"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

The CMA churches in our district have adopted the theme of "Love your Neighbor", planning outreaches to show the love of Christ in each church community. These outreaches take place about every other month throughout the year, and while each individual church will plan and host the event, leaders from the area churches will gather together to help out. This is great since some churches are very small and feel like the task is too big to undertake on their own. Today we joined with Kut Kao Pun Church in their Mother's Day outreach. Today is the birthday of the Queen of Thailand, and as such is also a government holiday as well as national Mother's Day. Because of this, the church decided to plan a special event for the widows in their neighborhood. There are many widows near the church, and the church has been concerned for their health and also their emotional and spiritual well being.

 In the morning, volunteers picked up the widows, who wore beautiful traditional Thai clothing, and brought them to the church. The enjoyed a traditional Isaan "concert" of sorts as different people sang songs honoring mothers as well as traditional worship songs.  Pastor Rahin, the District Superintendent, shared a message of God's love, and the women were treated to a special lunch. Following lunch, there were free health screenings and hair cuts. Children, grandchildren, even great-grandchildren (like these twins pictured here) joined together for this special event.

The women were also honored in a traditional Thai way. They were asked to sit up front, while the younger people kneeled in front of them and moved down the row, offering words of thanks and honor, and at the same time receiving words of encouragement and blessing from these older women. It's a very beautiful way that the Thai have to honor their elders.

 Please pray for these women, for many this was this first time they heard the message of Christ's unconditional love for them. Pray also for the Kut Kao Pun Church as they continue to reach out to the widows in their community.

We rejoice in the way the Lord has been working in the hearts of the men and women at both the Sawang Daen Din and Nong Khai prisons.  Last Monday, the 1st generation men's group taught the creation and fall of man story to the next group of seekers (the 3rd generation) while the men from the 2nd generation were helping out and being prepared to teach in the future.  The atmosphere was filled with excitement and the men from this new group showed a lot of eagerness to learn.  The women at SDD are preparing to start their 2^nd generation group on August 14.  They have been consistently inviting new people to hear what God has done in their lives.

At the Nong Khai prison, we face many more obstacles because of the ongoing training and the threat of women from the church group being transferred to another prison due to overcrowding.  We will not be able to meet with the men to worship until August 22nd and the women won't be able to meet until the 28th of this month.  So, please pray that God will continue to work in the hearts of the men and women during this time drawing them closer to Himself; we know He can do this with or without us.  We are trying to visit some of the women that were transferred from Nong Khai to another close by prison in Nong Bua Lumphu.  Please pray that this will encourage the women and that God will open the doors for a church group to begin at this new prison.