DOWNLOAD PDF - MARCH 2009 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER

Dear Friends & Family,

Thank you for for your continued prayers.  We ourselves could be more faithful in prayer so you could pray for us in that respect.

Karl has taken PhraBaht church members out to Nong Doan a few times already, part of our plan to do Bible study, prayer, handing out tracts, and visitation in Nong Doan every other Sunday afternoon.  Each time we go is a bit different, and not all the same people go each time, but we are hoping that doing this regularly will create a greater culture of evangelism within the church and a greater understanding and application of the Gospel in the lives of the church members.  One of the challenges of “doing” evangelism like this is that some people might get the impression that evangelism is merely an event, something that you “do” and then are done with, rather than a constant desire to love and share the Gospel with the people in your life - at home, at work, at school, in your neighborhood.  Although I don’t have any

ready documentation for you, I am fairly certain that more people become Christians through personal relationships than through cold calls on evangelistic outings.  That is not to say that I am going to stop handing out tracts or sharing the Gospel with people that I don’t know too well, but rather that we need to keep all things in proper perspective.  Please pray that both we ourselves and the PhraBaht church members whom we are working with will be intentional in sharing the Gospel with the people we already have contact with, even as we make these bi-weekly outings to Nong Doan to share the Gospel with people we don’t know that well yet.

Both of us are plugging away at our Thai language study.  Sun is planning to sit her second year exam in April and Karl is forcing himself to work through the modules in preparation for third year exam.  It is very difficult for Karl to focus on formal language study because he is busy with lots of ministry related tasks and the necessary preparation for those.    In a sense, language learning is happening all the time but not everything can be quantified and submitted as official studies.  Pray that we would know balance, and have discipline in continuing to work on our language.

Joshua will turn three this May and is a joy and a handful all at once.  He has been testing us, exerting his will quite forcefully in recent weeks.    Thus it is quite tiring to try to be good parents, talking and reasoning with him, and disciplining him.  Giving in or not caring takes a lot less work.  Plus, it is difficult to concentrate on Bible study prep or language study when he is bursting into the office every five minutes, wanting me to come see something, fix his train track, put the tires back on his toy car (for the 10th time), or any one of an hundred other things.  Concentration is hard to come by sometimes.

Please continue to pray for us, for Thai believers, and for those who have yet to hear the gospel of the Jesus Christ.  May the Holy Spirit work faith in the hearts of many (John 3:8).

by Christ’s grace,
Karl & Sun Dahlfred


PRAYER POINTS

• Bi-weekly visits to Nong Doan for on-the-job evangelism training with PhraBaht church members
• Thai believers who want to study the Word of God with us
• Good health and wisdom in forging ahead in evangelism and discipleship in 2009
• Boldness in evangelism
• Perseverance in language study
• Holy Spirit change hearts

• Good interest from PhraBaht church folks to go to Nong Doan every other Sunday
• Opportunities to share the Gospel
• Strength and endurance with a willful toddler
• Our upcoming vacation.  We’re tired!