Prayer LettersKarl & Sun Dahlfred are Missionaries in Thailand, working with OMF International. This site contains articles on missions, theology, evangelism, and Thai culture, as well as our current prayer letters.https://www.dahlfred.com/index.php/prayer-letters2024-03-28T06:13:38-04:00www.dahlfred.comdoulosx@protonmail.comJoomla! - Open Source Content Management - Version 3.10.12December 2023 Prayer Letter2023-11-30T19:01:00-05:002023-11-30T19:01:00-05:00https://www.dahlfred.com/index.php/prayer-letters/1004-december-2023-prayer-letterKarl Dahlfredkarl@dahlfred.com<div class="box-download" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.dahlfred.com/prayerletters/dahlfreds_2023.12.pdf"><strong>DOWNLOAD PDF - DECEMBER 2023 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER</strong></a> </div>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Dear Family and Friends,</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Thank you everyone who has been praying for us as we’ve been settling into Chiang Mai and starting ministry here. Cooler weather has arrived in northern Thailand and Thai people are reaching for their jackets as we turn off our fans and A/C. Boxes are still piled up around our house, but we are settling in and getting started with ministry.</span></p>
<h2>Getting Started at CTS</h2>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">The new school term at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary (CTS) began in early November and I am now my fourth week of teaching. It has been a lot of fun to get into the past with my Thai church history students every Wednesday morning and I am just keeping up with prepping for Intercultural Communication on Friday morning, a course which I have not taught before. My classes are very small and sometimes I only have 1 or 2 students in the classroom, with the rest on Zoom. Prior to Covid, all teaching at CTS was in person but the world has changed now, for better or worse. On the one hand, it is wonderful that Thai brothers and sisters from distant parts of the country can zoom into class and benefit from a biblical education that would otherwise be very difficult to access. But on the other hand, online only education misses out on valuable interaction between teacher and students, as well as among students, that happens before and after class and around campus. How can I and other teachers at CTS best disciple and guide students whom we only meet online? Please pray for CTS, for both faculty and students, as we seek to equip Thai believers for ministry in the world today.</span></p>
<h4><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/zoom-classroom-empty-cts.png" alt="" width="600" class="pull-center" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Hybrid Zoom / In-Person Classroom at CTS, waiting for students to arrive</span></span></h4>
<h2> </h2>
<h2>“Christmas” in Thailand</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">As we head towards the end of the year, one of the strangest things that I’ve noticed in Thailand is the sheer quantity of Christmas decorations being sold at stores here. Thailand is ostensibly a Buddhist country, so who is buying all this Christmas stuff? I asked this question in Thai on Facebook and both Thai and foreign friends replied in unison that Thai people love any reason to celebrate. And Christmas decorations are fun! In many places, both east and west, Christmas has turned into merely a fun, secular celebration but even so, the natural interest of Thai people in Christmas is an open door for sharing about Jesus. Many Thai churches take advantage of that opportunity in December, holding evangelist events in churches, schools, shopping malls, neighborhoods, and more. Pray for us and for Christians around Thailand so that we might be bold in sharing about Christ this month that people may have The Hope and The Joy that the world cannot give. </span></p>
<h4><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/christmas-decorations-for-sale-thai-watsadu-store-1000px.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="800" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" data-alt="christmas decorations for sale thai watsadu store 1000px" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Christmas Decorations for Sale at a store in Chiang Mai, Thailand</span></span></h4>
<h4><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/thai-christmas-tract-booklet-1000px.jpg" alt="thai christmas tract booklet 1000px" width="600" height="800" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">We have Thai Christmas tracts and are ready to go!</span></span></h4>
<h2> </h2>
<h2>Getting to Know Chiang Mai Grace Church</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">After visiting a handful of churches, we’ve decided to worship regularly at Chiang Mai Grace Church, led by Pastor Jed. At Jed’s initiative, Karl and Jed have started to get together on a weekly basis and we are looking into how we can get to know the church better and serve ministry needs there. Each week there is simultaneous translation of the worship service (via headphones) into both English and Chinese. Karl has begun helping with translation from Thai to English as a ministry to the non-Thai speakers at church. Did you know there are more than 80,000 mainland Chinese in Chiang Mai? This city is very solidly Thai but there is also a huge amount of diversity, not only because of the many tribal groups in northern Thailand but also because of Chiang Mai’s location as an international crossroads and destination in southeast Asia. Pray for God to move among the many peoples represented in Chiang Mai.</span></p>
<h2> </h2>
<h2>Kids Update</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Our kids have started studying Thai language in earnest and we are hoping they will be able to get some basic conversational fluency in order to feel more at home in Chiang Mai. We also pray that they will gain some good friends here.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Thank you for praying for us and the Thai people. Wishing you a joyous advent and Christmas season!</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">by Christ's grace,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Karl & Sun Dahlfred</span></p>
<p> </p>
<h3>PRAYER POINTS</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Karl’s teaching at CTS</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Thai language learning for kids</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">That we will point other to Christ</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Christmas evangelism</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Visa extension in December for Sun & kids</span></p>
</li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;"> That we will end the year at 100% financial support</span><br /><br /></li>
</ul>
<h3>PRAISES</h3>
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type: none;"></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Good start to teaching ministry<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Kids starting to learn Thai</span></li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<h3>CALENDAR</h3>
<div class="grassroot-project-widget" data-handle="KSD1">
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">12/8-1/8 Term break at CTS</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">12/24 Christmas celebration at church</span> </p>
<p> </p>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">We are dependent on end-of-year donations to meet our finanical support budget for 2023 and gifts of any amount are greatly appreciated! </span></div>
<script src="https://partnerhub.omf.org/-/project-embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<p> </p><div class="box-download" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.dahlfred.com/prayerletters/dahlfreds_2023.12.pdf"><strong>DOWNLOAD PDF - DECEMBER 2023 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER</strong></a> </div>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Dear Family and Friends,</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Thank you everyone who has been praying for us as we’ve been settling into Chiang Mai and starting ministry here. Cooler weather has arrived in northern Thailand and Thai people are reaching for their jackets as we turn off our fans and A/C. Boxes are still piled up around our house, but we are settling in and getting started with ministry.</span></p>
<h2>Getting Started at CTS</h2>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">The new school term at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary (CTS) began in early November and I am now my fourth week of teaching. It has been a lot of fun to get into the past with my Thai church history students every Wednesday morning and I am just keeping up with prepping for Intercultural Communication on Friday morning, a course which I have not taught before. My classes are very small and sometimes I only have 1 or 2 students in the classroom, with the rest on Zoom. Prior to Covid, all teaching at CTS was in person but the world has changed now, for better or worse. On the one hand, it is wonderful that Thai brothers and sisters from distant parts of the country can zoom into class and benefit from a biblical education that would otherwise be very difficult to access. But on the other hand, online only education misses out on valuable interaction between teacher and students, as well as among students, that happens before and after class and around campus. How can I and other teachers at CTS best disciple and guide students whom we only meet online? Please pray for CTS, for both faculty and students, as we seek to equip Thai believers for ministry in the world today.</span></p>
<h4><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/zoom-classroom-empty-cts.png" alt="" width="600" class="pull-center" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Hybrid Zoom / In-Person Classroom at CTS, waiting for students to arrive</span></span></h4>
<h2> </h2>
<h2>“Christmas” in Thailand</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">As we head towards the end of the year, one of the strangest things that I’ve noticed in Thailand is the sheer quantity of Christmas decorations being sold at stores here. Thailand is ostensibly a Buddhist country, so who is buying all this Christmas stuff? I asked this question in Thai on Facebook and both Thai and foreign friends replied in unison that Thai people love any reason to celebrate. And Christmas decorations are fun! In many places, both east and west, Christmas has turned into merely a fun, secular celebration but even so, the natural interest of Thai people in Christmas is an open door for sharing about Jesus. Many Thai churches take advantage of that opportunity in December, holding evangelist events in churches, schools, shopping malls, neighborhoods, and more. Pray for us and for Christians around Thailand so that we might be bold in sharing about Christ this month that people may have The Hope and The Joy that the world cannot give. </span></p>
<h4><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/christmas-decorations-for-sale-thai-watsadu-store-1000px.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="800" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" data-alt="christmas decorations for sale thai watsadu store 1000px" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Christmas Decorations for Sale at a store in Chiang Mai, Thailand</span></span></h4>
<h4><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/thai-christmas-tract-booklet-1000px.jpg" alt="thai christmas tract booklet 1000px" width="600" height="800" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">We have Thai Christmas tracts and are ready to go!</span></span></h4>
<h2> </h2>
<h2>Getting to Know Chiang Mai Grace Church</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">After visiting a handful of churches, we’ve decided to worship regularly at Chiang Mai Grace Church, led by Pastor Jed. At Jed’s initiative, Karl and Jed have started to get together on a weekly basis and we are looking into how we can get to know the church better and serve ministry needs there. Each week there is simultaneous translation of the worship service (via headphones) into both English and Chinese. Karl has begun helping with translation from Thai to English as a ministry to the non-Thai speakers at church. Did you know there are more than 80,000 mainland Chinese in Chiang Mai? This city is very solidly Thai but there is also a huge amount of diversity, not only because of the many tribal groups in northern Thailand but also because of Chiang Mai’s location as an international crossroads and destination in southeast Asia. Pray for God to move among the many peoples represented in Chiang Mai.</span></p>
