Sanborn Newsletter 2007 (Vol 9-1)Dear Friends and Family,
Getting Settled
We've been home for 3 months now, and it's definitely been a whirlwind. We
originally planned to return to Thailand in January, but decided to come a
month earlier (the beginning of December). Because we were coming home
early, we thought (naively) that we'd have some time to 'chill out' and get
life and house in order before the torrent of work and expectations hit us.
HA! It seems that we are just too popular to be able to 'take it easy'. As
soon as we landed, we discovered that everyone had a plan for our lives and
we have been running ever since, still trying to get certain 'household'
matters settled even after 3 months of being back.
Christmas Ministry
Anne's Mum was here for the month of December, and was a real blessing in
helping out around the house. Anne was still getting over the tale of end
of morning sickness and adjusting back into the routine in Chiang Mai was
definitely made easier by Mum. Sean was expected to visit various villages
over the Christmas period, but thankfully ended up only having to visit one,
Huay da Top, for the 3 day Christmas celebrations that we share with them
each year.
Pneumonia
January saw the arrival of Sean's Parents, brother and cousins. Corbett and
Grace visited for 3 weeks, and Sean had the privilege of arranging village
and orphanage trips for them. Unfortunately, while in one village
(Musakee), Sean came down with pneumonia, and so he was completely sick in
bed for one week, and had to take it easy for the following week. It was
hard to get him to rest, as he wanted to take good care of his cousins, and
also continue to uphold his other ministry responsibilities. Anne and Ellen
had a hard time making sure he rested enough to get well.
Meetings, Networking and MK's
February was 'meetings month' in Chiang Mai. It seemed that we spent the
entire month in strategic planning meetings, church planting conferences and
networking. We made a lot of new friends, people who we hope to be able to
work with in the future, people we were able to learn from, many of them
like minded and with similar vision and philosophy of ministry. And of
course, Sean managed to find his way into the hearts of the MKs (Missionary
Kids) by taking them on various adventures in his 'spare time' - like hiking
to waterfalls and swimming in freezing mountain streams, biking, paintball
shooting and riding 4 wheel ATVs. He remembers what it's like to be an MK
at these conferences (boring!!), and so he's always seeking ways to invest
in the next generation, and ensure that they are having as much fun as
possible.
Preaching in Thai
This last weekend, Sean had the privilege of visiting one of 6 of City Gate
Church's daughter churches, Pratu Din, where he preached and ministered
alongside one of the CGC church staff, Pastor Prayoon. They had a great
time together. Pastor Prayoon oversees the work in 5 of the churches,
mainly Karen, Akha and Lahu villages, and so he travels to a different
church each week to preach and to mentor the local pastor and the members.
Sean loves ministering in villages and he and Pastor Prayoon make a great
team.
Karen Wedding
On Thursday Sean was invited to attend a wedding at Huay da Top. When he
got there, he discovered that he wasn't a mere guest, but he was 'guest
speaker'. He had about 3 hours to come up with a sermon on marriage for the
bride and groom - oh yeah, and he had to do it in Thai, too, cause there
were no English speakers there... Sean is becoming quite the preacher
lately.
Spirit Doctor accepts Jesus
Now, this is the village that we have been working with for 7+ years. Most
of the villagers are Christian, but the Spirit Doctor has been hesitant to
become Christian and still had all his animistic alters and fetishes. While
Sean was in the village (along with 2 church staff from City Gate Church),
the Spirit Doctor, Boo Ngeun is his name, decided it was time to accept
Christ. So, Sean, Prayoon and Tongkham all went to his house to pray with
him and his wife to accept Jesus.
Boo Ngeun Healed of pain in his knee
Boo Ngeun told Sean that the horrible pain in his knee was finally gone and
that he had just had his best sleep in a long time that night. He said the
demon had called to him in the night but he said that he told him to go
away. Sean and the others got permission to burn the alters and fetishes,
and so the next day many of the villagers went up the hill at the top of the
village to gather for worship as they burned the alters, fetishes and demon
'house'.
