He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the chariots with fire.

~psalms 46:9

hello dear friends,

i apologize for the communication-less gap that the last month became. lately there’s been no small amount of goings on, and i have more or less been right in the middle of everything. and now, with your pardon, i will update you with what exactly has been going on, from a beautiful wedding to a frightening bus accident to tearing down idols in a new believer’s home. so without further ado…

this month has been an adventure to say the least. God has been so good, and so faithful and merciful, but that always goes without saying. among many things that Christ was lifted up in was dave’s wedding. yes, for those who did not know, my brother dave and his fiancée oy were married just a few weeks ago. it was a beautiful wedding, in which Christ was glorified, and people rejoiced. i am thanking the Lord for yet another incredible couple who will, i am confident, represent Christ in their marriage till the day they die. they are the ‘perfect couple’, so to speak. both so well suited to each other, both so completely focused on sharing Christ with the lost and found alike.

obviously, this does change the living situation a bit, to wit, dave and i will no longer be roommates. marriage changes things! the Lord has provided dave and oy with a wonderful little house, one well- suited to the needs of a newly-wed couple. thanking the Lord for the almost immediate answer to prayer regarding housing. i will stay in the house we’ve been in, which is another awesome provision that the Lord has blessed me with. it’s a lovely little two-bedroom house, complete with a sizable garden full of fruit trees. you are invited to come and stay any time! no really.

i also mentioned a bus accident, so let me tell you about that. it really was a miracle that it went the way it did. as i was traveling south via 15-passenger bus at four a.m., everyone on board was getting a little sleepy (including the driver). we were traveling at a pretty fast pace, highway speed, when suddenly the driver completely fell asleep, and we went careening off the road into the jungle. we barely passed between two huge trees, careening into a deep ditch, which served as a sort of launch ramp, catapulting us further into the jungle, now on the right side two wheels only, and then proceeded to scrape three cement pillars on the left side, before stopping six feet short of a huge palm tree. windows shattered, bus totaled, people tossed around the cabin like so many pieces of popcorn, and not a single life-threatening injury. praise the Lord. you have to understand, there was literally no way the wreck could have gone better than it did. i assure you, had the bus been to the left or right even six inches, i am certain there would’ve been at least a few fatalities. interesting to note, right before the accident, i felt prompted to pray for safety—and i wasn’t the only one. turns out, about six other friends were prompted to pray about our safety too, right around the time of the accident. our Father hears, thank God! definitely the most intense accident i’ve ever been in.

also on the agenda: a woman whom the church here in galasin has been reaching out to recently accepted Christ as her savior—hallelujahx100. it’s so exciting to see people coming to Christ. well, as is customary in most buddhist/animist/demon-worshipping homes, there is usually a room dedicated to idol worship, demon incense sacrifice, and the harboring of spirits. our new sister’s house was no exception, and had the whole get-up of idols and altars. we had the privilege of going to her house, where we all heard a message from pastor wenai on the greatness of God above all other gods, and then after prayer, our sister brought us to the idol room, where we tore down everything devoted to false gods and got rid of it all (at here behest). being a part of this was such a blessing, it is encouraging to see the Lord smack down what the enemy has worked so hard at preserving.

in other news, ministry here has been wonderful, as we adjust more to work here and what the Lord has planned for us. i have been able to visit home churches in surrounding villages, bring the message of hope to villages who haven’t got a single shred of it, and hit the streets of this town with the Truth. i have also been teaching music at the church, and there are a few non-believing soon-to-be-saints who are planning to start attending class, and so i request that you pray for them, the whole class, that they would be moved close to Christ.

and speaking of prayer requests, please continue to pray for galasin. there is so much need, so much hurt, and the prayers of the saints do not go unheard. God delights in our prayers, and we must be faithful to lift up those who have no concept of the precarious position they’re in apart from Christ.

i want you to know, i pray for  you, my friends, back home, and will continue to do so. just as i have many requests for prayer, so i want to let you know that even though oceans separate us, my love for you has never been stronger, and our relationship as brothers and sisters in Christ prompts me to tell you that if you need specific prayer, or if you want to fellowship with me via skype or some such method, please do not hesitate to get in touch. although i find myself busy here, i am not entirely unable to stay in touch.

alright, i think that sums up the events of that last month or so, i want you guys to know how much i appreciate your prayers, your support, and your keeping up on what the Lord is doing in thailand. pray for thailand, preach the Gospel, and praise the Lord always!

love in abundance,

derrick 

and it begins...

