Some have asked, so here is a short timeline & some info:

Brittney and I graduate from the seminary this December. In January 2013 we will officially start deputation. This will include visiting churches interested in partnering with us in taking the gospel to Thailand, and pleading with them to be faithful in prayer for us and for the Thai people. We have been recommended by the advisory committee for election in April 2013 to be BMAA missionaries (Baptist Missionary Association of America). Our hopes are to be sent to Thailand and start with language school in the summer of 2013, we will soon see if that is the Lord’s plan.

We are going not to plant American churches, but Thai churches. We are not going with the sole purpose of witnessing conversions, but to invest in making disciple makers. Brittney and I understand that we are only two people. We are going with the gospel, and with eyes open for faithful people to equip for the ministry (2 Tim. 2:2). There is a great need for Christ centered leaders, churches, and worship in Thailand. 

If you have questions please ask. We are always excited for the opportunity to share about how God is making Himself known to the nations. We are so happy to be apart of God’s mission, and we want others to experience this joy. 

Final Report

We had a successful trip. Everything we hoped for and more was shown to us. God answered our prayers and yours. We now know what language school to attend when we arrive, the place to stay during that year of schooling, and we now have even a greater confirmation through this trip that God has a place for us there to serve Him. We learned so much while we were there. Brittney and I have a better understanding of what life and ministry will be like in Thailand. We have a better grasp of what the culture, food, people, and transportation is like as well. And on this trip we have experienced more about how God provides, protects, and directs. He has been so good to us!

We had a wonderful time teaching English. Brittney and I had 14 brilliant students. It was a joy to build relationships with them and serve them. We will miss them. Some said they are waiting for us to return.

Some ministers say that it would be nice to be a carpenter.. because at the end of a project you can see the result of all your labor. But with ministry many times it is not so. Brittney, Jo, and I shared the gospel with many people. Some we even had the opportunity to read through portions of the Bible with, some big and some small. Even though many were interested and others challenged, nobody at that time wanted to have Jesus as their Lord & Savior. We understand that we cannot change hearts. Only God has the power to take a person who naturally loves sin (all of us) and have them supernaturally hate it and love Him. God starts and finishes the work (Philippians 1:6). We are just happy to be apart of it, and I hope you are too.

So What's next?
Our next step is to go to the BMAA Mission Office in Little Rock, Arkansas to stand before the Advisory Committee in September. There we will present to them our visions and place of service. I have had some people ask if we are trying to learn Thai while we are in the states... No, not really. We are putting all of our efforts into our seminary studies and students at New Hope. Our priority is the ministry God has us in now.

Thank you SO much for your prayers, support, and love.

Here is a short clip we put together about our trip:

"And they glorified God because of me" Galatians 1:24

I pray that is true in our lives people glorify God because they see Him in me!!

Only a matter of days left! We are looking foward to seeing our family and friends back home!!

Today we had a very nice service bro. Jo preached and we had several visitors!  A BMA missionary from Loas came in to meet and visit with us and bro. Doyle today. It was very encouraging to all be together worshiping.

We all had lunch together and shared our stories and prayer request.
I am so thankful for my husband and his heart for the Lord. He has really been a godly example for me and to others around us. He has such a humble heart to help others. Today there was a need some one had and he was quick to help in any way. The missionary was in need of a computer to help in her ministry, and she had been looking and the prices were just so expensive even compared to the states. So Brandon had been praying about it and selflessly offered his computer to her. It was such a reminder for me today that we shouldn't love our possessions and we ought to be quick to help our brothers and sisters in need!

Thank you for all your prayers can't wait to be back with you all so we can share all that we have learned and experienced!!

Getting Familiar...

Wow can't believe we only have 9 days left till we go back to the states!

We are finally getting familiar with everything and have been able to travel around on our own without getting lost! We have visited the area many times where we hope to attend a language school and have also found a place we could stay in the same building as our school! We also visited a park near by that could be very useful in future ministry outreaches. The location of the school is basically the central business area of Thailand. There are many tourist and the region is arguably the core of Bangkok's nightlife regarding prostitution. God has definitely given me a heart to reach young women and there's nothing I would love to see more than women being freed from that and having their lives changed by Jesus Christ! So it seems there is much work that can be done here and as of now we really feel led to this area

We have also been teaching just about every day. We have had several new students even though we don't have much time left, but we will spend as much time with them as we can! We have recently had two new girls that have joined us. They both are so advanced in English that their vocabulary is beyond the books we have...so we have been working on reading and comprehension, and our text book is the Bible!!! It is very interesting that God has been working in both of their lives prior to them meeting us. One is a Buddhist from Sri Lanka and this is her first time here. Just about everywhere she goes, whether the bus stop or out eating somewhere, she has met a Christian that has helped her or befriended her in some way!! God is really working on her!! She came to church last Sunday (Brandon preached so she was able to understand English...it was also translated in Thai though for the others!) We also have another student we have been working with that just believes in nature. Her sister is Christian and she lived with a Muslim family so she is interested in religion.  Both girls have been willing to spend 3 hours reading the Scripture and learning about it!! I could go on and on about how exciting it has been to work with each of the students but this is just a brief peek at the work God is doing here!

