Karl & Sun Dahlfred

Dear Friends & Family,

Our home assignment in the United States is over and we are really thankful for the past 7 months of visiting churches, renewing relationships and forming new ones, and reacquainting ourselves and our kids with the U.S. 

Our time in the States has been very busy but very good.  We have been greatly encouraged when people have shown genuine interest in the work that we are doing in Thailand, and express their enthusiasm for what God is doing there.  When we are in Thailand, we hear from folks back in the States only occasionally and don’t know how much our prayer letters are being read.  For that reason, it has been great to discover that many people have been reading and praying. Thank you!

Our kids have enjoyed their time in the U.S. as well, having fun with the sights and sounds that America has to offer, and feeling comfortable interacting with people around them since (nearly) everyone speaks English.  Their Thai ability is improving but they are totally native English speakers and love to understand others and express themselves.  In fact, Joshua even got in on doing presentations at churches, talking about Thailand from a kid's perspective.  If you'd like to watch his presentation (7 minutes), click here.

Thank you to all of you who have been a part of our family’s home assignment in the States over these past several months, and thank you to all of you who support us and remember us in prayer.

Moving to Edinburgh, Scotland

Packing our bags and wrapping up loose ends before moving always causes me (Karl) to stress, even when through we know that God cares for us and provides what we need.  Got to keep reminding myself of that! 

But aside from the unpleasant aspects of moving a family of five internationally, we are thrilled to go to Scotland and begin this next phase of our life.  Our oldest, Joshua, says “It’s really exciting to move to Scotland.  The day we are going to fly is so near, but so far. Maybe we can go visit some castles and see Loch Ness.”  By the time some of you read this, our family may already be in the air or in Scotland.  We fly to Edinburgh on Monday Sept. 4th and arrive on Tuesday evening Sept. 5th.  We will stay with friends of friends for a week and then move into our apartment in university housing on  Sept. 12th.   There are some university orientation events from Sept. 9-15 and I officially begin my studies on Sept. 18th.

We are hoping and praying to have lots of opportunities to form new relationships with other families and couples in our apartment building, as well as from the broader university community.  The school has 35,000 students, many coming from other parts of the world, and we’d love to get to know folks not only for the sake of friendships for us and our kids but also to have the chance to bear witness to our Lord Jesus Christ as well.  The university even has a Thai student group and we’d love to get to know some Thai people too! 

Please pray for new relationships with people associated with the university.  Please also pray for wisdom and guidance in choosing a new church community to become a part of.  Please pray for our transition and settling in to life and studies in a new country and that we’d be light for Christ wherever we go.  Thank you and God bless!

by Christ’s grace,

Karl & Sun Dahlfred

PRAYER POINTS

• Smooth transition to living in Edinburgh
• New relationships and new church community
• Being salt and light for Christ wherever we go

PRAISES

• Encouraging home assignment in the U.S.
• God’s provision for studies in Scotland

CALENDAR 

9/4 Fly to Edinburgh, Scotland

9/12 Move in to new apartment in Edinburgh

9/18 School year begins at University of Edinburgh