“sing unto the Lord, all the earth; shew forth from day to day His salvation. declare His glory among the heathen; His marvellous works among all nations.”
~1 Chronicles 16:23, 24

hey guys and gals and everybody,

God is doing some great things in thailand. from simple things like basic provision to relationships built to abundant opportunity to preach, there has been no shortage of uplifting evidence of a loving mighty God. we just finished the move to galasin (or kalasin as google would say) and are stoked to be here. earlier this week we were able to meet with pastor wenai and get sorted as far as work goes here in town. we will be mixing in-town outreach with discipling and evangelizing in the outlying 1,500 villages. there is such darkness here. and it’s no wonder, as this has been nothing but a haven for the devil for so so long. in this province alone there are around one million unreached people, and virtually all of these people are involved in an animistic, buddhist, demon-worshipping religion that quite frankly sets a perfect stage for the enemy and his servants to wreak havoc. you can feel the oppression here, and yet we know that Jesus overcame satan and therefore we have nothing to be afraid of. still, it’s not without its challenges. as you might imagine, there is a lot of pain and death here in galasin, really in all of thailand. there are prostitutes, orphans, sick, dying, lonely, afflicted people everywhere, unaware that Jesus exists, biding their time until the grips of hell finally pull them under. it can be overwhelming to see the devastating need out here, particularly in this the poorest part of thailand. sin is rampant. std’s, particularly AIDS, are through the roof in galasin. these people need your prayer. their lives depend on the healing that can only come through Jesus Christ by way of His saints. don’t neglect to pray for them.

some of the thousands of kids in the villages

in other news, language studies go very well, and God has given me more grace than i deserve in learning thai. it is an incredibly difficult language, but He knew this when He called me here and i am confident He will continue to give me understanding. there are around six total english speakers out here among the million, so our language is basically obsolete. if you think to, prayer about language and communication for dave and me is so appreciated. as far as the place of galasin itself, it is just gorgeous. poor, yes, but abundant in natural beauty that screams the name of its Creator. lakes and rivers and jungles and purple plants that don’t look quite real and cobras and toads and elephants and sunsets that look like nothing i’ve ever seen are all to be found out here. the cuisine is very good as well, although it might be a bit intimidating to the western palate (it has been for me, that’s for sure.) we’ve had the…pleasure…of eating crickets and grubs and silkworms and fat little larvae things and ant eggs and five-inch praying mantises and raw beef and raw squid and a host of other strange things. these things are quite the norm here in galasin. fortunately, there is far more ‘normal’ food (according to our western way of thinking) and we have been happy to partake of more simple dishes, like rice and pork and veggies. in fact, that’s about eighty percent of what we eat. but i’m rambling

dave repping well near the town center

as it turns out, i am planning on living here indefinitely, whether that means three years or twenty i do not know, but i most certainly feel called to stay out here for as long as the Lord will allow. with so much need, so many lost people who might otherwise never hear the message of salvation, i have decided to stay and work as the Lord allows. i do plan on returning to the states for a few months at the end of this year in order to tie up any loose ends and to raise support, but other than that it looks like i’m in this for the long haul. and for this i rejoice. sure it will be difficult, but God is bigger than difficulty and He sustains. so i thought it important to let you all know.

certainly God is moving, and the response to the gospel is very favorable out here. one sister has led thirty-two people to genuine relationship with Christ in the last two months alone. as we work out here alongside our brothers and sisters, the plan is to disciple the young believers to go into their villages as evangelists, and to plant home churches as well. it is such a privilege to be a part of this movement, and to see first-hand the deeply effective working of the Spirit on these people. please continue praying for them.

my backyard

for now, that’s all i got. thank you all for reading, thank you for your interest in all this, thank you for your prayers, thank you for your support. i pray for you guys, that God would continually work in your lives and the sweetness of Jesus Christ and the joy of His salvation would never once be taken away from you, and that you would be encouraged and moved to reach the lost as you go about your lives. to Him who has done a perfect work in overcoming death and hell, rescuing us from our just damnation,  be all the adoration in our lives.

love you!

