Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings from Chiang Mai, Thailand, a city near the border of Myanmar and Laos. Many of you have already heard our good news of the birth of our daughter, Susanna Isobel!

October Daughter

After months of keeping a secret about our baby’s gender, we are very happy to share the joy of Susanna’s birth with others. Romans 12:15 states, “Rejoice with those who rejoice.” Many of you have already shared in our joy. Due to a little confusion that came with the start of our new blog, I want to make sure that everyone hears the details of Susanna’s birth. Susanna was born on October 15, 2007, at 8:49 a.m. Thailand time (that would be 9:49 p.m. on October 14 for those in the Eastern U.S.). She weighed 9 pounds 3 ounces and was 22 inches long. Here is the meaning and significance of our daughter’s name:

Susanna—Hebrew for “lily”
“And Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto Him of their substance.” Luke 8:3b
Isobel—named after Isobel Kuhn, missionary with her husband John in China and Thailand
“Let us go on. Go on searching and exploring the greatness and the dearness of our God.” ~ Isobel Kuhn

If you are interested in more details and pictures of the birth of Susanna, we have started a new blog for family and ministry news: http://blog.seawrights.com. We are now sending our e-mail prayer letters and Holding the Ropes updates through the blog as well.

As I write, we are waiting for Susanna’s passport and Consular Report of Birth Abroad (birth certificate) from the U.S. Consulate here in Chiang Mai. Once we have this, we will return to Cambodia. We are still hoping to return the week of November 5.

September Bachelor

For 18 days in September, I was by myself in Pursat. I took Heidi and the children to Chiang Mai in early September to wait for the baby. Many things happened in Pursat during the two weeks I was a bachelor. Here are a few updates and prayer requests:

1. To be honest, we had some struggles in the Preiy Nyee church before I left for Thailand. Pisut , a man who repented and was baptized in July, has returned to his old ways of drunkenness. I spent much time counseling with him, and he refused to repent of his sin. We had to discipline him out of the church. When I called one of the church families last week, they indicated to me that Pisut has experienced much chastening from the Lord. Please continue to pray for him and this young church. Please pray for wisdom for me as this issue is difficult to handle language-wise and culturally but is very important in the life of the church.

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3. Continue in your prayers for Thi, a young man preaching and teaching for me while I am in Thailand. Pray that he will sense the Holy Spirit using him as he ministers the Word both to the church family in Preiy Nyee and to Ming Khom in Anlong Vul.

November–February Transition

We have all been through times of transition in our lives. Our team and ministry here in Cambodia has started a six-month transition time. Let me give you a synopsis of our plans along with some prayer requests for the coming months:

November and December—We will return to Cambodia in early November, this time with a baby! During this time, I am hoping to teach a series from the book of Matthew in Preiy Nyee and Anlong Vul. The Gospel of Matthew addresses many basic issues of discipleship that have particular relevance in the Khmer church. Please pray for me as I teach through this series.

January—Our teammates are tentatively planning to return to Cambodia on January 14. Forrest continues to struggle physically. They were originally planning to come back in early December, but they were counseled to postpone their coming one more month. Continue to pray for complete recovery for Forrest and for them as they finish their furlough.

February—It is hard to believe that I am announcing this, but we will be coming back to the States for our first furlough at the end of February. We arrived in Cambodia on March 4, 2004, and we have been on the field for almost four years! Our tentative plan is to be in the States for about ten months—the end of February 2008 through early January 2009. I have already sent an e-mail to our supporting church pastors for furlough meetings. We will be greatly looking forward to seeing each of you who support us both financially and in prayer. Some of you we haven’t seen for over five years—even before Rachel was born! Do pray for us as we make plans and set up meetings over the coming months.

Thanks again for all the notes of encouragement and expressions of joy that many of you have sent. We know that many have been praying for us during this special time.

Until the net is full,

Chris for the Seawright family