The Newsletter with photos is attached.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

What comes to mind when you hear the words “ice cream” and “bananas”? You might be thinking banana splits, but we have something else to share with you. At our first Sunday service at Hua Trut in South Thailand, Ms. Eet, a former ice cream seller on motorbike, invited Ms. Puu, a fried banana chips seller, to come worship together. Ms. Eet used to ride around town selling ice cream, and that is how she found the church about one year ago. She eventually came to know the Lord Jesus Christ and attends Sunday service with her teenage son when possible.

Previously Ms. Puu had attended church only one time, about five years ago. At this particular Sunday service, she said that she was struck by the message about the jailer and his household, who were filled with joy because they came to believe in God (Acts 16:34). During prayer time, she and her children voluntarily came up and asked to receive Jesus Christ.

Praise God! At the same time, the reality that we are called to make disciples and not just converts became apparent in subsequent visits to Ms. Puu’s home. Ms. Puu is a 39-year-old mother of six children, the oldest in high school and the youngest just four and a half years old. Her husband left the family about 3 years ago and has not made any contact since. She shared that life is hard as a single mother and as a fried banana chips vendor with her older sister. As a result of the hot cooking oil used to fry the banana chips daily, she has sustained injuries to her eyes as well as her hands. She has not been able to come to service again primarily because of her banana chips business, and when asked during one of our visits to her home why she wanted to receive Jesus Christ, she was unsure how to answer but then alluded to the fact that she was seeking God’s blessing on her life. Yet, she is very open to our visits and even wanted another one of her friends to come hear about Jesus. Since she cannot come to church regularly, we would like to go out to her. We are planning to visit her regularly, do chronological bible teaching, and disciple her to follow our Lord Jesus Christ.

Besides Ms. Eet and Ms. Puu (and their children), Auntie Jai was also at service that first Sunday. Auntie Jai is a 69-year-old dear sister in Christ who came to know the Lord about 4 years ago. She shared that she faithfully prays, reads the bible, and takes care of the church grounds on a daily basis. She has also been instrumental in helping us with visits of Thais in the nearby neighborhoods.

This is a quick glimpse at the ministry which God has led us to serve at in South Thailand for our first term in the field. We will be working with an existing Thai church plant of 2-5 people (formerly around 40-50 people), which most likely has dwindled in size and interest because of the unavailability of the Thai pastor (he has another church plant in Pattaya and spends most of his time there). This will be like a new church plant in that our responsibilities will include visitations & follow-up, evangelism, discipleship, and leadership development.

We are once again struck by the fact that, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few” (Matt. 9:37). May you continue to join us in prayer for the people of Thailand and the ongoing kingdom work here.