NTM

     What do you do when you just get to a friend’s village and they offer you fish eggs for lunch….? What do you do when kids start crying because they have never seen a white person before….? What do you do when you go to the temple and they want you to sign a bamboo stick so that you can live a long long life…? What do you do when grandma accepts you as part of the family and wants you to be a part of the family and say prayers to Buddha….? What do you do when Grandma pours oil on you so that you will have safe travel back to Chiang Mai….? What do you do when…?

     That was some of the things that I got to experience in my two days of going to a Thai friend’s home to celebrate Thai New Year’s. What an awesome experience to have this opportunity after being here only 3 months. A friend drove us to a city where we then walked to get a mini-bus(Sangtow) to go another 20 min. Then we got off there and bought fruit for the family that I would be staying with. (Traditional to give fruit when going to ones house) After that, we took another mini-bus (Sangtow) for about 30 min. till we got to the next place. Then the family came and got us on their motorbikes to take us to the village.

     While there I got to meet the whole family which included moms, dads, aunts, uncles, cousins, and extended family, etc. They were really excited to have a farang (foreigner) come visit their little village. For many of the kids it was the first time that they had seen a white person before, so needless to say they were a bit afraid. Many of the family lived in the village, but many just came back for the weekend as it was Thai New Year’s. A time which includes having the biggest water fight in the world for 4 straight days, a time to eat with family, and a time to go to the temple to get blessings for the New Year.

     While there, I got to see and understand a bit more of Buddhism and some of the practices that go with it. What a great time for me to be reminded of why I am in Thailand plugging away at this tonal language. So that these people can know that they can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ our Savior because of what He did for them on the cross. It also was a good reminder of all of the choices that will have to be made in a couple of years when I move into the village. A reminder that I have the Holy Spirit with me and that He can guide me in these many decisions of showing Christ’s love, but figuring out at the same time what to do when…. So what do you do when…? PRAY!!!

     Please continue to pray for Oh (Thai friend) as well as the Thai people in general. Also please continue to pray for me as I make daily decisions of not only my walk with the Lord, but also decisions that could affect my relationships with the Thai people now and in the future.

• Praise:
  • Safe trip to Thailand
  • Getting all settled into my house with ease. (Thanks to Barry & Cathy Richards)
  • A wonderful landlady that lives next door. We have many laughs. (she doesn’t speak English & I don’t speak Thai yet)
  • So much love & support from the home front. I so appreciate all of the prayer and words of encouragement during these past 2 weeks.
• Prayer:
  • Language School starts on February 11th.
  • That I can be an encouragement to my landlady in hopes of sharing the love of Christ one day.
  • That I would allow Christ to produce Himself in me and move me out of the picture.
  • That I can be encouragement to the other missionaries here on the field.

     Have you ever attempted to clean something, just to find out that when it dries all you did was shove the dirt around? Well that is how I feel today in Thailand. I spent the last 3 hours cleaning my house. It smells terrific, it even looked terrific for awhile, but after my nice shiny floors (mind you the whole two story house is tile) dried all I see is dust again. After being tired, hot, and disappointed I decided to reflect on how this can be my life sometimes. How often do I make myself smell nice, look shiny and desirable to the entire world around me, but in the end all I’m doing is shoving all of the dirt around? When I try to do things on my own it looks great for a while, but in the end my flesh is just waiting for me to dry so that my true colors can come out. Without Christ producing Himself through me all I get is dirt. Now this may sound depressing for some, but what a great reminder for me as I’m trying to live life in Thailand, I’m trying to look good to the other missionaries, I’m trying to always have a smile on my face with my landlady, I’m trying to be the good missionary….that without Christ reflecting his character in my life then all of that trying is just going to end up being a pile of dirt. Thank you God for not getting hot, tired, and downtrodden when you have put all of this work into me and I just end up shoving the dirt around. Your grace is so abundant that you just pick up the mop and continue to cleanse me with the blood of your Son. (which is more then I’m going to do right now with my house) Knowing that through You working in my life I don’t have to continue to produce dirt, but I can produce the fruit of the spirit.

      As time gets closer, so does the realization that all of my worldly possessions won’t be able to go with me. After packing and re-packing I realized that some things are just not going to make it. Either I have too much stuff to fit into the bins or I have too heavy of stuff to fit in with the airline guidelines. Regardless, my worldly possessions are continuing to disappear. As I painstakingly went through these bins my mind went back to the Old Testament.
     As the New Year came around I decided to start reading through the Bible again from the beginning. I’ve been hanging out in Genesis and boy has it been full of encouragement. I think of Adam and Eve who only had fruits, vegetables, and each other in the garden, they didn’t even need clothes. I think of Noah who just had animals & his family when he went into the Ark, and I think of Abraham who went to a foreign land where he didn’t even know what he would need. Now you may be thinking that them having minimal possessions is what was so encouraging….Well as nice as it is to see that people can live on little possessions I’m afraid that wasn’t it. The thing that encouraged me the most was the fact that God was with these people each and every step. God was with Adam & Eve in the Garden, He was with Noah and his family in the ark, and He made an amazing covenant with Abraham which ultimately led to the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ. If I’m so focused on my possessions and not on God and the plan that He has for me then I will be missing out on a wonderful relationship with God my Father. In Genesis 15:1 God told Abram “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield your very great reward.” Man when I’m focused on myself then I will be missing out on God being my shield, not to mention the reward of having Him in my life every moment of every day.
     So as I head back to the bins, it gets a bit easier knowing that these things will eventually burn, but my relationship with God my Father who is my comfort, my shield, and my wonderful reward will last for an eternity. How awesome it is that I have these wonderful Scriptures in my own language to encourage me. I think of the day that the people of Thailand will be able to have the Scriptures in their own language and they will understand what it means to have God as their Father because of what Christ did on our behalf who they can call on at anytime.

