May 2018 Update: A trip to Pakistan



Hannah and I spent a month in Pakistan.
We celebrated our first anniversary there and spent a lot of time with Hannah's family
Hannah and me with our Ammi at the Church Baptism


Hello Friends,

Adventures in Pakistan

This last month Hannah and I travelled to Pakistan to spend 4 weeks with our family there.

We spent the month with Hannah's mother and sisters, preaching in Hannah's home church, and meeting many people.

We were given a very warm welcome from Hannah's home church;  Pastor Ilyas invited us to preach every Sunday we were there.   I preached three of the services and Hannah preached one.  I also preaching on the "Day of Ascension" and at a few other events.



Warm Welcome on the 1st Sunday
They love when Hannah comes home.
First Sunday's Message:  My Sister-in-Law, Api Sarah is translating for me.
Second Sunday.  We honoured one of the Girls from
Sunday School for being the best student in her school.

Hannah Preaching on the 3rd Sunday.
She really needs to teach me Urdu.


My Wife is a Powerful Preacher.


Final Sunday, preaching on the Holy Spirit.
Hannah Translated.
The Banner in the background was from the "Day of Ascension"
The attendance on the 4th Sunday was the biggest we saw while visiting.
The church was packed.


Hannah took some time to share with the Sunday school teachers.

"No, you cannot hit the kids with a stick."





A Wedding is always fun.

The Happy Couple great guest at their reception.

We also attended a wedding while we there...I actually gave the message during the wedding.  It was interesting to see what how different cultures celebrate marriage.  The Pakistani Wedding is typically a 3-day affair.  We skipped the first day, the Mehndi or Henna, which is a big party with fancy clothes, and music and dancing, and painting Henna on women's hands (hence the name).  Traditionally there would be two separate parties; one hosted by the bride's family one evening and one hosted by the groom's family the next evening; but now it is more common for them to just have one party hosted by both families together.  The groom's outfit is provided by the bride's family, and the bride's outfit is given by the groom's family for the Mehndi.

At the Reception after the Wedding Ceremony.
Sorry, We haven't gotten any wedding photos to share.
The second day was the official ceremony, held at the church, as this was a Christian wedding, it was kind of similar to a western wedding (Traditions vary in Pakistan depending on religion, tribe, and local customs).  The groom arrived early, and the Bride came in with her bridal party when she was ready.  There was a brief message, vows were said and rings exchanged, and the marriage license signed.  One thing that was different was that just the Bride and Groom are at the front, sitting in chairs, except when they are saying their vows.  Everyone else sits in the audience, the best man and bridesmaid just come up when needed.  Afterwards, everyone goes to the marriage hall for a meal.  As in Western weddings, the guests arrive at the meal ahead of the newlyweds, and when the couple arrive, lead in with drummers and musicians, the guest will shower them with flower petals, and passing money over their heads (the grooms brothers typically do this); also, during the meal guests will come up to the couple and give them gifts of money.  Traditionally the Ceremony and meal are hosted, or paid for by the Bride's family.
Hannah and me with Api Sara, (our older sister)
3rd day of the wedding...Free food is always good

The 3rd day was another meal.  Tradition states it is supposed to be "the first meal hosted by the newlyweds," but typically it is the Groom's family that hosts or pays for the meal. Much like the meal on the wedding day, the guests arrive early and shower the couple with flowers and pass money over their heads when they arrive.  Similarly, any guests that were not at the previous events will go and sit with the couple for a picture and give them gifts.

Tahmina, Api Sara, and Rukhsana at the Wedding Reception.
Hannah and Api with their pastor, Ilyas, After the Reception.


(There are some other traditions that vary even within Pakistani culture...Hosea told me that often on the bride and groom's first night together—between the 2nd and 3rd day—the friends of the groom would gather outside the bedroom window to voice "encouragement" to the groom.)

Hannah and I just attended the 2nd and 3rd days and, as I said, I gave the message during the wedding ceremony.

A New Music Studio in Gujrat.

Some of the Musicians who performed for the Opening of the new Studio

It's always fun to hear music from other cultures.

Another event we attended was the opening of a new recording studio in Gujrat.  The men opening the studio belonged to Hannah's church organization and the event was held at Hannah's church.  It was a lot of fun as we got to listen to some traditional Pakistani music, including a very talented Sitar player.  I was also asked to share a brief message encouraging everyone on the biblical importance of music.

I was considered a guest of Honor.
This man owns another studio and is sponsoring the new studio.

Encouraging the Musicians on how music is a powerful tool for teaching.

Hannah did a wonderful job translating.