<h2> </h2>
<h2>Kids Update</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Our kids have started studying Thai language in earnest and we are hoping they will be able to get some basic conversational fluency in order to feel more at home in Chiang Mai. We also pray that they will gain some good friends here.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Thank you for praying for us and the Thai people. Wishing you a joyous advent and Christmas season!</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">by Christ's grace,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Karl & Sun Dahlfred</span></p>
<p> </p>
<h3>PRAYER POINTS</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Karl’s teaching at CTS</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Thai language learning for kids</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">That we will point other to Christ</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Christmas evangelism</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Visa extension in December for Sun & kids</span></p>
</li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;"> That we will end the year at 100% financial support</span><br /><br /></li>
</ul>
<h3>PRAISES</h3>
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type: none;"></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Good start to teaching ministry<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Kids starting to learn Thai</span></li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<h3>CALENDAR</h3>
<div class="grassroot-project-widget" data-handle="KSD1">
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">12/8-1/8 Term break at CTS</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">12/24 Christmas celebration at church</span> </p>
<p> </p>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">We are dependent on end-of-year donations to meet our finanical support budget for 2023 and gifts of any amount are greatly appreciated! </span></div>
<script src="https://partnerhub.omf.org/-/project-embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<p> </p>November 2023 Prayer Letter2023-11-03T20:01:00-04:002023-11-03T20:01:00-04:00https://www.dahlfred.com/index.php/prayer-letters/1003-november-2023-prayer-letterKarl Dahlfredkarl@dahlfred.com<div class="box-download" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.dahlfred.com/prayerletters/dahlfreds_2023.11.pdf"><strong>DOWNLOAD PDF - NOVEMBER 2023 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER</strong></a> </div>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Dear Family and Friends,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Greetings from Thailand! It has been a long time since I’ve been able to say that but praise the Lord, we are finally back in Thailand. After some flight delays, we arrived in Chiang Mai on October 1st, a day later than expected. Our luggage showed up the day after that. We are thankful for friends met us at the airport, and took us to get some delicious Thai food and new SIM cards before we got some rest after more than 24 hours of travel.</span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/Kids-family-airport-oct2023-1-1000px.jpg" alt="" width="600" class="pull-center" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Beginning our Journey at the Orlando Airport</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/Kids-family-airport-oct2023-2-1000px.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="450" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">The kids were well prepared for waiting around in airports</span></span><span role="figure"><br /></span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/central-food-court-01Oct2023-1000px.jpg" alt="central food court 01Oct2023 1000px" width="600" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">upon arrival, (almost the) first order of business was eating delicious Thai food!</span></span></p>
<h2>New Beginnings</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">October was a busy month as we arrived in Thailand, popped down to Malaysia to get our long-term visas, looked for a rental house (we found one!), moved furniture, etc. from storage in Bangkok, and bought a car. We still have boxes all over the house and are still working on setting up house, but we are off and running. Joshua has recommenced his online college classes and the other kids will shortly begin homeschooling again. We have been meeting neighbors, finding our way to the local shops, visiting churches, and learning our new surroundings. Our kids are struggling a bit with not knowing much Thai (especially on Sunday morning) but we hope to get them into some formal Thai language classes soon.</span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/Grace-Chiang-Mai-church-worship-sermon-Jed-1000px.jpg" alt="Grace Chiang Mai church worship sermon Jed 1000px" width="600" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Worship at Grace Chiang Mai Church</span></span></p>
<h2>New and Renewed Connections</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">We’ve visited Chiang Mai in the past though never lived here, yet there are many people that we know here, both Thai and missionary, due to our connections to the broader Christian community in Thailand. It has been wonderful to catch up with old friends and colleagues, hear their family news, listen to their ministry and personal experience during the height of Covid, and learn about what’s happening now. We’re also meeting new people, both Christians and non-Christians, and finding opportunities to talk about God, whether it be a taxi driver or the woman selling vegetables along the side of the road. Compared to the rest of the country, Chiang Mai has a relatively high number of Christians, but the vast majority of people here are still Buddhist. Lots of opportunities to talk to people about Christ.</span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/Act-40th-anniversary-2-1000px.jpg" alt="Act 40th anniversary 2 1000px" width="600" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Karl catching up with former students who are pastoring in north Thailand</span></span></p>
<h2>Getting to Know Chiang Mai Theological Seminary (CTS)</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">At the end of October, we had the opportunity to attend a family camp for seminary faculty, staff, students, alumni and their families. It was wonderful to have time to worship together, eat together, learn together, and get to know people. It was particularly encouraging to hear about some of the ministry that CTS folks are doing, including an alumnus who is seeing Muslims come to Christ in Southern Thailand and a current student ministering among churches in a neighboring Communist country. Before and during the camp, I’ve also had the opportunity to ask lots of questions about the seminary, its curriculum, teacher and students expectations, and other nuts-and-bolts details of how the school works. The new term starts November 7<sup>th</sup> and I will teach two classes, “Thai Church History” and “Intercultural Communication.” I’ve previously taught Thai church history several times but intercultural communication is new for me. The subject matter is not new, of course, but I’ve never had to teach a semester-length course on it before. Lots of preparation to do!</span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/cts-building-1000px.jpg" alt="cts building 1000px" width="600" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Chiang Mai Theological Seminary buildings (classrooms & offices, dormitory)</span></span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/CTS-family-photo-with-motto-1-1000px.jpg" alt="CTS family photo with motto 1 1000px" width="600" height="450" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">our first visit to the seminary campus</span></span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/cts-faculty-meeting-oct2023-1000px.jpg" alt="cts faculty meeting oct2023 1000px" width="600" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Karl attends his first faculty and staff meeting at CTS</span></span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/CTS-family-camp2023-1-1000px.jpg" alt="CTS family camp2023 1 1000px" width="600" height="270" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Faculty, Staff, Students, Alumni and families at CTS Family Camp, Oct 2023</span></span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/CTS-family-camp2023-2-1000px.jpg" alt="CTS family camp2023 2 1000px" width="600" height="270" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Praying for Thailand and the world at CTS Family Camp</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Please keep us in prayer as we settle in to our new surroundings, and seek to be a witness to non-believers and a blessings to Thai Christians and churches. THANK YOU for standing with us and helping us return to Thailand so that, Lord willing, we might play a part in God’s work here.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Blessings in Christ,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Karl & Sun Dahlfred</span></p>
<p> </p>
<h3>PRAYER POINTS</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Karl’s preparation for teaching at CTS</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Our family setting in and establishing new routines</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Thai language learning for kids</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">That we will point other to Christ<br /><br /></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>PRAISES</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Safe arrival in Thailand</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Provision of visas, house, and car in Thailand<br /><br /></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>CALENDAR</h3>
<div class="grassroot-project-widget" data-handle="KSD1">
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">10/31-11/2 CTS Family Camp</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">11/7 CTS new term begins</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
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<p> </p><div class="box-download" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.dahlfred.com/prayerletters/dahlfreds_2023.11.pdf"><strong>DOWNLOAD PDF - NOVEMBER 2023 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER</strong></a> </div>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Dear Family and Friends,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Greetings from Thailand! It has been a long time since I’ve been able to say that but praise the Lord, we are finally back in Thailand. After some flight delays, we arrived in Chiang Mai on October 1st, a day later than expected. Our luggage showed up the day after that. We are thankful for friends met us at the airport, and took us to get some delicious Thai food and new SIM cards before we got some rest after more than 24 hours of travel.</span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/Kids-family-airport-oct2023-1-1000px.jpg" alt="" width="600" class="pull-center" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Beginning our Journey at the Orlando Airport</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/Kids-family-airport-oct2023-2-1000px.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="450" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">The kids were well prepared for waiting around in airports</span></span><span role="figure"><br /></span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/central-food-court-01Oct2023-1000px.jpg" alt="central food court 01Oct2023 1000px" width="600" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">upon arrival, (almost the) first order of business was eating delicious Thai food!</span></span></p>
<h2>New Beginnings</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">October was a busy month as we arrived in Thailand, popped down to Malaysia to get our long-term visas, looked for a rental house (we found one!), moved furniture, etc. from storage in Bangkok, and bought a car. We still have boxes all over the house and are still working on setting up house, but we are off and running. Joshua has recommenced his online college classes and the other kids will shortly begin homeschooling again. We have been meeting neighbors, finding our way to the local shops, visiting churches, and learning our new surroundings. Our kids are struggling a bit with not knowing much Thai (especially on Sunday morning) but we hope to get them into some formal Thai language classes soon.</span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/Grace-Chiang-Mai-church-worship-sermon-Jed-1000px.jpg" alt="Grace Chiang Mai church worship sermon Jed 1000px" width="600" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Worship at Grace Chiang Mai Church</span></span></p>
