Steve and Carol Strong

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Prayer Letter/Ministry Update

Dear Family and Friends, October, 2009

Thanks so much for your prayers and interest in our lives and work.
In August I took the boys back to school to start another school year. Josh is in 11th grade, Jordan in 10th grade, and Justin is in 8th grade. They were very happy to be reunited with their friends and for "normal" life to resume. Two weeks after school started I flew back to Penang to be with Josh while he had surgery on his ankle. He broke his ankle in a freak accident while juggling a soccer ball. He had to have a steel plate and screws put in to repair it. He had an excellent doctor who specializes in sports medicine. What was amazing to me is Josh did not have a cast. The doc said he would heal faster without it and started physical therapy the week after surgery. So a month later, Josh is able to walk and has full movement of the foot and ankle. He should be back in sports by December. Meanwhile he has been sidelined and has had to watch everyone else play. Jordan made the team and they just won a tournament they hosted in Penang. They have another tournament this weekend in Kuala Lumpur. Jordan is involved in student government as well as sports. He went on a leadership retreat at the beginning of the semester and had lots of fun as well as learning leadership skills. Justin is involved in sports as well and is enjoying life at Dalat School. He has lots of friends and stays very active. He enjoys swimming in the evenings after playing soccer. Because there has been so much rain the kids also enjoy playing football in the rain.
It seems that this has been the month for flooding all over the world. We have seen the devastation in Atlanta, Manila, and Ouagadougou so are counting ourselves lucky even though we flooded twice in one month. The first flood we were full with guests for a conference. Fortunately it flooded at 10:00 at night and most people didn't even know it had flooded. We were able to get almost everything cleaned up by breakfast so that we could serve everyone meals. The second flood we had very few guests so had more time to clean up. We have had several electrical issues since the floods. Much of our office and living room furniture was damaged by the flood so our maintenance man is making some new office furniture and book shelves for us.
Thanks to all of you who helped financially with our needs at the Alliance Guest Home in the past months. As of September we have received around $19,000 in gifts (close to our goal of $30,000). God is providing for our needs through you and others. I am working on a business plan with a committee of business minded people and we are trying to develop some strategies for being solvent in these difficult economic times. Guest occupancy has been the lowest we have seen in the ten years we have lived at the Alliance Guest Home.
Steve has recovered well from hernia surgery and is able to exercise again so he is happy. He has been very busy with travel in the past couple of months. He was in Penang for one week chairing the Dalat International School Board meetings. Then, he spent one week in Taiwan as part of their Strategic Field Review team. This past weekend we both visited our mission personnel in Khon Kaen and Udon.
From today until Oc.t 11, Carol will be visiting our three sons in Penang, Malaysia. Josh and Justin have their birthdays this month, so one of us likes to be with them to celebrate at this time of the year.
Thanks again for all your prayers and support. Thanks for giving to the Great Commission Fund. Those funds provide us with our daily "bread and butter" and ministry funds. The money you give is more than just dollars and cents...it is advancing the power of God to transform lives all around the world as well as here in Thailand. It does more than feed and clothe people to meet their present needs; it gives them hope and a future as they come to know Jesus Christ and have a relationship with him. While these are challenging days and we are having to adjust to new realities, they are also days full of opportunity. More and more people are open to the gospel of Christ because their "secure" foundations have been shaken. Thanks for "living the call" with us!

Love in Christ,

Steve, Carol, Josh, Jordan, and Justin Strong

Thanks to all of you who supported Joshua's class in their Servathon project to raise funds for the junior class.

Prayer Requests/Answers to Prayer

Please pray for the Alliance Guest Home to be financially sound and secure and be able to be self-supporting in these tough economic times. We don't want to have to lay off any of our Thai staff.

Please pray for Carol as she hosts a couple of major conferences and meetings at the Alliance Guest Home later this month and in November.

Please pray for continued healing for Josh's ankle. Pray for good health and continued spiritual and physical growth for all three of our sons at Dalat International School.

Pray for strength for their dormparents, Tim and Vi Steinert.

Pray for wisdom for Steve as he serves as Field Director for our international team here in Thailand.

Praise God for his healing touch on Steve and Josh in recent months.

Pray for God to supply the financial needs of Dalat International School in Penang, Malaysia and for the securing of a long-term lease on its present property.

Thailand

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