well hello everyone!
it's been a little while, so i thought it would be good to update you all on the situation here. God continues to be faithful (duh) as dave and i work and prepare for the move to galasin. we have been blessed with abundant opportunity to share the gospel with all kinds of people here in chiang mai, and have been mutually encouraged as we strive for a closer walk with Christ. your prayers are so coveted, so needed, and i thank you so much for continually making mention of us to God. it is a big deal, prayer causes things to happen.
just this last weekend, we were able to take a trip down to galasin to prepare things for the move down. after a twelve hour drive through winding jungle roads, we arrived safe and tired, but excited to see what lies ahead. and it looks to be quite an awesome, fruitful, difficult season we're jumping into. as far as the area goes, i fell in love with the place immediately. it is a little town, covered in lush jungle and fruit trees and rivers. a half hour drive outside of town brought us to a reservoir that is, i think, one of the most beautiful places i've ever seen. everything from the food to the weather to the topography is just great. i am very blessed to be able to not only enjoy the work God has prepared, but also to enjoy the place He has
prepared. but more importantly, the people are wonderful. we met a portion of the Body in galasin whom we will be working with and serving when once we've moved there, and they are such dear believers. ninety percent of the church in galasin are believers within one year, and have come from strictly buddhist families. keep them in your prayers as they strive to grow in the sweet knowledge of our Savior. the enemy would love to destroy what God is building there.
seeing the situation in galasin first hand was quite a thing. there are (as i may have told you before) fifteen hundred villages surrounding galasin, composed of around one million people, all unreached with the gospel. the isan province (of which galasin is a part) is considered to be zero percent christian. there are only a few hundred believers out of the million, and that is just overwhelming. continually pray for a radical movement of Christ in this area. pray that workers would be sent, and that the called would answer the call to come out here and serve. it is a dire situation, there's really no other way to put it. we found out that there is absolutely no youth/high school/college outreach whatsoever in galasin, but there are thousands and thousands of students. with that, the resident pastor wenai has made it available for dave and i to focus on this specific kind of outreach. we are very excited, albeit nervous, to be able to reach these kids with something greater than anything else they could ever know. beyond that, we have made ourselves available to serve as the Lord leads and puts different needs heavy on our hearts, as well as the heart of pastor wenai. for example, i learned that the church in galasin has virtually no music education, but musical worship is very important to the thai people. as a result, the church needs a teacher to help them learn keyboard, bass, guitar, and music theory in general. so as part of the mission work in thailand, i will be teaching and raising up worship pastors within the church, which, i hope, will then be passed on to others and others until the surrounding villages begin to see a trickle of resident believers leading their home groups in praise. hallelujah! dave, as many of you know, is a phenomenal skateboarder (though he'd tell you he's just ok), and he and i will hopefully be able to start a skate ministry near where we'll be living. (i am not good at skateboarding at all, but i have one, and will most likely be instructor dave's example of what not to do.) anyways, as we are so stoked to be able to work so much with youth, so we are excited to be able to disciple/be discipled by the body in galasin, and to help with church-planting throughout isan. besides youth outreach, church-planting is our main focus.
all in all, things are progressing both splendidly and rapidly, though the time here has been difficult already. please pray for both dave and i as we battle oppression in a hundred little forms. though God is very much at work and present, we remember that this battle is not against flesh and blood but principalities and powers, and friends, there is a raging battle out here. discouragement, loneliness, even doubt have all been hurled at us already--and we are just getting started out in galasin. but we know that God is faithful, and He has already shown Himself to be so in a dozen different ways, and so we pray to stand firm, in the full armor, knowing that we have absolutely nothing to be afraid of because we are the children of God. so we say,
'onward!' and pray for grace to serve humbly, faithfully, selflessly. thank you all for praying.
as far as provision goes, God has been so faithful to meet needs and open doors, from housing to transportation to visa issues. i am still seeking financial support and trusting God to put this on whose heart it must be, and i do thank you for considering sponsoring this work. there is so much need out here, so many lost people, and so few laborers, and any support you can send this way is an overwhelming blessing. to give you some stats, there are approximately 200,000 Christians in all of thailand, and there are 67,000,000 people here. 200,000/67,000,000. this means there are at least 66,800,000 lost people just in thailand, and roughly one million of these live in the galasin area, where dave and i will be living long-term.
so that is about the sum of the update for now. if i had more time right now i could ramble, but i hope this suffices for the moment. thank you all, i love you all, and i do praise the Lord for the strength you have been and are to me. i am blessed to be able to be on the frontline with an army of brothers and sisters back home interceding for this mission. God bless and keep you.
in Christ alone,
derrick

 

how then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard?

