McClean Family

Click here to see our new blog!

2009-07-19T19:48:00.003+07:00

We now have a brand new blog with lots more information about our family and ministry.
You can see recent photos, download our prayer letters and stay in touch with us more easily. See you there!

FREE! Gospel Project

2009-05-15T10:54:00.005+07:00

FREE! is a fantastic set of evangelistic resources which TCS Central Thailand have produced in co-operation with a number of different Thai organisations.
Our aim is to distribute more than 10,000 copies of John’s Gospel to Thai students throughout Thailand and the world! We also want to see them connected into small group bible studies, Christian events and ultimately coming to faith in Jesus Christ.

If you have contact with Thai students anywhere in the world you are welcome to order any of these resources. Contact us by e-mail th-students@omf.net or leave a message on this blog.

FREE! John’s Gospel (individual portion)20 baht
FREE! John’s Gospel (box of 10) 175 baht
FREE! John’s Gospel (box of 100)1600 baht
FREE! John’s Gospel (box of 250)4000 baht
พบพระเยซู bible studies from John’s Gospel for seekers(THAI) 35 baht
ใก้ลชิตพระเยซู bible studies from John’s Gospel for new believers(THAI) 35 baht
เดินกับพระเยชู 12 bible studies in John’s Gospel for cell groups (THAI) 45 baht
Introducing Jesus 6 evangelistic English lessons 45 baht
‘FREE!’ Thai cartoon tract (pack of 100)100 baht
‘Who am I?’ glossy colour Thai tract (pack of 50)250 baht
‘Two Ways to Live’ Thai Gospel presentation, colour booklet (pack of 10)100 baht
FREE! CD including MP3 of John’s Gospel and Thai songs (pack of 100)500 baht
Creative Evangelism handbook of talks, skits and activities 100 baht
FREE! evangelistic survey form (THAI)FREE
FREE! evangelistic survey form (ENGLISH)FREE
English Resource CD FREE
FREE! prayer bookmarks (THAI)FREE
FREE! prayer bookmarks (ENGLISH)FREE
FREE! invitation cards (add your own details on the back)FREE

September Staff Days

2008-10-01T12:04:00.002+07:00

One of our roles as team leaders for CTSM is to host Staff Days twice a semester.
The whole team join us in Nakhon Sawan for two days and nights of prayer, bible study, planning and fun.

It is always a real blessing to catch up with the team members and to hear stories of what God is doing in each place.

Pray with us for the Staff Team for 2008/09 who work incredibly hard to live and share the Gospel with students in Lopburi, Nakhon Sawan and Phitsanulok. Pray for them especially over the semester break Oct 1-28 that the Lord will refresh, encourage and renew ready for the next semester.

Reaching Students ... Reaching Thailand

2008-10-01T11:56:00.002+07:00

Our work with CTSM team is directly focussed on students. We share the Gospel, disciple and train Thai students, encouraging them to grow in their love for God and his Word.

This term we have been thrilled to see the fruit of the ministry spreading further to family members, and particularly parents of the students.

Many of our students come from rural areas where there are few known Christians and often no churches. But as they return home to family and 'gossip' the Gospel, as they share their lives and live as exemplary children seeking to honour their parents as well as the Lord family members are beginning to ask questions about their faith.

This semester one father and another mother has professed faith in Central Thailand, another mother travelled over 50km to attend church with her son for the first time ever and another mother of one of our graduates is starting to pray.

Please pray with us that we will see a real movement of not only students but 'student families' coming to faith as students learn to love, serve and share the Gospel in the Youth Houses.

Princess for a Day!

2008-09-30T20:54:00.003+07:00

September 11 2008 Bethan turned 5. Our big girl enjoyed 'being a pink princess' for the day. A strawberry and orchids cake, pink clothes and a princess crown all helped to make this her special day!

Pray with us that she and the boys will all grow up to love God and appreciate the privilege of growing up Third Culture Kids.

TCS Student Day 2008, Central Thailand

2008-09-30T11:39:00.004+07:00

'So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as your were taught and overflowing with thankfulness' Col 2:6-7

Each year we host a Student Day for all the Christian students linked to Thai Christian Students in Central Thailand. This year the theme was 'Grow' and a variety of talks, small group reflections and workshops all helped us to think about the 'how' and 'why' of Christian growth and maturity. At the end of the day each student was given a miniature cactus with words of Colossians 2:6-7 attached to it.