Jo is back with us! He has been able to preach and teach Bible studies in his village which God has really blessed!

Also Brandon got to meet a guy from England named Aaron he was able to share the gospel with him! So keep him in your prayers that God will continue to work and stir his heart! It was a pretty awesome experience Brandon was super excited!

This week we will be ending our teaching week, but the students have all left us with their contact info and want to continue with us next year when we return!

Also we will be meeting with Bro. Doyle from the Philippines at the end of this week.

Thank you for your prayers this trip has truly been a blessing!

Perfect Place & Perfect Opportunities

God has truly blessed us! The past week has been very encouraging for us!

1. We seem to have our mind made up on which language school would be best for us. 
2. We also have found what seems to be the best option for housing. It is reasonable and beyond convenient. It is located in the same building as our language school! Being located here opens up new ministry opportunities that I will like to share in more detail later with those interested. 
3. We have two students that have been prepared before they met us to hear the Gospel. I really wish I could go into details of their lives they have shared with us, but trust me God is doing great things to get their attention. Pray with us that they put their trust in Christ alone, and make Him Lord of their lives. 
4. Another great thing that happened to us was a date night. Yesterday Brittney and I went to the mall and had a hot pot (you cook your own food in bowling water on your table), we paid a visit to Krispy Kreams, and then we ended the night on youtube watching a few videos from Platt, Piper, and Baucham (great preachers). It was a nice and much needed night. 

Thanks for your prayers. I have a new request... I found out this morning that my grandma is in the hospital. Things are not looking good for her. It is hard for me because I feel like I should be there to help take care of her and things. My great aunt also passed away a few weeks ago... Internet communication can only do so much during times like this, but I'm thankful that we have even that. Please pray for my family as they are going through a lot of things at the moment.

Sorry I don't have a few pics with this blog and new ones added to our Facebook group page. I will try to get some  loaded soon. 

YouTube Videos

I just loaded some of our videos on YouTube. I will try my best to get more and keep them coming. You can get to them on our blog under "Media" and then click on "Thailand 2012: Videos"

Or you can go to:
http://www.youtube.com/user/heartsforthailand/videos

Visiting Temples

Temple Guide

Brittney and I have had a few days off from teaching, so we decided to go visit some temples and also gain experience in traveling around Bangkok. We went with the hopes of meeting people and learning. We were able to meet several people on the bus rides. I had a good conversation with a guy from Scotland who is attending the university we are staying next to. Brittney met someone that will join us next Tuesday for English lessons. Today Brittney and I were able to learn from a worker at the temple. He came to us and started sharing many things about Buddha. Brittney and I were able to share things with him about Christ. We had a good conversation. In short he said that Buddha was perfect (after he reached enlightenment), they view him as god, and his teachings are still perfect for today. We were able to share with Him about Jesus who not only claimed deity but proved it, who was perfect since birth, and the great news is he is alive.

Sunday after church two of our Thai friends said they wanted to go to one of the temples with us. They have never been to one before. They were both raised Christian and they have always avoided temples. I believe it was good for them to see it that day. They saw first hand what the majority of their people worship. Both were a little nervous, but they were soon reminded that the idols were only created by creators. And no matter how big the statues, their God was much bigger. 

I have seen again how God is sovereign over everything and everyone. He uses all people to work out His plans. One example is seconds after I saw a man in-front of me wai (place hands together and bow his head) to a temple, he turned around to me and started a conversation. He told me to do it for good luck. Even after telling him we didn't believe these things he helped us find our way, taught us some helpful things, and got us a ride to our next destination. I figured we would have turned him completely off, but he was an answered prayer that seemed to be placed there to help us. He also informed us that today was Buddha day. If he was correct (the internet seemed to differ on dates...) it is a holiday set aside to celebrate his birth, enlightenment, and death. 

