Cook, Peter and Ineke, Thailand
Cook main pagePrayer letter February 2008
Dear Friends,
Sawadee Pi Mai (Happy New Year)
Where did January go? Christmas was crazy with services, but very good. All 5 services were full to overflowing. But at 5.00 am Boxing Day we were checking in at Bangkok Airport to go to Singapore, then on to Johor in Malaysia to the Diocesan clergy retreat. Forget retreat - call it a conference with every spare minute filled! Exhausting! Then back to Bangkok for Sun 30th and 3 services, then the 31st New Year Watch-Night. To be honest that all but knocked the stuffing out of me and for the rest of January I have felt very jaded. I have managed to have this Sunday off preaching and so with a little breathing space have begun to simmer down and get organised for the next action packed period.
As for Ineke she has just taken on a day a week volunteer work with Siam Care an aids care and education agency helping with their admin and particularly child sponsorship scheme. Ineke continues to be invaluable here at Christ Church. She has taken on the crčche and has grown from 3 little ones to an average of about 12 – 16. She also oversees the kids work curriculum and administration, and is developing the welcome and hospitality of the church. That’s on top of being her normal hospitable self in the home. In the last month or so we have had 7 young Aussies for 5 days before they went to the border camps – Bob and Lesley for 10 days – Josh a Crosslinks missionary with us for 5 days – Andy Lines arrives tonight and staying tomorrow – the Aussies arrive back for a week on 16th – then on 25th a couple of woman teachers from Hong Kong are staying while they do teaching with the Thai Church. Good job we have our great domestic staff around else we couldn’t do it. We love it but it is also very tiring – and very little privacy at times.
So what’s coming up? I am off to Burma on 18th with my Thai congregation colleague to meet with the new Archbishop of Burma and the Archbishop of South east Asia to discuss the border Karen ministry we have. I was invited to his installation as the Archbishop on the Sunday but we have baptisms here I am doing so I fly out early on the Monday morning. After that I am taking a few days out at a Franciscan Monastery just outside Bangkok called ‘The Garden of the Gospel of Peace’ (great name) a quiet retreat centre. Hopefully I will find some refreshment as well as direction for the upcoming Church AGM on March 16th and then the busy Easter period. More on all that in the next update I think.
So, that’s our latest news.
Pete and Ineke’s Prayer Points – Feb 08
Thanksgiving
- The ongoing growth of the Church at 10.00 service – adults and kids and young people.
- 3 more baptisms coming up.
- People joining the church
- Restorations of the church completed on the outside and external painting complete.
- Internal painting to start after Easter.
- Finances coming in for the Karen Border ministry and new sources being found.
- That Pete’s work visa’s has been accepted and Ineke’s visa extended for another year.
Immediate Prayer
- Feb 17th Baptisms and Ministry Fair (calling people to serve in the life of the church)
- Feb 18 & 19 Meetings in Burma. Please pray for protection, travel and productive communications and understanding in meetings.
- Feb 20 – 23 Pete on Retreat. Please pray for refreshment and inspiration. Pray that this would be a good time of space for Ineke while she is at home too.
- Feb 23 Newcomers evening at the Vicarage. Please pray that new people can find a home with us and integrate into the life of the church.
- Feb 26 PCC meeting. Pray for preparations for budget which are not proving straight forward. We have a lot to do to continue to renovate the church and need good communications and faith.
Other General needs ahead:
Church AGM – March 16th. Please pray for good nominations for Wardens and PCC motivated by prayer rather than politics. Pray for inspiration for Pete to know how (and how much) to communicate of vision.
The restoration of the Church is going ahead slowly (this is Thailand). Pray for understanding by people through this. It is also an opportunity for thinking about the future and any internal re-ordering that is needed to allow more growth. Many Sundays we are full and people are stuck behind pillars. In this interim period we have changed some of the layout to improve this. Please pray that the long standing people will be open to change and embrace the growth of the church.
5.00 service has declined after some have left to go back to home countries and others have started to come to the 10.00 now it is ‘loosening up’ more. That leaves a majority who are actually members of other churches in the morning but come to us for feeding in the evening. Thing is that we (I) cannot sustain that unless members are to give more input. Plus it needs to look outwards and become more relevant if its purpose is to be contemporary and informal. We are therefore changing its format for weeks from 24th Feb to 16th March for 4 weeks of prayer.
Please pray that I might discern how to do more training. Level of discipleship needs lifting and it looks like Sunday is the key time to gather. I am considering an ‘Adult Sunday School’ after the morning service with equipping track and bite size courses. But it will be dependant on me again to get it going.
Pray for our health, diet and fitness in a tropical country.
For our social lives – that not everything is work connected.
For our spiritual and emotional energy levels in such a demanding place.
Wishing you all many blessings
Pete and Ineke