November 2023 Prayer Letter

Written by Karl Dahlfred on 03 November 2023.

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Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings from Thailand! It has been a long time since I’ve been able to say that but praise the Lord, we are finally back in Thailand. After some flight delays, we arrived in Chiang Mai on October 1st, a day later than expected. Our luggage showed up the day after that. We are thankful for friends met us at the airport, and took us to get some delicious Thai food and new SIM cards before we got some rest after more than 24 hours of travel.

Beginning our Journey at the Orlando Airport

The kids were well prepared for waiting around in airports

central food court 01Oct2023 1000px upon arrival, (almost the) first order of business was eating delicious Thai food!

New Beginnings

October was a busy month as we arrived in Thailand, popped down to Malaysia to get our long-term visas, looked for a rental house (we found one!), moved furniture, etc. from storage in Bangkok, and bought a car. We still have boxes all over the house and are still working on setting up house, but we are off and running. Joshua has recommenced his online college classes and the other kids will shortly begin homeschooling again. We have been meeting neighbors, finding our way to the local shops, visiting churches, and learning our new surroundings. Our kids are struggling a bit with not knowing much Thai (especially on Sunday morning) but we hope to get them into some formal Thai language classes soon.

Grace Chiang Mai church worship sermon Jed 1000px Worship at Grace Chiang Mai Church

New and Renewed Connections

We’ve visited Chiang Mai in the past though never lived here, yet there are many people that we know here, both Thai and missionary, due to our connections to the broader Christian community in Thailand. It has been wonderful to catch up with old friends and colleagues, hear their family news, listen to their ministry and personal experience during the height of Covid, and learn about what’s happening now. We’re also meeting new people, both Christians and non-Christians, and finding opportunities to talk about God, whether it be a taxi driver or the woman selling vegetables along the side of the road. Compared to the rest of the country, Chiang Mai has a relatively high number of Christians, but the vast majority of people here are still Buddhist. Lots of opportunities to talk to people about Christ.

Act 40th anniversary 2 1000px Karl catching up with former students who are pastoring in north Thailand

Getting to Know Chiang Mai Theological Seminary (CTS)

At the end of October, we had the opportunity to attend a family camp for seminary faculty, staff, students, alumni and their families. It was wonderful to have time to worship together, eat together, learn together, and get to know people. It was particularly encouraging to hear about some of the ministry that CTS folks are doing, including an alumnus who is seeing Muslims come to Christ in Southern Thailand and a current student ministering among churches in a neighboring Communist country. Before and during the camp, I’ve also had the opportunity to ask lots of questions about the seminary, its curriculum, teacher and students expectations, and other nuts-and-bolts details of how the school works. The new term starts November 7^th and I will teach two classes, “Thai Church History” and “Intercultural Communication.” I’ve previously taught Thai church history several times but intercultural communication is new for me. The subject matter is not new, of course, but I’ve never had to teach a semester-length course on it before. Lots of preparation to do!

cts building 1000px Chiang Mai Theological Seminary buildings (classrooms & offices, dormitory)

CTS family photo with motto 1 1000px our first visit to the seminary campus

cts faculty meeting oct2023 1000px Karl attends his first faculty and staff meeting at CTS

CTS family camp2023 1 1000px Faculty, Staff, Students, Alumni and families at CTS Family Camp, Oct 2023

CTS family camp2023 2 1000px Praying for Thailand and the world at CTS Family Camp

Please keep us in prayer as we settle in to our new surroundings, and seek to be a witness to non-believers and a blessings to Thai Christians and churches. THANK YOU for standing with us and helping us return to Thailand so that, Lord willing, we might play a part in God’s work here.

Blessings in Christ,

Karl & Sun Dahlfred