Asia Pacific Women's Conference 2014

We left Sunday morning from Bangkok and arrived in the Philippines that afternoon. It was about a 3 hour flight. We spent the night at a hotel and then meet up with the others on Monday. Brandon caught another plane to Bacolod where all the husbands hung out for the week.

There were about 18 missionary women (serving in different areas in Asia), and an American team of 7 women. The conference lasted Monday evening until Friday morning. Our association holds this conference every two years and thankfully this year I was able to go! Even though we haven't been on the field very long, it came at the perfect time not only did I need to be spiritually refilled, but we also were able to count it as our visa run. It was SO refreshing to come together with other missionary women who are going through similar things pray together, laugh together, and even cry together! There were beautiful friendships formed this week! I think one of my favorite times was at the very beginning of the week, we were asked to share some of our sufferings that became blessings and God has used as testimonies to others. It was amazing to hear each of the ladies open up and share their hearts, and how through such painful experiences God has brought about deliverance. Our theme was Flying Again, and our key passage of study was 2 Corinthians 1:8-11. Overall it was a good reminder that even though sometimes missionaries are viewed as "super Christians" we are all sinners in need of much grace, we still face many struggles in our spiritual walk and must rely daily (hourly) on The Lord. We all face sufferings and have a choice to make, either we truly trust God and praise Him in the midst of the storms or we don't. 

I really praise God for each of you that support us finically and prayerfully that made it possible for me to go on this trip! At the end of the week we were asked to say one word that summed up the week, my word was "Strengthened!"

Video Update: November & December

Video update: September & October

How I Imagine Our Future Ministry

I was asked to write a short paragraph for our associations magazine about how I imagine our ministry looking like in a few years. Thought I would share:

"In a few years I imagine myself having a firm grasp of the Thai language and possessing an even greater ambition to make Jesus look glorious among the Thai people. By then I see a church forming among hope thirsty Buddhist in Bangkok, Thailand by God’s grace, our labor, and because of prayers and support from back home. This church will be passionate about producing disciple makers, training leaders, and reproducing church plants throughout Thailand. Many villagers from all over Thailand come to Bangkok, and this makes the capital a good location to witness to different people groups who come to the big city in search for something greater. We desire to return with them to their villages to spread the good news about their new found treasure, Jesus. Our mission is to equip Thai people for the work of the ministry within their families, schools, and work places. I will be teaching English as the main form of outreach, and Lord willing in a university context. This will give me the chance to be surrounded by young adults who are in search for identity, direction, and truth. It is exciting to dream big. No matter how big my imagination or hopes are Scriptures say He is able to do far more than we ask or think according to the power at work within us (Eph. 3:20), and this gives me great confidence and excitement!"

Subway-Taxi-Haircut

We want to share a few stories about people we have met and small victories we have had in the language. 

A few days ago I was following behind Brittney to find a seat on the subway and then the one close to her was taken in-front of me (little did I know God had a specific reason for this), so I turned and sought after another one. I found one about 10ft away and sat down. Usually I like to study my flash cards when I can as we travel, but it had been a long day and I was tired of looking at the Thai language. But, I felt convicted to take out my cards and look at them. When I started flipping through them I noticed the older gentleman beside me softly speaking the words I was slowly trying to make out, and then he would look at me to watch me slowly read them. I wanted to talk to him, but I didn’t know if he could understand English. So I just continued, and he was following every card. I came to the word for foreigner (คนฟรั่ง, kon-fa-rong) and then I looked at him and pointed to myself and chuckled. He laughed as well and then began speaking to me in perfect English! He helped me with a few cards and then we ended up talking about his daughter who lives in the States and his job as an airlines consultant. We both ended up getting off at the same station, and I found out he lives on the next street over from us!! There I was sitting by a man I met about an hour away from home who lives right next to us. As we were saying our goodbyes he gave me his business card and said to contact him so I could practice language with him!

This morning Brittney and I were walking to the street to get a taxi. We had about 4mins to perfect our sentence to tell the taxi driver where we would like to go. We kept saying over and over again out loud: “ไปรถไฟใต้ดินไหมครับ” (bpai-rot-fai-dtaai-din-mai-kop). Then we crossed over the bridge and called a taxi, and for the first time the taxi driver understood us and we had him take us to the subway without using any English! Yes it was a small sentence, but it was a sweet victory for us. 

Also today I got my haircut. I went to a new place because the last place I went to wasn’t so great. We found a barber shop on the first floor of our condo, so we went there this afternoon. I was very thankful a guy went before me and got the exact haircut I wanted, so all I had to say when I sat down was “same-same” and she understood. The workers were talking amongst themselves and then all the sudden I heard them say something about rain fall. Immediately without thinking I asked her if it was raining in Thai. She lit up and smiled. She then began throwing all kinds of words at me thinking I could speak Thai. I noticed a few and would guess what she was asking. There were a few awkward silences because of my lack of vocabulary and sentence structure, but the pause would soon be dismissed by “never mind, it’s ok.” In the end I got a good haircut, and we made a new friend. 

We Made It To Thailand! - Video Update

Deputation Video 2013