Hey friends, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are able to reflect on and be thankful for all of God's goodness this year. I'm thankful that we were able to celebrate, even here in Thailand, and that I made a pie that actually tasted good. At 85 degrees, it's hard for me to believe that it's actually time to eat turkey and put up the Christmas tree. I have to say, I'm a bit envious of the fall weather back in the states, although it is beginning to cool down here! To follow up on my last update, I did end up needing knee surgery after all... After only a few days, I was already walking again without crutches. Praise Jesus for quick healing and good insurance!
SUPPORT UPDATE:
While doing our financial review recently, it came to my attention that my numbers have fallen a bit in recent months. Please pray with me that God would provide what is lacking and help me to trust Him. If you are interested in helping/giving to my ministry and the work God is doing at CMU, here are some ways you can help:
- Become a monthly partner with me
- Make a special, end of year gift
- Spread the word to a friend who may be interested in partnering with me
Your prayers and support are important to me and play a significant role in what God is doing in the lives of our Thai friends at CMU! You can give through the link below. Thank you!
"let the nations be glad and sing for joy"
This month, we saw a girl named Little join Kelsey and Kana to church for the first time. After only a couple weeks, she became a Christian! God is so good!! She said that she wasn't finding purpose in Buddhism like Christianity offers. Please pray for her to be established in her new faith!
Here is a picture of our most recent cell group, which is another part of our ministry where we come together to pray, worship, and eat! This is for students who have already started following Jesus or are curious about learning more. Most of the students have become believers through the ministry of CO in the past couple years (Earth, Piano, Ploy, Beau and more!)
Our friend Aun (in the red shirt, left side) has been attending every cell group and although he still isn't a Christian, he says he feels accepted by us and is really attracted to the community we have. We have been able to have so many awesome spiritual conversations this year. Pray that God would work in Aun's heart soon!
We have also been able to serve in Engineering a good bit lately by teaching English. We taught two separate classes of 30-35 students. I had a lot of fun teaching idioms among other things, and the students loved the class! I also taught a writing class for a group of PhD and grad students. We've been given lots of favor in this faculty! Pray that it would continue next year and that the students would feel loved and served through the class. I'm also praying that it would be full of freshmen in the future!
He found a cool place to take a nap in the 7/11. Anything goes in Thailand!
Loi Krathong is a Buddhist holiday. They believe they are sending their sin away in the lanterns and banana leaf boats by making tribute to the river goddess. It's been interesting to ask students about their views on sin and how Buddha and Jesus approach it in radically different ways.
In December, my team and I will be headed back to the states for a few weeks to renew our visas and spend Christmas with our families! Thailand recently cancelled the type of visa we currently have so we are pursuing other options for next year. Please pray that all of the pieces would come together quickly and that time in the states would be refueling.
Thank you
for your commitment to being a part of my team! I cannot truly tell you how grateful I am for your prayers and financial investments in what God is doing through me here at Chiang Mai University.