Umbanhowar-Doug-Geri-1981-Thailand.pdf

7/27/2019 Umbanhowar-Doug-Geri-1981-Thailand.pdf

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TH E

NOS.E.

MISSIONARIESDoug & Ger i UmbanhowarBox 1 5 4Chiangmai, Thailand

APRIL, 1981

i

Dea r F r i e n d s :

Anothe r yea r has passed and we lookback with gra t i tude and thanksgiving. Godhas a cc omp li sh ed much. We thank Him t h a to ur family i s t ak ing pa r t i ^ His plans inS.E . Asia . We want to share with you inth i s l e t t e r some of the things tha t havehappened with us t h i s pas t year .

1980 was a year t ha t found o ur f am ily growing up, s t re tching out euidf lexing new muscles. Geri and I have t r i ed to meet the new challenges withprayer and help from God. We've also been wil l ing to l e am from oure xp er ie nc es a s wel l as from th e experiences of o the rs . As paren t s , we haveenjoyed reading seve ra l books on Chr i s t i an family growth and development . ,Some o f the books we have read t h i s p as t y ea r are : Prepa r ing fo r Adolescence,Disc ip l i ne with Love, Hide o r Seek , stnd St r a i gh t Talk to Men and The i r Wivesby Dobson. Also , Measure of a Family , Measure o f a Woman and Measure o f aMan by Getz; Chris t ian Child-Rearing and Personal i ty Development by Meier;Help, I 'm a Parent by Narramore; Her Name i s Woman by Karssen; and How to beHappy though Married and The Art of Marriage by LaHaye. Through these pageswe have been s t rengthened and encouraged. We thank God fo r Chr i s t i an wri t e r swho a re concerned about Bible -cente red growth and development in fami l i e s .We have included the names of these books in th i s l e t t e r to sh are w ith youand pray you wil l take the t ime to read and s tudy them together with yourfami ly . Of course , no be t te r help on family development i s ava i l ab l e thanthe Bible, God's word. Although no one ever studies it l ike one should,inc luding Geri and I, we cont inue to marvel a t the wisdom it conta ins abouta l l aspects of l i f e . And why shouldn ' t it, as it was writ ten by the Authorof l i f e . In your reading, don ' t forget the foundation where a l l o th er s tu di esbegin , God 's Word.

Ger i and I cont inue to thank our Heavenly Father fo r the l i ve s of ourfour chi ldren . Er ic had a smal l cys t surg ica l ly removed from the back ofh is knee th i s past year , but nothing ser ious and a l l i s f ine now. I wass i ck fo r about th ree weeks with a minor case of hepa t i t i s , bu t it was curedwith no ill e f f e c t s . October found us pampering 3 o f th e 4 ch i ld ren through


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chicken pox. Somehow Bradly escaped the ordeal . And Charlie looks sodifferent wearing glasses but we're just so glad he can see clearly now. . 'As for family ac t iv i t i es , there never seems to be a quiet moment. Wef ind chal lenge tothe needed t ime toge ther as afam ily w ith ou t th e needs

mission work takingover. pressures

some-t imes creep and become a/> h wedge between proper family"'' development and outside

r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s . It ayou f o lk know we l l .

We f e e l very fo rtun ate toS^.1^ have an excellent primary~ VKjj^l^ljjjajjMM sq);^oo1 available for ourff^^' ""9 children here in Chiangmai.1 ^OL ']d>~ Althoughhave an excel lent teaching s t a f f which serves through eighth grade.

This year Charlie i s in the sixth grade. He also graduated from CubScouts to Boy Scouts and enjoys i t s ac t i v i t i e s . He i s still an avid readerand i f he s t a r t s reading a book, it i s almost impossible to get him to doanything e l se . Cha r l i e ' s r e a l love and t a l en t seems to be in a r t . We are^very exc i t ed to know a t a l en ted l ady from New Zealand who i n s t r uc t s himo n c e a we e k .

Eric i s in th e f i r s t grade and enjoys it t remendously . He i s our ba l lof f i r e , fu l l of unlimited energy, always ready to go, go, go. He i s doingvery well in school , and we are proud of h is enthusiasm, even though a t t imesit ge t s him i n to t r oub l e .

