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Indianapolis, INPermit No. 4927News From

DWAIN & BECJOf

ANDERSONChristian Ambassadors to Thailand

Field Address:

Mr. & Mrs. Dwain Anderson

P.O. Box 169

Chiang Mai 50000 ThailandForwarding Address:Christian Ambassadors to Thailand

P.O. Box 53733

Indianapolis, IN 46253-0733Becky, Sara, Mark and Dwain Anderson

Make checks payable to: Christian Ambassadors to Thailand

March, 1990

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It has been a long time since we have sent out a newsletter and for this we apologize. These past severalmonths have been busy and we just haven't gotten around to producing one, though we have correspondeddirectly with our supporting churches.

In thisnewsletterwewant to bringyou up-to-date on our workand askyou to prayabout severalthings andaboutseveralpeople. Wepraise the Lord for Hishelp and forHisstrength. We praiseHimbecauseof allof you.

The biggest and mostimportant developmentregarding our work hasbeen the opening of thenew Christian center in

Chiang Mai called "BanSaeng Satjatham". In Thaithat translates roughly to"the House of the Raysof Truth" and that is

exactly what we want andhope it will be. Let mebegin at the beginning.

Since we returned to

Thailand in Septemberof1988 we have been

Ban Saeng Satjatham

I 4

Our cenier is located in this row ofshop spaces.

concemed about the need

for Christian work in the

cities of Thailand.

Thailand is a newlydeveloping country andthat means that more and

more people are movingto the cities in search of

jobs, education, and abetter life. Chiang Maihas gone from about90,000 people five yearsago to around 150,000today.Bangkok has gonefrom 5 million to over 7

million in the sameperiod

In the beginningour building wasjust a shell.

of time. Becky and I became convinced that moreneeds to be done to reach the ethnic Thai people inthese fast growing cities.

In September of last year we began to plan andsearch for a building to house a Christian center inChiang Mai. Ourplanwas to rent abuilding thatwouldserve both as an apartment for our family and aneighborhood center, aswell. It took several monthsto locate a suitable place because buildings currentlyare expensiveand inshort supply.In late Novemberwerented and took possession of a three and a halfstory,store front building in the oldsectionof ChiangMai.Itis in the center of town and is easily accessible byseveral bus routes. It is also in a district of town that isheavily populated and that has many schools for theupper grades.

It took a lot of work to get the building ready tomove in to. For thiswe had some good help. Tom Coonand Tom Silkwood, both missionaries, helped us withputting walls into what was, in the beginning, just anempty shell. We also had to run some electricalwiring and water lines. We had to put in a wholekitchen including the proverbial "kitchen sink". Onthe 15th ofDecember we moved into the apartmentpart of the buildingon the second and third floors.

Once we moved in we began to work on gettingthe center opened. We wanted the center to beattractive to the eye and comfortable, too. Chairs,tables, bookshelves, some pictures, and a front forthe building was needed. Both the work on theapartment and on the center required more fundsthan we had on hand. We were able to arrange a loanfor the additional funds. We'd like to ask you to prayabout getting this loan paid off as soon as possible.

One of the things we have to praise the Lord for

Christian Ambassadors to Thailand

is that He provided some Thai Christian youngpeople to help us who have a vision for this kind ofwork. They have been a great help in the planningof the center's program. In fact, they were theones who came up with the name. They guaranteedus that "Ban Saeng Satjatham" would "stick to theears" of the Thai people. In April one of the youngmen, Pradit, will begin to serve a nine monthinternship with us as part of his studies at theChiang Mai Bible Institute. We believe that hisparticipation in the ministry will be an asset.

On February 20th of this year Ban SaengSatjatham opened its doors to the public for thefirst time. Our program includes several types ofoutreach such as English Bible lessons and a lending

library in both Thai and English. Already we are pleasedwith the way the work is going. We have been able tomeet many people that we would have never been ableto meet if there was no center. We have also been able

to share with them, help them in various ways, and bea witness to them of the loveof Jesus and the forgivenessof sins He gives. To us, even though the center isattractive and comfortable, it is the people who areimportant. We'd like to introduce you to some of themand ask you to pray for them.

Jakrit

Jakrit is the person who stands out to me as themost unusual person we have met in the center. He isa transvestite. On the first night that he come in one ofhis "friends" came with him. Jakrit came in because he

wanted to study English. That night as he filled in theapplication form he remarked that he had lots of friendsand that perhaps many of them would like to comestudy English. When I heard that I really had to do a lot

The temple right across the street from our center.

Qu-lstiaa Ambassadors to Thailand

m-mrnm

ili

!».» .

An importantpart of the center is the lendinglibrary.

of praying. My first reaction was to get rid of him andhis"friends" assoon aspossiblebut God loveshim,too.As it turned out, Jakrit did come back to study the Biblein English but he didn't bring anyof his friends. Thatseemed likea good compromise to me! My prayer forhim is that he can come to know the love and the

healing of God.

