With Great Joy

                                           

Our coworkers here i Ubon-Pakse have great joy and wholehearted calling to stand up and serve people who are struggling. ".... And do not be grieved, 

                      for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”  Neh8:10b  

Woooow The strength in the joy of the Lord is working regardless of circumstances. 

We have had a very good weekend. Saturday was a Creativity Day with around 80 children and teenagers. It is a challenge for many, even for the poor, to leave their mobile phones and do something fun and inspiring together with others.

We had a very good service yesterday. The Spirit of God was at work. This time of the year, after schools start i May, people are struggling financially. Some guardians say their children can not go to school.

Yesterday, in the service we rejoiced in many happy songs, .... and we were all Lifted-Up. 

We are thankful that God sends talented and wholehearted brothers and sisters to us. Leo and Chanon are new Interns willing to serve God and people. They have many gifts.

                               

Mission work is inspiring and stimulating. It is God's work and .... we follow Jesus who is walking before us.

Pray for Anna who today and tomorrow travels Bleket-Gothenburg-Copenhagen-Dubai-Bangkok-Ubon. 

Thank you for your prayers ... and support in different ways.  

Have a good week.

Pay It Forward

Many books and movies, most of all the Bible, encourage us to; Pay It Forward. ( = Receive and then bless others).  Think, how much we all have received. We are blessed and we can bless others. And they also .... do the same..                                                                

                         

Jesus is our greatest example. He truly received from God himself and gave it to us lost and helpless people. 

            Jesus: "I only do and say what I see my Father do and say".

One beautiful Pay-it-Forward example is Mia and Hasse in Andra Bullar, Töftedal, Ed, Sweden. They give bakery and coffee to people but do not themself charge anything. Instead, people give money to 4 organizations, including

   

                                              Click here and you will see Andra Bullar 

Thank you all Pay-it-forward friends in Töftedal, Ed Sweden and other places.                                  

Pray for Anna as she is travelling Gothenburg-Copenhagen-Dubai-Bangkok-Ubon that all wil be peace under her wings ... over Middle East.  

Be Bless wherever you are.

The Teddy Bears

Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) stated that SAFETY is the 2nd level of Basic Needs. Here in Ubon, many children/teens and adults are looking for safety.

Malow also believed that BELONGING / COMMUNITY is the 3rd level. Last Saturday, about 45 children/teenagers came to our Saturday program. They are looking for both Security and Belonging. One man told me, we call him Tom:

When I was 14, my mother left us for another man. My father was so devastated that he hanged himself. And .... I saw him doing it. This picture is still showing up for me every day". Top was put in a Catholic orphanage, where he was unhappy. If he did something wrong there, he had to pay money ..... before he was forgiven. Since his mother's new husband don`t want Top or his 2 sisters, they needed to be strong enough to stand by themself. One of his siters lives in Dubai and has become a Muslim. They have now no contact. "I am alone".

In Ubon Music Cafe we ​​have 2 Teddy Bears. Thank you Pet. Your teddy bears make many people happy, who want to hug them, especially the bigger one. I understand they miss their dads and moms.

                   

I too need Security and Belonging. In Jesus' Agape love we always find Security and Belonging. 

     Some more Saturday pictures.

Be among the people.

It says about Jesus: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.  Joh 1;14

To be among people ... in the middle of the communities .... is important to us. It would be easier to work in a "box" with like-minded people. The calling we have received is to reach out and welcome in the wounded and broken. Thank you for your prayers and financial support. 

The Seed is in the Earth and growing.

Last week we had a fantastic Camp for 101 children and youth with the team: 

The Seed. 

"As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and 

understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

We are so happy for Joanna Sarkar from Kolkata Inda how came and was the guest speaker.  She was great blessing for everyone.

 

Seed in good soil grows, produces plants that bear good fruit. 

Care and compassion are also seeds that we must plant in good soil. "God of all comfort" has new fresh seed for us that we sow into our own lives and into the lives of others. 

"Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up". Gal 6:9

Have a good weekend