24-Hour Prayer

"How was your time in the prayer room?"  I asked Pang as she shut the door behind her.
"So good.  I didn't want to come out, but it was the next person's turn." She responded.

As a community we have been learning a lot about prayer here at BJD.  Pang knows she can pray anywhere at any time, but there is something special about being part of 24 hour intercession.  Everyone who participated by taking an hour to pray in the prayer room on Saturday seemed to really enjoy it. 

Here's a few of our findings:
*We have been learning about listening to God.  If we are to "be still and know" that He is God, out lips can't be moving. 
*We have been finding rest and refreshment in him as we hear him whisper to us, "Come my child, sit on my lap and let me comfort you." 
*We have seen of the power and authority behind the name in which we pray, Jesus. 
*We have been reminded that our prayers are pleasing to him, as "golden bowls full of incense" before the Lamb. (Revelation 5:8)  They are pleasing because when we pray, we are declaring that God is the only one who can take care of the problem.  Then when the problem is resolved, we can give him the glory because we can't take any credit for fixing it.

Believers in Eastern Thailand

 

In the middle of fields, trees, and small villages, we came upon this lake. About 30 people joined us for the baptism of 9 new believers. 

 Before the baptisms, we spend time worshiping the God who changed these precious lives. 

The pastor from the Thai church in Bangkok gave a short message before the baptisms.

Then we prayed for those who had committed their lives to Christ.

And the baptisms began.  It was a little tricky getting to the water, but God kept everyone safe.  Many pitched in to help those who could not walk. 

 

 Old and young had declared that Christ is King of their lives.

The church at Naam Yun.

The church at Na Chaluai.

On Sunday, we celebrated communion together.

Then a couple who had been married 30 years earlier as Buddhists, wanted to dedicate their marriage to Christ.  The pastor did a simple ceremony for them.  God has worked mightily in their lives.  The husband's legs were paralyzed but now he can walk slowly with a cane.  

The weekend wouldn't be complete without some food pictures.  Here's delicious noodles, pork and veggies in gravy.

And a traditional dessert:  sticky rice cooked in coconut milk wrapped around a banana (I don't know why the banana was pink.)  The whole thing was wrapped in a banana leaf and tied with a rubber band.  Yum!

From English to Onion Rings

I prefer teaching informal English classes ten times over formal classes.  One reason is that I can teach more specifically to what the students are waning to learn.  When one student got a new job and needed to correspond by email in English, we spent a couple weeks talking about why we don't write, "Looking forward to hearing from you soonest," and polite ways to say, "We really need the shipment now!"

This week's English class began as usual, some conversation about the past week, practicing a few new grammar points, and answering some questions that came up about tricky exceptions to the "rules."  From there, we somehow began talking about food, probably because 6:00 p.m. was approaching and our stomachs were beginning to rumble.  We decided it would be a great day to practice the English we use in the kitchen, so out came the noodles and spaghetti sauce (Thanks to good friends in the States, we had a packet of spaghetti sauce seasoning which made everything even easier!)

With a leftover onion, O taught us to make onion rings.  What began as English class became a wonderful evening of building friendships, eating, and having fun.