Pastor PN message & Leaders Conference in KL (Video)
Warmest Greetings in the Most Beautiful Name of Jesus Christ!
Enlarging Your Tent
Three years ago the Holy Spirit used to touch Pastor PN’s heart with a vision. In that vision, the Lord had a message for the church that in the next three years (2005, 2006 and 2007) will be a time during which God will be expanding the church in all dimensions according to
Isaiah 54:2-3: "Enlarge the place of your tent, for you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. Stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.”
Now, as we look back to see what God has done, we see that the church has become involved in many more areas of work relating to society in many more strategic areas and we truly thank Him.
Salt and Light Ministry:
“Love your neighbour as yourself”; one of the two key commandments the Lord has given us, directs us to do more than church planting.
The Home of Hope and Mercy, a home for girls, aims to prevent a number of girls from being sold into prostitution. The project, initiated by our Sister Majlis Jogbrant in co-operation with the Hope of Bangkok Church, supported by Swedish Government through PMU interlife and the Philadelphia Church in Sweden, is one of the projects we have been involved in for more than ten years. Many girls from this home have become believers and have had the opportunity to further their studies, many now are studying at the university level.
Each year at Christmas time, since 1996, on behalf of the HRH Crown Prince, HRH Princess Siriwannawaree Narirattana graciously presides over an event called ‘Charity Christmas’ conducted by “The Life Improvement Foundation for Children and Youth”, in cooperation with “The Hope of Thai People Foundation”, in order to raise funds for “Home of Hope and Mercy”.
As for this year Charity Christmas event, it was our privilege to have a wonderful musical presentation from the New England Youth Ensemble, Columbia Union College. The New England Youth Ensemble was founded as part of the Seventh Day Adventist Church’s educational system in North America in 1970 by its director Dr Virginia-Gene Rittenhouse. It is a group of young musicians dedicated to the cause of spreading God’s message of love and hope through the universal language of music. Besides presenting beautiful music on our Charity Christmas event, the orchestra chamber also conducted a workshop to bless the church’s orchestra team in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phitsanulok Provinces.
In terms of the Lord working on an individual level, God has lifted up certain people to be ‘bright lights’ shining before men. 
For example, Sister Rubina Suwanpong, President of Hope of Thai People Foundation and a member of the church leadership, was awarded by Bangkok Metropolitan Council as one of ‘Outstanding Women’ on National Women’s Day and as ‘Outstanding Mother’ on National Mothers’ Day.
[Outstanding Women Award by Metropolitan Council - Sister Rubina Suwanpong]
Besides holding the important position in the foundation, Sister Rubina has also been elected as president of the Klong Toey District Cultural Council for three consecutive terms, using the opportunity to promote good values in society and to honour people in the district who are good examples to others.
Thai Missions:
To accomplish the mission of serving every village in Thailand by the year 2015, we now aim to reach out first to every sub-district in Thailand. To fulfil this goal, since the beginning of this year, leaders and members have been going to visit and support fellowship groups across the country. We have regularly hear testimonies of how the Lord has been miraculously working with those who have gone out to form churches as promised in:
Mark 16:17-18, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands… they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."
Signs & Wonders
A leader, who was serving in the east mission region, shared the story of his church building. Prior to it becoming a church building; the place was known as a haunted house. When the leader and his team began to use it for worship, people in the neighbourhood were amazed that there were no longer any ghosts at the ‘haunted’ house. Although the building is located opposite a community hospital, people regularly brought the incurable sick people to the church when they lost hope at the hospital. The church never refused to pray for these patients. By God’s mighty hand, the doctor and people there witnessed God’s healing power in completely healing some suffering incurable deceases. In addition to this, when this leader and his team went to preach the gospel, they often witnessed signs and wonders from God. At present, all sub-districts under this leader’s charge have Christian fellowship groups which are stronger in faith and excited by God greatness.
Hope Chiang Mai's Church Building
In order to accommodate more people and increase their capacity to bless many more groups of people, key leaders in many of our daughter churches have been moved by God to buy pieces of land and design new church buildings over the past three years.