Particularly encouraging this year was the number of Buddhist students attending this overtly Christian event. Workshops helped them to answer questions such as 'How can I start to pray?' and 'Who is God?'

Please pray with us that students will remember what they learnt that day as they look at their plants at home. Pray that we will see a generation of godly, mature believers emerge from the student ministry here in Central Thailand. Pray too that some of the Buddhist students present will start out on that process of growing by accepting the Word of God which has been planted in their lives.

Olympic Camp

2008-09-30T11:33:00.003+07:00

Visit www.moblyng.com to make your own!

August 15-17 nearly 150 students and staff went on our annual International Camp. With the Olympics being held in China a sporting Olympic theme was natural and certainly caught the imagination of the students! Using the colours of the Olympic Rings we studied the one source of true peace and harmony and challenged students to think about the purpose of their own lives 'What are you running for?'

Below are some testimonies from students and staff who attended the camp ...

Riam: (First year university student in Phitsanulok): "Even though I was born into a Christian family my relationship with God isn't that good. After returning from camp I knew that God's desire is that we have a good relationship with him. Now I am getting to know God better and growing in my relationship with Him. Thanks be to God for this camp".

Weew: (Fourth year university student in Phitsanulok): "I have lead Bible studies several times in our student cell group and know that this can be difficult and challenging but when I went to camp I saw the staff leading Bible study groups which included both Christians and those who are new to studying the Bible. I saw that this was even more difficult because you have to find the right words to help those who haven't studied the Bible before understand it easily. The blessing that I received from this camp was that I saw God working through the staff leading the Bible studies and I learnt how to teach the Bible to those who aren't Christians. I will be able to use these methods myself in the future".

Bom: a new-comer to the Nakhon Sawan youth house but a tennis partner of one of the Christian students here, came along to camp and was intrigued to read of the Bible's message. Since then he has come to the Youth House to join in an evangelistic bible study looking at who Jesus is, the church prayer meeting and music practice ... At the end of September he gave testimony to God's power to save him from sin! For Bom that has been a slow and gentle process of revelation and conviction by the Holy Spirit.

Pang: Pang (age 15) has been coming to the Lopburi Youth House regularly for 2 months now and has heard several testimonies, been to church several times, sat in on the weekly Bible Studies, and joined us all in singing worship songs. She was drawn to the Youth House because she could tell people here cared about her because we looked in her eyes when she talked. She told us of how alone she felt at home and school, and how her parents didn't seem to care about her. Slowly she has started see Christ's unconditional love for her. At the camp, she was able to clearly study the gospel message of our sin and separation from God, and Jesus' love for us and desire to have relationship with us. Pang chose to make Jesus her Saviour and to follow him whilst at the camp. Since then, she has taken her Bible to school everyday and been telling her friends why she has it. She even watched the entire Gospel of John video and read along in her Bible. Please keep her in your prayers that she will grow into spiritual maturity.

Nam: (High school student in Lopburi) Nam, age 17, has been a Christian for 2 years now, and has obvious leadership and fruit of Christ's work in her life. Through the witness of her life and the change in her life since becoming a christian, her mother is also a christian now. Nam was a Bible Study leader for the first time at the camp. She said it was a great experience and very challenging. She was so excited to be able to serve God in this way. Her group had 1 other Christian and 3 non-Christians. She said they asked many tough questions, but she was still glad to be their leader. Some students even thought she was staff because of her maturity.

Kareon: Kareon, a missionary who volunteered at the camp, said, "I loved the atmosphere at the camp, with people from many countries (USA, England, Taiwan, China, Netherlands, Singapore, Thailand etc.) and the wide variety of activities. The blessing I got is to have many chances to sit and talk with many Christian and Non-Christian students about faith".

Praise God for his work in the lives of students across Central Thailand!

2008-07-09T20:26:00.001+07:00

Life down our street!

Here is a flavour of life on our soi or street.
Thanks to Angela Farrant for these 'first impressions' of everyday life in Thailand.

New Youth House

2008-07-09T20:20:00.003+07:00

From May 2008 we have handed over responsibility for the Nakhon Sawan Youth House to Caroline (OMF) and Zo (Thai apprentice). After painting and cleaning a building two blocks down the road from our home it was great to see the Youth House get up and running so quickly. Students are at the house every day. Some are living there in the upstairs dorm rooms. Bible studies, training and worship are all part of the weekly programme alongside food, fun and relaxation together. Caroline and Zo have also had good opportunities to work with the university students at Rajabaht University just up the road and were thrilled to have forty students turn up for INTERactive (the International Activities club run by two of our Christian students) on the first week of term.

