July 2024 Newsletter

One of my biggest prayer requests this last quarter was that I would have more opportunities to have conversations about Jesus and Christianity with those who aren’t yet Christians. God answered that prayer, because just in the last week, I have had 3 different conversations with new people. They weren’t earth-shaking, but they were opportunities to plant seeds, which is exciting in a country where the population is less than 3% Christian. 

The first was with an 80-year-old Korean man from San Francisco who is spending a few months in Thailand for a personal getaway. He told me about how he lost most of his family in the Korean war, how a Christian family in the Bay Area took him in when he was 20 years old, and– sadly– how he doesn’t go to church anymore because he doesn’t like how “strong” Korean Christians are. (Whatever that means.) I listened to him without judgment for a while and eventually invited him to our bilingual church while he is in Chiang Rai. 

The second conversation was with a personal trainer that I just started working with for at least the next month. He told me that he had been to a church twice before, and said that the owner of the gym is a Christian too. He is a Buddhist by family tradition, but I am looking forward to having more conversations with him as we spend more time together. 

The last conversation was the most impactful to me, because it was so heavy. I had a conversation with a Chinese student who shared how her grandparents were Christians. We had a great conversation and she was very curious to know what I thought about “religion” in general. After the conversation, I invited her to church and she told me that she couldn’t go because it was illegal for her and she was afraid.

Knowing what is happening in China and hearing her express such fear over the consequences of what would happen if she went to church, all while knowing that she comes from a family with Christian grandparents, struck my heart to the core. I drove home in a state of shock, feeling the weight of the enemy that we are up against when it comes to the Chinese Communist Party. Only God can bring down such an evil giant with so much power over a billion people here in Asia. 

Interestingly, even though the rate of these “encounters” has increased, my expectations have, at the same time, become more realistic. When I first moved to Thailand, I was very idealistic. I thought, if I could just learn the Thai language, I could make such a big difference here. In one very real sense, I wasn’t wrong– learning the language has given me access to the hearts and minds of 50 million people who don’t speak English. (Not to mention the respect of foreigners who come here and find learning Thai a daunting task.) 

But on the other hand, the deeper I have gotten, the more I see why Thailand is so unreached, and how long societal change can take. I am still optimistic, but I realize now that it might not be in my lifetime that I get to see the harvest reaped by all the seeds that we are sowing now. And that’s okay. 

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:6)

Mississippi Team

We had a team come from Mississippi at the beginning of July and help us with some local school “English Fun Days” as well as some events at church (most notable, our 4th of July party). 

Travel Plans

We will be leaving Chiang Rai on September 1st, staying in Bangkok for a few days, and then flying out. We will fly through Qatar, then Dallas, and arrive in Memphis on September 4th. Mary Ella did well last time we flew, but now we have a four-year-old AND a baby, so this will be a practice in the ancient art of patience and waiting.

Prayer Requests:

• Pray that these conversations don’t stop! 

• We know a ton of people who were or are pregnant this year. Some of them have had their babies already. I know I mentioned this before, but please pray for the health of all these babies, and for patience and wisdom for all the parents.

• We have had a series of health challenges this past month. Liz’s hands are getting better, but one of them is still a bit numb. We’ve all had viruses. Baby has had a stomach bug. And just the other day, one of Mary Ella’s tooth caps fell off, and we found out that one of her other teeth is loose! This poor girl has had so many problems with her teeth. Pray that everything goes well at the dentist on Sunday. 

• Pray with us against the spirits of darkness that keep people in bondage, whether that be on liberal college campuses in America, on display at the Olympics, or here in Asia. “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:18)
  

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