Karl & Sun Dahlfred

Dear Family and Friends,

Thankfulness is vastly undervalued in our society today. We grumble. We gripe. We give our attention to everything going wrong rather than what is going right.  And I fall into those ruts too. But thankfulness and counting your blessings is highly valued in Scripture.  In my Bible reading the other day, Psalm 50:23 stood out, “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!” We want you to know that we are thankful for each of you reading this, for your prayers, encouragement, and financial support as we seek to return to Thailand and do some stateside Thai ministry during this stage in our lives.

Central Florida Thai Christian Camp

This past June, our family had the privilege of attending a 3-day camp for Thai Christians in Central / South Florida. I was the main speaker, delivering three sermons on unity in Christ. Even though I was tired and recovering from a recent illness going into the camp, somehow, through the power of the Holy Spirit, I was able to preach. From the feedback received, the Thai believers in attendance appreciated my sermons on the Trinity as the basis for Christian unity, and practical lessons on overcoming challenges to unity from the Gospels, Acts, and 1 Corinthians. Unity is a problem for churches around the world, Thai churches included.

It was good to be with Thai believers for a few days, enjoying food and fellowship together as we thought about what it means to be united in Christ and the practical outworking of that in the local church. In the midst of all the divisions and sinfulness in the world today, God knows that humility and repentance that leads to unity among believers is sorely needed. Thank you for your partnership with us in ministering to Thai Christians.

Going to Thailand?

I am regularly asked when we are going back to Thailand so I wanted to give a brief update.  There are two main factors in our return to Thailand. First, we recently worked with OMF to recalculate a provisional annual budget and discovered that we are approximately $1500 / month short of the financial support level needed to get the green light to return to Thailand. I had thought we were closer but when we crunched the numbers that’s what came out. As I am sure you all know, inflation is causing the cost of everything to go up and that is true for us as well, including projected living expenses in Thailand. Also, as our kids get older, expenses increase. For example, as part of his homeschool, our oldest son is now taking some college classes. Secondly, while we are thankful that the vast majority of Covid restrictions for entry to Thailand have been dropped, we’d still like to see the unnecessary testing requirement dropped by the time we go back. Would you pray with us that that would happen?

East Coast Trip 

This coming fall, we are contemplating driving from Florida up the east coast to visit friends and churches, and to visit Washington DC, Philly, New York, and New England.  Are you somewhere along the east coast? Would you enjoy a visit?  Would your church enjoy hearing about what God is doing in Thailand? Drop up a line and we’ll see if we can put something on the calendar. We are currently in the brainstorming and planning stage and no dates have been set, though we are thinking late August or September sometime. Joshua has his learner’s permit now so maybe we’ll put him behind the wheel on our trip too. 

If God provides the additional financial support between now and the end of the next academic year, and the way to Thailand is all clear covid-wise, perhaps we can go back to Thailand next spring or summer?  I really thought we’d be back in Thailand by now and it is often discouraging and frustrating that we are not, but this is where we are.

Thank you for standing with us as we seek to see God glorified among Thai people around the world, and to get back to Thailand.

By Christ’s grace,

Karl & Sun Dahlfred

PRAYER POINTS

• God will make a way for us to return to Thailand

• Thai people will trust in Christ, both in Thailand and overseas

• Ministry with Thai in USA

PRAISES

• Preaching and fellowship at Thai Christian camp in Florida

CALENDAR

7/16 Thai Bible Study, Melbourne, FL

9/2022 East Coast Trip to visit churches, partners, friends?