<h2>New and Renewed Connections</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">We’ve visited Chiang Mai in the past though never lived here, yet there are many people that we know here, both Thai and missionary, due to our connections to the broader Christian community in Thailand. It has been wonderful to catch up with old friends and colleagues, hear their family news, listen to their ministry and personal experience during the height of Covid, and learn about what’s happening now. We’re also meeting new people, both Christians and non-Christians, and finding opportunities to talk about God, whether it be a taxi driver or the woman selling vegetables along the side of the road. Compared to the rest of the country, Chiang Mai has a relatively high number of Christians, but the vast majority of people here are still Buddhist. Lots of opportunities to talk to people about Christ.</span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/Act-40th-anniversary-2-1000px.jpg" alt="Act 40th anniversary 2 1000px" width="600" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Karl catching up with former students who are pastoring in north Thailand</span></span></p>
<h2>Getting to Know Chiang Mai Theological Seminary (CTS)</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">At the end of October, we had the opportunity to attend a family camp for seminary faculty, staff, students, alumni and their families. It was wonderful to have time to worship together, eat together, learn together, and get to know people. It was particularly encouraging to hear about some of the ministry that CTS folks are doing, including an alumnus who is seeing Muslims come to Christ in Southern Thailand and a current student ministering among churches in a neighboring Communist country. Before and during the camp, I’ve also had the opportunity to ask lots of questions about the seminary, its curriculum, teacher and students expectations, and other nuts-and-bolts details of how the school works. The new term starts November 7<sup>th</sup> and I will teach two classes, “Thai Church History” and “Intercultural Communication.” I’ve previously taught Thai church history several times but intercultural communication is new for me. The subject matter is not new, of course, but I’ve never had to teach a semester-length course on it before. Lots of preparation to do!</span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/cts-building-1000px.jpg" alt="cts building 1000px" width="600" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Chiang Mai Theological Seminary buildings (classrooms & offices, dormitory)</span></span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/CTS-family-photo-with-motto-1-1000px.jpg" alt="CTS family photo with motto 1 1000px" width="600" height="450" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">our first visit to the seminary campus</span></span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/cts-faculty-meeting-oct2023-1000px.jpg" alt="cts faculty meeting oct2023 1000px" width="600" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Karl attends his first faculty and staff meeting at CTS</span></span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/CTS-family-camp2023-1-1000px.jpg" alt="CTS family camp2023 1 1000px" width="600" height="270" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Faculty, Staff, Students, Alumni and families at CTS Family Camp, Oct 2023</span></span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/CTS-family-camp2023-2-1000px.jpg" alt="CTS family camp2023 2 1000px" width="600" height="270" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Praying for Thailand and the world at CTS Family Camp</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Please keep us in prayer as we settle in to our new surroundings, and seek to be a witness to non-believers and a blessings to Thai Christians and churches. THANK YOU for standing with us and helping us return to Thailand so that, Lord willing, we might play a part in God’s work here.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Blessings in Christ,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Karl & Sun Dahlfred</span></p>
<p> </p>
<h3>PRAYER POINTS</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Karl’s preparation for teaching at CTS</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Our family setting in and establishing new routines</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Thai language learning for kids</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">That we will point other to Christ<br /><br /></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>PRAISES</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Safe arrival in Thailand</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Provision of visas, house, and car in Thailand<br /><br /></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>CALENDAR</h3>
<div class="grassroot-project-widget" data-handle="KSD1">
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">10/31-11/2 CTS Family Camp</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">11/7 CTS new term begins</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
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<p> </p>September 2023 Prayer Letter2023-09-05T08:27:00-04:002023-09-05T08:27:00-04:00https://www.dahlfred.com/index.php/prayer-letters/1001-september-2023-prayer-letterKarl Dahlfredkarl@dahlfred.com<div class="box-download" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.dahlfred.com/prayerletters/dahlfreds_2023.09.pdf"><strong>DOWNLOAD PDF - SEPTEMBER 2023 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER</strong></a> </div>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Dear Family and Friends,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Lord willing, this is the last prayer letter we will write from the United States. Our tickets to Thailand are booked for September 28th, which is coming up quickly.</span></p>
<h2>Visas & Travel Plans</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">We are glad to report that all the necessary paperwork for our visa application has come through so we will be ready to pick up our visas next month in Malaysia. At the end of September, we’ll fly to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand, spend a few days to a week in Thailand, then fly to Penang (Malaysia) to get our visas from the Thai consulate there. For administrative reasons, it is better for us to get our visas in Malaysia rather than the United States. After our brief trip south, we’ll be back in Chiang Mai where we need to find a house to rent and a car to buy. We have furniture and household items in storage in Bangkok which we will need to get moved up to Chiang Mai as well.</span></p>
<p><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/chiang-mai-booking-screenshot.jpg" alt="" class="pull-center" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></p>
<h2>New Term at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">The new term at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary begins on November 7th and I am scheduled to teach courses in “Thai Church History” and “Intercultural Communication”. I’m really excited for the opportunity to get back into the classroom again with students in Thailand, but I have some prep work to do between now and November. I’ve taught Thai Church History previously, so I have a lot of material ready for that course, but I’ll need to do more work to be ready for Intercultural Communication. Please pray that I can find time to read and prep before classes begin in November.</span></p>
<h2>Packing, Shipping, Moving</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Between now and the end of September, our family has a lot of work to do. We’ve had two yard sales already and made some dump runs to get rid of stuff. We need to make some home repairs and otherwise prep our house to be rental-ready when we leave. We have a couple vehicles to sell. We are packing suitcases for the plane as well as boxes to send via ocean freight to arrive around the end of the year. Moving is both physically and emotionally exhausting as we say goodbye to people, places, and things that have become familiar over the past couple of years. Our kids are much older now than the last time we lived in Thailand, and this move to Chiang Mai is a new phase of life for our family. Please pray for God’s wisdom, provision, protection, and guidance (as well as lots of patience) for us. We have a busy couple of months ahead as we clear out of Florida and set up fresh in Chiang Mai.</span></p>
<h2>Thankful</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Though we didn’t think we’d be in the U.S. for as long as we have been when we moved to Florida after completion of my Ph.D. in Scotland, we are thankful for the past couple of years and all the wonderful people and churches that we’ve gotten to know. In God’s providence, no time is wasted.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Thank you all of you who pray for us and support us so that we can return to serve the Lord in Thailand. If all goes as expected, our next prayer letter will be from Thailand.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">If you’re interested in more frequent updates and prayer requests, please join our private Facebook group for mission partners, “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/karlsundahlfredthailand">Karl & Sun Dahlfred - Missionaries to Thailand</a>”. If you have trouble finding it or joining, let me know and I’ll help.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Blessings in Christ,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Karl & Sun Dahlfred</span></p>
<p> </p>
<h3>PRAYER POINTS</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Visa application documents received</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Plane tickets booked</span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>PRAISES</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Logistics of Moving from U.S. to Thailand</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Provision of right house and car in Thailand</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Karl’s preparation for teaching at CTS<br /><br /></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>CALENDAR</h3>
<div class="grassroot-project-widget" data-handle="KSD1"> <span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">9/28 Depart U.S. for Thailand</span></div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
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<p> </p><div class="box-download" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.dahlfred.com/prayerletters/dahlfreds_2023.09.pdf"><strong>DOWNLOAD PDF - SEPTEMBER 2023 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER</strong></a> </div>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Dear Family and Friends,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Lord willing, this is the last prayer letter we will write from the United States. Our tickets to Thailand are booked for September 28th, which is coming up quickly.</span></p>
<h2>Visas & Travel Plans</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">We are glad to report that all the necessary paperwork for our visa application has come through so we will be ready to pick up our visas next month in Malaysia. At the end of September, we’ll fly to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand, spend a few days to a week in Thailand, then fly to Penang (Malaysia) to get our visas from the Thai consulate there. For administrative reasons, it is better for us to get our visas in Malaysia rather than the United States. After our brief trip south, we’ll be back in Chiang Mai where we need to find a house to rent and a car to buy. We have furniture and household items in storage in Bangkok which we will need to get moved up to Chiang Mai as well.</span></p>
<p><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/chiang-mai-booking-screenshot.jpg" alt="" class="pull-center" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></p>
<h2>New Term at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">The new term at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary begins on November 7th and I am scheduled to teach courses in “Thai Church History” and “Intercultural Communication”. I’m really excited for the opportunity to get back into the classroom again with students in Thailand, but I have some prep work to do between now and November. I’ve taught Thai Church History previously, so I have a lot of material ready for that course, but I’ll need to do more work to be ready for Intercultural Communication. Please pray that I can find time to read and prep before classes begin in November.</span></p>
