends and family in the USA. But we remain excited to return to Thailand to continue the work here. With a population of 68 million people, over 62 million Thai people live in a village without a church of any kind. 76% of all the counties in Thailand have no churches at all. There is still MUCH to be done. Thank you for your continued prayers and support for the people of Thailand.

Feb. 2017

2/1/2017

This past week I was visiting at a Thai friend's house. His older brother and uncle were there “trading” Buddhist amulets. Almost every Thai person wears at least one of these at all times. They believe these sacred amulets have supernatural powers for protection from danger. Depending on the miraculous power of a particular amulet, it may be “traded” for large sums of money.

Thai people are strong believers in the spirit world and sacred objects with magical powers. My friend's uncle told me that he owned an amulet that would protect a person from being shot by a gun. Other amulets protect the wearer from different types of physical harm.

The conversation opened a golden opportunity to share the gospel. Though this world is full of many different deities and spirits, there is one God who is creator and has power over all other spirits.

Only Jesus has ever proved Himself by becoming a man, dying on the cross and coming back alive from the dead. Jesus is not just another deity. He is the one and only creator God of all things. They were surprised to hear that Jesus never offered a guarantee of protection from physical harm. Jesus promises salvation from spiritual death. And for all of life's physical dangers and problems, Jesus goes WITH us through those things!

No matter how long I've lived in Thailand, I continue to be dismayed at the Thai people's complete ignorance of the gospel. They live in fear of dangers and vainly hope for some sort of “help” from the spirit world. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

I thank God for the continued opportunities to share the truth of the gospel with those who have never heard. Pray that the people of Thailand will be delivered from the “powers of darkness” into God's kingdom of light.

In Memory of Thailand's King

11/21/2016

On Oct. 13, 2016 Thailand's beloved King Bhumibol Adulyadej died. Having reigned for more than 70 years, he was the world's longest-serving head of state and the longest-reigning monarch in Thai history.

It is difficult to clearly express the magnitude of sorrow that Thai people are experiencing at this time. The Thai people view the King as a deity and father figure who's sole purpose was to ensure the well-being of the Thai people. The country is now in 100 days of official mourning which will last till January. The actual funeral will take place after one year has passed. Every year, December 5th is a national holiday to celebrate the King's birthday. This year that day will be a sad one indeed.

Thailand has a long history of extreme political instability. The King is often credited with being the one stabilizing force who was able to hold the country together. Now that he is gone, … it is anyone's guess as to what will happen next.

It is our hope that you will seriously pray about the future of Thailand. The Thai people have no greater need than to know and worship the true and living God, Jesus Christ. Rulers come and rulers go, but man's need to be reconciled to God is an ongoing reality.

Thank you for continuing to partner together with us as we serve the people of Thailand. Pray that God will give us wisdom as we face the uncertain days ahead.

October 2016

9/26/2016

Each year during the month of October the people of Phuket have a festival that involves the blatant worship of demonic spirits. Many will take part in special religious rituals where they invite spirits to take control of their bodies. As a sign of the demonic possession, they will preform acts of self-injury in elaborate processions.

In contrast to this kind of pain and violence, Jesus (The Prince of Peace) has demonstrated His love for us by taking our pain and sin upon Himself and bearing it on the cross.

In spite of the spiritual bondage and darkness here in Phuket, God is still actively bringing people to Himself. I just took part in an instructor's seminar for a Christian Life and witness course. During the month of November I will be taking a number of Christians through this training. Making disciples who are able to present the gospel and disciple others is vital to reaching Thailand.

It is obvious that we are involved here in a spiritual war. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Even as we move forward in serving the Lord, satan attacks. Please pray for one family in our church who is undergoing an especially difficult spiritual battle at this time.

We greatly appreciate your prayers on our behalf. We are acutely aware of our complete dependence on the Lord. Though satan rages, God is still faithful. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.”

Buddhism in Thailand / Aug. 2016

8/2/2016

Living in a culture that is 95% Buddhist, it is important to understand that our neighbors' view of the spirit world is very different from ours. Thai Buddhism doesn't conceive of a supreme God who created all things. Even if He does exist, Thai people are too busy appeasing and interacting with many lesser “gods” who they see as having a direct impact on their daily lives. Blatant idolatry and animism is openly practiced everywhere.

Buddhism places value on “making merit” above everything else. Merit is made by doing good deeds. In all my years in Thailand, I have never met a Buddhist who had hope of reaching heaven or nirvana. Their goal is to store up enough merit in order to come back in their next life as a wealthy person.

Also like other religions, Buddhism has its own system of commandments. These are called the five precepts. Abstain from killing. / Abstain from theft. / Avoid sexual misconduct. / Abstain from false speech. / Abstain from intoxicants that hinder clear thought. Of course, there has never been anyone who is able to fulfill even these 5 religious requirements. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Rom. 3:20

Once again we are reminded of how desperately the people of Thailand need to clearly understand the message of GRACE. Apart from the finished work of Jesus, there is no hope for salvation. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts 4:12 Thank you for continuing to partner together with us as we proclaim Jesus to the people of Thailand.

Yours for Thailand
David M. Speights