Bradly wi l l be ready to s t a r t kinde rga r t en t h i s nex t yea r . He was ouronly chi ld born in Thailand. With h is ready smile and h is big, brown eyes,I c a n ' t he lp bu t want to squeeze him eve ry t ime I se e him.

Fina l ly , our Anna. I t * s been so much fun watching he r l ea rn and grow.With he r play di shes and do l l s , t he re i s no doubt t h a t God wanted us toexperience the bless ing of a l i t t l e g i r l . And a little g i r l she i s , throughand th rough , desp i t e th e i n f luence from t h r ee o lde r bro ther s .

In mid-August, we went to th e Gulf o f Thai land w ith the Bemo fami ly fo ra wonder fu l te n day v aca t io n o f f r esh a i r , sunshine, beach uid swimming. Itwas t r u ly a t ime of r e l axa t ion . We a l l hope to go aga in th i s year .

Our newest fami ly p r o j e c t i s beekeeping. Both Char l i e and I have onehive apiece. We also had an observat ion hive made and it s i t s in our l iv ing


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ry room, so we can watch th eactivities o f th e bee s . It hasprov ided hours o f fun andf as c ina ti ng l ea rn i ng .^ The high-light of theyear, w as

* were over joyed^ visi t of Geri's two> ' .^kAtj ' ' j lH^iBI^I younger sisters, tiorma andk. Kathie, the i r one year old|-%rf'*'-^ children nephew,i'" S Paul. was the.:>.. mas have eve rr e a l l y a t ime whenij^'"'difficult to be so far awayfrom the ones you love. Theys tayed four weeks, and I t h inkI they enjoyed i t as much as wed id . We v i s i t ed meiny placesand t r ied to show them as much of Chiangmai as we could, even to a two night

vis i t to a Lahu vi l lage. Even af te r four weeks sharing together and catching up on years of los t t ime it was very d i f f i cu l t to say good-tye. Theirv i s i t i s a t ime we wi l l never forge t .

January 8th our brother-in-law, Phi l Beavers arrived to teach a t C.B.l \fo r two weeks. Phi l i s marr ied to my s i s t e r and i s youth minis te r with theF i r s t Church o f Chr i s t in Bluffon, Indiana . He t rave led to South East Asiate'aching not only in Chiangmai, but a lso fo r two weeks in Rangoon, Burma.We c an ' t express the joy a t being ab le to share wi th fami ly members in ourhome in Th a i l a n d .

I have been very busy with the mission work t h i s yea r . At t imes it i sdiscourag ing to see how much work t he re i s to do. Sometimes, it seems, I amdoing noth ing bu t r unn ing i n c i r c l e s doing little menia l t a sk s . But I mus ts top and remind myself t h a t I am working on a team and each person i s doingh is p a r t to make th e t o t a l work go and grow. Since coming to Chiangmai , Ihave been th e mis s ion t r e a s u r e r . I must make su re t h a t each phy s i c a l needo f th e m iss io n i s met and many t imes am ca l l ed upon t o make spu r -o f - t he -moment dec i s i ons . I have ask ed m ys elf h undre ds o f t imes if t h i s i s th e k indo f work a "miss ionary" should be doing . But the n a ga in , I am reminded o f ir yt a sk on th e team, and in so doing , t h i s r e spons ib i l i t y f r ee s o the r s to doo the r j ob s . I have found myse lf being turned from help ing people with t h e i rag r i c u l t u r a l needs l i k e I o r i g i na l l y had planned to do, to being anaccountan t and t r e a su re r . I have never l o s t the de s ire to h elp o th ersa gr ic ul tu ra lly , ju st th a t God has needed me elsewhere a t t h i s t ime.