<h2>Packing, Shipping, Moving</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Between now and the end of September, our family has a lot of work to do. We’ve had two yard sales already and made some dump runs to get rid of stuff. We need to make some home repairs and otherwise prep our house to be rental-ready when we leave. We have a couple vehicles to sell. We are packing suitcases for the plane as well as boxes to send via ocean freight to arrive around the end of the year. Moving is both physically and emotionally exhausting as we say goodbye to people, places, and things that have become familiar over the past couple of years. Our kids are much older now than the last time we lived in Thailand, and this move to Chiang Mai is a new phase of life for our family. Please pray for God’s wisdom, provision, protection, and guidance (as well as lots of patience) for us. We have a busy couple of months ahead as we clear out of Florida and set up fresh in Chiang Mai.</span></p>
<h2>Thankful</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Though we didn’t think we’d be in the U.S. for as long as we have been when we moved to Florida after completion of my Ph.D. in Scotland, we are thankful for the past couple of years and all the wonderful people and churches that we’ve gotten to know. In God’s providence, no time is wasted.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Thank you all of you who pray for us and support us so that we can return to serve the Lord in Thailand. If all goes as expected, our next prayer letter will be from Thailand.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">If you’re interested in more frequent updates and prayer requests, please join our private Facebook group for mission partners, “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/karlsundahlfredthailand">Karl & Sun Dahlfred - Missionaries to Thailand</a>”. If you have trouble finding it or joining, let me know and I’ll help.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Blessings in Christ,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Karl & Sun Dahlfred</span></p>
<p> </p>
<h3>PRAYER POINTS</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Visa application documents received</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Plane tickets booked</span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>PRAISES</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Logistics of Moving from U.S. to Thailand</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Provision of right house and car in Thailand</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Karl’s preparation for teaching at CTS<br /><br /></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>CALENDAR</h3>
<div class="grassroot-project-widget" data-handle="KSD1"> <span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">9/28 Depart U.S. for Thailand</span></div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
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<p> </p>July 2023 Prayer Letter2023-07-11T16:27:00-04:002023-07-11T16:27:00-04:00https://www.dahlfred.com/index.php/prayer-letters/1000-july-2023-prayer-letterKarl Dahlfredkarl@dahlfred.com<div class="box-download" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.dahlfred.com/prayerletters/dahlfreds_2023.07.pdf"><strong>DOWNLOAD PDF - JULY 2023 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER</strong></a> </div>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Dear Family and Friends,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">We wanted to give you a brief update on our progress towards returning to the mission field.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">We are still planning to leave at the end of September and are planning accordingly.</span></p>
<h2>One Million Forms</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">The OMF Thailand office has started the visa application process for us which should be approved by the time we fly from the U.S. In terms of official documents, we are also still waiting to receive from the U.S. government a couple of renewed passports for the kids, and from the Thai Embassy in Washington D.C. a couple of identity documents legalized for use in Thailand. There is so much paperwork involved in moving overseas. Please pray that all necessary documents will come in a timely manner. Nothing in life is guaranteed.</span></p>
<h2>Connecting with Mission Partners</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">At the recent General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America in June, I (Karl) had the chance to connect with leaders from both long-term and new partner churches, sharing meals and fellowship together. Also, in early July, I preached at a Reformed Baptist church in our local area and we all enjoyed visiting with the leaders and members there. We have been encouraged to see their interest in partnering with us in mission.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">OMF has given us financial clearance to return to Thailand, though we could really use some more regular monthly support, for which we ask you to pray. We are really thankful for all of you who pray for and support our ministry in various ways. Without God’s grace through you, there is no way we could return to Thailand or do what we do.</span></p>
<h2>Writing and Translation</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">One of the ways that God often makes his Word known and grows disciples is through the written word. For that reason, I’ve been glad to provide some long-distance assistance to Kanok Bannasan (OMF Publishers Thailand) in recent months. When living in Bangkok, I spent one or two days per week at the Kanok offices, helping the editors and staff with translation, research, and writing. Through the miracle of the internet, I am still able to do some of that. Currently, one of the editors is preparing a translation of Tim Keller’s <em>Shaped by the Gospel</em> and has had lots of questions about difficult to understand English sentences, theological terms and concepts, or cultural references. Keller can be an insightful writer, but his erudition does not always make for easy translation. As such, I’ve spent many hours working through the editor’s questions on a marked-up PDF of Keller’s book, thinking about things like how to explain the difference between “organism” and “organization” in Thai, or what’s the best way to succinctly translate phrases like “mainline church” or “Kuyperian Reformed church”. Fortunately, it is not up to me to come up with a polished Thai translation for such things, but merely to try to explain what the author meant so that a skilled Thai editor can come up with something in Thai that sounds good to Thai ears. Nevertheless, the Thai-English translation part of my brain has been getting a good workout.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/kanok-answer-editor-questions.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="375" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Another writing project that I’ve put a lot of work into recently is a biographical article about 20<sup>th</sup> century Thai church leader Boon Mark Gittisarn. He is not very well known today but I think there are many lessons, both positive and negative, that can be learned from the life of this colorful and controversial Thai pastor and evangelist who, at various times, was associated with the Presbyterians, fundamentalists, Pentecostals, and Seventh Day Adventism. The article will be published online in an open access journal this fall and I hope that both foreign and Thai Christians will read it and learn something helpful for life and ministry as they serve Christ and his people.</span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/figure18-bv2570a1_w85_v15_n8-boon-mark-wife-child-1938-cropped.jpg" alt="Thai pastor Boon Mark Gittisarn with wife Muan and child, 1938" width="600" height="485" class="pull-center" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Thai pastor Boon Mark Gittisarn with wife Muan and child, 1938</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Please continue to pray with us and for us, for God’s provision and wisdom for the logistics of our upcoming move. We’re really looking forward to reconnecting with God’s people in Thailand later this fall as we move to Chiang Mai and I begin teaching at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Thanks for praying for us, and with us, on behalf of the Thai people. Soli Deo Gloria.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Blessings in Christ,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Karl & Sun Dahlfred</span></p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<h3>PRAYER POINTS</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Visas & other necessary docs<br /></span></li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Additional monthly financial support</span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>PRAISES</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">connections with existing and new mission partners<br /></span></li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">opportunity to assist with translation of Thai Christian books</span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>CALENDAR</h3>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">6/12-16 Karl at PCA General Assembly<br /></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">7/9 preach at Faith Reformed Baptist Church</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">9/30 Depart for Thailand, Lord willing! </span></p>
<div class="grassroot-project-widget" data-handle="KSD1"> </div>
<script src="https://partnerhub.omf.org/-/project-embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<p> </p><div class="box-download" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.dahlfred.com/prayerletters/dahlfreds_2023.07.pdf"><strong>DOWNLOAD PDF - JULY 2023 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER</strong></a> </div>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Dear Family and Friends,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">We wanted to give you a brief update on our progress towards returning to the mission field.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">We are still planning to leave at the end of September and are planning accordingly.</span></p>
<h2>One Million Forms</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">The OMF Thailand office has started the visa application process for us which should be approved by the time we fly from the U.S. In terms of official documents, we are also still waiting to receive from the U.S. government a couple of renewed passports for the kids, and from the Thai Embassy in Washington D.C. a couple of identity documents legalized for use in Thailand. There is so much paperwork involved in moving overseas. Please pray that all necessary documents will come in a timely manner. Nothing in life is guaranteed.</span></p>
<h2>Connecting with Mission Partners</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">At the recent General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America in June, I (Karl) had the chance to connect with leaders from both long-term and new partner churches, sharing meals and fellowship together. Also, in early July, I preached at a Reformed Baptist church in our local area and we all enjoyed visiting with the leaders and members there. We have been encouraged to see their interest in partnering with us in mission.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">OMF has given us financial clearance to return to Thailand, though we could really use some more regular monthly support, for which we ask you to pray. We are really thankful for all of you who pray for and support our ministry in various ways. Without God’s grace through you, there is no way we could return to Thailand or do what we do.</span></p>
