r ,eff and Pilar PrusP.O.Box 239

Chiang Mai50000Thoilond

Phone/fox: 011-66-53-282-646

Email, pruj@pobox.cofTi

Missionaries to Thailanc

CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY KLLOWSHIP Prayer Newsletter

May 1997

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings in Christ's name! It is a joy to write to you fromThailand. Our first five months havebeen very eventfuland challenging. We thank God for all of the people whohavebeen prayingfor us over this time. It has beenanencouragement to us, and we could not make it withoutthose prayers. We would like to give you an update on thethings that haveoccurred since wearrived, which primarilyconsists of settling in, language study, and culturaladjustments.

Settling In

Our plane landed in Chiang Mai on December 2, 1996.The first few months in Chiang Mai werespent gettingacquaintedwith the area. Finding out the best places tobuyfood, where to pick up transportation, where the postoffice is, and many other basic necessities were all thingswe had to learn. We found a housewithin three days andfrom what our friends have cold us, this is no small task.We had over 100 people praying for this specific request,and God answered it with lightningspeed. Praise theLord!

Christmas time was a little hard for us as this was our firstChristmason the field, and we were barely familiar withour surroundings. We did have the privilege, though, tovisit the foreign prisoners at the Chiang Mai prison andhold a Christmas service with some other missionaries. It

was sad to know that these people would be celebratingChristmas behind bars, but it was nice to be able to sharewith them what Christmas meant to us as Christians.

Language Study

Two weeks after arriving in Chiang Mai we began ourlanguage and culture study. We have two excellentteachers who teach us five days a week. We began our

Pilarpracticing her Thai writing.

studies by concentrating on speaking the Thai languageand buildingour vocabulary before westarted learninghow to read and write the Thai script. For the first threemonths, we plowed through three language modules andgaining confidence about speaking Thai, even with ourlimited vocabulary. During this time, we joined a group ofchildren for SundaySchool in order for us to hearThai ata simpler level. We have also been joining a smallgroup ofThais that meets on Wednesday nights to have dinnertogether and study the Bible.

m

The Wednesday night smallgroup that weattend.

Just this month we began to study the Thai writing system.With 44 consonants, 32 vowels, and 5 tones, this is quite achallenge. We can now make out some small words onstreet signs and continue to recognize more and more eachday. Our progress isveryexciting. We just bought someThai children's books that we're hoping to go through andread for more practice.

We especially wanted to learn to read after an unpleasantexperience. Recently, we were picking out an ice creambar after a hot afternoon, just wanting to cool down andrelax. The package wasyellow, and we thought that it wasmango flavor. But to our surprise after biting into it, itturned out to be a corn popsicle with actual kernelsofcorn. Talk about an incentive to learn how to read!

Cultural Adjustments

Moving to another country, as you know, means adjustingto a different language, climate, and culture. This can be afun part of being a missionary, and it can also be frustrating. Sometimeswe neverknow what to expect next. Itkeeps the days exciting though.

We havedays when we feel like it's not so different here,then we hop on the motorcycle, turn the corner, and pass

an elephant walking on theside of the road. Actually,there is an elephant that often walks through ourneighborhood past our house {and two that live nearby).Thestrange part is that we live inside of the city, notoutin the country or jungle.

Last week was the big Thai holiday known as Songkran.This is theThai New Year holiday that is celebrated byeveryone throwingwater oneveryone else. 1We've never been 'involved in a city-widewater fight before, butthat's exactly what it's

straight days. We

We were like drowned'cats before too long as Here we are suitedfor battle andbucket after bucket of drenchedfrom Songkran!water was poured onus. It was crazy butdefinitely a good experience. The Thais sure know how tohave a good time.

Day by day we continue to learn more about the Thaiculture in hopes of makingour adjustment as successful aspossible. We also hope to find ways to bridge the gap andexplain the Gospel to Thais in a familiar context. Pleaseprayfor us as we learn about the culture and askGod tosho-W us wiys that we can^ttch the Scripture in ameaningful way.