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.We remain committed to teaching the Bible a t the Chiangmai BibleInstitute and with those who we have contact. I have taught classes, goneto severa l v i l l ages , worked in refugee camps and counseled with dozens of ,people about the i r commitment to the Lord. We have seen severa l hundredpeople baptized into Christ this year, not through our direc t efforts , butthrough those we have taught. This, to me i s the most satisfying part ofour work as we fu l f i l l our goal found in II Tim. 2:2. We have rejoicedtogether as a team to see the f i r s t dra f t of the NgoChang New Testamentf in i shed by Pete r Sut ja ibun and h is fe l low workers. We cont inue to thankGod fo r the pr in t ing and r ad io m i nis tr y in which we share . For thehundreds of teachers, evangel is t s and preachers in Burma, N.E. India ,Communist China and Thailand, we praise God. And fo r the growth andmatu rity o f C.B.I , and her student body, we a re con ti nu al ly grateful .

Yes, we do ge t discouraged a t t imes , because th e work i s d i f f i c u l t anddemanding. We have been extremely short -handed th i s l a s t year with some ofthe team on fu r lough . But through it a l l , we look back and see how muchGod*s kingdom has grown. To Him be pra i se .Because of the added responsibi l i t i es , the problem of not enoughworkers on the f i e ld and the d i f f i cu l ty of arranging schedules when thosewho are to come back to Thailand from furlough, our fam ily has decided tos tay on the f i e ld fo r an add i t iona l year . Our plans a t f i r s t were to comeback the summer of t h i s year , but we f e e l we can hard ly leave the f i e ld a tt h i s t ime. We have asked th e Lord 's leading and a re c on fid en t He wi l lc on t i n u e to c a r e f o r o u r n e e d s wh i l e we a r e h e r e .

We want you to know we h av en 't f or go tte n you who a re concerned abou t thework i n As i a . We have been b l e s sed to have su ch c l o s e Ch r i st ia n f ri en d s whohave suppor ted us s ince we first came to Thai land in 1974. But we ask t h a tyou p le as e c on sid er a r eques t . With God's he lp , would it be poss ib le fo ryou to in crea se your giving fo r the mission work in 1981? With a 20%i n f l a t i on r a t e , we need a t l e a s t t h a t much more j u s t to s t ay even . But tohe lp with th e i nc rea s ing needs o f th e t o t a l work o f evange l i za t ion , C.B. I ,and va r ious pro jec t s could you pledge even a grea t e r amount? We pray youcan . Lis t ed a t the end o f t h i s l e t t e r a re spec i f i c needs . Could you sha rein help ing us in ge t t ing the job done? As we s tay on an ex t ra year , he lp usto do even more with th e add i t i ona l t ime #e have .

Most o f a l l , we need p ra ye r s up po rt and undergi rd ing to give us wisdomand pro tec t ion . Satan and h is angels a re working hard to des t roy the workand to send tim es o f discouragement . But with th e prayers of the s a i n t s ,all th ings a re poss ib le .May God continue to be with you and guide you in th is new year. Wethank you for your ministry in helping take the Gospel to Asia.

Your miss iona r i e s to Thai land ,

Doug, Geri, Charl ie, Eric ,Brad and Anna Umbanhowar


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ADDITIONAL FUNDS 6. PROJECTS: a $100 increase in our monthly living-link fund from the present$750 to $850/month.: Charl ie 's and Eric 's schooling expense of $1200 apiece.: Used clo th ing fo r h i l l t r ibe and re fugees , boxed cind sent sur face mailwith it c lear ly labeled "USED CLOTHING; NO COMMERCIAL VALUE". Send toBox 154, Chiangmai, Tha i l and .: An increase of $400 fo r our service- l ink funds. These addi t iona l fundswould be used to help supply needed Bible Teaching materials and suppliesfo r Christ ians in Burma and Thailand. Also they would help the workexpand and grow to keep up with the ever increas ing demand to spreadth e Gospe l .: A very spec ia l projec t to d r i l l fo r water on two pieces of land to ta l l ing100 ac r e s owned by th e m iss io n fo r fu tu re expans ion . To t a l needed fo rboth wel ls and water sys tems fo r year round use : $20,000.

