Granddaughter

On November 10th Natalie was born in Little Rock to our younger daughter, Jamie. She weighed 8 lbs 3 oz and was 21 inches long. Richard and Linda went to visit her in Little Rock.

The Seeker Group in TungPru.

The Seeker Group in TungPru is trying hard to understand the message of God for their lives as they study the Bible. Jiap has been steady helping us with this group. Pratheep, a Christian who you have been praying for, came out to help one of the weeks and was so glad to see a group studying the Bible. Recently she has been studying with Jiap on Tuesday mornings.

Teaching in Blai Praya

In October, we went to a neighbor hood in TalayHoi passing out tracts. There we met a 18 year old girl who wanted to study the Bible. After visiting her again she again asked us to come teach about God. When we arrived, she, her cousin and an aunt went over a sheet of 20 questions about the world, God and man. They laughed as the answered the questions and were later told that the truth about life & creation could only be found in the Bible. The lesson was about the creator, nature and man. They all agreed that they had never realized that there was a creator of our universe. The names of the 3 in the picture are from left to right: Yupa, Buay, Kwan.

Loy Krathong (Gra tong)

This colorful ceremony is held on the evening of November 14 each year. In schools, children make floats made with flowers, incense, and candles on a 2-inch piece of banana stalk. Once darkness falls, parents bring their children to the river, pond, or ocean. They take their small float, say a prayer to the goddess of the water (mother nature) asking for forgiveness for polluting the waters, light the incense and candle, add some money, and then float away their sins with the tide. It is our prayer that Thais will come to know Jesus, the only one who can really wash away their sins.

Prayer & Praise

1. Praise God for the birth of our healthy granddaughter, Natalie, in November and that we were able to go help our daughter after Natalie's birth.
2. Praise that Brateep has been regularly studying with Jiap – an answer to your prayers!!! Continue praying that Mon-ta (her husband) will come to study too.
3. Pray that Kwan, Upa, and Buay in Blai Praya will continue studying Bible lessons and come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
4. Pray that Lek, a new Christian at Krabi Baptist, will begin to have a real understanding about God and grow in his Christian faith.
5. Praise God that a group from Krabi Baptist goes out with us on Sunday afternoons to pass out tracts and talk to other Thais about God.
6. Pray that our college volunteer coming at Christmas time (December 20-30) will use her talents and skills to creatively bring the true meaning of Christmas to Thai students and others during their time in Thailand.
7. Praythat an effective Christimas program will come together for us to present to the Thai students and their teachers since we are short on volunteers.

Vegetarian Festival

When the gods come down from heaven on a bamboo pole, willing devotees allow a Chinese god to inhabit their bodies for the 10 day duration of the Vegetarian Festival. Those who are mediums for the gods go around shaking, making loud animal like sounds, their eyes are rolled back and looking like they are in great pain. Satan’s power is seen during this festival, as these devotees pierce their bodies as a sign of the power of the gods. As these human gods, who have pierced themselves walk about in the Thailand heat, they must be hydrated constantly. Many don’t show signs of bleeding. In the evening, these gods walk over hot coal fires (something forbidden in the Bible)and walk up dagger ladders.

Many Chinese and Thais will wear white and eat only vegetables to purify their bodies during the festival. Parades are held for people, their households and businesses to be blessed. Fruit, rice, tea, flowers, incense and candles are arranged on a table in front of the residence for the gods. Once the gods come to a site, they dance, throw rice, sprinkle water and oil and drink tea. At business' the gods throw 2 crescent shaped peices of wood to get good luck for the business. All this is done to bless those eagerly waiting hope for their future.

In Krabi, a young lady about 20 years in age was sitting on the tailgate of a pick up truck with rods piercing her cheeks. After taking her picture, Richard walked up to her and whispered in her ear, "Pra-Yay-su" or “Jesus”, just to see what she would do. She looked up and smiled slightly. As he was walking away, a friend of hers on the back of the pick up truck whispered a question which probably was, "What did the western man say to you?". Since she had rods in her cheeks, it would have been hard to talk with any clarity. She got off the back of the truck and lifted her arms up into a horizontal position (like Jesus on the cross). If this is really what she was indicating, it shows clearly that evil spirits are fully aware of Jesus.

