As I mentioned, 2 weeks ago we trotted off to India for a bit of holiday before returning to Chiang Mai for a busy final 2 weeks. We were heading for a small town in the north of India called Mussoorie. Mussoorie is an extremely beautiful place, it is located in the foot hills of the Himalaya’s and is known as a popular honeymoon destination for many Indians and a holiday place for missionaries all over India looking to escape the sweltering heat of the summer months.

We arrived on Friday afternoon after spending a night in Delhi ad then catching a train and a taxi in a 7 hour journey up into the mountains. We were staying at a small Christian guest house at the top of a mountain wit stunning views of Mussoorie and the surrounding mountains. It was great to meet some missionaries there who work in other parts of India and to hear about their work. It certainly sounded very different to the luxuries we enjoy in Chiang Mai.

In many ways Mussoorie is a fairly developed and wealthy town compared to much of India but the poverty of the local people is clear for all to see. It reminded me very much of when I visited Uganda a few years ago, and the shock it was to see so many people walking around malnourished and with dirty rags around them. It was of course very different to Uganda, I don’t think there can be another place like India, it is quite unique.

What we expected to be a quiet week of walking a few mountains and reading books quickly turned into a fun packed week of exploring the town, walking mountains everyday and hanging out with some great people. We were welcomed wonderfully by Heidi and Rebecca and their friend Jeremy who was visiting them. Heidi is a short term worker in Mussoorie and the surrounding villages and Rebecca is a dorm parent at the International school and Jeremy was visiting his friends for a few weeks from New York. Heidi and Rebecca were very keen to show us around and it was great fun spending time with them. Some of the highlights included swimming in our jeans at about midnight and going on a man powered Ferris wheel. This was a Ferris wheel with no motor but just 10 Indians clinging on, and walking around inside, just like a hamster’s ball. It was the funniest thing I have seen in a very long time.

We were told that you can often see the white peaks of the Himalayas from where we were staying but unfortunately it was too cloudy for us to see them which was a little disappointing but we can’t complain, we saw some stunning views. Despite being the middle of summer in India and what most people say is the worst time to visit India, Mussoorie was a pleasant temperature. During the day it would go up to around 30°C and at night it would go down to a slightly chilly 15°C, this was a pleasant change from the heat we have had in Chiang Mai in recent weeks.

Monday was one of the most inspiring days I have had in a long time. We woke up early, slightly earlier than intended due to Nathan not changing his alarm clock from Thai time, and joined some of our new friends to head off in to the villages to see their ministry there. After a 2 hour drive and an hours walk we arrived at a small village on the side of a mountain. It was wonderful to chat with David, an American missionary who has been working in India and Nepal for 17 years walking around remote villages sharing the gospel and building relationships and his friend Timothy who is Nepalese and has been an evangelist for nearly 60 years, he is now around 80 years old but still walks around the mountains with plenty of energy. David, Timothy and their team visit around 10 villages regularly building relationships, sharing the gospel and helping in any way they can. One thing that David said to us that day as he was talking about his work really stuck with me.

“You know, the difference between Christianity and other religions is love. Hinduism doesn’t have any love and that is what these people need most, so I just come and try to love these people to bits.”

This I found this an enormous challenge in how much I really love the students I’m working with in Chiang Mai and my non-Christian friends. God is love, without him we can’t know true love and as his people we are to show the world his love. David and Timothy have been walking around these villages in what seems a very simple ministry for 7 years now but have seen very little response, only recently are people beginning to be interested in the gospel. However, they are bringing the Good News to so many people who desperately need it and wouldn’t have heard it otherwise. I really admire David, Timothy and the team for their faithfulness and love for these people.

Wednesday, I got the gift that many get butI was hoping not to get from India, an upset stomach. I spent the morning in bed and then we got the taxi and train back down to Delhi. Fortunately, the hour drive down the winding roads through the mountain didn’t stir up my stomach too much and we arrived at the train station in good time for the 6 hour journey to Delhi. We were very glad to be met by some people from our company and taken to a small but very plush guest house for the night. The next day we had some time to explore Delhi which was great fun if not a little scary at times. Delhi is an amazing city in many ways and definitely not somewhere I would like to spend to much time in the future. We were the only white people around which obviously got us a fair bit of attention from all the beggars around town and crossing the road was almost suicidal. However, we did manage a few times, crossing 6 or 7 lanes of traffic without too many problems. The other most noticeable things were the smell, the constant sound of horns and the 42°C heat. It was a fun day despite all that, we walked around Conaught place, and then visited India Gate and the parliament buildings which were impressive.

