December 10, 2008

Dear Prayer Partners and friends,

Life is full and good, and here are some highlights of the past month or so. From those of you who gave me your contact information last April and May and are only hearing from me now, I can only beg your forgiveness! To those churches and individuals who provide prayer and monetary support—thank you, thank you, thank you!

October, November and early December’s joys

• Another awesome Chiang Mai Women’s Retreat (amazing worship and deep refreshing by God’s Spirit).
• Grading finished from first term (only a month or so late—argh).
• America does herself proud by electing an ethnic minority person to lead the world. God bless Barack.
• Kyle Dillingham, Oklahoma’s musical ambassador and fiddle player extraordinaire, plays for worship for our staff and teacher’s meetings and brings tears to my eyes with “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”—exactly what I need to do more and more; and what a gift of pure grace out of nowhere this young man was—to bless and encourage us that God will provide all we need and more.
• McKean Rehab (used to be leprosy) Hospital celebrates 100 years of ministry (the best all-time mission project in Thailand, in my humble opinion) and the Christian Communications Institute puts on a likay and creates a DVD (with son Andy’s major input) that celebrates the story.
• Meeting new students in my critical thinking class and pastoral care and counseling class for second term (almost 60 students in the first and only eight in the second).
• Seeing old Chiang Mai friends at a wedding, one of whom gets this prayer partner letter and burst out laughing, recalling my ever-so-earnest and serious request for prayer to have more fun as a leader—did it strike anyone else as funny? My gramma called me “Sobersides” as a 2-year old, so there you go.
• Meeting Ed Sue, the architect who designed Payap’s gorgeous chapel, and getting his advice on how we can cool it without air-conditioning.
• Dear friends Judy and Barry Clark start as volunteer staff to provide pastoral care for Payap’s international staff and students—hallelujah!
• Barry and Judy help with Thanksgiving dinner for 200 at Paradornparb International House—Payap’s international dorm—turkey and all the trimmings, and a small group of intrepid bakers learned to make my mom’s famous cinnamon rolls, and our spaghetti dinner group brought oodles of pies (and olives).
• Payap’s 31st graduation was as gorgeous and grand as ever.
• Airports reopened (our friends and family will be able to get here for Christmas after all).
• Political tensions reduced at least for a few weeks before a new government is formed.
• International Day 6 was enjoyed by 700 people eating all kinds of food, wearing beautiful clothes, performing rap in Burmese, among other traditional/modern mixes, and a dunking tank with the president and a vice-president of Payap (yours truly) getting thoroughly wet. God bless President Dr. Pradit!
• Kung and Ed marry (two on my staff—marry each other! It’s a story of God’s redeeming love, and we are all grateful for God’s goodness to these two.)
• 35 Christmas carolers (Payap nursing students led by Kung and Ed) arrive at 2:00 a.m. to celebrate the birth of Jesus and eat delicious rice and pork soup, forcing us to get our house decorated (thank you son Paul and Zubi—our Pakistani daughter back for a Christmas visit). Two more groups due in the coming week.

December needs

• Politicians here and everywhere will wake up and work together for justice and opportunity for all.
• Thai people will respond to Christmas outreach events all over the land, embracing the King of kings and discovering the hope and joy of Jesus’ kingdom.
• Payap’s Christmas celebration will be gorgeous, fun, and reveal Jesus’ love.
• Payap’s Burmese students doing Nargis relief work will be safe and effective with their Christmas relief and gospel trip over the break.
• Joyful, relaxing family-and-friend time at home and at the beach for the holidays.

Thanks again for your prayers. Keep me posted as to how I can pray for you and what God is doing in your lives. If you want to receive something akin to this on a somewhat monthly basis, email me.

Blessings,

Esther

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 92