<h2>Writing and Translation</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">One of the ways that God often makes his Word known and grows disciples is through the written word. For that reason, I’ve been glad to provide some long-distance assistance to Kanok Bannasan (OMF Publishers Thailand) in recent months. When living in Bangkok, I spent one or two days per week at the Kanok offices, helping the editors and staff with translation, research, and writing. Through the miracle of the internet, I am still able to do some of that. Currently, one of the editors is preparing a translation of Tim Keller’s <em>Shaped by the Gospel</em> and has had lots of questions about difficult to understand English sentences, theological terms and concepts, or cultural references. Keller can be an insightful writer, but his erudition does not always make for easy translation. As such, I’ve spent many hours working through the editor’s questions on a marked-up PDF of Keller’s book, thinking about things like how to explain the difference between “organism” and “organization” in Thai, or what’s the best way to succinctly translate phrases like “mainline church” or “Kuyperian Reformed church”. Fortunately, it is not up to me to come up with a polished Thai translation for such things, but merely to try to explain what the author meant so that a skilled Thai editor can come up with something in Thai that sounds good to Thai ears. Nevertheless, the Thai-English translation part of my brain has been getting a good workout.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/kanok-answer-editor-questions.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="375" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Another writing project that I’ve put a lot of work into recently is a biographical article about 20<sup>th</sup> century Thai church leader Boon Mark Gittisarn. He is not very well known today but I think there are many lessons, both positive and negative, that can be learned from the life of this colorful and controversial Thai pastor and evangelist who, at various times, was associated with the Presbyterians, fundamentalists, Pentecostals, and Seventh Day Adventism. The article will be published online in an open access journal this fall and I hope that both foreign and Thai Christians will read it and learn something helpful for life and ministry as they serve Christ and his people.</span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/figure18-bv2570a1_w85_v15_n8-boon-mark-wife-child-1938-cropped.jpg" alt="Thai pastor Boon Mark Gittisarn with wife Muan and child, 1938" width="600" height="485" class="pull-center" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Thai pastor Boon Mark Gittisarn with wife Muan and child, 1938</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Please continue to pray with us and for us, for God’s provision and wisdom for the logistics of our upcoming move. We’re really looking forward to reconnecting with God’s people in Thailand later this fall as we move to Chiang Mai and I begin teaching at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Thanks for praying for us, and with us, on behalf of the Thai people. Soli Deo Gloria.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Blessings in Christ,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Karl & Sun Dahlfred</span></p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<h3>PRAYER POINTS</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Visas & other necessary docs<br /></span></li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Additional monthly financial support</span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>PRAISES</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">connections with existing and new mission partners<br /></span></li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">opportunity to assist with translation of Thai Christian books</span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>CALENDAR</h3>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">6/12-16 Karl at PCA General Assembly<br /></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">7/9 preach at Faith Reformed Baptist Church</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">9/30 Depart for Thailand, Lord willing! </span></p>
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<script src="https://partnerhub.omf.org/-/project-embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<p> </p>May 2023 Prayer Letter2023-05-08T19:00:00-04:002023-05-08T19:00:00-04:00https://www.dahlfred.com/index.php/prayer-letters/998-may-2023-prayer-letterKarl Dahlfredkarl@dahlfred.com<div class="box-download" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.dahlfred.com/prayerletters/dahlfreds_2023.05.pdf"><strong>DOWNLOAD PDF - MAY 2023 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER</strong></a> </div>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Dear Family and Friends,</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Thank you for your prayers, support, and encouragement for us as we look toward returning to Thailand. A lot of people have been asking where we are at in that process. Here’s the scoop.</span></p>
<h2>Financial Support Update</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">We are really thankful to have gained a new church partner within the past month and are hoping to hear something from a few other churches who have indicated strong potential interest in partnering with us but have not been in touch in some time. It would really help to shore up our financial position if we had an additional $1000/month or so by the time we leave for the field. Though more support is needed, we got really good news from OMF U.S. that our financial position is good enough for the OMF Thailand field office to start processing our visas. Woo hoo! Countdown to departure can begin!</span></p>
<h2>Visa Applications and Departure Date</h2>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">OMF Thailand is beginning the process of applying for a religious affairs (or “missionary”) visa for Karl which takes about 5 months. That feels like a long time, but then again there is a LOT of running paperwork between different government offices and other entities for signatures, stamps, approvals, etc. I won’t bore you with all the gory details of visa paperwork, but here is the plan. </span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/missionary_visa_stamp_thailand-cropped-wide.jpg" alt="" class="pull-center" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Visa Extension Stamp for Thailand Missionary Visa in a Passport</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Our family will leave for Thailand at the end of September, then take a quick trip from Bangkok to Penang (Malaysia) to pick up our visas from the Thai consulate there. Then we will come back to Thailand and move to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. Hopefully we’ll have enough time to buy a vehicle, find a rental house, and get settled before the new term starts at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary in November. In sum, ETA for Thailand is Sept 30th or thereabouts depending on what flights we can get. </span> </p>
<h2>Between Now and Departure</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">With departure in view at the end of September, that gives us a bit less than 5 months to wrap up our time in the States. We’ve been here far longer than expected but it has been especially good for the kids who’ve had time to make some friends, experience American life, and to participate in activities like church youth group and scouting-type groups like Trail Life and American Heritage Girls. Just recently, Joshua also achieved the milestone of getting his driver’s license. He is nearly 17 years old now and by the time our next home assignment rolls around in 4 years or so, Joshua may be ready to strike out on his own. Getting his driver’s license now will make that future transition smoother.</span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/joshua-driver-license-passed-test-licenseblur-cropped-wide.png" alt="" width="600" height="468" class="pull-center" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">There are now 3 drivers in our family. Congratulations, Joshua!</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">This summer, a couple of the kids will go to summer camp, I (Karl) will attend the annual General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, and we’ll be trying to finish up some renovations on our house here in Florida so that we can rent it out while we are overseas. Hopefully, we’ll be able to make some church visits to share about Thailand as well, as the Lord opens doors.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Please continue to pray with us for God’s provision and for wisdom for the logistics of our upcoming move. Thanks for praying for us, and with us, on behalf of the Thai people. Soli Deo Gloria.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Blessings in Christ,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Karl & Sun Dahlfred</span></p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<h3>PRAYER POINTS</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Connections with new mission partners<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Additional $1000+/month financial support </span></li>
</ul>
<h3>PRAISES</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Approval to begin visa applications<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">New church partner & increasing support</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>CALENDAR</h3>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">5/13 Thai Bible Study, Melbourne, FL</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">6/12-16 Karl at PCA General Assembly</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">9/30 Depart for Thailand, Lord willing!</span></p>
<p> </p>
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<p> </p><div class="box-download" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.dahlfred.com/prayerletters/dahlfreds_2023.05.pdf"><strong>DOWNLOAD PDF - MAY 2023 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER</strong></a> </div>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Dear Family and Friends,</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Thank you for your prayers, support, and encouragement for us as we look toward returning to Thailand. A lot of people have been asking where we are at in that process. Here’s the scoop.</span></p>
<h2>Financial Support Update</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">We are really thankful to have gained a new church partner within the past month and are hoping to hear something from a few other churches who have indicated strong potential interest in partnering with us but have not been in touch in some time. It would really help to shore up our financial position if we had an additional $1000/month or so by the time we leave for the field. Though more support is needed, we got really good news from OMF U.S. that our financial position is good enough for the OMF Thailand field office to start processing our visas. Woo hoo! Countdown to departure can begin!</span></p>
<h2>Visa Applications and Departure Date</h2>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">OMF Thailand is beginning the process of applying for a religious affairs (or “missionary”) visa for Karl which takes about 5 months. That feels like a long time, but then again there is a LOT of running paperwork between different government offices and other entities for signatures, stamps, approvals, etc. I won’t bore you with all the gory details of visa paperwork, but here is the plan. </span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/missionary_visa_stamp_thailand-cropped-wide.jpg" alt="" class="pull-center" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">Visa Extension Stamp for Thailand Missionary Visa in a Passport</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Our family will leave for Thailand at the end of September, then take a quick trip from Bangkok to Penang (Malaysia) to pick up our visas from the Thai consulate there. Then we will come back to Thailand and move to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. Hopefully we’ll have enough time to buy a vehicle, find a rental house, and get settled before the new term starts at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary in November. In sum, ETA for Thailand is Sept 30th or thereabouts depending on what flights we can get. </span> </p>
<h2>Between Now and Departure</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">With departure in view at the end of September, that gives us a bit less than 5 months to wrap up our time in the States. We’ve been here far longer than expected but it has been especially good for the kids who’ve had time to make some friends, experience American life, and to participate in activities like church youth group and scouting-type groups like Trail Life and American Heritage Girls. Just recently, Joshua also achieved the milestone of getting his driver’s license. He is nearly 17 years old now and by the time our next home assignment rolls around in 4 years or so, Joshua may be ready to strike out on his own. Getting his driver’s license now will make that future transition smoother.</span></p>
