Greetings from the Christian Mission once again:
Lots happening since the last news. Both Maeo and I have been to Sakon Nakhon and Khon Kaen for a series of medical checkups and we go back to Sakon Nakhon on Sep 8 and 9 for more. Up to this point, the doctors say not much wrong, just getting old. Everything is under control either with diet or medications and both seem to be working, except neither Maeo nor I seem to be able to lose weight. – I say this as I sit here having Doritos Nacho Cheese as a snack after breakfast.
On August 25, three of our English Program girls, Ploy, Eye, and Milk told me they had decided to move back home Eye and Milk said it was to help take care of their mothers and Ploy did not like being told “no” all of the time. Our rules here appear too restrictive:-) As Maeo and I were thinking about how nice it might be to have five girls instead of 8; two 6th grade and two 7th grade girls were telling us that they would like to move in here. They have been coming to church and participating in English classes, so, knowing John, I don’t have to tell you that now, instead of 8 we have 9 girls living with us. Please pray for me and them; that this will be a witness to Christ and the girls will open their hearts and minds to Him.
Saturday, Aug 27 was a regular Saturday, with about 14 elementary and 15 teens in attendance; but Sunday helps to show what kind of problems we have here and need prayers for.
First, at the present time none of our children – 25-30 – have parents that are Christian. August 28 was a Buddhist holiday. Of our 14 elementary students that were to perform on Sunday, only two showed up – all the rest had to go to the Buddhist temple with their parents. Many of the parents strongly believe that if Christianity comes into their home the evil spirits will harm them. We have already had a couple examples of that.
Saturday September 3 was a youth meeting in Sakon Nakhon. We took 15 people over to join about 80 other youth from several churches. We do this every two months. Everyone had a great time.
September 4 was a special day for us here. We were able to baptize two folks – one the wife or Sririchai, our intern from Payao Bible College, and Bee, a second year university student who lives here with us.
With the three students leaving and four new ones, we have reorganized our English Classes. We have one “fast” group of students who live here, grades 6 to university. We have a “regular” group – grades 5 to grade 10, and we have a third group of University Students – they are first year English majors wanting to become teachers. Praise God, that with this second group of students, we are going to be able to have two English teams going out to schools once a month starting in November. Please pray for the success of this program too.
Prayer notes:
- Children who live here – Bee, Nun, Min, Pan, Lita, Beem 1, Tat, Toom, Phon. Of this group, only Bee and Nun have accepted Christ.
- Children who attend our Saturday program; that God will open their eyes and give them courage to talk to their parents.
- Parents of our children that they might begin to come to see what their children are learning, and that they might accept Christ too.
- Visitation – this week we are starting visitation 4-5 days a week. Maeo and I and our two interns will be making a concentrated effort to contact the parents of our youth and senior citizens.
- Strength and wisdom for both Maeo and John.
- Funds for a new transmission for one of our vans – it already has 250,000 miles on it, but it is just getting broken in. 🙂
Upcoming events to pray for:
- Walk through the Bible – New Testament September 23-24. This is a special program for the teens.
- English Camp – next camp is September 17
- Combined church service – Nong Khon Kaen September 25. All of our churches get together every two months for a united service, fellowship and a noon meal. The are usually close to 200 people at these events.
- Elementary School DVBS during October – that God will provide the time and the children
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