Pray for Vicki
Please be in prayer for Vicki. She has come down with the Bangkok cold: i.e. sore throat, itchy eyes, body aches, runny nose, etc. Sometimes she is down for an extended amount of time with this. Please pray that the boys stay healthy- all three of us! Thanks for your prayers for our continued recovery from jet-lag. We have both felt a lot of stress during this time. So, please pray for our perspective to be Christ-centered. Thanks again for your prayers,
Increasing in Him,
Rich
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The Casebolts have arrived safely to Bangkok
Just a quick note to thank you for praying for us as we traveled back to Thailand. We arrived safely last night at 1:00am after almost 30 hours of travel since our 8:30am departure on Tuesday. God answered your prayers in specific ways, like: 1. Good family time with our parents and grace in the goodbyes; 2. Blessed help from Stacey (a Christian friend of Nate and Lisa Knorr who works for the airline), who checked us in quickly without having our bags moved much and let us check an extra bag free of charge; 3. The two flights from LA-Taipei and Taipei-Bangkok were light and so we had the entire middle bulk row (four seats) to ourselves; 4. Caleb did MUCH better than 6 months ago including sleeping better and busying himself with the contents of his backpack; 5. At least one of us ought to be recovered from jet-lag in a day or so; 6. A friend left our truck at the airport and we were able to drive our selves (and our stuff) to the Baptist guesthouse; and 7. We found out that our visas are extended for another year, when it looked like it might expire. These are just a few of the ways that God answered prayers regarding our return to Thailand. So, thank you for praying, and praise the Lord for His watchcare over us these past few days.
We are staying at the Baptist guesthouse for at least a week. Rich will probably make a trip to Khon Kaen in the meantime to deliver some items to our new home. We also hope to get some family time at the beach before we settle in Khon Kaen. Thanks for your continued prayers for us as we recover from jet-lag and reconnect with friends and students here in Bangkok. We love you guys, and pray for you, too. -Rich, for the Casebolts
Increasing in Him,
Rich
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Returning to Thailand
Thank you for praying for our travel plans. We depart Kansas City tomorrow, July 7th at 8am and arrive in Los Angeles at 9:30am (LA time, about 11:30am Kansas City time). We then depart for Bangkok via Taipei at about 4pm, (LA time, about 2pm Kansas City time). We arrive in Bangkok at 1:05 Thursday morning, July 9th, which is Wednesday afternoon, 1:05pm Kansas City time. Thanks for praying for a safe travel and very happy and healthy boys!
-Rich, for the Casebolts
Increasing in Him,
Rich
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Monday Evangelism
Today we had the opportunity to share the Gospel with On, (center) a 14-year-old student and friend of Boy (right) in the village of Ni Wang in the area of Tap Put. After the first telling of the Gospel, On said she understood the message presented, but then added “all religions teach people to be good.” We have heard this response enough now that we use it to introduce what the Bible teaches about being good. Namely, that no one is good in comparison to the sinless Son of God. Afterwards, On agreed that none of us sitting together could be considered good in comparison with Jesus. We spent much of the morning speaking with On – with Nit doing most of the sharing, and God sent such a heavy rain that we couldn’t think of going anywhere else. With the loud pinging of rain drops on the tin roof, we were locked into our own world. Praise God for this unique opportunity to share the Gospel with an active listener! Please pray that God would be pleased to open On’s heart to believe the Gospel, and pray for Boy to be an effective witness to her of the Gospel message. Pray also that On would be bold enough to attend a worship service with Boy’s family. Thank you for praying.
Increasing in Him,
Rich
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Pray for Pe Noom’s family
Pe Noom and his wife, Nam Kahng, are pictured here with their two sons. We met Pe Noom at one of the local churches here in the city and learned that he desired to start a group in his village of Ni Wang in area of Tap Put. This village is just a 20 minute drive over the mountain next to our house, and so we have been helping Pe Noom with outreach in his village. Today we met at his parent’s house for an impromtu cell group. We used the time to worship together in song and present the Gospel to Pe Noom’s family. Right now, the plan is for Pe Noom to begin leading this group time on Sunday evenings. Please pray for Pe Noom and his family – and for their witness to their immediate family and surrounding neighbors. Pray for God to grant new believers to be born into this group, and that they would grow into a church family by God’s grace.