<p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;" role="figure"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/joshua-driver-license-passed-test-licenseblur-cropped-wide.png" alt="" width="600" height="468" class="pull-center" style="display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" /><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">There are now 3 drivers in our family. Congratulations, Joshua!</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">This summer, a couple of the kids will go to summer camp, I (Karl) will attend the annual General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, and we’ll be trying to finish up some renovations on our house here in Florida so that we can rent it out while we are overseas. Hopefully, we’ll be able to make some church visits to share about Thailand as well, as the Lord opens doors.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Please continue to pray with us for God’s provision and for wisdom for the logistics of our upcoming move. Thanks for praying for us, and with us, on behalf of the Thai people. Soli Deo Gloria.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Blessings in Christ,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Karl & Sun Dahlfred</span></p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<h3>PRAYER POINTS</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Connections with new mission partners<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Additional $1000+/month financial support </span></li>
</ul>
<h3>PRAISES</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Approval to begin visa applications<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">New church partner & increasing support</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>CALENDAR</h3>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">5/13 Thai Bible Study, Melbourne, FL</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">6/12-16 Karl at PCA General Assembly</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">9/30 Depart for Thailand, Lord willing!</span></p>
<p> </p>
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<p> </p>February 2023 Prayer Letter2023-02-08T19:00:00-05:002023-02-08T19:00:00-05:00https://www.dahlfred.com/index.php/prayer-letters/995-february-2023-prayer-letterKarl Dahlfredkarl@dahlfred.com<div class="box-download" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.dahlfred.com/prayerletters/dahlfreds_2023.02.pdf"><strong>DOWNLOAD PDF - FEBRUARY 2023 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER</strong></a> </div>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Dear Family and Friends,</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">I want to share with you the good news that we are making progress getting back to the mission field.</span></p>
<h2>Financial Support News</h2>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">In the past few months, we’ve seen an increase of financial support of +/- $500/month through a handful of new mission partners as well as a number of kind year-end donations in December (thank you!). I’ve been busy reaching out to churches and I think we have a few promising leads for new church partners, but nothing firm yet. I do have, however, a couple of verbal commitments from people who want to start giving regularly when we leave for the field. For planning purposes, that is really helpful for us because we can say to OMF how much will be coming in towards our budget and thus get the thumbs up to depart for Thailand. Please continue to pray for us that full support may be reached (or at least pledged) in the near future so that we can return to Thailand this coming summer.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<h2 class="p1">Chiang Mai Theological Seminary </h2>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/cts-logo.png" alt="Chiang Mai Theological Seminary" width="193" height="200" class="pull-center" style="margin: 5px; float: right;" />We have been in communication with OMF Thailand field leadership and are pleased to share that we have been officially designated to NorthernThailand where I will teach at <a href="https://www.ctsthailand.org/about-us-2/">Chiang Mai Theological Seminary (CTS)</a>. CTS was started about 20 years ago by OMF missionary Larry Dinkins and now has a small faculty of Thai and missionary professors and about 150 students. I am excited about the opportunity to jump back into teaching and training Thai Christians who will serving as pastors, evangelists, Sunday school teachers, missionaries, and more. My exact responsibilities and course assignments will be worked out later but it is likely that I will get to teach church history and historical theology. I love church history. This spring at our church in Florida, the associate pastor and I are tag team teaching a Sunday school series on church history (<a href="https://ccctitusville.org/special-recordings">listen here</a>). And I am also writing an article on 20<span class="s1"><sup>th</sup></span> century Thai evangelist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boon_Mark_Gittisarn">Boon Mark Gittisarn</a> that will be published later this year. There is so much to learn from the past when we view it through the lens of Scripture. I am thankful that the Lord seems to be opening an opportunity to be in the classroom with Thai believers once again to see what we can learn from the past to apply to serving the Lord today.</span></p>
<h2> </h2>
<h2 class="p1">Visa Applications</h2>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Besides financial support, the other big thing we need to get back to Thailand is visas. I am starting to gather documents and fill our forms so that the OMF office in Bangkok can submit applications for a missionary visa (for Karl) and dependent visas (for the rest of the family). Currently, it takes about 5 months for the visa application to be processed and approved, and after the visas are granted there is a window of time in which you need to enter the country for the visa to remain valid. As such, OMF wants some assurance that we’ll be at 100% financial support by the time the visa is approved. Please pray with us that we’ll get to 100% in the near future and that there will not be undue delay in applying for and receiving visas so that we can go to the field this summer, Lord willing.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Thanks for praying for us, and with us, on behalf of the Thai people. Soli Deo Gloria.</span></p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">By Christ’s grace,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Karl & Sun Dahlfred</span></p>
<p> </p>
<h3>PRAYER POINTS</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Connections with new mission partners<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Additional $2500+/month to meet support budget<br /></span></li>
</ul>
<h3>PRAISES</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Karl will teach at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary when we return<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Good attendance at Thai Christmas outreaches<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Increase of mission support by $500+/month</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>CALENDAR</h3>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">2/11 Thai Bible Study Picnic, Melbourne, FL<br /></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">2/26 Missions Presentation at Grace Presbyterian Church, Lake Suzy, FL</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">7/2023 - depart for Thailand, Lord willing!</span></p>
<p> </p>
<div class="grassroot-project-widget" data-handle="KSD1"> </div>
<script src="https://partnerhub.omf.org/-/project-embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script><div class="box-download" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.dahlfred.com/prayerletters/dahlfreds_2023.02.pdf"><strong>DOWNLOAD PDF - FEBRUARY 2023 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER</strong></a> </div>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Dear Family and Friends,</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">I want to share with you the good news that we are making progress getting back to the mission field.</span></p>
<h2>Financial Support News</h2>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">In the past few months, we’ve seen an increase of financial support of +/- $500/month through a handful of new mission partners as well as a number of kind year-end donations in December (thank you!). I’ve been busy reaching out to churches and I think we have a few promising leads for new church partners, but nothing firm yet. I do have, however, a couple of verbal commitments from people who want to start giving regularly when we leave for the field. For planning purposes, that is really helpful for us because we can say to OMF how much will be coming in towards our budget and thus get the thumbs up to depart for Thailand. Please continue to pray for us that full support may be reached (or at least pledged) in the near future so that we can return to Thailand this coming summer.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<h2 class="p1">Chiang Mai Theological Seminary </h2>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;"><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/cts-logo.png" alt="Chiang Mai Theological Seminary" width="193" height="200" class="pull-center" style="margin: 5px; float: right;" />We have been in communication with OMF Thailand field leadership and are pleased to share that we have been officially designated to NorthernThailand where I will teach at <a href="https://www.ctsthailand.org/about-us-2/">Chiang Mai Theological Seminary (CTS)</a>. CTS was started about 20 years ago by OMF missionary Larry Dinkins and now has a small faculty of Thai and missionary professors and about 150 students. I am excited about the opportunity to jump back into teaching and training Thai Christians who will serving as pastors, evangelists, Sunday school teachers, missionaries, and more. My exact responsibilities and course assignments will be worked out later but it is likely that I will get to teach church history and historical theology. I love church history. This spring at our church in Florida, the associate pastor and I are tag team teaching a Sunday school series on church history (<a href="https://ccctitusville.org/special-recordings">listen here</a>). And I am also writing an article on 20<span class="s1"><sup>th</sup></span> century Thai evangelist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boon_Mark_Gittisarn">Boon Mark Gittisarn</a> that will be published later this year. There is so much to learn from the past when we view it through the lens of Scripture. I am thankful that the Lord seems to be opening an opportunity to be in the classroom with Thai believers once again to see what we can learn from the past to apply to serving the Lord today.</span></p>
<h2> </h2>
<h2 class="p1">Visa Applications</h2>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Besides financial support, the other big thing we need to get back to Thailand is visas. I am starting to gather documents and fill our forms so that the OMF office in Bangkok can submit applications for a missionary visa (for Karl) and dependent visas (for the rest of the family). Currently, it takes about 5 months for the visa application to be processed and approved, and after the visas are granted there is a window of time in which you need to enter the country for the visa to remain valid. As such, OMF wants some assurance that we’ll be at 100% financial support by the time the visa is approved. Please pray with us that we’ll get to 100% in the near future and that there will not be undue delay in applying for and receiving visas so that we can go to the field this summer, Lord willing.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Thanks for praying for us, and with us, on behalf of the Thai people. Soli Deo Gloria.</span></p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">By Christ’s grace,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Karl & Sun Dahlfred</span></p>
<p> </p>
<h3>PRAYER POINTS</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Connections with new mission partners<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Additional $2500+/month to meet support budget<br /></span></li>
</ul>
<h3>PRAISES</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Karl will teach at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary when we return<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Good attendance at Thai Christmas outreaches<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Increase of mission support by $500+/month</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>CALENDAR</h3>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">2/11 Thai Bible Study Picnic, Melbourne, FL<br /></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">2/26 Missions Presentation at Grace Presbyterian Church, Lake Suzy, FL</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">7/2023 - depart for Thailand, Lord willing!</span></p>
