Letter from Cody: Thailand – April 2015

It is always such a blessing to see the snows melt away and the buds and flowers begin to burst forth from their dormancy. Soon God’s people will experience a great revival even more miraculous than the sprouting forth of spring from the cold winds of winter. This great revival will take place; God will have a people resurrected as it were from the dead; God will have a people ready for His return. “Will we be among that people?” is the great question that comes to each of us. Ezekiel saw a representation of this—a valley of dry bones. Jerusalem was destroyed. The chosen people were captives in Babylon. The hopes and dreams of the children of Israel were at an all time low. Things did not seem like they could get any worse. With these circumstances, God gave Ezekiel a vision of a valley full of scattered, sun-bleached bones. It looked like utter confusion and hopelessness, but God had a plan. When He asked Ezekiel if these bones could live, Ezekiel mustered as much faith as he could, “O Lord God, thou knowest.” Ezekiel 37:3. With these apparently impossible circumstances, God was going to bring about the impossible. This valley of bones was going to live, but even more than that, they were to become “an exceeding great army.” Ezekiel 37:10. God was going to bring forth an invincible army from hopelessness. God was going to fulfill His promises and restore His people again for His name’s sake, and He has promised to do it again! “But not only does this simile of the dry bones apply to the world, but also to those who have been blessed with great light; for they also are like the skeletons of the valley. They have the form of men, the framework of the body; but they have not spiritual life. But the parable does not leave the dry bones merely knit together into the forms of men; for it is not enough that there is symmetry of limb and feature. The breath of life must vivify the bodies, that they may stand upright, and spring into activity. These bones represent the house of Israel, the church of God, and the hope of the church is the vivifying influence of the Holy Spirit. The Lord must breathe upon the dry bones, that they may live.” Review and Herald, January 17, 1893. We need the reviving Spirit of God today! May the life-giving springtime of revival break forth in our midst as spring is breaking forth across our land!

Revival is not just needed here at home, but it is needed around the world. One family that has been laboring to win souls to Jesus and bring about revival is the Rawlings family. For several years they have been ministering in various ways in the country of Thailand, and currently they are especially working for the Karen people along the Myanmar-Thailand border. For a couple years, they have been helping with the Karen Bible School to train missionary workers to go back and minister in their villages and to their people. Last year as part of the training program, they were sent out to the villages on Friday morning and could not return until after the Sabbath. This meant that if they were going to have a place to sleep and food to eat, they needed to make friends with people in the village, which then would open doors for them to share with people. While they study the Bible, that is not all that they study. Saw Mynso reported, “Because we studied at the Karen Bible School with pastor Phamor, we now know that medical missionary work is the way to open people’s hearts. We help anyone who is sick in the villages and teach them how to be healthy. Now the villages welcome us to come and teach them about health as well as about the Bible.” This year the Rawlings family, along with Pastor Phamor of Education Opportunity Foundation, are planning to expand the work even more with a more permanent training center and a longer program. They plan to continue using the right arm of the gospel to open doors and hearts in these needy, forgotten villages. They are projecting a need of $120 per month to sponsor one student. They know that as they train these native workers they will be able to go directly back to their people, and the Lord will use them mightily to spread the gospel among this needy people group. Would you like to help them bring revival to Thailand and the Karen people? Please mark your donation “Thailand.”

Yours in praying for revival,

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