June 2024 Newsletter

Dear Brethren,

This month was extremely busy. At the end of May, I turned 60. It seems strange to me… I always thought when I turned 60 years old I would start slowing down. As it turns out, God had different plans for my life. I am busier now than I have ever been in my life. There does not ever seem to be an end to the work that needs to be done.

We spent a lot of this month visiting the homes of our students. In each home we visited, we spent time studying  God’s word. This is very important. Many of the parents of the students we help have never heard the gospel. We also transported, and are still transporting, students to their schools. The only ones left are those who attend university. Most of the universities start in the middle of June. We took young people to buy uniforms, fill out paperwork, and attend meetings at various schools. For the most part everyone is getting settled into the new school year. In the past, the schools all opened at the same time, May 16^th. This year the schools that our students attend started on many different days. One of the schools started some grades a week earlier than the other grades. Logistically, it was a nightmare… but we are through that for the most part.

Our main work this month was trying to find a way for all the Christians in the mountains to worship each week. Last month, the plan was to hire people to drive the students.  We have about 90 young people that go to Maelati at the moment. We only have three vehicles and three drivers. And usually, two of the drivers must go and hold services in other areas. We would have to hire many people with pickups to pick up and deliver the young people. It is the beginning of the rainy season. So many young people would sit in the back of pickups in the rain for over an hour. We also discussed the fact that we would not know if the people we hired maintained their vehicles as they should… many people in the mountains do not maintain their vehicles at all.  In the end, we decided to divide the area into zones and rent a place to worship in each zone. While we (the preachers) will still have to drive a long way… but the students will only have to go a short distance to worship. It will also cost about the same amount of money as hiring people to drive them.  The thing I like is that it will be a lot safer for our young people. We divided the road from Maesariang to Thasongyang into six zones: Maesariang, Maekhaduan, Maelati, Thichawmae, Maethawah, Thasongyang.  We have nice buildings in Maelati and Thichawmae already. So, we needed four places.  We started hunting for places to rent. We rented a place in Maesariang, Maekhaduan, and Thasongyang without any problem. We thought we had a place rented in Maethawah… but it was close to the entrance of a Buddhist temple. When they found out, they made a big fuse and in the end we had to find another place.  However, there was not another place. Right now, we are meeting under a tree… but it is the start of the rainy season… so we need a place to worship. One of our young people said that he has land that he has inherited and he is willing to let us use part of it to build a place of worship.  That means we need to build as soon as possible. We need $7,500 US to build a place of worship.  If you can help us, please let us know and send money as soon as possible. Every Christian must worship every week. We have many young Christians who want and need to worship. We are doing all we can do to make sure that these young Christians can grow and be faithful all of their lives.

We swap who goes where every week because some places are harder to get to. Here is a typical week. I take  care of Chiang Mai, Phrao, Fang (driving time 6 hours). Passakorn takes care of Maesariang, Maethawah, and Thasongyang (driving time 4 hours… not counting the 3-hour trip from Chiang Mai which is usually made on Saturday). Chaichana takes care of Maelati and Maekhaduan (driving time including picking up and dropping off 4 hours). Suchat takes care of Thichawmae 2 hours). It is exhausting work… but necessary because all Christians are to worship on the first day of the week.

After the place of worship is built in Maethawah, we will have an on-going expense of rent and gas. The cost of those two things will be roughly $1,000 per month. I do not know where that money is going to come from. I do know that what we are doing, has to be done and that the Lord will provide. If you can help with any of this, please let us know.

Thank you all for all that you do. Without you, the work we are doing together would not be able to be done.

God bless,
Michael