Country Update:

The turmoil and division in Thailand sadly continues at this stage.  The red shirts, which consist mostly of poor people from country regions, continue to barricade themselves over several city blocks.  Many hotels and major shopping centres have had to close.  Both the government and the red shirts seem unable to resolve their standoff.  

GOOD NEWS!!!

Jack got saved after church today.  It was exciting, and an answer to prayer.   Thank you to all those that have been praying for him.  To date, five people from Amnuay's village have now been saved:  Amnuay, Khun Doi, Aatit, Udom and Jack.  Please continue to pray for these young men and Khun Doi, that they would keep growing strong in their faith, and that they would be a bold witness in their village.  They all have a tremendous burden for their unsaved family and friends. 

Clashes between the red shirts and certain sections of the army continue.  Today the army intercepted a convoy of 2,000 red shirts, shots were fired – one soldier was killed.  The largest group of red shirts still occupy part of the capital, Bangkok.  The army is massing around them.  Sadly a confrontation, that will no doubt prove deadly, looks imminent.  We are praying that somehow the two sides would come together for talks, and further bloodshed could be avoided.  We love all Thais, and it’s sad for us to see Thais fighting Thais.  We appreciate your prayers and will keep you updated as events unfold.  

IMPORTANT UPDATE - THAI CIVIL UNREST 

 At this point of time, Bangkok and other areas of Thailand are under a state of emergency.  Red Shirt protesters have claimed certain areas of the city, and have cut roads and erected barricades.  The army and police are massing around the protesters.  There are deep divisions in Thai society at the moment.  The police are said to be mostly sympathetic to the protesters; the army is said to be some-what divided.  The unrest has flared up in most major cities across Thailand.  I was in Bangkok for Church on Sunday, and there were several grenade attacks about one kilometre from where we were.  Several died, and many were injured. 

This post from Suzanne:

Thank you everyone for your prayers, emails, support and encouragement!  It is a blessing to know that so many people are co-labouring with us.

This post from Suzanne:

As another year draws to a close, I am mindful to thank the Lord for not only the blessings He gave us throughout the year, but also the challenges.   “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”  - James 1:3-4.    Praise God for His mercies, faithfulness and promises!

“For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.”-  1 Corinthians 16:9 

Most times our adversaries are without, and sadly sometimes they are found to be within.  Did not Jesus say, “Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?”   Two weeks ago Deeo left us under sad and disturbing circumstances.  We pray the Lord will receive glory from his life one way or the other.  It is always sad to invest love and time in somebody only to see them walk away, but we know many of you have also had first-hand experience at this.  We are sad, but not deterred.

This post from Suzanne:

Last month Wayne had to go to America for about 10 days.  He had the honour of preaching at Pastor Chappell’s Spiritual Leadership Conference in Lancaster, then went on to Lighthouse Baptist Church in San Diego where he preached a couple of times, including by interpretation to the Spanish ministry.  The church folk there had a service where they honoured Pastor & Mrs Fisher for their 25 years of service at the church there.  My husband was both touched and encouraged. 

DEEO IS BACK WITH US …

Three days ago Deeo phoned Wayne and said he wants to be free from past enslaving habits and addictions, and really wants to do right.  He asked if he could come back to us.  He has been quite unwell, so is resting a lot.  We are feeding him up and trying to help him get his body back to health.                           

Please pray that God would give Wayne clear guidance and leading as he works with Deeo.  No doubt it will be a long, challenging road.  This is a new area to him, and despite the stress Deeo has caused, Wayne believes God has His Hand on Deeo, and in the end it will work out for the good of the Gospel, for the good of Deeo, and for the good of the people of Thailand.

Thank you for your faithful prayers.

This post from Suzanne:

I can’t believe we’ve just passed the half-way mark of yet another year!  It has gone so very quickly.  It  has been a hard year in many ways for us.  Wayne’s health has not been good most of the year, though at this time of writing, he seems to have picked up quite well and doing much better.   The weather has been extremely hot [it made the news here that Nakhon Sawan reached the hottest temperatures in all of Thailand ].  It has been very difficult and unpleasant with no air conditioning, but we have prioritized that for our next project.  The houses have required quite a lot of maintenance to get them in working order, and we are slowly making progress.  There are so many things we took for granted in Australia – like the phone and internet.  Here, some days they work … others they don’t!  We can go up to 3 weeks with no phone line and internet.  Then when we do have them, they can (and do) often drop out.  It can certainly be frustrating!