In Thailand! End of week one

Hello everyone,

Apologies for my lack of frequency in updates. Now that I am in Thailand however I hope to be making an update for you every week. To start from the top, myself and the team have been here since Sunday, June 20th, so for 9 days now. All flights went smoothly getting here and none of us felt too jet-lagged. The first 2 1/2 days were spent in Bangkok at the OMF Bangkok Mission Home which is a small complex that serves as a sort of national headquarters for their mission work in Thailand. While there we got to explore Bangkok, experience some Thai culture, eat our first bit of street food, and learn how to live with the heat/humidity.With the help of some OMF missionaries we toured the Thai Royal Palace, where we saw large Buddhist temples filled with golden statues of Buddha, along with hundreds and thousands of gold ornaments and decorations. The Thai people bowed down to worship the Buddha statue, in hope of making merit for another life. All of this served as a sobering reminder of the Thai peoples need for Jesus and gave me a very distinct picture of outward idols that are still worshiped in a very real way today.

The next 3 1/2 days were spent at a hotel where OMF was hosting their annual conference for all of their Thailand missionaries. While there, myself and the team got to take part in providing child care for about 110 kids from age 0-18. I had the privilege to take care of sixteen 6-7 years olds along with two others. The experience was a great learning one for me (I'm not the best with 1st graders =) ) and it was a great blessing to be able to meet and talk to so many missionaries who came from all parts of the world and many of whom had been faithfully serving the Lord in Thailand for decades.

On Sunday night we arrived in our condotel, where we will be staying for the next 6 weeks. The first thing we did was go to the local church we will be working with which is only a half block away. At first glance the church looked like a restaurant as it was simply a small hole-in-the-wall type place along the street, however upstairs there were chairs for about 30 and a pulpit to preach from (we will be significantly adding to the size of the congregation). The Thai church members here have been a huge blessing, helping us get settled in, showing us how to use local transportation, and showing us around the poor areas where we will be ministering. It is a great privilege to be able to come here and to witness to the Thai people about Jesus, many of them not knowing a thing about the gospel. In closing, please pray for

Reny-a Buddhist monk who we talked to for about 30 minutes at the palace. In his mind Jesus was a good teacher who's moral teachings should be added to those of the Buddha, in order to garner greater knowledge.

Physical health-our team has had some slight trouble adjusting to the food here in SE Asia, and one of our members had to stay back today due to stomach problems.

Boldness with the gospel-The Word tells us that the gospel is the power of salvation to everyone who believes. There can be no greater message, please pray for us to be bold, joyful, and faithful in sharing the gospel with the Thai people whom we meet.

Teamwork and love-Please pray for our team, that we will all have grace and patience with another. Jesus' disciples are to be known by the way they love one another, and this has potential to be perhaps one of our most powerful testimonies to the gospel in Thailand.

Thanks so much, thanking God for all of you,

Erik