Please pray for Caroline and Zo as they lead this Youth House
Pray for Christian students to grow in their love for God and his Word as they spend time together at the Youth House
Pray too that many of their friends will come along, hear, understand and respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Pray for our own involvement in the lives of the students through disicpleship training events, bible studies and personal conversations.

School in Thailand

2008-07-09T19:59:00.003+07:00

Many of you have been praying for Matthew and Bethan as they settle into their new Thai classes here. Thank you! As you can see life is rather different to the UK!

Last week Joyce (our home school tutor) left us to return to the UK. Please pray with us for an urgent replacement from August 15.

If you know anyone who might be interested in living and working with us in this role please do let us know.

ACT Regional Children's Camp

2008-07-09T19:54:00.003+07:00

Each April (summer here!) 200 children from 7-11 years come together for a four day regional inter-church camp. As well as fun, games and little sleep (!) they have the opportunity to learn more about Jesus Christ through bible studies, talks and quizzes. This year Matthew joined the camp with Auntie Caroline and had a great time getting to know new Thai friends.

Please pray for churches as they follow up children who came to the camp
Praise God too for Matthews' positive attitude towards going to a Thai camp. We are grateful to God for the way in which all of the children treat Thailand as home.

Birthday Boys

2008-07-09T15:56:00.002+07:00

In February Matthew (6) and Joshua (2) both celebrated their birthdays. We had a great family day out at Bangkok Zoo as well as cakes and presents at home.

Happy Birthday Boys!

Baptisms

2008-07-09T15:49:00.004+07:00

On Sunday 22nd June four more students were baptised at Nakhon Sawan Church.

Please pray for Best, Art, Taw and Liw as they grow in their relationship with Christ
Praise God too for his work among students in Central Thailand.

Valentines Day Evangelism

2008-07-09T13:38:00.006+07:00

Valentines Day is a huge event here in Thailand. Each year our student make the most of a golden opportunity to tell their friends about the One who 'loved them and gave his life for them'.

This year in Nakhon Sawan we made 1,000 cookies over three days, bagged them up and attached bookmarks, tracts or New Testaments. Students took them to school on February 14 and gave them to special friends as well as giving them out freely in canteens and at the bus stop!

Praise God for the enthusiasm and willingness of the students to invest time and energy in enabling friends to understand something of the Gospel.
Pray for the thousands of students who are searching for 'love'
Pray that many Thai students will come to know 'True Love' for themselves this semester.

HELP!

2008-01-08T21:50:00.000+07:00

Since November 2007 Joyce Gaudern has been doing sterling work as our volunteer home school teacher. She teaches Bethan (early Reception) for one hour each morning and Matthew (end Year 1) for two hours each afternoon. Joyce is due to return home to the UK in July 2008 and we are now looking for a replacement teacher. If you know of anyone who is a qualified teacher, interested in being involved in cross-cultural missions and wants to use their skills to help a missionary family please do contact us or your local OMF office as soon as possible. The post could potentially be for two years until our Home Assignment in 2010.

Please pray for us as we look for a replacement teacher.
Please also talk to any teacher you know who might be interested.

Primary School English Camp

2008-01-04T12:33:00.000+07:00

On Dec 21 and 22 AnnAnn needed to brush up on her primary school teacher training as she led a primary school English camp at four days notice right after our regional
camp! 140 children from three rural temple schools here in Nakhon Sawan province joined in Christmas activities for two days. It is still mind-boggling and sobering to meet Thai people who have never heard of the Christmas story and have no idea who Jesus is! We were encouraged at the end of the two day camp when the teachers gave permission for each child to receive a Thai magazine explaining the life of Jesus Christ and the reason for his birth.

Pray for theareas of Thailand where there is still no church or regular Christian witness.
Pray for these school children and their families who have received Christian literature for the first time. Pray that they will read and be intrigued to know more.
Pray for the Nakhon Sawan ACT church which is trying to start a cell group in this area.

King's 80th birthday

2008-01-04T11:28:00.000+07:00

On December 5th Thailand celebrated the 80th birthday of the King of Thailand. There were many events to mark the occasion, including special church programmes, a parade and LOTS of yellow t-shirts.

For our kids it was a first opportunity to participate in the Sunday School presentation alongside their Thai friends.

