We are so thankful for those of you take time to read this update, check on us and pray for us. Here are a few updates about our ministry:
• We Found a Place — It’s clear for us that God answered our prayers. We found a great place to live and do ministry in. It was a two-in-one deal. We were able to take a survey trip to the new city we will be moving to and, during that time, searched for places to live. Before we left for the trip, every time Brandon prayed with the kids about moving, he would pray God would give us a peace that this is the city He wants us in, and that we would find the right house. At the end, he would joke, saying may the Lord give us a sign and let it have a mango tree (because the house we live in now has one we love, and we always talk about how we will miss it).
When we got to the new city, we drove for hours several days in a row searching for every house that had a sign for rent. We contacted them and went to look at them, and each time, Brandon would check the yard and jokingly say, “Nope not the place, no mango tree.” Finally, the last place we scheduled to look at before our trip was over turned out to be the place we will be moving to. The owners are very interested in why we are moving there and about church. He had many people interested in renting the place (because the location is really good) but he said if we were interested, he wanted us to have it. He has a daughter the same age as Josie (she was very excited about that). There are a couple of renovation things we have to do before moving in. I could go on sharing so many cool details, but I’ll end with this, when they came to cut the grass, we found a mango tree in the back yard!
The place used to be a small factory and the upstairs will be used to live in and the downstairs for an office and place to gather as a church and do outreaches.
• Village Visit — The village that has drawn us 7 hours east of Bangkok is about a 30-minute drive from the city we are moving to. When we move to this area, we plan to visit the villages often. (Our kids love the village life.) We hope to continue to build relationships with people in villages around the area and pray for opportunities to share the gospel with them. This time, out on the farm, the kids were pleasantly surprised for someone to show them how to make fun things out of banana tree limbs/leaves. They made swords and a riding horse.
• Interns Update — Jay officially started his internship in December. He has been busy reading through the good Christian books available in Thai, started working his way through the Bible in a year, memorizing Scripture and meeting with me two to three times per week to discuss what he is learning. We pray together and also discuss what we will do when we move to Sisaket next month to start a new church together. He is going as a helper/intern. Lord willing, some day he will become an elder/pastor of the church we are going to plant. Please pray for us.
Rote just finished up his internship. He is now back in his hometown (Buriram) and preparing to go to a seminary for two years in Chiang Mai. Jay and I went to visit him and discuss/pray about future ministry. Please continue to pray for Rote and us as we continue to encourage him and think through how we can support him.
• Visiting Churches — The past month or so, we have had the opportunity to visit some churches our friends have started here in Thailand. It’s exciting and encouraging to see what God is doing through them and to see Thai people come and hear the gospel and have their lives changed and enjoy the community there among other believers. Just a small glimpse of their work has made us even more excited to start a new one in the Sisaket province.
• Sorrow — This past Saturday we attended a funeral for a fellow missionary here in Thailand that just lost their nine-month-old son. In Thailand, the rain is usually predictable — if it’s rainy season it rains; if it’s not, it doesn’t. Right now, it’s not, but as we drove yesterday morning to the funeral, it sprinkled for just a few minutes. Brandon and I looked at each and asked, “Was that rain?” As we drove, we reflected just a little over a year ago as we drove that very road as it was raining and flooded to our son’s funeral. The funeral was at the same place that Judah’s was held and as I watched the mom sitting in the very seat where I sat not so long ago, my heart ached because I know she is entering the journey through grief that many have gone through, but you wish no one had to. It was a very hard day for Brandon and me as we hurt with this family and also remembered the pain of our own loss. But during it all, I looked down holding sweet baby John in my arms. Seeing him smile at me and knowing that, no matter what pain this world may bring, we have hope. That hope is in Jesus Christ! And with that, we know that, by His strength, we can do the next thing for today and as many days as He will give us. We long for things to be made right but, until that day, we press on and share that hope with all those around us that they, too, might have hope!
• Pray — Please pray for the missionary family who just lost their precious son and for us as we finish up things here in Bangkok and move to Siseket, Lord willing, sometime toward the end of March. Also pray that we can extend our visas without any problems this month. (We have to renew our visas once a year.)
• Praise — Join us in praising God for the living/ministry space and for the Lord guiding our steps to the next place.
