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i^are J^ew^letter
1965
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'When we walk with the Lord, in the Light of hie Word, what a blessing He sheds
on our way . .
As we look back on the year just past it seems that most of the time was taken up
with school. With father and two children as students and mother teaching, this was,
of course, inevitable. Going has at times been difficult, but all in all, our stu
dents have acquitted themselves admirably. Recent tests given by the school show both
of our older children to have good minds, for which we praise God and ask His wisdom
in guiding them to use these gifts in His service.
Garland has had some sickness and has, at times, been discouraged by the continual
press of studies, but the Lord has upheld and impelled him to continue to give his
best in this process of becoming a doctor. Now he has reached the month of final ex
aminations on the second yearns work.
No small force in urging Garland onward has been a man named Kom Rope, A teacher
from the Agricultural School near Chiengmai, he was an elder in the large, local con
gregation associated with the national church organization. Becoming dissatisfied
with the lack of spiritual life in his own congregation, he began to visit smaller
groups and individual church leaders in search of fellowship to satisfy his spiritual
hunger. When we arrived in Chiengmai and began our search for Christian fellowship in
this city of little faith, the Lord saw to it that our paths crossed that of Kom Rope.
Before long he was seeking out Garland for discussion of various Scriptural passages.
Soon they were having pre-breakfast prayer meetings and eventually the subject of bap
tism arose. Like many of us with denominational backgrounds he resisted baptism by
immersion even after he knew it to be right. Being a true seeker of the Lord^s will,
he yielded and on July 10 was baptized,
Kom Rope has led Garland to several small groups of Christians v/ithin driving
distance of Chiengmai who desire to be Christians only but have had a hard time remain
ing so. On almost every weekend between May and December Garland visited one of these
groups to preach and to encourage them. He has also visited the Christian Meo village
several times, ~
The group to whom the most time and attention were given was a keen disappoint
ment to us, A village of lepers from varied religious backgrounds asked Garland to
be their preacher. After he had explained his views on baptism, the Lord's Supper,
and organization they agreed that they still wanted him to come and preach the Gospel,
So on alternate weekends for seven months Garland took a medical team from the school
to give medical treatment to the villagers to whom he preached. Then, in December,
the group announced that a missionary from the national church organization had been
there to appoint elders. This led to a "show-down" meeting and the majority voted to
give their allegiance to the organization. We have therefore given up working with
this group.
In April and May of last year when all of us were having school vacation at the
same time, we had our first opportunity to visit Pua since we left there in May 19^3
Kom Rope and an elderly Thai preacher from Chiengmai also went to Pua at that time
and, with Garland, visited the churches at Nam Mong, Ban Haan, and Bong Lome, Ne were
grateful to these men with their superior Bible knowledge, years of preaching experi
ence and desire to serve God for making this long trip in order to encourage the
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Bare NE?/SIjETTERj Page 2
brethren over there. They are planning to go again this year when the weather is
warmer and hope to preach in places where there are not yet any Christians.
All of us those who have been living and working in the Pua area and those of
us who have gone to visit have been concerned about the lack of spiritual develop
ment in the Huey Yang congregation near Pua. During our ten years of residence there,
we were able to see very, very slow, yet steady spiritual growth in most of those
people, though it did require constant spiritual nursing. Since our departure the
Huey Yang Christians have adopted a bitter, spiteful attitude toward the missionaries
and consequently have taken a downward spiritual turn. Refusing to do anything to
help themselves or others, they have allowed their village to become so slovenly in
appearance that the public officials have felt it necessary to rebuke them. One of
the leading young men took an unbelieving wife, and tv?o of the women who have received
careful Bible teaching-trhrough~i:rhe~ye"aT3~have mai'rled Buddhist~Trieiil The* viTXage" has
suffered much sickness and death, and a number of people have been afflicted with
severe mental disorders which resemble demon possession.
During a recent visit to Chiengmai Imogene V,lilliams was able to point out a few
glimmers in the deepening spiritual shadows at Huey Yang. One man whom everyone con
sidered spiritually weak asked Imogene to help his daughter who had become almost
completely paralyzed during an illness. Imogene did what she could with antibiotics
and demonstrating exercises to give the girl. She also prayed for her as did the
father and other Christians. The girl made a remarkably rapid recovery and the father
gave all glory and praise to God. Also, a number of people who have become indebted
to Imogene during their sicknesses are now making an effort to work off their debts.
There are now seven Meo children in the hostel, three of whom are baptized be
lievers, They are still in makeshift quarters, two of them sleeping in a curtained-
off corner of the storeroom. It does seem that if the hostel is to continue, a proper
building will have to be erected.
For the first time in December 1965? the two adult Meo Christians in the village
of Kang Haw invited representatives of Christian Meo in communities farther south to
join with them in two days of meetings, December is an extremely busy time for the
Meo tribe, so only a few were able to respond to the invitation. However, these few
were alb strongChri sti ans wha^gave-Qut a-good-jwi-tness to the Kang Haw.,cotnmuni t.y and ^-
to the Meo children during their stopover in Pua. How our hearts do rejoice to see
national Christians going forward on their own to evangelize their own people.
