"Unity" Youth Camp with Immanuel Baptist Church

This past week, I had the privilege to spend time with the youth group from Immanuel Baptist Church (of Bangkok) at their youth retreat.  We went to a military camp where they went through "boot camp".  They had to learn to work as a team.  The focus of the 3-day camp was "Unity" in the body of Christ. During our Bible sessions, we talked about the importance for a believer to be unified with God first and then unified with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  God is definitely at work in the lives of these youth.  This experience definitely made miss the youth from Mt Elam back in NC.

While Daddy is gone away at camp...

Flat Stanley Comes to Thailand

Thanks to Mrs. Petty's class at Benson Elementary School, Flat Stanley has had the opportunity to travel all the way around the world to visit us in Thailand. Here are a few pics that we've taken so far.

Flat Stanley with one of our neighbors in front of a spirit house.  These houses are where many Thai people offer sacrifices to appease spirits.

Flat Stanley learning Thai

Flat Stanley eating chicken fried rice

A few pics from this past month

Hudson has really become a pretty adventerous eater.  Here is a pic of Hudson eating some yummy "Pa-lo" Chicken soup.  There wasn't too much chicken in there, but there was a nice chicken foot to munch on.  He also enjoyed a delicious bag of crickets

Below you can see Katy lining up for the morning flag ceremony

with the other kids on her first day of Thai preschool.

Every Friday, Katy and the rest of her classmates wear traditional

Thai clothes instead of the normal uniforms.

Below is a picture of some of the protesters here in Bangkok.

Many major intersections in the city are still shutdown and the protest seem like they will never end.  Pray that in the midst of all that is going on that God will draw these people to Himself.  

Preparing to Return!

Its hard to believe the amount of time since our last post...right after we returned from Thailand in 2009.  Since then, God's done some amazing things.  He led us to Mt Elam Baptist Church where we've served these past four years.  God has richly blessed us with many great friendships and a church community that we will always remember.  Thank you to all the youth in the student ministry who we've had the pleasure of working with.  Thank you church family for allowing us to be part of you, and to be sent from you.

Currently, we are finishing up our first week of training which lasts about 2 months.  Hudson and Katy are having a great time learning about what it will be like to live in a different culture. Please be praying that God will continually draw us closer to Him while here at training.  Please also be praying for the work in Southern Thailand that we will be joining in a few months.  Thank you for partnering in prayer with us as we begin this new direction in life.

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.