From our Partners - Hands of Hope
Hello!
We received these images and an incredible update from Josh of Hands of Hope. The images above are of Waan and some of the Hands of Hope team. They were able to provide a new guitar to replace a guitar that was being passed between four churches as what they described as a "very sad looking guitar". The guitar is used everyday for services and teaching. We were so moved by Josh's post we wanted to share it with your all. Thank you for your support, without it these type of connections wouldn't happen!
Guitars for Glory - Thailand Report
Greetings,
I wanted to start by saying thank you for your support in our mission!
The Hands of Hope Foundation just finished our first church planting
project in Pattaya, Thailand. We are partnered with two local non-
profits in Thailand, The Tamar Center and Hand to Hand Foundation.
The Tamar Center’s mission is to help men and women out of the
human trafficking industry and help equip them with an education and
skill set that allows them to make a living and sustain their families.
Hand to Hand Foundation works primarily in the slums and works to
love on the people, educate the children, provide medical care and
hygiene, and point them to Christ. These two organizations have seen
tremendous success in their missions and have incredible testimonies
of lives transformed forever by the gospel.
The Hands of Hope Foundation began working with these organizations
in 2014 to help them create a more sustainable way to connect people
to Christ through prayer, outreach, evangelism, worship, and
discipleship. In early 2015, we went to Pattaya to train a core of
potential pastors and worship leaders, as well as to evaluate potential
sites of churches. June 2015 saw us taking our first full team to plant
four churches.
During our three week trip we experienced incredible miracles and
breakthroughs. The Tamar Center and Hand to Hand have been
preparing the ground for this for years. Because of their hard work and
the trust they have earned with locals, we witnessed hundreds of
salvations, people being delivered and set free through worship and
prayer, and incredible physical healing. There are now four Community
of Faith churches that are run by local pastors and worship leaders, and
managed by Hands of Hope, Hand to Hand, and Tamar Center. With
Thailand being less than 1% Christian, and most of the churches being
run by international people for international people, this is a huge
opportunity!
Two of the churches are planted in the middle of two of the worst
slums in the city. What is happening here is incredible! People are
being delivered from drug and alcohol addictions, cycles of abuse are
ending, and the communities are being transformed. The chiefs of both
slums have given their hearts to Jesus and are leading their
communities. This is incredible and completely unheard of. Weekly,
we are getting reports of new salvations in these slums. The people are
running their own churches and are taking pride and ownership in their
new faith. They love worship!
The third church is situated in the most intense party street in the city.
The fourth is in a bakery and shop run by women that the Tamar Center
has freed and provided alternate ways of life for. Both of these venues
have become a massive beacon of light and hope for bar girls and
locals. The pastors running these venues are former trafficking victims
and their testimonies have incredible power and authority in the
streets. In the middle of chaos, God is changing lives!
This is where Guitars for Glory comes in. We have four churches in
Pattaya that are all connected. Each of these churches has a worship
leader working with them. Waan is our worship pastor that oversees
all the worship leaders and teams at all four churches. He leads at the
venues, and also trains and equips the local worship leaders. He is an
incredible blessing and asset to our churches and ministry.
The guitar we brought from Guitars for Glory brought smiles, tears, and
many thanks from all the worship leaders, especially Waan. Hands of
Hope equipped all four venues with sound systems, mics, and
everything else to run their churches. They were expecting that. But,
when we told them that Guitars for Glory heard their story and wanted
to support them, they were in awe. Pi said she was so happy that
people who don’t even know her are supporting her ministry. Waan
said with tears, “I don’t even know the words in English to explain how I
feel right now”.
Currently this guitar is their pride and joy. It replaced what may have
been the saddest looking acoustic guitar of all times. I get pictures of
all the venues every week. All four churches meet on different days of
the week. They pass the guitar from venue to venue and are using it
literally every day of the week for services, outreaches, and lessons for
worship leaders. Our worship leaders are putting their new guitar to
work!
Worship is such a big deal in Thailand. Their culture loves music and it
connects with them so well. When our team was there, we led worship
in so many different venues. We were in the streets, slums, local
venues, and even led in bars. In a country where there is virtually no
Christian presence, worship was so powerful. We had people dancing
and celebrating everywhere we want and we ended up playing for
hours at every location. The local ministries told us how unusual this
was. All the people we were working with have so much pain and
sadness that it is rare to every see them smile. The fact that they were
worshipping, laughing, dancing and celebrating was incredible and it
broke down walls! Since we have been gone, we are still getting
reports of how powerful and celebratory the worship is at the churches
and outreaches. Guitars for Glory should take pride in their part in this.
From our friends in Thailand, thank you so much for supporting their
ministry and for your generosity. We are grateful for this partnership.
God Bless,
Josh Benitone
Director of Operations
Hands of Hope Foundation