Sawatdee-ka!
We survived (and sweated) through our first Thai winter and have wrapped up our second semester at Rajabhat Chiang Mai University!  The last month has been a great time for us to continue meeting students and sharing the Gospel with those who have never heard before.

We are so thankful for your prayers for us over the last few weeks.  There were many days on campus that it was evident the Lord opened up doors and opportunities that were direct results to answering your prayers for us.  We have seen several students, who had accepted Christ through the Korean outreach held last month, continue to grow in their faith and knowledge of Jesus.   So, it has been a really encouraging way to end our last few weeks of the school term.
A couple weeks ago on campus, Jonathan and Bjorn (a fellow member of our STINT team) were praying for opportunities to share the Gospel on campus and were led to two guys sitting by the soccer field.  Upon talking to them, one of the students had attended a CCC conference in the past and told us that he was had accepted Christ at that time.  The other student sitting next to him was eager to hear the message of the Gospel for the first time.  As we shared with him, it was awesome to see him tracking along and truly contemplating the truths we were sharing with him.  After explaining the opportunity we each have to receive Christ into our own lives, we asked him if this is something he wanted to do.  He said yes, so we were able to explain that he could accept Christ right where he sat, by faith alone.  There at the soccer field, he prayed and asked Jesus to take the throne of his life.  In asking him how his life has changed, he said, “When I die I will get to be with Jesus in heaven!”  I remember thinking how thankful I was at that moment for our faithful prayer support from our friends and family around the world.  I truly believe God opened this student’s heart as a result of your continued prayers for our team and ministry in Thailand.

To celebrate finals week our team hosted a “Happy Bag Outreach.”  “Happy Bags” are plastic bags filled with the most popular of Thai snacks (ranging from fish flavored strips, jelly-filled twinkies and mentos... quite the combination, right?) along with student testimonies (check them out online on our website: www.ReachThailand.com), a coupon for a “Free Bible” and a Gospel booklet.  We took the first couple days of finals week to pass out the 1000 bags to students who are busily preparing for their tests.  It is amazing to see their excited responses to receive the bags (thus the name “Happy Bags”).  What is even more exciting was to see students exposed to the Gospel in a unique way that encouraged them as they prepared for exams.  In the two days of handing out Happy Bags on campus, ten Bibles were requested by students!  During the initial planning by our team, we had discussed that even if just one Bible was requested by a student – we would be more than overjoyed – so giving several away was a huge blessing!

Our weeks coming up will be a bit of a change of pace for us.  We will be helping out with the Thai Summer Project in March.  This is a mission trip to remote villages in Thailand that students will be able to step out in faith and share the Gospel with those who might have never heard before.  We are also excited as some of our family (Jonathan’s parents, brother and sister-in-law) will be traveling in late March to visit us for 10 days!  So please pray for their travels and these unique opportunities to challenge students in new steps of faith.

Much Love,
Jonathan & Candice
1 Thessalonians 2:8

rayer Requests:

• That students would join us for Thai Summer Project in March. It will be a unique experience for students to grow in their relationship with the Lord, build community with fellow believers and gain a vision for the world.
• That God would use the message included in the Happy Bags to reach students who are seeking.
• That the Lord would protect our family that is traveling to visit next month.

• Many students requested a Bible through the Happy Bag outreach!
• Several students at Rajabhat accepted Christ in the last few weeks of the semester! Please pray as we continue to try and follow up with them.