Easter is not really celebrated in Thailand, except for in the churches.  There are no Easter bunnies, chicks, chocolate, baskets, etc.  I don`t mind that.  We still made our Easter decorations and crafts in school and celebrated the true meaning of Easter.

It was good to be in church and have not only the Thai, Burmese and internationals but also the Morgan people.  They are village people that the church helped after the tsunami and the entire village came to the Lord about the third day after the church ministering to their physical needs.  The villagers asked why the church people were doing that and the Christians shared their faith.  That night around a campfire, the villagers all accepted Christ.  So the church has continued a ministry with them and on Easter they were in church with us.  That was exciting and also exciting to hear a testimony of how God healed one woman by arranging the details and cost for her to have heart surgery.  Oh, and the MP of Phuket was also in church!

Easter afternoon something exciting happened.  The Christian churches of Phuket gathered at one spot and the assistant governor of Phuket started the first Christian march in Phuket.  The churches marched to Saphan Hin Park where they picked up trash and then met for a big prayer meeting.  There were about 500 Christians in attendance!  Each minister from the various churches got up and led prayer for the different areas-hospitals, schools, government, etc.  Then, to top it all off, the church leaders announced that they were going to work together in unity AND they blessed others to start new churches.

Do you know what this means?!?  This means that the churches are not trying to promote themselves but work together to grow God`s kingdom.  They are not trying to discourage others from coming to plant churches.  They are not trying to grow their own church numbers but rather trying to grow the kingdom of God and support and bless one another.  The church of God is standing in unity and the gates of hell must fall.  Imagine what God can do when there are no more divisions but rather unity!  And, furthermore, Hope church has been reinstated in the EFT, Evangelical Fellowship of (Christian churches in) Thailand.  Again, a victory for God and unity.

And, I have heard of more people in the remotest parts of Thailand being reached with the gospel of Christ.  Oh, it is just amazing!  The fields are white and ready for the harvest.  Pray for salvation for the Thai.  Pray for workers to come and disciple.  Pray for continued unity.  Pray that people will not claim the victory but all the honor would go to God.

Well, now the rest of this will sound a little flat after all that.  News for the rest of the week...Friday I went to Judy`s and we finally got in our massage that I gave her for Christmas. 

On Saturday, the Klassen`s, Fall`s and our family all went to a new beach called Yanui Beach.  It is just around the corner from Nai Harn but it is not quite so busy, has some good snorkelling and I didn`t see any topless Europeans.  It was such an awesome day.  The company was great and even I got to do some snorkelling.  The kids got to climb a hill and explore and Riley went out snorkelling.  After lunch, our family was the only one left but we weren`t ready to go home yet.  Krina was absolutely enjoying the water now that she has a pool ring and will let me take her out a bit farther than she can stand.  She`d run from the shore and swim to me in the pool ring.   Then Jason and I asked her if she`d like to go out with us around the edge of the rock as Jason, Riley and I did some snorkelling.  It wasn`t too deep and it was close to shore so she came with us.  It was so exciting to share the sights with her as the water was clear enough for her to see the fish.  She loved seeing the colorful ones and would point out every fish she`d see.  She didn`t have a mask but she could see through the water.  It was a great day for all of us and we were tired out after a full day at the beach.  Another great place and another great memory.