“It was while living in the church that I really learned to serve the Lord,” Ozz said. “Not by preaching or evangelizing or discipling, but by cleaning bathrooms!” 

Ozz (pronounced “Ott”)  Kumrod was raised by an aunt and his grandmother in a slum community of Bangkok, Thailand. It was through a Christian basketball outreach led by a church in his neighborhood that he was first introduced to the Gospel in his teens. Something in his heart responded to the message and, soon after, he committed his life to becoming a follower of Jesus. Ozz began attending this church, and one of the Thai leaders there discipled him. 

“When we read the book of Acts together,” he shared, “I saw that Paul was going out to preach the Gospel and disciple believers in all these different cities. I realized that it was just normal for a Christian to go out and share the Good News. Then I read Isaiah 6:8: ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ I wanted to shout, ‘Here am I! Send me!’ I felt convicted that I was supposed to serve the Lord in full-time ministry.”

His Buddhist family was unconvinced. 

As Ozz was growing in his faith, his aunt and grandmother were being overwhelmed by the challenges of life in the slums and decided to move into a Buddhist temple. This was not an option for a Christ follower and, with no place to live, Ozz asked the pastors of the local church if he could move in. The pastor agreed, but reminded him that he would be expected to pay his way, and help with daily chores.

“Cleaning bathrooms was a reminder that there was nothing special about me,” he shared. “I was just an ordinary person. I had no formal education or anything; I needed to serve God in any way that I could.” 

One of the pastors taught him how to make Thai coconut milk dessert drinks, which Ozz then sold from a little cart during the weekdays to earn money to buy food for himself. “I didn’t sell on the weekends,” he said, “even though that was when I could have made the most money. But Saturday and Sunday were my days to teach the children at church. During the week I would still clean the bathrooms,” he added. “That is ministry, too.”

A day came when one of the pastors shared that he was moving to Lopburi to preach the Gospel in a new, unreached community. Seeing Ozz’s willing heart to serve, he invited Ozz to take a step of faith and go with him. 

In  Lopburi, Ozz began to help by leading worship on his guitar and doing visitation. It was during this period that Multiply first sent three families from North America —called Team 2000—to Thailand to share the good news of Jesus Christ with Buddhist people. “One of the Thai pastors connected with the team, was also my mentor and friend. When  he invited me to come and help make disciples with him in Chonburi, this was my introduction to the Mennonite Brethren!” 

It would also be where Ozz met Sara.

Their paths did not immediately cross. Sara Fast had graduated from Tabor College as an elementary school teacher, and gone on a number of short-term mission trips: Colombia, Mexico, Romania. One day, while sitting at an internet café in Romania reading an article about Multiply’s work in Thailand, she sensed God nudging her. When she then unexpectedly received an email inviting her to join the team by homeschooling the missionary children, she knew this was the Lord’s leading. 

Sara spent almost two years in Thailand before returning back to the States. “I felt God stirring an interest in more long-term cross-cultural service,” Sara acknowledged, “but I also wanted more training. Most of the team had attended MB Biblical Seminary (Now Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary) and they had recently started the Master of Arts in Intercultural Mission, so I thought that would be a good way for me to prepare for future ministry.” 

It was a three-year program, and after graduation she had an opportunity to work with a local non-profit that was helping resettle newly arrived refugee families from Thailand. Sara served with this agency for three more years. Then, an email from a Multiply worker in Thailand popped into her inbox one day. Would she consider coming back, and serving at a children’s home? She would.

Sara went back to Thailand in 2008 and served with Karen Sanchez at the Abundant Life Home for eight months. Through an adjacent young adult Christian gathering, she met Ozz. “He very kindly offered to help me with my language lessons,” she smiled.

Watching Ozz lead worship and interact with new believers, Sara was impressed by his love for people and his authenticity. “And his laugh,” she added with a grin. Eventually the two realized that their friendship was evolving into something deeper. “We knew it would be complicated,” Sara said. “We were coming from very different cultures, life experiences and family backgrounds. It was a risk.”

With the wise guidance of Multiply missionaries,  Sara and Ozz navigated their cross-cultural differences and found that their common heart for ministry drew them even closer together. Eventually the couple married, had four sons (Elijah, Ezekiel, Ezra and Elisha) and redeployed into Chiang Mai when Ozz was asked to take on leadership of the Thai MB conference, where he has now completed four years as president. “Our vision is to see more house churches multiplied,” they both expressed, “locally—like where believers are meeting in a carport area right now–and then all over Northern Thailand, until the whole nation is reached with the Gospel!”

As a culturally blended family, they have seen God’s faithfulness and provision for more than fifteen years. Their boys attend Grace International School—where classes are taught in English—then move into interacting with their Thai peers through sports, music, and other community engagement. 

“Life gets pretty crazy sometimes,” Sara admits. “Raising four boys is a full-time job in itself! I also currently teach full-time as a volunteer at the school, where three of our boys are blessed with free tuition, and Ozz serves as president of the MB conference. We facilitate and do training for Discovery Bible studies, help with church planting, and support Sunday evening church. I wish I could attend, but right now our youngest needs to get to bed earlier so he can still get up for school on Monday mornings!”

Ozz laughed in agreement. “We love serving as a family, but we’re still trying to figure out how this all works. We take our inspiration from Joshua 24:17: ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ That is our desire; to serve the Lord together as a family.” 

Whether that means cleaning bathrooms, selling coconut desserts, teaching school, playing sports, preaching, or discipling emerging church leaders, both Ozz and his wife Sara are committed to the kind of multi-faceted ministry that defines service in the kingdom of God.