Halfway Through Our Furlough

Wow it’s hard to believe we’ve made it halfway through our furlough! 

We have had lots of mixed emotions. It is hard knowing the time is going so quickly with our families, but we are also looking forward to getting back to our new “home” in Thailand. It has been weird being back  home but not really feeling at home. I will always remember the words a sweet friend told us, ‘the airplane is bittersweet… a missionary is always happy to go one way but sad to leave the other.’ As hard as it is to be away from family and familiar things, we really do miss Thailand and the things God has in store for us there. It has been challenging around family we want to be sensitive to them but also want them to know we are excited and have a passion to be where God has called us and desire for them to be excited also. 

Just wanted to share a few reverse culture shock experiences: 

Airport 

-While in Asia being an air hostess is a very respected job and one must meet very high expectations to qualify for the job, therefore they are very kind and helpful throughout the flight. But as soon as we switched to American flight we instantly noticed a difference (not sure if our hostess just had an off day or different culture) we were very shocked by the behavior of them!

Vehicles 

-Coming out of the airport Brandon was surprised by the strange look of certain cars we hadn’t seen that brand or model in a while. 

-Then of course when we got into my dads truck we were surprised by steering wheel being on the other side of the car. 

-Josie girl had a little bit of shock when she had to learn the car seat!! Lets just say there were some very long and loud road trips. Thankfully she adjusted pretty fast. 

-Brandon and I were a little scared to drive at first. Just the shock of getting used to everything being on the other side of the road…all the speed limits and rules to  remember.

Food

-At the first restaurant we went to we ate some good home cooking (something like chicken fried steak or something like that can’t remember exactly) and I, not even thinking about it, found some “spicy” seasoning sauce on the table and just added it to my food and began eating. When the waiter came to the table he asked “did you add this sauce to you food?” I said yes. He said he had never seen that before lol. Anyone in Thailand can appreciate this, its just habit to season your food.

-We forgot about refills (very few places do this in Thailand lol)

-The refrigerators here are HUGE!

Land

-Everything is so spread out here

- When we first arrived seemed like the sun went down so late.

• now it goes down earlier because of the time change, Thailand doesn’t have daylight savings time.
• We were surprised how dark it gets, several times we ran into things at the house. We were not used to pitch dark (in the city there are always some kind of light shining).

Other Random things:

-Brandon was surprised by the cost of the first Sprite he bought from a gas station $1.50!! in Thailand you can go to the 7/11 and get one for 17Baht (about $0.50) 

-The time zone, at first we kept thinking at weird hours we needed to get our emails and phone calls done. Because time difference sometimes we would have to stay up late or wake earlier to take care of things back in the states.

-The money is different, in Thailand each bill has a different color! 

-Walmart/stores in general were HUGE when we first went in, it was really overwhelming how many options there were. The baby aisle blew our minds! lol we are used to just a limited amount of choices.

Some things we’ve been doing while in America:

-Visiting family! We have been bouncing back and forth from house to house staying and visiting with as much family as we can while we are here. It was neat to see family meet Josie for the first time. 

-Visiting Friends! It has been so nice to get to see some of our friends while being here. 

-Visiting churches! We have every Sunday and sometimes other days of the week booked with churches morning and night to visit and report to! We are so thankful for this opportunity, it has been such a blessing to visit with everyone so far and look forward to the ones coming up. 

-We celebrated Josie’s first Birthday! She LOVED cake!!! i had to pull it away from her lol

-Eating LOTS (probably too much) of Barbecue and Mexican and all kinds of ‘Texan’ food.

We will be returning to Thailand January 5th. 

Our First Furlough

Brittney, Josie, and I will be leaving Bangkok, Thailand September 1st and flying to America. We will be in the States for 4 months. I wanted to write a short description of some of the plans, goals, and possible struggles we will have while being in America.

I want to start off by apologizing now before we even meet again for anything we do that seems weird or rude. That might sound silly for me to do, but I think we both might found out quickly after meeting why I’m doing this. Brittney and I have changed a lot since we have been in Thailand. Our role as missionaries is to adapt to the culture we are serving in just like Paul did so that we can be effective and accepted here (1 Cor 9:20-23). We have been doing this for the past 2 years now. Are we Thai? No. But, I would say that we are now becoming a weird/unique mix of both Thai and American cultures. There are things that the Thai people do that we like (and don’t like) that have become a way of life for us. Just a few examples of that is our eating habits have changed. We now eat more spicy foods and usually eat rice at least once a day, and sometimes for breakfast. Also we have adapted to the climate here. Its very tropical (hot) pretty much all the time. Some of our friends and places we visit don’t have air conditioners. So we have adjusted to not needing that, and sometimes now just run a fan at home. I say all this because we know we are going to freeze being home during winter time haha. Another thing that you might find strange about us is how we talk. Brittney and I have learned as much Thai as we could being here on our first term. Sometimes we will be speaking in English and just randomly say the next word in Thai. Also, this has happened to, we will be talking and come to a word in English that we can’t think of but we know it in Thai. That is a weird feeling. Another thing that will be weird about being in America is not being the minority any more. Also just being able to speak English all the time and everyone understand each other easily. I won’t have to form Thai sentences in my head before trying to talk to someone or be nervous about answering or making phone calls in a different language.. There are many other things but this will be enough for now. Our family and friends will point out many more things to us I’m sure the first few weeks we are with them.

