Encouragement and Hope

We had a really good meeting this morning in Deen Kow. Grandma Lan, who has been sick for over a month, was back at the meeting and really looking well. She is able to eat again, for which we all praise the Lord. It was mostly adults, but our worship and Bible study time went well. We also asked each of them to give us the names of 2 people in their family for us to pray that they will come to Christ.

This afternoon, we went to Bangkan village hoping for the opportunity to baptize Narong and his wife Jaan. But we were disappointed. I sense that he is ready, but right before we arrived, there was an accident and some friends of his were waiting at his house for it to be resolved. He told us that tomorrow would be good, but unfortunately, I have to be in a meeting in Chiang Mai this week. It will have to be next Saturday.

Will you please pray with us that Narong and his wife Jaan will be baptized soon. Pray also that their faith in the Lord will grow and be from sincere honest hearts.
Thank you so much for praying..

A New Friend

I had a good conversation today with a M@slim man about 35 years old. His name is Laai. Today is Friday which is the day all of the men go to the mosque. He had just returned when I showed up at his house to ask directions. He wasn't really able to help me much with finding this particular person, but I gave him a few booklets and asked if he had ever heard this story before. He said he hadn't, so I asked if i could take a few minutes and explain it to him. This began about a 35 minute conversation. He was very interested. I saw that he was interested in the Bible I had, so I asked if he would like it. He accepted it graciously. When I left, I felt like I had made a friend.

Pray for Laai that he will read God's Word and that it will powerfully touch his heart. Pray that the Lord will lead us to the person of peace in this village and that He will open the door for many to come to the Savior.

He Must Be Glad :)

Many of you have been following our blog and know the story of Na Nui. Last week he went to be with the Lord. We are thankful that he did not suffer long and is now in the presence of the Lord. Often in our witness to Thais, it is their funeral that seems to be a stumbling block for them. Funerals are a social event. The whole community gets together for several days of eating and enjoying fellowship with family members they may not have seen in some time. The fellowships often take place at the Buddhist temples, but can also be at family’s home. Na Nui’s funeral was at the temple, as most of his family is Buddhist. However, his brother is also a Christian and a member of our Deen Khao group. We wanted to have a Christian presence at the funeral,so that meant doing something at the temple.


Ong’s family and a few members of Krabi Baptist Church came down to help with the ceremony. We gathered up our church members from Deen Khao and headed to the meeting. We were greeted by a man we have known for sometime now. He has heard the gospel many times and has come to our meetings as well. The first thing he said to us was, “Na Nui should be happy now, because he knew God before he died.” This is encouraging, as we believe it is God who puts thoughts like that in the hearts of people. The Thai people are very warm, and as we have been in the community for two years now, were very excited to see us.

After we ate together, we began our part in the funeral. Keith spoke of Na Nui and how they met and his relationship with the Lord. We sang some songs, and then Ong shared the good news of the hope we have in Christ and what death means for the Christian. At the point where Ong read the passage about being with Christ, Aunt Siang and Uncle Preecha started clapping, so I joined them and even gave out shout! We sang some songs again and then closed in prayer. It was an exciting time for us! Our group is very strong in their faith and voiced several times over the weekend that they are no longer afraid of death. They praise God that they know Jesus.

Please pray for the Deen Khao community that they would not be afraid to come to our meeting on Saturday mornings. Ask the Lord to give our church members understanding of the Word of God and to be able to share their faith effectively.

God Bless,
Tracy

Bangkan Group Update

I just got back from our meeting at Bangkan village. Narong and his wife, Jaan, were both present. I was also thrilled to find their neighbor, Lek, was there along with Nan, the other young man who has been fairly regular. We had a wonderful time of worship and praise. Lek expressed thanks to God for healing her son who was sick.

Today we studied about baptism: what it is, commanded of believers, and how it is a witness to those around. When I asked who was ready to be baptized, both Narong and his wife said that they are ready. We set next week as the time we will baptize them.

Let me ask you to really pray hard for these this week: Narong, Jaan, Nan, and Lek. I am praying that all four of them will want to be baptized! Pray that I will have wisdom this week in encouraging them and preparing them for this important step.

