Here is a collection of photos of Caitlin from around the time she is 7 months old.  She is now sitting up on here own and has cut her first teeth (front two teeth on the bottom)

 

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DOWNLOAD PDF - MAY 2010 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER

 

Dear Friends & Family,

Perhaps you noticed that we did not have a prayer letter this past April.  We were tired and really close to vacation time so decided to skip a month.  We’re in the midst of Thai hot season, which is particularly hot this year, so it was good to get away to the beach for a couple weeks even it is often not so restful with two small children.

When we arrived back in PhraBaht, we were glad to discover that Pastor Jareun and his family were about to head out for a week of vacation.  Thai people almost never take vacations, and only take a few days off around international New Year’s (Jan 1) and Thai New Year’s (April 13-15).  Jareun and his family really needed a rest so we were glad that they decided to do something counter-cultural here in Thailand - taking a vacation.

Living in Phrabaht, Karl and Joshua have a morning tradition of riding the bicycle to the market to buy grilled pork and sticky rice for breakfast.  Off they go!

 

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DOWNLOAD PDF - OCTOBER 2009 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER

 

Dear Friends & Family,Praise be to God for the addition of a new little one to our family.  Caitlin Mei Dahlfred was born on Sept 21, 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand.  7.9 pounds, 20 inches long, pulsing with life & energy, and sporting a full head of hair (see pictures here).  Thank you to all of you who have sent your congratulations on the birth of our daughter.  God has been very gracious to us.

 

DOWNLOAD PDF - BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT FOR CAITLIN

 

 

If you are curious about the name, "Caitlin" is an Irish name meaning "pure".

"Mei", in both Cambodian and Chinese, is a word meaning "beautiful".

 

DOWNLOAD PDF - SEPTEMBER 2009 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER

 

 

Dear Family & Friends,

We are staying at OMF’s mission home in Bangkok now to be closer to the hospital as the arrival of baby#2 draws closer.  Due date is Sept 21st and we are now going for weekly doctor’s visits.  No matter what way Sun sits or lies down, she can’t quite get comfortable. The baby is boxing, kicking, flipping, and spinning around in there, ready to come out anytime now.  Sooner is better, according to Sun.  We’ll send out an email update when the big event occurs.

In less than two months now, my wife Sun is due to have our second child.   One of our supporting churches recently told us that they wanted to have a baby shower for her in absentia.  We thought that it would be good to send something along to be read at the baby shower since she would not be able to be there.  As Sun and I got talking, we came up with the following list of challenges and blessings of being a young mom on the mission field.  Every woman, and every family, is different and various parts of the world are very different as well, but here are some thoughts on Sun’s experience here in Thailand.

We live in the small town of Pra-putta-bat, about 2.5 hours north of Bangkok, along a major highway headed north.

 

 

 

Our next home assignment (furlough) will be December 2010 to October 2011.

 

Please see the Contact Us page.

 

We can get most things that we need in Thailand although items like English language Christian books (especially those from a Reformed perspective) and quality age appropriate toys and books for Joshua are difficult to find.  If you would like to send us something, please see our mailing address on the Contact Us page.

 

We live in a town called Phra Phutta Baht (or PhraBaht, for short).  Phra Baht is located along one of the major highways headed north, about two and a half hours north of Bangkok. You can find it on Google Maps by typing “Phra Phutthabat, Changwat Saraburi, Thailand” into the search bar, or there is a map in the About Us section

 

The town’s name means “Buddha’s Footprint”. The town is named after the Temple of the Buddha’s Footprint which is the focal point of the town.  Click here to see photos of the PhraBaht Temple (the website is in Thai but you can easily click through the photos to see what the temple grounds look like).

Joshua was born in May 2006 and Caitlin was born September 2009.

 

Sun was born in Cambodia and moved to the United States when she was a little girl.

 

Karl grew up in suburban New Hampshire with his parents and younger brother.  Through the ministry of a Presbyterian church youth group, he became a Christian and received a solid foundation in the faith.  During college, Karl was actively involved as a student leader with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and got his first taste of missions through a short-term trip to Poland.  Following graduation, Karl briefly worked for a publishing company before heading to Thailand for two and a half years to teach English and aid with evangelism and discipleship as part of an OMF church planting team.   Returning to the States, Karl studied for his Masters of Divinity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.  He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).

