1 Month now back in America

This will probably be our final blog...at least for a while, because we have finished up our 3 year time of service in Thailand. We were excited to see God work in so many ways the past few years. We really appreciate how you have prayed for the Kui people and for us as we have served there. If you are nearby, we would be glad to speak at your church or youth group, just let us know. We are currently living in Fuquay-Varina, and are looking for a ministry job, probably youth pastoring, in the NC area. You can be praying that God will lead us to the right place.

Now that we are back, we have experienced quite a few interesting things that I thought I would include in this blog.

1. Hudson's fascination with water fountains. Since he's forgotten all about America, he's not used to lots of the normal American things. We were at Cracker Barrel the day after coming home, and I saw a water fountain. I told Hudson, "Hey, do you know what that is?" He said "no"??? "It's a water fountain...go try it," I said. Hudson proceeded to the water fountain hit the button and was amazed watching the water come out. When I told him he could actually drink the water he was even more amazed. After the water shot up his nose and then in his hair, he finally got a little bit in his mouth.

2. Getting a new driver's license. Since Pamela's drivers license expired nearly 2 years ago, we went to the DMV to get a new one. Since it had expired for so long, she had to do everything over. Without studying, she passed the written test on the first time. She did fine on the signs test. Then they said she need to do the driving test. She was a little freaked out. She hadn't driven in America in over 3 years. This means, she would now have to take a driving test on the opposite side of the road she's used to, on the opposite side of the car that she's used to, and with an automatic transmission. Even though she turned the windshield wipers on everytime she signaled, somehow they let her pass!

3. Air condition. The first day back, Pamela and I went into the mission house where we would be staying and the air condition hit us like a brick wall when we went in. We had forgotten what it was like to go into a house with central air. When we left, we just about turned it off until someone reminded us that your supposed to leave it running.

4. Cold weather...for us. On cooler days, we are freezing. Pamela sends Hudson off to preschool in the morning with long pants, a long-sleeve shirt, and a jacket. All of Hudson's teachers have a good time picking on Pamela because almost all of the other kids are wearing short-sleeves and shorts.

5. Missing Thailand. We had our ups and downs while in Thailand, but after being back, we really do miss those we've been around and the many opportunities to serve. Our friends at the church we attended, the kids and adults in the village where we lived, and our American friends we miss a lot. Even though Hudson doesn't express it much vocally, we can tell that he really misses his "family" in our village. He had his Thai grandmother living across the street and his best friends that he played with every day. When he sees their pictures he just gets real quiet.

Pray for Mr. Barber

After waking up this morning, on the way to work at an English camp, I prayed to God to prepare me, and to give me opportunities to share the Gospel. I had a great time at the camp, but had no opportunity to share...in fact, I had forgotten that I had even prayed for an opportunity to share until after my Thursday night English class. My barber, who lives in a nearby town, came by to pick up his two children from my class. He has some relatives who had come to follow Jesus, and tonight he was inquiring himself into what following Christ was all about. So I shared with him...I told him about the great God that created the world and about Jesus Christ, God's son, who came to die for our sins. I then shared with him how God had changed my life. He really seemed like he wanted to follow Christ. Please be praying for him and his family. I told him that following Christ is not easy...if he follows Christ, he will be persecuted. I also encouraged him to talk with his family (his 2 children have already been shared with quite a bit), because following Christ as a family would be best. Please be praying for this family. The 2 kids names are Nan (girl, 15 or so), and Baln (boy, 12 or so). As I gave them some materials to take a look at, pray that their hearts will be convicted, and that the Holy Spirit will lead them to follow Christ.