In the Hands of God

We got word today that Na Nui passed away. He had been in the hospital in Phang-nga for several weeks. The hospital sent him home a few days ago. We (and they) knew that he couldn't survive much longer. We trust that he is now in the hands of our Savior and is now disease and pain free.

His family (mostly Buddhist with a few Christians) is planning the funeral. Pray that Christ will be honored in the outcome. We ask that our Lord give glory to the name of Jesus in all of this and draw many others from this family to himself.

Please pray for Nui's mother, his brother Gao, and the rest of their family during this time. Pray that we will also have wisdom with how best to give glory to God.

Also pray for our family as we leave Libby behind in Chiang Mai to attend school and travel back to Phang-nga on Thursday and Friday.

And the Lord gives the increase!

It was exciting today for Daniel and I to go and worship with our house church in Bang Butae village. Fourteen people were present! What a blessing to see this house group growing strong. One husband has finally started coming to the group. He says that he believes and wants to be baptized the next time we have a big meeting. In addition, 3-4 teenage girls came. All were excited to share the good things that God has been doing. Many of these grow watermelons for a living. They were sharing how God answers their prayers for rain and is blessing their crops.
I am reminded that it is God who is working in these believers lives. He is the one who helps them to grow in Christ and to share the gospel with those around them.

Pray for these believers that God will use them to boldly share with those around them and that His light will shine brightly through them.

Fishing

Today, Daniel and I went to our meeting in Bangkan village. Only Narong and his wife Jaan were present, but they were eager to receive us. They seemed to be doing much better and said so. Last time, Narong had asked if was okay to fish (Buddhism teaches that it is a sin to kill animals.) Today, Daniel shared a passage in Mark where Jesus calls his disciples ... who were fishermen. Narong really liked that! Now, he wants to take us fishing. He even pulled out all his gear!

Today, I would ask you to pray for Narong and Jaan that they, like Jesus' disciples, will become fishers of men.

Reaching the Many

The diversity of peoples living among us in southern Thailand have given us numerous opportunities to learn of different cultures and peoples. The Burmese are one such group. The Lord has brought many into our lives and used each of them to humble us and teach us that we are to be about reaching all those around us when God opens doors to do so. One such chance came last weekend when we teamed with colleagues who are targeting the Burmese people. Through a translator, it was good to finally be able to say the things we had been showing them in small ways. Again, we were humbled and reminded that we are a people of many comforts. At one home I picked up a beautiful baby that had been born on a cardboard box just two hours before we arrived. Mother and baby were doing well. Please pray that in the next year as we await personnel focusing on these people, God would begin opening hearts to the Truth!
Tracy

The Power of the Word

Today I went out with Daniel (volunteer from Florida) and together we went to visit several of the folks who said that they were interested in knowing more about Christ following medical clinics in June.

We met with a woman, who has been reading little booklets we have been giving her which explain the gospel. As I went back over it with her, she was saying parts of it with me and showed that she was truly understanding the gospel message. We gave her a Bible and marked John for her. She began reading it immediately. We sat and watched her for a few minutes while she just read. Praise God!

The next man we visited was Gosan. He is 48. He loves to read, but needs glasses. He said he couldn't read the books we gave him. I reviewed the gospel with him, and he seemed very responsive. He had very good, intuitive questions. I remembered that I had the NT on MP3 player in the van. (Bible Stick). I gave it to him and showed him how to use it. He immediated seemed to become obsorbed by it. We really think he will listen to it. Again, praise God for His Word which is so powerful to change lives.

Pray for these who are reading and listening to his Word. Pray that God will grant them faith in Him and transform them into His image.

God's Grace

We just returned from a meeting a Narong's house. He was there! He has returned home and seems to be doing well. The Bible study and worship songs went very well. Daniel (from the Florida team) shared his testimony with them. I just praise God that he seems to still be determined to follow Jesus. Please keep praying for him that he will trust Jesus to be able to remove his sin habits from his life. Pray also for his relationship with Jaan, his wife. Pray that they will truly experience the grace of God.