Boondeekhun's Bulletin

Thai people love a celebration and Christmas is no exception, so we always take the opportunity to share the good news of the nativity with our friends and neighbours. All three of our churches are planning to hold events and are busy preparing. Maesan will be on the 14th December with a family celebration, inviting children from the local primary school along with their parents. Wang Daeng is on the 13th and 21st December. The first of these is for the village health volunteers and the second for family and friends. Ban Dara has decided to hold theirs outdoors in the local market area with performances by both children and adults in the congregation. A local Christian band will also be playing, and there will be games, food and gifts. This will be on 21st December in the early evening.

We praise God for all those who have come to faith in the past year or so. All the churches have people ready to be baptised which is exciting. In Maesan they held their first baptismal service in many years on 7th December with three new believers dedicating their lives to follow Jesus. It was such a joyful occasion for them and the whole church as they gathered down by the river. Please pray for them as they are likely to face opposition and hostility in the coming days.

In early October we attended the TBMF conference, which had the theme of REST: Refresh, Engage, Surrender and Trust. It was a wonderful refreshing and uplifting time. Straight after that we travelled south for a family reunion with Helen's two sisters and brother, our son, daughter in law and granddaughter, as well as several nieces and their partners - 13 of us in all. It was the first time that Helen and her siblings have been all together in one place for 31 years! It was a very special and enjoyable time.

Thailand is currently in a time of mourning for the Queen Mother who passed away at the end of October. The protestant churches in Uttaradit decided to hold a memorial service in Wang Daeng in our lovely new building. There were about 150 people crammed in for a time of giving thanks for the life of Queen Sirikit. It was combined with a time of heartfelt prayer for the district of Tron, a gospel sermon and a powerful testimony. Several people responded to the appeal, including Blue, Suree's 12 year old granddaughter. Educational scholarships for those in need were awarded to 21 local young people.

We praise God that the football ministry is up and running again thanks to Ajarn Tah coming to help us as a football coach. There are now two teams who practice three days a week. At the end of November they travelled to Petchabun province for a competition within the Immanuel Football League.

Ajarn Tah has begun a youth group for the older team members and, along with Pastor Sky, he regularly visits the families of the young footballers. It is a wonderful way to build relationships within the community as well as improving the good reputation of the church. We pray that many opportunities will arise to share the gospel with folk in the community.

Please pray for all of our Christmas outreach events on 13th, 14th and 21st December, and for the follow-up

Pray for those recently baptised in Maesan, and for those preparing for baptism in Wang Daeng and Ban Dara

Pray for the ongoing evangelism and discipleship in the three churches

Pray for wisdom, health and strength for Pastors Neng, Sky, Areerat and Newton

Pray for the football ministry - for Coach Tah building good relationships and opportunities to share the gospel, and for continued funding

Pray for the Ban Dara church building project due to begin January - for safety, good relationships with neighbours and for finance

Pray for the mission team from Cross Culture Church in Australia visiting our 3 churches from 15th-26th January

Pray for wisdom in making decisions regarding Wit's health

Christmas Blessings to all!

Wit & Helen