Boondeekhun's Bulletin

Our three churches are doing well and have been busy with various events and activities over the past couple of months.

In Wang Daeng they continue to host the Bible translation project from Thai to Lao-Wiang, which is the mother-tongue language still spoken and used by the older residents of the village. So far they have translated 30 Bible stories, mostly from Genesis and the Gospels. The Bible says that faith comes through hearing the Word of God, so we pray that as the local people hear these stories in their own language that they would come to faith in Jesus. Pray also that the faith of Tiw, Toon and Sanay on the translation team would be strengthened.

On August 9th they held a special Thai Mother's Day service, where the children honoured their mothers, grandmothers and older ladies in the church. The young people performed a song, and gifts were given to all the mothers. Pastor Neng said it went very well and was a beautiful family atmosphere.

Pastor Jonah has been doing a great job with the local children, especially those involved in the football training and music ministry. Several of the young people are now involved regularly in the Sunday morning worship team. He has plans to hold a camp for the 11 - 15 year-olds in order to be able to lead them to faith or to a deeper knowledge of Jesus - please pray.

We have been gradually settling back into life in the UK and setting up our home. Our tenants took good care of our house for the 10+ years we were away, for which we are very grateful. It's been lovely to go walking around our village and lake and enjoy the beauty of creation.

Our final Home Assignment has been an amazing experience, and we have felt such love and encouragement from all the churches we have visited. Probably the most memorable was a Scottish-themed evening put on by the church in Oban, where we were entertained with bagpipes and the Highland Fling and fed with haggis, neeps, tatties and clootie dumpling!

We also managed to squeeze in a 4 day mini-break to the Highlands, which was such a wonderful time.

The church in Ban Dara also held a Mother's Day service in their lovely new building. Pastor Areerat teaches English every Saturday, so several of her students and their mothers were also there. Pray that they would be drawn to come back each Sunday and would come to know Jesus. The Ban Dara congregation have been using the new church building since the end of June, but it was finally completed, inside and out, a couple of weeks ago. It has been such a blessing to them and we pray it will be also to the local community.

In Maesan, Pastor Newton has been visiting two young men, Beam and Malay, who are opening up to the gospel. Please pray for them to take the next step of asking Jesus into their lives. He also invited his former Korean sponsor, Rev Park, to come and visit with the congregation there. He went out and about in the village, visiting folk in their homes and praying for them. On Sunday he preached in Korean with AI translation to Thai, and also prayed for members of the congregation. Then children and adults alike were very excited to receive small gifts!

Wang Daeng: Pray for permission to be granted to start a prison ministry; for the Church family camp in October and for the young people in football and music training to come to faith.

Ban Dara: Pray for new care groups to be established; for leadership training and for ongoing evangelism and discipleship.

Maeasan: Pray for pastoral care of believers; for follow-up of those who have stopped attending church and for more Sunday School teachers and worship leaders.

For all three churches: Pray that all the members would grow in their faith and be bold to share with their neighbours and families: Pray that they would have a stable income and be wise in how they handle finances.

Please pray for us as we move towards taking up a leadership role with the Network of Thai Christians UK - for vision, wisdom and guidance. Pray that many Thai people in the UK would come to know Jesus through this ministry.

Blessings in Christ

Wit & Helen