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Sunday, 23 May 2010 14:50 |
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23 5 10
Hello to our fantastic link church members,
We wanted to thank you for all your prayers for us during these turbulent times.
The protests as they were are finally over, though tensions remain very high here. We are still under a nighttime curfew, and the troops are still closely guarding the malls. Wednesday was a very traumatic day as troops moved in on the protesters and then bombs were going off all over the city, including a bomb at the shopping centre near to where we live, as well as at a nearby Tesco Lotus store. The shops have food shortages at present, not sure whether it is a supply problem, or people still stocking up.
But we are hopeful that there might now be a period of calm where we can resume language studies and settle in to the new house, as well as search for a car. The divisions and resentment here seem to go very deep, and there is much talk of what will happen next, as well as fear over the weapons that have been recovered apparently from the protest site, such as car bombs, and the clips of the more radical protest leaders urging their supporters to make Bangkok a 'sea of fire' have been played on tv causing much shock.
Some of the girl’s friends have gone back to their countries during the problems and are not likely to come back soon, so we would appreciate your prayers for the girls, as this doesn't help them in the settling in process. Their school breaks up in two weeks for their holidays, and there has been so much trouble and school closures that they have only had one full week at school since they started! It is hard for us to think we don't have to move shortly once more, please pray that God will help us to feel like we have a home now. I would also appreciate prayers for my health (Gillian) as I have had some sort of food poisoning recurring this week from two weeks ago, which has been nasty.
Thankfully we have not been tempted to come home, as each of us has known the peace that God has called us here and has his purposes for us here in the future, despite all the troubles, and we are sure a large part of this assurance has come from your faithful prayers for us.
Thank you so much and God's blessings from us to you all.
With much love,
John, Gillian, Leah, Natalie, and Joel xx |
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Wednesday, 19 May 2010 17:59 |
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19 5 10
We are about to start a curfew and some say the Internet connection will go down.
We would really appreciate your prayers tonight. After the government moved in early this morning to the protest site the leaders surrendered to avoid further killing. Then the city started to suffer the unrest. A huge shopping mall has been burned down, and many banks, buses, shops set on fire. There have been bombs too in our area of the city, a tower block and a mall. The curfew tonight is for the army to try and control the mobs, but unrest has spread to other areas at the moment too. Please pray for us. It is really not a nice situation to be in for the girls, as the violence has come so close now, and we need to know God with us tonight. Please pray for protection, and that those trying to start civil war would be thwarted in their plans and that change would happen through non-violent means.
We very much appreciate every one of you who prays for us.
With love,
John and Gillian |
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Sunday, 16 May 2010 17:23 |
16.5.10
Thank you so much for praying today. John went back to our house this morning amidst a window of calm, and trouble started whilst he was there. But God is so good, he managed to get out again, the police stopped him and we feared they would turn him back because there was so much going on all around, including bombing the police station in our road but they checked the car and his documents and let him carry on. He managed to get most of our things from the house, and today we were able to move in to the new house instead of living out of carrier bags, and we are just so thankful to God and to you for praying. Please continue to pray for the situation here. All the schools have been shut tomorrow and the British embassy are advising us to remain at home unless we really need to go out, as the violence continues to be very bad in a third of the city.
With love,
John, Gillian, Leah, Natalie and Joel |
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Sunday, 16 May 2010 08:07 |
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16.5.10
To our lovely supporters,
We would ask you once again to pray urgently for the situation here tonight. In half an hour, 6pm, the government is planning to send armoured personnel carriers to the protestors site and to cut their mobile phone signals. If that happens other supporters around the country are threatening to carry out action against the government. The government have advised local residents to leave the area. The British Embassy is in this area, and the protestors have been tapping in to their water supplies, stopping the government being able to cut them yesterday. The government is telling all firms to send their staff home in the area, including where we live, and not to send them to work for the next few days.
We have been living in the south east of the city for the last two weeks and travelling home to pack the house while the girls are at school. We are nearly packed and due to move on Sunday. Please pray for us, for God's protection and guidance on when to travel.
Please pray for this situation, for the Thai people, and particularly the soldiers, and just everything really, particularly for the unrest spreading nationwide.
Thankyou so much,
With much love,
John and Gillian |
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Last Updated on Sunday, 16 May 2010 11:17 |
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