This week marks the first time Brittney and I are starting to feel at ease with the transportation system, food, and other things that are different to us. We are finally catching on to how things work and where things are. There are still moments that we are clueless, but praise God there has always been someone to help us when we need it! Also, I got a call tonight that there is a guy who wants to start English lessons in the morning! The reason I'm so excited is because he is new, plus he is a guy! So far all of our students have been girls. I'm really excited about meeting him in the morning!

Please continue to pray for us. We are having a good time, but miss those of you back home. 

~Much love from the Lingle's 

Meeting New People

So this week we have started back teaching. We have been pretty busy with that, but we did get a free afternoon and decided to go look at one more language school a friend had told us about. So we Googled the address and ventured out taking the bus by ourselves for the first time, We got off the bus and couldn’t find the building so then managed to get a Tuk Tuk without using English (very interesting! We have become very creative with our sign language!) Ended up begin that the address was wrong there where two places with similar names and we got them mixed up so by that time the school had already closed.

 We were still a little lost so we explored around learned a few of the streets but soon got rained on so we tried to find out way back to the bus stop and we met a tuk tuk driver who spoke excellent English, while getting directions from him Brandon was able to share the gospel! He seemed interested but sometimes the Thai people are just so nice they will respond how they think you would want them to, but we were very excited for the opportunity to share with him. He said he was Buddhist because everyone else was, so Brandon challenged him to think about what he believes. Once we found the bus stop we waited and waited for our bus number I got to visit with a young girl but her bus came quick and weren’t able to talk that much.

Then we decided we should just take the sky train it will be faster to get us home because it was getting late. (Little did we know God had another appointment waiting for us!) While getting on the sky train we met a very friendly teacher that was very helpful! Once we got on the train we were speaking English with the teacher and another guy overheard us and began asking some directions. He was from South Africa married to a girl from Czech Republic. We had a very interesting visit with him. He believes there is a god but he is just out there somewhere not a god that is personal and involved in his life. The wife is an Atheist. We were able to share what we believe and tell him about Jesus. So far all the foreigners we have met here seem to have a similar response when we talk about Jesus, they think we are just being too narrow minded to say that there is such a narrow way (one way!) It was very good to meet him and we pray God continues to stir his heart to reconsider his ways.

We taught English all day for the next 2 days

And today it’s Saturday: Brandon will get to preach tomorrow with an interrupter, we are going to look at some more places that we could possible live at, and tonight we have an English Game Night with the students…and I’m sure food will follow!! 

Back in Bangkok

God has been so faithful to us. He has answered many prayers. One is that we would find a good place to stay in. The apartments around here usually only let people stay for the minimum of 6 months, but we were shown one and it is perfect to stay the remaining month in Thailand. It is in a perfect location for us (1 min from mission house & 5-7 min from university >walking< ), nice, and a great price. 

Brittney and I are excited to start back teaching today. Last night we met with some of the students and made a schedule.

Our plans for the rest of time we are here:

Keep teaching English throughout each week and pray more and more students get involved.

Look at one more language school, and make our final decision. If we have time we might go to one and try to sit in on a free class they offer to try it out.

Meet with another missionary couple. They are close to our age, and they are on the other side of Bangkok.

Look at elementary school around this area because Brittney is interested at teaching at one someday.

We might also continue looking at apartments & condos (for next year) around the university/language school.

I have been given the opportunity to preach this Sunday (A Thai brother is going to translate).

There is a big park on the university campus, some of the church members are going to go with us to hang out and meet people. We are trying to make that a future routine.

Prayer request:

Pray for Divine appointments. We have been blessed with some, and we are praying for more. Since we will be in one spot for a month we hope to meet all our neighbors (which will most likely be college students).

Pray that God continues to show us what we can and should do with our remaining time.

Pray for our families and youth group back home.

- We surprised the people in Bangkok by coming back early. We surprised them at church Sunday morning, and two of our new students where there at church! We were excited not only to see them, but to see them there without knowing we would be there.

A Week in the Village

Last week we spent our time visiting and serving in the village where Jo’s family lives. Once we left Chiang Mai and headed toward Chiang Rai we stayed in the city one night visiting with Jo’s youngest sister. We went to Big C that night (which is basically the Wal-Mart of Thailand) and we were looking for a power converter because ours went out! But by the grace we didn’t find a converter but even better a family from America! There was a white man on the same aisle as us so we didn’t hesitate to quickly speak to him and sure enough at the perfect timing, the Lord knew I needed some encouragement, it was a man and his family that had moved there about a year ago they lived in Waco Texas and then had some missionary training in Fort worth Texas! And the church they were working with is the same church our friend Jeffrey went to while he lived in Waco!!! They were a Christian family with two kids that share the same heart for the Thai people! It was so encouraging to meet them and to introduce them to Jo as well.

