What People Are Saying
We decided to come to Thailand because we wanted to try out missions. We had no experience before, but as Christians we both felt that we needed to step out of our comfort zone a little bit and improve our evangelisation skills. We joined Edgar and Toto for four months and got to serve the thai people in different ways. Together with Edgar, we held voluntary english classes, both to high school students and university students, we visited different tribes in the mountains and gave them food and arranged worship nights and activities for kids, and we helped a community center with english classes for kids in Chiang Mai. We also helped driving and assisting a couple of DTS-teams while they joined the ministry for a short time.
What I feel most grateful for is having met so many different people. We met buddhist monks, indigenous tribes, missionaries from all over the world and “normal” thai people. We really got to serve people and show them Gods love through our actions, which I feared was going to be too farfetched at first. Are people really going to get to know God if we don’t speak about him out loud? The answer was a chocking Yes. One day, one of the monks asked us: “Why are you so kind, coming here and teaching us english?”. A little startled, I answered that I believed in a God that loves Thailand and wanted us to go there and help people. Then he said: “You have an interesting God.” That short conversation will always be with me. And the next time we met, we talked almost for a whole hour about our God!
People really are curious of our kindness, when we go that extra mile. That is something I’ve really learned from my time with “Open arms ministry”. That is how they are working all the time, in very different ways. Eventually their kindness opens up for the conversation about Jesus, and when it comes – then the door is straight open. And the doors are so open in Lamphun! We saw it many times, when we decided to go out for prayer walks for instance. We gave away like 10 bibles on our prayer walks, because when we asked people if they wanted to learn more about our God – they said yes! Joining Edgar and Totos ministry is a great way to grow in ministering through serving people and showing Gods love through our actions, and the importance of building a relationship with people rather than presenting the gospel to them right away.
– Linna Quint
During January 2023, I along with my team of dear friends partnered with Edgar and his mission. I had never taught in schools before or learned about why Buddhism is so followed. Edgar and Toto opened up my mind and heart to the people of Thailand through the opportunity to teach English and spread joy to those in the area. I reached so many people through song, dance, and lessons within the schools and homes. I had the opportunity to work with monks and spoke with them about faith. From this experience, my faith grew along with my thankfulness for Jesus! He loves the people of Thailand so much, and he is using Edgar and many others in Thailand to bring his word and message through relationships, teachings,and truth. I am so happy that I was able to share some of that with him this last year!
Reichen Boldt
Working with Edgar and his team was such a great experience for me. I learned so much about the Thai culture and how live it and love it as well. One of my favorite memories was being able to visit the Karen tribe in the mountains for 3 days! We had been able to experience the life of the everyday villagers and minister to them. We were able to play and love on the children of Thailand so closely because of the experience this team had shared with me and my friends. This team of God lead people have shown me how to approach missions with love and compassion. They opened their home to us, broke bread with us, and discipled us on how to love and share the Gospel with the people of Thailand. I will forever cherish my memories with this team I consider friends!
Charity Mcintosh
I was amazed by the hospitality that Edgar and his team/family showed and offered us. It seemed like they would do anything to make us feel welcomed into their hous, family and culture. We could feel their heart and love for us from the very beginning of our outreach in thailand, even though they did not know us well. And this heart for people we could also see and experience in other ways when we would go out on the streets to share with people about Jesus. They carry the love of the father within them and they want to bring this love to as many people as possible. That was a very great inspiration for me and motivated myself again, to have this in my mind; that also i carry the love of the father in me and wherever i go, whoever i meet, I can pass on this love to them.
– Toni Fuellenman
I was born in Thailand, and lived there until I was 8, and I have visited Thailand multiple times. But this time my visit to Thailand was very special. There were many incredible opportunities to share the gospel. We could connect and serve a very special group of people. (monks… not sure if you want me to use this direct word, depending on where you are posting, this may not be secure to use, I leave it up to you to decide) It was amazing to hear how God opened the door to this group of people to Edgar. We also got to serve a group of refugees from Burma, the long neck people. The open invitation to teach many youth in Toto’s college was a great opportunity to share with these precious young people about their creator. Teaching English can create many meaningful connections to the Thai people and the refugees in Thailand. The relationship from here gives the opportunity to share the good news with them. We had the opportunities to do many more things. I really enjoyed the opportunities to work with Edgar and Toto. They are a great team together.
Anchalee Basanola