Back Home and In Ministry | Oct-Nov
We have been back in Thailand for three months and it has been a fast paced adventure since we stepped back on Thai soil.
Return to Bee Creek
We were pretty scared opening the doors of our house after 18 months of no one living there but were pleasantly surprised that everything was still where we put it and only a little bit dusty. It was a little hard to believe actually.
Our reunion with the team in Bee Creek was very sweet indeed. It's been years since we were in person with James, Josh and Mindy. So grateful to have such wonderful teammates and partners in the Gospel. It's been amazing to see our Thai friends again also. "Wow. You've gotten so big!" is something I've been hearing a lot. "No. You just forgot how fat I was."
Trip to Chiang Mai
Work Permit for Lisa
After cleaning the house a bit we were off again to Chiang Mai to get a Work Permit for Lisa. We were amazed that she was given two years which also guarantees our visa for the next two years. We are praising the Lord for this vital provision.
She is hard at work with her Foundation project. Unfortunately, the project that she had originally set up before we returned completely fell through when we actually arrived. But the Lord has provided a new direction and Lisa is hard at work. You can read her recent Foundation report here.
Meeting Anita
We also finally had the privilege of meeting in person with Anita, a new teammate who is doing language study in Chiang Mai for the next two years before joining our team in Isaan. It was a miracle that she was able to be deployed during the Covid season and the Lord provided a temporary team for her to call home in Chiang Mai while she studies Thai. Her first trip out to visit the team in Bee Creek will take place in December, 2022.
Ministry Update
On the ministry front there are a couple of important things to update you on.
Sharing the Gospel with Dune, a Drug Addict
We have reconnected with Pastor Celebrate, a local minister who has a broad vision for gospel fruit in the surrounding villages. One of the families he has been working with for years is the family of Dune, a 34 year old woman who is addicted to Methamphetamine. She has two kids in the house, Film (10) and Sophia (8). Her boyfriend lives with them.
In October, Pastor Celebrate felt the urgency to go and share the gospel with them and we were invited to accompany him. Dune really opened up about her background and we were heartbroken to hear about the many tramatic events she experience as a child and young teen. Pregnancy and drug addiction started early. It is a heartbreaking story that is all too common in this part of the country. The story is not over though! We are praying and trusting that she will come to know God's plan for her future; a future full of right relationships, healing from her trauma, cleansing from her addictions and a new birth into the family of God.
This ministry is ongoing and you can read about it at length here.
New Believers in Pure Glory Village
Our team is celebrating the first new believers in our target area. This took place in late September through the ministry of James and Pastor Celebrate in Pure Glory Village, Plate Hill County. Since that time James, Pastor Celebrate and an assorted team of local Christians have been visiting on Saturdays to teach, encourage and strengthen the new believers.
We covet your prayers for them because, as of this writing, there appears to have been some pressure from local Buddhists to abandon the meetings. This is very common but easily could put a stop to the faith of these young believers very quickly. We request urgent prayers for them as they learn to face opposition.
Updates to this situation will be posted here.
Website Relaunch
As you can see, we have rebuilt our website. Some of you might remember our old website when we first came to the field. Over the years it became very expensive to maintain and so we had no choice but to take it down temporarily. Since March, I have been working to get a new website up and I am quite happy with the result. It looks great on a phone and is very fast. My prayer is it will especially enable us to keep you updated on urgent prayer needs and more detailed reports from the field. These things are difficult to do over an email newsletter.