Before we left I knew the village was going to be a challenge for me, and when we arrived it indeed was very hard. It definitely took me getting out of my comfort zone! The first day I was able to just be in our room alone and spend endless time with God crying out to Him reading His word and reflecting what He is doing within me and through my life. I love our life in America, but I also know that God has broken our hearts for Thailand for a reason. And to do His will is far greater than any plans I can make for myself. “I’m not ashamed of the Gospel. I’m not ashamed of Jesus Christ. I will stand and boldly say that Christ IS my Life!” This has been the theme of this trip for me! Spending just one week in a village can really change your life! Getting away from the many distractions of this world and returning to the simplicity of life is really eye opening. Sadly for the first time ever Brandon and I hand washed an entire load of laundry, we used only a squatty potty, endured without toilet paper, climbed many mountains, worked like a farmer, slaughtered a pig and feasted on it, ate almost everything that grows, embraced using only COLD water, and enjoyed the Beauties of God! The village is surrounded by mountains so the weather is nice, it’s very cool (I actually had to put on a jacket).

On the way to the village we got dropped off by the bus at a stop that was a small market place for the villages to come instead of having to go all the way to the next city. And from there Brandon and Jo did some shopping for some snacks and supplies we would need for the farm. Then we waited until someone from the village came home from town to take us back into the village. Once we found someone going that way we joined them. The interesting thing is this guy had just come from getting what he needed from town, and his back end of the truck was packed with his stuff. He had a tarp over his stuff and then packed our luggage’s and everything on top along with the others that needed a ride too and then…. wait for it… yes we hopped on the back on top of everything literally just holding on to the rope that was holding our stuff on! (Don’t worry Jo informed us this guy would be a great driver!) Definitely wouldn’t make the safety laws in America though! Lol, but we constantly had to remind ourselves, it’s a different culture.  So once we started this wild ride it was BEAUTIFUL Mountains everywhere! It was about an hour ride, and about almost half way we see rain on both sides of us and it looks like it is coming towards us the driver stops and then we hear him holler out something to Jo, he said “what should we do” lol we just burst out laughing and tell him we have poncho’s so we put them on and get a little rained on but not bad at all. Then we arrive and Jo goes in first to surprise his mom! She was so excited. He said he likes to surprise them because he is really the only one from his village that has ever graduated from college and they respect him a lot, so they would probably try to do something big for him if they knew he was coming. A lot of the people from the village can’t read or write, so they are left working all the time. They sometimes feel that they are lower because of that, but there is so much that can be learned from them. These people have taught us some much! I know far too often we take for granted the ability to read…we have our Bibles right beside us and neglect to pick it up and read and these people are hungry to love and serve God  and yet they are unable to pick up and read the Scriptures.

While we were there we were able to help out at one of the nursery’s (basically like preschool for all the parents that have to work and their kids aren’t old enough to go to school they can go there, and some of the ladies in the village volunteer to work there).

 We also got to work on the farm with Jo’s family and help them a little bit (They are serious workers! The two of them like tripled the work of Brandon, Jo, and I!!) We got to visit the church that is in the village. When we got to Jo’s house there were always random dogs everywhere so we just thought some of them had followed us around the house, and Brandon begins to shu the dog away yelling at it “get out of here” HAHA to his surprise Jo comes out and says actually that is our dog. Also while we were there Brandon got to drive a motorcycle…He was super excited!! We went on some adventures riding the motorcycle the three of us on the edge of mountains! Went “fishing” not the fish we expected, it was what we would consider bait that we caught and ate …of course, here in Thailand they eat everything! We got to see lots of interesting things! When I worked on the mountain with Jo’s family we picked tea leaves. We also got to visit a tea factory, I will never drink tea the same. I will always remember all the hard work that goes into enjoying a glass of tea.

On the farm for lunch break we would get banana tree leaves and use them for plates and cups and then literally get sticks to use for chop sticks.

  We tried raw peanuts, climbed trees to try all kinds of fruit! Also we got a pig…we woke up to it being slaughtered in front of the house, and from that point on everything we ate was with pork!

The ride back to the city was just as interesting! We are headed back to Bangkok now; we will be waiting on a bus in Chiang Mai then 9 hours till we get there. We will keep you updated, continue to pray for us! Sorry we didn’t have internet to update you sooner!

