Larry and Jan Martin
International Ministries, Ban Luang Thailand.
June 2005
Dear Partners In Ministry
Seasons change and with the new seasons bring new challenges. Right now we are moving out of the hot dry season into the hot sticky season the prospect of rain is heightened as clouds, storms and showers tease us but, as of now no real soaking rain. Our neighbors are planting corn and then they'l start preparing the paddies for the rice. We indulged in a little corn planting with some friends and finished our time by determining to invent a tool that dispenses 2 corn seeds at a time.
Rat and more rats. Rats seem to be seasonal and usually a few traps and a few burials and it is all over - but not this year we have disposed of a fair few but there are more! They dance on our ceiling at night, saunter around the rafters in plain view and birth ratlets in drawers ( none of which is popular). This morning the village headman was distributing rat poison to the masses, so hopefully well be rat free again soon.
Schools back and our lives have taken on more of a formal routine again with regular teaching appointments at various schools and at our home. In one school Larry has been promoted from teaching years 4, 5 & 6 to teaching 7, 8 & 9. It is fun to see the kids progressing, getting both bigger and more skilled. (It can be frustrating too, as some kids just don't seem to be getting much.) We spent some time at the end of the school vacation time getting new teaching materials ready to face the challenge of being fun and relevant as we teach.
A further challenge in that department was getting the computers up and running again. A storm took out the one we use and various problems have plagued the 2 old ones we have for students use to do their assignments for school on. We are now all up and running ready for the onslaught.
We had a farewell party for our senior students the other night as they are all going off to various universities and colleges around the country. They will be back to visit of course but some of them may never return here to live. Saying goodbye to them reminded us of the challenge we have to present the gospel through both our words and lives, to those God brings into our lives for a season. We pray that as their worlds are opened to new experiences that they will remember some of the things we've shared with them and be challenged by the claims of Jesus on their lives.
Earlier in May our team met and had some really good discussion on the subject of reaching out to the Thai people. The challenge we as a team have accepted is to find ways to share the gospel to the Thai people in a way that is easy to understand. Church growth here is still very slow.
Recently another team member shared about the challenge of being Jesus in his community. This of course is a challenge to each of us. May we all touch lives for Jesus.
Yours in His Kingdom
Larry and Jan
Prayer and Praise Points
Give Thanks for safe travel, and continue to pray for us in this area. We have recently been assigned a car and can now do trips much quicker and more comfortably.
Give thanks for the successful renewal of our visas
Pray for our oldstudents pray that God will speak to and challenge them on a spiritual level in their new situation ( Kat< Jane Pray for Gold, he still calls in and wants to chat Pray that God would give Gold a hunger for spiritual things not just knowledge. Pray for a team visiting from Melbourne this month. Pray that they will be blessed, challenged and used by God. Pray for us as a team as we look to writing simple tracts / catechisms that will be used of God to touch the hearts of the readers. Pray that the relationships we build through teaching English will bear fruit for the Kingdom.