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1015 ANNUAL REPORT

2021 BANGKOK, THAILAND

1015 - ANNUAL REPORT

LETTER FROM THE MILLERS While announcing Cincinnati Reds games, the hall-of-fame sportscaster Marty Brennaman would say time and again, "I am so blessed to get to do this for a living. To watch baseball, which I love doing, but to do it as a career." We feel the same way about what God has us doing in Thailand. It is an honor and a privilege to be making the gospel accessible to Thai, Burmese, and Cambodian people here in Southeast Asia. We are in the midst of our sixth year on the mission field and we cannot thank you enough for helping to send us and to sustain us through your generosity, encouragement, and prayers. To echo the apostle Paul's words to Philemon, "We have derived much joy and comfort from your love...because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you" (Philemon 1:7). In the pages that follow, we will offer a glimpse of how God has been using us in our local Thai church, in the lives of the children we serve at Construction of Hope, and in the lives of the people in our community that we've built relationships with. We hope that your hearts will be refreshed as you see some of the things God is doing here in Thailand. Matt, Bobbi Jo, Lexi, and Jude

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PREACHING AND TEACHING AT TAIROMPRAKHUN We chose to insert a screenshot from the church's Youtube channel below because this is exactly how most of the believers at Tairomprakhun have been fed throughout 2021. Matt typically teaches on Thursday evenings (young adults), Saturday evenings, and Sunday mornings. No more than 100 have been allowed to gather in-person on Sundays, and the evening sessions usually have around twenty people. But Thai, Burmese, Cambodian, and Vietnamese people living in Bangkok and across Thailand watch the teachings via Youtube, Facebook Live, and Zoom.

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Most recently, Matt preached a 10-week series on the 'one another' commands of the New Testament, a 9-week series called Cultivate, in which he taught on the Fruit of the Spirit, and a 6-week series called The Gospel According to Isaiah. He has recently begun a series on the letters to the seven churches (Revelation 2, 3) and a reteaching of the Book of Nehemiah (as the prior teaching series had not been made accessible to all of our churches).

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ENCOURAGING AND EQUIPPING THE SAINTS Pongpan leads one of Tairomprakhun's growing church plants near the Thai-Cambodian border in eastern Thailand. His wife, Tidarat, teaches the Bible to women and children, serves on the worship team, and does all kinds of outreach and evangelism. This, young, energetic, and beautiful (inside and out) couple, is a huge asset to Tairomprakhun and to the Kingdom of God at large. They have also been a great encouragement to us personally, because they consistently communicate with us and tell us about the impact that Matt's teaching and preaching is having on the saints in Surin (their province). Leaders and members of Tairomprakhun's seven daughter churches across Thailand are fed two to three times each week by Matt's teaching and preaching. Few missionaries or indigenous preachers in Thailand have the opportunity to preach and teach to so many people over across so many provinces.

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VILLAGE CHURCHES IN PICTURES

Worshipping outside during the pandemic.

The Lord's Supper

Baptisms at Muak Lek (Central Thailand)

Outreach at a Thai public school.

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SERVING CHILDREN AT CONSTRUCTION OF HOPE Bobbi Jo primarily serves God's Kingdom here through teaching Cambodian migrant children at Construction of Hope. For much of the pandemic, either because our children were doing online school or because the ministry closed on account of Covid mandates, she had not been able to serve the children nearly as much as she had in the past. Now, with Lexi and Jude back in school and an easing of Covid restrictions, Bobbi Jo is getting back into a routine and joyfully teaching the children again. The children have missed her immensely and do not hide their excitement each and every day that she walks into the ministry. Matt doesn't see the full impact of his teaching and preaching ministry (as many watch the teachings from afar), but we can very plainly see the impact of Bobbi Jo's ministry to these children. They know they are deeply loved by her and that she can turn their bad days into good ones and that she reflects well the heart and mind of Christ. Being a part of what God is doing in the lives of the children at Construction of Hope is one of the most wonderful blessings we have known in this life.

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NEW MINISTRY CENTER AND HOUSING AT COH Thanks to Lifesong for Orphans, Construction of Hope was able to secure land (long term lease) and build a great new place for the Cambodian migrant children to worship, learn, eat, sleep, and everything in between. Last year, we asked our supporters to pray for God's provision, and these pictures tell the story of how He came through! The picture on the left was taken on January 30th of this year and the one on the right was taken in December. The building and grounds are nearly complete and we anticipate the relocation of the ministry happening in January, 2022. The new facility has separate boys and girls dorms, a small home for Vino and Vicki (who run the ministry), an outdoor kitchen, fully equipped bathrooms, and a multipurpose space for worship gatherings, education, and recreation.

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ON MISSION IN EVERYDAY LIFE: POOKIE Meet Pookie, a waitress at our favorite local Thai restaurant whom we now call a friend. We've been getting to know her for some time and this past April she told us that she loves us and misses us when we go away. We love her because she is just so full of joy and makes us smile. She said that she loves us because we are "friendly, cute, and do not hold ourselves high up like the other customers that frequent the restaurant." Treating every human being you encounter as someone made in the image of God and as someone whom Jesus Christ died on a cross for, goes a long way. Pookie remains a Buddhist, but she is certainly willing to talk to us about anything and everything. It is our hope and prayer that Pookie would not merely love us, but also come to know and love the one who is living in us.

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ON MISSION IN EVERYDAY LIFE: CHOK Do you remember Chok and his family? Chok is the taxi driver whom we met when we arrived nearly six years ago. Matt baptized him and we have maintained a relationship with him and his wife, Penelope, along with their daughter Security. The pandemic has certainly taken a toll on this family and our ability to spend quality time with them. Due to a lack of tourists, Chok had to part ways with his new taxi and start renting taxis to drive by the day. Penelope began a new job cleaning houses. They are quite busy and are rarely home. Before the pandemic, Chok had found a church family that he was worshipping with on a regular basis. But during the pandemic, this was not possible. We ask that you would pray for Chok and his family. Specifically, we would love to see him return to his church and lead his wife and daughter to Christ.

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LEXI AND JUDE Lexi is now a middle-schooler and Jude will turn ten in March. We don't believe it either! In last year's annual report, we spoke of how they had experienced some homesickness and frustration due to the pandemic. They had gone two years without seeing family in the States and they had spent the better part of those two years doing virtual learning. This past summer, we were able to make the trip to America and it was refreshing. In November, the kids were finally able to resume in-person learning, and that's been a huge blessing too. Lexi has made the honor roll and has evolved from being a quiet kid into a social butterfly. She loves reading, writing, sketching, and hanging out with her friends. She is looking forward to playing on the school soccer team in the Spring. Jude is doing well academically too, especially in math. Just last week, he made the Under11 basketball team and proved to be the fastest kid in elementary school in the process. He loves playing sports, being a ninja warrior, and playing chess and board games. The best thing about both of them: they love God and His Word and they love people.

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WE LOVE YOU AND THANK GOD FOR YOU, THE MILLERS

matthew_bobbijo The Millers in Thailand www.1015go.org