Dear Partners in Ministry,

Not what we would have wanted but,

When Dema and Carolyn left at the beginning of the month we had hoped that the house church would move to one of the members’ homes, but no one agreed to that, so we ended up here at our place.  One of the reasons we weren’t comfortable with it was that we live in a house owned by our village headman and in the same compound.  The night of the first meeting we asked his wife to join us, and she has become a regular attendee.  She even knows most of our regular members, so she fits in comfortably.  Tor, the village headman, was to attend this week, but got delayed; however, his 17-year-old son attended.

The regular members really want to be there. Some arrive late because of work commitments, then eat after the service.  There is a good feel to things, and God is blessing our group.

The rice is in and paddies are full. 

We live in a rain shadow, an area where we are behind some lower mountains and miss the good rains that other valleys receive.  Water is an issue every year.  Our neighbors have been concerned about the rice and corn getting enough water, and we have made it a prayer point over the last few weeks even though some areas of our province are flooded.   Last Friday we were able to praise God for adequate water.  The rain came!  One member commented that we prayed and it came right away.

Turn around at Leadership Training

We mentioned last month that we felt we had hit a wall in our leadership training.  We had a good discussion with the group and decided to mix things up a bit, and the last session was much better.  We played a game to start things off, did a Bible study, and drew faces to show emotions. Everyone enjoyed making thick eyebrows to make angry looking characters.

Climate Change??

This week the first and second of five visiting groups arrived   It seems that climate change is real. (January used to be team season and now it is SeptemberJ).  We have had them enjoying life in the bush, and we are using them to help with English days at schools.  We will do similar things with the other teams when they come through, giving a number of schools the fun experience.

Our colleagues are experiencing change too.  Dema and Carolyn and family are on home assignment, trying to build up their support team.  They need to continue home schooling their kids while they travel meeting churches and individuals.

We trust you are weathering the changes in your lives well and being encouraged and comforted by God through them.

Larry and Jan

 Prayers and Praise

• Praise God for the transition of the house church and for new attendees.  Pray that we will be able to expand this group to the point where we need to divide it.
• Praise God for his provision of water, and pray for good crops for our neighbors.
• Praise God for answered prayer regarding Leadership Training sessions.  Pray that we are able to keep fresh and be relevant.
• Thank God for mission awareness teams.  Pray that they are touched by God through the experience.
• Pray for Dema and Carolyn and family.   Pray that their time away will be refreshing and that they will be encouraged by a number of individuals and churches joining their support team.      
• Pray for people who can come to Thailand to help home school their kids next year.