During our visit to the Pua area, Garland also made a trip to the T*in village
of Dtin Dtok where David and Deloris Filbeck and Dorothy Sterling have been living
and working. Three people there were asking for baptism and, since David was in the
States on furlough, Dorothy asked Garland to come up and baptize them. Since his re
turn, David reports that they are remaining true to their decision to follow Jesus.
Immediately upon our return from Pua, we packed into our little Volkswagen and
drove to the beach at Prachuap, far down the peninsula near the Burmese border. The
C. W. Callaway family and Dorothy Uhlig were already there and our cottage was next
to theirs. We had a week of fun and fellowship together before Callaways and Dorothy
Uhlig had to return home. The next week we worked away at accumulated correspondence
and translation work, swimming and beachcombing in the cool of the day.
Other highlights of that vacation werei
1, Garland and Mark Callaway visited some wonderful caves some distance down
the beach.
BARE NERSLJiTTER, Page 3
2. A visit to the Thai airbase at Prachuap.
3. Visits with an English-German missionary couple in Prachuap who have become
New Testament Christians through their own study.
The family visited a cave at Petchburi (vie were too late in the day to see
the famous diamond caves).
5. A visit to the eye doctor in Bangkok.'
6. A tour of the mission hospital at Manoram in the Central Plains of Thai
land.
7. An early morning view of the Bhumipol Dam near Tak.
The first task to be attended to upon our return to Chiengmai was the move to a
different house, A new, four-land highway has been planned to cut through the place
where we were living on Farharm Road. An anthropology professor and his family were
raturning ta tlie_dtates_in MayL,.so_w^ajxanged rent the house where they had been
living. This house, situated near the children's school and near transportation to^
the business section of town, is much older but more conveniently arranged than our
former house. It is also cheaper, renting for only $60 per month.
We were barely moved when school began again for all of us. We dropped some of
our household help because Dorothy wanted to do more of the work herself. She there
fore accepted only an hour and a half of teaching a day. Just before the new school
year started in September the first-grade teacher had to return to the States because
of ill health. This created a real emergency, and when Dorothy was asked to fill the
position she agreed to do so for one term. Being inexperienced and lacking sufficient
teaching materials, she spent full time and overtime on this job. The family saw very
little of Mother during those three months. Now she is taking a complete vacation
from teaching in order to catch up on the accumulated work at home.
When school was out in December, Dorothy and the children went for a one-week
visit to Chiengkam. This is x^jhere we lived from December 1951 March 195^. It was
interesting and inspiring to see the growth of the work since that time. The various
Christian communities in that area are now being ministered to \yy the Mel Byers and
C. Callaway families and by Dorothy Uhlig, R.N.
After Christmas Dorothy entered the hospital for surgical repair of a double
hernia. All went well and she was soon home again and is now fully recovered. The
New Year tias found- us busy both at school-and at home, Geoffrey, in fifth grade, at
times finds the homework almost overpowering. He is also studying violin and piano
and so has no time to even think of getting into mischief.
Corinne, in fourth grade, does not yet have a homework problem but spends much
of her time playing with Eileen, which is a real help to her parents. She is studying
second-grade piano and is active in the Girl Scouts.
Eileen, just three years old, has entered nursery school, which she loves. Since
last April she has learned to walk, run, jump and climb. She loves to sing and talk
and is very proficient at both.
Garland is having difficulty finding the time he needs to study for his finals
this month. The Lord willing, however, he will pass in all subjects and will be a
junior medical student by the time this letter is distributed.
Imogene Williams, who took over the care of the Meo hostel so that we could go
on furlough and who has stayed on an extra year-and-a-half until someone else could
be found, must now definitely take a furlough. Still no one has been found who wants
BARE i\^r,';SLETT^.Rj Page R
to take over the hostel. Rather than close it Dorothy and the two girls will move to
Pua in April, leaving Garland and Geoffrey in Chiengmai. This decision has been made
only after much prayer, and it really appears to be the Lord's will.
Our mailing address will still be Garland Bare, Box 192, Chiengmai, Thailand,
The mail will be forwarded to Pua.
We are so grateful to the Lord for you who have been so faithful with your
prayers, your letters and your giving. You are truly the Lord's people, and His vjork
out here couldn't go on without your participation.
May you know the blessing of His presence forever and ever.
The Bares
- - ----- Garland, Dorothy, Geoffrey 10, Corinne 9j
and Eileen 3
ForX'jarding Agents
Mr. and Mrs. Melvin C. Bartle
6403 Bishops Place
St. Louis, Missouri 63IO9
Mr. and Mrs. Melvin C. Bartle
6403 Bishops Place
St, Louis, Missouri 63IO9
Return Requested
William McGilvei^y
509 W. Jefferson
Joliet, 111.