Baptism and Business Blessing

Bunchuay and his wife, Renn were impressed by the life and witness of his boss. (Git-ti-rak is a member of Krabi Baptist Church.) Renn had been bothered by spirits. When a spirit came to Renn as they had in the past, she called on Jesus. The spirit disappeared. She realized that God truly controls the world and all that’s in it. Both received baptism after studying basic beliefs with Gittirak. Since Krabi church building has no baptistery, a church family invited the pastor, Ahjohn Dusit, to use their swimming pool for the baptism service.
One of the church members had remodeled his business building. He asked the pastor and church members to come and bless his business. Besides the blessing and refreshments, we sang and then prayed for the business.

Southern Thai Baptist Associational Meeting

The annual business meeting for churches in our area was held in Phatthalung. Many stayed at the old mission house (where we lived years ago) during the 3 day camp. Pastor Sinchai from Bangkok came to speak on “Strength from Unity” and all enjoyed eating frog legs and catfish which were raised at Phattalung church. Great power point presentations showed what each of the churches was doing. Fun reigned as 150+ attendees played football, decraw and relay races on Friday afternoon.

Prayer and Praise

1. Praise God for the Thais coming to study Bible on Tuesdays in Khao Phanom and for Ji-ap’s help there. The number in the group in Tung Bru fluctuates each week, but there are also Thais listening on the fringes to what is being taught.
2. Pray for more adults to join in the Tung Bru group.
3. Bra-teep and Mon-ta are Christians, who have moved to Khao Phanom (Cow Pa-nom). Pray that they will be faithful in studying the Bible with us on Tuesday morning and grow in their faith.
4. Amnuay uses his disease as an excuse to not study the Bible with Richard. He also uses fate as an excuse for the poor choices that he has made. Pray that the Holy Spirit will convict him of his sin and his need for Jesus.
5. Jiap is praying for 14 churches to be started in Khao Phanom. Pray that her faith and prayers will be rewarded with many Thais coming to know our Savior, Jesus, in Khao Phanom.
6. Pray for more adults and youth from Krabi Baptist to go out on Sunday afternoons to witness and tell other Thais about Jesus Christ.
7. Two volunteers have agreed to come at Christmas time to do plays, songs and material to help Thais learn about Jesus in schools. Pray that God will enlarge the number in the team to at least 5 people and use these in bringing more Thais to faith in Jesus.

Tun Bru Seeker Group

Satan attacks Thais by discouraging people through family members and neighbors putting pressure on them to not study the Bible. People also get discouraged because they want quick answers and are not willing to take the time to learn. Satan uses other means of resistance too. Without knowing what Christians really believe, people have a hard time deciding whether to believe or not.

Living in the countryside in a bamboo house on stilts, Tan is a young adult who wants to study the Bible. Despite five other family members dropping out of the seeker group, she wants to make her life better. She has the highest education of all other people in her family – a high school certificate. Her husband has a 6th grade education and most of his family members have a 4th grade to 6th grade education. The family taps rubber trees and harvests palm oil fruit for a living. Tan (adult pictured above) was embarrassed about studying by herself, so she asked if we could come later so that some of the children could study with her. We began a new schedule this week with 1 adult and 2 older children.

Man in Khao Din Becomes Seeker After Truth

As the Sunday group from Krabi Baptist walked down the concrete road in Dead Elephant Village, a church member began talking about a man she had met with Aids. Another member of the group went back to talk with him. Both promised the man named Am-nuay that we would return the next Sunday. On our next visit, the members wanted to give Am-nuay a Bible. However, Richard decided to wait until there was more time available to explain a little about God’s Word. We returned with a New Testament asking him to begin reading the scriptures on his own in his free time. This past Tuesday, Richard began to teach Am-nuay about the all powerful creator God.

