News News

April 5th, 2012

Hi everybody,
First I just want to thank all of you for your prayers and support while I was on outreach and throughout the Discipleship Training School! It means so much to me that you are behind me in so many ways. I could not do what I feel called to do without all of you building me up in prayer, in faith and supporting me. Thank you.
I hope that you all received the updates from Thailand this year! If you did not I do apologize. I discovered my email wasn't working properly part of the time I was there. You can find the whole story from my perspective here, or from Cheyenne at lov

eleemc.blogspot.com. The picture above is Urt and i am teaching him guitar in our house in Nahong.

So now that DTS '11-'12 is over and my staff contract is up in August, what is next for me?
After a lot of prayer and thought, I have decided to stay on at ywam Northwoods for another year and another DTS. I will be helping with summer programs and working on our website as well. I also have been blessed with a worship leader po

sition at a church in Rice Lake Wisconsin. My vision is to see hearts in this area become vibrant? For love and compassion reach out from our efforts here. To know God and make him known to the lonely to the searching! God has given me the heart for true worship and discipleship.
I am very excited about all the opportunities that I have here in the community. I intend to return to Thailand this winte

r as well. Cheyenne and I believe we will do a longer trip to Thailand and the village of Nahong in the future. We are excited about our future following God's call on our lives. Please call, email or Facebo

ok me. I want to hear from you! Thank you for your continued prayers!
Psalms 103 Our God is great!

Lucas Neraasen

Closing ministry notes.

Hello all of you!

We arrived safely in Chiang Mai, Thailand! We got in at about 2pm Thursday afternoon (1am Thursday morning where most of you are) to start our debrief week before heading home.

I want to recap the conclusion of our ministry in Nahong 2012.

So much happened in the last week that it is hard to straighten out in my head. It was loaded with amazing ministry opportunities which equated to very little sleep. When we entered the last week in Nahong we said "if your not emotionally and physically exhausted by the end of this week, you didn't do it right". And that statement proved very true.

First of all, we had 5 parties in the last 3 days in Nahong. First we had a BBQ party at Cru Euw's house (Cru means teacher. She is also the woman who provides meals) that was followed by a bon fire party at our house.
The next night we had a going away party for two teachers who are leaving Nahong school (Cru Dang and Noi the maintenance guy) and for our team.
The next day we went to the school that Noi is going to, for the welcome ceremony and party. Then back to our house to pack before the dinner party at Noi's house.

Although it was busy we had so many opportunities at the parties. We were able to give blessings in Jesus Name to Cru Dang, Noi, and many of the other teachers. We built relationship and met a lot of new people.

Now for big BIG news! There is a woman in Nahong and her name is Pi Peem. Our team has known her over the last six years. There was a time that she left Nahong, but she came back last year.
She speaks very good English and some of our team members started to spend time with her. She offered to cook us spaghetti and she brought it to our house.
While she was at our house she started asking questions about what we believe. If we are just like the Christians she hears about or not. In Thailand Christian is not a great term because of how that label has been lived out. We told her that we call ourselves "followers of Jesus" and we able to share with her about that. She was touched by the Holy Spirit and saw the truth in the message. She got a hunger for the word and started doing bible studies with us. She really seems to understand this revelation. She felt the power and truth of the Holy Spirit. She has been having visions of Jesus in her dreams! Praise God! She also took some of our team to pray in Jesus Name for healing of her brother in law and Pi Peem felt the Holy Spirit strongly!

So God's kingdom is coming in Nahong! Pray that it continues to come and that God would protect Pi Peem, Urt, Lamud, Pi Saap and anyone else who believes! Also pray for Cru Euw. I believe strongly that she is extremely close to knowing Jesus.

God has been powerful on this outreach. There is power in the name of Jesus to break EVERY chain!

I thank you so much for all your prayers!
God bless
Lucas N.

Last week in Nahong

Hello Everyone!

I realize that it has been some time since my last update. I apologize for that.

This is our last weekend in Nahong. We leave Thursday afternoon to spend 6 days in Chiang Mai before we fly home.
Leaving Nahong always brings a lot of different emotions with it. On one hand I am very excited to come back to the states, see family and friends and have some colder weather.
On the other hand it's hard to leave Nahong because I know there is still so much work to be done. So many people that need to see the light of Jesus Christ. So much hurt and broken homes that need healing. But it is God who brings people to Himself. It cannot be done by me or by any one of us. It needs to be God. I pray that the people of Nahong really come to know the truth about their Savior.

