5

Chiengkam, Cbiengrai
Thailand

-'' May 9, 1975

Dear Friends,
f-V

The question on everyone's mind' is:

Vietnam and Cambodia have fallien?

Uhat is going to tiappen\to Thailand, now that

He is

Only the Lord knows the answer to that question.

the one in control.

He raises up one nation and puts dbim another.

In Indonesia several

years ago, it seemed there was no hope and the country was under the control of the commun ists. Then the idiole situation changed, the communists were slaughtered and a tr&nendous .. revival began, with thousands turning to the Lord. , Looking at ."niailand from the human standpoint the future looks.dark. Student clients dananding the rsooval of all

American troops. There is the feeling t|i|tt^^erica her friends down and can't be trusted anymore. It is entirely possibl% uiere will'be no missionaries or foreigners left .^^in the country in two years t:me. But GOD..Vniat is His plan for this country jand for His
church?

The church must be estaBTiished and strengthened and the Christians nust leam to look to God alone for help, strength and wisdom* He is able!

- -Praise^ the-Iwd, for irtsat He has been do^g in"'~Qie^ loonUis. 13iere werte eleven people at the leprosy village of Sope Waan, >rfio gave their hearts to Oirist a^d were bap

tized.

Young people from this village went to Tung Dae in January,- to present their Christ

mas plays. They were accompanied by Sawaeng and Kamtan, two Chiristian leaders. The first night there was much disturbance and vulgar suggestions made, to the young people in the cast. Afterwards they were much discouraged. They considered going home. But the next morning, they gathered with the village Christians for prayer and called upon the Lord to undertake for them. Someone poisoned all the chickens of the Christions, but they praised the Lord and prayed for their enemies. Thait night the whole attitude of the villagers, changed. They listened quietly to the plays and to the testimony and teaching* A month later there were eleven more mAio took their stand for Christ in Baptism, and joined' the little Christian
group.

During the family camp in April, one of these new Christians was brought into the hos pital, after being in labor for 5 days. We learned of it just shortly before her death. Some of the Christians went over to comfort the husband. They arranged for a casket and made

plans for the funeral. The Lord's goodness and care was seen, in that Hel Byers (here on a visit) was planning an overnight trip to the village the next day. A local Christian
loaned his pick-up truck to be used as a hearse on the 2 hour trip to the village. Some Christians from other villages went along to help with the funeral. There wore many prob lems, for though the headman gave permission to bury in the local graveyard, the villagers

objected after the ^ave'was dug, saying this would offend the spirits, and they couldn't
bury there. It took several hours to reach a satisfactory agreement. Trusting God to pre vent any disaster in the village, that could be attributed to this, the Christians promised to pay a fine in the event of any calamity. Only then could the service be held.
The love of the Christians, at the family camp, and their willingness to repay the four pints of blood at the hospital was a real testimony to the Doctors, Nurses and patients. At least ten volunteered their blood. In Thailand it is often impossible to even get close relatives to give blood. Yet these Christians had never even met the woman, and she had

died!

Why were they willing to replace the blood,: and even offer extca, to help pay for
Praise the Lord! It

the caeserean section, since the family was very poor? The tove of Christ had transform ed their lives. Do you know the song, "I'm so glad I'm a part of the fam^y of God" ?
These Christians were showing their love ;^p a member of the family.
is wonderful.

In February, *Dr. Glenn Miller and wife Marian and two teen-age daughters, from Kl^ath Falls, Oregon visited 'Challand^ Doctor helped in the clinic for two weeks, using^an anterpreter^ Marian and the two girls painted, ewed, taught English and mimeographed Yao

primerso We appreciated their help, .and "by sha;ring', they had more than just a tourists
' V:' -v'-'-v-'^

view of Thailand,

Sukanya's homegoing day was March 23. This teenage Meo girl from Pua had a trmendous witness for the Lord,, during the last 3 years of her life. After the amputation of her leg the cancer was in remission, for almost ,2 years She was able to complete ner 7th grade education, witnessing to the students and teacherSo She start.^d high 5Choo ,

though weak and in pain, in order to witness to the teachers and high school stu^^^^. After a month or so she became pa:ra3.ized from the waist down and had to, drop out.^ ,The
Bares and Imogenfe Williams were a real help and encouragement to her and her family, during*trhe difficult days, VThfe'Ebrd'^jds so good. The last day Sukanya lapsed into a

coma for several hours* When she revived there was a new vigor and joy ^^s sh^, told, of

Then she went to sleep and soon was in the Lord's presence. Mrs. Callaway and two Yao Christians went to Pua on an evangelistic trip and to pick up Yao embroidery. They ^ arrived there about the time we in Chiengkam received the telegram telling of, Sukanyas
death.

seeing a vision, or having been to heaven and the beautiful things she had seen thereThe Lord had arranged for them to go and share in the funeral.
v

age girl, but her life really counted for the Lord, as she lived victoriously for

Just a teen

Him in spite of the circumstances.