Car Free Day

What an experience! The province sponsored a ‘Car Free Day’ with around 150 people participating. People rode around the hilly city of Krabi at a leisurely pace for 14 miles. This was to promote using other means of travel in our area besides cars or motorcycles. Richard had no problems riding, but Linda almost died because she had not ridden her bike in awhile.

Prayer and Praise

1. Praise God for the Amnuay studying the Bible. Pray that he will find salvation in Jesus Christ.
2. Pray for Tan, Yum and Tuk (in Tung Bru) to challenge others in the family to study the Bible.
3. Pray that we will be faithful in our exercise program.
4. Pray for Christians (Prateep and Monta) to study the Bible with us and Jiap on Tuesday mornings.
5. Pray for us to develop good relationships with the police in Blai Praya.
6. Pray for an opportunity to teach English to the police in Blai Praya. Pray for the policemen to be open to the Gospel.
7. Pray for God to lead us to more people interested in the gospel.

NEW GROUP IN KHAO PHANOM

With some anxiety not knowing what to expect, we went to Pru Thee-awl to a home where Jiap told us many people were interested in studying the Bible. As we drove up to the house, only 2 people were sitting on the platform waiting for us to arrive. Talking to another member of the family, we learned that the father is a medium for a spirit! (The night before our group was to meet, the spirit visited and shook the father up so badly that he flatly refused to study with us the next day. The spirit had him screaming, tossing and turning most of the night keeping many family members awake and very nervous) After waiting 15 minutes, we had 8 adults studying Chronological Bible Stories. We asked Jiap to lead the study. While doing an exploratory question sheet about God, spirits & the world, the adults laughed because they did not know the answers to most of the questions. Jiap then taught about the creator. When asked if they wanted to continue, they all said "yes, because it was fun." We pray that Satan will not have power over this group of Thais so that they will be consistent in studying Bible each week and they can have faith in God.

MOTHER'S DAY IN THAILAND

August 12th was Mother's Day in Thailand. Children from the Compassion program at Krabi Baptist Church did a traditional Thai dance and sang a song in tribute to mothers. Before the sermon, an adult Thai danced part of the Kinnari story (about a half-bird, half-woman princess). A child dedication was held for the youngest child of the other IMB missionary couple in our town. Then the children enthusiastically pinned jasmine flowers on their mother's shirts. The pastor preached on mother's contribution to their children. After the service a special lunch was served in honor of Mother’s Day.

Team Prayer Retreat

During the middle part of August we went on a 3 day Prayer Retreat. Our team stayed in Khao Lak, where the 2004 Tsunami did lots of destruction. We listened to a program by John Piper called "Fighting for Joy" and discussed how it impacted our lives. We also prayed and enjoyed fellowship with each other. It was great to be able to get away in such a beautiful setting.

Prayer and Praise

1. Praise God for the new group of Thais, who are now studying the Bible in Pru Thee-Awl.
2. Pray for the new group of Thais to be consistent in studying each week and come to a belief in the one true God.
3. Pray for Satan to be thwarted in our work in Khao Phanom and Blai Pra-Ya.
4. Pray that a new Bible group on Sunday can be started in Khao Phanom because of the efforts of Christians at Krabi Baptist going out each week to this area.
5. Pray for vivid dreams to come to Thais in Khao Pa-nom and Blai Pra-Ya as preparation to Thais coming to know God.
6. Pray for Jiap to be faithful in telling Bible stories to family members/friends and memorizing her Bible verses.
7. Pray for Christians at Krabi Baptist to be financially responsible, bold, and lead holy lives before their neighbors.

