"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Luke 11:9-13


Dear Friends,

It’s with great excitement I write to you all again for the second time in a week. Having sent out a prayer letter last week I have really felt the need to update you on the events of the last few days and the many answers prayers. Late on Sunday night we heard that one of my former students, Pang had accepted Jesus into her life. She had returned home last week after graduating from Chiang Mai University (CMU) to find her mother seriously ill with cancer. By Sunday it had become too much for her to cope with so she rang Wor and Opal (two of the Thai staff at The Centre) to ask for prayer. After some long conversations she decided to accept Jesus into her life. Since being in Thailand we have heard many testimonies of how whole families have come to know the Lord through healings and although we don’t always understand why God works in the ways he does we hope and pray that this maybe the case with Pang’s family. Please pray for Pang and her family as they cope with her mother’s illness and as Pang grows in knowledge and understanding of Jesus. Pray for her to find Christians in her home town so that they might be able to teach her and encourage her in her faith, pray that she would find a church to be involved in and that she would not be distracted by the evil one. Praise God that she has come to know Christ and for all the people who have shared with her about Jesus. Pray for God to use her in the future for his glory and to spread his kingdom on this earth.

The other thing that makes me excited to write to you in an amazing conversation I had with Aun in our lesson on Monday evening. What started as a mindless question about his weekend turned into a wonderfully open and God inspired discussion about Buddhism and Christianity, about heaven and hell but mostly about Jesus and his salvation. It was so encouraging to spend an hour talking about Christianity and then to pray with him afterwards. He was so delighted afterwards that he could now understand more, he proceeded to talk to at least 3 of the other staff about our lesson individually and tell them how he now understood more and how well I had explained things to him. It was clear throughout this conversation that it was nothing I said that gave him this excitement but it was so clearly God directing our conversation and working in his heart to help him understand more of who Jesus is and what he’s done for him. Thank you so much for your prayers for him and for me, it is so clearly making a big difference. Last week we couldn’t have had this conversation but something really seemed different about Aun today, he was just so willing to discuss. Please continue to pray for him, pray that he would understand more of who Jesus is, pray that his heart would continue to be open to the Gospel and please pray for protection, that nothing would pull him away from this interest he is showing in the Gospel. Pray for us as we study the Bible in lessons, help me to know which parts to use and help me to explain it clearly to him. Thank God for this time we had to chat about Christianity and for his great English which makes these conversations possible. Pray for Wor as she particularly has had opportunities to share with him in the last week and pray that what we both say to Aun wouldn’t contradict but that he would continue to grow in knowledge and understanding.

On a sadder note, our great friend Jen who also works at The Centre and who has been tremendously hospitable to us over the last few weeks received news that a good friend had passed away over the weekend. Please pray for their family and for Jen as she comes to terms with this loss and being far from home. Pray she would have peace at this time and trust in God for her strength to continue all her work with the students in the coming weeks and months.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. As you can see it is making such a difference and as well and seeing God using me in amazing ways, I’m continuing to grow in my relationship with him, to grow in wisdom and understanding of his will and his purposes for this fallen world. Pray for the right attitude and the right heart as I try to serve the staff at The Centre and the students.

Lots of Love,

Paul Zealey

As well as teaching English, The Centre has several ways of reaching students with the Gospel. I have already told you a bit about “Cooking night” but one of the other ways is through Discipleship House. This is located just across the road from The Centre and its aim is to provide a safe and comfortable environment for students to drop in to ask questions or talk to Christians. It is also used for hosting small groups or cell groups for new believers so they can continue to grow in their faith.

Last week we had a small team from Seattle (USA) who helped tidy up the garden, cutting out all the weeds, dismantling a little shed and helping Wor, Bow and Namwaan move in. Wor is one of the staff at The Centre and Bow and Namwaan have become Christians through The Centre. Previously it was run by 2 American girls but it has now been handed over to 3 Thai girls. It is great to see how a Centre once started by foreigners is now being run by Thai Christians who are passionate to reach their generation. Please pray for Wor, Bow and Namwaan as they witness to the students and as they cope with the pressures of being hospitable all the time.

Dear Friends,

Time has been whistling past at a rate of knots as we find ourselves at the end of our 2nd month in Chiang Mai; February as been a much more settled and normal month than January as we have got used to being at The Centre every day. We have really got to know the staff here much better and built good friendships with them but also had many opportunities to spend time with the students. It has been great to really get stuck into what we are here for and to really see God giving us the strength and energy for each day.

News from The Centre

The Centre has been a little quieter over these last few weeks as the students have had exams. Our first set of classes which we started the week after we got here, finished on the 9th February and exams for the students started on Monday 12th so we decided to postpone starting new classes until after the exams. This has given us 2 weeks to spend time just chatting with the students that drop in and also to help with other things around The Centre. It has also given us a chance to reflect and review the last 5 weeks teaching. As we had such a full on start it has been nice to be able to relax a little bit these last couple of weeks. We have also been given extra responsibilities around The Centre; Nathan and I are now responsible for running the discussion group/bible study on Monday nights. This is exciting but fairly scary too so please pray for wisdom in how to lead this group.

I want to introduce to you a couple of the students I have been working with recently so you can pray for them specifically. The first is “Jeep” (pronounced Jeev) he has been coming to The Centre for a while now and has heard a lot about Christianity. We have all been praying for him a lot recently as he accepts that Christianity is true but isn’t prepared to give up his Buddhist way of life and truly follow Jesus. Jeep is returning to his home town in central Thailand next week after he graduates so please pray that he would find Christians there who can continue to develop and encourage his interest in Christianity and hopefully lead him to have a personal relationship with Jesus.