Somkit and Narong" Somkit and Narong are both older fellows. Both of

them are taxidrivers. They are what most people wouldthink of as "average guys". They have been out ofschool for several years, have families,and arc workinghard to make a living. Both are enrolled in one of ourEnglish Bible classes. Originally they came inbecause they wanted to learn more English sothat they could possibly get a better jobsomewhere. I hope this will be possible but Ialso hopeandpray that they canfind somethingevenmoreimportantthanabetterjobthrough '• |Htheir relationship with us. I hope that they andtheir families can come to know Jesus, too.

Noot

Noot is a young ladywho is in her last yearof high school. She is a very diligent studentand wants very badly to get into the universityhere in Chiang Mai. She came the other dayand asked me if I would be willing to coach herwith her English. She isalready enrolled inourEnglish Bible classes but she knows that if sheis to get into the university, her English mustbe very good. Ibelieve that Noot is the kind of ^person who will one day be considered among"the cream of the crop" for her generation.

Wouldn't it be great if she could also be among"God's chosen people", as well? Lets pray that shewill be.

James

James isour "reader". Almost from the first daywe were open he has been coming in several timesa week to borrow books from our lending library. Ihave had several chances to talk and share with

him. He is very knowledgeable about the Bible. Asit turns out, he has been a member of one of thelocal Thai churches. He has also been a member of

the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses at one

time or another. As we talked the other night hebegan to tell me of some of the things that some

"Western Christian" friends ofhis have taught him. AsI listened and then questioned him it became apparentthat he has become involved with the "Children of

God", a group which isnot only illegal in Thailand buthas some of the most unchristian teachings around.James is a sincere by sincerely mbced-up young man.Please pray that we can help him to see and understandthe true, simple Gospel message.

RogerRoger is one of our newer contacts. He is a Thai-

Chinese. Roger is very intelligent and is fluent in Thai,Mandarin Chinese and English. He told me that one ofhis Chinese teachers is a Christian and that he has been

Thefront ofBan Saeng Saijathani with theBuddhist temple in the reflection ofthe window.

212/3

to church with him before. He also told me that he likes

to go to church. As wewere talkingabout the Chineselanguage, I asked him if he had ever seen a bilingualEnglish-Chinese Bible. He hadn'tbutwasvery interested.I had one on our bookshelves which we had gottenseveral year ago when weworked in Hong Kong and sogave it to him as a gift. We read some verses together inEnglish and Chinese. He was very pleased to have theBible. I pray that through it he maylearn more and thathis present interest in the Lord may increase.

These are just a few of the people we have gottento knowthrough Ban SaengSatjalham. We areexcitedwith the work and with the possibilities we see ahead.

Other News

While the Christian Center is our biggest news forthisissueof the newsletter, we do haveother "happening?and events" to share with you.

Dwain taught a course in Christian Leadership toJunior and Senior students at ChiangMai Bible Institutethis past fall. He enjoyed the experience and theopportunity to get to know some of the CBI studentsbetter. Dwain also studied for and passed his SixthGrade Thai Language Equivalency Examin December.It is an important milestonein his languagedevelopmentand we are proud of his accomplishment.

Becky's father, Clayton Kinsey, underwent openheart surgery tor blocked arteries and valve replacementin September in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. This wasthe second time he has had open heart surgery. He isrecovering well and we thank all who prayed for himand for us as we were separated from him at that time.

Thefrom room ofthe center with movabledividers separating the classroom.

Qidstian Ambassadors to Thailacd

Mark turned lOyears old in October, Sara becamea teenager (13) in March. School has gone well thisyear for both Sara and Mark. We thank the Lord foranswered prayers regarding the children's education.Their teachers and the new principal are outstanding.Sara will be remaining in Chiang Mai to complete her8th grade education. This makes her very happy and isa relief to us as well.

In the midst of all this, every day life goes on.Pollution is increasing here in Chiang Mai, inflation isrunning about 20 percent, and new construction can befound everywhere you turn as the city continues toexpand. Chiang Mai hosted the 23rd National Gamesearlier in March. Part of the pregame publicity includedan anti-AIDS campaign, with the public health officialsannouncing that 2,200 prostitutes in Chiang Mai hadtested HIV positive. Large sections of Thailand aresufferingfrom drought and publicofficials are hopingthe annual rains willcome early to refill the reservoirs.We are wellinto the HOT season withdailyhighsnearthe 100 degree mark.

One more thingthat wewouldliketo askyouto beinprayer about isasituation in the mission communityhere in Thailand. We are not free at this time to giveany details except to say that a situation has come upwhich has distressed all of us here. It is one of those

cases when a trained Christian counselor would be a

great help. Alas, there are none available. Pleasepray that the Lord will give wisdom and grace over thenext several months so that we may all deal with theproblem in a way that pleases Him.

Finally, Thailand is full of rumors of governmentdecisions that may affect missionaries and their work.It is rumored that soon no missionarywillbe allowed togo into the countryside to teach religion. One rumor

says that in the future no one except Thais will beallowed to teach religion at all anywhere. We do nottrust in rumors but in the Lord. Please pray aboutthis with us.

We are thankful that we can be here in Thailand

and we are thankful to you for your part inour work.Very often we are reminded of the fact that withoutyour financial help we could not be here. There isone other thing that we feel we absolutely musthave, aswell. This isyourprayers. We need yourprayers on a daily basis! Thanks for them in advance.

In His Service,

Dwain & Becky