Please continue to pray for the country of Thailand
Remember our King as he rules graciously and lovingly
Remember to pray too for the establishment of the new government following the recent elections

Christmas Fun Camp - THE GIFT

2008-01-03T23:01:00.000+07:00

December 7-10 100 students and staff went to a local resort for three great days together. Staff and short-term workers talked with students from five nations about the true meaning of Christmas and explained some of the stories behind different Christmas traditions.

Students had the opportunity to read and discuss the story of the first Christmas from Luke's gospel and many were amazed to learn the real story of Christmas for the first time in their lives. A number of students went home with copies of Luke's gospel to read for themselves.

Give thanks with us for God's faithful provision of all we needed to put on this camp
Give thanks too for the many students who are eager to come to these camps each year
Pray that God's Word would bear fruit in their lives as they continue to think and discuss what they have learnt with their Christian friends.

Student Baptisms

2008-01-03T22:58:00.000+07:00

BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.

On Sept 2nd four of our students were baptised. This was a very special day for us as we rejoiced with them. Each one was able to give testimony to God's goodness in their lives as they prepared to become members of the local church here in Nakhon Sawan.

Thank God with us for his grace and mercy to these students.
Pray for them as they grow in grace and love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pray too that many more will follow them in following the Lord Jesus Christ.

New Family Photos

2008-01-03T22:55:00.000+07:00

Each Christmas we take a trip to the local photo shop to get family photos for grandma and granny back in the UK ( a relatively cheap event in Thailand!). Usually this is an hilarious event with three children who are definitely not camera shy! Here's a glimpse of what the kids look like now ... as well as the final 'offical' photo that we usually show family and friends! :-)

Who we are and what we do!

2008-01-03T22:40:00.000+07:00

Holiday Fun

2007-11-02T20:25:00.001+07:00

For the last five weeks we have been away from home and living out of suitcases. For three and a half of those weeks we were in Bangkok attending meetings. For the middle ten days we escaped to the beach ... our favourite hiding place in all of Thaialnd, Prajuab. OMF's wonderful holiday home there, complete with beach, pool, meals, laundry, library and videos is a perfect get away for us as a family. The kids treat it like a second home and have usually planned their whole holiday before we even get into the car. This year was no exception! Ten wonderful days of rest, relaxation and happy family memoried left us all refreshed and ready to go again for the new term

Praise God for this wonderful provision for us as missionaries. Beautiful creation and wonderful mission home managers all help to make a wonderful holiday
Praise God too for time to reconnect as a family and to enjoy uninterupted time together away from the pressure of the Youth House ministry.

Evangelism Training for Staff Team

2007-11-02T19:46:00.001+07:00

October 22-26 the CTSM staff team joined us in Bangkok for a week of evangelism training. This time we were also joined by four TCS national staff. As well as bible studies, prayer and training we also had lots of fun making TexMex together and relaxing over ice-cream! The finale of the week was to go out together to a local night market to put into practise all we had discussed - tracting, surveys, preaching, testimonies, free literature, music and drama all enabled local people to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Praise God for his goodness to us during this week as we led and encouraged others to think about evangelism.

Pray that our team will be able to pass on what they have learnt to their students in the coming weeks as each Youth House looks at ACTive Evangelism in the book of Acts and as we gear up for the big evangelistic opportunities at Christmas.

N'New ... our Thai son!

2007-09-09T21:12:00.001+07:00

In Thailand family and community are important. Our househelp is much more than a cleaner ... she and her son N'New are a part of our family! They came to us after being abandoned by P'Nok's husband. Nok can not read or write but loves God and is a faithful part of our team. They rent a single room next door to the Youth House where they sleep each night but during the day they work, eat and relax with us. N'New is as much a part of our family as our own three kids.

Pray for Nok as she raises New by herself
Pray too for New that he will grow to know and love God for himself
Pray for us as we receive them into the family that we will truly demonstrate the love of God to them and provide a safe place for them to grow in their faith

Happy Birthday Bethan Ruth!

2007-09-09T21:03:00.001+07:00

September 11 Bethan Ruth turns 4. On Saturday 8th September we enjoyed a family celebration with her Swiss friends and special uncles and aunties joining for lunch. When asked what she wanted to eat for her birthday lunch she chose fried fish with garlic, rice and vegetables ... with icecream and chocolate cake!!

Happy Birthday Bethan Ruth!

Staff Training

2007-08-25T21:41:00.001+07:00

Three times each year we meet together as a regional staff team for ministry training. Theses weeks are a great opportunity to get to know each other better and to pray for one another as well as thinking through important ministry issues.

Pray for us as we organise and lead these weeks.

