- News: Around The World
-
21 Jan
[04-04-08] Tithe Your Holiday
Tithing is something Christians are generally familiar with but we usually apply it to our finances.[18-03-08] Just Trade Thailand
Tomorrow I'm flying off to Thailand, Cambodia and Hong Kong as part of my role with Just Trade to visit small businesses that providing employment for very vulnerable communities.[10-03-08] Climate Change
"In spring, it shouldn't be hot, but this year was really hot," says Murat.[24-01-08] China 2008
Duration: approx 2weeks Dates: 5th-17th Sept Cost: £430 + flights to Chengdu Be part of a team who are going to China to trek in the mountains of Tibet.[24-01-08] Trips for 2008
A number of Open Heaveners are already thinking about giving some of their holiday time to God and heading off on focused mission trips.[21-01-08] Update from Paul McKnight
Dear All, We finished our term of teaching in December and at Step Ahead we threw a party for about 60 or so friends, neighbours and students.[15-09-06] Prayer for Muslims
More and more world news is being dominated by conflict between the west and the Muslim world.[10-08-06] Trip to Albania
A team from Open Heaven will be heading out to Albania at the end of August where we will be linking up with and serving two churches.[30-01-06] Step Ahead Training Centre: Khao Lak, Thailand
Background to the Area Before the Tsunami the area of Khao Lak, in which the Step Ahead Training Centre is based, had a growing tourist industry alongside the well established local fishing businesses.[26-10-05] Phones 4 Life
A section from a recent letter from Simon Guillebaud, a missionary we support who is working in Burundi: "One of the most heart-wrenching and deeply-impacting moments in my life was when an African brother asked me for $4 for medicine for his sick baby boy.
Update from Paul McKnight
D
ear All,
We finished our term of teaching in December and at Step Ahead we threw a party for about 60 or so friends, neighbours and students. I did a small talk about Christmas and we sang Thai and English carols. We also ate together, played the most energetic game of ‘pass the parcel’ where we had people running round the room acting like geese etc. and then finished the night with a gift exchange draw. It was great to be able to share this special season and it’s meaning with so many Thai people who either think it’s ‘farang’ (foreigner) New Year or about Santa.
On Christmas day night there was a big event put on by the churches in the area and about 500 or so people came along. It was really great to see a lot of churches in the region working together.
Tsunami Memorials –
On 26th December I took a memorial service for tourists and Thai staff at a local hotel. Then in the evening I went to the 3 year memorial on the beach at the end of our road where the princess, who lost her son in the tsunami, spoke. 5000-6000 lanterns were let off to represent the number of people who died in the local area. It was a moving day and incredibly difficult to imagine what it would have been like at that time 3 years ago.
New Year –
I’m now back into classes but I appreciated the break from teaching over the New Year where I used my time to do preparation for the New Year courses and tried to focus more on our community projects. In a community where one of our preschools is based they are looking into an eco-tourism ‘home stay’ initiative and so I will have to become more involved in that in the next few months. Living in community isn’t always easy and so please pray for team relationships! In this New Year I would also appreciate prayer for guidance and clarity to know God’s will for what I should do after the summer.
Happy New Year.
Luv Paul
Posted by: LJ Lloyd-Jarvis on Monday Jan 21st, 2008
- Comments
-
Logged-in members can post comments on openheaven.org news articles.