Ric and Sharon Bruce On a journey with you to Thailand
This weekend we visited our Thai church’s sister church in Turtle Mountain (Doi Tao) Thailand. Though there are not many members the church was very warm and welcoming. It was a joy to join them for their annual Christmas celebration. Here they are singing Joy to the World in Thai.
(c) Norman Murphy
Life around this time of year is nuts. Whether it’s caroling all night, preparing special songs, or passing out tracts our friends hardly sleep this time of year. It’s true that we work hard but sometimes it seems like we “play” even harder with our friends. Unlike back home, people don’t get work or school off during this time of the year leaving schedules packed full and little end in sight until the new year.
A common question we get is, “How’s your language learning coming?!” Language learning is a lifestyle. It’s like trying to lose weight, eat healthy, get enough sleep or read through the Bible in a year. It’s hard work and requires a lot of discipline. It also requires sacrifice. You won’t lose weight unless you stop drinking that six pack of Pepsi for breakfast. Language learning has its ups and downs but overall we’re very encouraged with our progress.
We moved. Our new neighborhood is awesome. We’ve really enjoyed getting to know the people that walk around our neighborhood at night and the people that loiter around the local snack shop. Mostly we’re thankful for the lower rent outside the city as it helps us cover our expenses better. Thank-you to those of you who gave to cover our moving expenses.
A recent trip to visit a tribal team about six hours from here was incredible. There are people groups here in Thailand who need to hear God’s live-giving message, the gospel, in their heart language. During this Christmas season our hearts go out to you, our family and friends who have cheered us on to this point. We appreciate your love and support.
Yours, Ric and Sharon
Embedded on our website and at our Picasa web albums you’ll find pictures of our Christmas tree going up. This year we’re excited to see what will happen as we begin new traditions in a much different Christmas environment! Today as we were putting the tree up we were sweating. But the Christmas music and the beautiful tree helped us forget that and have a lot of fun.
Putting up the tree
How do you know it’s Christmas time? Because it’s seventeen degrees outside, the snow’s been falling since we arrived, and the tree is up. We’re in Michigan celebrating the holidays with family and connecting with our home churches. Our primary focus during these days remains the same: we’re raising financial and prayer support for our ministry.
Today we’re gearing up to send out a print Christmas newsletter, adding new contacts we gained during our travels to our databases, and spending time in meetings with our pastors and supporters.
We’re greatly encouraged during these days by many people who choose to make an end of the year donation to our ministry. If you would like to give please visit our give page http://blogs.ntm.org/ric-bruce/give/. God bless you this holiday season!
