Dear Partners in Ministry

Wow, what a month!

2014 has kicked off to great start.

We had our first combined all house-church meeting, bringing the three house churches together for a Thanksgiving New Year celebration.  It was good to finally get all the groups together, and the Ban Sra groups did well as the hosts.

But now there are four.

A group has started near Anna’s home.  Anna has been sharing with some older folk, and they are now meeting to study the word of God on a regular basis.  This group is meeting weekly at Lung Nan Tuct’s place.  Just before the last meeting Anna was excited about getting a call from a lady wanting to join the group for the first time.

These boots were made for walking.

Then we had Robyn and David with us for just over a week. Robyn is a physio who has been here before, and this time she visited both young and old, bringing very special blessings of kindness and concern.  Looking at the big picture for the whole family, she was able to give positive, practical help.  Robyn brought a number of pairs of pre-loved boots that we were able to get re-soled locally, and Bai Toon looks great in hers.

While Robyn was out with Jan, David helped Larry with teaching in schools and indeed became the teacher when Larry’s voice gave in to a head cold.  He also helped Larry train a language teacher.  Our neighbor, Lon, will be the language nurturer for Petina when she comes later in the year.  David enjoyed learning Thai, and Lon did well as a teacher, showing only a little frustration.

We saw goral (a rare, goat-antelope). 

After we had worked David and Robyn solidly for nine days we took them to Doi Intanon, a national park near Chiang Mai, where we enjoyed (?) being cold and saw the goral on the rocky slopes of the mountain. 

Welcome back.

Dema and Carolyn have returned from home assignment.  It is great to have them back.   They found a house, and we have been getting it cleaned up and ready for use.  The original price was a little high, but we sent Anna, our Chinese business person, around to do the final negotiations, and we got it for a reasonable price.  The owner lives in Nan city, and the lady in the family is a believer and was keen to have the house used for ministry, so she influenced her husband.

We pray that you, too, have started the year well.  May you know his presence and blessing throughout the year.  Thank you for your invaluable ongoing partnership.

Jan and Larry

Prayer points

On a sadder note a Thai friend and colleague hah been diagnosed with cancer that spread to his brain, spine and ribs. He passed away last Friday.  Tom, his wife Noi, their children, Flame and Fai and the church at Payameng Rai would appreciate your prayers at this time.

·         Combined church camp, please pray for the speaker who has a lot of experience with house churches.

·         Pray for Dema and Carolyn as they settle back in.

·         Pray for Jocelyn who is coming for a couple of months to help with homeschooling Grace and Daniel.  Pray that someone comes to follow on in the homeschooling in April.

·         Pray for Anna as she concludes her ministry here to move back to Hong Kong in March.

·         Pray for the house churches and the training of their leadership.

·         Please pray for the political situation in Thailand. Everything is normal here but, what we see and read from Bangkok is disturbing.