Teachers at The Centre come for shorter or longer periods of time and quite frequently we have to say goodbye to volunteers who have been with us for a few months. However over the past year we have been blessed to have some great teachers who have been here for a year or more. Ruth from Australia arrived at the beginning of June one year ago, initially for two years but when her organization asked her to pray and seek God’s will about joining their new project further south in Thailand, she felt that God wanted her there. So that was good news for them but sad news for us! Ruth gave 100% to The Centre and as you will read, got involved many areas. She can cook, play board games, (and win!), play ping-pong (and win!), teach English, bake birthday cakes and more – and all of these she does with aplomb! She left earlier this month and we are already missing her lots. We are however very thankful to God for her, look forward to hearing about how God uses her down south - and know that we will see her again as she isn’t toooooo far away!
 
Ruth writes;
A year at the Centre
I arrived at the Centre in June last year, fresh faced and full of excitement. With my background in English and Literacy, I was keen to try teaching English as an Additional Language to university students. Little did I know, teaching would be only half the job. During my days at the Centre I did everything from playing games to baking cakes, minute taking at meetings, encouraging and being encouraged by other staff, telling Bible stories, running activities, making cucumber sandwiches and more! For a task-oriented person, such a varied bunch of activities, primarily relational in nature, was initially a challenge. But God is not a task-oriented God. He is a God of relationship. And some of the relationships he gave me were (and are!) very precious.
One of the special student connections for me came in the last month of my time at the Centre. God had called me to another part of Thailand, so I was wrapping up classes but prayed that God would help me to stay engaged during the transition time. I ended up teaching a colleague’s student for one week. We studied two hours a day, and she joined me in baking cakes for and helping with an English afternoon tea. We also made Korean kim bap and on the Friday night she came to house church with me. She then went to The Centre English Camp the following week and ended up driving south with me when I left Chiang Mai on her way back home. She lives nearby me now and may come visit my new place of ministry in a few weeks. Praise God for the way his Spirit is at work in the students at the Centre!
 

7-9 June saw The Centre 2019 summer English Camp and what a weekend we had! Last year was the biggest camp to date with 60 of us, but this year topped that with 65 campers in all. As the accommodation huts only sleep 60, some had to sleep in tents but I think those people would say that all added to the fun! A team from Houston came to help by running the games and sharing life-stories. We were praying that everyone would feel included and have loads of fun and God graciously answered those prayers. But the most exciting thing is watching God at work. Two weeks before the camp, some of us helped on the Engineering English Camp at CMU and some of those came to The Centre English Camp – and some brought their friends along too! So we had 41 students in all. Some who have been connected with The Centre for years, some for a year and some who only got to know us at the Engineering English Camp. A big thank you to our friends from Houston who also gave us a wonderful cooking night the following Wednesday which ended with some impromptu praise songs. It seemed that no-one wanted to leave!  




 

When we can, we like to tell you about a student who has been impacted by God through The Centre. We will always change the name when we do so. Praise the Lord with us for this story.

Adam came to The Centre three years ago and a year later joined the house church here. He has become more and more part of The Centre family over the years and has often come along just to play games or ping-pong, both of which he loves.  Even after being away on internship for six months last year, he was keen to reconnect with his Centre family. He has enjoyed being part of the house church too and it has been evident that God has been drawing him closer to himself. More and more he would be happy to pray with one of us when he had a problem. When asked casually a year ago what he thought about Jesus, he replied, “I will ask my parents”. His is a close family and he feels he needs/wants to honour his parents’ by following their religion.  On Wednesday 29^th May Adam’s sister had a serious motorbike accident in Bangkok. She was unconscious in ICU with multiple broken bones in her face when Adam and his parents arrived. It had been raining the night before and she had slipped over on her bike and skidded into a lamppost. She had been wearing a helmet but that didn’t protect her face. While on the plane to Bangkok, Adam had reached out to God in prayer, asking that his sister would live. Over the past three weeks her condition has improved so much that she is able to leave hospital and go home! It really has been a miracle.  We at The Centre and others were praying and when Adam was told the day after the accident, that people all over the world were praying, he messaged that he would tell his sister when she regained consciousness. He also told his parents. Please pray that this whole time would be a turning point for the family and a significant time in their salvation stories.