Dear Family, Friends, Partners in Ministry,
Storms. Some of the most horrifying times in our lives are those times when we are “waiting for the storm to pass,” not knowing if we will get another wave of strong winds. Those times can be very frightening no matter who we are. I grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the USA around some of the most destructive strong winds we called “tornadoes.” I have many frightening memories of those strong winds and the damage they have had in my life, in the lives of my friends, and in those in my community.
I now live literally on the other side of the world in Northern Thailand and yes, we have strong winds too. On Thursday Night just 3 days ago, on April 21, the wind was blowing strong enough to cause the electricity to go out and that forced us to cancel English Classes at Grace Language School for Thursday night since the storm was just beginning to pick up steam and it is really hard to teach English in the dark with a huge storm brewing up.
We finally turned all the lights off, and everyone went out into the strong winds and rain headed home. Everyone made as far as I know but not long after that, we received word from Ball and Jay that the winds picked up so strong that they blew some of the windows in at the building. So, I called Dallas and asked him to go with me over to the building to check on the damage. After Dallas and I arrived, we were quite amazed at how strong the winds must have been to blow out 3 very large windows out of the walls. Here are a few pictures that will help you see some of the damage.
The initial estimated cost of repairs looks to be about $4,344. The
We do have insurance that should take care of most of the expenses but if you would like to make a special donation to help us, you can go to our NTIM website and make a donation online. www.gontim.org
Yesterday, after our "live church service," the repair folks began their work and it looks quite possible that we will be back up and ready for our regular church service this Sunday. Praise the Lord.
Keep us in your prayers.
Until everyone in and around Northern Thailand has been given a chance to hear and respond to the gospel.
Brother Michael for the NTIM Team.
P.S. Here
is a link to all of the storm damage pictures on our NTIM Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=www.gontim.org&set=a.719201356668507