A long, nerve wrecking 4th of July in Thailand

Well, we were on our way to a festival this morning with a Thai friend of ours. At least that's what we thought. This wasn't a 4th of July festival, but rather the Sisaket Rambutan and Durian Festival, celebrating the Thai people's favorite fruit, Durian. We picked up our friend and were on our way. She said to park near the medical clinic...I was like ok, because I had no clue where the festival was at. Then she went to the clinic. I think she forgot to tell me that she had to go to the Dr. This was about 9:00 am. There's not a lot to do in Sisaket. Our family just drive around Sisaket and wasted hours waiting for her. Finally, at about 2 in the afternoon, she called us and let us know we could pick her up. Then we went on to the festival, which would have been fun had it not been really hot outside, and if we hadn' t been worn out from that morning. After about 20 minutes we left the festival. To put the icing on the cake, our friends 1 1/2 year old daughter crawled to the back seat where Pamela was sitting b/w Hudson and Katy (they don't do the car seat thing yet here). She then proceeded to pee on Pamela's foot and all over the floor in our backseat. We thought it was water from a water bottle until her mom got her up and took her pants off to change her. Its been a long day. We've been here in Thailand for well over 2 1/2 years and still occasionally encounter some pretty stressful cultural situations. Please pray for us this Monday as we go to a meeting in Chiang Mai because our friend (who stressed us out today) happens to be married to a man living there and she will be tagging along. On Monday we will drive about 10 hours or so, stop for the night, and go another 5 hours to Chiang Mai the next morning.

Continue lifting up my friend "On" (the monk guy)

I listed some prayer request a while back for a friend of mine, "On," who is a Buddhist monk in our village. For a long time, he came over just about everyday to learn some English at our house. He then traveled around Thailand for a while, and just got back this past week. I've shared with him about Jesus when I have had the opportunity to. Unfortunately, he just took off yesterday for another province where he is attending college. Please be praying that God will do a work in his life. We will probably not see him again, considering that we are going back to the states in a couple of months. I did give him two VCD's about Jesus, the Jesus film in the Isaan Language, and another one. He called me last night to let me know he had already watched one of them. He also has a Bible that I have given him as well.

Update on Nuhy

Since Nuhy gave her life to Christ a while back, I listed many prayer request about her, asking everyone to be praying that she would grow, and desire to be discipled. Over time, we began to get a little discouraged because we were not able to meet with her very often. She had travelled frequently, and was always busy with work. Being that we now only have a little over 2 months left, we have been praying even more that we would be able to meet with her more often. On the day that Pamela and I discussed this, we came in contact with Nuhy. Without discussing this with her at all yet, she asked us if there was anyway that she could come over and talk about Jesus with us. She longs to grow in her walk with God. We've now met with her 3 or 4 times, and we are working through some basic discipleship material: assurance of salvation, prayer, personal Bible study, evangelism, etc. She has been amazed at the things God has been teaching her. After reading one verse in the New Testament, she was like, "love our enemies, really?" She was also angry at one of her friends for putting down her new faith, but after studying together, she began to pray for that person. Please pray that we would continue to be able to meet together often. Also, pray that she will put into practice the things that God is teaching her.

Air Condition problem: a bat

We got home yesterday and Pamela was going to put Katy down for a nap. Since it is extremely hot here in Thailand, we went upstairs to turn the air on. When doing so, we heard a really loud sound and lots of shaking in the air condition. I'm not a fixer man, but I thought that I would at least open it up and take a look at it. The unit is up near our ceiling...when I got up there, I reached up to where I heard the loud sound, and then I heard some kind of screeching. I thought that it may have been a mouse, but after sticking something in there, I saw that it was a bat. So, I grabbed an oven mit and some kitchen utensils to grab it with. I successfully grabbed it by the head and got it out of the house.

Hudson singing the "Doxology" song to a cashier, in Thai

Ya gotta love 3 year old children. Sometimes Hudson about drives us crazy, but sometimes he just does spontaneous and random things that are hilarious...at least we think so, he's our son. As we were checking out at a grocery store tonight, Hudson just randomly started singing the Doxology song to the ladies at the cash register in Thai. We go to an all Thai speaking church about 30 minutes or so from our house. They always end their service by singing the Doxology, just like many churches in America "Praise God from whom all blessings flow..." Since he's heard it so many times, he's just recently started singing it...I don't think the ladies actually understood what he was singing about but it was pretty funny.

Pictures from David

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Super Strong Katy

Keep praying for "On", a monk in our village

"On," a monk who lives in the temple in our village, asked to study English with me. We've met only a few times so far. In just these few times, God has given me many opportunities to talk about Him. I've been able to share my testimony with Him, talk about salvation, and to answer some other questions as well. Please keep praying for "On." Pray that God will work in his heart, and that God will prepare him for receiving the Gospel.

