Learning Thai

We hosted a joyful celebration meeting at our place this past Sunday. Lan, our friend from Laos who has been working in Bangkok since January, was baptized. He was introduced to Jesus by Pon and has rapidly matured in faith. It's been a blessing to study the Bible with him and see how convinced he has become that God cares about him and has a plan for his life. Pon was visiting during his college break and as they started talking about baptism it became evident that Lan was ready and that it would be a good idea to do it while Pon was still around. Since we didn't have much time to plan we decided to just do it in our kiddie pool. We had a good discussion about baptism ahead of time and several not-yet believers were able to hear some exciting testimonies about God's love and grace. After the baptism we did a string-tying ceremony as a way of welcoming Lan into God's family and then we shared a delicious meal of grilled chicken, catfish, somtam and sticky rice.

Here are a few pictures...

Pon blesses Lan while tying a string around his wrist. We use the strings as tangible demonstrations of God's love for us and our bond to each other.

-Tom