Preparing for Volunteers

Preparing for volunteers, we visited 11 junior and senior high schools. Each school wanted their students to hear and interact with different native English speakers. Making sure the administration knew that the team would present the Gospel was no problem. However, a change of plans took place the week before the volunteers arrived. Khao Phanom district decided to have Sports Week for the schools. Six of the eight schools we had contacted canceled. Praise God!! Two days before the volunteers arrived, we had arranged new venues in Plai Praya schools.

Annual Meeting

We made our way to attend our organization’s regional annual meeting. The trip was a 14 hour drive to Pattaya. While there we got to network and renew friendships with those from around our area. We also got to hear inspiring speakers, great singing and attend seminars to help in our work – all in English. A post meeting seminars were also held for invited participants.

Jiap

Jiap was baptized recently by Pastor Dusit from Krabi Baptist Chruch. Jiap is the first convert from the evangelistic effort in Khao Phanom District. Pastor Dusit asked that we teach Jiap through a series of lessons for new Christians before he baptized her. Coming out a Buddhist background, he felt it necessary that she know & understand basic Christian doctrine. Jiap's life has been a great example of how God can change a person into a new creation. She has been telling other Thais about Jesus and has a deep burden that her family become Christians too. Since her baptism, she has been diagnosed with cervical and breast cancer for the 2nd time in recent years. Please pray for her healing.

8 Texas Volunteers

A week before the volunteers’ coming, 6 schools cancelled on us because of their district’s announcement of sports week. We scrambled and were forced into a new district we didn’t know much about. The result was Eight days, six Thai schools, one weekly market, and one afternoon in the park. While it was fun, it was also lots of work in the humid heat. The talented flexible volunteers were troopers. They ate strange food and drink. They adapted to long hours and unexpected experiences. They refined testimonies into simple terms for people, who don’t know about God. They have gone back with a better understanding of missions. Pray for fruit for the Kingdom of God to occur among the Thai students and their families, who watched their presentation.

Praise and Prayer Requests

1. PRAISE: Jiap was baptized the last Sunday in June. Her health and her income have improved, but pray that God would heal her of the cervical & breast cancer she has now been diagnosed with for the 2nd time.
2. Pray for fruit for God’s Kingdom from the hard work of the 8 Texas volunteers.
3. Continue praying for us as we work to shorten the Chronological lessons.
4. Pray for God to send a Thai worker(s) to come along side us in the ministry long term.
5. Pray for us to have a vibrant growing faith and deeper reliance on God.
6. Pray for our younger daughter’s (Jamie) pregnancy to go well, the child to be normal/healthy, grow strong, and be a blessing to her and her husband, Zac.
7. Pray for Chuan, Pla and Wat-ta-nan to have vivid dreams of Jesus and come to know Jesus and God’s grace.

Visitors that helped

Rich and Am came to help us. Am was looking for different ways to witness. He and Rich went out with us several days talking with Thais about God.

A. Winit, a Bangkok pastor and his team came to follow up on some tsunami projects. He helped break down barriers to the Gospel with 4 people, who are interested in God. It also energized and encouraged us in our work.

A. Wi-nit shared Bible stories that related to each of these Thais. Wano and his wife, Huang, were asked to allow God to be limitless and not manageable by us. Tosini was asked to be faithful in her journey to knowing God. Big was challenged to share God with her neighbors.

Comfort for Tourists

Krabi is a tourist area. Mostly Europeans come to visit the beautiful beaches. Recently, the youngest daughter of a vacationing Swedish family was stung by a Red jellyfish and died. The family was brought to Krabi Baptist. We met the family, let them talk about their daughter, assured them of the fate of their daughter, read scripture, and then we prayed for them. Praise God for being here and being able to help.

Witnessing Seminar

A Witnessing Seminar was held at Phatthalung Church and 70+ people attended. A. ChuChat and his team from ChiangMai, led and encouraged attendees to witness. After the presentation, participants went out into the town of Phatthalung to talk to other Thais about God. Nine of us from Krabi attended the two day conference.

