reports from a diligent student...hee

(1) My ministry here for now – studying Thai. This is something I do everyday. I have 2 hours of lessons (not in a stretch…done in 2 sessions) each day from Tuesday to Saturday. Most of my lessons are in the morning. I haven’t had a lesson after lunch for a really long time now. So whenever I don’t have a lesson or the time after lunch till about 3 or 4, I study at my desk. I practice my reading, check the dictionary for words I don’t know, practice my writing till my arm hurts, play with my toys when I need a break… All in all, I really enjoy this…I really like writing all the squiggly stuff and I’m really happy when the teachers tell me that my handwriting is very nice…I just wish it were easier and doesn’t make my hand ache so much!

(2) The Central Thailand get-together – think I mentioned this in my prayer letter…this was a 2-day event where all the missionaries in Central Thailand meet and spend some time in prayer as well as have some kind of workshop. At first, I really didn’t know what to expect from this. But I did think that it would be a good idea to just join this get-together and meet all the missionaries and hopefully find out what everyone is doing since I really haven’t gotten a good idea of what’s going on in all the different provinces and what’s the progress like with the student ministries or church planting projects. Thank you all for praying…this get-together was a real blessing to me…an answered prayer indeed…I’m amazed at what He has shown me in those 2 days! We spend the 1st day hearing from all the missionaries about the work in the different provinces and the number of districts in each province which are with/without a church…some of the prayer requests for the ministries/people. So, basically I was given a ‘helicopter’ view of everything in a couple of hours and I could spend time praying for those people and places too! It was a warm, loving environment and I was really glad to be in a big family of missionaries here in Thailand. At night, we had a time of praise…singing a mixture of Thai and English praise songs. 2 Thai believers who were layleaders shared about how God called them to the ministry and the various victories and struggles they faced. On the 2nd day, we explored our spiritual gifts and there was an interesting discussion on how to help the Thai Christians discover and use their gifts…this gave me good insights to the various challenges the missionaries face in dealing with the Thai church. In the evening, we had a farewell party for a single lady who’s probably in her 60s, who’s ‘retiring’…quite a number of people shared how they’d appreciated her and what God has done through her in her years of service here in Thailand…it was really great, at the beginning of my missionary journey to meet and hear about someone who has finished well….

(3) Yinghui – Since she stopped coming to church, I’ve always been praying for her. Afterall, she’s had a part to play in who I am and where I am now…she’s the one who brought me to church…and we have been friends since we were in primary 4. I think in the last 2 years or so, as I see her go through many ups and downs in life, I’ve prayed that she will one day turn to God…and at the back of my mind, I thought to myself how God might have to do something pretty drastic in her life to grab her attention. When I read that email with her name…I was thinking that it was just mere coincidence…it couldn’t be…afterall, I don’t remember her telling me that she has an uncle who’s a Christian. Eventually, when someone helped call up the hospital to find out if it was really her, I was really shocked and upset…this was not the best news to receive on one’s birthday afterall. On the other hand, God reminded of how He had been moving me to pray for her and that He was in control and at work in her life…the fact that she had relatives who were Christians and eager to minister to her and her parents, and pray for them was a great comfort to me. And now, though I don’t know how exactly she’s doing, I trust that He will work in His own good time…