Northern Thailand, Church Plants, and the Pink Gem Resort

Ten days ago, as I boarded a plane at LAX, I thought my days of long road trips were over.  No more day trips to San Diego or weekend circuits through the San Joaquin valley.  No more days of three meetings and a service.  At least until next furlough, right?

Well, when I thought that, I think God laughed.

This weekend Mark and Janie took me to Teung, a small town almost 3-1/2 hours north of Chiang Mai.  At least I didn’t have to drive, and I must say that winding through the mountains of Northern Thailand is a bit more exciting than sitting on the 405.

There is a month-old church plant there, and Mark is scheduled to preach there every second Sunday of the month.  We drove up on Saturday afternoon and spent some time with the pastor and an elder in the church, and stayed at a hotel in Teung that evening.

But not just any hotel — we stayed at the Pink Gem Resort.

This is the view from my bathroom

and this, the view from my front door.  Isn’t Northern Thailand beautiful?

And of course, the Pinky Gemmy-ness of it all… (and please notice the silver Speed the Light van that we used!)

Sunday morning Mark preached at the church, and the kids sang a special song.

The most exciting part of the day was that Min, a young mother, decided to be saved!!!!!!!!

After lunch we drove to see a potential church plant location a half-hour away, then went to visit two churches further north, one small one that needs a sound system, and one larger one that is in the middle of a new building project and had 200 in attendance this morning.  God is doing exciting things in Northern Thailand– As we say in Thai, kop Prakun Prajao (Thank you God) for working in the lives of Thai people!