Location: 

• Chiang Mai, Thailand

Main Activities: 

• Help the local church on Sundays: Youth group, worship team, choir, Sunday School for ethnic group.
• Help Cheshire Home members who are handicapped: Music skill improvement, singing, and crafts.
• Join medical teams from the US to give health care to the needy from the Lua tribe at Bo Klua, Nan province and the Muslim community at Koh Yao.
• Join mission trips to the borders of Thailand.
• Refugee camp at the border of Thailand and Burma at Maehongson province.
• Remote villages at Letako, the border of Thailand and Burma at Tak province.
• Doing Evangelism, and teaching music and English, at the Christian Language Institute to children, University students, and professionals in the city of Chiang Mai.
• Open our home to host believers and non-believers, making them feel at home and accepted, to teach them and lead them into a strong relationship with God.

Purpose: 

• To respond to the calling to serve the hated, neglected, needy, and unreached by using our many gifts, both in spiritual leadership training and music, wherever we are sent.
• To reach out to ethnic communities, and immigrant workers from Burma in the northern parts of Thailand.
• To encourage the local churches to press on sowing the Seed until Jesus comes.

Interesting Facts:
There is a lot of cultural diversity in the areas we work in, such as:

• Local church in Chiang Mai – people speak a northern dialect, and eat mostly vegetables (not spicy), and sticky rice as their main dish. The delicacy dish is pork or beef, spicy, soaked with fresh pig and cow’s blood. People work and talk slowly, extended family, farmer community, the main product is rice, and a belief of animism.
• Lua – speaks Lua language, very shy; never approach them with obvious eye contact, for they will feel uncomfortable to meet strangers. They have their own traditional instruments, animism. It takes at least a year for them to observe people to become friends.
• Shan and Pa-O – speak Shan and Pa-O languages, strictly belief in Buddhism, very conservative, eat salty food that have lots of garlic, never add sugar in any food they eat. It takes at least 1-2 years for them to observe people to become friends.
• Karen – speaks Karen language, they don’t have their own alphabet, but missionaries borrow English alphabet to write phonetic for Karen writing. They love to eat fish paste, chili, and MSG (Monosodiumglutamate). At the refugee camp they love playing football, volleyball, balloon and other outdoor games. It takes at least a year for them to observe people to become friend. They are also very shy and it takes a long time to befriend them.
• Karenni – speak Karenni language, the Karen and Karenni’ features are the same; except, their languages are totally different. When you are among them you cannot tell who is Karen and who is Karenni, unless they talk!
• Burmese – speaks Burmese language, strictly belief in Buddhism, very conservative. They are friendly; not very shy. They love to approach new faces. Both young and old men and women love chewing beetle nuts, just as the city people like to chew gum. When outsider cultures come to visit they like to ask you to try their beetle nuts. Your lips will look as if it is bleeding!
  Their women will apply Tanaka, the cream color of liquid that contain carbohydrate and herbs on their faces for two major reasons: To protect their skin from sunlight, and to look pretty.
• Cheshire Home – speaks a northern dialect. Everyone are wheelchair bound. They love spicy food. Most are aged people and long for people to see their value and bring gifts and encouragement on occasions.
• Muslim community – speaks a southern dialect. They are strictly committed to Allah. They’d eat anything, except pork, and won’t raise pigs or dogs. This community eats the spiciest food of Thailand. Most family leaders are fishermen and the young generation apply for jobs as fishermen, or they work at resorts on Phuket Island.

Challenges:

• To continue to find ways and stay strong to sow the Seed of God’s Word.

Dreams: 

• To see believers growing a “sower’s” heart, and to be effective instruments to help reach the least and the lost in the world.

Needs: 

• Legal advice.
• Volunteers to come visit the missions fields.
• Funds for annual and monthly training.
• Financial support for workers.

Prayer Requests: 

• Wisdom in doing ministry, and that we will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit leading us step by step, as well as to learn how to approach different cultures and ethnic groups.
• For our strength and health.
• Raising funds that will meet our needs for housing, office, medical needs, food, hosting guests, and travel expenses.
• That we will work according to our calling and bear fruit for God.
• That both our families will come to know the Lord.
• That we will manage our time wisely to work, and to build ourselves up mentally, spiritually and physically. We want to keep loving and sharing our dream together as we go out and do God’s work.

Contact Info: 

Email: zeraministry@gmail.com

Facebook: Tip-Patrick Boonrang