September 2011 e-newsletter
Dear Family & Friends Culture Corner Neill was asked to perform a wedding ceremony in the Lahu village of Ban Gao where we are pastoring the church and training members there to eventually be pastors and leaders of their church. Dtui, who does the children’s ministry on Sundays, interpreted for him. The wedding was in a church member’s home and everyone cheered and clapped their hands when the couple was announced as being married. They do not exchange wedding rings in their culture and they also do not give wedding gifts. In Thai culture people will often give money in colored envelopes for weddings (white envelopes for funerals) but in Lahu culture, they don’t. Diana had to work hard at getting them to smile for one of the pictures—they do not normally smile for pictures. Neill was told that some Christians had already talked to the groom about being a Christian and he decided he wanted to become one prior to being married. The bride was already a Christian, her father being a former witch doctor and now a church member in Ban Gao. So we thank all of you for praying for Ban Gao and the ministry there. God is doing wonderful things there. Diana's Delights The posts have been extended and the cement support for the roof completed for the Home of Hope building. The next thing is to get the roof on, which has already begun to happen. Following that, he will start on the walls of the second floor where the dorm rooms and staff apartment will be. When the walls, plumbing and electric are finished on the second floor, we will be able to move the children and staff in and then the first floor can be finished little by little. We have about half of what is needed for the second floor construction and need around $17,000 US more to complete it. Please pray, network for us and give as you are able. Thanks to all of you who continue to support the Home of Hope, children are being given a chance for a good education, better health protection from abuse and trafficking. Their hearts and ours go out to you. THANK YOU!! Neill's Notes We had a great missionaries’ retreat in Bangkok with our new FMI Director, Jim and Melinda Scott, area coordinator, George and Joyce Butron and most of the missionaries serving in Southeast Asia. It was good to see friends that we haven't seen for a while and receive training, information, prayer and encouragement. Special thanks to Andy & Tina for organizing and setting this up in a beautiful and relaxing place. Our cable here is constantly changing. We used to get 3 or 4 channels with movies in English and another 8 or 9 channels that were in English. We now have 2 Korean stations that have English subtitles or are in English, a few news channels (FOX News—Hooray!) and several sports channels, mostly, soccer, which are in English. At this time we are able to get ESPN NFL games and we get one channel with CSI shows, Alfred Hitchcock (from the 50’s & 60’s) and cop shows, etc. which are all in English. We don’t watch all that much TV but every now and then some of our favorites disappear and others replace them. Who knows what next month will bring? Neill & Diana Your missionary partners in Mae Sot ndgthai@hotmail.com www.gilbertthailand.com www.homeofhopethai.org If you would like to write to us or send us something please use this address: Neill & Diana Gilbert c/o Foursquare Mae Sot Church P.O. Box 13 Mae Sot, Tak 63110 Thailand If you would like to support us financially you can donate online. Otherwise you can make your check out to "Monticello Foursquare Church" and mail it to: Lynette Rohde c/o Monticello Foursquare Church P.O. Box 1356 Maple Grove, MN 55311 Churches and pastors who send their support through FMI, please use the following P.O. Box to expedite the processing of your gifts to us. FMI P.O. Box 26776 Los Angeles, CA 90026 www.foursquare.org

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