Ba Sa-ing

Ba Sa-ing lived in Krabi and prayed for 6+ years for a church in the city of Krabi. Missionaries came and Krabi Baptist Church was formed. She was a faithful member of the church. Recently she was diagnosed with brain cancer. We traveled 5 hours to see her at a hospital in Hat Yai. The evening before we got there she had gone into a coma and was sent to ICU. Ba Sa-ing died 3 days later. The family was impressed by three Baptist Churches who visited her. The testimony of her Buddhist family after her death was that she had not shown signs of pain and that they were sure that she was in heaven. Please pray that Ba Sa-ing’s family will come to know Jesus as their personal Savior.

Prayer and Praise - God is answering your prayers

1. Wano, Huang, Big, Somboon, and Tosini are closer to God’s kingdom. Continue praying that they will accept God's plan for their lives.
2. Pray for God to reveal himself to the Southern Thais through vivid visions and dreams about Jesus the Messiah.
3. Pray that the Krabi church members who went to the witnessing seminar will begin to use their testimony to bring many to believe in Jesus Christ as God’s son and Savior.
4. Pray for Ba Sa-ing’s family to come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
5. Pray that Richard and Linda will successfully finish shortening the Chronological lessons so that they are in correct Thai and can be used by others in discipling Christians.
6. Praise God! Jiap continues to grow in her faith, but still becomes very sick. Pray that God will heal her fast beating heart, her kidney and several other health problems so that her health will improve dramatically.
7. Eight volunteers are coming next month. Pray for their program planning & performance, our preparation, receptive hearts for the people in the schools and markets to the message of God and an anointing by God on the team during their time here.

Jiap

Jiap had a dream in which she went to the bathroom to wash her face. As she looked in the mirror, she thought this is odd, “I have a beard. My face is like a face of a man. I look like Jesus!” When Jiap woke from the dream, she became excited and called us about 9:30 a.m. She said she thought that Jesus was reminding her to learn the Bible & become more like Him. She asked us to return to teach her the Bible. Words can’t express how happy we were! We are teaching her lessons for new Christians. She is showing more growth and A. Dusit at Krabi Baptist has agreed to baptize her. Once she is baptized next month we will continue teaching her the Chronological Bible Stories so she can have a better Christian foundation of belief.

Seminary Students

The week of April 1st seminary students helped Krabi Baptist Church and one day also helped us in Khao Phanom. They were great to watch witnessing. Some had not had a lot of practice passing out tracts and talking to other Thais about God. As their day with us ended, we saw improvement in their boldness and presentations. Each Sunday we are so grateful that members from Krabi go out with us to witness and talk to interested non-Christian Thais.

Thailand Baptist Association Camp

Over 700 Thai Baptists from all over Thailand converged on the Baptist Camp in Pattaya, about 2 hours southeast of Bangkok. The business part of the meeting took place first. Then they focused on a revival which lasted the next two days. Seminars and Bible studies occurred as well. A mass baptism in the Gulf of Thailand was held the first afternoon. Richard was asked to baptize a man from Krabi church. Our Southern Thai team spent time eating together, playing games, and participating in the meetings. Over 150 Thais from the south attended.

Bangkok

We stayed in Bangkok after the Associational meeting to appear at the Immigration Office in Bangkok before our visa expired and pay for the new visas. We received a new visa for next year while waiting 2+ hours. Using the opportunity to be in Bangkok we saw doctors and had several tests done. Our health is good and the doctors ordered physical therapy for Linda's wrist and are adjusting medications for Richard's cholesterol. We also had the chance to visit with some Thai and western friends.

Ganchanadit

We returned to Ganchanadit this month in Surat province. We had been struggling with whether to continue going there because of the time involved in travel. We knew that going there once a month was not really enough to teach the Bible, nor fair to the ladies studying. We talked it over with these ladies and it was agreed that they would begin doing Bible Correspondence. We are sad that we no longer will be going to personally teach them. However, it appears to be the best solution at this time.

