Hope Chapel

Join us in praying for our home church, Hope Chapel in Northglenn Colorado, as they go through some growing pains. Please pray for strength and unity in the body. Also, pray that God would raise up a team of passionate lay leaders to help lead the church through this time. Hope Chapel Northglenn has so many unique strengths to offer to the surrounding community and the Enemy would just love to see this group of believers drawn away from thier God-given purpose!

Pray... Against Deception

Our hearts have been heavy as we've watched many in our village become increasingly infatuated with a form of Buddhist fortune telling. Almost every evening, after everyone has returned from the fields, a large group crowds around a Chinese man who sells "good fortune". We don't really understand all the intricacies of how it supposedly works, but it has been simply explained to us like this: when a person gives his money (in exchange for a piece of paper with numbers written on it) he is then supposed to receive "good fortune" which will eventually yield a profit of 10 times what he originally gave.

We've learned that this growing fad is common only in the Akha villages around Mae Salong. While the area has so many obvious benefits for the Akha who live there (like secure jobs working in the Chinese tea fields), the one drawback we've noticed is that the Akha in Mae Salong are continually reminded of their poverty by daily interactions with their wealthy Chinese neighbors and employers. Many of the Akha in our village have been led to believe that this kind of wealth comes from "good fortune" ...which can be purchased today only for a special price of 100 baht!

I can see how they feel like the victims of a nasty trick of fate who just need a dose of "good fortune" to turn things around. From all appearances, they all work much harder than their wealthy employers, yet they can never seem to get ahead. They trudge to the fields every day, getting only 6 baht for every kilo of tealeaves that they pick, while that same tea is processed and sold for as much as 650 baht. Just being born an Akha puts them at a disadvantage. But paying 20, 50 or 100 baht out of their hard-earned money to buy false hope only serves to make their situation worse.

Please pray for the people of our village who are deceived by this scam; pray that their eyes would be opened. Pray that they would handle their money with wisdom, instead of wasting it on false hope. Also, please pray for Pastor A-Ta who is interning in our village this year; pray that he would address the issue wisely and that he would have the patience and grace needed to effectively reach those who have mistakenly put their faith in "good fortune."

Migraines

A problem that has been a bother to me for four or five years is becoming chronic. Migraines. It has gotten to the point where I have to have medicine near me all the time just in case. Fortunately, medicine in Thailand is cheap and we've been able to work out a nice little cocktail of pills that is effectively a few Excedrin Migraine tabs. When taken early enough this can curb most of the symptoms, but if I miss that window I'm in for a long day of horrible pain, nausea and even loss of vision.

These migraines seem to be visually triggered, most often by events surrounding a lack of sleep or food, or too much caffeine, driving, lights or rain. The other evening one of the worst migraines I have had, and I've been hospitalized for them, came on while driving back to the village and I had to stop the truck for a few minutes to clear my eyes. Shortly after arriving back in the village the fuzziness in my eyes became so bad I had to have people help me walk back to my home. The neat thing in all of this was that the elders from my village all came and prayed for me, their presence and prayers were a real comfort in an otherwise painful moment.

If this is supposed to be another lifetime thorn in the flesh or a message for me when to slow down, so be it, but I would like to ask for you to pray that I would be healed from the chronic distraction that these migraines have become. Thanks for your prayers.

Prayer Force Update : Kampot, Cambodia

We have received an update from our Missions Director asking to pray for the people of Kampot, Cambodia.

A flash flood has struck the city covering much of it in as much as seven feet of water. Please join us as we have been asked to pray the following:

Pray for the restoration of lives and homes damaged by the floods, for the peace of God to flood the community, and that God would minister to all affected through the aid provided.

Thank you for your prayers.

Health in the Villages

It's the rainy season again and we're seeing all the signs of the season - especially in our little Akha clinic. Mostly we are seeing the aches and pains of joints and 'old mountain injuries' which generally tell that it is going to rain. These are easily treated with an ear to hear the complaints and a little paracetamol to help lessen the pain when they sleep. Also on the daily symptoms list are the cuts, bruises and scabies (itching and sores) from the kids.
Last year our local epidemic was Chicken Pox, this year it might be ear infections. We are seeing quite a few babies with fevers and ear infections, we've even seen an adult Akha woman with a bad ear infection. Much of this is simply daily life in an Akha village, but please remember and continue to pray for health and life for the Akha of the hills of Mae Salong during this rainy season.

Moving On

Thank you all for your prayers and support. We are happy to say we're heading up to the village again tomorrow. This has been a good season and we have grown so much through life and grief. In the end our response is praise that we have the strength to move on, and we pray that as we go through even more difficult experiences in life our response will be as Horatio Spafford wrote:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.