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Infected With The Call To Go

Called to Go

//Keith and Sharon Higginbotham

“It all began with a monkey bite,” Sharon jokingly laughs. “I was about 8 years old. A missionary came to speak at our church, and he brought along a monkey. The preacher’s kid was teasing it. The monkey grabbed my hand and chomped down on my thumb. I’ve often joked that I must have gotten infected with missions, because now I’m a missionary.”

Years later when Sharon met her husband, Keith Higginbotham, he had also been “infected” with the same desire to travel to the far reaches of the globe to share the Gospel. Sharon and Keith became friends while attending the missions group of their church. Over the course of time, they began to realize that God was dealing with them to get married. So on their first date, they discussed marriage and agreed to spend their lives together on the mission field!

RBTC MYANMAR
» An extension campus opened in Myanmar for men and women who are already in ministry. Because it is not possible for these men and women to leave their ministries
for nine months at a time, classes are conducted in four-week sessions three times a year.

» Although travel is difficult in Myanmar, it doesn’t deter these hungry students. To get to the extension campus, one man first walked half a day before he was able to hitch a four-hour ride on a cart pulled by a water buffalo. Then he had to hop on a bus for the final leg of his journey. The rugged trip took over a day. At RBTC Myanmar, he and the other students soaked up the Word of God for six hours at a time, and they would have stayed longer if the instructors had kept teaching.

» In March 2010, 33 students graduated from RBTC
Myanmar’s two-year training program. Since then, six new house churches have been started throughout the country. The word of faith has come to Myanmar!

Two years after their marriage, the Higginbothams moved to Thailand. And since 1991 they have been devoted to spreading the Good News throughout this predominantly Buddhist nation. Whether they are ministering to the congregation of RHEMA Bible Church Bangkok or training RBTC students in Thailand or Myanmar, the Higginbothams are changing lives.

RHEMA Bible Church Bangkok began in 1999 and RBTC Thailand opened in 2000. The missionary couple took over the helm of both ministries in 2004.

RBC Bangkok is now in its 11th year. When looking back, it can be easy to highlight the spectacular. But it’s really consistent, steady growth that brings the greatest results. And that’s what Keith and Sharon have witnessed. Both new believers and those who have been Christians for some time have grown in their faith and seen turnarounds in their lives through the teaching of the Word.

The other facet of the Higginbothams’ ministry in Thailand is training students at RBTC Thailand and RBTC Myanmar. “Most of our students are not members of our church,” says Keith. “The majority of them are nationals and have come from several different denominational churches, as well as independent and Pentecostal churches.”

One part of the RBTC Thailand training is the student practicum. Students are sent out into the community where they preach the Gospel one-on-one and pray for the sick. They also invite the people they visit with to evangelistic-style meetings.

“One of the most exciting things is to see the before-and-after pictures of the students,” says Sharon. “They come in and as they hear the Word, things start growing in their hearts. Then they go out and share what they have learned with others.”

“And they get results,” Keith interjects.

“Through the course of this happening over a two year period,” Sharon continues, “they’re different when they graduate. And to see this change in them is so gratifying.”

Keith adds, “Every year we hear testimonies: ‘I’ve never shared the Gospel.’ ‘I always thought it would be too difficult.’ ‘I was afraid to do it.’ And if the students didn’t think they could share the Gospel with somebody, they surely didn’t expect God to work through them to heal anybody. But they get to where they will share the Gospel with anybody.”

God is using the students mightily. During one practicum, as the students were going house-to-house, they shared the Gospel with a woman who had suffered from Parkinson’s disease for 12 years. This woman could no longer walk or take care of herself. After the ill woman prayed for salvation, the students prayed for her healing. She immediately sat upright and then stood up and began walking. But God didn’t stop there. Her speech became clear also. When her daughter and son-in-law saw the good things God did in her life, they gave their hearts to the Lord too!

After someone gives his or her life to Jesus, the students immediately begin to disciple that person. These principles of winning the lost, healing the sick, and discipling the converts are designed to be a template the students can follow after graduation to start a cell group or even a church.

Thailand began opening up to outsiders and missionaries around the 1830s, and northeastern Thailand has between 500 and 600 churches. However, 70 percent of the pastors have never had any formal Bible school training.

To address that problem, the Higginbothams plan to open extension campuses where those who are already pastoring or in leadership can come to be trained. “We want to focus on the leaders,” Keith says. “Then they can help other people.” Because they already have an established sphere of influence, what they learn will have an immediate impact as they share these truths with their congregations.

Always looking forward, the Higginbothams aren’t content to reach only Thailand with the Gospel. They have a vision for the entire region. God has already miraculously opened doors for an extension campus in the neighboring country of Myanmar. And they also have their sights set on Laos and Cambodia. They are committed to fulfilling God’s vision for RHEMA to “go teach My people faith” and are working tirelessly until that vision is fulfilled in Southeast Asia.

Prayer Focus

  • During its 11-year life, RHEMA Bible Church Bangkok has gathered for worship in a variety of buildings and is now meeting in a hotel. RBTC Thailand has been in a separate location since it began. Keith and Sharon Higginbotham would like to change that. “Our greatest need right now is for a new facility for both the church and the school,” states Keith. “We want to put them together. It’s time to do that.”
  • The cost of living is high in Bangkok and real estate is very expensive. Although properties cost less outside the city, the Higginbothams have found that traveling outside of Bangkok is more difficult. Because of that, most people wouldn’t make the trip.
  • Pray that a facility in a good location in Bangkok becomes available, and that the funds needed to purchase the building come in.
  • To learn more about the Higginbothams, visit www.AsiaMissions.org.