This week has flown by and was less stressful than last week. Our team leaders are being able to voice their opinions and take ownership of their responsibilities. This is such an answer to prayer because previous situations had limited them. Our team has seen an increase in witnessing to the students at Kuhn Wang School. Every day, the students ask (in Thai) and then translated for us: “Are we going to read the Bible story? Can we read it now?” Because the teachers leave for the two-hour classes we teach, we spend the last 30 minutes or so just reading from the Jesus Storybook Bible and they LOVE it. (We are still on Old Testament stories and they can’t get enough…Abraham and David….and we’re not even on the best part yet). Planting seeds is wonderful! MORE LORD!

On Thursday night, we went to one of our students’ house (thanks to his invitation) and we met his immediate and extended family who live in a one-room, no-window, dirt-floored, one-light hovel. Our team has been on prayer walks in the mornings for the last few weeks in hopes that we can visit families to encourage them. Even though this room was crowded enough as it was, David, Gai, and I crowded in and they offered us dinner (although we politely declined due to being full already) and showered his family with compliments and blessing. His dad moved the motorcycle over so he could reach the ancestral shrine in the house and he began a 10 minute ceremony of incantations, incense and noisemakers. His family is employed by the King’s Project and even Pong works on weekends for 120 Baht ($4)/day picking flowers. We pray that God will continue to let us visit families like his to be open to hearing the good news!

On Friday, the kids had Field Day Celebration with games and snacks for the kids. When we arrived, the kids were having a morning assembly and a bunch of moms/grandmas came to watch. One woman came up crying hysterically and was causing commotion at the back. The kids were distracted (and I’m sure her kid was embarrassed) and none of the adults were consoling her. So after 5 minutes of this woman sobbing, I couldn’t stand it any longer and I went over there and said “You are having a rough day, so I’m giving you a hug.” I got to hug this woman and rub her back and tell her I was sorry for whatever was happening. Another woman came over and spoke to her and Au and Wit came over to help with translating. They said this woman’s father-in-law gets drunk often and blames her for everything and beats her. She has a little boy at the school. She was crying because she’s sick of it and wants out, but that’s not realistic here. We were able to gather our team around her to pray protection and peace over her and her family. God loves her so much.

We were able to play with the kids for field Day. Au and I are explaining how to run the SCREAM RACE!!

Earlier in the week, Eak and Well (the Shan couple) went to the next village over, Kuhn Klang, to spend a day ministering to the Shan there. They talked with 8 or 9 families all day. They seemed very encouraged and interested in what they had to say. Hopefully they can go back to continue to tell the Shan in Kuhn Klang about Jesus and what he has done for them. They also visited Jing and her family again and Melissa helped explain what all of her medicines were for. Pray that God will lead us to people who are open to being friends and listening to our stories of encouragement.