Going to Jo's Village

At the moment we just got settled in at a guest house in Chiang Rai. Tomorrow we will go to Jo's village (which is in the Chiang Rai province) and stay with his family. On the way here Jo was given the opportunity to witness to a college student sitting with him. I don't always know what is going on, but I get happy when I hear the few words I do know in Thai: Jesus, God, and Christian :)

Yesterday we visited another temple. I didn't expect to see non Thai people worshiping there. Jo was able to share the gospel with a young monk at the temple. The monk's mother is Catholic and his dad is Buddhist. Jo had a good long talk with him, but he said it was hard not to get worked up and emotional when talking to the monk. It seems that almost every religion believes that good works are going to save them. The only good thing we added to the cross was Christ, the rest was sin... I pray more people here understand that His sacrifice was sufficient once and for all.

A few days ago we went around looking at language schools and apartments. We narrowed down our search to two schools at the moment that both look good. We didn't decide on an apartment yet, but we have a good idea on location and prices. That day we took the subway and sky train, and we were glad to have Jo show us how to get around.

Last week we were blessed to have some new students. One of my students that was Buddhist wanted me to know that she was, but it was neat to see her expressions when we were reading through the Bible together. I just wish I already knew Thai, so I could communicate more efficiently.

Northern Thailand is mountainous and beautiful. I'm looking forward to going to our friends village and meeting his family. Jo said we might have the opportunity to teach at the local school. I also brought some work clothes because I expect the opportunity to work with Jo and his parents at the farm. Some times it is difficult the further we get away from non tourist places. It seems the luxuries start fading away, but other things increase! Like one of our students from a northern village said, "Simple life, I like."

Because we will be in the village soon, internet will probably cease. We will try our best to keep you updated when we can. Thanks for your prayers! God bless!!

Some Pics

I wish I could put more, but I have been at battle with the internet for at least these. Hope to post more as we can.

You can go to "Media" at the top, and then click "Pictures" under Thailand 2012

,or go to this link:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.374275579299891&type=1

Today was a very adventurous day!

We experienced many things today. To start the day off we began with breakfast…normal right? Not exactly for the very first time we tried fish eyes and fish brain!!! I used to be a very picky eater and the Lord is really teaching me that most of it is all my fears of food are psychological  lol. After breakfast we ventured off to a wild boat ride! There is a river here in Bangkok that is a pretty central location and the Thai people use the boat like a taxi but faster. It was amazing how many people that fit on this little boat everytime they stopped at a dock I could not believe they were going to try to fit another person on but sure enough we all packed in (seriously like 100 to 150 on this boat!! Crazy) On the boat they have people coming on and off all the time so they have a sign asking people to be honest and pay for their ride. So the lady comes by to take our money for our ticket and Jo tells Brandon what to say in Thai and he repeats it to her…she answers back in Thai “your Thai is so good, how long have you been here?” Brandon not knowing what she said doesn’t reply…lol Jo just bust out laughing and later tells us what she said!!  On the boat I met a girl named Donna I asked her if she spoke English and she knew it very well she said she had learned it at her church. I was so excited to hear that so I got her phone number and Jo said he knew the location where the church was so tomorrow we are going to call her and visit them!

When we arrived to our location, the Golden Mountain, we walked up many stairs and reached the top it was basically a temple.  Before we headed up the mountain there was a temple on the bottom level it was so sad to see, but inside there was a father and a little girl. At such a young age they are submersed in this religion. Right before going to the last entrance before the temple there was sign that said “the way up” in Thai “the way to heaven” Ironically it was a very narrow set of stairs that were difficult to get through. At the top many people were gathered to walk around this idol thing about three times and then they pray blessings to the monks. They also leave money offerings all around the idol. It was interesting to see but our hearts were broken by it. Jo, Brandon and I just looked at each of the lives and souls that were around us and cried out to God in prayer to break them of these false idols. At the top of the mountain you can look out and see a beautiful view of the city, and as we looked out we prayed over and for the many lives. On the way down from the mountain Jo stopped one of the cleaners and shared the gospel with him! While he was doing that Brandon and I met a couple from Australia they were headed to Kenya and their flight got delayed so they spent the night in Thailand and were just out sight-seeing.

After that we got some lunch, the area we were in was filled with tourist it was just one street packed out with foreigners. After lunch we stopped by the western union to exchange some money and the worker was out on a break, so we noticed another man waiting in line as well. It just so happened to be a man from Nigeria who has been living in Malaysia and had just arrived in Thailand. He was a Christian and was really discouraged because the area he was at with all the foreigners is just filled with wickedness. And he couldn’t believe all the Buddhist stuff everywhere. So he was just praising God that he met us, he was so encouraged to know that we were there for missions and to meet Jo, a Thai who has a heart for his own people. It was very neat to see how God arranges such appointments!  

