“Grandma — Grandma! Hello!”
The motorbike slowed and the three kids onboard waved and gave me huge grins. I recognized those smiles. These were three of the kids who came to our Bible/Engish camp here in San Sai where we live. The driver was far too young to be driving a motorbike, but that’s not unusual here.
Our camp project finished up last week with a different sort of group. We taught our first two camps in the mountains, with tribal children. Most of them had been at least exposed to Christianity because we have churches in the villages. Those kids have few opportunities and nothing much to occupy them during the dusty summer months. They all came, eager to be doing something. Even the adults congregated around to see what was going on and wound up coloring pictures and doing crafts with the children.
We gave the third camp for the Thai children in our neighborhood. These kids live on a level more like the kids in the U.S., with televisions and video games. They came (or were sent) to learn English. They were all Buddhist and only the ones that come to our Sunday School were in any way familiar with the Bible stories. What a privilege to be the first one to share the Gospel with them!
Fewer kids came, but that worked out fine. We don’t have much room outside at the rental property where we live. The 16 or 17 kids put us at capacity. We had just three days, but tried to pack them full of fun and English teaching. Most of all, we tried to introduce them to our wonderful God. Please pray with us that God will use the seeds planted and grow eternal fruit from them!
Coming up:
*We will be traveling in the mountains for a couple of weeks “doing medicine.” The tribal peoples can’t afford medical care, or can’t get to the city to obtain it, or can’t talk to the doctors if they do get there. Or a combination of all three. We are happy to have Brother Ricky Cash, a pharmacist from Mississippi, to advise us as we give out medicines to these needy folks.
*On April 20, we will have our last court date. We hope! Please pray with us that will happen without a lot of drama.
*The kids are out of school until May 18, so we may have time for another Bible camp after our medical mission trip. There are several villages who have asked us to come. We just need to work out the logistics and have it where other villages can come, too.
*Please pray with us about a permanent location. We can’t get our former property back, but we do need a place. The kids’ ID’s are tied to a location, and it has made difficulties that we only have a rental address. Also, we need a central location to hold the preachers’ school, as well as our regular church services and other means of outreach. We have learned from past mistakes and have everything in place to hold property legally and securely. Rental payments take up a big chunk of our support, and we want to use the gifts from God’s people wisely. We don’t want to get ahead of the Lord, though, so we are praying for wisdom and asking our friends and supporters to pray with us, too.
Thank you for your prayers and the support that make our work here possible!
Blessings from Thailand,
Susan
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