Thai New Year

Thai New Year occurs each year from April 13th -15th. Because it happens during the dry season, it is an occasion to get wet and feel cool. Throughout the country, people return to their hometowns. Buses, trains and planes are filled to capacity. The first day of the New Year, Thais go to bless and receive blessings from the older generation. The following days they visit friends and have lots of fun throwing water on each other. This festival has gotten out of hand in recent times and this year the government asked the people to have their fun a little more respectfully. While in Bangkok, Richard and I received our share of wet blessings.

Praise and Prayer Requests

1. Jiap is now selling Cell Food Supplement and is better able to pay her bills. Pray for God to bless her work. Jiap returned to studying the Bible. Continue praying that she will grow in the Lord & soon be baptized.
2. The ladies in Ganchanadit to do the Bible Correspondence Courses and become Christians.
3. For Lek, who Richard baptized in Pattaya, to grow in his Christian faith.
4. For more Thais to come to faith at Krabi Baptist Church and the church members to impact their community for Christ.
5. For physical therapy to cause healing of Linda’s arm and hand.
6. Pray for our former Thai language teacher, A. Tittaya, to heal quickly from a stroke and be able to return to work soon.
7. We are re-writing some Chronological Bible Stories to simplify them and make them easier to teach. Pray that this effort goes smoothly.

Vacation

Our vacation took us to the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia. Even though it rained everyday, we were able to: hike, take a tour, bike, do puzzles, play board games, counted cross stitch and relax. It was cool and blankets were needed at night which is so different from Thailand’s heat.

One day we went for what we thought was a 2 hour hike up a mountain. We climbed steep paths until finally reaching the top. Then we found a path down and prayed that God would hold off the rain to keep us from sliding down the muddy trail. Six hours later we got home. Our knees felt like rubber. About 5 minutes after we got inside the house, it began raining. Our God is good! (Double click on the picture above to enlarge, use your back space to return to this page)

Khao Din

We have been visiting a 61 year old man named Wan No in Khao Din (sub-district of Khao Phanom). He has read the Gospels and asked about the dos and don’ts of Christianity. We gave him the 10 Commandments and plan on giving him the whole Bible so that he can read more. He is searching and made the statement: “I want to go to Phi Phi Island. In front of me on the beach are 3 boats which can take me there. Each boat has a name of Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity. However, I want to see which one will take me safely to the destination of Phi Phi Island.” When we go to visit now his wife, Huang (pictured above), comes and joins in the conversation which shows her interest, as well.

Prayer and Praise

1. Khun Wan-no is searching for the best religion to believe in. Pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal the truth to Khun Wan-no and his wife so that they will become children of God.

2. Khun Jiap is so consumed with selling Cell Food supplement that she is not coming to church or studying. Pray for us to have wisdom in dealing with Jiap. Pray also that she will hear, listen and obey the Holy Spirit working in her life.

3. Pray that 2 women, Khun Pa and Khun Manot will desire to start a Bible study group in their community.

4. Pray that we will draw closer to God, depend on Him and see Him miraculously at work in our ministry.

Krabi Baptist Church

This 15 year old church has had one pastor, Dusit (Do-sit). Pastor Dusit has a wife (Gee) and 2 daughters (Dream & Dew). His wife leads a Compassion group of 120 children at the church on Saturdays. He has a discipleship program on Tuesday nights and also encourages his members to witness. Each week 3-10 members go out with us on Sunday afternoons to pass out tracts and witness to people in Khao Phanom (Cow Pa-nom). They encourage and pray for our work.

Ganchanadit and Na Khao

On the 14^th we returned to Ganchanadit district in Surat Province. We taught two more Chronological Bible stories. Each month we give them a review sheet about what we have just taught. (Remember this is the first time that they have heard these stories.) We encourage them to read their Bibles and write questions down for us to answer. We will make a CD with Christian songs on it for the group to listen to between meetings. We were sad to discover that one family in the group moved 20 kilometers away because of family problems.

