Dear Friends and Family,

Wednesday we visited the local college for the English class. It was my first experience with English teaching. I was encouraged by Jill, our church’s representative who told me that I didn’t need to understand the specifics of “past continuous” tense. She said because we use it all the time, we know how to speak it correctly. About 8 of us took groups of 4-6 students each, and talked about, “what is the most exciting thing you like about Thailand?” My group’s favorite was the large array of animals.
(We haven’t met any tigers yet, but next week when we take the orphanage to the zoo, we may be able to pet some!) On Thursday after school, several of the students came to the coffee shop on the church property to continue their English lessons. It is a good opportunity to build relationships and answer the question “Why are you in Thailand?”

We got to visit the hospital on Friday. It was the second week in a row that the team was represented, but Carol’s and my first visit. It was a good visit! The nurses were especially glad to have us there. The children and their Mom’s were great too! We visited several rooms, sang some songs, passed out “heart mobiles,” (a string of colored hearts to hang from their ceilings,) gave out “stickers,” coloring pages, crayons, and prayed with them. One 5 year old boy* in particular got my attention. When he saw the guitar, he began to “dance” on his bed. The nurse said he wanted a fast song! We sang several, and he grinned and bounced for all of them. As he was in the Cardio unit, I don’t know how appropriate that was. Several of the children have been in the hospital long term. The mom’s are tired, depressed, and I was especially moved by their plight. Because the church has been visiting this hospital for a few years now, they are requested to visit different floors on a regular basis. Thank you Lord for favor, and thank you too for a faithful few who remember to visit those who are sick.

On Saturday morning we took a “prayer walk” around the neighborhood. There are several “one hour hotels” here. The prostitution is not highly visible, but the OHM’s are plenteous. We visited a nearby village in the afternoon, played games with the children*, then played more games with the emphasis on English learning. I visited a rice mill* across the street from the community center. It was a rather old fashioned unit I suspect, but managed to separate the hulls from the grain nonetheless. One motor, many belts (fire hoses) that drove many gears!

Sunday we provided the testimony and sermon at City Gate Church, as well as the children’s service. Our team has kept a great attitude, and has served well!

Tuesday morning we are going a few hours north again to two villages for two days and nights. Please pray for us that we would continue to operate in unity, and share in the power of the Holy Spirit.

I’ll check back in after our return on Thursday. Thank you for your prayers! God is on the move!

Grace and peace to you!
Fred and Carol