Praises

Here we are suitedfor battleanddrenchedfrom Songkran!

yfJtwereable to find housingso easily and get settled inwith relatively no problems.Our language study is goingso well thus far. We areblessed to have the two teachers that we have, and wethank God for this opportunity!

JefFand Pilar PrusChristian Missionary Fellowship

P.O. BOX 501020

INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46250-6020

Address Correction Requested

• Wonderful CMF teammates. We had our firstCMF-Thailand team meeting as new members of theteam. Thiswas a great opportunity to get to know ourteammates better.

• The peace that God has given us that this is exactly wherewe should be!

Prayer Requests

• Continued good adjustment to the Thai culture.• That we will do well in learning the Thai language

fluently throughout this concentrated year and beyond.• More Thai friends to whom we can share our lives.• More workers to join our CMF-Thailand team.

jeff and Pilar

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jeff and pilar prusmissionaries to thailand

\ •i,!'

jeff and pilar

P.O. Box 239

Chiang Mai 50000Tliailand

Phone/Fax: 011-66-53-282-646

Emaii, prus@pobox.com

CMF INTERNATIONAL Prayer Newsletter

November 1997

As we write this newsletter, we are sitting in ourbedroom trying to reflect on all that God has done inour lives these past few months. We have felt thepresence of the Lord with us every step of the way,reminding us of the words "and surely / am with youalways, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:20

Here are just a few of the events in our lives that Godhas helped us with.

cultural adjustments

Both of us made it through alive the infamous "six-month cultural shock stage" and are doing great! It'strue that some of the things that were so new andexciting when we got here aren't quite so excitinganymore (and can border along stressful). But, on theother hand, some of the things that seemed strangewhen we got here aren't quite as odd to us anymoreeither!

This past summer we bought a vehicle. With thedifference in the exchange rate of the Thai Baht, wewere able to get a four-door pickup truck instead of atwo-door! Pickup trucks are cheaper than regular carsbecause the government doesn't tax them as much asthe passenger cars.

Driving on the other side of the road took some gettingused to at first. It is also very different to drive on theother side of the car, shifting gears with the left hand.For the first week or so, every time we turned a comerI'd accidentally turn on the windshield wipers instead ofthe turn signal because they are the opposite of whatI'm used to. At least we had the cleanest windshield intown!

Having the truck has made life a little easier for us.When we went to the grocery store on the motorcycle,we could buy only a limited amount of food because wecouldn't carry that much on the bike. With the truck wecan actually stock up on things and not worry abouthaving enough hands to carry them home. Plus, in therainy season, we sure do appreciate having a roof overour heads as we drive and not being stuck under acanopy somewhere waiting for the rain to stop!

language study

Our language study is one of the highlights of our timeso far. Both of us are progressing well and starting tolearn at a more accelerated pace. We still have thesame two teachers as before, but now we study Thaiseparately one-on-one with our teachers. This hasenabled us to go at our own pace and individualize ourlessons in order to be more effective. Since we madethis change, we're both improving by leaps and bounds.

We are now able to read and write quite a bit of Thai.All of our lessons are in written Thai, and we constantlyread everything wherever we go in order to build ourvocabulary. People can't believe that we can talk tothem in their language and read and write Thai after just10 months of studying. They keep telling us that Thaisstudy English for 10 years and can't (more like don't)speak to foreigners.

A few weeks ago, we took two non-Christians to churchwith us (one of them had never been to church in hislife). During the sermon we heard words that we hadn'tstudied yet and didn't understand. We took thatopportunity to ask our Buddhist friends what thosewords meant and had them help us understand themeaning of the sermon. This was a great way to learnmore Thai words as well as to have our Thai friendscontemplate the content of the sermon. We have foundthat Thais usually enjoy the opportunity to help usunderstand their language, so we'll ask anyone aroundus to help!

