updates in February

I guess you thought I would never get back here. It has been really busy. Our friends from CM came in February, they had some work to do on a written language for a local peoples group.

When they arrived, our friend Maggie from B also came. She stayed with us a week, telling the kids stories and talking to them a bit. The kids who come around really enjoyed it, and it was very encouraging to me.

One afternoon, we were sitting on the front porch and she had some pictures, she was telling them Bible stories. Or gospel stories, I guess you could say. In the middle of it, Saw Twey (eight years old, from B) asked her something in B language. She said something back to him, and he turned and said to me, in Thai, PaDeng would you teach me every day? She asked me what he had said, and I told her. She said, "He just asked me that same question in B language, and I told him he needed to ask you himself." So that was such an encouragement to me. I have been very concerned about the lack of understanding with these kids, we cannot speak their language. And here I understood everything that had transpired without their language! What a blessing.

Saw Twey and his sister Asah both wanted to study. So the next day they started coming. I told them I don't have time for all day, only two hours in the morning. So we study math, and Thai, and B language. It is slow going.

Two days ago, I went home with them at noon to meet their mom and say hello to her. Their family lives in a room smaller than (probably) your bedroom. And there are 5 in the family if everyone is home. Mom, Dad, older brother (age 27) Asah (age 10) and Saw Twey (age 8). Saw Twey is sick all the time. Probably because of how they live, and probably their eating habits. The two of them come and sit and try to study, and always polite and do what they're told. They maybe putting on a show, but they are doing a good job of it. I was not soliciting for any students but here we are.

Also, on the day after Maggie came, Ahjong came to our Phuket meeting. He is the husband of one of the congregation members in Phuket. He is a pastor in CM, but he only has to preach once a month. Travelling preachers preach the other weeks. The interesting thing with him is that he speaks his native Lisu language, as well as T, B, English, and some others too. After we met him, we said, hey, in your village you have lots of preachers, we have none! Doesn't seem right. We were joking but not really. He rode home with us that afternoon to see where we were, and went back to Phuket on the bus. Then Tuesday am he came back, he and M went visiting and he "scoped things out." He was really interested and is PRAYING ABOUT MOVING HERE TO OUR VILLAGE. What an answer to prayer.

Quiet Time

The students are on holiday. The cape folks are unavailable due to overtime. The computer is finally working again.

We booked tickets for furlough. Went to "the cape" in Phuket with the Patong group for Christmas, and now spent hours trying to get the video camera to load onto the computer, what a mess that is!

The Lord watches over us. B food for Christmas dinner.

Happy Holidays!

How do you know the funeral is over?

Multiple choice:
a) they turn off the loud music, take down the tents.
b) they put away the gambling table.
c) they take away the fish drying racks.
d) seven days have passed.
e) they take the soap(body) to the watt (temple) for burning.
f) ALL OF THE ABOVE....

Hurry up and wait

The cape has been a little bit of a frustrating project. A group of B, professing to want to know more about the Bible and the gospel. But something keeps getting in the way. The truth is, we really need a translator. JanPhen's husband is our current go-between, but his only real skill is his own language. He know a little English, and a little Thai, but most of the time, his Thai is not too distinct, and she has to serve as a go-between through still another language. So perhaps the Lord thinks it is too much. We showed two different B language films, the first with a "greater love" theme, and the second a short documentary on Jesus Christ.

Last week we planned on delivering some Bibles and other written material, at their request, but last week and this week they called to say that they had to work overtime and that it wasn't convenient.

We have been praying that A., one of our "congregation" (and our translator in Phuket) would be able to go. He has been praying about it but it just has not become a priority. I guess the Lord knew that the group at the cape would end up not being available.

So we desire to be able to guide them, but the door is only open a little for now!
Please pray that it opens wide, in the Lord's time.

giving thanks

Today M baptised N in the Andaman Sea. For some reason, N asked M last week if he would baptise him. He said he was ready. I think it might have related to the message last week, "three enemies of the child of God who wants to learn the Bible." M had talked to N previously, knowing he was newly saved and not yet baptised. But he was not ready to make the decision to do it. Last week he asked, and so today off we went. Everybody had hoped for a quiet swimming pool, but it wasn't to be. The water was a little rough, the sun was a little bright, and M said that under water there it was loaded with rocks. Hard to keep your balance. Half a dozen people went with us, and M and N had to try to keep their balance while the small group insisted on singing all verses of "are you washed in the blood." Finally finished, N followed the Lord in believer's baptism with a big smile and a round of amens from our small group. A few curious folks looked on. We went on our way rejoicing for how good the Lord is to us.

When the key is the key

Last Thursday, we packed up our projector, our screen, and our film in B language with B actors. Excited to finally get to start a witness/teaching process with this group. Still have no translator, but the film is a witness in itself and is a place to start. When we got to the "camp" we jumped out of the car. People were still in their "getting home" process, getting baths, dinner, and relaxing a little after a hard day of construction in the hot sun. J asked M to lock the car, since her purse was inside. Then we greeted those who were already there, and started talking about where to set up the screen and the projector. Once the logistics were worked out, M went back to the car to unload stuff. Unfortunately at this point, he realized the car was well locked, with the keys safely inside.

Not a BIG problem, but we were sort of in the middle of nowhere, keys in the car, after business hours for most local key places.....And sparing the details, after almost two hours a professional (?) arrived and opened the door in less than five minutes. A little discouraging for our first "witness."

But the good news, is they still wanted us to show the film. Their enthusiasm for a REAL B language film was appreciable. Some folks did depart before we got the "key" problem taken care of, but a number of them did not. Afterwards, several men talked to JamPhan's boyfriend, who is the same nationality as them, and they expressed a real desire to know and understand more.

By then it was getting late, and we plan to continue, LW, this week. What a blessing! Had we left right after getting the vehicle open, it would have been a discouraging evening. But the Lord had His hand on it, for people that appear to be sincerely interested in seeking Him.