VILLAGE TRIP A SUCCESSRecen t ly , a t r i p was made by s ix o f the South Ea s t Asia Chr i s t i an

Serv ice personnel to a Lahu re fugee v i l l age near the Laoticin border . Thepeople l iv ing in t h i s v i l l age have rece ived permiss ion to l ive outs ide ofthe regu la r camp. This ac t ion was granted by the Thai government becauseth e r e s iden t s o f the v i l l age d id not want to move to " t h i r d coun t r i e s " .Therefore, they have set t led about ten miles from the main refugee camp.But because t h i s act ion by the government has not been widely pub l ic ized ,and they are no longer under the co ntro l of the United Nations RefugeeWork to receive f in a n c ia l a ss is ta n ce , they are very , very poor.

Praseng , one of the Chiangmai Bib le I n s t i t u t e s tuden ts , heard of t h i sv i l l age l a s t year . He, beingLahu , felt th e e a r ne s t d es ir eU L Imwe preach the Gospel to theseI people who a re con t r o l l ed by

i. J Satan through spirit worship.J spent several weeks in thisflr village last April and May during the school hol iday. ^ ^ Through h is dedica ted e f fo r t s ,^ \ about forty people respondedg jjrir to the Lord and becamestians. He t h e n was a b l eK^**^6 to challenge a Lahu evangelistso and l a b or th er e full

t ime. Presen t ly , t he re a reI r ene Agemy, Jong rak , Anang, Pra seng , t h i r t y - f i v e f am i l ie s o r abou tLuke and Doug Umbanhowar before l eav ing s ix ty people who a re bom-fo r re fugee v i l l a ge .


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'Ar^

l i i i ,On the road to a t r i ba l v i l l age

again Chr is t i ans . This represents approximately one- thi rd of the to ta l

These' gifts" were' turned' overn the road to a t r iba l vil lage to the Church leaders whosupe rv i s ed th e d i s t r i b u t i o n .These poor folk barely have enough clothing and with the cold season (sometimes as low as 40 at night) these blankets were a much needed item. Andbecause they l e f t every th ingins tead^ us ing banana l eaves

fami ly two p l a t e s

from'the Lord. We carefullyChristian brothers |

for them the Ulimoney needed to buy them the Helping needy Chr i s t i an refugees withg i f t s . g i f t s from American churches .

I r ene Ageny, a r e t i r ednurse from th e S ta t e s who was here in Thai land fo r a few months , a l so hadth e oppor tun i ty to use some of he r s k i l l s in diagnos ing a i lments andd i s t r i bu t i ng m edicines. Th is medicine was purchas ed t hrough IDES. We hadheard t h a t th e Chr i s t i ans in th e v i l l age were t ry ing to r a i s e th ree smal li n f a n t s , a l l still breas t feed ing . One youngs te r ' s mother had died while

Helping needy Chr i s t i an refugees withg i f t s from American chu rches .


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giving bir th, and the other two mothers were lacking proper nutr i t ion andriot producing enough milk. So we were able to send several cans of babyformula and bo t t l e s . The babies a re now doing f ine . I t * s because Chr i s t i ansin the U.S.A. cared enough to give! These babies may have d ied, o therwise.

What was surpr is ing to us and a r ea l blessing i s how these peopleshared with us during their fes t iv i t i es . At a special Church service, thesenew Chris t ians, l ess than eight months old, brought and f i l led the front oftheir bamboo Church bui ld ing with rice and vegetables. The evangelist who

S' poor " . No one is* ... any poore r , mater i a l ly , thanLahu refugee Christ ians with the i r these Lahu Ch ris tia ns , y etof fe r ings . they shared with thankful

hear t s , and I 'm conf ident theywi l l r ec ei ve b le ss ings from the Lord one hundred fold . They ins is ted thatwe take t he i r g i f t s back to Chiangmai. I f e l t t e r r ib l e taking the i r neededfood, but a t the same t ime, it was a wonderful le ss on le ar ne d. They sharedin God's b les s ing , and I witnessed people giving with pure hear ts and t rueconvic t ion . Rejoice with us a t th i s break- through. I pray they wi l l be av i t a l witness to other "older " Ch ris ti an s in Thailand, showing tha t sharingwi l l open the f lood ga te s o f bless ings f rom Heaven. Pra i se God t h a t morepeople are being added to the Kingdom, and t ha t it cont inues to grow amongt h e Lahu tribes o f N o r th er n Th a i l a n d .

