Christmas and Pioneer work

                  Jesus came to our world: Pioneer work Nr One.

Anna spent 3 month in Sweden july-sep 2021 and I was in Ubon. Now I am in Sweden 11 weeks. Anna is in Ubon. 

I came to Sweden on the 6th of Dec and will stay until the 23rd of Feb. Hope to meet you. So I am now happy to meet many different kind of people in Sweden. Anna and our brothers and sisters in Ubon-Pakse are doing very well. The work is growing.

I went to Lars and Christina Lorner on Styrsö last Thursday. Fantastic encouragement to meet and hear more about how they started the work in Prachuab. When Pioneers get older… .. they have a lot to give us who are now starting new pioneering work. Thank you Lars for your prayers for us. Your body is weak, but the spirit is most alive. 

We thank God for all the good things Pastor Boy and his wife received from Lars and the others in Prachuab.

                              

 

I am very happy these 11 weeks to visit Churches, Second Hand Shops, relatives and friends. The task I felt before these weeks in Sweden was: Encourage believers in Sweden, who are tired. I like to bless and encourage.

 

Most People agree to good teaching and grow. But some people smile and say "All is well", but they continue in their own way of living. 

We all has got a free will. (Someone has said; God is so great that he gives us free will.) Some do not want to receive advice and guidance. They do not dare to humble themselves before God and man. They have become stuck in their own homemade pattern… which has become their identity. Their own self-image ... sits on the throne. Often this is called Narcissism.

What do you do with these? Loving them is harder than loving an enemy. But we have no right to give up loving them, even if they continue their self-centeredness the whole life.

The 2 robbers on the first Good Friday had probably had many opportunities to change their way of living. But they still chose to continue in the same way until the end of life. One humbled himself at the last second. And he was saved.

Have a blessed Christmas 2021.

Ingvar(Fred) in Sweden and Anna in Ubon

It is a great Joy to go to new pioneer areas. 

Have a blessed Christmas and New Year.

We are very happy to see both in The Child Safe and in The Streams of Grace Church Ubon how is growing during 2021. Both "legs" are growing positively.

When we in times of disaster not are hiding in fear, but moving forward Side-by-Side - we are growing. God Bless.

Development

                                                            First: 

       Have a blessed Advent and Christmas time 2021.

When the Covit-19 hit Ubon we could see everywhere this signboard. 

According to my observation:

• The educated people in the city working in the Government, Banks, Hospitals, bigger shops, factories +++ did not stay at home. They continued: Business-as-usual. Some had hard time but ... they worked even harder.   
• The Non-educated people, children and old people, specially i the villages obeyed and got very fearful. Many stopped working and had to take loans to have food on the table. Now to stop letting fear rule - is hard. 

On the 1st Nov 2021 we moved the Child Safe Centre from Soi 11 Chayakun Road near the Ubon Music Café and the Church. This is an upgrading and development of the work in many ways.

Teenagers and adults have help to move the Center and ,,, now the wall is painted so the whole community sees that children/teenagers need security. All this so that we may be better and better out in the midst of the people… in their world. The people we work with live in a terrible world, so they need all the support they can get, so as not to give up. The pressure now in the pandemic is harder than usual for children aged 14-16 to leave school, take bad jobs and support the family financially.

Now the schools are slowly opening up, but many younger students live in fear of becoming infected. A mother told me that her son goes to school but in his class of 40 students only 5 of them attends.

Older students aged 15-17 live in fear that they will now not pass the tests. A girl tried to take her own life. A boy has to go to the hospital because he had severe stress symptoms. Got medication for panic anxiety.

       

           

We are happy for our wonderful staff who do everything they can, from their hearts. On Monday (on their day off) several of them were out helping children/teenagers in crisis. One boy could not breathe and one of our staff quickly took him to 2 hospitals. Several factors caused his panic. Now he feels better.

I will put in some pictures.

Ingvar(Fred)