December 2025 Prayer Letter
Dear Friends and Family,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! As we approach the end of yet another year, we are grateful for how God is working in Thailand and that we can be a part of His work. And we are deeply thankful for your prayers, support, and encouragement that enable us to be here. In this letter, I want to look back over the past year and then look ahead to 2026.
Theological Education & Equipping Leaders
The majority of Karl’s time throughout the year is spent in teaching classes in church history and mission studies at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary (CTS), as well as an adjunct course at McGilvary College of Divinity (also located in Chiang Mai). It is gratifying to see students inspired and equipped in the classroom with new insights that they can take back to their churches. The impact of studying at CTS is not limited to the classroom however. The informal times with students before and after class, during breaks, and during other school activities are extremely valuable in getting to know them and have input into their lives and ministries. Every Tuesday during our all-school chapel, CTS faculty take turns preaching exegetically through books of the books of the Bible. Preaching in many Thai churches is topical, moralistic, and not well grounded in Scripture so it is vital for students to see a model of solid Biblical preaching as a standard for grounding God’s people in His Word. One of the core classes at CTS is “Principles of Biblical Interpretation,” taught by Professor Thanit, director of CTS. This class is transformative for many students, giving them tools and methods to understand the Bible more clearly than they have before. In this coming year, please keep in prayer both Karl and the other CTS faculty as they teach and mentor current and future leaders of Thailand’s churches.
Karl teaching at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary
November 2025 Prayer Letter
Dear Family and Friends,
“Hello! Come here!” beckoned an elderly man seated on a bench just beyond the entrance of the War Museum in Siem Reap, Cambodia. “Do you want to hear about the war. I’m a Khmer veteran who experienced the war first hand. It’s free. However, you can make a donation at the end if you’d like.”
Thus began Mr. Sinarth as we acquiescently sat down on the wooden bench opposite his to listen. The field of tanks, munitions, jeeps, and other props of war can wait. As a young teenager, Mr. Sinarth joined the army to help his king Norodom Sihanouk fight against the military Marshall Lon Nol who successfully staged a coup while the king was out of the country. The communist prodigy who later changed his name to Pol Pot was the king’s right hand man, who later treasonously imprisoned him during the Khmer Rouge genocide 1975-79.
August 2025 Prayer Letter
Dear Family and Friends,
We’ve had a busy few months, full of teaching, preaching, kids outreach, and more. Praise God for the opportunity to be involved in what God is doing in Thailand, both 1) training and leadership development, and 2) grassroots evangelism and discipleship. Our prayer to God is that people not only come to faith in Christ, but also grow in their faith and go on to build healthy church community.
Chinese Seminary Intensive Course
As pressure on the church in China has intensified in recent years, Chinese believers have had to find alternative avenues for leadership development, including relocation to sites outside of China. In May, Karl traveled to another city in Southeast Asia to help teach an intensive course in global missions for a mainland Chinese Reformed seminary. I had students both on-site and online from churches that had never sent out missionaries and needed to know how to get started. The church in China has huge potential to impact the world for Christ. Pray that God will raise up workers for the harvest from among the multiplying churches of China.
May 2025 Prayer Letter
Dear Family and Friends,
Thank you for supporting us to minister to the people here in Thailand! We praise the Lord for the opportunities He has given us recently to share the good news of His kingdom. We’ve also participated in Run 4 Relief to raise awareness about the civil war and refugee situation in Myanmar. And Karl has continued to equip the future church leaders of Thailand through teaching both at Chiangmai Theological Seminary and at McGilvary College of Divinity.
On Feb. 13, 2025, two of our children (Caitlin and John) and I (Sun), joined international church Refuge Fellowship and ELM Pregnancy Center in an outreach to a local Thai elementary school called Baan Tong Gai which is about half an hour away from us. Besides sharing about the sanctity of life in the womb, we and 20+ volunteers also made gospel bracelets with the 150 participating elementary students. I was given the privilege of sharing the gospel in Thai as we added colored beads to a stretchy string: yellow (heaven), black (sin), red (Jesus’s sacrificial blood), white/ clear (forgiveness), and green (abundant life in Christ). Along with relay races, Bingo games, and lots of snacks, everyone had lots of fun. May the Lord do his mighty work in the hearts of the 150 students.
