{FECA Vision Choir} Trip report 8

 Correction, the translator's name is Wanni, not Winni and she also came to Trad with us and will be translating all of Pastor Ben's messages. She is a very successful civil engineer who loves the Lord and took time off from work to do this ministry with us. Of course, Dr. Apithan and his wife, Dr. Vilavun as well as several other church leaders from BH also sacrificed their time and energy to join Vision. May God reward their sacrifice and bless them and BH Church. We ate a terrific dinner tonight courtesy of Dr. Glome, who runs a medical clinic with her husband here in Trad. She is a strong believer and so is her son but her husband still has not come to faith. The dinner was a 9 course seafood dinner including fried crab balls, fried shrimp, several different fish dishes, a hot pot seafood dish, fresh vegetables cooked just right, succulent and crunchy, the local specialty of soft shell crabs, and local fruits: dragon fruit, pineapples, rose apples, and local guava. We then drove to the Trad Resort, our home for the next three nights, located right next to the ocean where you can go to sleep hearing the lapping of the waves along the shore. The guys are in a barracks-type unit with 10 beds per room and shared bathroom stalls and the girls are in a similar unit. We adults are in very plush quarters, all courtesy of our hosts in Thailand. All the units have air conditioning so we are very comfortable, much above the standards we are used to on a missions trip. What a surprise and what generosity! May God richly bless them.

July 9 – Today we minister at the men's prison in Trad and after lunch at the women's prison. We had to leave our hotel at 6:30 in the morning to drive to Trad downtown and eat breakfast at Dr. Glome's clinic, a superb Chinese breakfast, then leave to get to the men's prison at 9 AM. Twenty five of us, some from BH and the rest from the church in Trad walked through double prison doors and then into their meeting room where we found about 40 men seated and waiting patiently for us. Some of the inmates shared how God had cured one of a cigarette addiction, others how they found Christ, we did the heart skit again (Joni has been performing it with Eric the last few times) and Ben with Wanii translating preached. 39 of the men raised their hands to pray the sinner's prayer, but most of them were already Christians, so we are not sure how many new decisions there were. What is amazing is that when the Trad church started ministry here and year and a half ago, there were only 4 believers, and now there are 39 today. Then men also sang for us and several more shared their testimony with us. We then left for lunch and then returned to the same prison at 1 PM but went to the women's wing. There, we found about 50 women waiting for us, and another 15 or so outside the room washing and ironing clothes, but nevertheless paying close attention. Dorcas shared her testimony of how God helped her overcome her fears, first of coming to Thailand with Vision, and earlier today of how she felt poorly, but after several prayed for her, how she felt better during the men's program. Eugene also shared his testimony of how God gave him hope while he was struggling with his school. Sue then talked about how Christ is the bridge, and felt so strongly that the Spirit was leading her to give an invitation, so she did and at least a dozen raised their hands to accept Christ. The Trad church has only been ministering at the women's side for 3 months, so this is a very encouraging step. Later, almost all the women, including those outside prayed with Sue the sinner's prayer, so we are not sure how many accepted the Lord, but we praise Him that so many did. We left there at 3 PM to return to Dr. Glome's clinic and cool off, so I am sending this email update now. More tomorrow.

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