I also want to introduce to you to Aun. Aun is 24 and is a freelance architect in Chiang Mai. I have got to know Aun well as he was in my class and speaks very good English. So far I haven’t had many opportunities to talk with him about Jesus but I will be having one on one classes with him during these next 4 weeks so please pray for some good opportunities to talk with him and pray that his heart would be open to the Gospel.

Other Activities

February has been an extremely busy month for SIM in Chiang Mai. There have been many conferences and lots of people visiting. We were asked to lead a time of worship at a day conference with some of the other SIM workers in Asia. This was a great day of people sharing some amazing testimonies of what God has been doing through their ministries. Some countries in Asia are among the most difficult places in the world for people to live out their witness but more and more are going in and many people’s lives are being changed. I found this day extremely encouraging and it also broadened my view of what the reality of mission is like in other parts of Asia. We heard so many testimonies of how God will use anyone, with any gifts to spread His word for His glory.

We also had the chance to spend a fun filled day with a lively group of SIM treasurers who were in Chiang Mai for a conference. We went out of the city to a small hill tribe village where we went riding on Elephants, trekking through the jungle and bamboo rafting. As you can imagine it was tremendous fun and a great experience.

Last week we embarked bravely on the massive challenge of learning Thai. We started lessons with one of the Thai staff at The Centre known as “Wor”. Thai is an extremely difficult language so we are realistic about our abilities to pick much up in the few months we are here but it is good fun and the Thai’s love it when we have a go at speaking a bit.

Please pray for us as we continue to hunt for the right church to become involved in. We have been to one Thai church and a couple of English speaking international churches which have been completely different experiences but we need to decide soon which to commit to. It is a great blessing to be able to go to church in a language you can understand and to even have a choice, for which we are very thankful. It has also been great to go to a cell group on Thursday mornings with a couple of other foreigners in a café just across the road from our apartments. This has been great to sit and chat with more experienced missionaries and to encourage each other in our faiths.

Blog

Just a reminder to check the blog (http://paul.zealey.org.uk), there you will find more news of my activities day to day and lots more things to pray for. I am also putting some photos up so you can see the environment and the people I’m working with.

Prayer Points

• Thank God for the work of The Centre and the impact it is clearly having on student’s lives. Thank God for Jeep’s interest and the relationship we have been able to form with him and also with Aun.
• Thank God for the last few weeks during which we haven’t been teaching. Thank God for the opportunities to get involved in other ways in The Centre and the opportunity to review and hopefully improve our teaching.
• Thank God for the day we were able to spend with some of the SIM missionaries who work in other parts of Asia. Thank God for their faith and the encouragement they were to us, also pray for their work.
• Please pray for Nathan as he leads the Monday night discussion group. Pray for him to have wisdom in knowing how to relate to the students and get the biblical message across.
• Please pray for Jeep as he returns home and also for Aun as I get to know him and share Christ with him.
• Finally, please pray for us to always have the energy and enthusiasm to do a good job and be great witnesses to the students.


Thank you for your prayers,

Paul Zealey

As well as offering students a chance to improve their English, The Centre also has evening activities to help build relationships with the students. One of these is the legendary Wednesday Cooking Night. This is a chance for the students to learn how to cook Western food and also to have fun eating and chatting with Western people. Nathan and I have been helping with these evenings – well, mainly Nathan: my cooking skills don’t extend much beyond tins and microwaves. A crucial skill for a University student-to-be, of course, but maybe not the most useful when you can’t get tinned food! Recent dishes have been; Pasta, Pizza, Mexican food and Pancakes!

Today we tagged on to a lively bunch of SIM treasurers to head of on a day of Elephant riding, trekking through the Jungle, visiting a hill tribe village and bamboo rafting. Need it be said it was tremendous fun. The day started with a spot of Elephant riding, we got the ADHD Elephant that which took every opportunity to climb up the very steep sides of the path and dismantle a tree with a swish of it trunk or stop for a little scratch of its backside on a stone. This made for an entertaining ride for us and especially for those watching! This was added to when the Elephant we were following decided to let off some excess gas from its backside right in our faces for a full 30 seconds.

This was followed by a short trek through the jungle and over a rather rickety bridge, not for someone with a head for heights. The scenery was very impressive; rolling mountains surrounded us with rice and crop fields up the sides and a river down the middle of the valley. The team of treasurers from all over the world and varying in age from around 30 to 60 did well as they struggled up the side of the mountain to the hill tribe village. We were met by a few traditional looking houses and a lot of people in traditional Thai dress wanting to sell us junk for extortionate prices, well by Thai standards. This obviously wasn’t a very typical village as the only people around were selling things and as many tourists visit everyday it made it seem a little false.

In the afternoon it was time for a spot of Bamboo rafting down the river. This was much like punting in England only it was fun as you actually get wet! Ours had me and 3 big guys on it so most of the time it was more like a submarine, 3 of us got very wet bums as we sat on the raft and Steve did a great job standing on the back and dipping a bamboo stick every now and then as was required.

The rest of the week was busy at The Centre, it was the final week for our classes which have been running for the last 4 weeks. I haven’t found the teaching particularly easy or enjoyable but I can see some improvement in my students and we have had some fun over the last few weeks. Hopefully, most of them will sign up for future classes although many of them are graduation in the next few weeks and moving on to the world of work. Next week is exam week for the students so I expect it will a quieter week for The Centre, we also have a week off from teaching as we will wait till the exams have finished before we start more classes. It is great fun being around The Centre chatting to students and having fun with the other staff who we are really getting to know now, it is exciting to see how much work God is doing through The Centre at this time.

Many thanks to all who have sent encouraging emails and letter or sent gifts of chocolate in the last few weeks it is such a blessing to have a great group of supporters. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to reply to all of them but I will do my best over the next few weeks. We are continuing to see many prayers answered and really enjoying ourselves in all we are doing.