Dear Family and Friends,

The cool season has now passed, and things are heating up again in Thailand. Hot season has begun, and air pollution has gone way up in Chiang Mai as smoke from burning rice fields descends into the city, trapped by the ring of surrounding hills. We’re spending more time inside now with an air purifier turned on, but life goes on and wanted to give you an update on the past few months.

End of CTS School Term

The beginning of March saw the completion of the school term at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary (CTS), and we are now on “break” until the new academic year starts in June. I am thankful for the opportunity to teach “Thai & Asian Church History” and “Intercultural Communication” this past term. My students were largely online, in part because some of them live in another part of the country. But the class sizes were small and we had good class discussions. Some of my students are in pastoral or other church leadership roles, and other are studying for personal enrichment. Either way, I really enjoyed digging into the material with them. As a faculty, we reviewed course evaluations from students, and it was encouraging to hear what they were getting out of their studies and how it is helpful to them in doing local ministry. At our most recent faculty meeting, we spent time praying for all the students by name. Some students are full-time while other study only part-time while doing ministry and/or secular work and taking care of their family. Some have a difficult time keeping all the balls in the air and balancing responsibilities. Please pray for the CTS students, that they will be able to devote sufficient time to studies while balancing other responsibilities.

Karl preaching during CTS Chapel (click to watch)

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you everyone who has been praying for us as we’ve been settling into Chiang Mai and starting ministry here. Cooler weather has arrived in northern Thailand and Thai people are reaching for their jackets as we turn off our fans and A/C. Boxes are still piled up around our house, but we are settling in and getting started with ministry.

Getting Started at CTS

The new school term at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary (CTS) began in early November and I am now my fourth week of teaching. It has been a lot of fun to get into the past with my Thai church history students every Wednesday morning and I am just keeping up with prepping for Intercultural Communication on Friday morning, a course which I have not taught before. My classes are very small and sometimes I only have 1 or 2 students in the classroom, with the rest on Zoom. Prior to Covid, all teaching at CTS was in person but the world has changed now, for better or worse. On the one hand, it is wonderful that Thai brothers and sisters from distant parts of the country can zoom into class and benefit from a biblical education that would otherwise be very difficult to access. But on the other hand, online only education misses out on valuable interaction between teacher and students, as well as among students, that happens before and after class and around campus. How can I and other teachers at CTS best disciple and guide students whom we only meet online? Please pray for CTS, for both faculty and students, as we seek to equip Thai believers for ministry in the world today.

Hybrid Zoom / In-Person Classroom at CTS, waiting for students to arrive

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