Baptism and Covenant Sunday
On August 8, we held Baptism Sunday for any of our church members who had not yet been baptized. What a joy it was to have several finally take that step of faith. The following Sunday on the 16th, we had Covenant Sunday. The message centered on God’s plan for the church and the believers. At the end of the service, those who covenanted together to serve the Lord in this place with this group of believers in order to reach the lost, help build the church, and serve the saints according to God’s Word signed a covenant that was framed and mounted on the wall. What an amazing group of Christian believers the Lord has allowed us to minister to and work with.
Sunday School Memory Verse Program
September brings a “new” year for my ladies’ Sunday school class and an end to the previous year’s memory verse program. This year I had 20 students participate, and what a joy it was to give them their certificates a few Sundays ago. Between the top 10 students, they said 300 memory verses! We went on an ice cream and shopping trip to celebrate. At least 6 of my ladies are having to return to Burma because they are unable to attain the correct paperwork needed to continue working in Thailand. I will miss them terribly when they must leave next week. Please pray that they will take the lessons they have been taught with them and that they will continue to grow and serve the Lord.
International University Activity
When we moved to Hua Hin six years ago, I was excited to learn that there was an international university only 10 minutes from the church. My Thai speaking ability was still lacking at the time, and I thought it might be a great ministry opportunity to see if the school would let me do an English Club or a Bible study on the campus. It went straight on my prayer list . . . and there it stayed for the next 70 months. During that time I tried several avenues to get something started. I talked to the heads of the English Department and the Activities Department at different times. I sent in letters of request, as I had been directed to, but nothing ever came of it.
Several years ago a young girl named Anne started attending our church and brought along some of her university friends. I thought maybe the Lord was finally answering my prayer request. She also tried to get a Bible study going, but the door just always seemed to close. Eventually she graduated and moved on, and I continued to pray that the Lord would open the door.
One day at the beginning of August this year as I was praying through my prayer list, I decided to just cross the request off the list since the Lord obviously did not want to use me in this way. I wrote a big “No” under the “answer” section of my prayer journal.
A few short days later, I just happened to be seated beside an American lady at the mall, and we began to talk. She was teaching English at the university. I mentioned to her my past desire to start a club of some sort on the campus; and, wouldn’t you know, she had just been given a directive from her new department head to come up with ideas for after-school activities that would allow the students to practice their English in an informal setting. We had our first “Craft Club” activity in August, and I just loved meeting the students and getting to know them. After the activity, one of the students asked me if I was a Christian and shared that he was too. I’m hoping he’ll visit the church soon. I was reminded not to stop praying—the answer might be right around the corner.
Thank you for your continued prayers for the work here.
Serving the Master joyfully,
Shari House
