“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!

This post from Suzanne:

After a busy start to the year, we can now say Nakhon Sawan is starting to feel more like “home”.  Curtis has mostly settled into school – it has not been an easy transition for him.  His first subject each day is in English, then the rest are all in Thai.  Whilst he sometimes gets bored (when he doesn’t understand), the teachers are very pleased with his performance.  His English subjects are going very well, and his teacher is impressed with his Thai reading and writing, said they are both really improving.  And because all the students speak only Thai on the playground has forced him to communicate in Thai.  He also has made friends with some of the boys in our neighbourhood.  In fact they are usually lingering outside our home any time after five, waiting for Curtis to get home from school.  They are lovely boys, and we are glad for Curtis to have some friends, especially as he was missing his old school and church friends from Bangkok.

I am writing this update from our new home in Nakhon Sawan – 248 kms north of Bangkok.  We moved mid November last year.  It was a blessing to find two houses – almost opposite each other.  Amnuay and Di live in one, and we live in the other.  Neither houses were furnished, nor had a kitchen.  It has been an extremely challenging time.  Some sweet folk from Lad Prao Baptist Church helped us load the truck, but the challenge began when we arrived late in the afternoon … they were still painting the inside, and the house was so filthy that all we could do was unpack the truck and stack everything in the lounge room.  The only furniture we had was a sofa.  We had no hot water either, so we stayed at a “resort” for the night (where, I might add, their hot water wasn’t working either) – but at least we had a bed to sleep in!! 

This Post from Suzanne: 

Oh my, how quickly this year is passing by!  And we certainly haven’t been short of ‘happenings’ here in the last couple of months.  On the 12th of August it was Mother’s Day here (the Queen’s birthday).  The Church had a special day on the Sunday (10th), and we had many visitors, including a number of unsaved mums.  Amnuay invited his mother, and she came.  I think she was a little nervous, as it was her very first time in Church.  At the end of the service all the children presented their mothers with a gift and a rose and a short speech.  I received three gifts and three roses – my sons included Curtis, Amnuay and Noah.  It was very sweet.  Then Amnuay presented his mother with a rose and a gift and told her that the best present he could give her was the Lord Jesus Christ.  It was quite stirring and emotional.  Please continue to pray for Amnuay’s parents, that their hearts would be open and they would listen and understand as Amnuay has opportunity to witness to them.

Dear Pastor and Brethren,  I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;  For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;1 Timothy 2:1-3

 At this time of writing a state of emergency has been declared here in Thailand because of rioting and civil disorder. Protestors have stormed and occupied government buildings and the complex of the Prime minister. The present government was legitimately elected to office by the majority of Thai only seven months ago. Several have been killed already and the army and the police are out in large numbers on the streets. The protestors are unwilling to accept the will of the majority of Thais and are determined to bring down the government no matter what the cost to Thailand and the Thai people...

This Post from Suzanne: 

I have just recently arrived back from Australia.  We had our annual Leadership Conference at Good Shepherd Baptist Church, and Wayne preached a number of sessions there.  The Conference is attended by many Pastor’s around Australia, so it was nice to catch up with some of those Pastors that support us, and have opportunity to share with them about our work here in Thailand.  Also, Pastor Jesda and his wife, plus three of our Thai friends were also able to attend.  Pastor Jesda gave his testimony last year, and this year he taught the adult Bible Class on the Sunday morning leading up to Conference.  He was again very well received, and a blessing to many people.  His attendance at the Conference was also big help and encouragement to him.  He gained many valuable insights.