The last couple weeks have been up and down for me. I was feeling very heavy for a lot of the week two weeks ago. I was missing home and I don't know if I was surrendering to God as I should. I was getting caught in just the weight of the salvation of Thailand, of Nahong, and of the Buddhist. I was struggling with wondering what I was able to do in the large scheme of things. I need to trust in God and be faithful in prayer for the people here.

This last week has been very good! My dear friend and brother Pi Taa, came to be our translator. It was very good to see him. In the bible study with Urt I went through what we have learned since we started studying again and asked him some questions. By God's grace it seems as if all that he has learned is really sticking with him! He was able to tell me what we had gone through and what it meant. I was very encouraged to see that this young energetic boy remembers what he has been learning. Please continue to pray for him.
On Thursday night, Tom, Pi Taa and myself were able to go to a friend of ours house, Pi Sauk. We just talked with him and hung out for a few hours. In that time we were able to tell him the truth of Christ! We have talked with him about the story of Jesus and what we believe before. He was still very interested to hear more and after that we were able to pray for him and his family. Please pray that Pi Sauk, Cru Nit, Pooh and Ping would come to know the Lord of Mercy.

Tonight we are going to Lamud's house, to watch a movie in Northern Thai that talks about the power of Jesus the Lord of Mercy. Lamud is very excited as are we! Please pray that the movie would open up conversations and the hearts of Lamud's family. Another encouraging note is that Cheyenne got to spend more time with Lamud last week. She found out that in the last year Lamud has been studying the Psalms and she has been loving it! Praise God.

Please continue to pray for safety for our team and salvation for Nahong.

God bless, I will see you all soon
Heb 13:12-14 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

Lucas Neraasen

PRAYER!

Hey guys,

Just a real quick prayer update. We have come against some real troubling happenings at the school lately. The kids have told us that they are not allowed to hang out
with us or come to our home if they are learning about Jesus Christ. The kids have been threatened by some officials in Nahong. We don't have all the details, but please pray that the walls are broken down and that we can continue to do bold ministry!

On a positive note:
2 days ago when I was leading a bible study, all of a sudden all the kids left. The next day they wouldn't even come to the bible study. This was because of the stuff going on that I previously mentioned. So when I came home from another failed attempt at a bible study, I have to say I was very discouraged. So I just sat and read very many of the Psalms out loud and then I began to play worship music. While I was praying, reading scripture and worshiping, Urt came over to learn some guitar. So I sat down with Urt and taught him some stuff on the guitar. Later a few more boys came over so there were four boys total. After Urt finished playing guitar (while he was playing he asked if he could praise God with music) he asked us if we could study the bible. So we did a bible study in our home with four boys and at the end of the bible study three out of the four boys asked and prayed to receive the Holy Spirit!! After that I believe Urt was going to pray that his father gets healed of a hand injury.
Our God is greater, our God is stronger and our God is higher then any other!!!

Please continue to pray. :)

On Friday I will be driving Tom and Lisa Mulderink down to Chiang Mai and then Chey and I will drive back to Nahong. Please pray that everything goes safely and smoothly.

(NOTICE: Please don't post this situation on facebook. I am friends with a lot of people from Nahong so I don't want unneeded difficulty. Thanks.

Lucas Neraasen

Finally an update from Thailand!

Hello everybody!

Sorry that it has taken me so long to update you all on what has been happening here in Thailand. We have been very busy. I will start at the beginning and bring you up to speed.

First, we arrived in Chiang Mai late January 2nd. Our first two nights were spent in a hotel right in the city because the place we almost always stay was full. The hotel was extremely sketchy. It felt like the hotel you never check out of. But we got another hotel for our last two days in Chiang Mai.

We spent our time doing cultural orientation with our friend Emmi Kahatanna. During those 4 days we met a ministry team called H.U.B which stands for Harvest, Unite, Believe. They are a team that is working on new ways to share the gospel in an effective way in Thailand. As you might have heard me say before, the gospel has been preached in Thailand for over 200years and has still failed to break through. I believe that is because missionaries haven't been sharing in a way that completely resonates with the Thai people to expose Buddhism. Buddhism is one of the last religions/life styles that has yet to be greatly infiltrated with the power of the gospel, and Christ following believers. Praise God that there have been major breakthroughs in many different religions that show Christ's supremacy!
It was very cool to hear what HUB has been doing. They told us that they are looking for interns to work alongside them in frontier missions, which could potentially be an opportunity for me in the future!