One of the toughest things for us in practicing thelanguage is that Thai people laugh at you when you saya word wrong (I think they think it's cute). This can bediscouraging, but that's when it helps to have a sense ofhumor! God is helping us to be good-natured and tolaugh at ourselves, too. Before we left the States, weattended a seminar on learning foreign languages thattaught us when you learn another language, you'regoing to make a million mistakes. So we might as wellgo out and start making some each day! I've almostreached my million (Pilar's only at 131 mistakes).

Please pray with us as we continue on with ourlanguage study. This is our number one priority thisyear. Our goal is to study Thai through April 1998,then take the Thai government exam ~ which tests youat the level of sixth grade.

relationships

God has blessed us with lots of great relationships here.We have lots of friends and meet new people all thetime.

One person we've been building a relationship with isour air conditioner repair man. Our air conditionerbroke down in the hottest weeks of the hot season, andhe came out to fix it. Ever since then, he's come aroundeach month to check our air conditioner, and usuallystays to chat for a while. He's about our age, has a wifeand newborn daughter. We are excited about thisfriendship and getting to know them further.Unfortunately, his company just sent him to work inPattaya (southern Thailand), and he only gets to comehome for a few days each month to see his wife and

daughter now. Just before he left, he came by to see usand tell us that he's going to be gone, but assured usthat he's still coming by once a month when he's homein Chiang Mai.

We met another Thai man while visiting a BuddhistTemple in Bangkok. Pilar and I couldn't find our wayto the Golden Buddha, so we asked a young man sittingon the temple steps where it was. After we found it andcame out, we saw that same man again. He said hecame to the temple to worship and offer gifts toBuddha, but he wanted to talk for a little bit. The buswe came on was going to leave in 10 minutes, so wechatted until then.

He asked why we are able to speak Thai and why wecame to Thailand. We told him that we came to helpthe Thai people know God and have life through Jesus.He said he had never heard the story of Jesus before.By this time our bus was going to leave. He asked if hecould have our address to write to us, and we gave it tohim. A few weeks ago, we received a letter from himsaying he'd like to keep in contact by mail. Pleasepray for this young man named Prasert.

There is also a young lady whom we have befriended.Just last week we visited at her house, but she looked asif she didn't feel well. She told us she'd been very sickand was glad we came. We spoke in Thai with her for afew minutes, then she just fainted in the doorway. I ranand got a neighbor to help. We kept talking to her,trying to revive her. Finally, after almost five minutes,she came out of it and stood up. Fortunately, thishappened while we were there, and we could help takecare of her. We bought some food and medicine forher.

She called later to tell us how much she and her

husband appreciated our help. Now her husband wantsto sffi gelttmg together withes. ~We also took her^dher daughter to the zoo for the day. She told us thatthey are interested in learning more about Christianity.They are asking some good questions, and we'relooking forward to having more opportunities to dothings with them and talk with them about Christ.

These are some of the unique friendships we've beenable to develop with Thai people. Our goal is to enterinto the lives of everyday people and live out the love ofChrist before them in a relevant, meaningful way.

11/97

Jeff and Pilar Prus

CMF INTERNATIONAL

P.O. BOX 501020

INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46250-6020

317-578-2700

Return Service Requested

Vision

We recently returned from our first vacation and arenow refreshed and ready to continue on in our languagestudy and plans for the next year. While on vacation,God gave us a renewed sense of vision for the ministryand work in Chiang Mai. He inspired us to search fornew ways to build relationships with Thais, as well asto help the existing churches in Thailand that needleadership training and encouragement. Over the nextfew months, we will meet with members of ourThailand Field Team to discuss a strategy for our workafter we finish language study.

praises and prayer requests

We praise God for• blessing us with the ability to learn the Thai language.• our safety in travel.• the friends whom He has put into our lives.• the Hope that He gives us in Jesus Christ.

Pray for• our continued success in learning the Thai language

(good pronunciation and correct tones).• the relationships that we have built with Thai people,

that the Lord would help us to live out His love ineveryday situations.

• continued safety in travel.• wisdom and guidance as we move closer to our time

of formal ministry.

1Jeff

P.S.We're sorry that we couldn't illustrate some of ourministry with pictures, but our photos were lost in themail somewhere between Thailand and the CMF office.

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