Maureen Sullivant Update February 09
February 13, 2009
Hello folks,
In case some of you were wondering, I have not expired. I have been a busy girl the last couple of months.
First, we had Christmas. It was a very different Christmas for us this year. Thailand is not a Christian nation, so Christmas is only observed by businesses that have European, North American or Australian ownership. It was different to drive to town and really not see any Christmas decorations other than the stores I’ve already mentioned. We bought ourselves a Christmas tree – and what a tree it was. The trees on the display at the store were all green, so we didn’t think there was any need to check in the box. Wrong! We brought the thing home. We opened the box. A gasp echoed throughout the house. It was bright irritating red. I gasped because I was horrified. The kids gasped because they thought it was just beautiful. It was so bad that when Michael walked through the room, he turned his face away from it. We cut out snowflakes from paper and added some ribbons. We also made a stable and manger from cinnamon sticks, which are dirt cheap here. We grabbed some grass from the yard and pretended it was hay. It was pretty cute.
Our first Christmas gift was some rice pancakes wrapped in a banana leaf from one of the Hill Tribe pastors. Another pastor brought Michael a new Bible bag that his wife had made. Christmas Day, we went to the Christmas service at church. We had gifts for all the kids at the home, the Nong Loam Village and the church members children. That was good for our kids to see past their toys that they thought they had a right too, to those kids who were getting one toy for Christmas. The Christmas Season was also a good opportunity to pass out tracts. Because we are obviously from a western nation of some kind, the Thais would wish us “Merry Christmas.” It was easy to then hand them a Gospel tract and tell them that the tract would explain all about Jesus. This last month, I had two people run after me, and ask for additional tracts for their families. We are praying that these seeds will bear fruit in their hearts.
Then we had some special meetings in the beginning of January. Evangelist Jacob Geisbrecht came a week before the meetings and he and Michael started building pulpits for all of the preachers associated with the ministry. A group from our home church came for the meetings as well. It was a real blessing to enjoy Christian fellowship with some of our church family. Speaking in English seems so easy now. The Lord blessed during the trip and many souls were saved and baptized. Michael’s parents (also our home pastor) came and stayed for a week after the church group left. Our kids had a ball. Dad was also very flattered when folks asked if he and Michael were brothers. I don’t think Michael found it to be quite as flattering, but oh well.
I believe there was over 40 people who accepted Christ during the missions conference. That was also a blessing.
Right after Michael’s parents left, the Horns, Michael and some men from the church went for a 12 hour trip to another part of Thailand where there is a couple wanting to see a church started. They have donated some land and have already built a building for folks to meet. There is a man from another ministry close to us that feels called to that part of Thailand. This trip was sort of a survey trip for this man. Forty-nine people came over a mile to this couple house and crammed in for a service. Nineteen people trusted Christ, and four of them asked to be baptized. They then headed down to a filthy leach infested mud puddle to baptize. While they were preparing to baptize, three more folks stopped by to see what all the ruckus was about. Some folks witnessed to them. They got saved and asked to be baptized as well. Michael had the privilege of baptizing four of them. This was very exciting for Michael as this was the first time he has been able to baptize Thai folks. Definitely a highlight for him. Please pray for these folks in Yasotorn.
There is a man who has been trained by a Thai national here who would like to start a church in Yasatorn. He has a bit of a financial problem. His fiancé’s father wants 150,000 Baht for her (approximately $5,555 Canadian). This is apparently a reasonable price, as some Thai brides can go for up to $50,000 US. This may help explain why Thais generally don’t get married until their thirties. If any of you are happening to be taking a Valentine’s Day offering, maybe you could think of this man J We have been bugging him that he should settle for someone ugly. He doesn’t seem to want to negotiate. I’m sure that he could find some girls here at the church that would pay him for the privilege of marrying him, but he just seems to have his heart set. Poor guy. I hope for his sake he saves up his money before he is a senior saint.
Speaking of baptisms, Pastor Dad couldn’t come to Thailand fast enough. Jessica has been wanting to get baptized for a long time, but was convinced that no one but Grandpa was capable of doing it for her. Jess got baptized while Dad was here and it was a blessing. She told me that since she was saved and baptized, all she had to do now was live the rest of her life for the Lord. That is definitely our prayer. We praise the Lord for her tender heart towards God.
Now we are back into our regular routine. I have started teaching the high school girls how to sew and am teaching a couple of the college girls piano lessons. That has been a blessing for me to see my language studies starting to pay off.
Last week, we had Dr. Fred Schindler here for five days teaching the church people and Bible students. He was a blessing to us and encouragement to the people here as well.
Thanks for your prayers for the political situation here. There is still protests probably every other weekend. Lately, there have been a few fist fights in the streets, but no ‘major’ violence. The government is cramping down on immigration visa renewals, but praise the Lord we have work visas now, so we should be OK.
We are in the middle of the dry season right now. Most of the trees are turning color and dropping their dinner plate sized leaves. Except for the mulberry trees – they are blooming and bearing fruit. They sort of remind me of Psalm chapter one and the righteous man. Even when everyone else is shriveling up and dying, when we are living by the Stream, we can still bloom and bear fruit.
The Thais are burning off the jungle right now. The air is pretty smoky. Last week, they burnt off one of the mountains across from us. The flames were as high as the tree tops. It was close enough for us to hear the flames, but the wind was blowing the smoke the other way. That was a blessing. I really miss smoked meats like ham and bacon here. Maybe I should go hang some meat outside at night and see what kind of results I can get.
As I right, we have a service man here working on an air conditioner. Wyatt (our two year old) is singing ‘Victory in Jesus’ in Thai to the serviceman. I think it’s cute to see that even a two year old can be a ‘Little Missionary.” Wyatt loves that song too, except he sings it ‘I can be a wido missionawy.’ I reckon that is exactly what he is.
Thanks for your love and prayers. Thanks also for the letters and emails and birthday cards. Yes, I had a birthday. I’m sweet sixteen once again.
God Bless,
Maureen
Annual Meeting Update
February 5, 2009
Here are the resolutions voted on at our Annual Business meeting last month. All were passed unanimously.
1. Accept proposed expenditures guide
2. Support Wiebe’s at $100 / month
3. Support Lendvoy’s at $100 / month
4. Increase Pastor’s Salary to $600 / month
5. Accept Melinda Brown as Treasurer, pending membership transfer
6. Accept Constitution Revision
7. Explore possibility of leasing new rooms