New Members!

"It makes all the work worth it, doesn't it to see friends join the church where they will be fed and nurtured!!!"
-retired missionary in response to my Facebook posting about the new members

One of my dearest friends here who has touched my heart for these past three years was baptized and became a Christian yesterday. She and her youngest daughter. The baptism brought tears to my eyes. (Pictured in the middle of the picture.) When I left last term, she wasn't a Christian. Her youngest daughter (pictured on the left) has prayed for her for a long time. Please rejoice with me for her new life in Christ.

In total, there were five baptisms yesterday as well as a total of seven new members joining our church. The group included three missionary children who stood up to express their personal faith in Christ, two college students, and two members of the Mahathai community (a mother and her daughter), and also two infant baptisms.

Please pray alongside of me that they will continue growing in their faith and understanding how to share the Gospel.

The Christmas Play

...brought to you by our campus ministry...and our HILARIOUS campus students.

The whole gang after getting all dressed up.
The angel, Gabriel
Mary and Joseph
The group being SO silly!

Friday's Christmas Party

Memories of our Christmas outreach party--the best party yet:
-Sitting with a college student who was at the office early. Asking him if he knows what Christmas is about, and getting to tell him.
-The college students dressing up to the Christmas play for everyone. The guy (from a previous post) that was scared to get in front of everyone, had the main role of Joseph! He did great.
-Being in charge of the "Soi Daw" which were stars on a tree. They paid like 15 cents and got a star. Depending on the number in the star, they got various prizes. Such a fun tradition of Thailand.
-Hearing Pat's strong voice inviting everyone to "accept the best gift of all this Christmas."
-Seeing an English student's mom for the first time since coming back to Thailand. She was so excited to see me, she started to cry!
-Many church members came and ALL of them brought neighbors and friends who didn't know Jesus!
-Sitting around kids, teenagers, college students, parents, and older folks all in the same packed church celebrating Jesus!
-After everyone left, our staff got in a prayer circle and praised God for his work that evening in many people's hearts.
-Once I got back home, I got a text message from a friend telling me how she got to share the Christmas story more while on the way home with her friend she had brought!

Praise God! Thanks for the prayers! One more Christmas party tomorrow after church!

What Not to Do on a Bus

Yesterday, I totally saw a Westerner shaving on the bus!! He pulled out his battery-powered, portable razor and shaved his scruf off! I was in shock. With the wind blowing through the windows, his miniscule whiskers must be blowing on everyone. How crazy! So please, when you visit me here in Thailand, try to shave first before getting on the bus!

Westerners' New Year's?

That's what my neighbor said she thought Christmas was about before she was a Christian. She thought it was just New Year's for Westerners. She thought that way since she was a kid. Most Thai people have a similar thought she said. Now that she's a Christian, she is thankful that she knows what Christmas really is, "The day we celebrate when Jesus came down to be a human and live with us." Loved that conversation. I pray that God opens many more eyes to what Christmas really is this month, and especially at our church's outreach party this Friday night. Please pray.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever in Thai

One of the college students that's been hanging out a lot with our campus ministry group ended up riding on the same bus with me yesterday. He informed me that the University Christian Fellowship (the name of our campus ministry club at the local university) will be the actors in our Christmas play this year! They practice tomorrow and the big outreach Christmas party is Friday night at church.

The great thing is that he's never heard the Christmas story before. So, as he practices, he gets to hear about Jesus! Woohoo! I asked him who he wants to be in the play--listing off Joseph, wise men, shepherds... He said he's so nervous about being in a play, he'd just like to be a tree! :) I told him there are sheep too. Maybe that would be an easy role.

Pray for God to open many ears, eyes, and hearts during their Christmas play practice and during our Christmas party! Praise God for his work!

Ants!!

So, it starts off as the normal Ants vs. Melanie Saga. When I think the ants aren't interested in my towels anymore, they come and hide in them. And when I wrap myself in that towel, I am bitten! Agh! I'm usually too sleepy to hardly realize what that sensation is til I have at least 5 bites.

The saga continued when I got home however. The ants were still there. And as I looked further, they were gathered in front my door's threshold eating something. Eew, no! The poor gecko who was squeaking in my room last night is now nothing but a skeleton! Carnivorous red ants! Agh!