We got to Nahong last week and we could not be happier with how it has been going. Our first week of teaching went INCREDIBLE by God's grace! We have been teaching very good English and our students are extremely sharp this year.
We are preparing them for a big Government test coming up in February.

Urt arrived at our house about 3 hours after we arrived, asking if we could study the bible. God is so good.
I have been leading Urt in a bible study going through Luke chapter 8-9, showing Urt the power that Jesus Christ has over nature, over spirits, over health, and over our daily needs. Teaching Urt that Jesus is the Lord of Mercy and the Lord Almighty! Please continue to pray that the truth of the gospel will take root in Urt's heart! Pray that I and the rest of our team would have wisdom in how to share the gospel daily.

Another great thing I got to witness was seeing the kids that we have been discipling, pray for another Thai person!
Lamud is doing great and has been protected and in good health ever since our team prayed over her in her home last year. Lamud and Urt still study the bible together and have and awesome brother/sister relationship. I believe they are building each other up as they continue walking with Christ.
The story: We wanted to pray over a man that severely injured his shoulder earlier in the week. Lamud and Urt wanted to come with and they ended up praying for healing in Jesus' name! We have continued to visit the man and continue praying for his health. This morning he told us that his shoulder was improving!

I wish I could post photos of what it is like here but that will have to wait until I am stateside. Our team is doing very well so far. PLease continue to pray for our English teaching, for more opportunities to share Christ, and wisdom in how to share. Pray for me as I am going through a lot of leadership training and carry a great responsibility with the team. I am also learning how to drive on the mountain roads. It has been going extremely well so far by God's grace! But pray that I am wise and learn quickly! Driving on the opposite side + mountains + shifting the stick on the left side = a great challenge. But I am learning quickly and smoothly.

I love you guys and miss you all. I hope this update was not to long. Hopefully I'll be able to update you sooner!
God bless
Lucas N.

Departure! Saturday Dec 31st 2011

Hello All,

Today our team is working on our final English teaching preparations and going through our last Thai language lesson! Tomorrow we will be finalizing our packing and last minute details and then we are OFF to Chicago to fly to Thailand on Saturday morning!!

Thank you SO much for all your prayers and support. I will update as soon as I can once we get to Thailand and continue to update you guys during the trip.
Our immediate prayer needs would be for safe travel. For myself, I have lower back problems so just pray that the 20+ hours of sitting on a plane is bearable.
Again, thank you so much for your prayers and your role in our mission to Thailand.

In Christ,
Lucas Neraasen

"Insert Title"

Hey!

Here we are in the first week of December and I don't see much snow outside. Now I know that for some of you this is a major blessing. I see you all giddy about the fact that while it is still FREEZING out, at least the landscape is dead, brown and ugly. Instead of what one might call a "wonderland". Why this is, I don't understand but I am glad you are happy. However, I am waiting and hoping for snow very soon.

The fact that there COULD be snow outside, means that the departure date for Thailand must be closer! That is correct. We will be leaving in just a few short weeks to do ministry in a remote village in Northern Thailand and I am STOKED. It will be great to be there and hopefully to be used by God to bring about His kingdom on earth!

Cheyenne and I along with another Discipleship Training School staff member spent the week in Minneapolis Minnesota. We joined our DTS class with theirs and we shared the Speaker Troy Sherman. The topic of the week was entitled "Identity and Destiny". The week went extremely well for our students who are now all back at YWAM Northwoods. Troy works with Youth With A Mission and among other things is focused on changing the world in sex trafficking and fresh clean water world wide. Troy's teaching for me personally, changed my life. God used him in my life to speak truth into my life and change my world. I was extremely blessed this week. God is good. http://www.troyandalisa.org/troyandalisa.com/INFUSION.html

We just sent in all of our Thailand Visa applications in on Wednesday! Please pray with us that everything goes smoothly with the Thai consulate.

On Saturday December 10th we will be having a Na Hong prayer summit at YWAM Northwoods. We will be praying and interceding for the village of Na Hong and the summit will end with a Thai meal. If you would like more information please facebook or email me. You can pray from where ever you are at!

God bless

Lucas N