Nathan

We were very fortunate to have had Nathan Eversole spend 3 weeks at Tom Gop school in Khao Phanom. Nathan was kept busy teaching kindergarten through 9th grade levels. After teaching one class, he noticed a child starting to go through his backpack. One of the girls in the class fussed at her friend for doing that. Nathan, however, didn't scold the child but figured out that the student was curious about the Christian tracts he carried inside the bag. Nathan gave the student a tract. This led to others coming and wanting a Christian tract too. A few minutes later, the student re-appeared to ask him the meaning of the pictures in the tract. Nathan sat down and patiently went through the Gospel story using the pictures from the tract. This turned out to be a great opportunity to share about Jesus using a natural situation initiated by the student.
One day, the entire school went across the street to a Buddhist Wat. The school was to present candles to the monks. During the ceremony, Nathan was seated at the front. While the students and teachers bowed to the Buddha image, Nathan sat respectfully still. The head monk wanted to know why Nathan didn't bow as did the others from his school. The head teacher from Tom Gop school whispered to the monk, "He is a Christian, Chrit, Chrit". The monk didn't quite hear. She whispered louder, "He believes in Christ". Finally the students picked up the word "Christ" echoing Jesus name throughout the Buddhist Wat. This was probably the last place you'd ever think to hear the name Jesus. After the event, everyone knew for sure that Nathan was a Christian.
Both teachers and students really appreciated Nathan teaching skills and friendship. Several have told us that they will miss him very much.

Dylan

Dylan Hollinger was another teacher volunteer who helped in Khao Phanom for 3 weeks. He worked at Khao Din Pra-cha-ah-new-goon School. Dylan taught mostly 12th graders. He played volleyball, "Cross word" games, cheered the kids on as they competed in sports activities, and even went on a field trip to a plush hotel in a resort city. The purpose of the trip was to help students learn how to eat like westerners using forks and knives like you would in a fancy restaurant. He spent an extended time with his roommate Ga-mon, a Muslim who heard the gospel through Dylan’s conversations with Dee, a girl friend of Gamon’s. He also spent 2 weekends with the head of the English department’s family. Through conversations in the evening on a bamboo shelter outside their home, Dylan talked about Christianity & his beliefs. Baum and his wife, New, tried to give the Buddhist perspective on what they believed. Baum & New had a hard time explaining some things or didn’t really have a good answer to some of the questions that Dylan posed to them. Baum was curious about what happened to a person when they died because he had been to 4 funerals during the last month. Through this conversation, Dylan was able to share the Gospel. He affected the lives of Baum and New’s family and had a teary departure. Dylan said that he learned much from his time in Thailand especially the power of answered prayer as he leaned on God.

Katie

Katie Blatchford spent 6 weeks teaching English at Khao Phanom Benja High School. However, during the 5th week, her high school was engaged in mid term testing of students. This left Katie with very little to do. Thus, she and a fellow foreign teacher, Carly, went over to a local elementary school to volunteer their services in teaching English. Katie said that the children were adorable, very attentive, and lots of fun. After 3 days of teaching, they had to return to the high school. But before leaving the elementary school, Katie was able to give the students (mostly poor) school supplies and Christian literature. During her stay in Khao Phanom, Katie made friends with Ajohn Net and used meal times to talk with other teachers. She also made friends with Carrot, a 12th grader, who wanted to learn to speak English well. Katie had the opportunity to explain the gospel using an evangecube with him. Carrot even came to church one Sunday afternoon to meet with Katie. At church she and others had the chance to tell Carrot that being a Christian is not just for "westerners". He thought that if you were Thai, then you were expected to be a Buddhist. And if you were a westerner that automatically made you a Christian. Katie & the Thai Christians at church explained that becoming a Christian was an opportunity open to each and every Thai person that believed in Jesus Christ. Through her experience in Khao Phanom this summer, Katie said that she learned to depend more on God even when she didn’t understand the reasons why different things happened. Katie worked hard, made many friends and will be greatly missed.

The Snake

Returning to Khao Phanom from taking 2 of our summer volunteers back to their school, Linda saw something brown moving in the the tray with the windshield wipers. Pretty soon a divided tongue appeared and then a head and part of the body. The snake had a brown diamond pattern with yellow separating the diamonds. It was swaying in the breeze looking at Linda, just in front of Linda’s side of the windshield. Linda pointed in front of her and whispered snake. She continued pointing and saying “snake” louder and louder. Richard thought that she was talking about a snake on the road up ahead. Then the Thais in the back seat saw the snake beyond the windshield on the hood of the truck and began telling Richard to stop the truck. Finally Richard saw the snake and pulled over to the side of the road just before entering Khao Phanom town.

Rawi, a friend from India, found a stick and tried to pin the snake down in the windshield wiper well. Richard picked up a stick too, but the snake got between the plastic and the front left side engine metal panel. Richard thinking to get a flashlight, opened the front passenger door with Linda sitting there. One of the girls in the back seat yelled close the door. The snake had gotten in between the door and the front metal panel about 6 inches from Linda’s leg. Richard shut the door and those left in the truck cab darted out the back right door onto the street. They rushed back about 30 feet behind the truck leaving Richard & Rawi fighting the snake. Richard opened the door and the snake tried to enter the truck cab. Richard slammed the door shut and got the snake caught partly in the truck cab door with the other part swingly wildly between the truck bottom and the street curb. Rawi finally was able to pin the snake head to the pavement. Richard realized he need something more than the stick for smashing the snake with. He looked around and saw part of a cinderblock. By that time the others of us had released the guys in the back of the truck bed, so they could help. Rat (a Burmese) picked up the cinderblock and alternated with Richard pounding the snake’s head. After the snake stopped moving, they opened the front door again to release his trapped body. Rawi picked up the snake with a stick and threw it into the bushes.

Our hearts were still pounding, but we were grateful that God protected us from being bitten by the poisonous rattlesnake. We were also grateful that we had parked by some sticks and broken cinderblocks and the patient wisdom of Richard & Rawi in killing the snake.

Prayer & Praise

1. Pray for Oh and Mac to open their hearts to learn more about God and then
accept HIM as Savior.
2. Praise God for the work of Katie, Dylan & Nathan as they taught English &
witnessed at their different schools.
3. Pray that the witness of Dylan to Baum, New, and Ga-mon will bear fruit for
God’s kingdom.
4. Pray that Carrot will understand the Gospel & become a Christian
5. Pray for Benz, Yuan and Nai-an-i to know God as real for their lives.
6. Pray for our last 2 months in Thailand to produce fruit.
7. Pray for the numerical growth of the Khao Phanom church.