First off, I would like to inform you all of a certain event that occurred a few nights ago. The girls are living in the Lighthouse Church with 4 Burmese women. The other night, a man got into the church through a window where the girls sleep. He made his way downstairs and into the bed of one of the Burmese woman. He began to touch her when another woman woke up and started screaming. He got up and ran out of the same window he came through. Let us thank God that nothing worse happened to any of the woman in that church. It could have been a lot worse, but God protected them. Please pray for continued safety while we are here. The police got involved the next day and we are waiting to see what happens next. Until then, us guys have moved into the Lighthouse with the girls. We want to make sure they are as safe as possible.
On a brighter note, seven people came to accept Christ yesterday on the last day of our camp! We hosted a few days worth of programming for young adults. We taught English, played games, went swimming, taught music, built friendships and did some teaching. Near the end of the day we shared the story of Jesus with them. It was cool because most of these youth had never heard of Jesus before. Thailand is about 1% Christian and the rest Buddhist. These youth (all around 17 years old) decided to accept Christ into their lives that day. It was awesome. We gave them bibles and prayed for them. They came to church this morning and we got to reconnect with them there. We plan to see a lot of them over the next three weeks.
We spent the afternoont at Dave and Louise’s house with all the youth. We played games, had lunch, and just hung out. It reminded me of our youth group at home. It’s exciting to be a part of this community. There are so many incredible youth in this church. The other night, Aaron and I had a sleepover in the Bethel church with one of the youth that is particularly fond of our ACTION Team. His name is Doh. He always wants to hang out and learn English. We spent all night playing Need for Speed on his laptop, watching him break dance, flipping through photos of Canada and my family on my laptop, and flipping through Thai – English phrasebooks trying to communicate and get to know each other. It’s awesome that through an obvious language barrier, we could still communicate. He’s become a good friend of mine already. Most of the students we are working with are almost finished high school. It’s my favourite age to chill with. Kids are a bit of a stretch for me...Eek! Is that bad? I don’t care... ha!
Speaking of bad... we found a snake in the Lighthouse. Jody was filling up water one morning when she spotted it in the kitchen. Naturally, I was horrified and paralyzed with fear. Later that morning Dave heard of the snake and knew he had to get rid of it. The idiot went searching for the snake. I could not have been caught dead hunting for a snake. Anyways, he found it and it was all like... swirling and flipping all over the place while Dave was pushing it across the room with a broom stick and flinging it into the air. I almost passed out. It came within three feet from me in all the madness. Everyone was yelling, but I’ll admit I yelled the loudest. My heart was actually beating so hard I could physically feel it in my chest. Dave proceeded to through a rope at me about 30 seconds after the snake exited my presence, and I almost dropped a few colourful words. We saw another snake crossing the road last night. I live in constant fear. Other than the snakes, I feel like I could live here. The heat doesn’t bother me at all. We live in constant dampness. Again I say, I’ve never experienced humidity like this before. Unreal! It’s like you’re swimming through air.
In other news, I saw Harry Potter last night in Bangkok. It was perfect. We had dinner in the mall, and we spent the evening just relaxing. A few of us jumped at the chance. It was life changing.
Ok! Please continue to pray for our ministry here. We have endless opportunities here to share, speak, work and hang out with youth. We are building some strong relationships already with both youth in the church and youth that we meet at our English classes. Continue to pray for those students in our English classes that they would come to know God and also come to church with us. Pray for the congregations of the Thai and Burmese churches. We spend our time between both churches and have loved working with everyone we’ve met. Pray for safety and health. With a demanding schedule, please pray for energy and excitement as the days go on. You can also pray that God would continue to give us serving hearts and selfless attitudes. Pray that we would constantly be reminded of why we are here and that we would not lose focus. We have flown all the way across the world to do this. Let us not take any minute for granted!
Thank you for the prayers and I hope to update again in a few days.
**** New pictures posted too!!! ****
Love,
Team Thailand
Such a great update! It's wonderful to hear what God is doing through you, and you desire to focus on what needs to be done. Keep it up, we are praying for you!
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