Family camp in Chiengkam, the last of April found the area in the midst of a drought and soaring temperatures, with wells going dry. However, the Lord was in^ the midst and many hearts were changed. At the close, there were fourteen who were bapr tized. It'was'good to have Mel Byers with us as one of the speakers at, the campTwo elders from the church-at Stayton, Oregon fc^e with him for a visit. ...Afterwards^el spoke to our missionaries when we gathered in Chiengmai for two day$ 6r* felloy7shjJ>.
will to meet the changing situation. It is too easy to get involved in medical work and
not to be sensitive tp the spiritual needs of others and to the Spirit s leading. ^
Sincerely, .

Pray for me in the coming days, that I may have wisdom and a knowledge of the Lord's

C-.'-l;

D- Uhli<^
Chiengkam,.Chiengrai, ThailandSeptember 1.975
Dear Frlrnds,

Thailand is a country in turmoil with student strikes, agitations and bombings, and one school fighting against another. There is labor ..unrest, farmers seeking to organize, and some of their leaders being murdered. There are refugees from Laos and Cambodia, border infractions, threats of agression from surrounding countries, increased communist infiltration, and fighting in the north, northeast and the south. The very foundations are being shaken. We praise the Lord that in the midst of such circumstances the Christians are realizing they

must take the responsibility of witnessing and winning their neighbors and the surrounding villages for Christ. The church can no longer depend on foreign funds and missionaries, for these could be swept away quickly. As a result of the witness of some of the young people and leaders of the leprosy village, four refugees from Laos were baptized into Christ on Sunday, These folks moved to the village a few months ago, and the young people started telling them about Jesus. There are sti
several others they are praying for.

In July a husband and wife were baptized at Kapok village^ Persecution increased, but in spite of that another woman accepted the Lord the following week and was baptized, Mr^ Little is becoming a spiritual leader among this small group of Christians--seven families in all# The Lord convicted him about making and selling liquor and smoking, thus he yielded himself to the Lord in fuller way He is learning to look to the Lord for help in all things and praise the Lord in all circumstancese He is concerned that the children have a Bible class each Sunday. Perhaps he is the one the Lord
would have teach it. We'll work with him on this.

The Lord has answered prayer for a nurse to help in clinic^

South Thailand, will come early in September.

Wilawan, a practical nurse from

She has had regular nurses training at an Overseas

Missionary Fellowship hospital.

The government doesn't recognize the training so she can't work as

a graduate nurse. She will be a tremendous help here. Wilawan will have problems adjusting to the northern dialect and food. Pray she may have a real love for the country and tribal people. She comes from a merchant family and a higher social strata than most of the folks here. It would be easy for her to have superior feelings, which would ruin her witness among the people. She will be living with me, but will do some of her oxto cooking. I thought she might like a separate little house, but she wasn't interested. Pray the Lord will guide in our relationship, one with the other, I plan to start a Bible class for clinic helpers and night school students, in addition to the class
for day students.

Sawaeng, the young evangelist who helped in clinic for a year, and Kamtan, who worked for Calla ways, have decided to open an evangelistic center here in town. The official opening is to be Aug.3 We will continue to cooperate in outreach into the surrounding communities, but they feel burdened
for the market area and desire to start a church in town. Pray for them, that they may look to the

Lord for wisdom and guidance as well as their physical needs. For evangelism in clinic, one of the clinic helpers said he thought those working here should do the witnessing, rather than hire a paid
evangelists Praise the Lord for his willingness,.

Callaways left Chiengkam the first of July for six months furlough. Imogene Williams left Pua the latter part of July for one year. The Virgilio de los Santos family moved to Pua to care for the Meo student hostel during Imogene's absence. In June and July thousands of tribal refugees pour ed into Nan Province as they fled the communists in Laos^ Imogene was on hand to help over 2000 who arrived in the first large group^ Just before Imogene left, Doris Whitlock, of the Overseas Mission ary Fellowship arrived to help with the teaching and relief work. She had just finished the trans
lation of the Meo New Testament, and had seen it thru the printers in Bangkok, when the area where

she was working in Laos had to be evacuated. The Bibles were printed in Thailand and hadn't been shipped to Laos, They are now being distributed among Meo refugees. Praise the Lord! Thailand
tried to get the refugees to return to Laos, but they refused and told the officials to go ahead and shoot them^ They said they would never go back. Many of those in later groups died along the way. Those who reached the Thai border were on the verge of starvation^ Many were ill* The government was slow in allowing help to be sent in to them. World Vision has given large sums of money for the refugees from Laos and Cambodia, An agreement has been reached with the United
Nations to allow more help, but it is a slow process and not all the supplies reach the ones in need. The death toll mounts daily, as people die of disease and malnutrition. Since this is the rainy season it is difficult to get adequate shelter for such large groups of people. There is much malaria, dysentary and other diseases. Many of the Meo refugees are Christians and they have joined with the local Meo Christians in seeking to win others to the Lord, and to help them find
peace and joy in the midst of all their troubles. Praise the Lord, His grace is sufficient, Doris Whitlock needs special prayer as she sees very sick patients from early morning till late at night, and is exhausted. I would like to go and help, but can't because of the clinic and student hostels here. I'm sending shipments of medicine for her to use, but when one thinks of 6000 refugees it isn't even a drop in the buckel;;. Others are sharing also and it all helps Please keep upholding
us in prayer.

Yours in His service.