Over the last two months, Stephan and Sandra, who serve in Southeast Asia mainland, have seen the Lord answering prayer; mainly with regard to relationships with people who are interested in the Bible teaching, which are becoming deeper. They are blessed by the great interest some people are voicing, to hear and study God’s Word. One young Sgwa Karen couple with a little baby son first started talking about the Bible after Sandra started teaching the wife how to bake; soon her husband joined the baking classes too. Stephan tried to be there as well. They are both Christians but have many questions and would love to learn more. A few weeks ago, Stephan and Sandra started to teach them as a couple. They are very eager to learn and the husband always sits with his computer taking notes when Stephan is teaching. He told them, that his mum always wanted him to become a pastor but he never wanted to. Now, starting to understand more about His Word, he is not sure about that anymore. He said, “Maybe, God wants me to be a pastor, then I cannot refuse.” Please pray for this couple, that they will continue with the Bible teaching and will be a blessing to their people and the Pwo Karen as well.
Recently, Sandra was studying through the story of Noah with two ladies, one of them asked her, “So, are you also afraid when you see the rainbow?” “No” Sandra answered, “It makes me very thankful!” The ladies, were told as children that the rainbow is very dangerous and that if you point at it, your finger will be cut off or if you go too close some bad thing can happen to you. Stephan and Sandra hear similar stories each week and it shows them how the people are caught in their fears. How beautiful to see, when they understand the truth and are set free!
During the school holidays, their baking project was suspended. This allowed them to make some long needed changes in the office kitchen. In addition, they experienced God’s guidance and answers to prayer. Even though it was only a small project they were so thankful to have a good worker and the needed funds to do it. They saw His hand in it!
Their holiday in March was also an answer to prayer. They are thankful for the financial funds and people who encourage them to take breaks. Because they live in a remote area, the distance travelling to the beach is a challenge. The weather was great and they spent hours and hours snorkelling. They are in awe of God’s beautiful creation under the water. They even saw sharks and a big turtle. They had a lot of good quality time as a family and were able to relax.
Back home they realised that the well in their village had dried up. The consequence of this was that they had very little or sometimes no running water for a couple of weeks. It made them appreciate water again and they are thankful that the problem was solved quite quickly. This year has been a long and very dry hot season and they were happy when it started raining a little bit.
On the first floor of the hospital in their village are the sleeping rooms. It is a big open area where there are beds crammed in very close to each other. Dying people lay next to babies, women next to men, malaria patients next to people with diabetes. Usually, one or two relatives accompany the patient and they sleep next to the bed on the floor. Imagine the muddle. Even though it might not be the most comfortable place to be, Stephan and Sandra visit to talk to people and encourage them. They want to be salt and light so that many more people will realise and accept what Jesus has done for them, too.
Praise:
– for a very a good holiday.
– they were able to start teaching the Bible to a Sgwa Karen couple.
– for great home school helpers.
– that they have water again.
Pray for:
– The people to hunger for God’s truth!
– Wisdom for Stephan and Sandra in their relationships and also in parenting their children!
– For the children as they will soon finish up the school year and say goodbye to their home school helpers.
Thank you for your partnership with Stephan and Sandra through prayer.