let me start by saying that i vehemently abhor the blogging service that the world race has chosen. this is the third time that i have started this blog. the first two times were on the website and the page would just randomly refresh itself and erase all that i had typed. i have learned my lesson and am typing this in word on michaels laptop. nonetheless, sorry it has taken me so long to do an update. past couple of weeks have been pretty crazy.
guess i should start by wrapping up nepal. bobita (the lady i asked you to join us in praying for) made it through her surgery and was even released the day after. we made more progress, with the boys, in the last week than we did in the three that preceded it. we realized a lot of things about them that i wish we had earlier in the month. we left kathmandu on the 31st and headed to bangkok.
there is a couple named chuck and selina, and they are our coaches. they come out to where we are every 2 months for something called "debrief". they help us work through any issues that we have been having, whether individually or collectively. our team came out of debrief far better prepared for the rest of our time together. debrief is also kind of like a mini-vacation from the race. we dont have a regimented schedule and are encouraged to just relax and rest. bangkok is a really cool place. it was in many ways like being home. it has the biggest and nicest mall that ive ever seen. i got mcdonalds, dunkin donuts, mrs. fields, starbucks, and dairy queen. oh and i got to go bowling too. after a few days in bangkok we boarded a bus to maha sarakham where we will be spending the rest of our month.
in maha sarakham, we are staying at and working with the ywam (youth with a mission) base here. maha sarakham is home to 7 or 8 universities. if i remember correctly, there are 1 million people in maha sarakham and 200,000 of them are college students. i dont know what the whole month will look like but so far, we have been going to the universities and teaching english as a way to hopefully be able to build a relationship with them. we have also been doing free english classes at the ywam base. i have loved thailand so far. the people at ywam are really amazing.
i want to again thank all of you that supported me in getting a new computer. one has been purchased and is on the way to thailand. shipping to thailand has proven to be quite difficult and expensive but i think we have figured it out.
this month is largely about planting seeds. we arent going around sharing the gospel with every one we encounter. we are going around and hopefully laying a foundation that ywam will build on once we leave. pray that the ground is fertile. pray for ywam. christianity has a tiny footprint here and they need as much prayer as they can get to widen it. continue to pray against sickness for my team. our next deadline is the end of this month. because of so many of you, i am already fully funded but many on the squad are not. pray that God continues to provide for them financially.
love you all
austin
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