Prayer:

• Sorting, Packing, & Weighing of all of my luggage.  Also that I would only get charged once for my extra pieces of luggage.
• Saying goodbye to my family.  I will be saying goodbyes to my brother & grandparents on Sunday.  My parents will then be taking me to the airport on January 13th. (This is going to be hard on them and on myself)
• Nerves heading over to a new country and not knowing the language.   Being able to communicate the Love of Christ without knowing the language yet.

Praise:

• My visa coming in.
• Finding housing & the finances to pay three months worth of rent in advance.
• Great family time over Christmas and New Years.

I just continue to be in awe with the power of God!!! After having continued problems one right after another with my visa, God allowed it to finally be issued to me within 24 hours. That is really unheard of as they say that it takes anywhere between 10 &14 days and that is without the holidays.

The visa process all started about 4 months ago. It seems like it all comes down to hurry up and wait. Once we got the initial information in, it was time to wait. Every month or so one more part of the process would happen.

Right before Christmas I was able to get the paper that was needed faxed to me from Thailand. The unexpected thing to me was that it was all in Thai, so I had been waiting all of this time for a paper that I still didn’t know what it said. Once I got all of the information and applications I needed, I sent it all up to Chicago to the Thai Consulate.

Well unbeknownst to me, Chicago does not issue visas to people from Florida. They only have a 12 state radius and we weren’t one of them. So, 3 days later I received my passport back, but with no visa. They then informed me that I needed to send it to Washington DC.

Well, the only thing that I knew about that Thai paper was that it could only be sent to Chicago for the visa so I thought for sure I would have to wait another 4 months for a new paper. So, I called up the Thai Embassy on the Friday right before Christmas to see what I could do. They were very helpful and told me to send all of the information in anyway and they would see what they could do.

Well of course nothing is open again till after Christmas, so I wasn’t able to send anything out till last Wednesday. As I sent everything out AGAIN I was praying that the information would be enough even though I didn’t know what that would be. You know one of those hurry up and wait things again. Well, I didn’t have to wait long as today I received my passport with my visa stamped in it this time.

I just want to say a BIG THANKS to the many of you who have taken my visa issue before the Lord in prayer. It has been such an encouragement to me to know how many people have been praying for me. It is so awesome knowing that we are co-workers together in this big job of sharing the gospel to the people of Thailand.

I will be leaving for Thailand on January 13, 2008 and plan to arrive 30 hours later.  Thank you for praying for the preparations for this trip and my adjustment once I arrive.

Praise:

• Opportunity to share as well as great fellowship at Covenant Fellowship Baptist church here in Florida.
• Great Thanksgiving with my family.
• Being able to pick up odd jobs while here in Florida.

Prayer:

• Continue prayer on my visa.
• Continued wisdom in what to take and pack for Thailand.
• Continued opportunities to be an encouragement and blessing to those around me.

Praise:

• Visa process is moving along.
• Safety for 2 driving trips to Florida.
• Great time in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Prayer:

• Wisdom in packing.
• That I would be an encouragement to those around me here in Florida.
• Opportunities to share about Thailand while here in Florida.

     Who says you can’t go home again? Even though my parents have moved, it felt great going back home to Michigan for the past 2 months. Besides a few weeks in there, we had pretty decent weather, I got to eat more then I could ever want or need with family and friends, I got to go to football games with my brother, and even got to leave with a nice big Michigan cold. Who could have asked for better? Despite the sarcasm at the end, I really did have a great time in Michigan.
     The Lord provided opportunities to talk with 4 different churches as well as sharing in 2 youth groups and one awana night while there. I also had the best time catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. I often say that missions is about people, only I forget about the people around me and only think of those overseas. So while in Michigan I just looked to the Lord for opportunities to encourage people along the way. He provided opportunities to visit with family, to help babysit when needed with some friends (it gave their kids an opportunity to get to know me), and have lunches with many friends along the way. I am just so thankful for my time in Michigan.
     I am now back in Florida for the second time in three weeks. I had the opportunity in the middle of October to help my 82 year old great aunt drive her motor home down to Florida. We had a great time of visiting the coke factory in Atlanta, talking about much of the family history and even worked on a few crosswords along the way. We had great weather and great traffic. Two days ago I made it to Florida for the second time. Along the way I got to stop in PA and visit a good friend and her new husband that I hadn’t met yet. We also got to spend a couple of days in New York City being in the audience of “who wants to be a millionaire” and “the view”. We had a great time and I was glad for the visit and the fun before heading off to Thailand. I’ll be in Florida now till I leave for Thailand in January enjoying the holidays and warm weather with my family. (I already took a long walk this morning with my mom)
    Speaking of Thailand I better give you an update on that as well. I heard this past week from our administration in Thailand that one of my papers for my visa (from the religious affairs) has gone through. It looks like now the new set of papers will go through to the Foreign Ministries in about a month. They were hoping that this would all get done before Dec. 23 which is when they have new elections again. As of right now that looks like a possibility. What a PRAISE!!!

Praise:

• Safe Trip to Michigan.  Great time with Linn Creek Baptist in MO.
• Great time with friends in MO. (Miss you Tiffany & Christin)
• Opportunity to share with different churches about Thailand. (Calvary Baptist of Lansing, MI & Valley Farms Baptist Church of Lansing, MI)
• Housing while in Michigan

Prayer:

• Visa Process
• Housing for Thailand
• More opportunities to share about ministry in Thailand.
• More opportunities to minister with those that are around me while here in the states.  Opportunities to be a blessing to others.