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.