[Pastor Chuchart Chaisombat & Dr. Siriporn standing in front of Hope Chiang Mai church building]
For example, the pastor of Hope Church Chiang Mai shared with us in a Bible Conference that since the time he was ordained to oversee Hope Chiang Mai (in 2000), the church had to move from place to place up to seven times because of the continued growth of the congregation. The church members were constantly on the move.
[The new church building has a compacity of 2500]
In 2005, it seemed that the Lord easily opened the way for Hope Chiang Mai to get that piece of land.
However, when there came a time to build 2,500-seat building as the House of the Lord which, excluding decoration, cost 20 million baht (approximately $570 000 USD), it was so challenging! Actually, at first, the pastor just wanted a 500-seat building. But he sensed that Lord encouraged him repeatedly, through many people, to enlarge his vision. This led the pastor to ask himself, “Where can we find the money?”
Miraculous Provision!
He went to four banks to request loans, but none of the banks gave approval. The pastor felt discouraged so he asked his core team to go up with him to a mountain to seek God together. And there God’s voice came to him, “Though you are merely a project manager, but I am the Lord of all. I will let you build my House”.
From day one of the construction, problems seemed to arise non-stop. Construction material prices continually increased. Nevertheless, by God’s grace and faithfulness, approximately 80% of the construction has already been completed. On that field, there is a beautiful and modern-looking church building.
People who live around that area are blessed as they use the church’s space to play sports, to relax, or even to have a cup of coffee at the church’s coffee house.
May all the Glory belong to God!
International Mission:
God continues to support us in the Thai mission, and He also pours His favour on us as we carry on with the international mission. Last year some members of the Hope Bangkok leadership team visited five African countries: Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Ethiopia. By His Grace, God miraculously helped these leaders to meet some God-loving Christians who wanted to join us when they heard about our vision and philosophy.
Starting Local Business in Ethiopia
Shortly after this, some ladies from our church got the opportunity to work in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Believing in the tent-making approach to expand the mission as the Apostle Paul did, within a few months after landing; they pioneered a fellowship group at the same time started a Traditional Thai Massage and Spa business. One of Hope Addis Ababa’s core team shared with us that they were all very excited because almost everyday, lots of customers came to the shop. Through word of mouth, the business became popular in the town. Not long after they opened the first business, the team had to relocate to another building. This time they also opened a Thai restaurant. It soon became even more popular than the first business.
Creative Outreach Ministry
God also blessed these members by bringing many more people to join the fellowship group. The leader of the group shared with us that in the pioneering stage, she seriously sought God for His guidance on how to start the group. Even though she really had a heart for the country, she was still a foreigner in the nation. She did not know much about the local people and didn’t know how to win them for Christ. One day, while she was praying to the Lord, a voice spoke to her, “You’ll find the key in the garbage.” At that moment, she was very puzzled and didn’t understand what God was trying to tell her. However, the following Sunday, as she and her team were walking to the meeting place, some local children as society would consider to be “from” the garbage began following them, asking where they were going. The children looked very poor and unhealthy. Once they were told that the destination was a church, they asked if they could join. A miracle happened again. When the first group of children joined the fellowship group, they were very open and responsive to the word of God. Moreover, a week later they started inviting their friends and even their relatives to join the Sunday service. This helped the church grow continuously.
So far, not only have we seen God continuously expanding and growing the Hope fellowship group in Addis Ababa, our congregation in the other four African countries: Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana are also working hard with faith and perseverance.
Hope Bangkok Worship and Music Ministry:
[Pastor Prayuth at Power of Praise]
Hope Bangkok Worship and Music Ministry was officially formed ten years ago. In the beginning stages, it was made up of unskilled people who had a heart to gather together as a team. However, with a clear vision and a determination to bless people through worship ministry, the members have practiced and improved their skills and are on their way to becoming more professional. In 2003, Hope Bangkok Worship and Music Ministry, based on guidance from the Lord through Pastor PN’s vision to see multitudes of people in Thailand coming into His Presence and worshiping Him regardless of denomination, organised a worship concert called ‘Power of Praise’.