Then after leaving there we walked a little more to the place where if there is ever a political riot, it happens there. It was very interesting to learn a little bit about the history of Thailand. Jo was telling us that in the place we were on October 14, 1973 there was a major riot fighting for Democracy and many people lost their lives. It is now a national holiday in remembrance.

Then we rode a tuk tuk back to the boat dock. And then back on the wild boat ride (Dad you would have loved it! Lol) On the boat We met a guy from France and a guy from Spain both here for work, neither were Christians and thought we were crazy for thinking there was only one true God, they were ok with Buddhism because it’s very peaceful and thought all religions were ok.  Jo met a guy who works at the airport and got to share the gospel with him. Also Jo got to talk with a guy on the street selling necklaces. He had many around his neck and Jo asked what for…they were for protection…Jo asked if he really believed that it was his protection from everything and through that Jo got to share the gospel and how through the cross we have true protection.

Then we got back around 3 and taught English to the girls until dinner time and we had dinner with them…they are excellent cooks! Then went to the 7/11 (seriously our new best friend, one on every corner!) and I don’t know how but somehow Jo got our bus tickets for next week from there. We will be going to his home village which is about a 9 hour bus trip.

We just made it back home and now are going to get some rest, Jo has another Big day planned for us tomorrow after church!!

Thank you for your prayers, through them God is giving us many opportunities to make His Name known!!! 

(More pictures coming soon)

Prayer Meeting

We are so undeserving and yet over and over again the Lord is so faithful to use us in His work. This morning in our daily reading Brandon and I read a verse that fits exactly to our hearts cry, “Brothers my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved” Romans 10:1 Just as Paul desired to see lives changed and a true understanding and knowledge (Faith) in God we too are burdened to see the lost be found! 

After much prayer dedicated to the day, we first went with Jo to get his hair cut. Very interesting experience (Mom, things are much different here! lol) While we were waiting in the barber shop some of the girls I have been teaching walked by and I jumped up to go say hello, the Thai people in the shop were so confused that a foreigner knew people walking down the street! 555(in Thai the number 5 is Ha…so translation  is Ha Ha Ha).

I have been teaching the same students for almost a week now and we are studying 1 John in Thai English Thai English back and forth. And today was so exciting for me to see the students faces light up when they began to read the Scriptures and figure out what it means on their own. In just one week, by the grace of God, the students have improved so much we are able to hold a conversation. We came to serve the people and yet they have been serving us way beyond measure. As I am teaching them English they are teaching me so much Thai!!!! I am supper excited to learn the language, God has really used this trip to show me that we Can learn it!

After we both taught English all day, I hung out with the girls this afternoon and Brandon was able to talk and look with Jo for language schools and houses! We have been praying God will make clear where we are to be, and we know He will do just that.

Then this evening we had a prayer meeting at the mission’s house. One of the ladies brought a box of Dunkin’ Donuts! (Who would have thought they actually taste much better here! Lol) It was a good time to come together and share our praises and our request. We took turns sharing things in our lives that we wanted to praise God for. And we shared with them how thankful we are to have churches back home that are faithfully praying for us and even them. I think it meant a Lot for them to know that even people all the way across the world that have never met them are praying for them! One of my favorite things about meeting for worship with the Thai people is that they love to sing praises! It so Beautiful and worshipful to hear both some singing in Thai and others in English at the same time and when they mix it is just an awesome picture of how God has children of all nations!!!!! “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above all the heavenly host. Praise Him Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. AMEN”

And of course we ended the day with a wonderful meal. 

Jo

We have had a few hard times, but mostly good times. Right now we are waiting outside of our apartment for our brother Jo to arrive. It has been good for us to be here without him for a little while to figure things out on our own, but now we are ready for him to be here so we can be more efficient. Jo is a fellow classmate and he is from Thailand.

Brittney and I have seen some very…. new things. Yesterday we saw a man walking his pet duck (with a flashing collar) down the street. We also met one of the professional soccer players that is staying at our apartment. I think his whole team is here because I have seen a dozen or so athletic Nigerians around the apartment. This morning a friend we made at breakfast tried to give us his umbrella. He was sad he couldn’t find it to give to us.

