In the land of the Thais.

With a free evening :) I decided it was time to come on here and update you all with my Asian adventures.

This last week has been particularly busy as we had a conference here to celebrate our missions 50th anniversary. We helped with registration, handing out name tags and putting together welcome packets and gifts. It was a lot of fun being a part of such a big celebration, listening to the Cunninghams and seeing how humble they are as leaders.

This last weekend we headed out to a village, about an hour our of the city, to work with a Church. We ministered to the congregation through testimonies, dramas and songs. The Pastor then invited us after lunch to witness some baptisms of 11 teenagers and a couple of adults. We eagerly accepted. So we hopped into the "Sungtow" (a pickup truck with benches in the back) and headed deeper into the mountains. We stopped near a river and all headed down a sandy hill which was right next to an elephant camp. We then proceeded to clamber along the riverside and waded through the water to our destination. It was very special to be a part of the congregation as we all gathered around the water to sing and pray over the group. At the end one of the girls was pushed into the river fully clothed which then of course just turned into everyone jumping into the river in their Sunday clothes, yes including us! Fun times!

Our leaders, Wayne & Karyn came out for a Pastoral visit last week so they got to experience elephant riding with us! We trekked for about an hour and I got a chance to ride on the head of the elephant, rather exciting I must say! Then we hiked up to a waterfall and swam for a while before we made our way back to a river to finish off the day with bamboo rafting. I love days off!

Ministry has been incredible, it is so exciting to see how God is working in and through the team. I'm not going to base our teams success on how many converts we see, if the Lord calls us to plant seeds then that is what we shall do. Part of our ministry can sometimes be preparing the way for the missionaries that follow in our footsteps.

Our night ministry has been challenging but it is so wonderful to build relationships with the women and children there, sharing a part of the heart of God with them. I can tell you that I have come away blessed by their generosity and their joy in their present circumstances. How amazing it would be to see these women use their hospitality and joy in the Lord and His ways.

We have also helped out at a Christian Kindergarten, teaching the alphabet, days of the week, months of the year, the "Peel Banana" song and acting out Bible stories. Beautiful little Thai smiles each morning for a week brings happiness to my heart.

We only have a few more days here in the city but I know that the Lord can do mighty things in what we call "a short amount of time," but thankfully our Maker doesn't work in a time frame.

I say Bring it On!

Thank you all so much for your continued support and prayers throughout these months. I'm thankful to have such a wonderful network back in the UK and the US. May the Lord bless you and keep you.

"All glory, honour, power is Yours Amen."