April 2022 Prayer Letter update

For a one page printable version of this prayer letter click here

Dear Friends,

A belated Happy Resurrection Sunday to you all! We trust the services at your churches yesterday were a special blessing. Yesterday was a good and encouraging day for us here at Pinklao Baptist Church in Bangkok as five people were baptized. When we had an organizational service for our church in 2014 we adopted a phrase based on Ephesians 3:21, “Proclaiming salvation from generation to generation.” So it was encouraging that four of those who were baptized were teens with Christian parents. Two brothers are part of a Pakistani family that has been with us for several years. The other two are a brother and sister who have been attending the church with their mother since they were young. All four gave testimonies of their personal faith in Christ, and we have seen spiritual growth in each of them. The fifth is a 33-year-old Thai man. It was especially encouraging to hear his testimony how the Lord used several disappointments and frustrations in his life to ultimately bring him to Christ. One of those frustrations came in his job as a construction project manager. A house remodeling job that should have taken just two months became a five-month project. But during those five months the owner of that house talked to him about Jesus. At the end of the five months he accepted the Lord. The house owner is a Thai lady who is a friend of our co-workers, the Beckmans. She recommended Earth attend our church, and he began coming while we were on furlough.

A few weeks ago, our missionary team got together for two days for prayer and planning. We came away with many short term and long term plans and goals. Please pray that we would be able to carry through on our discussions regarding leadership development, a family building emphasis, and evangelism and outreach. Regarding outreach, this upcoming Sunday afternoon we’ll have a church activity of passing out tracts and church brochures in the areas around the church. 

We also need prayer for the week-in, week-out ministry of shepherding the church. Like many churches, the past two years have had, it seems, more than average struggles. We need your prayers to be faithful disciple makers and sometimes the shepherds who has to go after the sheep who seems to be wandering away from a close walk with the Lord.

At the end of May I am scheduled to go to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand to video record the first half of a semester class. A missionary friend there is trying to put together a whole Bible institute curriculum for online study for both laymen and those interested in ministry preparation. I’ve agreed to teach two semesters of the Old Testament history books and perhaps some other courses in the future. I’ve enjoyed the study and preparation, but it has been more time consuming than I anticipated.

Finally, our children are looking forward to a Missionary Kid camp in mid-May. This will be the first camp after two years of cancellations. This year will only include MK’s from Thailand, so they will miss some of their friends from neighboring countries, but we still anticipate a great week. Please join us in praying that this will be an important time spiritually for them.

Your Partners for the Gospel,

Duane and Hannah