Still teaching in prison

I am still teaching in one of the men's prisons (for drug addicts) in Bangkok on Fridays. It's something I really enjoy doing. The men are respectful and eager to listen and learn. I've been teaching in Building 1 (which is 1 of 10 different buildings)that house the prisoners. The difference between building 1-10 is the length of sentences. Building One (where I teach) houses men with the shortest sentences and building 10 with the longest sentences.

The prisons house both Thai's and international prisoners, but I only teach the English International speaking prisoners. They are primarily Nigerians with few Peruvians and 1 Iranian. Generally, there are about 20+ men who attend.

The format is anything I want it to be, but so far, I begin the class with singing hymns; about 3-4 hymns. The hymnal I use is a "home made" hymnal (words only; no music) with only about 10 songs in it. A Baptist Missionary (Roy) gave me the hymnals to use. This is my favorite part because the men are not bashful about singing...and singing loud. Their voices carry throughout the prison area with such songs as "How great thou Art", "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY" or Amazing Grace. We are not always in tune (in fact mostly out of tune), but it is still a joyful noise that pleases the Lord. Even though we are in a class room, the windows and doors are always opened since there is not A/C. Then, I teach about hour and if we have time at the end, I just open it up to any questions they may have. Generally, the questions are random questions about the Bible, or God's will.

Today, I finished a 3 part series on Gideon (Judges 6-8) and prior to that I spent 2 weeks with Samson. I've never studied or taught about these Judges before, so it was good for me to learn more about them.

Right now, I'm trying to balance teaching on Fridays with taking Thai language classes which is M-F for 4 weeks. I took off today from Thai class so that I could teach.

Also, on Fridays, I go in the prison with a German man (Michael) who teaches the international prisoners in Building 5. Michael lives permanently in Bangkok and is married to a Thai. I've really enjoyed getting to know Michael who has a great heart for the Lord and is very passionate about his faith and sharing the gospel with others. He teaches the Bible twice per week in prison, and also to his employees at his factory.

thank you for your interest...
more later.