DOWNLOAD PDF - OCTOBER 2012 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER

Dear Friends & Family,

 

Some of you may wonder what Sun and the children do while Karl is away teaching at the seminary or helping to translate Christian material. Here is a small glimpse into our lives at home.

Raising Chickens

Another missionary family was raising chickens and we thought we would also do that as part of our homeschooling experience. They were going to give us a hen and a Thai pastor was going to give us a couple of chicks. We were happily surprised when we received the hen AND a mother hen with her five 3-day old chickens. We had been building a hen house and preparing the place for months, so the children were ecstatic to finally get the chickens. The chicks have since grown quite big and are shedding their fuzzy feathers. They are starting to spar with each other. Caitlin really enjoys mothering the chickens. She wants to catch and hold the chicks whenever she has an opportunity. The kids also enjoy looking for eggs (we’ve got 4 so far!). Recently, it’s been unusually wet with the monsoon rains which flood our front yard, so the children haven’t been able to be with the chickens very much. We tried putting down some sand, and that helps some. 

GROWING A VEGETABLE GARDEN

What greater learning place than a garden? We made three raised beds filled with potting soil and coconut husk. Inspired by Square Foot Gardening, we have made grids using strings. We planted lots of vegetables: pumpkin, watermelon, cucumber, string beans, kale, carrots, lettuce, lemon grass, and Chinese morning glory. We are hoping the vertical netting will work out for the first four climbing plants mentioned. We are also planting impatiens from clippings which have started to flower.  Some of our seedlings have been flooded out with the deluge of rain, but most are doing well. We have had to keep the chickens away, as well as neighborhood cats, and dogs. It’s sometimes challenging, but it seems to be working well now.

CARING FOR A RABBIT

The same missionary family who recommended chickens also talked about raising rabbits, so we thought we might give it a try. When the daughter of one of the seminary professors needed to give away her 2-month-old bunny, Omega, we gladly accepted it. Omega was sick when we got him (her?), but the girl had taken it to a vet that day and so gave us the medicine along with the bunny. Omega has since recovered and is enjoying eating our grass.

BACK TO BASICS

We are learning to eat more wholesome foods and to use more basic products so as to have better health. We try to cook food with fresh ingredients and avoid highly processed products. We use a lot of tropical oils because of their beneficial qualities. Coconut oil, we read, does not go to the bloodstream as other fats but into the liver as energy. We use it for all sorts of  things: as moisturizer, as insect repellent, as toothpaste (mixed with baking soda), as an antibacterial agent, and as a cooking oil, of course. We are also going to start making our own soap, hopefully this week.

We believe that as we maintain good health, we will be able to serve God better.

by Christ’s grace,
Karl & Sun Dahlfred

PRAYER POINTS

• Discernment for Sun on how to balance housework, raising children, homeschooling, raising chickens and a rabbit, gardening, and sharing Christ
• Karl’s teaching at BBS
  

PRAISES

• Joshua and Caitlin love our chickens, bunny, and our garden
• A volunteer is here to teach the children for 3 weeks
  

CALENDAR

10/1-5     Simply the Story workshop, Bangkok
10/8-12   Sun & kids at Homeschool Week
10/28      Karl preach in Ayuthaya

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