From that event, we saw people being touched by the Holy Spirit; being refreshed spiritually and becoming stronger in the Lord. Even non-believers who came to the event could sense the presence of the Lord and opened their hearts to accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Since then, the worship and music ministry has been organising the concert annually. Power of Praise #5 was held in November in an indoor stadium in Bangkok. Throughout the evening, the stadium was filled with the high praises of multitudes of people lifting up their voices in praise and worship to their King.
Overseas Worship Ministry
During the last three years, we have begun to see more clearly how God can enlarge the potential of the Hope of Bangkok Worship and Music Ministry to bless people in international platforms. The team, led by Pastor Prayuth Sariman, began to compose English worship songs to be used in the Celebration of Hope, the annual event which brings Hope members from all over the world to Thailand. Since 2005, there have been Christian mission trips from several parts of the world coming to Hope of Bangkok to learn about various ministries in the church. A common request from these mission trips was to visit the Worship and Music Ministry. In 2006 and 2007, the team was invited by Hope Churches in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore to conduct workshops on worship ministry as well as to organise a Power of Praise Concert in their respective countries. Last September, the Hope Bangkok Worship and Music Ministry team was invited by Hope Church Singapore, to conduct a worship session at Hope Singapore’s 16th Anniversary which was held at an international convention. Around three thousand people attended this event.
Pastor PN’s Mission Trips:
[Easter Camp in Hope London, United Kingdom]
Throughout the last three years, Pastor PN has made a point of spending two-thirds of the year travelling abroad and visiting brothers and sisters in the family as well as friends of Hope. He even told us that the Lord really changed his heart and life, from being a person who didn’t like long journeys to someone who, in order to serve the Lord and to bless His body more, was able to adapt himself to endure 20 to 30-hour trips. Moreover, from each trip he made, he found that the Lord expanded his horizons and shifted his perspective to get closer to His heart and gain more understanding of His heartbeat.
Ps PN and Apostolic Fellowship International
[Apostolic Fellowship International]
In May, Pastor PN was invited by Pastor Jorge Himitian, an executive committee member of Apostolic Fellowship International (AFI) to share at a Church Planting Conference in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. Furthermore, in August, right after Hope North America’s Annual Convention, Pastor PN flew to Santiago, Chile, because of an invitation from Pastor Cristian Romo Jimenez, another executive committee member of AFI.
The main theme of the two conferences was ‘Plantar Eglesia, Plantar el Reino’ or ‘Plant Churches, Plant the Kingdom’. The topics He taught on were Church Growth, Multiplication and Church Planting. In both conferences, Pastor PN was very encouraged to see a thousand of servants of God who serve the Lord fervently and have a strong determination to enlarge their mission work regardless of age. The pastors/leaders strategically discussed and shared how to advance the Kingdom in their country as well as the entire continent of South America. One of the key leaders was over 70 years old, but still very keen to plant churches. Besides revealing his ability to remember relevant data and statistics, he encouraged the congregation in an enthusiastic way, as if he was a 30-year-old.
[Pastor PN sharing to apostolic pastors]
Last September, Pastor PN had the privilege of being a guest speaker at the Apostolic Fellowship International Annual Consultation in Naples, Italy, a meeting of apostolic pastors and ministers to discuss church planting around the world. There, apart from being blessed by all the sharing from the delegates, Pastor PN was very encouraged to hear a testimony from Pastor Adeboye of “Redeemed Christian Church of God, Nigeria” about the revival that is taking place in Nigeria. After the address, Pastor Adeboye kindly gave a copy of his presentation to Pastor PN, which he later presented to us in our church anniversary service. In the video clip, Pastor Adeboye shared what God had done in his ministry. In the clip, the church saw more than one million people attend the church annual convention which was held at an auditorium four square kilometres in area. Also, about ten thousand women who had once been barren or who had difficulty conceiving came, each carrying her own baby, to celebrate God’s greatness in giving them a child after Pastor Adeboye and the church leaders had prayed for them in a prayer meeting. Also, before the eyes of many hundreds of thousands of people in that congregation, a cripple, whose legs were very thin and bony, was healed and he was able to walk again by God’s miraculous power!
We really thank God for the friends of Hope around the world from whom we can learn and by whom our perspective and understanding of God can widen and deepen.