Lahu r e fugee Chr i s t i ans with t h e i r o f f e r i ng s .

CHIANGMAI BIBLE INST ITUTE NEWSWe p r a i s e God fo r th e con t i nu ing t each ing program a t th e Bib l e I n s t i t u t e

in Chiangmai. With twenty-seven s tuden t s , her impact on the t o t a l long-range Chris t ian growth in Asia i s cont inuing to be f e l t and indeed becomings t r onge r . We have seven s tuden t s who a re f in ish ed with t h e i r four -yea rprogram of s tudies t h i s t e rm. It ce r t a in ly i s a t ime o f r e jo i c ing to see


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these young people graduate and to go out into fields of service. We haveseen them mature and grow into capable Christian leaders.(1) Mary Fish, who is Lisu, has been an outstanding student, alwaysdiligen t in her studies. She is well known for her pleasant personality andbeautiful smile. She has plans to help in the continuing Lisu Bible revisionproject being undertaken by Jessie Yangmi, missionary with the Church ofChrist. Mary's father is one of the translators for the work. We highlyrecommend her fo r the Lord's service wherever she goes.(2) Brother R. Jungson has been one of our top students since hisarr ival in Thailand. We are excited about his leadership capabi l i t ies .Brother Jungson i s from the Rawang t r ibe of Burma. He has been involved inthe radio broadcast work of the mission for several years making sermons,songs and most r e cen t ly , i s r espons ib le fo r the t o t a l coord ina tion of theradio work. He is married to a former student, GaruNang. They have a daught e r , aged 2 and a son, three months old . They plan to re tu rn to t he i r homesoon- and wil l be grea t ly missed in Chiangmai. Whatever the Lord leads himto do, whether teaching, preaching or wri t ing , we know he wil l be usedmightily for the Lord's service . It has been our pleasure to have workedin partnersh ip with Jungson.(3 & 4) K. James and Khono, both 1981 graduates of C.B.I . , a re excitedabout the i r future together. They are both from the Rawang t r ibe of Burma.Both have been very capable s tudents who have spec i a l ta len ts in the f i e ld ofChris t ian music. James has played the gui tar and sung and Khono has used hermusical ab i l i t i e s to help in the radio work. Both a re e xc el le nt scholars aswell . Now they have chosen to spend thei r l ives together in marriage! Joinwith us as we celebrate the ir graduation stnd their upcoming marriage.(5) Maeram, daughter of one of the strongest Rawang Church leaders inNorthern Burma, has been one of our most outstanding g i r l students sincef i r s t coming to Thailand. We especial ly appreciate her vocal ab i l i t i e s andher knowledge of Bible subjects . She has been the lead singer for theradio programs and has made several tapes of Christian music. Her abil i tywith the English language i s very good and she hopes to teach English andB i b l e when s h e returns to Burma .(6) Brother Seinsar, a Rawang from an area of Northern Burma very closeto the communist China Border , plans to take the Gospel back to h is ownpeople . Seinsa r i s a man ready to lend a helping hand wherever there i s aneed, and he has proved himself a will ing Chris ti an l eade r in teaching andpreaching to th e Akha and Lahu people o f Thai land . We thank God fo r h isdedication and Chr is ti an charac te r and pray God wi l l continue to guide himas he prepares himse l f to l eave Chiangma i and r e tu rn home.(7) Finally, brother Sheyman Pong. Sheyman or Khammiii as he is knownin Thailand, has indeed been the bes t s tudent academically here in Chiangmai.His spec i f i c ab i l i t i e s as a t e ache r , preacher stnd Bib le scho la r wi l l beused grea t ly by th e Lord as he se rves the people of Asia . Able to speaks even la nguage s, Sheyman i s by f a r a most capable l eade r fo r the L ord 's


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work in Asia. We ask that God find a special area of service for Sheyman.Our newest members of th e C .B .I , family are C hira t and Danai , two f ine

young men from the Hmong t r ibe . Chantra and Saiarun, two Chinese youngladies were recommended to us through Allen Bemo, Church of Chris t missionary to the Chinese. Also, Awu, a young Lisu man who i s a bro ther o f anotherC .B .I , st ud en t, recent ly jo in ed u s. Pray with us tha t these f ive youngpeople wi l l be chal lenged to dedica te t h e i r l i ve s fo r His se rv ice fo r theA s i a n Chur ch o f t omor r ow .

