House Guards

Our neighborhood is usually quiet with the exception of the dogs. Saturday morning I was upstairs working when I heard a drum beating. I immediately thought of a wedding. I guess that's because I'm a female. When I went outside I saw that our neighbors were installing their spirit house. They have had the base completed for some time, but Saturday was the day to place the spirit house on top. I think it's rather a large one, but it's certainly not the largest I've seen. They want to invite the spirits to guard the big house that they live in. Once they have the house, they'll give gifts to the spirits. I've seen them leave fruit, cups of water, cans of red Fanta soda, etc.
Please pray for the people of Thailand. Sometimes I don't even have the words to express what my heart feels when I think about how huge the task is here. But I know I have the assurance that God is in control, and He loves the people more than I do. There was a woman who lived in this same house that is pictured above. The first year we were here, she came by our house at Christmas because we had some carolers that came by. She knew that we were Christians and wanted to go to church with us. We stopped the following Sunday to pick her up, and she wasn't there. We haven't seen her since. Please pray for us. We know that the people cannot truly be happy in a religion that offers no hope. Our neighbor once told us why Christians impressed her to begin with. Christians help and they don't ask for anything in return. In a land and religion full of what can you do for me, we have a real opportunity to impact people's lives. Please pray that we will always remember that we are servants.