International Ministries

Camp Brings Us Together

March 14, 2014 Journal by Larry Martin
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Dear Partners in Ministry,

Well, winter is over for us, and we seemed to leap from “Where are the extra blankets?” to “Where are the fans?” overnight.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it’s off to camp we go.

We had a great time at our combined church camp, with four house churches represented.  The fellowship was diverse, and it was good to get to know people better. The teaching sessions were well received, and Pastor Daeng, the speaker, challenged our groups to be outward looking and bring others to know Jesus.  He gave them some tools to do this.

God’s ways are not our ways.

Thank you for your prayers for Tom.  He went home to be with Jesus on February 28.  His wife Noi and their adult children, Flame and Fai, were with him, and we spent some time with them at the hospital during the week. They have been at Payameng Rai for the best part of twenty years.   Most of the members are the fruit of Tom and Noi’s ministry, and they and we will miss him greatly.

Growing up. 

Six months ago we asked members of the home fellowship if anyone would like to host the meeting at their home.  The answer was a firm no, so we have been meeting at our place.  Last week the question was asked again, and this time 0o said he was willing to host, so we are now going to rotate among three homes—ours, Dema and Carolyn’s,  and Oo’s.   As we move from house to house we are able to bring new people into the circle of the fellowship.  We praise God for this sign of growth and ownership.

Scratching our heads again!

We are currently scrambling to find suitable formats for leadership training.  Unfortunately one size does not fit all, and each of the four groups has people with different skills and abilities.  One group is highly literate and others are much less so. We are needing to do a lot of personalized teaching and working in small groups, which is time consuming and taxing, because we are constantly needing to change our method and amount of content to meet the needs and ability of each group and its leaders.

Choices

Our neighbor, landlord and friend, Tor, recently came home drunk on a motorbike, and he hit our co-worker Anna as he attempted to turn into the driveway.  Anna was knocked to the ground but was relatively unharmed.  Tor, however, wasn’t wearing a helmet, and his head took the brunt of the fall.  He spent over a week in the hospital and is slowly recovering at home.  His wife Lon has been coming to church on a regular basis. She gave an interesting comment after the accident: “It was his choice to drink and drive” rather than the comment “It was his Karma.”  Please pray with us for this family, for both physical and spiritual healing.

All work and no play is no fun. 

A visit from Jan’s nephew and wife saw us doing some fun stuff for a few days, and after they left we got a couple of nights in a National Park renowned for woodpeckers.  It was so cold the first night we rented blankets for the second night.  It was worth it, though, because we saw some beautiful birds.

We trust that your lives are giving you opportunities for growth and rest, and again want to thank you for your partnership.

Together for His Kingdom,

Jan and Larry

Prayer and Praise

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