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Welcome to wdbydana.com the website of Dana and Cindy
Bratton, missionaries to Thailand with YWAM Thailand.
We moved to Thailand in August 2006 to volunteer at
the Step Ahead MED center in Khao Lak, where we taught English and shared the
Gospel, as well as helped people to recover from the Tsunami. We currently
live in Thachatchai on the island of Phuket. Where Dana pastors
Calvary Chapel at the
Bridge, an international Phuket Church, and Cindy teaches English.
Previously we spent 6 months studying Thai in Bangkok. We are long term
missionaries to Thailand. Dana is a licensed and ordained Southern Baptist
minister who worked for 16 years as a hospital chaplain. Cindy was a
school teacher. She taught home school for our three children,
kindergarten, and middle school science. They also were missionaries with Child
Evangelism Fellowship for eleven years. Dana enjoys helping
Christian ministries with
web design too. Did you know? There are 1.3 billion Moslems in the 10-40 window. There are
400 million Buddhists. There are 800 million atheists adopting Western
consumerism. Who will go tell them about Jesus? How about you?
Isaiah 6:8 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and
who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8 (NASB)
Currency data courtesy
coinmill.com
Time now in Thailand
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I was reflecting on 25 years of ministry. I surrendered
to the gospel ministry in 1983, the same year our youngest son was born. I
led a home Bible study, taught Sunday school, drove the church van and started a
children's church, and began studying for a bachelors degree in religion in
those early years at the First Baptist Church of Woodcrest.. Then the Lord
led to full time ministry in 1989 when I became the director of
Child Evangelism Fellowship of
Greater Riverside and subsequently became a
hospital chaplain.
I pioneered the Caleb Community, the
senior adult ministry at
Magnolia Avenue Baptist.
The Lord led us to be a part of several churches - Gavilan Hills Community
Church, a church plant, children's ministry at
Harvest Christian Fellowship,
children's ministry at Faith Bible Church, Sunnymead Baptist Temple where I was
ordained, and Magnolia Avenue Baptist. The Lord led me to pursue a
seminary degree at Golden Gate and TESOL studies at BIOLA. Then in Khao
Lak Thailand we affiliated with Calvary Chapel Ban Nam Khem, then in Bangkok
with Calvary Baptist where we taught the new believers and English learners
class, and now pastoring
Calvary Chapel at the Bridge. The Lord has blessed during these 25
years, I have a wonderful wife, three great children, two daughter in laws, one
son in law, and two grandsons. I have done ministry in
Mexico, Nairobi Kenya,
Campos Brazil,
New York, and
New Orleans. I went on
study trip with Talbot to Greece and Rome.
We had intense study and application in a
YWAM Crossroads Discipleship Training School in Perth Australia. This
is the abundant life. A YWAM motto sums it up, Cindy and I do what we do
"to know God and to make Him known". My heart is for
evangelism.
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Thachatchai is a small village on the north
end of Phuket island that was hard hit by the tsunami. About two and a
half years ago, Calvary Chapel Ban Khem started a church plant there. There are
many new homes built by Habitat and the Mercy Ships. The mission church
has a core of about 20 people. Mercy Ships raised funding to build a large
community center that set vacant for a year. It is a huge two level building
with two auditoriums, class rooms. We have a church service on Sunday and Bible study on Wednesday,
plus Kids Club on Saturday. Very few people in our village speak any English at all.
Cindy teaches English for adults on Thursday evening and Sunday afternoon at our
home, and children at the Thachatchai School. The community is very
poor many are fishermen, they harvest jelly fish, shrimp, and squid and dry the
squid on a large wire screens on the street. Some people work at the Marriot
Resort which is just a few miles from us, some work in downtown Phuket about an
hour away or in other neighboring villages. Also there is a very large police
station and border patrol in our village, and one public school. There are a few
small shops in our village and some people have motorcycle carts selling food,
ice cream, soda, or snacks. There are about 20 churches in province/island of
Phuket with a population of 500,000. The statistics overall in Thailand are
the country in 95% Buddhist, 4% Moslem and less than 1% Christian, however in
the South the percentage of Moslems is much higher, at 35%. Thai Buddhism is mixed with
animism, there is a great fear of spirits here. Many homes and businesses have
spirit houses where they place food and drink for the spirits to try to appease
them. There is a pretty good networking between the churches in Phuket
especially for major events such as Christmas and Easter.
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But there is no large Christian outreach in the South. I am not sure why but is
seems that the South has been neglected largely by mission agencies. I think it
is because up until the tsunami this region was very resistant to the Gospel.
Many of the churches in Phuket and the neighboring province of Phang Nga did not
exist prior to the tsunami. Thai Buddhists are very happy and peaceful,
outwardly open to the Gospel but inwardly most want to remain Buddhists, it is
such a major part of their culture and history. In February of 2008 we moved to Phuket after
studying Thai for six months in Bangkok. I am now the pastor of Calvary
Chapel at the Bridge. Sunday morning I preach in English and a translator,
translates it into Thai, we are studying through the book of Romans.