<p> </p>
<div class="grassroot-project-widget" data-handle="KSD1"> </div>
<script src="https://partnerhub.omf.org/-/project-embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script>December 2022 Prayer Letter2022-12-11T19:00:00-05:002022-12-11T19:00:00-05:00https://www.dahlfred.com/index.php/prayer-letters/990-december-2022-prayer-letterKarl Dahlfredkarl@dahlfred.com<div class="box-download" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.dahlfred.com/prayerletters/dahlfreds_2022.12.pdf"><strong>DOWNLOAD PDF - DECEMBER 2022 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER</strong></a> </div>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Dear Family and Friends,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">How do you prepare for Christmas? If your family is like mine, it might involve putting up a tree, decorating the house, making Christmas cookies, buying gifts, attending holiday parties, and reading an advent devotional together. It is both a time of celebration and traditions as well as reflection and meditation on the wonder of the Son of God coming into the world.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">In Thailand, however, Christmas looks quite different. In a majority Buddhist country where December 25th is just another day, you see nearly none of the cultural trappings of Christmas that appear in the U.S. That said, in our globalized world, most Thai people have heard of Christmas from movies and media. And some entrepreneurial Thai shopping malls hang lights and tinsel in an attempt to capitalize on this “Western” celebration to make extra sales.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">But “What is Christmas?!” This curiosity question in the mind of the average Thai defines the whole month of December for churches in Thailand. December is a month of evangelism in Thailand as churches hold evangelistic parties, outreaches, and local school programs.</span></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">This December, will you join us in praying for Thai Christmas evangelism?</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">One of my former M.Div students, Surachet, whose D.Min dissertation research I am currently supervising, is pastoring a Thai church in Hong Kong. On Dec 18th and 25th, he and his congregation will host Christmas outreach events and are inviting staff from the Thai Consulate in Hong Kong to join them. They are hoping for 200 people to attend, including many non-Christians. Surachet sent me the photo below. He would be grateful for your prayers for these outreaches.</span></p>
<p><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/hk-thai-christmas2022-600px.jpeg" alt="" class="pull-center" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Two other former students of mine, a husband and wife named Ake and Pai, are trying to plant a church in Northern Thailand and are planning a big evangelistic outreach. Here’s a photo that Ake took of his wife doing activities with children in their community. Ake said he would be grateful if you all could pray for their upcoming Christmas outreach on Dec 17th.</span></p>
<p><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/ake-kids-ministry1-600px.jpg" alt="" class="pull-center" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Back in the capitol, <a href="http://gracecitybkk.org">Grace City Bangkok church</a>, where I served as an elder, is planning an extended time together at church after worship on Christmas Day. Please pray for those that may be attending church for the first time or hearing more about Christ and the Christmas Story.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">For these Christmas events and more, please pray that God would be moving hearts and opening minds this December.</h2>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">As I think about former students serving faithfully in ministry throughout Thailand and beyond, it makes me want to get back to Thailand all the more. I want to meet still more students into whose lives I can have input, to help them grow in knowledge and holiness as they equip themselves for ministry.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">This past month, I’ve been busy trying to connect with churches, both those where we know somebody and those where we don’t. <strong>By the grace of God, we have been blessed with a handful of new prayer and financial partners. If that’s you, thank you!</strong> Please, everyone keep praying because the amount we still need to raise seems formidable ($3000+ / month). But we serve Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides. If He wants us back in Thailand, we’ll get back to Thailand. Keep us in prayer as I reach out to make new connections and form new partnerships. <strong>Do you know a church that might be open to taking on some new mission partners? Could you connect us with them?</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Sun and I hope that you and yours have a joyous advent and Christmas season and we look forward to being in touch again in the new year. Thank you for your important contribution to support the work of advancing the cause of Christ among Thai people.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">By Christ’s grace,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Karl & Sun Dahlfred</span></p>
<p> </p>
<h3>PRAYER POINTS</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Connections with new mission partners<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Additional $3000+/month to meet support budget<br /><br /> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Christmas evangelism all over Thailand this month</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>PRAISES</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">New prayer & financial partners this past month!<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Former students serving faithfully ministering to Thai people & churches </span></li>
</ul>
<h3>CALENDAR</h3>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">7/2023 - depart for Thailand, Lord willing!</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<div class="grassroot-project-widget" data-handle="KSD1"> </div>
<script src="https://partnerhub.omf.org/-/project-embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script><div class="box-download" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.dahlfred.com/prayerletters/dahlfreds_2022.12.pdf"><strong>DOWNLOAD PDF - DECEMBER 2022 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER</strong></a> </div>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Dear Family and Friends,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">How do you prepare for Christmas? If your family is like mine, it might involve putting up a tree, decorating the house, making Christmas cookies, buying gifts, attending holiday parties, and reading an advent devotional together. It is both a time of celebration and traditions as well as reflection and meditation on the wonder of the Son of God coming into the world.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">In Thailand, however, Christmas looks quite different. In a majority Buddhist country where December 25th is just another day, you see nearly none of the cultural trappings of Christmas that appear in the U.S. That said, in our globalized world, most Thai people have heard of Christmas from movies and media. And some entrepreneurial Thai shopping malls hang lights and tinsel in an attempt to capitalize on this “Western” celebration to make extra sales.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">But “What is Christmas?!” This curiosity question in the mind of the average Thai defines the whole month of December for churches in Thailand. December is a month of evangelism in Thailand as churches hold evangelistic parties, outreaches, and local school programs.</span></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">This December, will you join us in praying for Thai Christmas evangelism?</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">One of my former M.Div students, Surachet, whose D.Min dissertation research I am currently supervising, is pastoring a Thai church in Hong Kong. On Dec 18th and 25th, he and his congregation will host Christmas outreach events and are inviting staff from the Thai Consulate in Hong Kong to join them. They are hoping for 200 people to attend, including many non-Christians. Surachet sent me the photo below. He would be grateful for your prayers for these outreaches.</span></p>
<p><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/hk-thai-christmas2022-600px.jpeg" alt="" class="pull-center" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Two other former students of mine, a husband and wife named Ake and Pai, are trying to plant a church in Northern Thailand and are planning a big evangelistic outreach. Here’s a photo that Ake took of his wife doing activities with children in their community. Ake said he would be grateful if you all could pray for their upcoming Christmas outreach on Dec 17th.</span></p>
<p><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/ake-kids-ministry1-600px.jpg" alt="" class="pull-center" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Back in the capitol, <a href="http://gracecitybkk.org">Grace City Bangkok church</a>, where I served as an elder, is planning an extended time together at church after worship on Christmas Day. Please pray for those that may be attending church for the first time or hearing more about Christ and the Christmas Story.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">For these Christmas events and more, please pray that God would be moving hearts and opening minds this December.</h2>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">As I think about former students serving faithfully in ministry throughout Thailand and beyond, it makes me want to get back to Thailand all the more. I want to meet still more students into whose lives I can have input, to help them grow in knowledge and holiness as they equip themselves for ministry.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">This past month, I’ve been busy trying to connect with churches, both those where we know somebody and those where we don’t. <strong>By the grace of God, we have been blessed with a handful of new prayer and financial partners. If that’s you, thank you!</strong> Please, everyone keep praying because the amount we still need to raise seems formidable ($3000+ / month). But we serve Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides. If He wants us back in Thailand, we’ll get back to Thailand. Keep us in prayer as I reach out to make new connections and form new partnerships. <strong>Do you know a church that might be open to taking on some new mission partners? Could you connect us with them?</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Sun and I hope that you and yours have a joyous advent and Christmas season and we look forward to being in touch again in the new year. Thank you for your important contribution to support the work of advancing the cause of Christ among Thai people.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">By Christ’s grace,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Karl & Sun Dahlfred</span></p>
<p> </p>
<h3>PRAYER POINTS</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Connections with new mission partners<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Additional $3000+/month to meet support budget<br /><br /> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Christmas evangelism all over Thailand this month</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>PRAISES</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">New prayer & financial partners this past month!<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Former students serving faithfully ministering to Thai people & churches </span></li>
</ul>
<h3>CALENDAR</h3>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">7/2023 - depart for Thailand, Lord willing!</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<div class="grassroot-project-widget" data-handle="KSD1"> </div>