Possible Struggles: 

So we have changed a lot, but so have our friends, family members, and supporting churches since we have been gone. I have heard this can be difficult and leave a missionary feeling left out. When we visit with our family and friends they will be talking about things that have been happening and we will feel left out because we weren’t there. A lot can change in a few years and I think that is going to be weird to see, because we still imagine “home” being like how we left it. 

Also little things like trying to drive on the opposite side of the road again will be a challenge at first. We don’t have a car here in Thailand yet, but I have been driving my motor bike in Thailand for a while now. Brittney and I will also struggle with trying to communicate to people what its like here in Thailand. It is so hard to describe what life is like here and the spiritual darkness to someone who has never been. It’s not their fault, we know that. I remember the first time Brittney went to Thailand (Summer 2008, one year before I had the chance to visit), and when she got back how hard she tried to explain to me all the things she experienced. I couldn’t understand. I didn’t see all the big Buddhist temples, people worshiping spirits in trees and in statues ext like she did. So that is going to be hard for us; especially, in a short church service to explain what has happened, whats going on, and what we are going to do. But we will try our best, and I know our supporters will do their best to follow along and understand all these foreign things we talk about. 

No doubt the biggest struggle will be leaving family again. We will fly out of Dallas January 5, 2016 to return to Thailand. This time our family will also have to let their grand-baby go. They will just have got to really know her and get attached. Please start praying now for them to be comforted and given grace during that time. 

Our Plans: 

I better move on to sharing about what we plan to do. Here are our main objectives: Rest (we will have family to help out with the baby), be debriefed at the missions office, Re-energize physically and spiritually (maybe go to a Christian conference and concert), Spend time with family and friends, visit churches each Sunday that support us monthly, take care of some personal business that we can’t do while being in Thailand (hospital care, insurance, banking, etc), do some shopping, eat a lot of foods we miss, celebrate Brittney and Josie’s birthdays in October, Brittney and I will celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary by taking a mini-vacation, and we will all celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with family!!! Also during all that making time each day to study and improve our Thai. You can even ask us if we are doing that to help hold us accountable. I’ve heard its very easy to not study and regress in language proficiency while on a long furlough. We don’t want that! 

Our Goals: 

We have been praying a lot and planing a lot to make this furlough an effective one. Brittney and I both want to use our time wisely while in the States. Our goal is to complete everything we have planned and then some. 

We want to give a clear and faithful report to the churches and meetings we go to. We want our supporters to know what we have done in Thailand the past two years, and what we plan to do when we return. We will be talking about our ambition and strategy in starting a church in the Northern Suburbs of Bangkok.

Conclusion: 

Thanks for reading. We look forward to seeing many of you soon! We will share our schedule of churches that we are going to visit once that is finalized. Brittney and I can’t express how excited we are to see everyone! 

First Time to Teach in Thai

Today I hit a big milestone! This morning I taught a Sunday School class and I only spoke in the Thai language. I have been preparing for 2 weeks for this lesson. And more than that, I have been working hard at this language for almost 2 years so that I could do this! I'm so excited that I'm finally getting to the time where I can start teaching about God in Thai. Don't get me wrong, I still have A LOT to learn. My pronunciation wasn't close to perfect, nor was my tones, sentence structures, and other things. But, I believe God used it. I was so thankful for people in the class being patient with me as I was trying to share in their language, and after it was finished they encouraged me a lot with their kind words. God definitely blessed me with a good experience and I'm looking forward to teaching again next month.

God has really answered our prayers! I'm so thankful for our supporters and friends that prayed for me. I really had a peace going into this. For me this could have been easily the most terrifying thing I have had to do in Thailand haha. That might sound strange, but its true. I get nervous sharing from God's Word in English. If I can get nervous sharing in a language that I don't even have to think about and I know exactly what is coming out of my mouth, imagine how I could have felt today in a language that is still difficult for me. God blessed me so much. Could I have done better? probably.. But I'm thankful I survived and I really enjoyed sharing with them. It was really nice to talk directly to them and not have to depend on an interpreter.

During the time I was sharing I had a few out-of-body-experiences... Sound weird? I mean, I kinda stepped back and heard myself speaking in another language and people around me seeming to benefit from it. That was cool! I can't really explain how that felt, but it was interesting. It was like I was on auto-pilot and I stepped back to observe what was going on and how I sounded. I never stopped speaking and I didn't have to think about what I was saying. During that time I could hear myself and really observe how people were reacting to what I was saying. It was neat.

The topic of discussion was "Praying Without Ceasing." We talked about the importance of it, what it looks like, how it can deepen our relationship with God, and shared together some methods that we can use to go about doing it. It was fun. I feel so blessed. I pray that God continues to help me in this language so that I can communicate clearer and deeper each time I get the chance to teach.

