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Dana & Cindy Bratton's Latest Adventures in Ministry |
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Missionaries to Thailand,
Pastor
Calvary Chapel at the Bridge
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May
2008
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The Ministry of
Cutting Weeds
I
had a flat tire on the scooter we borrow. It turned into a neighborhood
project after I bought a patch kit and pump, and later a new tube. It
started with a few neighbors and ended up with five men, one lady and six
children. We weren't successful though in the repair, the following day we
had to buy another new tube. On another day I knocked the pvc water pipe
with my hoe as I trimming the weeds around it, and broke the elbow. I
asked the neighbor where to turn off the water and ended up with two policeman,
the village waterman, and many neighbors. It has become a regular routine
now for me to work on street clean up every morning except Sunday. I start
at six or seven and work for an hour until it gets too hot. The street was
really overgrown with weeds and other plants and littered with lots of trash.
It's getting better and better. One morning as I went out to work, a lady
came running down the street after me, yelling, you, you. Then she said in
Thai, it's very hot out and gave me a helmet to wear. I started with just
a hoe and a rake, but have since added gloves, a weed eater, and Round Up weed
killer. I burn piles of weeds and trash nearly every day in the street.
Every morning people greet me and often let me know how much they appreciate the
street clean up. Nipon a retired navy man, who carries a huge knife and
sometimes a gun, took me for a bowl of rice soup and coffee at one of the small
village restaurants near the Community Center. He is one of Cindy's
English students too.
Today a family gave me a nice steel cup of ice water.
Songkran
Happy Thai New Year. Yes, that's right we just celebrated New Years. On Monday the 14th our village had a large outdoor gathering,
with lots of food, then we poured water on each other and then there were tug of
war tournaments and other games. Songkran is a Thai traditional New Year which
starts on April 13 every year and lasts for 3 days. We didn't get near as wet,
as last year when we were in Bangkok. Songkran festival on April 13 is
Maha Songkran Day or the day to mark the end of the old year, April 14 is Wan
Nao which is the day after and April 15 is Wan Thaloeng Sok which the New Year
begins. At this time, people from the rural areas who are working in the city
usually return home to celebrate the festival. In the church service that
day I emphasized the need to honor and respect your family and older adults and
purpose to live a godly life in the new year.
Phi Phi Island
It was my birthday on April 21. We celebrated with a trip to the Phi Phi
islands. I was there before just after the tsunami. Cindy wanted to
see it and I wanted to see it again. It was so wonderful to see everything
restored and fully operational on the island, plus the natural beauty is out of
this world. The water surrounding the island is clear like a swimming pool
a good 30 yards out from shore.
Jum our coworker is leaving
 Our coworker here, and translator Jum, has been on a two week vacation. It
was challenging without her. I used an audio player that Don Jentes gave
me, that plays the God Story in Thai and used that for the Bible studies and
then I used a video version of it for one church service. It worked well,
in that I could find chapters in Genesis on the audio version that coincided
with what we had been studying in the Bible studies and then found parts of the
video of the life of Christ that coincided with our studies in Luke. Then last
Sunday we had the privilege of meeting the new Southern Thailand area director
with YWAM Thailand, Phillip Anderson, his wife Yvette, and their daughter Pearl.
Phil was my translator. He just returned from two years in the U.S. , but
all total he has been a missionary in Thailand for about twenty years, and
planted a church in Phang Nga. Phil is from California and Yvette is
from Australia, they met in Thailand. They live only about twenty minutes
away and will be a great resource. Jum is moving away the end of this
month so please pray that the Lord will provide a long term translator to take
her place until my Thai is better. Jum will be greatly missed not
only by Cindy and I but also by the congregation here, she has done much to
minister to the people of this village and the surrounding communities, both
young and old.
New web pages and a House for
Sale
At some point
I hope to have a complete website for the church, but for now we have a
Calvary Chapel at the Bridge
web page. There are sermon notes and Power Point slides of our
services and Bible studies.
Our beautiful house is for sale.
$305,000 Quiet neighborhood with shopping and schools
nearby. Double door entry, ceramic tile through to the kitchen and in all
bathrooms. Step down into a formal dining room, plus a large separate family
room with a fireplace and wet bar, and there is a separate computer office. The
kitchen overlooks a covered patio and the hillside. Mt. Rubidoux can be seen
from the front yard. There is a nice sized back yard for gardening and pets.
This home is great for entertaining. Vaulted ceilings, lots of parking, wood
cabinetry in the kitchen. There are two closets in the master bedroom. There is
direct access to the three car garage and electric door opener. Laundry set up
in the garage. Easy access to the 60 freeway, nearby shopping and schools.
Click here for more information.
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Buy a song tao truck project
Our friends in Bangkok, Alistair and M, have a 2001 Nissan Frontier pickup
with only 25,000 miles they want to sell to us for $8,000 U.S., and they will deliver
it from Bangkok. We will then add the song tao, which means two
benches; there is a frame with an aluminum or canvas roof, like a camper
shell but with open walls and two benches. That part costs $800. So we
need $8,800. The truck will be our personal car as well as the church van. Can you help us with this project?
We have $2,500, we need $2,000 more by May 21, or Alistair may have to sell the
truck to someone else since he needs to buy his plane tickets for a trip to
Ireland.
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Prayer Requests
We need the Lord's wisdom in leading and overseeing this ministry
which will probably also involve many new programs in the community center.
Pray for Southern Thailand and
especially for Calvary Chapel at the Bridge, the church plant in Thachatchai, Phuket.
Pray for Cindy as she teaches four
English classes in the Community Center each week. Two are designed for
adults, two for children. Next week she starts teaching English at the
public school 4 afternoons a week. .
Pray that the stewards of the Community
Center which is Food for the Hungry in Bangkok, and leaders in the village will
labor together to develop programs for the Community Center and that we will
together be able to raise support for air conditioning and an acoustic ceiling.
Pray
that God will enlighten the minds and understanding of Buddhists, to recognize
God as the only true God.
Pray that the Lord will send more laborers for the harvest here. We
urgently need a translator and we still need a new children's worker
who also speaks English, so she can work with Cindy in children's ministry.
We need some additional monthly support
Support may be sent to YWAM Montana 501 Blacktail
Road Lakeside, Montana 59922 U.S.A. Project number
3454.
Pray the Lord will help us to become fluent in Thai
so that we can be most effective in sharing the
Gospel and training and discipling.
We will begin lessons soon with a
teacher from the Thachatchai school.
Pray for the song tao truck
project
Pray for unity in the church and
for God to raise up servant leaders
Pray that our
house will sell. Our sons and their wives have
determined they cannot afford the monthly mortgage on our old home in Riverside.
They just replaced the heater and air conditioner, have done some painting and
yard work and have put it up for sale. Pray that it will sell quickly
and at good price that will benefit them and us. The home is located at 6517
Avenida Mariposa Riverside. A three bedroom house, two stories, three car
garage, 2 1/2 baths, we have reduced the price to $305,000. Contact Jerry Cook at Park
Place realty in Moreno Valley.
Nathan and Denise are expecting
their first baby this month. Praise the Lord!
Thanks for partnership with us, we greatly appreciate your support through prayer and
financial giving. God bless you,
Dana and Cindy Bratton
YWAM Thailand missionary. Support may be sent to
YWAM Montana 501 Blacktail Road Lakeside, Montana
59922 U.S.A. Project number 3454. or through
PayPal
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