September 2026 Newsletter

Dear Brethren,

I hope that everyone is doing well. First, Dad is doing well. He is happy at the place where he is staying. They take care of him as if he were their own grandfather. They do everything for him. They prepare three meals and a snack a day for him.  The food is good and, honestly, more than I could eat in a meal. When his feet swell, they give him a foot massage. They clean his house every day and do his laundry.  He also gets exercise and activities every day. All the people who take care of him are nurses or nurses’ assistants, except for the lady who cleans and the lady who cooks. I love him being there because I see him nearly every day and spend the night with him about three nights a week. He has his own little house that has a bedroom, a bathroom, a living room, and a small kitchen and dining area. Dad is still working… He has two or three of the young ladies who help take care of them coming to worship regularly.

Dad is happy where he is staying.

As I reported last month, I fell and broke my wrist. The doctor said I needed to have an MRI. I went one day and had the MRI, and the doctor said, “Please come back and do it again because one thing was not clear.” After the second MRI, he told me that the reason I was still having pain was that I had aggravated an old injury and that the bone in my wrist had started deteriorating. Basically, I can lift anything heavy for the rest of my life, and eventually, I will have to have some surgeries on my wrist. He also told me that most of the time I need to wear a brace and that I will have pain. One good thing… I asked the doctor about driving… He told me that it was good exercise for my wrist. That is good… because I spend a lot of time driving.

One more medical report… I spent a lot of time at the doctor this month. Our young people who stay with us went out in the woods to find young bamboo to eat. While they were in the woods, a piece of bamboo sprang back and hit one of our girls in the eye. They did not tell us at first. However, Patcharaporn’s eye was not getting better, and her vision was blurred. Finally, they told us. We had to take her to the doctor 5 times.  They removed four pieces of bamboo from her eye. Also, because they waited to tell us, she had an infection inside her eye. I was worried about permanent damage. Her eye finally healed, but her vision was still blurred. The damage had changed the shape of her eye. She will have to wear glasses the rest of her life, but she can now see clearly. We paid for all of the doctor visits and the glasses. We really do not have a budget for that, but we try to take care of our young people to the best of our ability.

Because it is the rainy season, we do not want our young men to ride very far on their motorcycles to lead in worship services. This makes more work for those of us who have trucks. My Sunday morning starts at 5:30 a.m.  I leave my house and drive to Phayao. It is a 2 ½ hour drive there. We have worship services on the campus of the University of Phayao. It is a really beautiful spot beside a lake that is on their campus. You will notice the idol on the hill in the background. After services there, I drove another eight hours to Mae Hong Son and worshiped there. I spend the night there and then drive back to Chiang Mai on Monday.

We have worship services on the campus of the University of Phayao.

I am attaching four road condition pictures. Two I took myself at the beginning of August. Those are roads in town in Chiang Mai. The other two came from the internet, but those are roads we drive on every Sunday. You will see that this rainy season has been very severe. There has been a lot of flooding and landslides, and a lot of roads have collapsed.

In Mae Hong Son, there is a young girl named Julie. She will start first grade next year. We got in contact with her while Ratchanok was doing her student teaching there. Ratchanok loves her, so we started helping her. Actually, I started helping her because she is not in the age group for us to help her through our student programs. Her parents are so thankful for the help. One Saturday, when we were in Mae Hong Son, I told Ratchanok to call her parents and ask them if they would come out to eat with us. We took them out to eat and got to know them better. With all the young people that we help, we want to get to know their parents. This gives us contacts. We want them all to have an opportunity to study the Bible and become Christians.

Julie.

This month, the government officials at Ban Khabuang sent us a letter asking for our help to buy a new pump for their village. Their old pump was broken, and as a result, they did not have enough water to use. We were able to purchase a pump and take it to them. In the future, we also want to put a clean water system in their village. The government officials drive around 15 young people to worship every Sunday. They will also be bringing them to our youth camp in October.

Ban Khabuang sent us a letter asking for our help to buy a new pump for their village.

We are thankful to announce that our buildings are finally done. It was a long, stressful process. We have been working this last month and will continue to work through September to prepare for our BIG work in October. We will have one week of Bible School on the book of Hebrews and then a week of youth camp. The theme for youth camp this year is “Seek Ye First”. We have done a lot and still have a lot to do to get ready. This year’s youth camp will be more expensive because we are having to buy a lot of things to take care of those who will come… bedding, cups, plates, etc. We are expecting around 200 for this first year on the property here. We are all really excited. I have already started translating PowerPoint lessons. You will see a picture labeled Building #3. The new buildings on the high side of our property have caused flooding problems on the low side… the church building and my house. So, in that picture, you will see we are working to fix that problem. The church building has flooded three times already this rainy season. Hopefully, by the end of this week… that problem will be taken care of. I am attaching two pictures of our final inspection of the new buildings.

I am very pleased with the growth of the young men who are staying with us and studying the Bible. They are truly growing in knowledge and ability. They are and are going to be great workers for the Lord. We will use them to lead many things during camp. In addition to leading in worship, they will be MCing and leading activities and games.  Passakorn and I will be taking a step back and letting these young men do more of the leading. Right now, we are helping them to prepare for their responsibilities.

Please keep all of our work in your prayers. Pray that we get everything prepared in the next 30 days. Pray that we will be in good strength and good health. Pray that both our school and camp in October bear fruit and give glory to God. Pray, Pray, Pray!!

Thank you all for your love, prayers, encouragement, and help.

God bless,
Michael

Mother’s Day.