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| overlooking Sa-haht-sa-khan |
Dear Partners in Ministry,
We pray that
you are doing well and are encouraged in the Lord. Next month we will celebrate
1 year of living in Asia. Please let us know how you are doing and how we can
be praying for you.
Field Trip Update to Kalasin Province
The end of
May we went on our field trip to check out Sahatsakhan district in the province
of Kalasin in Isaan/Northeast Thailand. Sahasakhan (Sa-haht-sa-khan) is a rural
community surrounded by little farming villages. Kalasin team leaders, Rolf and
Elfie Gerber (Swiss missionaries with OMF), have been serving here for maybe
over a year now. Tuu, a Christian Isaan woman, has returned to her village
after Bible school with the vision of reaching her village for Christ. There
are a few believers in Sahatsakhan and Rolf, Elfie, and Tuu meet with them for
worship and teaching. We are happy to report that we will be joining the
Kalasin team and we will move to Sahatsakhan sometime in the beginning of
October!
The Kalasin
Province is a province with many districts without a church, it requires a lot
of pioneer work. The people are bound by merit making and do not know that
their Creator has already made merit for them once and for all. This is why we
press on here in Thailand and in language studies, so that people may know that
by His wounds we are healed and that we no longer have to work for
righteousness; instead we receive the free gift of God’s righteousness provided
in Christ and because of that get to enjoy their Creator forever.
Exploring Kalasin
While on our
field trip, we were able to do outreaches with the team in 2 different
villages. Opportunities opened up for Rolf to preach the gospel, which was a
neat experience. We were able to visit the Haechton family (American friends
from language school) and observe their life/ministry in Kham Muang, Kalasin.
Moriah loves their 3 boys! We also had the privilege of witnessing one of the
new believers from their church get baptized. Overall our field trip went
really well, we are very excited for the things to come.
More “preparation” for Ministry
in Kalasin (ie, plans are constantly
changing)
We planned to spend five days in Kalasin for our field
trip and then take a little vacation! We planned to head to Sisaket, a province
about 5 hours south to spend some time with a Thai/Isaan family we know and
attend Jenn’s old church. On the first day of our
“vacation” post field trip, our car broke down. But…it broke down in the
perfect spot. We were staying overnight in the town of our Dutch missionary
friends, the Van Heiningens. They took
good care of us and we were able to observe their life and church in
Mahasarakham province. This is the same family that rushed us to the hospital
in Bangkok during Jenn’s miscarriage. We are very grateful for them! 3 days
later…we went on to Sisaket and had a wonderful reunion with old friends in Ban
Tum village. We spent a day and a half with Jenn’s old host family, the
Lukboons. Moriah had a blast but was terrified when Taa (the host dad/grandpa)
tried to get her to eat a fried grasshopper. Jason ate them, no problem! After
time with them, we headed to a mountainous area called Khao Yai for 3 days for
some R&R. After all the travel, we
are very grateful to be home and back in routine.
Prayer
Points:
*To find a suitable home in
Sahatsakhan
*Endurance in language study
*Safety while we live in
Thailand (especially on the road!)
*The hearts of the Thai/Isaan
people in Kalasin would be open to the gospel
With much love,
“A dead Christ I must do everything for; a living Christ does everything
for me.” (Andrew Murray)
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| handing out "Christ in Every Home" literature in a village in Sa-haht-sa-khan |
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| Buddha image that overlooks the city of Sa-haht-sa-khan |
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| family pic in Sa-haht-sa-khan |
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| Visiting friends in Kham Muang district in Kalasin |
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| Reunion with "the girls" in Ban Tum village - I hadn't seen them in 7 years! | Yat, Loy, Jup?, Ayo |
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| Moriah with Pah and Meeh (she calls them Yaay and Daa) |
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| Cruising around Ban Tum |
