Howdy from Li

Hello!!! The last few weeks we've continued teaching english at different schools. It has opened up several opportunities to talk to students and teachers about what we believe. At 1 school, we had a story hour where we shared the story of Jesus' life on earth with the kids.

We think the pastor didn't like how we led church the 1 week, so since then he has taken back control of preaching and singing songs. But we have continued to teach the kids sunday school and share our testimonies during church. Yesterday, Ashley shared her testimony at church. She is a very good speaker. The whole church got quiet and listened to her every word as she talked about how God has shown Himself to her and that He is trustworthy. She says, "I could feel the Holy Spirit speak through me because I said things that I hadn't planned to say and they actually made sense".

There's a pregnant woman (Pi Noi) who sells flowers in the market that Ashley talks to often. She is so loving, she always gives Ashley flowers and wont accept any gifts. Last week, when we had a Thai friend with us, she told us about a monk from this area. It is a cool story. Here it is: The monk was meditating, and his spirit left him and went to heaven. In heaven he saw Jesus, at the highest level of heaven. He saw buddha at a lower level. He didn't see Muhammed at all. Then his spirit came back to him on earth. He believed that Jesus was real and told many people about his experience. He continued as a buddhist because he thought his good works would get him to heaven.
She believes this story, and because of it she knows that Islam is false, and thinks that Christians are good. What we think she doesn't know is that Jesus taught that our good works will never get us to heaven. We can only get to heaven through the forgiveness of our sins that comes through believing in Jesus' death and resurrection. There are many people here who know & believe this story of this monk, so we feel like it is a good opening to share with them.
We gave her a New Testament Bible that is in Thai & English and she said she would read it all. We hope God will open her eyes through it and our conversations about it.

Jonathan has been playing basketball often at the school. Thai's are not very good at basketball, but there are a couple who are decent. It is fun to be the tallest guy on the court. Keep us in your prayers.