Into the Highways and Byways. . .

Life certainly doesn’t lack variety around here. Not only has the Lord opened up opportunities for us to treat the sick in our nearby villages but to hold branch sabbath schools, preach in a nearby church on Sabbath, and hold Wednesday evening worships in different homes. The Karen people are so warm and hospitable and they really appreciate our willingness to come and worship with them. Their appreciation is shown by feeding us wonderful food. They are very good cooks. But we are truly blessed by hearing the students sing at the tops of their lungs the wonderful songs of Jesus. Also it is very rewarding to see them so eager to understand the Bible better.

A branch Sabbath school story:

In a village that is 30 minutes north of us lives a family with three small children. They are the only Adventist family in their village, and they are longing for fellowship. The father has tried and tried to evangelize the village, but nobody is interested. Just recently he told us that his wife decided to go to Bangkok for work. So here he is all by himself with his mother-in-law and three small children to take care of. So far we have visited this family three times and they are always happy to have us come and worship with them. Once they served us wonderful a coconut/rice treat! Now, don’t get the idea that we are going there for food!:-) Since then, we invited him and his children to come to our school church, and they have come at least one time.

Our group at the branch Sabbath School.

The man that we visited along with his three children.

Thara Mu Gayle sharing some thoughts.

Harvey preaching at a nearby SDA church:

One of our teachers was to teach Sabbath school the next Sabbath. The lesson was about worship and Revelation 13, but she didn’t understand Revelation 13 very well so she asked Harvey for an explanation. Harvey invited her to visit us so he could explain it to her. When she visited us and they began to talk about it she became overwhelmed. Realizing that it would take a lot of time she asked Harvey if he could come to her church the next Sabbath and teach the Sabbath school lesson, preach the sermon and do an afternoon presentation. Wow! Harvey said “yes” which was great, because he told her that in order to understand Rev. 13, they needed to understand Daniel 2 and 7. So he gave a study on Daniel 2 and 7 for sabbath school and a study about the first beast of Revelation 13 for church and then the second beast of Revelation 13 in the afternoon. The church were so appreciative of the messages. These truths were very new to some of them.

Folks, the more I’m around these SDA’s the more I realize that they are so deprived of the “light” we have in America. They only have “Steps to Christ” of the SOP books and the Bible. They don’t understand many of the Bible prophecies and doctrines and very little about Sabbath keeping and healthful living. Even some of the church leaders don’t understand much. What a privilege and opportunity to work with these people to help them understand the “light” the Lord has given us. Our plan, Lord willing, is to get more SOP books translated into and published in their language, as well as get a medical/evangelism training course started here at our school. We need your prayers and support for these projects to get started.

Harvey along with the lady that invited him.

A more recent worship we had at a village a half a kilometer south of here:

In this village there are no Seventh-day Adventists, but the family of some of our students lives there. Remember Naw Nay Wah? The girl who was devil possessed? Anyway, she had been a dorm student until a week ago when her step father told her that she needed to come home and not go to school here anymore. So she went home. Her parents wanted her to go to Bangkok. That next Sabbath, one of our staff decided to bring her to church the following Sabbath. After church they were able to have a heart-to-heart talk about what was going on. Naw Nay Wah was appealed to to give her life to God rather than Satan. They had prayer together, and she went back home. The next Monday she was able to come back to school. PTL! During the time that she was gone, a couple of us treated a nasty boil that her step father had. He was very thankful for our help, and to our surprise, a few days later, he invited us to come to their house and have worship with them the next morning. With school going, the only option for us was 6:00 am. So off we went the following morning along with other staff and students to sing, read the Bible, and pray with them. Her parents really seemed thankful that we came. And as the tradition seems to be, they fed us a treat – noodles!! These people are poor; I don’t know how they manage. It was just wonderful to see how our prayers are being answered!

We are praying that this school will be a shining light to this area and beyond — like a rippling affect upon water. What Eric B. Hare and others started with the Karen people, we and others hope to finish.