Greetings, and a belated Happy New year to each of you!  It has been about 7 weeks since our last Tidbits so we apologize in advance if this one ends up being a bit lengthy.  This past month and a half has been intense and filled with much activity.  Back in November I was asked to conduct a year-end week of prayer for the SDA church in Surin, Thailand (church of The Sorensen and Doss families, fellow AFM missionaries). I spent 5 days in Surin (December 21-25) preaching each evening and the culmination came on Christmas night.  Between 40 and 50 people attended nightly; most were church members but there were several non-member guests.  Three people were baptized on the last night, who had been preparing for baptism by receiving Bible studies from the pastor for several months leading up to the event.  The topic of my sermon series was “Jesus Changes Lives,” and I was tremendously blessed in preparing and delivering the messages, and in seeing the response from the listeners. I made altar calls on two of the nights and saw about ten people respond directly each night.  Even though I wasn’t able to be with family on Christmas, I can’t think of a better way to spend the holiday than by preaching the Word.  However, the day after Christmas I celebrated the holiday with a delicious meal with my wife and several other AFM missionaries in Khon Kaen, Thailand!

Cindi, Kyle & Sanga

We spent the last week of December vacationing and sight-seeing at home in Chiangmai.  We are privileged to live in one of Thailand’s most sought after tourist destinations, so there is plenty to see and do.  We spent one day visiting several different temples in the city with our monk friend Sanga; it was so nice to have a native Thai accompany us who was able to answer questions and give us useful information about the various sights.  On another day, we went to a neighboring city, San Khampaeng and visited the hot springs, toured a famous umbrella making factory and witnessed a New Year celebration at a temple in the evening.  We were blessed to share this day with our new Thai friends Loong (uncle) and Pbaa (Aunt) and some of their family.  We met Loong and Pbaa at a market near our house and have developed a friendship with them over the past several months as we purchase the “khaaw tdaan” (deep fried sticky rice) that they sell.  Loong and Pbaa don’t speak any English, so our conversations with them afford us great opportunity to practice our Thai.  One day in the beginning of December I was talking with Loong and Pbaa and they were talking about different places to go and visit and I thought they were asking me if I would like to go with them.  Not sure if I had understood correctly, I tried to clarify, and told them that I would have free time toward the end of the month.  When I went back to visit them on the first day of our vacation, they again asked if we would like to go with them on an outing, I told them I was free that week and the rest is history.  Cindi and I immensely enjoyed ourselves with them, and were shocked that we were able to spend over 8 hours speaking only Thai; by the time we got home however, we both had a headache!

Sanga & Kyle Studying Together

As we have cultivated friendships with various people, we have also seen the Lord open doors for us to minster to and share with them more directly.  Three weeks ago I suggested to one of my language teachers (the lady who has been helping to translate Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing) that we begin reading the Thai Bible in class as a way to help us learn Biblical terminology, she readily agreed and asked what we would like to read.  I told her to pick out whatever portion of scripture she would like, and that if she has questions, she could ask us while we read.  In our first Bible reading session she chose to have us read a section from Romans 5, and in our second session two days later we didn’t even get to the Bible as we spent the whole hour listening to her tell us about a heavy burden on her heart.  Our teacher is a new believer and in the past has been involved with Black Magic.  She still has many friends who are involved with it, and she has a burden to help them out of it.  As she told us her burden, and her struggle to help them we could sense desperation in her voice and an intense agony.  Please pray that we would know how we can best help her in this situation.

Sanga & Kyle Studying Together

After our meeting with our teacher, we headed to the temple to have our weekly meeting with Sanga.  As I have shared in the past, our meetings usually consist of either him sharing about Buddhism, or me sharing about the Bible.  For the past few weeks I have really been praying that the Lord would help me to know how to use these meetings most productively, and I sensed that He answered my prayer in this particular meeting.  During the course of our discussion we got onto the topic of Bible prophecy, after explaining what it was, I told Sanga that one of the reasons Jesus is unique is because there were many Old Testament prophecies pointing to Him that His life and death directly fulfilled.  As we discussed this concept, Sanga asked if the Bible has anything to say about our time right now.  As I told him about end time prophecy I felt impressed to ask him if he would like to study some of the prophecies that apply specifically to our day and he told me he would like that.  Knowing that he has an interest in current events, and not wanting the complexity of the Bible message to be lost in my linguistic limitations, I asked him if he would mind if I were to bring someone who could help translate.  I told him that I would like to bring the pastor of my church, the man who he (Sanga) had talked with at length when he visited our church in November.  Sanga readily agreed and I told him I would bring the pastor with me the following week.

Sanga & Kyle Studying Together

This past Sabbath in church, after the conclusion of the worship service I saw a Thai middle-aged man motioning for me to come toward him.  When I got closer to him he told me that he has a son who would like to know more about God, and asked if I could help him.  This man (the Father) was leaving to go back to America with his American wife the next day and had a burden for his son to know Jesus.  I assured him that I would help him, he then introduced me to his son and we exchanged phone numbers.  The son does not speak any English, and my Thai is still limited so I will need to find a translator to help me, but I praise God for another opportunity to minister. 

Sanga & Kyle Studying Together

As we close this letter, we feel our great need of the Holy Spirit’s power as we begin to share more actively and deeply with the people God has put in our pathway.  We know there are many questions to answer, many superstitions to contend with and spiritual battles to fight, please keep us and our friends in your prayers.  Also, please pray for the current political turmoil going in Bangkok.  There is a thrust to oust the current government, and there have been protests going on for about 2 months now.  The riots have been relatively peaceful and the city is still considered “safe,” however prayers are definitely needed.  Thankfully we live 8 hours north of Bankok, far removed from the demonstrations.  We praise God for each one of you, may the Lord bless you all and please let us know how we can pray for you!

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