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JULY
2009
Dear Friend,
MALAYSIA
For almost four days we were able to enjoy the hospitality of
BLESSINGS HOMESTAY in Kuala Lumpur. It was a chance to renew
friendships made twelve months before and to make new ones. Our
Malaysian brothers and sisters went out of their way to provide
for our needs and bless our stay. The main purpose of our visit
had been to renew our visas, which was accomplished within twenty
four hours. |
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The girls enjoying exhibits at the Science
Center.
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The four children at Kamala Beach (Phuket).
Healthy and Happy! |
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However, for the children it was a wonderful
opportunity to enjoy the Kuala Lumpur Water Park, local swimming
centre and also a visit to the National Science Centre. All this
made possible through the loving generosity of those Malaysian
Christians we have come to know and love.
Praise God we all now have visas for the next three months which
will be extended to a full one year with our work permit applications.
We are praying that these can be obtained through a fully registered
Eaglesrest Foundation. |
ABOUT EAGLESREST
OK. We are not Abraham, we are not Noah, we are not anyone you
may have heard of who did remarkable things through faith in
God. The similarity however is that, like them, we are often
looked on as foolish for following the call of God on the vision
of Eaglesrest Retreat Centre. Yes, we are foolish in the eyes
of man. Humanly speaking, Eaglesrest may never come about other
than in the small temporary capacity we have operated for the
last twelve months. |
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It seems impossible that the
amount of money will ever be raised to buy the land. It seems
impossible that our desperate need of team members (particularly
accountant; counsellors; people with culinary skills; builders
etc etc ) will be met. It is foolishness to believe that we will
build all the necessary buildings and then find the sponsorship
needed to bring our hurting Asian brothers and sisters in for
care. It seems even more unlikely given our new status as 'independent'.
(see OM announcement at end of letter)
And yet, IF this IS God's project and desire (and we believe
it is) He will bring it to pass in His time. If this is God's
way of building our personal faith and showing the world His
Glory and power despite the world's idea of possibilities, then
who are we to stand and declare it is hopeless?
We sincerely thank all those
who have faithfully stood with us and prayed with us/for us and
Eaglesrest. Thank you for daring to believe that our glorious
God is bigger than all the impossibilities that Eaglesrest represents.
I have prayed from the outset that God would receive great glory
from the establishment of Eaglesrest. When there is no way left
BUT GOD - then the accomplishment will do just that - Glorify
our magnificent God who alone is able to do the impossible.
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| ROMMEL LANGUAGE STUDY IN LOPBURI |
Rommel with his tutor at Lopburi. |
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We were all delighted when Rommel returned home
after ten days of travel and study in Lopburi. The round trip
was well over 2,500kms but he is adamant that it was time and
money wisely invested. While he was mentally and verbally challenged
by the task, he also admitted that he enjoyed the opportunity
to come a little closer to being able to communicate in the native
language. |
Rommel
will now seek a local Thai to become his language helper as he
continues to study the Thai reading and writing. It is also a
personal goal to be the means of leading such a person to Christ
and disciple in the process. He is hoping to be able to return
to Lopburi for three months next year after using the coming
months in preparation for the more difficult modules ahead.
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Some of our new friends - who were also
with Rommel at Lopburi Langauge school.
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OUR DILIGENT
VOLUNTEER!
We are still enjoying
the quiet diligence of our OMF volunteer, Gordon (Germany). This
month he has spent painting doors and furniture around the place.
The church interior looks wonderful after careful patching and
painting of all the walls; Pastor Prakop and Naw are thrilled
with the professional result.
FIRST FOR
EAGLESREST
We have employed a local woman to take on the cleaning of the
guest house and guest rooms used for Eaglesrest. Noy was brought
up in a Christian home in the north of Thailand but after marriage
moved south to Phang Nga. Unfortunately her husband is an alcoholic
and so she drifted away from Christian things. The family are
very poor because her husband can no longer work. There are three
children; the youngest girl (about 14 years old) has been attending
church and other activities for some time. Noy attended for the
first time a few Sundays ago. Please pray that she will feel
free to continue to come and will be challenged to re-commit
her life.
As Eaglesrest has no income
we look to the Lord to cover wages as we go. Please also pray
that we can find simple income generating ways to finance the
growing costs of the ministry.
Until next month,
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IMPORTANT
MESSAGE FROM OM AUSTRALIA
"OM Australia and Mercy Teams International (MTI) have been
partnering with a ...ministry in Thailand called Eaglesrest.
While Eaglesrest's vision of providing respite for Asian nationals
serving the Lord in poverty is not core to MTI's vision for ministry
in Thailand, we wanted to support this worthy ministry initiative
in its start-up phase and give it every opportunity to flourish.
Over the past two years the
Ala family has established Eaglesrest's work and it is already
actively engaged in ministry. MTI's involvement has been to provide
practical encouragement and support services to the Ala family
as they have developed this independent ministry. OM, MTI and
Eaglesrest have agreed that it is now time for Eaglesrest to
become a fully independent entity, looking after its own staff
and finances under the oversight of the Eaglesrest Board. One
practical result of this change is that any future financial
gifts will need to be made directly to Eaglesrest, rather than
through OM or MTI offices. Our prayer is that Eaglesrest would
continue to grow and be a blessing to many workers in this needy
part of the world."
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