During t h i s l a s t Chris tmas break, th e C .B .I , s tu de nts were foundth roughout No rth er n Thai la nd preaching and t eaching. This yea r there weret h ree Chris tmas convent ions planned by the Akhas, Lisus and Lahus. Severa lC.B.I , students at tended each and part ic ipated in the various programs.Following i s a list of the sub jec t s t ha t were t aught during the l a s tth ree terms: Basi s Theology, New Testament Leadership , Cul t s , (Mormonism,Seventh Day Adventism and Jehovah 's Wi tne ss ), Church History , AnthropologicalPe r spec t i ve s , Pr inc ip l e s o f Teach ing , I and I I Samuel , Biology, NewTes tament Survey , Psa lms , Hebrews, Reve l a t i on , P arab le s o f J e su s , Holy S p i r i t ,Job , L i ng u is ti cs , C h r is ti an Doct r ine and Engl i sh .

Guest l e c tu r e r s dur ing t h a t time have included b ro th ers S eth Wilson ofOzark Bible College, Allen Bemo and Robert Morse, S r . , miss iona r i e s toThai land , Sherwood and Mary Smith of the Cincinnat i Bible Seminary andRusse l l Hal l , Mike Flinchum, Mike Hargrave, Ph i l Beavers and Delmar Debaul t ,minis te rs serving in the U.S. We want to thank these people fo r takingt ime from t h e i r busy schedules to share with us . The s tuden t s have benef i t e d grea t ly from the wisdom of each person who has v i s i t ed us .


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> a S S IO N A R IE SDoug & Geri UmbanhowarBox 1 5 4Chiangmai, Thai land

SEPTEMBER, 1981Dea r C h r i s t i a n F r i e n d s ;

0CT29 Ti

Once again we pray our l e t t e r to youf inds you wel l . We have been espec ia l lyp ray ing fo r you and your l abo rs fo r th eLord . With t h anksg iv ing and p r a i s e , we

'G' thank God fo r y ou r con cern and g i f t s fo rs.z. the cont inued work here in Chiangmai.We wanted to sha re wi th you th e news

of our buying a new t ruck . Through th econcent ra ted e f f o r t s of Chris tv iew Chr i s t i an Church in Tul sa , Oklahoma and.many other fr iends in the Midwest, a t o t a l of $7,470.01 was ra ised in jus ttwo months t ime . We are now th e owners of a new Toyota pick-up t ruck . Wehave been needing a "four-wheeled" v eh ic le fo r some t ime as our fam ily hasoutgrown ou r moto rcyc l e . Alsothe evangelistic work has beenin t h e n e e d o f reliable trans-po r t a t i on because th e Mazda ^no^ longerI n s t i t u t e bui lding fund. We arehappy to tell you t h a t a t o t a lo f $400.00 was l e f t and hasalready been used toward The new Toyota truck recentlyfinishing the Ins t i tu te ' s purchased in Chiangmaimul t i -purpose bui ld ing . Wethank you fo r shar ing in th is spec ia l pro jec t ,

Chiangmai has been ge t t i ng qui t e a l o t o f r a in l a t e l y . We a re in th emids t of the r a iny season . T rave l to th e v ario us v i l l age s i s more d i f f i c u l t

H

The new Toyota t ruck r ecen t lypurchased in Chiangmai


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i f not impossibl e a t th ese tim es. But despi te the ra in , we keep hearingencouraging news from the d i f fe ren t vi l lage preaching po in t s . The Akhat r ibe continues to respond to the Gospel. We are now ass i s t ing s ix f u l l -t ime preachers to l i v e in d if fe re n t Akha v i l l a ge s . The r epor t s from themare indeed reason to p ra ise the Lord as over 30 individuals have respondedto Ch r i s t i n th e last t h r e e mon th s . Sev e r a l chu r che s in th e E as te rn Uni t edSta tes have taken a spec ia l i n t e r e s t in the Akha work and are support ing itr egu l a r l y . Many boxes of used c lothing have been sent hy them to a s s i s t theneedy.