Brittney and I both have been surprised by how much we enjoy the food here. Yes some of it isn’t all that great or very different, but most of it is great. The family that is taking care of us, and we are working with, have been wonderful to us. Today one of them ran out of the kitchen… haha, and tried to explain (funny with language barrier) the animal that snuck into the kitchen. Long-funny-story short I retrieved the large lizard in the garbage can and took it outside, while having many people walking on the street thinking I was a crazy foreigner digging in the trash.

Today we had a good time teaching English. My favorite part is going through the Bible to work on their reading and comprehension. They are smart, and I love when the Thai students say “The God” when talking about our Lord. For the past two days we planned to go visit students at the University, but rain has stopped us both times. We have really enjoyed our stay here, and God has shown us many things. He has also given us ideas about the future.

Well Jo is here! It is 2am but we are too excited to sleep. Jo just happily stuffed his face with the food he had been missing. We still can’t believe we are with Jo in his country, pretty cool. Waiting to see what God has in store for His glory. Thanks for your prayers. 

Church and Chell

WOW! We serve such an AWESOME God!!!!!!!! May all Glory and honor and praise be given to God. This morning we attended a service with about 16 Thai people and I have just been in awe of how Big our God truly is. Hearts are being stirred away from Buddhism towards Christianity! It was so humbling to be in the presence of different nations and people groups crying out songs of praise to the true God together. No matter the language or any other differences our God is receiving glory that He deserves from His people!!! Then after service we had a fellowship lunch…very interesting food lol! The Lord is so good, I was able to share the gospel with a young lady (Chell) and talk to her about having a relationship with Jesus Christ! Tomorrow we are meeting with her again to work on some English and she agreed to let me pray and have Bible study with her!! I am so excited and so was she; she said she will bring many of her friends to hear about this as well!!! Praise be to God and His perfect timing. Thank you for all of your prayers, God is working here and we are so blessed to be a part of it!

Chell

decisions... decisions...

Wow the past two days have been packed with adventures! We have big decisions to make and Lots of praying to do for guidance and direction with our choices.

Yesterday we were offered the opportunity to teach and work with six different schools teaching English and establishing some relationships connecting with some mission work here in Bangkok. It is an awesome opportunity and we desire to help and do as Much as we can while we are here. But the work is very divided here and we are torn with how to spend our time wisely. We pray for unity among the work and that our choices will glorify God.

Today has been wonderful. We met with some native believers and visited the University. Many of the Thai students are having exams this week so we didn’t get to visit much, but we plan to go this afternoon to a local park to meet some people! After we visited the University this morning we went to the mission house and I cooked with the Thai girls and Brandon played guitar and sang some worship in Thai with some of the other students!

God has definitely planned the way for us to be here and we are learning a lot. Our relationship with the Lord is growing, and our marriage is being strengthened daily through our reliance on the Lord. The ministry here is very difficult but there is much work to be done in this city. We Love the people and our hearts desire is to see lives changed. Continue to pray for the people of Thailand that their hearts would be softened and receive the gospel of Christ!

We made it to Thailand!

Well we made it to Thailand! It is hard to believe that we are here. I can already tell that we will not be able to blog and update facebook as much as we are wanting to at the moment because of the issues with internet (I’m praying I can post this).

So far things are great! Yesterday Brittney and I were brought to our apartment by our missionary friend, Nathee. He got us settled in and let us rest from our trip. We tried our best to stay awake to get our internal time to match our new environment, so we went exploring. We went sightseeing along the river and then ultimately to the mall to get a cell phone. Our first day in Thailand “by ourselves” has been a great learning experience and interesting. This trip is making us even more eager for language school. That night we had our first experience with shopping for dinner on the streets. Most of it was good.

We met some neat people that day, now it is 7:30 in the morning and we are waiting to meet with our missionary friends. We are both excited to see what happens today. Thanks for your prayers!

View outside of our apartment 

Getting close to time

It is hard to believe that we will be going to Thailand in less than 10 days, especially knowing what needs to be done before we go! But praise God that we received our passports in the mail today with VISAS, and the money for our trip has been raised! Also it has been confirmed that Jo will be going with us! We are so excited and enjoy planning the trip together. Our school has been gracious to wave our rent while we are gone. Even if you asked I couldn't say enough good things about our school.

We were invited to speak at Westminster Bible Church and Liberty Baptist last week in Henderson. Both visits were a blessing, and we were greatly encouraged. The past Wednesday night we went with the mindset to serve the youth, but it was switched (as it often is). We shared with the children about kids their age in Thailand. After the whole thing the kids prayed for us, and later came back with posters full of prayers. The prayers were so sweet. Our church home has done so much for us. I couldn't imagine doing what we are doing without them. Now I understand better than ever why the Bible teaches missions being a work of God through a local church.

