Boondeekhun's Bulletin

A lot has been happening in the last couple of months:

Seven new believers from the Ban Dara Church were baptised. Pray that they will grow in their faith and be bold to share with their families.

Chup and Grape have both passed their entrance exams and will begin at Bible College in June. Team has successfully completed his second year and will continue his studies at Bible College in Chiang Mai. Our hope is that these three will become the pastors and leaders of our churches in the future.

The Ban Dara church building work is progressing well. Pray for continued good workmanship, workers' safety and good relationships with neighbours. We thank God for Pastor Asinee, a former architect/artist helping out at the Wang Daeng Church, who has been able to adjust the building design to create more space and better flow.

Two members from Ban Dara and one from Wang Daeng have been employed on a Lao Wiang Bible translation project, sponsored by Beyond Translation. Lao Wiang is a minority language in Thailand which is spoken in several local villages in our area.

Seven young people from a Bible College in Bangkok came on a mission trip, spending a week at each of our three churches. They were involved in visiting, youth camps, church services and evangelism. One young man, Aom, used his skills as a barber to connect with local people as a means to share the gospel.

Praise God, Wit's operation was successful and he has more-or-less recovered now.

Our major news though, is that we are coming to end of service as mission workers with BMS at the end of August. This means that we will be leaving Thailand at the beginning of June and our Home Assignment this summer will be our final one. Obviously, we will still keep in touch with the three churches in Thailand. We will always have a heart for Thai people, wherever we are, and hope to work with the Thai diaspora in the UK.

As well as working hard to ensure that our three churches will be sustainable after we leave, we're also busy packing up ten years of memories for shipping to the UK. It's quite an emotional time for us, as you can imagine. Please pray!

When working in such a spiritually dark place, it it not surprising that we come under attack. Most commonly this includes relationship issues, accidents and illnesses. Please pray for love and unity in the churches, particularly in the leadership teams. In Ban Dara, pray for healing for Som, who suffers from severe allergies and ME-like symptoms. Also pray for Arran who has a badly inflamed shoulder resulting from a recent fall. Pray for Pa Lamut, Ta Put and Mew with breathing issues due to the high PM levels. In Wang Daeng, pray for continued healing for Kwan, and for determination to do the exercises that will enable her to walk again.

Last month we said goodbye to Abraham, a young Filipino man who was working as an English teacher in a local school. On the weekends he helped out at the Ban Dara Church in both youth and worship ministries. He was a very gifted singer and musician, and able to lead worship despite his lack of Thai language skills. He will be greatly missed.

However, we will soon be saying 'hello' to a new young man, Jonah, who will be joining the Wang Daeng Church as its new youth pastor this May. Please pray for him as he adjusts to life in a rural Thai village.

Pray for all of our believers to grow in their faith and to be disciples who make disciples amongst their families and neighbours.

Pray for our leaders to be united in love, and to have wisdom and maturity in decision making.

Pray for our pastors, Neng, Jonah, Areerat and Newton to serve the Lord with joy and for energy, health and strength.

Pray for many more people to come to know the Lord in Wang Daeng, Ban Dara and Maesan.

Pray for ourselves, for our upcoming Home Assignment and for God's guidance in this time of transition.

Pray for our 'farewell' service in Wang Daeng on 31st May

Blessings in Christ

Wit & Helen