Praise Him!

Thank you so much for praying with me and the girls this week...God was so incredibly faithful! All of us have been encouraged in different ways this week. We started classes at old campus and I go there on Wednesdays and Thursdays. On Thursday we had our first real classes there and then we got to hang out with our Thai friend Nick. We went to the canteen and had iced coffee and we got to chat with him about family and friends for about an hour. It was so peaceful and just really lifted me up.

Then on Friday night we had Friday night fun night with the students at our apartment which was wonderful! I made them grilled jelly sandwiches which were a hit. We also played games and did Karoake...not to mention I found out that my nephew had been born...Praise Him! Friday was really awesome because we connected with some new students that we otherwise wouldn't have known. The 3rd and 4th picture are from friday...the 4th is all the Thai girls singing karoake.

Sunday was the most amazing day yet here in Maha Sarakham. I told you that last week we only had one thai student and I was really discouraged by that but this week....whoa...Praise Him ;) we had 12 Thai people, one Korean, one Malaysian, and 6 Americans. A mixed group for sure. Scott and Valerie were not here this week for Worship and so it was up to us to put church together. Ruth told the story of Abraham and how God told him to leave his country and his father's home and go to the land he would give to him (Canaan). God also told him that he would have a son at the age of 75. I told you about my friend Keaw and I asked you all to pray for him...he came to church along with 3 of his friends. His response to the story was...well that is an interesting story but it is impossible. We were then able to share about Jesus and salvation and how everything is possible with God...he can even raise people from the dead...including himself! One student there named Khowee...had a lot of questions and took a Thai Bible with him. Please pray for him that he would read it and understand the truth. I played guitar on Sunday which always makes me a little nervous but I played really well...it was as if the Lord was doing it instead of me and all of the girls on the team contributed in different ways to the discussion of the gospel...the Spirit was really at work. When we were finishing Beth played the last song which was Jesus lover of my soul...a really beautiful song:

Jesus lover of my soul
Jesus I will never let you go
You've taken me from the miry clay
You've set my feet upon the rock and now I know

I love you, I need you
though my world may fall i'll never let you go
my savior, my closest friend
I will worship you until the very end.

This song is incredible and we decided to sing it first in English then in Thai and then in both at the same time. During the beginning an Elephant suddenly came to our front door...he was shaking his head and stomping his feet as if he were dancing and praising God right along with us. Creation knows God even if people do not. I tried to video tape it but it didn't work because I also wanted to sing and so I messed up the video. That moment was so amazing and the whole room was just filled with the Lord's spirit. This is the first elephant we have seen in Thailand...Mahasarakham is not known for elephants and so we haven't seen any nor did we expect to see any in this town. The Lord is so faithful and he just romances us and shows us his love at every turn. I wish I had the video to share but I do have one picture...it is the first one...look closely to see the elephant and all of the people who attended church worhsipping the Lord.

I hope this encourages all of you like it does me. I asked you to pray for church attendance and also for these people and the Lord has answered with amazing love. Thank you so much!!! Please keep praying for these people...especially Keaw, Khowee, and Vaew and Beer (yes beer) who also came to church. There were also 5 children that came with Valerie's hair dresser who is a Christian, one of them is his son but the others were just friends....they sang their little hearts out to the Lord but I doubt they even knew it. One other name that comes to mind is our friend Goon (which means shrimp)...he owns the internet cafe that we often go to on the weekends and he shows us so much love. He has a really cute dog that he lets me play with since I don't have mine here with me...her name means "forgettable." Pray that we would find a way to share the gospel with him...he speaks English pretty well but it is hard to bring up the gospel with him randomly.

Thank you for your prayers...the Lord has really been answering ;)

Rachel