It was a great week and one in which I learnt a lot more about mission in different parts of the world. It was tremendous fun spending time with Hiedi, Rebecca and Jeremy and amazing how well we got to know each other in just 4 days. It was also amazing how God looked after us so well during the week as we traveled, as we ate food and as we crossed the road. Everyone we met seemed to make us feel so welcome even though they had never met us before, it was a wonderful week.

More photos to follow shortly.

Tomorrow we continue our travels around this vast continent of Asia as we head to India for a week. We will be traveling with friends from Chiang Mai to a small town in the north of India, at the foot of the Himalaya's. We have been told it is a very beautiful place and so I'm sure we will enjoy a few days relaxing and experiencing the amazing country of India. Today has been crazy as we have been trying to get things ready as well as celebrating Jen's birthday. We return on the 15th so expect lots of stories and photos.

Dear Friends,

As the rainy season has closed in on Chiang Mai our work has continued with the various encouragements and frustrations that each day brings. Chiang Mai has seemed a little more like home at times this month as we have often been welcomed to a day by drizzle and gloomy skies. May has also been a month of settling into the reality of missionary life as we learn that things don’t happen everyday and neither can we expect them to. We enter our final month with a mixture of sadness at the short amount of time left and excitement at what God still has to achieve through us.

The Centre

The Centre was swarming with students and staff at the beginning off May as we had over 70 students studying with us and the YWAM (Youth With A Mission) team working with us. It was a tremendously encouraging time as many students would come to the parties, cooking nights and the Bible study on Monday nights. The team did a great job with the students and they were a lot of fun for us to have around. We were sad to see them leave after building some good relationships them. The last few weeks have been much quieter as the new academic year has started at the University and many of the students have been involved with the freshers activities. However, it was good to have a group of 4 Bible college students from America arrive last week to work at The Centre for 2 months, they started classes this week so there have been more students around which is encouraging.

My classes have been less regular this month as the students haven’t shown up as often as I would have liked. I have continued to have some good conversations with Prem (male) and Fong (female) in my first class, I continue to pray for more opportunities to share with them about Jesus. I have had some encouraging conversations with Fong but Prem who has been at The Centre for a couple of years now has a fairly negative attitude towards Christianity and is never very keen to engage in conversation about it. My second class has been more difficult as I have 3 girls who don’t always show up and so I have sometimes had some fairly awkward lessons with just 1 girl. I have had some good fun lessons with them but it is a little frustrating that they don’t come to any of the activities at the Centre which makes it hard to build relationships with them. Nathan and I will be finishing our classes this week; they will unfortunately be our last classes as we won’t have time to teach another set of classes. We will instead be preparing for the English camp which will be our last weekend here. Please pray for us as we prepare that we would be able to make this a real fun time for the students and that there would be many opportunities to share about Jesus to them.

The Living Room which happens on Monday nights has been really encouraging these last few weeks. Nathan has been leading it and has been going through the 6 “Two ways to Live” pictures which is a simple way to explain the gospel. Nathan has done a tremendous job speaking clearly and powerfully and inventing fun games to introduce the theme for each week. When the team were here it was very well attended but now we are changing it to a Tuesday evening to hopefully encourage more students to attend. Please pray for Nathan as he prepares for the next sessions and pray for the translator, “Bow” that she would be able to speak as powerfully and clearly as Nathan does in English. Pray too that students would come and that they would be really impacted by the things they hear.

Jeep Update

Hopefully you received my email a few weeks ago with the news that one of our former students became a Christian. Jeep now lives in Phitsanulok, a city about 300 miles south of here in central Thailand but we have continued to keep in touch with him and were obviously delighted when he decided to give his life to Christ. We are currently trying to put him in touch with a missionary we have contacts with in Phitsanulok who will hopefully be able to meet with him and take him to a church and introduce him to a good group of Christians his own age. Please continue to pray for Jeep that he would be able to quickly find a church he likes and continue to grow in his faith.

