A Toast to the Future
Mr S talks a lot about securing a good future for himself. He is a young single guy, and a fairly high ranking police officer. He thinks learning English will help his future, and so he studies English with a native speaker a couple times a week. He promised to come on Tuesday but a friend invited him to come and drink rice whiskey. Like many Phuan men, Mr S has a weakness for drinking, so he could not refuse the offer.

Xieng Khouang province, although it is not as densely populated as some other provinces, consumes the biggest amount of alcohol in the whole country. Most of the Phuan live in Xieng Khouang and most of them drink too much.

• Please pray that the stronghold of alcohol will be broken, people will come to faith and that God will empower them to say ‘no’ to ungodliness.

Dissatisfied
Mr. P had the privilege of studying in Russia when he was 17. Not that it does him any good now. Between his rice fields and his truck driving he is getting by alright, but he is consumed by the unfairness in the country.

“The rich people get their kids in the good schools,” he says, “whether they learn well or not. And then those kids get the jobs. Poor people can’t afford to send their children to university even if they are bright. And then they have no work.”

There are many people like Mr P – dissatisfied with how things are done here.

• Please pray that God will use it to make them look for Him and be satisfied by His love.