Missions Internship

Dear family and friends,

Here is our first big update since getting married last year in August. We apologize that it’s been a while since we have updated you. We’ve been waiting to come out with a big mass email like this only at the right time. We think it’s time now to share some exciting news with you! No, it’s not a babyJ. We’re heading back to Nepal!!!

Many of you already know that we went to Nepal in 2007 on a short-term missions trip with
our church from Korea. Prior to this trip, we didn’t really know much about each other. But after the trip, we started dating and were married less than a year later, a wonderful story of God’s goodness and master plan! Even before anything had sparked between us, we had both individually fallen in love with the rawness of Nepal, and had told God that we’d come back to live if he made it clear to us that he wanted us there. Then it sparked between us, and turned into a fire and we got married, with Nepal still deeply marked in our hearts. But with marriage and life happening, we thought, oh why not a few years later, money saved, self-supported, and more ready. Then we’ll go, everyone else seemed to think that was the wisest thing to do. But God seemed to have a different plan. As always, He wanted us to exercise faith. The decision to go to Nepal came sooner than we thought. The Spirit nudged and was simply asking us to trust and go. So here we are now. You can read more about this process from John’s perspective on our blog http://sojothomps.blogspot.com/2009/04/future-is-now.html

Since going to Nepal 2 years ago, we have not stopped thinking about and praying for its people, specifically the ethnic Tibetan refugee groups residing in Nepal. There are so many needs. Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world and one of the darkest. Hinduism and Buddhism consume over 95% of its population. We desire to serve the needs of the people of Nepal, however God leads.

For the next 4 months we will be going through a Missions Internship through an NGO focusing mainly on bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to the unreached parts of the Himalaya.

SEPTEMBER: We will be residing in Korea at the Chun-parents’ home (who are in Charlotte, NC right now on furlough). We will be going through an intensive, in-depth period of study, using the Missions Perspectives course with the leaders of the NGO. This course is filled with insightful and reliable material on mission work from all over the world, but we will be focusing mainly on the application of this material in the Himalaya. We are excited to be learning about sharing Christ’s love and truth in ways that can be received by the ethnic Tibetan people groups. We also look forward to picking the brain of our pastor who has served as a missionary in the Himalaya for many years.

OCTOBER: We will be arriving in Nepal to assist at an orphanage home in Kathmandu. The children at this home have all come from remote and unreached areas of the Himalayas of Nepal, rescued from trafficking, abuse, disease, poverty, hunger, even death. They have come to the home and become followers of Jesus Christ. Many of them are teenagers now and are leading groups back to the very villages where they came from, preaching and teaching God’s Word boldly and powerfully in the Spirit. They are remarkable children with some of the most moving testimonies you’ll ever hear of God’s rescuing mercy.

We will also assist a short-term missions team from Alabama and our church in Korea who will meet us at the children's home and go into very remote areas of the Himalaya. One team will hand out much needed medical supplies, most notably de-worming medicine. Another team will go on a story telling trek from village to village. Nepali people, especially from areas void of all media love stories! A whole village will gladly come to hear Bible stories. Another team will stay at the home and have VBS (Vacation Bible School) with the children.

NOVEMBER: We will head down to Northern India to see a Bible School for indigenous pastors. Believers from India, Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet, Myanmar, and other countries of the Himalaya come to this school to learn more from God’s Word, to know God more, and then go back to their home countries to make Him known. We are excited to meet and learn from these people.

We will then go back to Nepal for a week before coming back to Korea in December.

DECEMBER: We will have 3 more weeks of study again in Korea, this time with a more narrow focus on the Himalaya and its unreached people groups.

We finish the internship on December 18, in time to rest and celebrate Christmas. It is our hope and prayer that at this time we will be making preparations and raising support for going back to Nepal sometime in 2010 as full-time career missionaries, God willing.

So our purpose for participating in this internship is to discover if this is the path God has for us. We are praying for Godly wisdom, for clarity and vision while we are there, and for God to show us if He is opening or closing the door for us in Nepal. We feel it is an excellent ‘trial’ period for God to test us and stretch our faith. We are praying for boldness and a faith to simply step out and obey His call. We have a heart and true passion for Nepal, and we want to show compassion to its suffering people. We desire to be a light that shines for Christ in the darkness and to serve there with all of our spirit, soul, and body. God grant us favor and grace.

Another reason for going is to see the work firsthand in the Himalaya, to come back in December and to inform you about the needs and the work there. We desire for our friends and family to get involved in the work; most importantly by giving your time in prayer, or giving finances to the work there, or even coming to visit and see the work for yourself.

We can do nothing without the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through us and we recognize how important it is for us to dedicate ourselves to fervent prayer, and to be lifted up by the saints in prayer. Please pray that God would be glorified.

Thank you to all of you who took time to read this and pray for us. We are so thankful for each and every one of you for being a huge and significant part of our journey. We are so excited to see God’s light and life spread through Nepal. We love you all.

Peace and love,

John and Soyon Thompson

P.S. We are working on a website so we can keep you updated on all that is happening with us on a more consistent basis. Please be patient as it’s our first crack at a website. Until then, check out our blog. sojothomps.blogspot.com

Some Prayer Points:
God’s work in the Himalaya
The Nepali people
God’s workers
more laborers to go to the children
the Bible School in India
the USA team and our church team
the Internship
protection and safety in traveling
physical health
financial provision
our equipment to hold up
open doors and open hearts
connections with people
the Holy Spirit’s guidance
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done