Bloody man outside

We are getting ready to go to a small church located about 15 minutes or so from our house. I walk outside and see villagers running by...not sure whats going on, but I take a look anyway. 2 houses down I see one of our neighbors sitting on the road, bloody from head to toe. He wasn't moving, just sitting there. His daughter is going crazy, screaming, yelling throwing things, breaking stuff. Talk about a good way to start off Sunday morning. We aren't really sure what all went on there. It seems to be that for some reason the daughter was mad at the father and beat him up really bad. He was put in the back of a truck and taken to a hospital. We still aren't sure how he is doing now, but he looked real bad when he left. Even though he's normally one of the more calm, collect, and kind people in our village, its very possible that alcohol was part of the problem. We'll have to wait and see. Please pray for this family...we call the man uncle, because he reminds of a good uncle. This family is very much animist, meaning that their whole worldview centers around appeasing deceased ancestors and spirits. Pray that God will give us an opportunity to share with them about new life in Christ Jesus.

Neighbor passes away and Teaching English to a Monk

Please be praying for our friends Nuhy and Nai. Not long ago, we mentioned that their mother was in bad health. Just yesterday morning, she passed away at the hospital. Please be in prayer for this family as they mourn the loss of their mother.

Also, I have recently had the opportunity to teach English to a monk in our village. He seems to be not too much older than me. He is very devoted to his life as a monk. Please pray that God will work in his life, and prepare his heart. Pray that God will lead our conversations into talking about Him. Wouldn't it be neat if in our last few months on the field we could see God at work at a Buddhist Temple.

Pray for Nuhy and Nai's Mother

Please lift up Nuhy and Nigh's mother in your prayers. This family lives just a couple of houses away from us in our village. Their mother is seriously ill and seems as if she may not live much longer. We have been praying for this family for a long time. Nuhy has given her life to Christ, but the others have yet to believe. Please be in prayer for this family. I was reading this morning in the Old Testament and kept coming across the words "...that they may know that I am God." Pray that God would provide healing for this lady in order to show this family that He is the one true God.

Pray for the Kui of our village during (or after) their Spirit Ceremony

As I'm writing this blog, the gongs have started sounding, an Isaan musical instrument (the Can) has just begun playing, and our close friends and neighbors have started calling upon their ancestral spirits. There will be dancing, weird hand motions, and lots of loud noises all night long. Please join with us and pray for these close friends of ours. As they call on ancestral spirits, which we seem to believe are demons rather than ancestors, please pray that God will intervene in the lives of these people. Pray that God would do an awesome work in our village, and that many families would come to know the creator God in a personal way.

Some End of Month Prayer Requests

Here are some recent prayer request that we ask for you to be lifting up:

1. Pamela's parents, Debbie and Rob came this past week to spend some time with us. They have been serving along with us in our village for the past few days. Pray that God will use their ministry to impact the Kui people in our village.

2. Pray for our village, Baan Pbuay. We were away in Bangkok for the past week. While we were gone, 2 people died in our village. One older man died of liver cancer. I had knelt with him many times and prayed for God to work in his life. I had hoped to be able to spend more time with him and his family, but when we were on vacation I received a call that he had passed away. Pray that we will be able to spend time comforting and praying with his family. When we got home, I also found out that another Kui man died of AIDS.

3. Pray for us as we continue to seek the Lord's direction in how to best reach out and evangelize the Kui people.

4. Pray for hearts to be changed and for interest in a relationship with God to increase our village and in the surrounding Kui villages.

5. Pray for our Christian friend Nuhy, who lives in our village, to grow in her walk with God. Pray that God will enable us to be able to effectively disciple her.

A couple of recent pics

These are a couple of pictures that we took this past week for those who want see what Katy and Hudson are looking like these days.

Fishing, Isaan Thailand Style

This past week, I had a fun opportunity to go fishing...not with poles, bait, and tackle...just with bare hands. In our area of Thailand, people will often make a small pond in their rice fields. When the rainy season comes, and the lakes and streams flood over, the fish spread all across the rice fields. After harvest season is over, some people will invite friends and family to come "fishing" at their place. They then proceed to pumping the water out of the little pond, which leaves some water and a lot of mud. You then crawl down into the mud and reach around, trying to find some fish. We probably ended up with a couple hundred fish, mostly small, but a few big ones. Then they cook the fish over a fire (no need to clean the fish). After peeling off the outside of the fish, the fish taste great with some sticky rice. I was also fortunate enough to eat some kind of an ant and ant egg concoction some of the older men made up...it wasn't too bad. Here are some pics.