Pray for us too as we write the training materials.

Pray for helpful bible input as well as healthy discussions on ministry skills.

Pray for strong relationships within the team as we work together across different cultures and languages.

Pray that these weeks would truly equip student workers for the ministry God has called them to.

Central Thailand Student Ministry Team 2007

2007-08-24T21:46:00.001+07:00

This year there are 8 staff on the CTSM team.

Pray for Peung and Off working in Lopburi with Caroline Ringrose

Pray for Kerri-Ann and Julia working in Naresuan University, Phitsanulok

Pray for ourselves and Bob (Trained to Serve Apprentice) working in Nakhon Sawan

Pray with us for more student workers to reach the 0.25 million student of Central Thailand

Life for three McClean Kids in Asia

2007-08-24T20:28:00.000+07:00

Our kids love living in Asia. They get up to all sorts of exciting things and are constantly surrounded by loving big brothers and sisters, aunties and uncles.

Matthew is now a very grown up 5 1/2. He attends Thai school each morning and then is homeschooled by mum each every afternoon. He loves maths and dinosaurs!

Bethan will soon turn 4 and is our 'princess' girl. With her curly blonde hair and big blue eyes she stops the traffic everywhere we go. She is also going to 'Fun School' every afternoon and right now is learning to write her name. She loves anything pink (!) and princess-like.

Joshua is our gorgeous, completely cheeky and monkey-like 1 1/2 year old. He gives us heart stopping moments on a regular basis but also knows how to charm the neighbours into giving him free sticky rice and drinks! His favourite words at the moment are "Look!" "Naam" (Thai for water!) and "Luv Uuuu!"

Please do remember to pray for our kids as they grow-up in Asia
Pray that they will grow to know and love the Lord Jesus Christ for themselves.
Pray that they will continue to appreciate the rich experiences they are gaining.
Pray that they too will have a love and heart for Thai people as they grow up.

Finally, one very special prayer request for us as a family. Matthew’s Thai school have kindly agreed to allow both Matthew and Bethan to attend the school full-time with personal tuition in Maths and English (using UK curriculum) from May 2008 if we can find two English speaking teachers to work at the school! Teachers will need to be able to teach either Maths or English at primary level and be willing to commit to 1 year initially. They would teach our kids for 1 hour each day in either Maths or English and then work along the other teachers in the school to teach Thai children studying in the bi-lingual programme.
Please pray with us that the Lord would call two people to this very special job in the next months. It would be such a huge answer to prayer for us as a family, removing the responsibility of home-schooling from Ann and enabling the kids to integrate fully into Thai school without losing the level of English and Maths they need for returning to the UK in 2010.

Life and Ministry in Central Thailand

2007-08-24T20:22:00.001+07:00

We live and work at Nakhon Sawan Youth House, a three storey shop-house which acts as a drop-in centre for the students as well as being our home.

Here is a snap-shot of our life and ministry on a daily basis

Pray for:
On-going bible studies at the Youth House (Tues, Thurs, Sun)
On-going evangelism and bridge building (Interactive Club on Wed, English on Thurs)
On-going Buddy Groups on three campuses, led by the students (Thurs, Fri)
Regional Staff Days (Sept 17-19)
TCS National Staff Meetings (Sept 24-28)
Pray that we would run well to the very end of term (Sept 30)
Pray too that, as numbers increase at regional events, we would not lose the personal relationships with students that have been a hall-mark of the ministry until now.
Pray with us for more workers. In recent weeks we have seen that the fields truly are ‘white unto harvest’. Pray with us for ‘the Lord of the harvest to send more workers into the harvest field’.

LOOK! camp Aug 3-5

2007-08-24T10:28:00.000+07:00

One of the highlights of this term was the evangelistic camp at the start of August. Six years ago we had 15 students at our first camp, this year there were 90 students from five towns and cities! Particularly exciting was the fact that over 60 of these students were not yet believers! Praise God for a very special opportunity to spend two days living together sharing not only fun and games but also the Gospel. Three times during the weekend the students sat in small groups and studied the life of Jesus Christ.

Give thanks with us for God’s faithful provision in enabling this camp to go ahead. Praise God too for students who expressed a willingness to follow Jesus Christ.

Many others also asked to study the Bible when they returned home and staff are now following these students up. Pray for perseverance and for God to reveal himself to these students.

Pray too for Christian students from Uthai (40 mins from us) and Banphot (30 mins from us) who are beginning to consider the possibility of having their own CUs in their towns.