Dear Partners in Ministry
Greetings from Ban Luang. Right now weather is hot and humid, the views are beautiful, the farmers are busy with planting both corn and rice and we seem to be busy.
June has been a month of celebration for Thailand. The King is the longest reigning monarch of any country in the world, and by the way, he was born in Massachusetts. King Phumipol celebrated 60 years on the throne and royalty from around the world joined the party. Thai people all over the country donned yellow shirts (royal colour), public holidays were declared and fireworks lit the skies. The major celebrations are over but we will wear the yellow shirts for the rest of the year.
Jan turned 50 and whilst it was celebrated it was definitely more modest. We went over the border to Laos and had a short vacation. It included a little denial as we lined up for the “Torture Tour” that involved mountain biking, hiking and kayaking. There’s still life in the old legs.
We said good bye to Jan Traill or “Jan 2” as she was known by the students. Jan spent a couple of months with us and helped with teaching and developed a phonetics course that she taught and now we are using as part of our English classes.
Our Saturday evening discipling over with the group at Muana and Villy’s is continuing and going well. We present a Bible story and try to have only one main point which we try to illustrate in a way that is relevant to the context we are in and then we open it up for discussion. As part of our service we have a time where we go over a simple statement of faith, chant a prayer of Thanksgiving and pray for each other and for others in the community. Please continue to pray for the new believers as they grow in their understanding of who they are in Christ.
July seems to be filling up. We are hoping to make a trip to Bangkok to visit and encourage a new missionary in language school attend a meeting, return via Chiang Mai to call in on folk there and a budget meeting. Then later in the month we have a team meeting in Chiang Rai and Jan will go on to a Team Leaders meeting in Chiang Mai. Apart from traveling and going to meetings we’ll be making our rounds of the local schools and spending as much time as we can sharing with our neighbors. We appreciate your prayers for safety and energy in what looks to be a busy month.
Thanks again for your partnership in bringing the gospel to Thailand and specifically Ban Luang. Please pray specifically for a break through, it is our hearts desire to see people here turn to Jesus.
May God continue to work in you and through you.
Larry and Jan