Increasing in Him,
Rich
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Outreach groups
This is a group of young girls who are enjoying singing, story telling, and reading about the Gospel. On this particular day, Rich had the opportunity to share part of the Gospel with them. Currently, most of the schools are on break, and so we have the opportunity to catch the kids at home when we go out for evangelism. Here in this village we meet each Wednesday at 4pm for a time of singing, Bible storying, and reading selected Scriptures with questions following. Please pray for this group to see the fruit of new believers in Christ!
Increasing in Him,
Rich
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Tuesday Bible study
This is our Tuesday Bible study which just began about a month ago. From right to left, we have Khun Sian, Khun Sompong, Khun Lin, Khun Nit, Khun Ong, and Eric Mullis. This particular study was over the content of the Gospel, from Romans 1:16-17 and other passages in Rome. Ong pointed out that many Thai believers do not share the Gospel with others, and so we are really praying that this group will be counter normative in this area. Please pray for this group, and especially for Pe Lin’s husband, who is not pictured here. She is a believer, diagnosed with HIV contracted from her first husband who died, and asked specifically for her husbands’s salvation. More on this group later.
Increasing in Him,
Rich
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Gospel Touches
Khun Yai, like many Thai grandmothers, cares for her grandson while his mom and dad work. Today was our third contact with Khun Yai- and she smiled as she held up three fingers to show how many visits we had made to her house. She was warm and welcoming- and listened intently, again, to the story of the cross of Jesus. Do you believe that God, who made heaven and earth, has visited us? Khun Yai smiled and said “I don’t know- I have not studied very much.” After more conversation she says she realizes that the judgement of a king doesn’t depend on how well we know about his rule – it just comes upon those who deserve it. She is still unsure, so we pray as she holds her grandson and tries to lull him to sleep. “Can Jesus heal my grandson who has cancer?” Khun Yai points to a picture on her wall of her other grandson who she says had been diagnosed with cancer. “Jesus is able to do all things,” we replied, “with only a word.” Khun Yai explains to us that her grandson is participating in the Chinese vegetarian festival in hopes that he will be healed. As we drive away, Ong explains to me that many Thais will only trust Christ after they have exhausted every other possible source of help. Pray with us – that Khun Yai is nearing the end of her own resources and ready to look to Jesus for His.
Increasing in Him,
Rich
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What’s Missing
What’s missing from this picture? Wini (we-nie) was driving a truck shortly after the Tsunami and began to notice a church that had started along his route. He was curious, so he went in and asked for a place to stay. He was granted a place to sleep with a/c on the condition that he would study the Bible. Since that time he and his wife, Goy, went to Bangkok to study the Bible at a Bible school- and they are trying to reach out to their lost family members with the Gospel. So what’s missing from the picture? Wini and Goy actually have three daughters, Nam, Jahn, and Pak. Before hearing the Gospel and when Goy was pregnant with Jahn, she was told by a witch doctor/spirit channeler that the child she carried belonged to him (or the spirit who spoke through him) and was just residing with her for a time. So, upon the birth of their second daughter Wini and Goy gave Jahn over to this medium and she now resides with Goy’s mother in the witch doctor’s neighborhood. Since coming to Christ, Wini and Goy have realized their grave error and are trying to get Jahn back from what they now believe to be evil. They have difficulties to overcome as they actually signed legal documents surrendering their daughter over to another. Pray that God will make a way for this family to be reconciled to one another- and most importantly to Him.
Increasing in Him,
Rich
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Praying for our weekly schedule
Here is our weekly schedule:
Monday- evangelism
Tuesday- a.m. family time p.m. Believers Bible study at Deen Khow
Wednesday- a.m. prayer; p.m. Evangelistic Bible study
Thursday- a.m. followup p.m. worship and discipleship with our team
Friday- off (family day) Sat- Deen Khow worship Sun- a.m. worship p.m. outreach group with kids in Koh Kieam
Thanks for praying for our schedule!
Increasing in Him,
Rich
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