October 2014 Prayer Letter
Dear Friends & Family,
Thank you for praying for us as we serve in Bangkok. I don’t have any major events to report on but I do want to give several updates so that you know how to best pray.
New Househelp
In our last prayer letter, we asked you to pray that God would provide some house help for Sun. Praise God that He has provided woman to come help with some household tasks and cleaning five days per week. This allows Sun to spend more time with the children, and homeschooling, as well as some other projects that she has wanted to work on. It also means that I am needing to do less dishes and cooking as well.
Time with Students
In the past, I have not been able to get to know students as well as I’d like, but this term I have started eating lunch with them two days per week. This informal time provides more opportunity for relationship building and talking about things that they are thinking about or going through, whether related to class or not. Recently, a couple students have been asking me about what it looks like to emphasize grace in preaching and what that means. It is encouraging to hear these kind of questions because much of the preaching in Thai churches is moralistic and there are not enough models of Gospel-centered preaching for people to see. Pray that Bangkok Bible Seminary students and graduates would have a firm grasp on the Gospel of grace and what it means to live by grace, not by works.
Most of Sun’s time is spent at home with our kids but recently she led an afternoon activity for the female students on campus. She taught them how to make their own soap and fan covers, as well as some natural remedies for common ailments. She enjoyed getting out to teach, and to spend time with these girls. From time to time, students will come by to ask Sun’s advice about this or that. It is great that she is able to have input into their lives in various ways - something that would not have been possible if we lived further away.
Changes at Grace City Bangkok Church
In recent months, we have received a small group of new members, including one new member by baptism. He came to faith earlier this year after starting to attend our church with his girlfriend.
We also have two new people helping with ministry at Grace City. Ake is a BBS student who hopes to head into pastoral ministry later. He is a sharp fellow with lots of natural leadership ability. Joanna is a Thai woman with a big heart for evangelism and desire to get grounded in the truth. She just recently came on board part-time to help co-ordinate some evangelistic efforts and women’s ministry.
Opposing the Prosperity Gospel
A steady stream of prosperity gospel preachers from abroad continue to tour Thailand, and I recently made some new enemies and new friends with a Thai-language blog post warning people about a particular traveling preacher. Pray that God grant wisdom, boldness, and a love of the truth to Thai Christians to stand against those who pervert the Gospel.
by Christ’s grace,
Karl & Sun Dahlfred
PRAYER POINTS
- Growth in maturity & numbers at Grace City Bangkok Church plant
- Productive time with BBS students
- Discernment for Thai Christians regarding the prosperity gospel
PRAISES
- New house helper for Sun
- New members at Grace City Bangkok Church plant
CALENDAR
10/7-11 OMF Homeschool Week for kids
10/26 Karl preach Grace City Bangkok Church
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