The group in Na Khao has been struggling and the past 3 weeks has been down to one person. We have also taught some other people in the area, but have stopped because of lack of interest. Obstacles to teaching them keep coming up (such as funerals, accidents, people ridiculing them, and chances to earn additional money). It has become disappointing. After prayer and evaluation, we have decided to stop the group for now.

Prayer and Praise

1. Obstacles have appeared in the two Bible groups that have been started. Pray for more Thais to begin studying with us.
2. Jiap has developed a prayer which she prays 3 times a day. Pray for God’s spirit to work in her life so that she will become more spontaneous in praying and that she will reach out to many near her with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Pray also for God to provide her with good health and healing for her back and heart.

3. Pray for open hearts to the Gospel so that lasting groups will be formed in Khao Phanom, Plai Praya and Ganchanadit.

4. Pray that Richard & I will grow closer to God and depend on God more fully.

5. Pray God will provide us with appropriate volunteer groups who will penetrate the hearts of people in Khao Phanom and Plai Praya.

6. Pray for Mam (pictured in the story above) and her mother to understand what they read in the Bible and begin telling others about God.

7. Pray for Wasana’s development as a Christian leader and her to have a real heart for the souls of the Southern Thai.

Volunteers

Eight Oklahoma Baptist (OBU) students arrived on January 2nd. One had gotten sick the previous week and we took her to the hospital where she got good medical help and recovered quickly. On their first day, the students practiced their English program and worked on their testimonies. Later they went swimming at a thermal waterfall. On the following days, they presented their English program at four junior/senior high schools in Khao Phanom. At each school, at least one of the team gave a personal testimony of how God had changed their life. On the weekend, the team helped with the Compassion Program at Krabi Baptist church. They also got to have some fun going to a beach, snorkeling, and climbing a tall mountain. On Sunday afternoon, we took the team to a market in Khao Phanom to perform a mini concert at different food stalls. While the group sang, members of Krabi Baptist passed out tracts to vendors and surprised shoppers. On their last day in Krabi, the OBU Team out to do door to door evangelism in the country side. Even though there was a language barrier, they gave testimonies (through translation) to those who invited us inside homes to sit and talk. Their programs in the schools have already helped to give us more acceptability in the area. Praise God for their help!

Children's Day

Three members from Krabi Baptist Church helped Richard and Linda at the Children’s Day program in Khao Phanom. Children's Day is an annual event celebrated throughout all of Thailand. We arrived about 8:30 in the morning. Many excited children dressed in their school uniforms were already at the field in front of the city building. Most came to play games, do sports activities, and go from booth to booth gathering free food and free gifts. At our booth, we passed out over 1,000 Jesus booklets and made at least 600 balloon animals! At times, it was hard to keep up with the crowd. In order to avoid confusion, we ended up having the children form lines (which is very un-Thai like). The balloon animals went over well. However, several people fussed at us passing out the "Jesus" booklets. After talking with one such lady, Linda convinced her that Christians have had a positive influence on Thai society by following Jesus example of showing love toward others.

Cell Groups

On the 17^th we traveled the 3 hours to Ganchanadit district in Surat Province to start a new cell group. Khun Jiap had provided us a lead to some of her friends in the area of her birth. We had 4 adults and 2 children attend the first cell group. They heard the first 3 stories in the Chronological Bible Storying series and began singing choruses. In the teaching, they learned about the creator God and about an amazing book of truth that's solid and reliable, the Bible. On the 29^th we started a group in Na Khao in Khao Phanom District with 3 adults studying. Everyone seemed to enjoy singing songs and the Bible teaching. They had many questions. One man named Phun, asked that we give him time to learn because there was so much he didn’t understand. What a great, workable attitude. Praise God for these 2 great beginnings!

Praise and Prayer Requests

1. Our first cell group in Ganchanadit was held at Khun Si’s house. Si is afraid of knowing the truth because she has dabbled in the occult and is well aware of what evil spirits can do. Pray that she will have assurance about God's power over spirits.