India

As I mentioned in the last prayer letter we will be taking a short break in the north of India next week. We will be travelling with some friends from SIM in Chiang Mai to a town where they used to work. It is at the foot of the Himalayas and from the one photo I have seen of it, it looks an extremely beautiful place. Hopefully we will be able to have a very relaxing time, reading books, walking and taking some time to reflect on the past few months. Please pray for safety as we travel to India and within India and pray for a relaxing and rewarding time. We will leave on the 7th June and be returning to Chiang Mai on the 15th.

A date for your Diary’s

On the 22nd July I will be speaking at my home church St Nicolas, Newbury at the 6:30pm service about my time in Thailand. There will obviously be much to share about my time at The Centre and all the things God has been doing in me and through me. I want it to be a celebration of God’s amazing grace in giving me this opportunity to serve him in Thailand these 6 months and the work which he has been doing. It would be tremendous to see as many of you there as possible, so if you are within reaching distance of Newbury then I would love you to be able to come. If you need directions you can find them on the website at
www.st-nicolas-newbury.org .

Prayer Points

• Praise God for Jeep that he has come to know Jesus personally and please pray that he would continue to grow in his faith.
• Praise God for the YWAM team who did such a great job and had many opportunities to share their faith with the students.
• Praise God for my classes with Prem and Fong and the relationships I have with them. Thank God for all the opportunities he has given me to share with Fong in particular.
• Praise God for this opportunity to share about my experiences at St Nics on 22nd July. Please pray for wisdom as I prepare and think about what to share.
• Please pray that we would be able to make the most of our last 4 weeks at The Centre and with the students. Pray that we would have good opportunities to say goodbye to all the people we have built relationships with these last few months.
• Please pray for safety as we travel to and in India and please pray for a really fun and fulfilling time.
• Please pray for all the activities at The Centre that they would be great fun for the students and that they would be drawn closer to Jesus.
Thanks you so much for your support and prayer and I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

God Bless

Paul Zealey

Being English I'm not used to earthquakes so the fact that Chiang Mai was hit by a big earthquake last week is really quite exciting. Newspapers claim that it was 6.3 on the Rickter scale and its epicenter was just 260km from here. The funny thing, I didn't even feel it. As I sat in The Centre on Wednesday last week, cutting out stars to decorate for the Friday Night Party - we were having a space theme - it came as quite a surprise when students started greeting me with the exciting news that they just felt an earthquake. Apparently it lasted a good 45 seconds but fortunately didn't cause any damage to buildings. I'm actually very disapointed I missed it, I'm not sure how it is possible to miss an earthquake but some how I managed.

Dear Friends,

The Centre was an extremely excited place to be yesterday as we heard news that one of our students Jeep became a Christian. Jeep was only at The Centre for a couple months arriving around the same time as us and then leaving a few months ago. He is now living and working in a city called Phitsanulok about 350km south of here but we have continued to keep in touch with him and pray for him. Jeep always seemed very interested in Christianity when he was at The Centre and he always enjoyed talking to people about Jesus. When he left we wondered if that would be the last we would see of him and if this would be the end of his interest but instead this was only the start. It wasn’t long before Jeep started phoning me and Nathan and the other staff at The Centre and telling us how God had been answering his prayers and asking us lots of questions. It was always difficult for us to talk to him as his English isn’t the best and so we were never sure how much he understood and most of the time we weren’t sure we understood him.

Yesterday he rang Nathan and had a short chat to him before talking to P’Opal who explained a few things to him and asked if he wanted to become a Christian. Over the last few months God has been working so powerfully in Jeeps life as he has had to make decisions about his career and ended up setting up his own business. It is so exciting that now he has recognized God’s grace in his life and made a commitment to follow Jesus.

Thank God for Jeep and that he has come to know Jesus. Thank God for bringing him to us at The Centre and for the encouragement he is to us. Please pray for Jeep as he starts the journey of the Christian life, pray that he would quickly be able to find a church and that there would be Christians around him who can encourage him and teach him. Pray for the staff at The Centre that we would know how to keep in touch and help him in whatever ways we can. Thank you for your prayers they are so clearly making a huge impact on our lives and the lives of the students.

God Bless

Paul Zealey