September 2026 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We are grateful that through the grace of God and your genorousity and prayers, our family has the privilege of serving God and His church in Thailand. We wanted to give you a quick round up of what’s been happening in recent months, and to ask for your continued prayers.

Poster Preaching to Construction Workers

Seven sun-baked men and six petite women sat around some dishes of food placed on the ground, away from parked cranes, dump trucks, and pylon drills between the local highway and Refuge Fellowship. As we approached them, some sat up and greeted us. Pastor Aaron had made the rounds the day before and told them we would be bringing them food today. We handed them bags of soup and fried rice— each bagged and tied with a rubber band to serve one person. We found out many of them were part of the Shan tribe who used to live in Myanmar but have since moved to Chiangmai, Thailand.

With the Poster Preach big book in hand, Karl asked if they would like to hear a story of a son who had gone far away and lost all his inheritance but whom his father welcomed back joyously. They nodded, and so Karl began narrating the story of the prodigal son in Thai. This is part of sowing the Gospel seed as we have opportunity.

Karl shares the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) with some construction workers 

Recent Activities

Since our last prayer letter, we have had our OMF Thailand annual conference where 3 of our fields came together for a joint event. It was good to meet other OMFers that live in the same city. Joshua and Caitlin have begun their study of International Business Management at Rajamangala University of Technology, Lanna (RMUTL) in June. And John and I (Sun) have served in VBS in July.

OMF Thailand 75th Anniversary Banner (click to see full size)

Theological Education Changes Lives

Our prayer letters often do not include a lot of details about the daily activities at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary (CTS) because the education and spiritual formation that is happening bit by bit is hard to describe in a single event or interaction. But I want to encourage you that God is working here at CTS and it is through the grace of God that you and I get to be a part of what he is doing.  A couple months ago a student shared the following with the director of the school who passed it on to the faculty chat group. Read and be encouraged:

“Since I started studying at CTS, God has changed me tremendously, and the transformation has been unmistakable. In the past, I lived an extremely reckless life—so much so that people would ask me, “Can Christians really live however they want?” One day I would be serving God faithfully in my ministry, yet the next day I would be living completely differently. But today I have experienced genuine transformation through the love of God. This change has not come from my own strength or wisdom at all.”

Please keep praying for both faculty and students as God works among us for both the formation of minds and hearts of present and future Thai church leaders at CTS.

Praying Together During the CTS Chapel Service

Panel Discussion Q&A to Wrap Up Our Preaching Series on Ecclesiastes in CTS Chapel Service

Praise the Lord for:

• Your prayer and support. Because of your faithfulness, the Lord has enabled us to reach Thai families, students, and children for His kingdom. Thank you for partnering with us in God’s work here in Thailand.
• The monthly Grace Church Thai family group meetings where we help parents to grow in discipling their kids.
• The completion of the first semester at Chiangmai Theological Seminary (CTS) and the preaching series on Ecclesiastes.
• The opportunity to share the gospel with the Shan people during the construction workers’ outreach
• Progress made in Karl’s Thai church history book research and writing, including interviews with Thai church leaders and missionaries.
• Caitlin and Joshua studying at Rajamangala University of Technology, Lanna (RMUTL).

Please pray for:

• Our upcoming Home Assignment in California in March-May 2027 to be a blessing to our supporters, family, and friends.
• Our 3 children (Joshua, Caitlin, John) as we seek to disciple them, ages 20, 17, 13, respectively.
• Easier transportation for Joshua and Caitlin who are taking public transportation an hour minimum each way to their Thai university
• Karl to make good progress in writing the next Thai church history book.

by Christ's grace,

Karl & Sun Dahlfred

Karl Interviews a Thai Church Leader for Research for a New Book Surveying Thai Church History