December 2023 Newsletter

Dear Brethren,

This is my first report since returning to Thailand from America. I was in the US for just over 10 weeks.  It was great to see old friends and meet new ones. I want to thank everyone for the love and generosity that was shown to me in each and every place I visited. I am thankful for the association that we have in Christ and for your help in spreading the gospel here in Thailand.

I have been back in Thailand since the 27^th of October. It has been a very busy time, but my feet are back on the ground and we are running full steam ahead. I got back to my house at midnight of the 27^th. Saturday was spent in meetings getting updated on the work and planning the work that is ahead.

On Sunday, October 29^th, we flew to Bangkok to pick up Thipaka, the new addition to the Mayo family.  She truly makes my heart smile.  It has been a fun adjustment having a young one running around the house again. She is nine years old and full of energy. It has been an adjustment for her too. She is fitting in very well and adjusting well to the new rules. In the past she pretty much did what she wanted when she wanted. If she didn’t want to go to school… she didn’t. She did not eat regularly… because she didn’t have enough food in the past. When we picked her up Sunday evening, I asked her what she had eaten that day… she said nothing.  She has gained nearly 10 pounds this month… which is good because she was very under-weight.

Thipaka, the new addition to the Mayo family.

With the cooler weather, we have seen a lot more snakes out on the road and on the property here. I killed one just the other day. The same day we saw a cobra on the property, but it got away before I could get something to kill it with.

We had a memorial service for a lady this month.  She passed away 100 days before this service. You will remember that we went to her funeral service three months ago, just before I traveled to America.  It is a Thai tradition to have a memorial service 100 days after someone passes away. I spoke at the memorial service. An erring brother in Christ who was a member of that lady’s family was restored as a result of the service. His name is Ning. We are thankful for his coming back to Christ.

The first two weeks of the month were also filled with doing paperwork for the Thai government. It takes nearly a ream of paper to do the required reports each year to renew my work permit. Everything has to be done exactly the right way in order for the paperwork to go through.  It is always a stressful time. The next big report I have to do for the government is in January. That report is to get a letter to renew my visa in March… which also has to be accompanied by a huge report. It seems that governments around the world love paperwork.

We made two trips into the mountains this month.  We did our teaching of the young people and we also did preparations for the group that is coming from the Jurong congregation in Singapore at the beginning of December. We converted the storage room at the church building at Maelati into a kitchen / storage room.  This involved putting in windows, tile, shelves and kitchen equipment. We will be having a gospel meeting for three days at that building. Then we will be putting a water system in at the school in Maengow. It will be a long week, but one that we believe will be full of blessings.

We had several students apply for help from one of the schools near us in Chiang Mai. We went and interviewed the students and talked with the faculty of the school. We immediately started helping two of the young ladies because of the situations that they were in. We have several others who are under consideration. The school was very impressed with us and the work that we do.  The principal of the school called me and thanked me. Then he asked me if I knew of anyone that might be interested in teaching English at the school.  As a result, my son Miles will begin teaching there the week after next.

We went and interviewed the students and talked with the faculty of the school.

We decided to have a youth day for all of the young people that we help already and those who were asking for help from us in the Chiang Mai area. We wanted to get to know the new students better and wanted the young people to all know each other. It was a great day. We had about 30 young people. We did some teaching, played some games, and ate a lot of food!!

We had a youth day for all of the young people that we help already and those who were asking for help from us in the Chiang Mai area.

Two of our young ladies… Phutaraksa and Siriporn just graduated from the nursing program. It was a really nice celebration. Once again, the school recognized us, had us take a picture with the graduating class, and interviewed me. Both of the young ladies have jobs at local hospitals. Phutaraksa is working at Ram Hospital and Siriporn is working at San Sai Hospital. We are thankful for these young ladies and the jobs that they have.

Phutaraksa and Siriporn just graduated from the nursing program.

Once again, I want to thank everyone for your love, prayers, support, and part you have in spreading the gospel here in Thailand. May God continue to bless us all as we work together for Him,

—Michael