Do you ever feel like everything is on the very edge of total collapse? That is a little of where life is for us right now. This has been a very difficult year and as we enter the Christmas season we want to ask all of you to remember us in prayer. We have commitments, responsibilities and personal business to wade through this month, but we really need prayer just for Lori and I personally.

Please pray for guidance, for strength, for stability and for peace in our lives in this season.

Thank you for your prayers.

This is a very difficult time for us. Spiritual strongholds are being shaken, and we are all trying to dig in and fight through this time.
Please pray:

For Paul and Lori

• Strength to keep pushing through the hardest year of our lives
• Direction as we face difficult decisions
• A quick sale of our home in America
• Faith to lean on God in this stretching time

For Akha Outreach Foundation

• Strength for the staff as they go through a difficult season
• Protection over the kids as they go back to their villages during the fall school break
• Continued direction from the Lord in all things

We are all spending a lot of time in prayer out here and would love you to join us. Thank you for your partnership in prayer.

Please hold the nation of Thailand in your prayers :: Last night Thailand underwent a Military coup. Everything has been peaceful thus far, but no one knows how this will turn out. The action is really centered in Bangkok so we're just digging in and watching the news for the outcome of this event. All banks and schools are closed for now, but everyone up north is very calm. Kids are playing out in the rain enjoying their day off.

Nancy, who was here during the coup in 1991, said she didn't remember banks closing last time, but it was encouraging (ok, just kind of encouraging) to know that these things happen in Thailand - this is the 18th Military Coup in Thailand since 1932.


Thank you for your prayers.

This has been a really good season for us. We have been experiencing some wonderful victories and personal freedom, but with all victory comes trial and one of our biggest trials right now is coming in the form of our house in the states.

What we are asking for prayer for right now is simply direction - What are we supposed to do with our home? Please join us in asking for clear and precise direction in this matter.

As always, we appreciate and covet your prayers - they really make a difference. Thank you for praying.

Join us in praying for our home church, Hope Chapel in Northglenn Colorado, as they go through some growing pains. Please pray for strength and unity in the body.  Also, pray that God would raise up a team of passionate lay leaders to help lead the church through this time. Hope Chapel Northglenn has so many unique strengths to offer to the surrounding community and the Enemy would just love to see this group of believers drawn away from thier God-given purpose!

Our hearts have been heavy as we've watched many in our village become increasingly infatuated with a form of Buddhist fortune telling. Almost every evening, after everyone has returned from the fields, a large group crowds around a Chinese man who sells "good fortune". We don't really understand all the intricacies of how it supposedly works, but it has been simply explained to us like this: when a person gives his money (in exchange for a piece of paper with numbers written on it) he is then supposed to receive "good fortune" which will eventually yield a profit of 10 times what he originally gave.

We've learned that this growing fad is common only in the Akha villages around Mae Salong. While the area has so many obvious benefits for the Akha who live there (like secure jobs working in the Chinese tea fields), the one drawback we've noticed is that the Akha in Mae Salong are continually reminded of their poverty by daily interactions with their wealthy Chinese neighbors and employers. Many of the Akha in our village have been led to believe that this kind of wealth comes from "good fortune" ...which can be purchased today only for a special price of 100 baht!

I can see how they feel like the victims of a nasty trick of fate who just need a dose of "good fortune" to turn things around. From all appearances, they all work much harder than their wealthy employers, yet they can never seem to get ahead. They trudge to the fields every day, getting only 6 baht for every kilo of tealeaves that they pick, while that same tea is processed and sold for as much as 650 baht. Just being born an Akha puts them at a disadvantage. But paying 20, 50 or 100 baht out of their hard-earned money to buy false hope only serves to make their situation worse.

Please pray for the people of our village who are deceived by this scam; pray that their eyes would be opened. Pray that they would handle their money with wisdom, instead of wasting it on false hope. Also, please pray for Pastor A-Ta who is interning in our village this year; pray that he would address the issue wisely and that he would have the patience and grace needed to effectively reach those who have mistakenly put their faith in "good fortune."

We have received an update from our Missions Director asking to pray for the people of Kampot, Cambodia.

A flash flood has struck the city covering much of it in as much as seven feet of water. Please join us as we have been asked to pray the following:

Pray for the restoration of lives and homes damaged by the floods, for the peace of God to flood the community, and that God would minister to all affected through the aid provided.

Thank you for your prayers.

It's the rainy season again and we're seeing all the signs of the season - especially in our little Akha clinic. Mostly we are seeing the aches and pains of joints and 'old mountain injuries' which generally tell that it is going to rain. These are easily treated with an ear to hear the complaints and a little paracetamol to help lessen the pain when they sleep. Also on the daily symptoms list are the cuts, bruises and scabies (itching and sores) from the kids.
Last year our local epidemic was Chicken Pox, this year it might be ear infections. We are seeing quite a few babies with fevers and ear infections, we've even seen an adult Akha woman with a bad ear infection. Much of this is simply daily life in an Akha village, but please remember and continue to pray for health and life for the Akha of the hills of Mae Salong during this rainy season.

We found out this afternoon that a fraudulent charge on our Visa card was made from Florida - for $24,000! Fortunately (?) that is way above our credit limit and immediately cause flags to go up all over the place. Also, fortunately, we contacted our Visa company two days ago to make a phone purchase and let them know that we were in Chiang Mai. Those notes on our account froze the account and kept the fraudulent attempt from doing much damage.

Everything seems to be under control and I must say that the customer service was very pleasant to deal with, but please keep this in prayer. We have had some very interesting financial experiences this year with ATM issues, statement issues and now this reissued Visa card. It's frustrating to deal with this silly "side-business" and we appreciate your prayers that all of our financial business would not be a distraction from our ministry to the Akha.

Please continue to hold our finances in your prayers. Pray that there would be no further complications with this fraudulent charge and that this whole situation would resolve itself quickly.