Hi friends. Sorry for the long delay in blog posting. It's not that there is not a lot to post about but more like we have lacked the internet connection to do so but even if we had the internet connection we would have lacked time as well!
So, I will try to catch you up on the happenings as of late and give you a glimpse at what is to come before Paul leaves for a trip in just a few minutes (and he will be taking the computer with him, so again, this will be it for a few days!). I am sorry that some of the recent happenings have not been dictated to you and so you haven't known how to pray, but I hope that the Spirit of the Lord was pricking your heart to prayer for our team anyways...even without the posts. God IS at work here and it's SOOOO encouraging to our hearts and hopefully to yours to hear and see what God is doing.
Where to begin? I guess I will begin with the results of the basketball tournament that Paul went to a few weeks ago. I wish I could say that they went, they won, they conquered but unfortunately they went, they lost, they came home! BUT, not without God opening doors of opportunity to share the Gospel with the guys with whom Paul went. Thank you for praying with us and this trip. Paul was able to deepen relationships with some of the other guys he regularly plays basketball with and was even able to share why he is here and the hope he has in Christ. A few days later began the biggest Thai holiday and that would be none other than Thai New Year. This is the equivalent to Christmas. EVERYONE goes home (up country) and Bangkok is almost a ghost town and the entire nation is in one huge water war. It's a lot of fun but there is also a lot of drinking of alcohol during this time which also makes it a deadly time to be driving. And, one of Paul's friends was killed in a drinking and driving accident one of the nights during this festival. Oat played basketball with Paul regularly and was only 28 years old. Paul attended a viewing for Oat along with some of the other basketball guys and was deeply saddened because most likely Oat is not in heaven with our Savior. Needless to say, this death opened up great doors for Paul to share with many more from the b-ball court. Please pray that God would open up more and more opportunities for Paul and others to share more and more about Christ. Pray for the Holy Spirit to soften hearts to receive Christ Jesus as Lord.
When all this was taking place some other things came to light in the lives of one Thai couple which caused great grief within our hearts. I was so discouraged and wondered what God was doing...but then He assured me He is at work in the lives of our friends and though they must walk thru some dark trials, He IS able to save and He is able to use their hard times to bring them to Himself. I remember Dave (our team leader) challenging us to pray for discomfort for our Thai friends so that they might know Christ and I have prayed that prayer for many of them, many times, but alas, it is hard to see our dear friends suffer and I feel at a loss to offer any hope, unless they repent and believe. I believe God also revealed that because He is at work, our enemy is also at work and we must be prepared for this warfare we find ourselves in. Please pray against the work of Satan and please pray that we would be properly armored to fight this fight (Ephesians 6).
And, lastly, yesterday (Sunday) we returned from a two day church camp at the beach. It was wonderful. Many folks came who do not yet know Christ as Lord. We had times of worship and we also had times of teaching. I had the opportunity to meet with many who do not yet believe and it's encouraging to hear that several of them are so close to receiving Christ but have some reservation, mostly due to their parents. You see, in Buddhism, when your parents die, you as a child are to go and make merit for your deceased parents and when the child becomes a Christian the parents feel they are then without hope as their child will not be making merit for them. Pray for God to reveal that He is able to give more hope than merit making could ever dream to give...pray for families to come to know Christ.
On the other hand, I also spoke with some who were not interested and quite obviously the eyes of their heart are darkened. This was hard but again it reminds us that only the Holy Spirit can open the heart to receive His WORD and we must persevere in prayer on behalf of them.
This is just a nutshell of our lives the past few weeks. Again, God is at work. It's neat to hear from the Thais their thoughts on Christianity and their interest and even for some to hear how God has been calling them for some time but have yet to repent and believe. Please pray for God's Spirit to soften those hearts to do just that. We praise God for all of you who pray for us, our team and the Thais we love who do not yet know Christ. Please persevere in prayer, not giving up for God is building His kingdom and we must wait on His timing and His Spirit to work. Pray that we would be faithful witnesses and proclaim Christ to everyone at every opportunity.
Once Paul gets back I will try to post some pics of the past few weeks. =)
2 comments:
Crystal,
Seems like it has been a spiritually trying and yet rich time there. I am so sorry to hear about Oat. Jack told me about that from Paul's email. I really can not believe that. I pray that God will really use such a tragedy to draw other students, kids and adults to himself. We'll be praying for the couple going through issues as well. I'm sure it is a "busy stretch" there with Bronsons and Veldhorsts getting ready to head out. I hope that you and the Mills will have a great summer holding down the fort and may God give you grace upon grace during that time of being short handed. I wish I could come for a week or two to lend a hand. :) I hope you are well. Miss you much.
have you booked your ticket yet?! we'd love to have you here. thanks for your prayers, in advance. God has great things in store, I feel certain of it! thanks for the encouraging words.
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