The close of a chapter.

This month has been a fast, yet meaningful one. Goodbyes have been said as we were officially sent off from the language school, the keys to our new house received, hopes and plans for the future taking more shape, and local relationships growing in depth. It has been powerful to see the way the Lord has been working in our hearts personally in the ups and downs of the past month as well. He is faithful!

A magazine in Thai script.

Khun Yai, helping us read the words on her sign with a carrot as a pointer. ;)

Our neighbors (pictured above) opened a coffee shop this month! It has been so fun to be a part of the process with them a little bit, taste testing recipes and spreading the word to our friends. They asked if Sheree would come work there a couple afternoons a week to help out. We are excited about this opportunity to spend more time with them and hope for more conversations about the Lord as our relationship grows in depth! This is the devout Buddhist neighbor we mentioned in the blog two months ago. Please join us in praying for their hearts and ears to be opened to the gospel of Jesus.

We had the sobering opportunity this month to attend a Buddhist funeral. The aunt of one of the workers at the language school passed away and we were invited to observe the funeral service. The ceremony and cremation takes place at a temple. Monks and men of high status in the community takes turns blessing the casket, and then all the attendees have a chance to lay a flower by the casket and bless it. Before the ceremony ends, there were three gunshots into the air to scare the spirit of the deceased away from the body, per tradition.

These four signs were held by monks who were chanting a Buddhist mantra outside the temple. They read "birth," "growing old," "pain," "death." It is considered the four stages of the cycle of life. What a sobering reminder of the emptiness and deception of the Buddhist worldview.

PRAISES & PRAYER REQUESTS: 

- praise for the grace of God manifest in good goodbyes and exciting future opportunities!

- pray for the health of the church in Lopburi. This month especially, we have been burdened by the state of the church here. The prosperity gospel, easy believism, and dismissing of unrepentant sin are a few of the issues we have been most burdened by. Join us in praying that the Lord would purify His bride and give us wisdom to know how specifically He would have us respond. It has reminded us of the importance of examining ourselves first, as well as the need for Christ's humility as we navigate these situations.

- pray for wisdom, boldness, and opportunities to share the gospel in our new setting as we settle into our new neighborhood.

- praise God for continually providing language helpers for us. 

“We are debtors to every man to give him the gospel in the same measure in which we have received it.” P. F. Bresee