Monday is our day off, Cindy and I go
into Phuket Town about an hour drive and go shopping, eat some American food
like Sizzler, and maybe see a movie. Tuesday is my study day. I study and
pray and prepare detailed notes of the Bible study and sermon, plus Power
Point presentations for Sunday. The detailed notes really help my translator
to be prepared. I write out all the scripture text in both Thai and English,
using copy and paste from a computer Bible software program. Cindy also makes
Power Point presentations of our worship music in Thai and English. Most
mornings I pick up trash in the street and cut down weeds to help our
neighborhood look better. .
Prayer concerns:
Pray for open homes to host Bible studies outside of our village. Pray
that more people in our community will respond to the Gospel. Pray for our
radio program on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings. Pray for our Thai language study. Pray for our financial
support. both for our church and personally. We need
the Lord's wisdom in leading and overseeing this ministry.
Pray that many more Thai will come to know the Savior. |
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Missions
- What compels missionaries to leave home and family and go to the other side of
the world?
Mark 4:35 That day when
evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side."
To go takes us out of our comfort zone, to the unknown, to the risky.
There will be signs in sun and
moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the
roaring of the sea and the waves, (tsunami?) men fainting from fear and
the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world ; for the powers
of the heavens will be shaken. "Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING
IN A CLOUD with power and great glory."Luke 21:25-27 (NASB)
How do long do we have to tell
them before Christ returns?
"I have but one candle of life
to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a
land flooded with light" -- John Keith Falconer
"Lost people matter to God, and so they must matter to us." -- Keith Wright
"No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who
has not heard it once." "We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never
heard of the first." -- Oswald J. Smith
"If you and I both were dying of the same disease and I found the cure,
shouldn't I tell you? If I saw your house on fire and knew you were inside
sleeping, shouldn't I try to rescue you?" -- Dana Bratton
"The gospel is only good news
if it gets there in time" -- Carl F. H. Henry
"As long as there are millions destitute of the Word of God and knowledge of
Jesus Christ, it will be impossible for me to devote time and energy to those
who have both." -- J. L. Ewen
"The command has been to 'go,' but we have stayed -- in body, gifts, prayer and
influence. He has asked us to be witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth
... but 99% of Christians have kept puttering around in the homeland." -- Robert
Savage, Latin American Mission
"People who do not know the
Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that
they too are expending their lives ... and when the bubble has burst, they will
have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted." --
Nate Saint, missionary martyr "
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For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
เพราะว่าพระเจ้าทรงรักโลกจนได้ทรงประทาน พระบุตรองค์เดียวของพระอง ค์ที่บังเกิดมา เพืทุกคนที่เชื่อในพระบุตรนั้นจะไม่พินาศ แต่มีชีวิตนิรันดร์
What man is he that desires
life, and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil,
and your lips from speaking lies. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and
pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open
unto their cry. Psalms 34:12-15
มนุษย์คนใดผู้ปรารถนาชีวิตและรักวันคืนทั้งหลาย เพื่อเขาจะได้เห็นของดี จงระวังลิ้นของเจ้าจากความชั่ว และอย่าให้ริมฝีปากพูดเป็นอุบายล่อลวง จงหนีความชั่วและกระทำความดี แสวงหาความสงบสุขและดำเนินตามนั้น พระเนตรของพระเยโฮวาห์เห็นคนชอบธรรม และพระกรรณของพระองค์สดับคำอ้อนวอนของเขา
That if you shall confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has
raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes
unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Romans 10:9-10
คือว่าถ้าท่านจะรับด้วยปากของท่านว่า พระเยซูทรงเป็นองค์พระผู้เป็นเจ้า และจะเชื่อในจิตใจของท่านว่าพระเจ้าได ้ทรงชุบพระองค์ให้เป็นขึ้นมาจากความตาย ท่านจะรอด
ด้วยว่าความเชื่อด้วยใจก็นำไปสู่ความชอบธรรม และการยอมรับด้วยปากก็นำไปสู่ความรอด
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  Christmas Sheet Music for piano, guitar, vocal, choral, ensembles, instrumental and more at Sheet Music Plus. now!
 Our son Nathan bought our
business, he is now maker of visualized songs for children's ministry and Barney
Kinard at
www.kidhelper.com
distributes our flannel backgrounds now.
Offering Folkmanis Puppets, Christian songs for children,
games and books. He sells wholesale and retail. Use the
songs, and
puppets for children's church, AWANA, Child Evangelism Fellowship, Sunday
School and other ministries for children. See
brattonspecialties.com
His visualized songs are in kit form. Familiar songs and familiar
tunes attractively visualized to enhance your teaching and honor our Lord.
Christian songs for children.
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The World's largest selection - Shop now! |
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Hotels in Thailand: Bangkok from £10 per person/night
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