2. Praise God for the OBU students and Children’s Day activities. Pray that these kind of events will open he hearts and homes of people in Khao Phanom will to us so that they will know Jesus as savior.

3. January 29^th we started teaching Chronological Bible Storying to a group of 3 in Na Khao. Pray for Phun to open his heart to the truths of the Bible.

4. Pray for these new groups to draw other people, that leaders will emerge and that the groups will grow into long term churches who proclaim the power of God and His salvation.

5. Jiap grew a lot in the Lord within a short period of time, but has now turned to other pursuits instead of God. Pray for God’s hand to bring her back to Himself.

6. Pray that Richard & I can more clearly ascertain God's will in our work in Krabi, with our Thai co-worker, and our lives.

7. Pray that this year God will provide us with appropriate volunteer groups who will penetrate the hearts of people in our target areas of Khao Phanom and Plai Praya.

King's Birthday

King Bhumibol was 80 this year. All Thailand participated in his Birthday. It is a holiday and in Krabi dancing by young children, older children and young people, Thai classical instruments were played, shadow puppets were shown, Minora was danced and Muslim dancing occurred. It was a wonderful time of celebration showing their reverence of their king.

A week later was Constitution Day and many went on one day trips.

City Pillar

While preparing for the King’s Birthday, the city of Krabi refurbished their city pillar. This is a shrine for the spirit of the city. This spirit they believe protects the city. Thais come here to pray to the spirit and others come seeking comfort. Pray that Thais may find peace by finding Jesus Christ as savior.

Visit to Gan-cha-na-dit

We again went to Ganchanadit district of Surat Province. This time we spent the day visiting people that Jiap knew. In all, we visited in 9 homes and saw around 30 people. Out of those, 1 young woman, named Mam, said that she believed and wanted us to return and teach the Bible. We gave her a New Testament and asked her to begin reading. She has called and asked us questions about what she has read.

Church Christmas Caroling

Krabi Baptist Church had a fun night of Christmas Caroling. Members and others signed up for carolers to come to their house. Stuffed in trucks and a van 33 persons went from one side of the province to the other caroling. Most of the roads were curvy and we prayed for the drivers not to get sleepy. It all began at 7 pm and ended about 4 am. We sang carols, blessed the home, talked and ate at each place. Many had to go to work on Saturday morning after the caroling ended.

Lotus Caroling

Sunday afternoon, December 23^rd we went to Lotus Department Store for Christmas Caroling. Members dressed in their matching red and green shirts. Some of the children from the church and the Compassion program at church danced Thai traditional dance. Several games were played and all seemed to have fun, including the management of the local Lotus. It was also a great opportunity to pass out hundreds of pieces of Christian literature to customers and Lotus staff. Gifts from Lotus were given to the dancers who performed that day.

Church Christmas Program

Approximately 500 Buddhist and Muslim people attended the Christmas program of Krabi Baptist Church. It was held in the field next to the church. Games were played, many different kinds of Thai dances were performed, Christmas carols were sung, a sermon was preached and great quantities of Thai food were consumed. It made us appreciate all the Christians who helped, and all the hours of work that went into making the program a success. It is our desire that these more culturally planned events will bring Thais to Christ.

Praise and Prayer Requests

1. Praise God for the Oklahoma OBU volunteer team with us for the New Year.
2. Praise God that our youngest daughter could come for a visit.
3. Pray for the Children’s Day (January 10^th) activities that we’ll be involved with to be successful in families believing the Gospel.
4. Pray a cell group in Ganchanadit district will be started and produce born again Christians for the kingdom of God.
5. Pray that we will see God supernaturally at work in our ministry this coming year.
6. Pray for Mam to grow and learn more about the Gospel so that she makes a decision for Christ.
7. Wassana is temporarily working with us for a month. Pray that God will make it plain to all of us if she is to continue working with us.