The journey continues

Hello again everyone,
Once again apologies for my lack of frequency in updates. Much has been happening however in Thailand. Since my last update the team and I have gotten settled into a weekly work routine here. Myself and 3 others work at the Ban Suan Church, a local Thai church that is very close to our hotel. One of our main activities here is teaching English, as English speaking is a skill that is in high demand everywhere here.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I teach a class of 10-13 year olds English, and on Wednesdays and Fridays I teach a class of 20-30 year olds. The majority of the students in both cases are not Christians and it is a great opportunity to be able to build relationships and to teach them through Bible stories that many of us know, but that are usually completely foreign to them here. (Prodigal son, Jonah, Daniel and the lions den, good samaritan, etc.) Last Friday after teaching from 6-7, four of our five 20-30 year old students came out to dinner with myself and the other teachers which provided a great opportunity to get to know them better outside of the classroom and we hope that the dinner will be a regular occurrence. They were curious to know why we were here and it was an awesome way to be able to share about God and what he has done in our lives.

Our team also reaches out to several of the poor communities in the local area. On Tuesday mornings four of us have an opportunity to go and work at a nursery for several hours, where I have been privileged to teach(or really just play with) about fifteen 2 year olds by my self. For those of you who know how good I am with little screaming drooling 2 year olds who don't speak a word of English, you can imagine how this is a growing experience for me. =) We also have been able to start going regularly to one slum community and to teach basic English to the kids and adults in a fun, relaxed, outdoor kind of "neighborhood block party" type setting while they in turn will teach us a little bit of Thai. All of these opportunities provide great inroads to share the gospel and pray that God will help us to be able to reach Thai people with the love of Christ.

One other bit of excitement happened about a week ago when our team learned that Patrick Fung, OMF's General Director (whom I heard speak at the Urbana conference in St. Louis last December) was speaking at church just across Bangkok. We were able to hop in taxi's and to go hear him speak (he spoke in English which was great and was translated into Thai) and were also able to meet him afterward, introduce ourselves, and get some advice on our trip from him. Overall it was very encouraging. While there I also talked to a couple of long term Presbyterian missionaries from the U.S. who have kids about my age and they were very encouraging as well.

Thank you all for your prayers and please continue to pray for the work of our team and for the Gospel to go forth in Thailand. While Christian missionaries have been here for 185 years, Thailand is still one of the most unreached nations in the world. I will leave you with a poem from the late missionary Amy Carmichael, which I have found to be inspiring many times and which I hope will be a blessing to you as you seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.

From prayer that asks that I may be
Sheltered from winds that beat on Thee,
From fearing when I should aspire,
From faltering when I should climb higher
From silken self, O Captain, free
Thy soldier who would follow Thee.

From subtle love of softening things,
From easy choices, weakenings,
(Not thus are spirits fortified,
Not this way went the Crucified)
From all that dims Thy Calvary
O Lamb of God, deliver me.

Give me the love that leads the way,
The faith that nothing can dismay
The hope no disappointments tire,
The passion that will burn like fire;
Let me not sink to be a clod;
Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God

 

 

Yours in Christ,

Erik