Weddings and Music Studios are not the only reasons to Celebrate:

We also were invited to a party a friend held.  He had recently built a new house, so his in-laws gave him a new car, and then they asked him to have a big party to celebrate them giving him a new car (he had already had a party to celebrate the new house...this was to thank his in-laws for the car—his brother-in-law came all the way from the UK to give him a car).  It was a lot like a wedding: the family was lead in by a drummer, the guest showered them with flower petals and money was passed over their heads.  They had several different pastors preach, and prayers and songs were sung, and a meal was shared.  It was odd but fun—I asked my friend "why the party?" and he said, "Because it's Pakistan."  Hannah said, "Because it's Punjab, Pakistan."  My understanding was that it was a bit unusual, but not all that uncommon for such events to happen.

What do you do when your brother-in-law gives you a car?
Have a party
My friend on the left, his wife in the middle, her brother on the right (in the suit)
...random dude on the far right

Any excuse to have a party is a good excuse.

The car arrives, now the party started.


Thanksgiving to God, for his provision for a new Church building

Another church we had visited last year invited us back for a special "Thanksgiving" service.  When we last saw them, the pastor was building a new house.  This time...he was still building the house, but they were able to use it...we had our service on the roof, and shared a meal in one of the sitting rooms.  They still have a lot of work todo, but it is looking great. (Sorry no pictures of this event so here are some with our family...)

We took Hannah's family and her Pastor's family out for Pizza.

Our Nephew Ethan, enjoys having us visit.

We love getting to visit him too.



Water Baptisms and Coffee.

Hannah and I with the leaders of her church.

Our last Sunday in Pakistan Hannah's church had a water baptism.  We all jumped in a big bus and drove to the river where several church members were baptized; after the baptism we all at a meal together beside the river.

Hannah and me with a family from her church.
The Husband was baptized this day.

Hannah and Me with our Brother-in-law Raza, and nephew, Ethan

Hannah and me with brother Ahmer; a leader of the church.
Meals with church family beside the River.
Hannah, Hosea, and me.  Together again.

As it was also Mother's Day we made Hannah's mom come along...the plan was to take her to the Second Cup coffee shop near the river; but it ended up being too far from the part of the river we went to, so we took her on our way to the airport the next day.

Second Cup is a Canadian company, I was surprised to see it in Pakistan, especially near Gujrat...it's such a small town.  But it was fun to take Ammi and our other friends for coffee there and to experience a little bit of Canada in Pakistan.


We want to take a moment to thank our sponsors...
No, not "Second Cup" but you our wonderful readers and supporters.
We love you.

A little taste of Canada in Pakistan.
Hopefully, the next time will be in Canada.

The Chai is a lot bigger than we make at home Ammi.

Hannah, Myself, Joshua (Pastor's son) and Ammi outside the Second Cup.

Good-bye Ammi, Until we see you again.



Back home...what's next?

So now we are back in Thailand...which will be our home for at least another year.  There are some changes for us now that we are back:

Hannah is head of the host team at the church now.
Hannah moved to a different area of ministry in the church, she is no longer working in the daycare.  She is doing more visitations as well as starting adult English classes and visiting with parents that bring their kids to the Afterschool English.  The idea is to connect with them to build relationships and invite them to come to church.  She has some other responsibilities in the church now too, but we will talk about those in our next update.

Hannah and the church visitation team visiting Mai and her husband.

One of the couples that Hannah teaches English.

I am getting ready for the next year of Bible College, contacting new and returning students to make sure we have all their paperwork in order.

Welcome to church...we love to have you with us.

We have also taken responsibility for a group of 5 teenagers/young adults.  Our ministry is still running a children's home.  There are just 5 kids left at home (of about 20), the couple that normally takes care of the kids needs to be in Canada for a short while, so we are supervising them for now.

I still drive these cuties every day.

We are also still running our Connect Group.  Pastor Sawang and Lee-Anne took care of it while we were away, and handed it back to us when we came back.

Our Connect group is still going strong.

Partner with us:

Well, that is what has been going on this last month or so, but before we go I just wanted to take a moment to talk about partnering with us.

We are missionaries who do not draw a salary from the churches or any other ministry that we work with, we are volunteers.  Our support comes from readers, such a you, who believe in what we are doing and have decided to partner with us.  If you are already one of our financial partners, we greatly appreciate you...we could not be doing what we are doing without you.  If you are one of our partners, we encourage you to become one.

There are several ways you can join our team of partners:

You can give a one-time gift victoryasia.com and click on either the green "Partner" button (for tith.ly) on the yellow "Donate" button (for PayPal); complete the requested information (be sure to say that it is a gift for Tyler Thompson)

You can become an on-going monthly partner by completing this form: Partnership form
and mailing it along with a voided check to the address on the form (Be sure to indicate on the form that it is personal support for Tyler Thompson).

(We are under "World Mission Continuum Society" a Canadian based charity that manages and provides oversight to the ministry of "Victory Asia" in Thailand)

Finally, join our mailing list by completing the form on the sidebar.

Hannah and I are ever so grateful to all of our partners and readers for our on-going love and support.

Blessings,

Tyler and Hannah in Thailand.

We love you.


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