Traveling on the bus from RM to town early this morning, I was struck again by the rich varieties of green and the thick new growth on hills and fields.  The rains have arrived at last and on the dry, hard earth vegetation has sprouted unbelievably quickly. My thoughts immediately flashed to concerns for growth in the Mien church.  The refreshing and renewing that the land experiences is what is also needed among the Mien. 

• May God’s Spirit move in new ways especially where there still seems to be so much hardness and barrenness. We praise Him for what he is doing in many places. Yet in others there still seems to be dryness and drought and need for His renewing.

Peer pressure and parental objections are two main reasons keeping P non-believing young people from knowing and following Jesus.

• Now that many young people have gone to work in other big cities, pray that they will come in contact with committed Christians that will lead them to faith in Jesus and spiritual growth. Pray also for Christian youth studying in cities and big towns, that they too will meet committed Christians.
• Pray that problems they face will drive them to seek the Lord and Christian fellowship.

On weekends, field work and doing fun things with peers, like swimming and fishing in the muddy river and watching TV, take priority over church attendance.

• Pray we'll know how to make best use of their little visits during the week to encourage them in their spiritual journey.
• Pray too for the girls who are growing up and want to do adult things. Bad influences around them make them just want fun & enjoyment so they follow the ways of the world with bad language, laziness, poor choice of clothing, unhealthy relationships with men with mobile phones, cars and cash. All these behaviors sad to say, are acceptable and encouraged by their parents who have little or no education and are lovers of money instead of their children and their future.
• Bondage to alcohol and gambling are breaking down families. There are also quite a number of girls who are not motivated to go to school and are just happy to remain in the village and bear children even at age 15!  And the cycle repeats itself. Pray that the power of the Gospel will bring deliverance and set people free from lethargy and hopelessness.
• Pray for the handful of believers here that they will " ... not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of their mind" through faithful daily Bible reading and regular church attendance.             

Praise the Lord GT who along with four other young Mien graduated from M Bible School. Pray for GT as he will begin ministry in the N Hostel.

• Pray for wisdom to know how to set up a syllabus for teaching Mandarin.
• Pray for his settling in well and harmonious working relationship with the Hostel Parents, A and L.  Pray too that he will get along well with the 26 students, especially the boys who need a godly big brother image.

At P Bible College, at least seven Mien started a new school semester on 1 June. Pray for their spiritual growth and character building in the midst of a busy schedule and heavy study load.

• KT has finished his 3rd year and is presently interning in a place down south where there is much political unrest. He is busy daily with many teaching responsibilities in the Thai church there. He asks for prayer that he will learn to wait on the Lord and to hear Him so he can be an effective worker for the Lord there.
  
  
  • Pray he will be clear in his teaching and language. He thanks God for precious time He can spent in reading the Bible. Pray for the believers to come alongside him and be his friend. He lives on the church premise and is lonely.

My neighbors' three years old grandson, Peace, is an autistic child. He just started nursery at the foothills. Every morning he has to be pushed up into the van crying his heart out. Just the sight of a van now arouses great fear that "it's here to take me away"  Pray for Peace at this difficult time and also wisdom for his mom May.

Our Mien builder SL and team have stopped working on the 2nd wall of the Mien Center land in order to plant their fields now the rains have arrived.

• Pray they will be able to finish their fieldwork and complete the wall in order to move on to erecting the covered parking for four vehicles.  This will be used to temporarily house the construction workers.
• Pray too for WS as he obtains temporary electricity for the site. Much prayer is needed for this huge project so please pray for all that is involved.  We hope that work can begin at the end of June. Please continue to pray for the Lord to supply the rest of the finance needed for this project. Please also ask the Lord to help us sell the N Hostel land so money can be released for this project.

Praise the Lord that 4 of the 5 editions of the revised, expanded Mien Hymnbook are now at the printers. In the ongoing work of "checking" we press on - map name lists sent to the Bible Society are now being returned with all names on the completed maps and must be carefully checked as well - 10 maps for each of the 4 scripts.

• Please pray for wisdom, accuracy, patience (we would like it to be done faster) and good eyesight! The computers have been experiencing a few problems again lately.
• July 11-15th I'm going to the Bible Society to get help in sorting out some of the remaining incorrect or untidy features of our publishing program for all four scripts. Each script has its own unique set of difficulties.
• HP is working steadily to complete the Mien - English dictionary. GF and I have completed our checking for it except for one file.