June 2024 Newsletter
This morning, I was teaching one of our Sunday School classes at church and was touched by the prayer of one of the boys in class. This 9-year-old kid has been through a lot this year, because on New Year’s Day, his sister (6) was electrocuted and died on the spot. He doesn't talk much as it is, but today he started to open up to me more than he has in the past, and when class was over, I asked him if he could pray. He prayed the most elegant prayer in Thai, which shocked me a bit, considering his age. I know he was probably just repeating a lot of phrases he has heard from adults around him, but at the same time, it was beautiful to hear these praises come out of the mouth of a kid who has lost so much at such a young age.
Sermon with Ball
Over the last few years, I’ve had the opportunity to serve as one of our sermon translators on Sunday mornings at Baan Athitaan Church. This has stretched my linguistic abilities and has been fun and challenging in a good way. This last week was my last time serving as translator. I was nervous about this sermon topic, because the concept of “the world” in the Bible can be complicated, but I thought Ball did a great job in defining terms well and not straying into isolationist/sectarian territory, while still being brutally honest about the state of this current world. It was a heavy topic, but I still encourage you to give it a listen.
Family Stuff
This past week, we went to Chiang Mai to apply for Theodore’s passport and to make a report of “birth abroad.” We made a vacation out of it, and visited an art museum that we have visited before.
Also, we celebrated Mary Ella’s “half birthday” with “Memaw” since we won’t be in Chiang Rai for her birthday this year. We have made friends with our neighbors at a nearby coffee shop and they love Mary Ella, so they were happy to host for us, and one of her friends from church came too.
Finally, in regards to family, I want to ask you to pray for Liz and her hands. She has had carpal tunnel for years but since Baby Theo has been born, it has flared up and her hands have been numb for several weeks. She went to see a doctor last week, and this week went to physical therapy, but afterwards was in more pain than when she went in.
Some Great Conversations
This month, I had a few great evangelistic encounters. One noteworthy one came from a guy that trains at the same Muay Thai gym that I have started training at over the last few months. He’s an American guy from Louisiana and grew up with both Catholics and Protestants in his family, but isn’t a Christian now. After training one night, we talked for about an hour about all kinds of topics, but ultimately getting down to the bottom of our religious presuppositions. Hopefully I did a good job showing him how bankrupt of a worldview his agnosticism is, and demonstrated well how much more coherent and beautiful biblical Christianity is. That is always my goal in these types of encounters.
A Great Book
These days, I don’t read theology books as much as I used to, but right now I’m reading one that has been a major blessing. It’s called “The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible” by Dr. Michael Heiser, and I recommend it if you are looking for a good book to read.
Prayer Requests:
We have some friends that had to return back to America unexpectedly for about a year, and all while the mom is pregnant. Pray for their transition and this season for them.
We have another friend who is pregnant and is starting to have contractions 4 weeks early. Pray for the baby to be safe and stay “in” as long as he needs to.
On that note, we know a lot of people who are pregnant or have young babies right now (which is awesome!).
We have a team coming in a few weeks from Mississippi to help us with outreach. Pray for their trip and that all would go well!
As you know, it is election season in America, and there is a lot to pray about in our society right now. I am not an alarmist, but I acknowledge that there are a lot of people struggling spiritually, financially, and psychologically, as our societies continue their stubborn descent into perversion and demonic disregard for human life and dignity. We need more than a change in presidency; we need a full-blown awakening in our nation and the nations (like Thailand) who are directly affected by what happens in America.
THANKS FOR BEING PART OF THE TEAM!
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