Princess for a Day!

September 11 2008 Bethan turned 5. Our big girl enjoyed 'being a pink princess' for the day. A strawberry and orchids cake, pink clothes and a princess crown all helped to make this her special day!

Pray with us that she and the boys will all grow up to love God and appreciate the privilege of growing up Third Culture Kids.

TCS Student Day 2008, Central Thailand

'So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as your were taught and overflowing with thankfulness' Col 2:6-7

Each year we host a Student Day for all the Christian students linked to Thai Christian Students in Central Thailand. This year the theme was 'Grow' and a variety of talks, small group reflections and workshops all helped us to think about the 'how' and 'why' of Christian growth and maturity. At the end of the day each student was given a miniature cactus with words of Colossians 2:6-7 attached to it.

Particularly encouraging this year was the number of Buddhist students attending this overtly Christian event. Workshops helped them to answer questions such as 'How can I start to pray?' and 'Who is God?'

Please pray with us that students will remember what they learnt that day as they look at their plants at home. Pray that we will see a generation of godly, mature believers emerge from the student ministry here in Central Thailand. Pray too that some of the Buddhist students present will start out on that process of growing by accepting the Word of God which has been planted in their lives.

Olympic Camp

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August 15-17 nearly 150 students and staff went on our annual International Camp. With the Olympics being held in China a sporting Olympic theme was natural and certainly caught the imagination of the students! Using the colours of the Olympic Rings we studied the one source of true peace and harmony and challenged students to think about the purpose of their own lives 'What are you running for?'

Below are some testimonies from students and staff who attended the camp ...

Riam: (First year university student in Phitsanulok): "Even though I was born into a Christian family my relationship with God isn't that good. After returning from camp I knew that God's desire is that we have a good relationship with him. Now I am getting to know God better and growing in my relationship with Him. Thanks be to God for this camp".

Weew: (Fourth year university student in Phitsanulok): "I have lead Bible studies several times in our student cell group and know that this can be difficult and challenging but when I went to camp I saw the staff leading Bible study groups which included both Christians and those who are new to studying the Bible. I saw that this was even more difficult because you have to find the right words to help those who haven't studied the Bible before understand it easily. The blessing that I received from this camp was that I saw God working through the staff leading the Bible studies and I learnt how to teach the Bible to those who aren't Christians. I will be able to use these methods myself in the future".

Bom: a new-comer to the Nakhon Sawan youth house but a tennis partner of one of the Christian students here, came along to camp and was intrigued to read of the Bible's message. Since then he has come to the Youth House to join in an evangelistic bible study looking at who Jesus is, the church prayer meeting and music practice ... At the end of September he gave testimony to God's power to save him from sin! For Bom that has been a slow and gentle process of revelation and conviction by the Holy Spirit.

Pang: Pang (age 15) has been coming to the Lopburi Youth House regularly for 2 months now and has heard several testimonies, been to church several times, sat in on the weekly Bible Studies, and joined us all in singing worship songs. She was drawn to the Youth House because she could tell people here cared about her because we looked in her eyes when she talked. She told us of how alone she felt at home and school, and how her parents didn't seem to care about her. Slowly she has started see Christ's unconditional love for her. At the camp, she was able to clearly study the gospel message of our sin and separation from God, and Jesus' love for us and desire to have relationship with us. Pang chose to make Jesus her Saviour and to follow him whilst at the camp. Since then, she has taken her Bible to school everyday and been telling her friends why she has it. She even watched the entire Gospel of John video and read along in her Bible. Please keep her in your prayers that she will grow into spiritual maturity.

Nam: (High school student in Lopburi) Nam, age 17, has been a Christian for 2 years now, and has obvious leadership and fruit of Christ's work in her life. Through the witness of her life and the change in her life since becoming a christian, her mother is also a christian now. Nam was a Bible Study leader for the first time at the camp. She said it was a great experience and very challenging. She was so excited to be able to serve God in this way. Her group had 1 other Christian and 3 non-Christians. She said they asked many tough questions, but she was still glad to be their leader. Some students even thought she was staff because of her maturity.

Kareon: Kareon, a missionary who volunteered at the camp, said, "I loved the atmosphere at the camp, with people from many countries (USA, England, Taiwan, China, Netherlands, Singapore, Thailand etc.) and the wide variety of activities. The blessing I got is to have many chances to sit and talk with many Christian and Non-Christian students about faith".

Praise God for his work in the lives of students across Central Thailand!