~romans 10:14



a loving hello to you all,

reporting in with another update on thai missions. God’s mightily at work, i know and do believe that He has something in store for these hopeless people. all around us there is darkness like i have never seen. a reaching, yearning, helpless, hopeless spirit rests on the populace. a religion based on works and earning personal merit, on luck and superstition, has pierced its festering poisonous roots deep into the hearts of the people. i have seen idol worship just like it’s described in the old testament. idols everywhere, people bowing to graven deities, sacrifices to fake gods, massive golden ornate elaborate temples dedicated to lifeless powerless entities—this is the face of thailand.

and after seeing this, my heart and soul have been crying out in intercessory prayer for these people, knowing that Christ died for them but they don’t know it. ‘God, God, please for the glory of Your name, for the furtherance of Your kingdom, for the sake of these people, invade this place with Your perfect most Holy Spirit, open the eyes of their hearts to see what they cannot now see, infect and enrapture them with Your measureless perfect love. no one comes to You Father but through the precious, so so precious magnificent blood of Your Son.’ this has been my prayer, and i pray you pray it too, there is such deep need here.

with this in mind, i am rejoicing in the most recent update: dave and i have been updated on what things will be looking like for ministry in galasin (kalasin). isan province, wherein lies galasin, is a relatively small province. you can drive all the way across it in two hours. there are a couple towns of 30,000 people or less, but the main population resides in surrounding villages. just around one million people live in this province. 900,000 of them are in the villages, and are virtually and literally unreached with the gospel of Christ. we will be working with a local thai pastor living in the city. our focus will be discipleship and church-planting in the surrounding areas. we are immeasurably excited to be able to fill a void there as the Lord has opened doors. in galasin there are thousands of high-school age kids, and dave and i will have the unique opportunity of building relationship with them and sharing Christ. pray for soft hearts and open ears.

other than that, things are progressing well here in chiang mai. language studies, (by the grace of God i fully believe), are going much better than i thought they might. thank you for your prayers. we have had the opportunity to witness to kids, prostitutes, and everyday people, and we pray for more and more of this. please be praying for a group of four boys and a girl we have been spending time with, that they would hear the gospel and believe. we have been so stoked to be able to play basketball, soccer, ride bikes, goof off and just get to know these kids, and i do believe God has something planned for them. prayer is immeasurably important.

thank you all for your prayers and support, Lord knows thailand needs it. i truly am blessed to have brothers and sisters in Christ who are by my side, praying for me and the people here and sponsoring me and thinking of me and encouraging me. it doesn't go unnoticed. so much love to you all,

in Christ.

little update

hello brothers and sisters,

derrick here with a little update. i made it! after a couple days of intense travel and virtually no sleep, my plane landed safely in chiang mai. made a new friend on the flight to korea, a dear believer, and was able to reason with an elderly lady about the difference between a life of works and a life with Christ. her name’s joy, she is seeking something, praying for her. all in all by the grace of God things went very smoothly, except when i realized halfway through my first flight that i had somehow managed to get a knife past security. (they found out when i transferred in san francisco, and they weren’t too happy…pretty sure they thought i was a terrorist.) rabbit trails.

the last few days have been intensely interesting and rather overwhelming. i came excited and ready to share Christ with the unreached masses, and i still am, but things got very real for me as soon as i stepped off the plane. to walk the crazy streets, through markets and neighborhoods and such, is far more emotional than i was ready for. to see throngs of people, all under the grips of darkness, has caused my heart to break into slivers.  to see elaborate buddhist temples on virtually every corner, and to see every home equipped with tiny yard temples for the harboring of spirits and the offering of sacrifices is just crazy. painfully crazy. i was blessed to be able to spend the day today with a group of neglected and abused children, and if ever there was a sight that could break me down, this was it. i love these children, and have come to realize i love the thai populace. pray for them continually. they are lost and in line for their just punishment as mandated by the adamic nature, and Christ is the only hope they will ever have. please continue to pray that deep relationship with Christ would become common here. all this to say, it is achingly overwhelming to see first-hand the devastation of godlessness.

