Angel's Rejoice - New Christians in Khao Din

Recently we felt like our lives resembled a yoyo going up and down. Due to neighbors refusing to talk with them for studying the Bible, the number of Thais attending the Saturday cell group fell. We were concerned about the future of the group. Would they follow Jesus or not? We had been teaching them for almost a year, and were coming to the end of the Chronological Bibles stories. We wanted a firm commitment from them to follow Jesus.

Eight people came that Saturday. This included one man, who has come sporadically. Ah-john Dusit, the pastor at Krabi Baptist, came with us. He explained what it means to follow Jesus and gave an invitation at the end of our lesson. Seven of the 8 made the commitment to follow Jesus. The Bible says that the angels rejoice in heaven when we are saved. Praise God!!


The Bible also says that God hears the prayer of a righteous man. Thanks for your prayers!

Our Daughter’s Visit

Jamie was here with our granddaughter, Natalie for 3 weeks. In the course of her visit, she went to Viet Nam with us, visited a Thai friend in Phuket, went to Aow Nang beach with her family for 3 days, and went to Phi Phi Island with her husband while we keep Natalie.

Natalie was a real joy! She went to cell groups with us in 5 locations and was a great hit with the Thais. She got her picture taken numerous times with different Thais from our groups. We also had great delight in being grandparents up close for the 3 weeks, instead of through the web cam on our computer.

New Christian Radio Station - FM 100 - True Love

This past month, Krabi Baptist Church began a 300 watt community radio station. Besides playing Christian music, sermons and other Christian programming, several of the church members are DJs. Even Richard is on the air doing a 2 hour Easy English program once a week. He mixes secular and contemporary Christian music with the English lessons. It is exciting that God’s Truth can be proclaimed in this way.

Praise and Prayer

1. Praise God for the 7 Thais in Khao Din who accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior!
2. Pray for Pa, Gal and Am to make a commitment to study the Bible consistently with our Saturday group.
3. Praise God that we had a great time with our daughter and her family even in the midst of the violent protests in Bangkok.
4. Pray for us not to be sick. (Both of us had a bad case of food poisoning.)
5. Pray for Thai government officials to make good decisions about the country’s future.
6. Pray for Thai leadership to emerge from the groups that we are teaching.
7. Pray as we witness & pass out tracts that we find people interested in studying God's Word.

Training to Witness

Each Saturday we teach a seeker group* in Khao Din of about 7 to 10 people. In order to establish a church, it is necessary to get members of the group to actively witness to the people in their community. There is no way we can do this alone. To help train members how to witness, we began taking them out (along with a church member from Krabi Baptist) in April. We went house to house using a picture set explaining Creation to Christ. The seeker group members thought passing out tracts & talking to people about God was so much fun that they didn’t want to stop! Pray that our witnessing will produce results. (*Seeker Group is a group of interested people studying the Bible but have yet to make a commitment to Christ)

You Prayed & They Returned

Last month we asked you to pray for a family that had dropped out of one of our cell groups. We were concerned about a teenager and 12 year old in the family who were showing a genuine interest in the Bible studies and close to believing. Thank you for your prayers because they returned! However, the parents still sit on the outside as we teach. So your next project, if you choose to accept, is to pray for the parents to return & participate in the weekly Bible study. (The father told Richard that the reason he didn't come was because he drank, smoked, & gambled. Richard told him that he would never be excluded because he was a sinner. The only ones excluded are those who think they are perfect & don't need a savior)

Thai New Year - April 13-15th

Thais usually return to their homes in the country for Thai New Year in April. Many people are off from work the whole week. During this festival, Thais will pay respect to their elders and visit friends. At the local temple or a place announced by the community, Thais will come to give blessings and politely pour water on the shoulder of the elders. Besides this formal ceremony, children and teenagers partake in a massive 3 day water fight. They splash and spray water on anyone in close proximity, including adults, police, and tourists. This New Year is the year 2553 according to the Buddhist calendar.