Karen Visitors, Michaela in the Hospital, and a Dance to Remember, and This Week's Prayer and Fasting Reminders

Our friend Wa and her pastor were joined by 16 others who came to thank us for getting them Bibles and hymnals. Don was asked to share with the group.

Here the group is pictured singing a special song of thanks for the gifts.

Wa's cousin Pi Prai, pictured in Karen traditional white dress signifying a person who is still single. Prai is pictured here with her two sisters.

Here's the group as they all pile in a pick-up truck to make their way home. The trip will take 6 hours over rough roads to reach their village.

Michaela in the hospital. Thanks for all your prayers.

Michaela and Sy pictured here ready to take his little sister to the Valentine Dance.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE FOLLOWING THIS WEEK for PRAYER AND FASTING MONTH:

2 Corinthians 4:16 & 18 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day…18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

“MAKING IT COUNT” INTERNALLY:

Property / new GIS campus – – Psalm 33:20 “We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.”
Meeting in the states went well. Update will follow when Don returns. Thank you for your prayers. Continue praying for the property search committee – they will resume their search when Don returns.
Current needs – we are expanding our facilities in elementary to help cover our student population for next year – pray that the portables will arrive and assembled by the end of May so teachers can get moved in before they leave for summer break.

Spiritual and physical health of the GIS staff, students, and families – Matthew 8:16-17 “…and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.”
There have been many behavioral issues among the students this year; please pray that God would work in their hearts and attitudes.
Several GIS families/children have been struck with severe illnesses recently. Specifically the Keefer family and Ross family this week. Please remember to lift these and other GIS families up in prayer for protection in health.

Financial needs for staff, property, and new building – Proverbs 16:3 “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”
Many of our staff members are suffering financially – please pray for God to provide for their needs to they can continue working for the Lord at GIS.
Many Christian families are also suffering financially – pray for God’s provisions so they can continue serving Him in southeast Asia.

“MAKING IT COUNT” EXTERNALLY:

Our interaction and relationships with our Thai neighbors, authorities, and churches – 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 “so from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
Pray for patience for our GIS leadership as they work through difficult situations with our neighbors.
Please continue to pray about our interactions with our Thai neighbors – that we would extend God’s love and grace to them.


FASTING - Meaningless Without Repentance

Isaiah 58:6-10 (NIV) - “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness [a] will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”

Luke 18:13-14 (NIV) - "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' 14"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."