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.

 The last couple of months I have been teaching English three mornings a week for an International language school.  This keeps me extremely busy, with many hours of planning and preparation.  I have around 25 in my class, ages ranging from 17 – 50+.  I must say it has been quite challenging, but most insightful.  I am thankful for the opportunity to work with Thais and learn more about their culture.

As most of you would be aware, there has been a lot of political unrest and violence here in Thailand.  Three weeks ago the Prime Minister declared a state of emergency.  I received a phone call from Curtis’ school asking me to pick him up as they were closing the school.  School resumed the following week, but things are by no means resolved.  The political climate is still very high, and I’m not sure exactly how everything will work out. 

My mother came to visit us recently.  She is from Tasmania and this was her first time to Thailand.  She was here for just over three weeks (though it seemed like only days)!!  She had a wonderful time, and was immediately taken with the Thai people.  She was really taken with their ‘gentleness’ and happy, smiling faces.  My dear husband went in search of a wheelchair for her, as she can’t stand or walk for very long.  It was such a blessing, and enabled us to do many more things than we could have done otherwise.  We managed to fit many things in in the short time she was here.  It was quite a cultural experience for her.  The Church folk were also kind and gracious to her.  In fact 10 of them came to the airport to see her off!  It was a lovely send-off for her.

Curtis developed a cough while we were in Australia in June.  I was going to take him to the doctors before we came back, but it seemed to settle down.  However, not long after we arrived back, it seemed to ‘freshen’ up again.  When my mother heard it, she was quite concerned, so we took him to the hospital.  The doctor predicted Micro Plasma (also known as walking pneumonia), and immediately put him on medication.  The diagnosis was confirmed after a blood test and chest x-ray.  I really don’t know  where or how he picked that up!  However he responded very well to the medication, and didn’t take long to make a full recovery – praise the Lord!  Of course he is back at school, and loving every day of it.  He loves his friends and teachers, and is doing very well.  Next month is International Day, and his class is representing Korea.  I tell you, though, organizing Korean costume is not easy – but I’ve enlisted the help of one of the mothers who is Korean.  Will let you know in the next update how everything worked out!

The third of this month was our 20th wedding anniversary.  Wayne had organized a surprise for me – I didn’t know any of the details, just that we had to be at the airport early that morning.  However, the night before, after dinner, he started vomiting.  Excepting, he couldn’t stop, then he started groaning and acting rather strange.  I told Amnuay if we had a remote chance of flying out the next morning, we’d better get him to the hospital.  By this stage Wayne couldn’t even stand, but we finally managed to get him to the car and to the hospital.  The hospital was very busy that night – the emergency ward was full, and we weren’t getting any attention at all.  Then Wayne started vomiting again .. we soon got attended to!  They immediately put him on a drip and gave him an injection to stop the vomiting.  They said they had to admit him for the night.  So I spent that evening and the next day at the hospital with him.  Fortunately he responded well to the medication and recovered quite well.  Needless to say, our wedding anniversary surprise was cancelled.  I tried to look at it as a unique experience to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary in hospital!!

Even though he recovered from the parasite, please pray for Wayne’s health.  He has been struggling quite a bit of late.  I’m not sure if his immune system is very low, making him easily susceptible to pick up things, or he’s just a little run down.  Good health is such a blessing, and when your health is not good, it can be quite debilitating!

Amnuay is doing very well.  Wayne has many opportunities to share Biblical insights with him, as he continues teaching and discipling him. On the 13th of this month, Amnuay got married.  Di is a wonderful young lady from the Church who loves God, and desires to serve Him.  She is very sweet and thoughtful.  Curtis was excited when Amnuay asked him to be the ring bearer.  Then he was very nervous when the assistant Pastor emceeing asked him to give a speech at the reception.  But he did a great job, and we were very proud of him.  Please pray for Amnuay and Di, that God would give them a strong marriage, and use them for His glory.

It would seem that Deeo is very close to getting saved.  He recently spent some time at his home up country.  That was good for him to get away from Bangkok and a lot of the bad influences here.   He has a lot of struggles, in many areas.  I know it has been extremely frustrating for Wayne – it seems like he’ll take two steps forward, then one step back.  Thank you for your prayers.  Please continue to pray for Deeo, that God would soften his heart and he would come to a saving knowledge of Him real soon.  Below is a picture of Deeo and Curtis.

Sarah and Justin are doing ok.  Sarah had a drama last week with her cat (had a paralysis tick) which was quite upsetting and distressing for her, but due to the kindness and generosity of our local vet, the cat is ok and they are both recovering fine!  Justin is currently on school holidays, and has gone to North Queensland with one of his friends for a week.  Kevin’s family have been a blessing to Justin, and I’m sure they will have a great time!

Thank you for all your support, encouragement, prayers, letters and emails.  It is a wonderful thing to be co-labourers with God.   “For we are labourers together with God: …” – I Cor 3:9a