Here is a snap shot of my notes. If any of my missionary friends read this you can see how I decided to structure my notes in both languages. Basically I wrote down the sentences and words in Thai that I needed to work on. When I was speaking and got in a bind I would just look down and read what I wrote in Thai. 

Videoing myself practice the lesson before I taught it helped a lot! I recorded myself probably a dozen times or more to find out where my trouble spots were in the language. It also helped me gain speed and helped me speak smother I think. I'm not going to lie, it's kind of painful to actually see yourself and hear yourself, but it was helpful to know how I really sound. It was interesting also to see how I move my mouth and do things with my facial expressions when I came to words and things that where more difficult for me to say. 

Video Update

We talk about our upcoming furlough, visit to the orphanage, local college ministry, plans to teach Sunday School in Thai, and BMA Mini-conference.

BMA Mini-Conference (Chiang Mai)

Josie's First Airplane Ride

This past week we had the opportunity to travel to Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) for a BMA mini-conference. Bro. Larry, Mrs. Shelby Barker, Bro. Todd, Mrs. Paige West, and their twin daughters Addison and Riley were able to come from America. Also there was a BMA couple from Cambodia (John and Louela Page), Joy from Laos, and the Thailand team (Jo & Jessie, Bro. Eliezer his wife Ana and their daughter Liana) were all able to attend. We arrived Monday afternoon and just relaxed and visited with everyone that evening. Then Tuesday morning we had our first session and it was great!

Our friends mentioned above at the conference

         Bro. Todd talked about Rest and how that looks different for different people. And how when you rest you are really making yourself stronger. He shared a quote "A person who is always available is not worth much when he/she is available." I felt like he was speaking right to me. I really needed to hear that. I think because we have been here almost two years and sometimes feels like we are by ourselves especially having a baby here with no family. I have become very dependent on the Lord, but also very independent as far as taking care of the baby always trying to do everything by myself. And during this discussion I realized that it's true when I go non-stop with Josie I'm not as good as a parent I'm more easily impatient or upset than if I were to take rest or ask for help and then return to taking care of Josie I will have more energy and be worth a lot more. 

Where we met for our sessions

       Then we also talked about Saying No, one thing mentioned was how people pleasing can be a form of idolatry and not to allow people to influence you more than God does. And we shouldn't feel guilty about alone time....two things I got from this 1. Personal Alone Time- I NEED to make time for personal time with the Lord, sometimes I feel like I can multi-task and do it while I'm still caring for Josie but I really see the value in "alone" time with the Lord. 2. Family Alone Time-  I think sometimes as a missionary people think we are in another country so we are already vacationing so we try to make up for that misconception and end up not vacationing at all. And I know that just like other families we need to just grab our calendars and plan weekly, and yearly family dates!

Josie enjoying her time in the playroom with her new friends

One session we talked about Nehemiah 2:17, knowing the difference between just a good idea or a God idea. It starts with a burden, it frustrates you until you know a change needs to be made, you can clearly state it, it shows evidence of God's approval, and is confirmed by God's people. During this time many shared about future decisions they will be making and taking these step to evaluate. But for me it was really encouraging just to be reminded that the reason we are in Thailand is because it was 'God's idea.' Sometimes during language school it's hard, long, frustrating, and very humbling and you think to yourself why am I here it would be so easy to call it quits and go back to all the things I'm used to... But I know that we both have such a strong burden for the Thai people to hear the gospel and receive true life, we have many stories of God's favor on us and Him bringing us here, and we have seen our calling to come here confirmed by God's people.

We also talked about prayer retreats, values, how to measure success, and many other important things! It was such an encouraging time so be joined with one another sharing our struggles, listening and praying for each other, and just relaxing! 

Joy took some family picks for us so when we go to America we can update our prayer cards

We are so thankful for the team that was able to come they really have no idea how much they blessed us!! They had to have been exhausted after making such a long trip, one of them lost their wallet, they were trying new foods and not once did I ever hear any of them complain they were just full of joy! I was also so impressed by Aaddison and Riley (The West's daughters) only 13 years old and to see their love for the Lord and to sit through each of the sessions with us and interact with us was so neat!

This trip was very encouraging and spiritually refreshing! We are so thankful we were able to be a part of it.

Josie is Ready to Travel!

It took us a while to get in with the U.S. Embassy but we finally got an appointment at the beginning of this month! Josie is now officially a U.S. citizen! And yesterday Brandon went and picked up her passport! 

We are so excited, Lord willing we will get to come back and visit everyone this September!! At that time we will have completed two years on the field and finished with official Language school (although like English we will still be learning more about the language everyday!). We are so excited for Josie to get to meet everyone and to be able to spend the holidays with our families!! Also when we return to Thailand we are excited to get started on the ministry God has in store for us!

Thank you again for all your prayers concerning the Embassy appointment and all her paperwork! God has been gracious to us!!

Look Whose Ready To Travel!

Going to be a World Traveler!

I'm so Excited!!

Can't Wait to Meet Everyone!!!