<script src="https://partnerhub.omf.org/-/project-embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script>November 2022 Prayer Letter2022-10-31T20:00:00-04:002022-10-31T20:00:00-04:00https://www.dahlfred.com/index.php/prayer-letters/988-november-2022-prayer-letterKarl Dahlfredkarl@dahlfred.com<div class="box-download" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.dahlfred.com/prayerletters/dahlfreds_2022.11.pdf"><strong>DOWNLOAD PDF - NOVEMBER 2022 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER</strong></a> </div>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Dear Family and Friends,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">It feels like an awfully long time since we’ve been in Thailand and undoubtedly, some of you may be wondering, “What’s the deal with Karl and Sun? Are they going back or not?” Following the completion of my Ph.D. in Scotland, we moved back to the U.S. in March 2021, thinking that it would be a matter of months before we could go to Thailand. At that time, no visas were available, tight COVID restrictions for entry to Thailand were in place, and we were low on financial support.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">In the past year and half, we’ve been glad to see visa applications re-open and just this past month, we were delighted to learn that <a href="https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2397843/no-strict-covid-controls-from-oct-1">Thailand has now dropped all its remaining COVID-related entry restrictions</a>. The only piece of the puzzle remaining is the financial component.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">During our time in the U.S., we have been thankful to gain some new mission partners, both individuals and churches. However, more recently, we have also lost financial support from some long-term partners because we have been away from ministry in Thailand for so long. We are thankful for all of you and can certainly appreciate questions that may have arisen in your minds since we have been out of Thailand for so long.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">However, we want you to know that unless God closes the door somehow, we are committed to returning to Thailand. We believe we are at a crucial point in making that happen. We are asking God to provide our financial support need, <strong>an additional $3600/month</strong>, within the next 4 months or so. The money doesn’t need to be “in-hand”, but we do need pledges of regular giving (<a href="https://partnerhub.omf.org/KSD1">How to Pledge?</a>). If the gap in our support can be made up by very early 2023, then OMF Thailand can submit visa applications for us so that we can return to the field by summer 2023. The visa application process takes 3-4 months.</span></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">July 2023 is our target date for returning to Thailand and we are planning accordingly.</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">We’ve been in communication with OMF Thailand leadership and although the details are not confirmed, the general plan is for us to live in either Bangkok or Chiang Mai where I (Karl) will continue my involvement with theological education in connection with a seminary, and we will work alongside local Thai church(es) in evangelism, discipleship, and leadership development. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">We are excited about the prospect of finally returning to Thailand. The church there is growing. People are becoming Christians. The need for training, discipleship, and leadership development is great. Only about half of Thai churches have a pastor or any type of full-time Christian worker. We are equipped to help train leaders and meet that need alongside Thai Christians and missionary colleagues. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Please pray for us.</strong> Pray that God would guide us and give us wisdom as we contact potential partner churches. Pray that God would provide the needed finances so that we can get back to Thailand where we can contribute to what God is doing in expanding His kingdom in this Buddhist-majority nation.</span></p>
<p><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/family-packingcar02-1000px.jpeg" alt="" width="600" height="450" class="pull-center" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">This past October, our family had a great trip up the east coast of the U.S., visiting friends and supporters, and preaching in a church outside of Philadelphia. We hope to connect with more people and churches in the coming months. If you have any ideas, leads, or questions for us as we pray and work towards a July 2023 departure for Thailand, please let us know.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">We value your prayers and partnership with us in the Gospel. Thank you. May God receive the glory as He builds His church in Thailand.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Soli Deo Gloria!</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">By Christ’s grace,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Karl & Sun Dahlfred</span></p>
<p> </p>
<h3>PRAYER POINTS</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Connections with new mission partners in coming months<br /></span></li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Additional $3600/month to be fully supported & return to Thailand in July 2023</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Ministry with Thai in USA</span></p>
</li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Advance of the Gospel in Thailand</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>PRAISES</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Recent visit with friends and supporters, and church visits along the east coast U.S. in October</span></span></p>
</li>
<li><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">YOU (!), our many faithful mission partners who have lifted us up over the years. Thank you!</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Publication of Karl's chapter on "The History of Christianity in Thailand" in the recent book <a href="https://langhamliterature.org/books/missions-in-southeast-asia"><em>Missions in Southeast Asia</em></a></span></li>
</ul>
<h3>CALENDAR</h3>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">11/12 Karl teach at Thai Bible Study, Melbourne, FL</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">...more church visits to come.... can you help?</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<hr size="2" width="100%" />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">To Pledge Monthly or Annual Support, Please Visit <a href="http://omf.org/us/give"></a><a href="https://partnerhub.omf.org/KSD1">OMF International</a></h3>
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<p> </p><div class="box-download" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.dahlfred.com/prayerletters/dahlfreds_2022.11.pdf"><strong>DOWNLOAD PDF - NOVEMBER 2022 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER</strong></a> </div>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Dear Family and Friends,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">It feels like an awfully long time since we’ve been in Thailand and undoubtedly, some of you may be wondering, “What’s the deal with Karl and Sun? Are they going back or not?” Following the completion of my Ph.D. in Scotland, we moved back to the U.S. in March 2021, thinking that it would be a matter of months before we could go to Thailand. At that time, no visas were available, tight COVID restrictions for entry to Thailand were in place, and we were low on financial support.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">In the past year and half, we’ve been glad to see visa applications re-open and just this past month, we were delighted to learn that <a href="https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2397843/no-strict-covid-controls-from-oct-1">Thailand has now dropped all its remaining COVID-related entry restrictions</a>. The only piece of the puzzle remaining is the financial component.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">During our time in the U.S., we have been thankful to gain some new mission partners, both individuals and churches. However, more recently, we have also lost financial support from some long-term partners because we have been away from ministry in Thailand for so long. We are thankful for all of you and can certainly appreciate questions that may have arisen in your minds since we have been out of Thailand for so long.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">However, we want you to know that unless God closes the door somehow, we are committed to returning to Thailand. We believe we are at a crucial point in making that happen. We are asking God to provide our financial support need, <strong>an additional $3600/month</strong>, within the next 4 months or so. The money doesn’t need to be “in-hand”, but we do need pledges of regular giving (<a href="https://partnerhub.omf.org/KSD1">How to Pledge?</a>). If the gap in our support can be made up by very early 2023, then OMF Thailand can submit visa applications for us so that we can return to the field by summer 2023. The visa application process takes 3-4 months.</span></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">July 2023 is our target date for returning to Thailand and we are planning accordingly.</h2>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">We’ve been in communication with OMF Thailand leadership and although the details are not confirmed, the general plan is for us to live in either Bangkok or Chiang Mai where I (Karl) will continue my involvement with theological education in connection with a seminary, and we will work alongside local Thai church(es) in evangelism, discipleship, and leadership development. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">We are excited about the prospect of finally returning to Thailand. The church there is growing. People are becoming Christians. The need for training, discipleship, and leadership development is great. Only about half of Thai churches have a pastor or any type of full-time Christian worker. We are equipped to help train leaders and meet that need alongside Thai Christians and missionary colleagues. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Please pray for us.</strong> Pray that God would guide us and give us wisdom as we contact potential partner churches. Pray that God would provide the needed finances so that we can get back to Thailand where we can contribute to what God is doing in expanding His kingdom in this Buddhist-majority nation.</span></p>
<p><img src="https://www.dahlfred.com/images/family-packingcar02-1000px.jpeg" alt="" width="600" height="450" class="pull-center" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">This past October, our family had a great trip up the east coast of the U.S., visiting friends and supporters, and preaching in a church outside of Philadelphia. We hope to connect with more people and churches in the coming months. If you have any ideas, leads, or questions for us as we pray and work towards a July 2023 departure for Thailand, please let us know.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">We value your prayers and partnership with us in the Gospel. Thank you. May God receive the glory as He builds His church in Thailand.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Soli Deo Gloria!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">By Christ’s grace,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Karl & Sun Dahlfred</span></p>
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<h3>PRAYER POINTS</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Connections with new mission partners in coming months<br /></span></li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Additional $3600/month to be fully supported & return to Thailand in July 2023</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Ministry with Thai in USA</span></p>
</li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;">Advance of the Gospel in Thailand</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>PRAISES</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Recent visit with friends and supporters, and church visits along the east coast U.S. in October</span></span></p>
</li>
<li><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">YOU (!), our many faithful mission partners who have lifted us up over the years. Thank you!</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">Publication of Karl's chapter on "The History of Christianity in Thailand" in the recent book <a href="https://langhamliterature.org/books/missions-in-southeast-asia"><em>Missions in Southeast Asia</em></a></span></li>
</ul>
<h3>CALENDAR</h3>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">11/12 Karl teach at Thai Bible Study, Melbourne, FL</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;">...more church visits to come.... can you help?</span></p>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">To Pledge Monthly or Annual Support, Please Visit <a href="http://omf.org/us/give"></a><a href="https://partnerhub.omf.org/KSD1">OMF International</a></h3>
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