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.