Demon Altars Down in Flames
Sean got some really good video and it really was a great celebration. The
rest of the village rejected animism 7 years ago, and has been praying for
Boo Ngeun to accept Christ since then, so that the village can be completely
free of the oppressive spirits. Even the four non-Christians of the village
are excited about this turn of events. The fact that Sean was able to get
any video was a miracle, because upon arriving at the village, he discovered
that his batteries for his camera were dead. Sean got the camera out on the
off chance it might work, and it just kept going and going. Praise God!
Soldier accepts Jesus
In January, Sean met a soldier named Khun Haan on his trip to the villages
with his cousins. They stayed in contact, and recently we found out Haan is
sick. Sean visited him in his home and prayed for him. Khun Haan knows the
gospel and told Sean he wasn't really interested, and that he just wanted a
friend. Because of his illness, Sean invited him to a special healing
service on Tuesday Night. Sean was very busy with technical/computer stuff,
and also translation and so Haan had to sit by himself. I was worried he'd
feel neglected and just leave. But at the end of the service, Haan accepted
Christ. I ran to grab Sean from the office, so he could be with him. Haan
wasn't healed outright that night, but he said he just knew that he could no
longer reject the Gospel. He said that the night after Sean had prayed for
him he had experienced some strange supernatural things and felt that Sean's
prayers had been the cause.
Pregnancy
Anne is now 33 weeks pregnant, and we are excited that our Little Thai Kick
Boxer will be here in less than 2 months. She likes to move a lot and
sometimes even wakes Anne up at night with a good kick or a hiccup. We
completed our pre-natal classes this week, and Sean was surprised how
informative and interesting they are. I think it partly had to do with the
person who is giving them..
Breech: Please pray she turns around
Anne just had her regular check up and we discovered that the Little Kick
Boxer is breech... a couple of weeks ago the doctor told us that she was
head down, so we're not sure how he made that mistake. So now, after
completing all our natural childbirth classes and getting excited about all
that, and thinking through strategies to make sure things are done our way
and not the 'hospital policy' way, we have to start considering the
possibility of having it all turned upside down and having a cesarean. Bleh!
Double Bleh! Abdominal surgery stinks! But, as our birth instructor puts it:
The end goal is a healthy baby and healthy mummy. Whatever it takes to
accomplish that goal is okay.
New Vehicle Needed
Since returning to Thailand, we very much realized why we need a new
vehicle. Upon arriving, Anne and her Mum found the car at the mechanic. It
stayed there for more than 2 weeks, as there were a lot of problems. Most of
them were resolved, but at great expense (and for how long, who knows?).
And now, yet again, the car is in the shop. This time we were hoping to get
the Air Con fixed for the hot season, but it turns out it needs to be
completely replaced, again at great expense. We are hoping to be able to
purchase a 2nd hand, Toyota Hilux 4x4, 4 door pickup truck before our Little
Kick Boxer is born. Note the time limit we have to realize this dream (7
weeks). We need to raise approximately US$10,000 for a 2nd hand vehicle.
We are investigating our options and trying to locate a suitable vehicle for
our family. We are thankful for the use of our current 23 year old truck
over the last 6 years, and have been quite happy to just keep chugging along
with it. But more and more we realize that it doesn't meet our needs,
especially since we must rent a vehicle to go to a village or to the border.
Please keep us in prayer - we believe that God will provide all that we
need. Also, a donor has offered to match donations of up to US$2,500 towards
the purchase of a new vehicle.
City Gate Church
The church is handmaking cards to sell to help raise funds to start a preschool. If you would like to order "sa paper" cards please Visit City Gate Church at:
www.citygate.netfirms.com
Art's Book
A Walking Miracle, by Art Sanborn is now in it's second printing. YWAM publishing will soon be publishing it as well. You can order your copy online today by clicking
www.sanborns.org/artellen.html
If you would like to read the first chapter then click here:
www.sanborns.org/artellen.html
Musicals
Please keep "Judah Ben Hur" and David's one man musical "Song of the Shepherd" in your prayers. If you would like to purchase any of the merchandise including the cast album, there is now an online credit card product purchase system.
Purchase JBH merchandise at: www.judahbenhur.com
Purchase David's music albums at:
Song of the Shepherd
Purchase Ellen's music albums at:
www.sanborns.org/ellenmusic.html
Visit us at: www.sanborns.org/sa_home.html |
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