New Thai Friends and Update on Soi Dog

The past few weeks have been very encouraging in terms of making Thai contacts. We started going to a church near our home where some other missionaries were attending. They moved to Chiang Mai just three weeks ago but before moving they introduced us to their neighbors. We weren’t sure if these neighbors would take to us but it turns out they have! They live the next street over from us, which is great and convenient. Anyway, we’ve been able to have the little girl (12 years old) and one of her friends (13 years old) in our home for a visit as well as taking them to church with us on Sunday. They like to play games with us (as hard as it is to explain how to play a game!) and they like chatting with us and looking at pictures of our families. It is a delight to see these two young girls desire to go to church. Of course there is a huge language barrier but for the most part they are pretty patient with us and just keep repeating things over and over again until we understand! Anyway, tonight just as I was about to give PJ a shower, the younger girl and her mom stopped by our house. Paul was on his way out to a meeting and yelled in at me that they were here. I was surprised that they had stopped by so late (it was only 7PM!). They didn’t want to come in, but they just dropped off a gift of fruit for us! The fruit is called durian and if you have never heard of it before now let me tell you a little about it. It has yellow flesh and the smell will knock you off your feet, but honestly the taste isn’t that bad. Thais love the stuff and most farangs won’t go near it! I, for one, am thankful for the fruit and am looking forward to eating it with my breakfast in the morning! Mostly, I was humbled by this gift. More and more I am finding the Thais to be so generous in just little ways like this. I can learn so much from them.
Please continue to pray for our relationship with these girls. I believe God has begun a work in their lives. Let’s pray together for their salvation and that they will grow to love and honor the true and living God. Also the church where we are attending has several girls their age that also attend. Pray that those relationships would be firmly established as well.

I also wanted to give an update on the dog issue. This afternoon as we were heading out to our favorite place to eat here in Lopburi, I spotted the dog that bit my shoe last week. The owners have muzzled the dog...so no more biting for that pooch. Thank you for your continued prayers for our safety here. I have been reading verses on fear and have been encouraged by our Lord that He is good and faithful and there is no need to fear. One verse in particular that really stood out to me was in Psalm 23...verse 4, "Even though I walk thru the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me." Granted I don't feel like I am walking thru the valley of the shadow of death but I have found great comfort in God's words that He is with us and we have nothing to fear. Elsewhere the Bible says, "if God is for us, who can be against us?" Again I find great comfort in these words. If you have a verse on fear, please feel free to share it with me. Post a comment or send us an email. It will greatly encourage our hearts.