Going to Jo's Village

At the moment we just got settled in at a guest house in Chiang Rai. Tomorrow we will go to Jo's village (which is in the Chiang Rai province) and stay with his family. On the way here Jo was given the opportunity to witness to a college student sitting with him. I don't always know what is going on, but I get happy when I hear the few words I do know in Thai: Jesus, God, and Christian :)

Yesterday we visited another temple. I didn't expect to see non Thai people worshiping there. Jo was able to share the gospel with a young monk at the temple. The monk's mother is Catholic and his dad is Buddhist. Jo had a good long talk with him, but he said it was hard not to get worked up and emotional when talking to the monk. It seems that almost every religion believes that good works are going to save them. The only good thing we added to the cross was Christ, the rest was sin... I pray more people here understand that His sacrifice was sufficient once and for all.

A few days ago we went around looking at language schools and apartments. We narrowed down our search to two schools at the moment that both look good. We didn't decide on an apartment yet, but we have a good idea on location and prices. That day we took the subway and sky train, and we were glad to have Jo show us how to get around.

Last week we were blessed to have some new students. One of my students that was Buddhist wanted me to know that she was, but it was neat to see her expressions when we were reading through the Bible together. I just wish I already knew Thai, so I could communicate more efficiently.

Northern Thailand is mountainous and beautiful. I'm looking forward to going to our friends village and meeting his family. Jo said we might have the opportunity to teach at the local school. I also brought some work clothes because I expect the opportunity to work with Jo and his parents at the farm. Some times it is difficult the further we get away from non tourist places. It seems the luxuries start fading away, but other things increase! Like one of our students from a northern village said, "Simple life, I like."

Because we will be in the village soon, internet will probably cease. We will try our best to keep you updated when we can. Thanks for your prayers! God bless!!