26th Church Anniversary:
The theme of the 26th Church Anniversary is: ‘Touch People, Change Lives’. We were honoured to have Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, the International Director of World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), and Dr Agustin B Vencer, Vice President of Dawn Ministries, as special speakers at our anniversary.
Dr. Geoff shared his heart about how he loves the name of our church, “HOPE”, because it is what this world, overwhelmed by problems and challenges, really needs. In his speech, he said that even the combined powers of all the worldly authorities couldn’t solve the world’s problems. However, by God’s perfect wisdom, the church was established on earth as His transforming instrument; with Jesus is the Head of the church. Only He can transform the world. So Jesus is the Hope of this city, this nation and the world.
[Dr Agustin B Vencer, Vice President of Dawn Ministries]
In one of the celebratory services, Ps PN shared with the congregation the future direction for the church. God recently touched his heart through a simple phrase, “heartbeat of Jesus”.
“…For the past few years, I have sensed that God is moving around the world to envision the churches with the great commission or the world mission. He is moving and touching the pastors to be passionate for it. And the pastors or churches will be more receptive and easily receptive to this move of God. Also, they will start to believe that it can be done. It is not something which is too far to reach, but it is more realistic. The churches who share the same heartbeat will come closer to one another and start to strategize and build the networking even stronger. You are going to see more Christian gatherings in line with this subject because the Holy Spirit is moving worldwide.
[Dr Geoff, the International Director of World Evangelical Alliance (WEA)]
“In Ephesians 4:13, the bible says that we will come to unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the son of God. I believe that we may not, in all matters, believe exactly the same thing; churches will keep their differences and uniqueness, but churches who have the same heartbeat and awareness will be brought into the same river and have more unity in the faith to fulfil the great commission and to know the will of Jesus, the Son of God. Surely His Will agrees quite clearly with the great commission as in John 4:34 which says: “Jesus said, ‘My food is to do the will of the Father and finish His work.’…”
Purchase New Office Building
The church is grateful to God for all His wonderful blessings over the last 12 months. Last year, the theme of the church’s 25th anniversary was ‘to the future’ as we would like to encourage one another to look to the future of God’s Kingdom and use our imaginations to see how each of us could support His work more effectively in each area. One of the projects in our memorial of blessings which the church members’ cheerfully participated in, was a fundraising rally for new buildings and pieces of land at the four corners of Bangkok city. To fulfil the pledge they had made, people participated in fundraising activities. For example, some of them sold their used, but still in good condition, belongings; some found extra jobs to earn more money; some even closed their bank saving account to give to the House of the Lord. The atmosphere made us recall of the rally when the members of Hope raised 76 million baht for Hope Place Building, our present church building and office, in 1990.
Before the church’s 26th Anniversary in September, in an auction for a building, God blessed us with a building located in the eastern corner of Bangkok for quite a good deal!
God bless His church by giving us a new building, He also blessed His people whose heart loved and was faithful to Him. Since the beginning of this year, there have been many people sharing testimony of, after they offered their finances to the House of the Lord, how God blessed them in return. Some of them got a new job which paid them double their previous income; some of them got a new house, or a new car; some of them who were businessmen received new business contracts which later made them profit at the amount of even ten times of what they gave to the Lord!
How Big Is Your Vision?
18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
From the example of Abraham in Hebrews 4:18-25, we can learn about some characteristics of his faith. It was unwavering, unshakable and it did not weaken, believing in the promise God had for him. God took Abraham outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." (Gen 15:5). Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations. In fulfilling the Great Commission, the Lord spoke to us through Pastor PN’s question, “How far can you see?” which signifies “How large is your vision to fulfil the Great Commission?” In the same way that He blessed Abraham, the Lord might say to us, “So shall the number of people being brought back to Christ be.”
Let’s continue keeping the vision in our hearts and being always passionate in fulfilling the Great Commission. Let’s continue moving forward and stepping into the greater things God has for us.
May God bless you!
Pastor PN Srithawong
HGI President
In one of the celebratory services, Ps PN shared with the congregation the future direction for the church. God recently touched his heart through a simple phrase, “heartbeat of Jesus”. 
