August’s First Few Weeks

Well, parenthood has come. Sleep is taken in three hour shifts, Jacki has become a master of soothing the little guy and I have spit-up stains on most of my shirts. But I wear them like I’ve earned my stripes.

August is three weeks old and it’s been wonderful. Jacki’s mom, Jeanette, came to stay with us for three weeks while we got adjusted to family life. Having her around was a blessing beyond words. She held the little man all day long, helped us keep the house from falling apart and spent some much appreciated quality time with Jacki and August while I prepared for the coming semester at Mae Fah Luang.

Thai schools open this week and we’re hosting our Back 2 School Party at the Nest. I met with the leaders of the Christian Club last Friday to plan out the year.

We’re excited about this batch. It’s going to be a busy year, and we’re anticipating some beautiful stories.

Valentine’s Day Party @ the Nest

Thais love anything to do with love. This Valentine’s Day we took full advantage of that fact and hosted our own Valentine’s Day party at the Nest. Jacki baked up a storm with a friend of hers, we put up as many hearts as we had wall-space, and then the fun began. Over thirty students showed up that night, giving us the opportunity to make some new friends, have some fun with young people we’ve been investing in, and share a little more love with them. At the end of the night, I sat down and talked about the unconditional love of Jesus. The crowd oohed and aaahed as I told them about how God guided my love story with Jacki and what Jesus’ love is like for them. Jesus said, “They will know you by your love…” Pray with us that they will find his love and the life that it gives.

Christmas @ the Nest

Christmas (and Santa) came early to the Nest this year. With Christmas music and laughter playing throughout the room, students ate desserts to their satisfaction, played games, exchanged gifts and heard the Christmas story. Here are a few shots of the night.

Telling the Christmas Story

It was my birthday, so a few of the students got me a cake to celebrate

Playing a few games to deepen our relationships

Santa improving his spelling with a game of bananagrams

Playing a few Christmas songs at the Christmas Story eventJacki teaching one of our famous baking nightsAum with her own hand-decorated Christmas cookie

Ribbin & Mook’s Special Day

Two more girls from Kruu Jell’s house church were baptized recently. Mook found Christ when her friend, Ice Cream, began bringing her to the house church. Ribbin was another of Kruu Jell’s students who met Jesus through the house church as well. It was a tearful, but very happy day at the YMCA pool.

Ribbin getting ready to tell her story

Kart was the photographer of the day

Mook telling her story to her friends and the community of believers

Ribbin telling her story

Ribbin

 

Ice Cream’s Baptism

We have a young Thai friend named Ice Cream. With a name like that, you can imagine how sweet she is. We met her at Kruu Jell’s house church just a few months ago, when she had just found Christ. Even though she wanted to be a Christian, she knew that it meant she would be stepping away from the faith and tradition of her family and friends. She was hesitant to truly commit, understandably. She stopped attending the house church for a few weeks.

One day, she decided to come back and she brought a friend. When it came time for prayer, a lady who was leading asked if anyone had any prayer requests. Ice Cream said she had been having migraines that would not go away. Her friend said she suffered the same thing. Her friend was not Christian, though, and she brought that up. “Will Jesus really heal me? I’m not a Christian,” she said. “Of course,” the teacher replied, “Jesus loves everyone!” Kruu Jell and the teacher put their hands on her and prayed. As they were praying, a tear tracked down her cheek. She opened her eyes and said, “it’s gone.” They moved to pray for Ice Cream, who was very excited. As they prayed, she closed her eyes. When she opened them, she said, “My migraine is gone too!” Then she turned to Kruu Jell. “Is it real? Is it real?” she asked. “You tell me,” Kruu Jell replied, “is it real?”

“I think it’s real,” Ice Cream said with a smile. After that, Ice Cream decided she wanted to be baptized. She invited her friends, both Christian and non-Christian. We met at a YMCA to use their pool. As the sun set, Ice Cream told her story. Then we worshipped together. Ice Cream made her way into the water where Kruu Jell and a local pastor were waiting for her. She knelt into the water and when she resurfaced, she came up to the cheers of her friends and her new family in Christ.

Later that night, Ice Cream’s friend who had been healed with her, accepted Christ for herself. Neither of them have had a migraine since.

The photos below were taken by our friends and teammates, Drew & Eunhae Strobridge. Check out their blog here.

Painting the Nest

Painting is much harder work than it seems at first. After about 3 rounds of painting the Nest, we’re finally finished, but not without a few semi-blisters, some ruined clothes, aches in our legs and backs, and quite a bit of paint-inhalation. Here’s a few shots of the painting in progress.

Pi Oi painting her masterpiece

Look at that focus!

The fumes are getting to me

Empowering Thai Youth

For the past two years, Jacki and I have devoted ourselves to serving young Thais at a nearby university campus. We’ve developed authentic relationships with the hopes of providing mentoring and encouragement as well as healing and hope for the students that we have met. We have joined a gathering of the Christian students that meets regularly throughout the week. We’ve fallen in love with their desire to worship Jesus and share his love with their family and friends. They’ve welcomed us in, appreciating the older brother and sister that they have found in us and shared with us the needs that they have.

The biggest need we’ve found is that they don’t have a home on campus. They meet in a storage room that they share with three other clubs throughout the week. It’s noisy, hot, and not conducive to intimate conversations about life, pain, and faith.

We want to provide them a place that they can make their own. We want to create a center for training and pastoral care for them that is open to them throughout the week. There are other Christians on campus, but they don’t come to the weekly gatherings either because of inconvenient timing or location. We want to unify the body of Christ on this campus so that they can see the power in true community. We’ve included a few photos here so that you can see this small group in action and get a glimpse of where they meet. Would you begin to pray and consider partnering with us in meeting these student’s need for a home on their campus? We will be keeping you updated on our plans and the opportunities that you have to partner with us in the coming weeks. If you would like to start now, you can just click on that green button to the right that says “Donate Now” and make a simple, safe, and easy online donation through Just Give. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this update and consider the possibility of partnering with us further.

 

Synergy 2010 Conference Video

Christians in Thailand are a minority, so unity in the church is crucial. The Synergy Conference is a yearly gathering of Christians in Chiang Rai, Thailand with the purpose of uniting and empowering the church. This year’s conference featured traditional thai dancing, electrifying breakdancing by a Chiang Rai BBoy crew, and a surging time of worship. Here’s a video of the highlights that we put together.

Synergy Conference 2010

Christians in Thailand are a minority, so unity in the church is crucial. The Synergy Conference is a yearly gathering of Christians in Chiang Rai, Thailand with the purpose of uniting and empowering the church. This year’s conference featured traditional thai dancing, electrifying breakdancing by a Chiang Rai BBoy crew, and a surging time of worship. Here’s a video of the highlights that we put together.