The Lahu evange l i s t i c work i s progress ing very wel l too . Under theleadership of both Praseng and Jimmy Tachinam and through the help of threeLahu preachers much has been accomplished to take New Testament Chris t iani tyto those who were in s p i r i t u a l da rkness . J u s t t h i s week we rece ived newstha t in one of the Lahu refugee vi l lages there was ejctensive damage causedfrom flooding. We are responding to the need with funds given throughIn t e rna t iona l Disas te r Emergency Service ( I .D.E .S . ) which we have on hand.Be especially praying for three families in the vil lage who los t everythingand fo r the rapid reconst ruct ion of the church building which wasdes t royed .

Las t month we were ab le to complete a two-hour video tape with Lahuteaching and send to the Sta t e s to help encourage Lahu refugees who a re nowl iv in g th ere . There i s so much t h a t could, be done to expand theevangel i s t i c outreach among a l l th e var ious t r i b e s here in NorthernThailand, but funds fo r the work have been slow in coming. We are doing a l lwe can to S-T-R-E-A-C-H wha t we have . We h av e th e worke r s . We have th emeans of t ransportat ion . We jus t need addi t ional funds to enable us to getou t t h e r e with th e message .Last term a t the Bible Ins t i tu te we were pleased to welcome TimothyTeng Vang to help out with th e te ach ing load. Timothy i s a former Hmongrefugee from Laos who i s now l iv ing in the USA and studying a t theCincinnati Bible Seminary. He came to Thailand to ass is t I.D.E.S, in helpingthe thousands of Hmong refugees who a re still l iv ing in camps here inThailand. I was able to accompany him on a t r ip to one camp when we tookBible lessons , Hmong teaching casse t te tapes and money to buy clothes .While here in Tha i l and , he a l so t augh t a c l a s s on the "Li fe o f Chr i s t " a tthe In s t i t u t e . We are hoping t ha t he, as well as other Hmong s tudents a tCinc inna t i a f t e r f i n i sh ing t h e i r s tud i e s , wi l l be ab le to come to Thai l anda s m i s s io n a r i e s .

In the l a s t news le t te r , I to ld you of ray newes t hobby . I have alw aysbeen fasc ina ted with honeybees and had always wanted to t r y my hand a tra is ing them. Well, I got the chance, and it may very wel l be something t ha tw i l l turn in to an important pro jec t fo r the Bible In s t i t u t e . I am current lyle ar nin g to g eth er with a C.B. I , s tu den t the f i ne a r t o f ap ia ry sc ien ce . Wea re hoping to have a t l e a s t twenty h ives by th e end o f t h i s year when thehoney season s t a r t s in Thailand. With care it i s possible- to make a good


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prof i t from each hive as honey se l l s fo r $5.00/lb. One in teres t ing fac t i st h a t th e Thai and Chinese people do no t ea t honey wi th bread as Americans ,but i ns t ead they u su ally ta ke it as a ton ic fo r va r ious a i lmen t s and as as t imulan t . We are hoping t h a t if we are su cce ssfu l t h i s f i r s t yea r , t h i smay be one way t ha t ex t ra funds fo r d i f f e r en t evange l i s t i c p ro jec t s can bera ised in the years to come. Also, there i s growing i n t e r e s t by otherindividuals who would l ike to have a means of supplementing the i r income.There i s a need to provide ext ra money th i s f i r s t year to help get uss ta r t ed . We have already used $500.00 in th is project . Would you or your 'Bible school class be able to provide a special one time gif t?

We a re happy to welcomeJ e r r y and Pam Headen back fromn- . . ;J furlough. And we seek God's

l e t t e r , he wi l l have a r r i ved .J e r ry Headen record ing Gospel musicand sermons a t th e C.B. I , recordingstudio.

May God grant you grace and peace. Looking forward to hearing from

Your missionaries to Thai land,

The Umbanhowar s

Documents

Umbanhowar-Doug-Geri-1981-Thailand.pdf