It is incredible how everything is working out. We are so happy that tonight we are partying (like we don't have finals next week...) by making homemade ice-cream, making peach cobbler, and enjoying our marriage. Ready to visit our sweet mothers an grandmothers tomorrow. We have been blessed with wonderful family. God is good!

"If it's God's will, it's God's bill"

Those are the words my brother Kwabena said when I told him how God is taking care of the financial needs necessary to go to Thailand. God is amazing! I have been completely blown away by the support of God's people! It is great to see others have hearts for Thailand. The Lord is great at providing a way to do what He wants done. It is hard to wait and see what God is going to do with this trip. At the moment we are planning to stay in Thailand for 2 months (end of May - end of July).

We are still planning out the details of the trip. All we know at the moment is we will be working with several different missionaries in Bangkok, and possibly others in different areas. We are also going to look at language schools so we can maybe get an idea which one to attend in the future. Another plan is to visit Ramkhamhaeng University which is the largest college in Thailand (over 500,000 students). Our friend that is probably going with us went to college there. We pray that we can share the Gospel and build relationships there for a few weeks. Then at sometime we are going to our friend's village to visit his family and minister alongside his church there. I know God will continue to line things out. Brittney and I both miss Thailand and are so happy we are going back! I can't believe in the next few days we are buying tickets! God has given us the desires of our heart and is providing the way to live them out.

Exciting News!

It is very clear the Lord is confirming He has a plan for us to serve Thailand this summer... Can't explain all the details just yet but our prayers for clarity and guidance on it are being answered! (It looks like God is working out a way for a good friend of ours to go with us and the neatest thing about that is that he is Thai! Our prayer is that we will be as helpful to him as he will be to us!!)

The estimated dates as of right now for us to go will be around May 24ish- July 20ish. In the next few days we will be taking a Leap of Faith, lots of decisions to be made we will be ordering our flight tickets, and making contacts with those we will be serving with over there.

It seems that God is showing us He has big plans to use us on this trip, and in doing so we believe He will stir hearts to provide the finances for us to go as He has faithfully done so in the past.  We pray that You will be as blessed giving to support us as we are to be serving! May God receive all the Glory from it!!!!!

Spring Break!

What an amazing spring break!! Brittney and I have had the wonderful opportunity of promoting our school (BMATS) at the BMAA national meeting. The president of our school had me give a short summary on how the Seminary has helped us in our preparation toward missions. We met many great people and leaders. We ate great food with great friends. Also God put before us good contacts for our up coming summer trip to Thailand. These missionaries seem excited to have us and help us.

BMAA National Meeting

Brittney and I were filled with so much joy when we witnessed our friends be announced as BMA Missionaries! After this wonderful time of worship and prayer we met the Director of SOAR (Youth Conference in the Dallas area). He invited us to go there and for me to speak about Thailand and our hearts for missions. Tomorrow we have the privilege of stopping by to have lunch with the president of our school and the president of the Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson Mississippi. On top of all this an anonymous person purchased a brand new suit and it was later given to me.

What a great spring break. Brittney and I are so excited about the work that the BMA is doing through the grace of God. They are truly loving, encouraging, and committed to carry out the Lord's work. It is a great "family" to be apart of and work alongside. Even though this week has been great I have missed teaching the youth at New Hope tonight. God has blessed us with a great group of youth that are seeking the face of God. I am so excited to see how God will use them now and in the future!

BMAA National Meeting

We feel so Blessed to be at the BMA national meeting this week! Love meeting all the people and connecting with fellow brothers and sisters! We have gotten so much wise advice and encouraging words from such godly people, it has truly been a blessing Praise be to God! Also it Seems as though God is confirming He wants us to visit Thailand this summer, it has been awesome visiting with Bro. Tony Crocker sharing our hearts and visions!!

Hearts for Thailand

This blog is dedicated to stir hearts for Thailand. May God receive glory and praise from our efforts to keep others posted on His work through us and to us.

At the moment we are planning another trip to Thailand this summer. We have until September 2012 to present to >BMAA missions< the place we believe God wants us to serve as missionaries. Right now we know where our hearts and minds are tuning into, but we are still trying to remain open. After this summer trip (Lord willing) the plan is to move to the country where God is sending us and begin the Lord's work there (Summer 2013).

We plan to make disciples, train leaders (2 Tim. 2:2), and watch the Lord build for Himself (Matthew 16:18) an indigenous church... then repeat as many times as the good Lord allows us!!