Dear Partners in Ministry:

You have not heard from us in awhile.We have been in the United States since the end of July speaking in churches and visiting friends and family. It has been a great time of rejuvenation being inspired by what we see in the churches and being encouraged by the people we meet. Praise the Lord for the fellowship we have together as the people of God.

As we left Thailand our church in Payamengrai gave us a traditional farewell party.There is a time when people get up and thank those that are leaving for things that they appreciated.There were people from our local hospital, English students and neighbors who said nice things.There was also an official representative from our village who got up and talked, not about us directly but about the church.He remembered that when Tom and Noi, our Thai co-workers, had first moved into the village there was organized resistance to try and get them to leave.People had been afraid that Christianity would be divisive and cause problems in the community.But now, 7 years later, they had found that Christians could live together with others and they were no longer afraid of them.Praise the Lord that God works in the hearts of many and please keep praying that it will move from this point of acceptance of Christians to many more people gaining a relationship with Jesus Christ.

We had previously asked you to pray for Umphai and Niam and the persecution that their family was facing from their village.We have had a letter from Tom, which said that their area had elections in October and some of the people running for office have said that if they are elected they will work to see that there is no more talk of persecuting Christians.We are praising the Lord that attitudes have changed in this village that once was so resistant to the Gospel.

We have also heard from Chan and Nuan, our neighbors and brother and sister in Christ.Chan is having more trouble at his work at the bank because of down sizing and his having to be gone so often for dialysis.Please pray that the bank will deal fairly with him and that his family feels the power of God supporting them.

We pray that this fall has also been a time of renewal for you and that as we draw near to the Christmas season you too will feel both the strength and gentleness of the Christ Child coming to live in each one of us.

A special thanks to all who have supported us through the World Mission Offering this fall.

Happy Thanksgiving

In Christ's love and service,

Jan and Larry