For three years now, God has been blessing as our AFM Central Thai Project team operates Peace Music Academy (PMA) as an official General Conference-sponsored center of influence (COI) to reach the city of Khon Kaen, Thailand. In that time our enrollment has grown to more than 70 students studying violin, piano, ukulele, guitar, flute and voice. As a bonus to our students and their families, we also offer free English classes. Our activities and concerts are drawing people from the community to attend our church services, and some are requesting studies to prepare for baptism. Our regular church attendance is about 60 people on any given Sabbath, which is just about the capacity of our current meeting space. So the Thailand Adventist Mission has sent representatives to locate and recommend a piece of land to build a permanent structure to serve as a school and church facility. It’s an exciting time to be part of God’s work here in Thailand!
Seeing how PMA has played such a key role in this church outreach, I feel a great sense of gratitude for the quality student missionaries and short-term workers who have devoted a year or two of their lives to enlarging God’s kingdom with their musical gifts. Jessica Richter, Danny and Sheanny Pung, Breanna Thornton, Brianna Hoffecker, Tiffany Steinweg, Nina Sanadze, Melissa Guthrie, Anna Rorabeck, and Danielle Willer, as well as Luis, Irma and Tammy Mariscal, we are so grateful for your excellent teaching and steady Christian example to our students and their families that has made the Christian community attractive and inviting. There are people attending church and small groups regularly and even preparing for baptism, largely due to your service here in Thailand!
And I want to appeal to each of you readers and to former SM teachers: please prayerfully consider coming (back) to serve with us long-term in music education ministry here in Thailand. What we’ve done to date is still just scratching the surface. There are many more unentered provinces of Thailand where a music school COI could gracefully open the door for a gospel witness to thousands more Thai people. We need you! God has gifted you with music for such a time as this! We need piano, cello, viola, violin, brass, woodwind and voice teachers. And Thai people need Jesus! If you love Jesus and music, please contact us. Or if you know someone else who has the gifts we need, please help point them our way. (Call 1-800-YES-4AFM and ask to speak with Toni Minikus.) And thanks also to all of you, our regular financial and prayer supporters! We could not be here without you. God bless you all.
