Ric and Sharon Bruce Giving: 1000 E. First St Sanford, FL 32771 T 517-490-1032 F Work Fax Phone E ric_bruce@ntm.org
February 29, 2012 Dear Friends and Family, We’re entering the hot and dry part of the year here in Thailand where your throat feels parched and heavy smoke and smog hangs over much of Chiang Mai city from the mountain burnings. As we settle into the rhythms of life here we realize this time of year is a slow one. It’s actually the end of the school year for students and oppressive heat begins to keep people indoors. In this letter we’d like to share three areas of our lives and ministry that excite us and share one prayer request. We continue to spend much of our time learning language and culture but we’ve entered a new, exciting phase: we can understand what people are saying sometimes! Our reading, writing and typing continues to improve and we’re encouraged with what we can do. Ric was able to give a 12 minute testimony last week at church and is scheduled to preach in early April. We have some great news. One of Sharon’s friends accepted Christ last week. She has been a staunch Buddhist her whole life and worried about who would take care of her parents if she became a Christian. Her husband recently re-dedicated his life to Christ and has been growing by leaps and bounds. It’s exciting because we’ve been on many trips with this family and have had long talks with them about the Bible and things of the Lord. It’s been exciting to see this young family grow in their faith and to have a small part in it. We love our neighborhood. Since we moved in 5 months ago the people have been friendly and welcoming. We’re regularly invited to eat northern Thai food with them, go to ceremonies in the neighborhood and walk with the older uncles and aunts in the evening. The neighborhood has become our classroom, our workplace and our playground as we dig into life here. Those three areas of our lives have been encouraging us lately. Please pray with us as we plan for upcoming regional trips and a trip back to the US in June for a few months. The trips will incur certain expenses that we're not currently able to cover given our current support percentage (75% of the desired 100% or $3,500 out of a desired $5,000 per month). We're asking current partners to consider giving a special gift to help us cover these expenses if possible. We are thankful for your ongoing partnership and support. We’re honored to be your representatives in Southeast Asia for the sake of the gospel. Have a great day!
Sincerely yours,
Ric and Sharon Bruce
www.ntm.org/ric_bruce