Dear Friends,
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Hello from <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Thailand again. Things are going very well here. We are busy now as we head into the end of the year. It seems impossible that is should be October. Really what happened to this year. The kids are in final exams here as they prepare for their midyear break. Usually they get three weeks off but they have missed so much school due to teacher meetings that probably they will only get a week. In the mountains now people are busy either harvesting or preparing for the harvest. These are lean times in the villages as many families run out of rice until after the harvest. Every year there are families we help buy rice so they won’t go hungry. Usually only 25 dollars can make sure a family doesn’t go hungry until the new rice comes.
It has been an exciting time to see the fruit of all our work and mostly God’s work in the children. One of the children’s mom was on the way to the hospital to have a lump removed from her breast and she stopped here for the night. I was working with someone in my office and I looked out and all the kids were praying for this woman to be healed and the next day as she drove to the hospital she felt the lump growing hot and by the time she arrived at the hospital the lump was gone and the doctors sent her home without surgery. We can’t thank God enough for all His goodness and His power working before our eyes. The kids were so encouraged to step out an minister more and more. They are getting bolder now to preach and teach God’s word and to testify to what God has done in their lives. And of course I cannot watch them without dissolving into tears with pride and joy at the work God has done.
We are planning an outreach to the border area of Thailand and Burma. It is basically a human catastrophe over there with 20 years of war leaving people ravaged and destititute. One of our friends has started a children’s home with only true orphans. We are sending a team there to build two bathrooms for them as well as to minister to the over 150 children in the area. I never thought the kids would give up their only one week to go home and visit their families to go on an outreach but right now we have 10 youth who want to go minister to this area. It will be good for them to see people so much more poor than they are themselves and give some of what they have received. They will also use some of their Christmas money to help these children this year. Every year they (the children) give an offering from the money they get at Christmas to help other poor children have Christmas too and this year we have chosen this children’s home on the Burma border. Last year the kids alone gave $200 dollars of their own Christmas money to help buy a poor child a Christmas present.
This year we plan to give Christmas to 300 people. We will be sending presents to this home in the borderland as well as buying presents for a village deep in the jungle where the gospel has yet to be preached. We will be doing Christmas there and preaching the gospel in a big outreach crusade in December. At Christmas we find people are more open to hearing about Jesus and want to know what Christmas is all about as Christmas in not a traditional Thailand holiday and the people are curious about it. If you want to give to make Christmas special for a child – $1.50 buys one present.
We have also been asked to do monthly youth meetings here in the town. Once a month we gather all the youth together – over 300 kids for a big youth meeting. We’ve had one already and the youth loved it and are excited for the next one. Please pray for this – the youth are all in children’s homes and some of them are not really good and it is our one chance to reach these children with the love of Jesus. This is my heart and my vision and I am so happy that God has opened this door into their hearts. It is so humbling to get up before these precious young people to one more time try to express the inexpressible. God- how do you put Him into words? How can you convey how beautiful and wonderful He is? But in those moments when God steps in and gives the words and they can really really see Him they are fascinated. And that is what we want. A generation fascinated by Jesus will not leave this world the same.
So please keep praying for us as we make real progress here. I feel so excited about my life. I love it. I love my kids, I love the work God honored me by allowing me to do, I love Jesus most of all. He continually woos me in unexpected and breathtaking ways. I always tell Him – you don’t have to show out for me (but really I like it)– You already have my heart but He just continues to steal my heart just by how sweetly good He is and when He wants to bless He really knows how to do it in a big way. I am always on my knees in fascination and very much enjoying the path. I wouldn’t trade lives with anyone else in the world. I think I have the best life. Thank you so much all of you who give so faithfully. We love you so much and admire you and appreciate you and pray your reward will be very great.
Love much,
Candace
PS: You can send a tax deductible donation to Rhema Missions PO Box 50126 Tulsa, OK 74150 Memo Rev Candace Smith 100% goes to the work in Thailand
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