 

Sun and her family fled from the killing fields of Cambodia and arrived as refugees in California.  Sun heard the Gospel in Sunday school and later prayed to receive Christ.  After high school, Sun sensed the Lord calling her into missions and pursued a degree in Biblical Studies from Biola University.  Following graduation, Sun went on a short-term mission trip to Cambodia and then taught elementary school for a few years before returning to Asia to teach English in Laos.  During her four years in Laos, she also earned an M.A. in TESOL through Azusa Pacific University.  In 2002, Sun sensed God leading her to a very large Asian country where served for two years.  Sun and her team shared the Gospel with top university students and partnered with churches.

Karl and Sun met in Colorado at OMF’s Candidate Course for new missionaries and were married in 2005. They have two children, Joshua (born 2006) and Caitlin (born 2009).  They have been in Thailand for church planting ministry since December 2006.

 

DOWNLOAD PDF - DECEMBER 2008 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER

 Dear Friends & Family,Merry Christmas! Thank you for your prayers for all of us. We are feeling strong and are working very hard with the Christmas outreaches and school programs scheduled for this month. Thank you also for the gifts and cards you have sent us.Here in Thailand, Christmas is not a time for family gatherings and celebrations, but a time of vigorous outreaches. If you look at our calendar, we have 10 outreach events for this month. It takes quite a bit of time to prepare and organize these events, but we praise God for opening such opportunities and for providing people and resources for them to be possible. Please pray earnestly for us and for all our brothers and sisters in Thailand who are also doing numerous other outreaches. Pray that God would be pleased to use these outreaches to

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Some people may think that our family is crazy to take Joshua to the mission field where he will not (as the argument goes) have the privileges and advantages of growing up in a developed wealthy country like America. However, there are many advantages of taking kids to the mission field and there are somethings worth giving up for the sake of sharing the Gospel with those who have never heard and making the name of Christ known in the dark places of the world.In the Sept/Oct 9Marks e-journal, I recently read an article called "Wanted: Kingdom Families" The authors correct a number of mistaken notions about taking kids to the mission field and present a challenge to parents to be kingdom minded and Gospel centered in raising their families. This article is extremely applicable for all Christian families, whether they are on the mission field or not. What is God calling us to do as a family? How should we be fulfilling the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) as a family?

It has been about a month and a half since Karl's mom passed away on May 24th and her absence is profoundly felt. She was a wonderful woman and dearly missed. Our family is very thankful that God gave us some time with her after we arrived from Thailand on May 20th and praise Him for strengthening us for the chaotic and emotional time that we stepped into when we got off the plane.I had the unique privilege of leading the memorial service for my Mom and I am posting below the order of service from the church bulletin together with the MP3 audio files for the service. I am doing this both for my own sake and that of my family as we think back about my Mom in years to come, and also for the sake of those who loved and appreciated my Mom but were unable to make it to the memorial service. The six MP3 files, taken together,

On of the most difficult aspects of being on the mission field is that we are half a world away (literally) from family. If you fly from Thailand to New Hampshire, USA you can't get any further apart without starting to go back around the globe again.When our family made the choice to go half way across the world to make known the truth and grace of Christ, we knew that separation from family was one of the costs. It is a cost we are willing to live with because the proclamation of Christ to those who do not know him is extremely important. We want other families in spiritually dark parts of the world to have the same hope and comfort of Christ that we do. However, despite the importance of the task and our commitment to it, it doesn't make the distance and separation any easier. We praise God for technologies like Skype and blogs that make staying in touch somewhat easier but it is never the same as being there.It has been particularly difficult for my Mom to be separated from her only grandchild, Joshua, whom she knows almost exclusively through the pictures that we post on the Joshua blog and the stories that we tell her in phone calls and emails. When she was rediagnosed with cancer a few months ago, she really wanted us to come home. We weren't due for home assignment until the end of 2010 but as it became obvious that Mom's condition was much more tenuous than