A BLESSED CHRISTMAS TO YOU – 2005

Rev. Kou Seying Thao

By God’s grace, we have survived our first year of ministry in California. As we ponder upon what

God had done in this first year, there were many challenges and blessings. For every challenge, we see it as an opportunity to share the good news of Jesus Christ. God calls us to a very challenging

ministry, but He also provides the wisdom and resources to carry out the ministry. It is a joy for us to see the spiritual growth of our brothers and sisters in Christ in our Merced ministry after many years of struggles.

We began our Sacramento ministry in July and God continues to bless that ministry as well. The children have a tremendous impact upon that ministry. After a month of Bible studies and worship, we implemented Sunday school for the children. By adding the children ministry, the attendance on the weekly basis grew from 30’s to nearly 50 on average. We thank God for using the children mightily in bringing moms and dads to church faithfully.

Our Light of Life radio broadcast has expanded as well. We continue to broadcast in Minnesota on two different stations. Recently, we have signed with HMong-American Broadcasting Corporation airing several times throughout the week out of Fresno, California. This is a significant contract because we are not only reaching the Central Valley of California but overseas as well. Our broadcast can be heard over the internet as well.

We have received words from China concerning our China HMong development projects that the process of evaluation and application has been completed and the first sites for construction of our water projects have been identified and need to begin soon to take advantage of the dry season before the next monsoon season. The two areas are Malong and Xuanwei in the Yunnan Province. The total costs for these two areas estimated to be $8,900. These two major water projects will cover six villages that lie within the Malong and Xuanwei area. We continue to invite everyone to be a part of this life essential endeavor for our brothers and sisters in China.

The underlining component of our ministries is leadership training. Without equipping the leaders, our new ministries throughout the church will not be effective. We are “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up...(Ephesians 4:12)” This is our central theme, the heart of HMong Outreach Ministries. We will be launching a two-year leadership training program next month (January 2006). This is a major undertaking that will require tremendous supports from all our ministries and congregations.

It’s hard to believe, but our Grace is almost 11 year old. She has grown a great deal this past year. She is a beautiful tall girl enjoying horses very much. Grace is our tom boyish girl. The highlight of her year was the fifth grade class trip to Hume Lake Christian Camps in the mighty Sierra Redwoods. She enjoys the outdoors and animals very much.

Sarah is our 7 year old fashion girl. She loves to dress up everyday—very stylist and is blessed with the gift of words. Her favorite color is pink; her room and clothes reflect it quite nicely. This year, reading has been a big part of the school emphasis and it carries into the home. Mom and Dad appreciate that very much. Sarah enjoys reading daily. Sarah is our big 2^nd grader. Both Sarah and Grace continue their weekly piano lessons. We look forward to seeing their school Christmas program, The Next Noel. Last year’s Christmas program was standing room only.

There is never a dull moment with Seth’s energetic spirit, “terrific 2.” His favorite movie is Land Before Time. He’ll watch it over and over again if you’ll let him. He enjoys playing pretend with his big sisters. Shamu, the killer whales, is Seth’s favorite animal that he will talk about. Since our trip to Sea World at the end of the summer, everything has been Shamu for Seth.

Maykou is doing double, triple, quadruple, and more roles than she can count. She is a full time mom, hosting the Light of Life radio program, ministry assistant, youth coordinator, and being the “Mother Pastor (Nam Xwbfwb),” a very vital role in our HMong ministry context. We pray for strength and health.

Our ministries cover a vast geographical area. As you might expect, Kou is quite busy preparing leaders for ministries. We are looking for an airplane so that Kou can get around more efficiently. Several new ministry starts are planned for 2006 expanding to more areas in the west coast and overseas. We have so much to thank the Lord for the many opportunities and blessings of our ministries. We know that the Lord will provide the means for us to carry out these various ministries that God calls us to do. We especially thank God for providing a place for us to call home and also to use it as our ministry center. It is truly a blessing since spaces are very limited at St. Paul Lutheran Church.

From the Seying family, we want to wish all our friends, relatives, and ministry partners a very blessed Christmas and New Year!

Contact information

2362 Mariner Way; Merced, CA 95340. Home Office: 209-722-8725 • pastorkou@stpaulmerced.com or lubteebtxujsa@sbcglobal.net