Who’s Speaking at FaithCamp?
They made it!
Our FaithCamp Speakers have finally arrived in America! This means FaithCamp is just around the corner (and there's still time to register)!
This year, we have speakers coming from India, Indonesia, and Thailand. We're excited for them to share with you their testimonies of God's faithfulness as they have dedicated their lives to serving those who do not know Jesus.
Keep reading to learn a little more about the speakers and some of what God has been doing in their ministries recently (you may hear more about some of these at FaithCamp).
Jonathan and Hannah Hill
Jonathan and Hannah share a desire to live a surrendered life in the mission field. For the last few years, Jonathan and Hannah have lived in Thailand and have traveled to various countries to shoot videos for JFA Now programs as well as other videos that go online.
A year ago, Jonathan and Hannah moved to Nakhon Sawan, a city in Thailand with no Adventists and very few Christians. Since then, God has been challenging them to get outside their comfort zone to reach out to people whose hearts He is trying to reach. They have had opportunities to make friends through exercise and to pass out literature. Their dream is to create a Gospel tract written for Buddhists that they can hand out to the entire city.
Gayle Haberkam
Gayle has been in the mountain jungles of Thailand for around 10 years now. As a registered nurse, she operates a small clinic in a remote village where she has the opportunity to daily tell people about Jesus whom they otherwise would never know.
Gayle shared with us: "The many dangers of my life in the jungles of Thailand with the snakes, wild elephants, and disastrous roads, pale into insignificance compared with some of the people around me who worship the devil and who are controlled by demonic spirits. Numerous times I have been called to subdue crazed men loaded with alcohol, mad horse medicine, guns and knives, yelling death threats. Without the marvelous power of God to squelch the enemy, I would not be here to glorify God with you today."
Ramon and Shandy Tengkano
Ramon & Shandy attended a FaithCamp in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2011. When they heard the stories of faith they gave up their profitable business and began serving the Lord by faith. They have been running a Satellite TV channel that covers all 17,000 islands of Indonesia! They have also been working on starting a center of influence, and this past year, God blessed them with an airplane to serve people in harder-to-reach areas.
The Tengkanos shared: "We have just finished our two-year contract with the satellite company, bringing us to the sixth contract we have to sign for renewal. It’s always challenging to commit to something without having committed donations upfront, but our journey of eleven years has taught us that budgeting is reserved for the works that we can do. While the rest, that only God can do, requires no budgeting. Surely budgeting is a good practice, but it often discourages our faith to move forward. So we want to thank everyone who has participated in this TV mission so far.
"For the center of influence, our place is starting to open for guests (see photo). We have different programs for different needs, and friends as well as neighbors are visiting, learning about Adventist lifestyle and health. Families come and get counseled. We have built the infrastructure, and are continuing to build ripraps and concrete boulders to hold the roads against landslides, and a quarter-mile walking track. Now we can start building the guest houses, gym, recreational area and pool."
Gem Castor
Gem hails from Iloilo, the Philippines. He is a prayer room leader for the GC Revival and Reformation committee and works as the Prayer Coordinator for ASAP Ministries.
Last year he filmed a TV series with Jesus for Asia about the Life of Christ called “Glimpses of Jesus.”
He has spent this past week leading out in prayer as part of a team at the General Conference Session in Missouri.
Mike and Marilee Kier
Mike and Marilee Kier have been church planting in Ayuthaya, Thailand, for over a decade. One of the ways that they have been reaching out to people is through total health lifestyle education. They have seen people transformed by God's amazing grace and are praying for more lives to be changed for God.
Prayer is of incredible importance in their lives, and over this past week they have had the opportunity to assist in the General Conference Session prayer room.
Kasey Norton
Kasey Norton, with her husband Robert and five of their children, moved to Thailand almost three years ago. They are building a school and children's home in a city that previously had no Adventists, no churches, no missionaries. God is moving mightily, and her honest way with words is inspiring.
Kasey shared: "With an increase of 11 children bringing us to 22, and the addition of a literature printing operation (in cooperation with the Sharon family), God is providing plenty to keep us occupied. We’re watching the Holy Spirit soften and change young hearts right in front of our eyes. We arrived as seven less than three years ago and God has multiplied while He’s also supplied for and sustained us.
"We spent the last year and a half with a church plant only being populated by our growing brood at the children’s home. It felt like we weren’t reaching the people around us and it was frustrating to our human way of thinking. But then a lady randomly reached out to Robbie and asked for Bible study. He agreed, and she was so excited. They met, and he studied with her, and she asked if she could come to church. Obviously, we’re all too happy to welcome her. But we’ve been reminded that one person isn’t more important than another, and while this feels more like the ‘success’ we were after, God sees success as anytime we do what He puts before us. He doesn’t measure in the same way we do, and that fact is humbling even as it’s encouraging."
Israel Prasad
Israel joined Jesus for Asia in 2007 and soon became the Director for JFA in India. His passion for God, his sense of duty, and his leadership have inspired hundreds of Bible workers to serve God with a true heart. He has recently started a TV ministry in Tamil Nadu that is bringing many to the foot of the cross.
Israel recently traveled around India with a JFA Team to visit Bible Workers and some of our brand new JFA Evening Schools, which were made possible through gifts from last year's FaithCamps.
Jon Wood
Jon and his wife Natalie are co-founders of Jesus for Asia, Inc., FaithCamp, and MissionTV. Jon has a passion for the "Big Picture" of missions. "How far do we still have to go before we see the fulfillment of Matthew 24:14?" is the question constantly on his mind.
After realizing the amazing blessings inherent in committing all to missions, he and Natalie are excited to see others make the commitment and a "covenant with God through sacrifice."
During the last year, Jon has traveled to Thailand where he has been able to hire and train two groups of on-fire young people to run media teams in several languages.
Sharon Williams
Sharon had a good, comfortable job at a large federal government agency when she felt the tug to make a difference for God. So she left her job and took a massive pay cut to come and work with Jesus for Asia. Her passion for the underprivileged makes her an engaging speaker with heart-throbbing stories.
Over the past year, Sharon has had the opportunity to travel to Bangladesh and India with JFA team members to scout out new projects and and see what incredible things God is doing in South Asia.