
The Thai summer break for Geshem and Iris is coming to a close. Next week Iris will start Preschool Level 2 and Geshem will go into grade 4! We were elated when we got Geshem's first ever standardized test scores back last month. Even though we know that standardized tests aren't the best indicator of skills or knowledge, we were amazed that Geshem scored around 17 percent higher than the national average in 2 of the 3 areas tested. We are so proud of who he is becoming. He has strong academic skills, as well as social emotional skills. He is a good example to us, his peers, and his sister:)
One big piece of news is that we have a young refugee woman from Burma living with us for the next month or two. She was referred to us by a colleague at the university. Her name is Nightingale. She has a huge heart to reach Burma with the love of God, and she is going to a state in Northern India to go to Bible school. Her mentor wanted her to live with us so that we could help her be less shy, improve her English, and be a part of a family. We are confident that Iris and Geshem can break her out of her shell like they did with Joy.
Joy has started working at various jobs since she is now graduated from High School. We now only really see her on Wednesdays at our home church. She will continue to apply for universities and for scholarships. Get is back in the house after visiting the mountain, and will head back to school for grade 12 next week. She was excited to have Nightingale come live with us.
Our close friend Baifern, pictured above with Iris on her lap, has been dating a young man named Nuy (next to Baifern in the picture). He has been very interested in learning about relationship with God, and has been coming to our home church for many weeks. A few weeks ago, he decided that he wanted to follow Jesus, and we took communion together. It was a happy and peaceful time. He told me that his whole life he has been seeking truth.
Another young lady started coming to our group with her husband. She is pictured in the top right corner, in a blue shirt. She and her husband are a young married couple, from a mountain ethnic group, and they are working at a gas station. Last year, before they were married, he husband encountered God at our house. He went back to the mountain, met her, got married, and brought her to the city. They have been coming to our group, and next week we are having church with them in their apartment. They are close friends with another young couple that come to our group. Pray that they would be strong in faith and love, and that they would get opportunity to get good jobs. Their names are Sai Fone, Somboon, Naam, and Doi.
Tracy and I got to help the office staff of the university organize a serve trip to a home for children with Down's Syndrome. Tracy's experience as a early childhood educator was an asset, as she planned and prepared awesome and engaging activities for us all. We had a blast with the staff and the kids.
I have had the opportunity to speak at a few seminars at local universities on the subject of learning and “success.” It has been a great way to encourage and inspire Thai students to transform their communities. It has also been a great way to connect with new groups of students.
Our family helped our friend Pat with summer programs at the local schools. We did baking days and game days. It was a wild and crazy time trying to organize 60 village kids, but in the end, everyone had a great time.
Thanks for taking the time to read and stay connected.
We love you. Below I have put bullet points for the prayer requests.
* Pray for us to be a bright light in our community
* Pray that Joy will make good plans for the future and receive a scholarship
* Pray for Get to continue to shine at her school and to have grace in the competitive program.
* Pray for Geshem and Iris to continue to be a good example and to be secure in their identity.
* Pray that Tracy will be refreshed and refilled in her transition from GKP
* Pray that Father will use Caleb on campus for His purposes.
* Pray that we will be used to impact our community and the families we are involved with.
* Pray for our the work at Pat's farm and with the kids in the village, that we can effectively encourage an empower them.
* Pray for Caleb to balance the demands of the Masters degree program with all of the other demands of life.
* Pray for our decision making and planning for the future.
If you'd like to contact the Lorensens to find out more about what they are doing in Thailand, or how you might get involved, please contact Caleb at this link