Dear Partners in Ministry,

Well, August has been busy: lots of traveling, visiting and teaching.

Fun Things
A couple of weeks ago I took “Saturday school” (run at the same time as church). It was fun to watch the kids take a quick look at my notes and turn to the scripture before we had even opened in prayer. This new generation is literate! The adults coming to church struggle with the written word and depend on its being told to them. Two very different worlds in one small village.

It was fun, too, to have a party for our five-year-old neighbor. It lasted about forty minutes, with musical chairs and a few relay games, followed by cake, chips and soft drinks. We still have a few balloons decorating our room.

Encouraging Things
Because of Frances’s presence (the physical therapist), we have seen people who had given up hope for physical improvement. Now they work at their exercises and see that they are getting stronger. It is good to be a part of that and to be an agent of hope in both the physical and spiritual realms.

Challenging Things
We had a good team meeting, including a session from a Thai believer who gave insights into understanding the Thai people. Yes, even after twenty years in the country we still have things to learn.

It is always good to watch the rice grow. The paddies seem to change daily as the rice plants fill out and grow taller. Sometimes I wonder how I am growing spiritually. Our guest speaker talked about God’s merciful love and a little about growing (discipling) people in Christ. He was speaking specifically about the Thai, but we’ll share the ideas with you, too, because they got us thinking not just about the people we disciple, but about ourselves as well.

1. Help them see God as a person, not as a thing. God is not a holy thing but a holy person. This will help us have a personal relationship with God.
2. Help move them from detachment to attachment.
3. Help move them from independence to dependence on God.
4. Help move them from shallow relationships to intimate.
5. Help move them from harmony to unity, especially with the Lord.
6. Help move them from easy going and undisciplined to a disciplined spiritual life.
We trust that you are growing closer to God and being encouraged daily. Thank you again for your partnership in bringing God’s merciful love to the people here.

Jan and Larry

Prayer Points

• Please pray for Larry, Nuek and Long as they go to a leadership training session with other house church leaders. It will be good for our local leaders to meet with other Thai leaders. Please pray that they will be encouraged and will get new ideas for teaching and leading the fellowship here. Pray for their safety in travel.

• Please pray for us as we share Jesus with people in our area. We have made a lot of new friends recently through visiting with Frances. May they see Jesus and his merciful love for them.

• Praise God for Frances and her willingness to give of her time and skills. She has just returned from a break and is getting back into it.

Fun with Food

We are often asked, “What did you have for breakfast?”  It is a more common question than “How are you?” My usual reply is not popular with nutritionists: “a cup of coffee.” We, too, ask this question, and when I was visiting this morning I asked the question.  The answer—“Tadpoles and algae” (freshly gathered from the rice paddies). Mmmm—Coffee is good!