DOWNLOAD PDF - JUNE 2019 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER 

Dear Friends & Family,

Greetings once again from bonnie Scotland!  It is cold and wet here but we are getting on with things and marvel at the fact that our time in Edinburgh may come to a close in a year or so.

Research Progress - I am Writing!

In our last prayer letter, I told you that I was trying to finish up reading and scanning the documents that I collected over the summer. Thanks be to God that is largely done now and I have started writing. I wrote chapter one and am in the process of revising it per my supervisor’s recommendations. Trying to figure out how to make a massive amount of data all fit together into a logical and interesting narrative is hard work! 

But my constant prayer is that not only would my research come together into a coherent whole, but also that what I write will be useful. I keep asking myself, “How does this relate disciple making? How will this be relevant for the church?” At the end of the day, very few people read doctoral theses but I have a list of ideas for shorter spinoff articles that would make a contribution to the mission of the church in Thailand and elsewhere. It is my hope and prayer that my studies here would have real benefit for both my teaching at Bangkok Bible Seminary as well as writing and teaching for the broader Christian community. Please pray that I would have clarity of thought and excellent time management so that I can write up a quality thesis and our family can head back to Thailand by mid-year 2020. We are enjoying our time in Edinburgh but we are all looking forward to returning to ministry in Bangkok. 

  DOWNLOAD PDF - JANUARY 2019 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER 

Dear Friends & Family,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  We hope you’ve had an enjoyable holiday season and you are feeling hopeful as we head into a New Year. 

Thailand Conference & Still More Research

From January 4-13, I (Karl) am in Thailand to present a paper at a conference.  My paper topic is “Missionary Communication When Locals are Listening.” If all goes well, this paper will show up as a chapter in a published book next year.  If you’d like a “sneak peek”, let me know. 

After that brief trip, I’ll be back in Scotland to continue pushing through the remaining stacks of documents that I collected this past summer.  I really thought that it wouldn’t take this long to read through and scan these docs, but such is life.  Please pray that I’ll know what to skim and what to read in-depth so I’ll be ready to start some substantial writing in the not distant future.  My supervisor has counseled me to start writing this year instead of waiting for my third year.  Thus, I hope to get writing this spring sometime. I probably need to do a 2 week research trip to Wheaton College sometime this year as well.  Please pray that I will have the discipline, diligence, and discernment to make all that happen.  I’ve been at this 1.5 years so far and am hoping to finish this dissertation within 3 years total (mid-year 2020).  But I’ll only have a chance of reaching that goal if I stay on task.

  DOWNLOAD PDF - OCTOBER 2018 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER 

Dear Friends & Family,

Back to School

Sun and the kids came back to Edinburgh in early August so that the children would be ready for the start of the Scottish school year on August 15th. Caitlin and John are now both in elementary school and Joshua is in 7th grade, the first year of high school in the Scottish system. They are all getting on well but it has been challenging to make friends so if you pray for them, you could remember the need for good friends.

Karl has also gone “back to school” as the new academic year has begun at the University of Edinburgh. However, since he was doing archival research most of the summer, it doesn’t feel like going “back” since he never really left his work during the summer. He returned from Payap University Archives in Thailand with a veritable mountain of photocopies, which he is now reading through, taking notes on, and adding to Evernote in order to organize his data and prepare for writing. In light of what he is learning, he is also revising his outline for the thesis, shuffling around information like a jigsaw puzzle to see how to best fit it all together. Please pray for clarity of mind, discipline of time, and dogged determination.