Cell Group Sharing

Not being so keen to actually lead a study at my home group due to language limitations etc, my friend Kim was keen to lead a study on "Sharing your testimony and the gospel" which will be in a couple friday's time. While Kim was really keen to do it, she also was a bit lost as to where to start, what to say and how to make it 'enjoyable' for the group. So she's asked me to help her. So last Monday, we started preparing the study for the group. It was great to sit with her, think through issues of what is the gospel, what's the purpose of sharing a testimony or the gospel, what she wants the group to get out of the study and the things she wants to teach them. It's still early days in prep, but it's really exciting to see her so excited and enthusiastic about sharing with the group and trying to help them understand the gospel better and know how to share it with their friends and others they might meet.

for those who are praying, please pray for kim as she prepares the study for next week, for wisdom in teaching the group, for me as i help her with it, for the group as they learn, that it will be something that will be able to use frequently too :)

Sorry for the lack of pics etc recently. In all honestly, as time goes on, i'm finding myself being lazier and lazier with the camera. But here are a few snaps which i thought were pretty cool

Only available in Thailand (i guess)


the hair that i lost on my recent 'new look' haircut - photo of me coming soon


a rare sight in Chiang Mai. this rainbow was AWESOME

New Team Members

Just a quick post to say that i'm very excited to have new team members come to join us today!! Woohoo!! :) One of the things that our team has been really excited but also overwhelmed about is the number of opportunities that keep being opened this year to be training others, to be starting bible studies, to be discipling people one on one. However, the biggest frustration is the lack of capable resources (ie manpower) to be able to do it. If only there were more hours in a day and days in a week - and if only i could speak fluently! So it's REALLY exciting for us to have the Davies come and join our team. The Davies (aka Ken & Kristy) have lived in Thailand for 4 years already, so hopefully their language is up to scratch (well, might need a little bit of brushing up as they get back into Thai culture after being back in oz for most of this year), but once they're all settled and set up, hopefully they'll be ready to join in on all the action and fun. It really is exciting to see the way that God keeps on providing for all our needs in various ways. God is GOOD!!

For those who are praying, please pray for the Davies as they arrive today, for a safe trip, for them to get settled easily, for them to find their feet here in Chiang Mai, and especially that through their lives and ministry, that God will be glorified. Pray for all of us as a team to 'gel' and for everyone to be able to work together as a team effectively.

Please pray for Noi and her family

i'm still not sure what it is about Thailand so far, but the number of hospital visits and deaths is at times overwhelming. This week proved to be one of those weeks after Ai was hit by a motorbike earlier this week and just last night another friend, Noy, father was killed in a motor accident just last night. Noi and her surrogate mum Muay (who is also Noy's dad's older sister - if that makes sense) are Christians, however i don't think the rest of the family are. They're some our friends who came along to the church camp a couple months back. I don't really have a huge amount of detail at the moment about the accident or how the family are going, but obviously it'd be a shock to any family to unexpectedly lose a family member. Please pray for them all. For Noi & Muay to keep on trusting in God and his sovereignty through all this and that they'll be able to be a good christian witness for their non christian family members. Please pray for the rest of the family, that through this, it might be an opportunity for them to be thinking about God and become interested in wanting to know him.

Update on Ai - she's now out of ICU which is great. There doesn't appear to be any brain damage, but quite a few of her bones on her face (ie eye socket, cheek, nose) have been broken/shattered. Her leg is broken too, and obviously generally her body is pretty sore too. But thank God that there doesn't seem to be any 'major' long term damage, especially to her brain. Keep on praying for her recovery and for those who are looking after her. Also for her family that aren't christian as well.

Please Pray for Ai

Ai is one of the girls at church who's currently in hospital after being hit by a motorbike while crossing the road after work on Wednesday. No one's sure of what exactly happened, but the short of it is, she got hit from behind by a bike which appears to have been going pretty fast due to all her injuries. She's was unconscious for a while, has got a broken eye socket, leg and swelling of the brain at the moment (not to mention things like all the bruising, lost skin etc that you'd expect as well). She's currently in ICU as the doctors monitor her head. Please pray for her, for no serious injury to her head, for a speedy recovery. Her family aren't christian, so please pray for them to be able to see the love and support that her church family are able to show at this time and pray that it will also open up opportunities for them to know you too.

Encouragements

Each week, i meet up with Denise and John for a team meeting to share about how we're going, things that have happened in the past week (or longer) so we can pray about them, keep each other accountable, then we listen to talk (currently listening to a series from Ezekiel from the SMBC Principles Hour). As we met to chat last week, all of us were just really excited about so many of the things that are happening over here and the ways that we're seeing so many of our Thai friends so eager, keen and excited to be learning from the Bible and to be teaching it to others. It's been a long time in coming in many ways for Denise and John, and for me, i just think, i've come just at the right time to be able to witness all these exciting things happen, and for what i can do, be a part of it as well. I know for John & Denise, they're feeling really overwhelmed by so many opportunities that are popping up, and that they just don't have the resources (ie manpower) available to do everything that they would like to do.

This has also been a frustration for me as language is still my major limitation in being able to be a part of it all. But at the same time, i'm really amazed in the ways that God can still use you despite lack of language, and how many of the church people have been so encouraging and wanting me to be a part of so many things, despite the lack of language. A couple weeks ago, i was able to do another 'sharing' session with the music team at church. Last time (back in Jan) i had to have a translator, but this time, i thought i'd give it a shot without and limit myself to sharing what i could in Thai. VERY limiting, i know, but i was actually amazed as to how much i was actually able to communicate. I used a film from Ignite (A Great Light), then we looked up a few bible verses about what it means for us as Christians to be 'light' to this world, what it means to hold out the Word of Light and what our responsibilities as christians should be in holding out this light to the world. Then i sang them a song which they all wanted to learn at the end. they even had a go at trying to translate it too, so they could sing along.

Then just last week, there were a few other opportunities to catch up with some friends i hadn't seen for a while. In doing so, we ended up watching a selection of films from ignite, and it was really fun watching with them and then explaining to them afterwards what the film meant, various truths it might have been trying to bring out, or challenges for us as christians in the ways that we live our lives. i was seriously really surprised how much i was able to explain. then just other random opportunities to read the bible with friends to help them understand passages from Ephesians much better. It really was really exciting for me to realise that my language has actually come a lot further then i thought it had in the past few months (i hadn't felt like i've 'hit' that next level for a while).

Then a couple weeks ago, to my surprise, the music team kinda 'voted' me onto the 'team that helps organise the sharing sessions' for the weekly music team meetings. It really is an interesting way that they get people onto the various 'committee's around here but hey, that's just the way things are done around here, so i've gotta get used to it. But still, i have no idea why enough people voted for me to get me onto this group. Pretty amusing, but pretty scary at the same time. Anyway, we've already had a couple meetings which were 'interesting' but a good learning experience. Hopefully as i start to understand a LOT more of what's going on, i'll be a bit more helpful to them :) haha

anyway, seems like lots is still going on over here with lots of opportunities to be serve. Please keep on praying for all those we're ministering too, training up, working with over here. Also give thanks for another family - Ken & Kristy Davies who will be coming to join our team in a couple weeks!!! We're really excited to have more people come to be help us! :) Pray for them to be able to settle in well and that God will be blessing their ministries here too.