Home dedication ceremony.
I slung the heavy, wet blanket over the clothesline and stretched my aching arms. This was load number 12 of bedding for the day. Washing load after load and hanging it out to dry is tiring, but at least I didn’t have to wash it all by hand! And the labor is for a good cause. Preachers’ training will start again this month. The bedding for preachers had been in storage through the months of restrictions due to Covid 19. In Thailand that means spiders and dust as well as gecko droppings, in spite of efforts to keep the blankets sealed. The bags had sprouted holes and the blankets were in dire need of washing.
Thailand is continuing to open up and we are able to meet in groups again. We hoped to have the first preachers’ training in our new building this month, but moving day still hasn’t arrived. It was scheduled for this past Monday, but has moved again to “maybe next week.” We may have to use the leaky carport at the rent house one more time, but the guys are coming for the teaching. That’s all that really matters.
We are so happy to be able to travel to the villages again. We had a wonderful time at a LiSu village last Saturday. One of the LiSu pastors had a house dedication (pictured above.) Several LiSu churches were invited, as well local Buddhist people. We heard lots of singing! Paul preached and Bro. Matt also gave a short Gospel message. We were glad to have Bro. Matt and his two older kids, Cohen and Lyla, join our family as we sang and quoted Bible verses.
This trio was one of many groups who sang.
This was a special service in more ways than one. Moses interprets for Paul at our church services at home. This was the first time for. him to interpret for a large group. He was nervous, but studied diligently all week. He did a great job! It's a blessing to see fruit from our labors. Moses came to us as a 17-year-old with almost no English. He is 20 now, fluent in English, and still working hard to improve his skills. He is eager to serve and no task is too big or too insignificant for him to tackle. We are proud of him!
After the service we had a lunch of noodles. I managed them with chopsticks, but not very gracefully! I think chopsticks would be a good diet tool. It takes me so long to get anything into my mouth I would surely eat much less. It’s hardly worth the trouble!
Then Bro. Matt and I “did medicine” under the steamy tent. The morning cool had long gone and sweat dripped down my face as the long lines of people inched past. The people were so happy to get the help, though. It’s a definite way of showing our love for them. As usual with the LiSu people, we had lots of requests for medicine for joint pain and for worms as well as for the regular stomachaches, headaches, and itchy rash complaints.
I was just about wiped out by the time we finished, but we weren’t through yet. We had the joyous occasion of a baptism. Bro. Matt and Paul baptized a lovely young lady at a spring near the village. We were invited to her family’s house afterward to celebrate her 18th birthday. Then, at last, home.
I didn't manage to get a picture from the baptism, but here we are with a group of the LiSu people near the spring where it took place.
Now we are busy planning our own dedication of our new building. We want it to be an outreach to our Thai community and to the Hill Tribes villages we work with. But we have to move in first, and moving day keeps receding into the future! Please pray for us as we keep packing and then unpacking and searching through packed stuff for things we now need.
Meanwhile, the kids are doing well in the Learning Center. Our advanced students are improving daily and two of our new full-time students are forging ahead in reading and in English by leaps and bounds. One is struggling. We are pretty sure he has attention deficit problems. We would appreciate prayers for Danny and for me as I look for ways to help him.
We are so ready to be settled and getting down to work. I’m looking forward to starting up our English classes in the evenings. It’s such a great way to reach out to the Thai community. It’s another on the list of things we will do “as soon as we move in….”
We appreciate all your prayers for us during this exciting, but challenging time. We know that God’s timing is perfect. Our days are busy serving Him. We have kids to teach and Paul has been able to reach out to others at the park where he takes them each evening to play soccer or TaKraw. Paul stays in contact with the preachers and, in fact, is traveling to meet with some from Myanmar today. We are just impatient to be at work serving Him more. He is good and we love Him! It's a privilege to be here, teaching and sharing about Him.
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