as far as the game plan goes, things are becoming quite clear and i am so stoked for the doors God has opened. for the next two months, dave and i will be studying thai in depth (tutors and such) and working with local outreach ministries. the family connection foundation, our ‘home base’ here in chiang mai, has a network of ministries in northern thailand that they support, and we are blessed to be able to participate as the Lord leads. after we have completed training (language and cultural studies, as well as thai-specific outreach), dave and i will be heading down to galasin. this town is virtually unreached with the gospel. there is about one believer for every 2,400 people. we will be helping with church-planting in the surrounding villages and preaching Christ with anyone who would hear. we rejoice for this opportunity, please pray that God will have His full will accomplished in the time we’re given here.

 dave has been an awesome support in helping me learn the language and understand people better. it is such a great blessing to have a brother here who not only provides accountability and fellowship, but who can help translate and communicate and introduce me to ice cream/wonderbead sandwiches and ride around on a motorcycle on the craziest streets i’ve ever seen and tell people that Jesus loves them. while we are in chiang mai, we also have a brother named tom whom we are fellowshipping and breaking bread with and this has also been a blessing. pray for continued deep fellowship and strengthening for the purpose of making His name more famous.

all this to say, pray for thailand. rejoice with us as we rejoice in Him and in His salvation, and celebrate with us as the darkness cowers at His blinding light. i love you all.

soon departing

my dear dear every friend,
soon i will be departing for thailand...in three days to be specific. i cannot tell you how blessed and excited i am to be able to go forth and share the name of Christ with the soon-to-be-saints of northern thailand. i have full confidence in the providence of God, and know that He will have His will accomplished in this as He leads dave and i in living out galatians 2:20. with this in mind, i speak for both of us in asking you all for your continued prayers, that we would be empty and used of the Lord, and that people would be saved discipled and freed. we seek intercessory prayer in a continued labor of love for the people of thailand. please please please keep them in mind in your daily lives, remember them in prayer, do not stop making mention of them to God as you go about life. prayer does indeed cause things to happen that wouldn't necessarily happen apart from prayer, and i cannot encourage you enough to be always mindful of this as the Lord moves. thank you all for being part of this.
in Him
derrick

answering a call

hello dear everybody, 

derrick reporting in. soon, very soon i will be heading off to thailand to meet my friend dave voetberg for a year of Christ-centered mission work. to be precise, i leave the states on february the 29th (leap year!). i am so blessed, excited, and privileged to be able to bring the sweet name of Christ and the message of His salvation to a people who have scarcely heard  the name of Jesus, let alone experienced His perfect love. to be able to help answer Jesus' call to 'make disciples of all nations' is such a wondrous, albeit weighty, honor. this trip will be, in every sense of the word, mission work. we will spend the first couple months in chiang mai (northern thailand), thereafter moving down to kalisan province for the rest of the year. this part of thailand is very poor (one of the poorest districts in thailand), and there is a huge need there--as there is everywhere--for the love of Jesus and the hope of salvation to be shared. as we will be on mission, working whilst abroad is not an option. in addition, as dave and i feel called to bring Jesus to the people of north thailand, we will be on the streets, in homes, in schools day in and day out spreading the hope of the Gospel. as thailand is a very dark place, we go onto the battle field in fervent prayer, knowing that the enemy of our God is at work and does not want them hearing of our Hope. already the enemy has been trying to discourage, tempt, and thwart me as i answer this call. the next year will not be an easy one, but God has promised His children rest and strength as they wait on Him. all this to say, as we won't be able to make any money while we are over there, we are both working very diligently to collect enough to get by for the year. on this end, i have been working whenever possible, selling possessions i do not need (pretty much everything), and of course asking for support. please understand that i do not take this lightly, and i have scaled down to the bare necessities for everyday living. i have been seeking the Lord on provision, and i know He has called me to be completely diligent and financially responsible to make sure every dollar is used for the purpose of making His name famous. i ask you, if it is on your heart or anywhere near, please consider donating to this mission. please understand, we are not going to thailand for a mission/vacation. we are not going to have a good time and share Jesus and goof off. we are ONLY going to share Jesus. that's all. this is by no means a fun getaway, it is a challenging, Christ-centered, intense labor of love for the people of thailand. derrick vachon, dave voetberg, we do not exist. this is for His glory, for His purposes, and not for our own. therefore we have resolved and are fully prepared to get by on the bare, basic necessities--food and raiment, as the Word says. we know He will carry us, He will sustain, and He will provide, and it is with this in mind that i have asked you, if you are feeling called to support this effort, please answer that call.

with much love, in Him, for His glory,

derrick