And the time keeps rolling by...

Whew! What a whirlwind! In the past month I have slept in my own bed only a handful of times. It has definitely been busy- filled with activity and travel. My time here is taking on yet another feel as we enter into the home stretch. While our work is in no way winding down, I do know that our time here is growing ever shorter. It is giving me urgency and appreciation for what we are doing but lots of mixed emotions as well. Here’s what I’ve been up to this last bit and a sneak peek of what’s to come.

The last week of October was spent on a visa run and vacation to Thailand. We came back into the country only to head up north for a women’s retreat for our company personnel. Around thirty women from many different parts of the country and surrounding ones met together for a time of retreat and rejuvenation. A team from the States was in to bless us in many ways. The retreat included a 6.5 mile hike, a mini-Christmas party, a fancy dinner, and much time spent fellowshipping and encouraging one another. It was great to get to know the many lovely women who live and work here. I was able to soak up the wisdom they have learned on the field and hear about how the Father brought them to this place. Shout out to all those here and in the States that made that time possible!

A beautiful view we witnessed during our 6 1/2 mile hike!

After the retreat everyone else headed home but I stayed put to do some work on the Lilypad farm. It was a busy week full of feeding rabbits and cutting their teeth (ask me about it sometime), making pig feed, fertilizer, and bricks, and harvesting fruits and vegetables. I also had the opportunity to learn their process for making a soap that treats lice and scabies and how they make their moringa capsules. It was hard work but more than worth it. Not only did I learn a lot but I also will be able to use that new knowledge to help with the website I am creating for them. The farm’s staff and my friend who runs it are incredible people chalk full of knowledge and love for the Father. They, as always, took me in and treated me as their own. This was most likely my last trip up to the farm so goodbyes were hard to say.

Some of the finished bricks Lilypad produces.

The manual machine used to make the bricks.

After 3 ½ weeks of time away it felt good to be back home and in the swing of life here. We are still teaching our classes and doing small group. As a part of our schoolwork we have now started doing some discussion group times with some of our neighborhood friends. These times have been a great avenue for learning more about their lives and sharing our knowledge of the Truth with them. Please lift up these discussion times as they take place over the next month. Ask that our friends will be curious and open to the things we share about the Father and that we will be attuned to His promptings in what we should share.

This past week, one of the schools we teach at held a Farewell Program for us. They knew that schedules were about to get busy and wanted to treat us while they could. It was an incredible outpouring of love that was overwhelmingly touching. The students did several traditional dances for us, sang songs, did impersonations (of us!), and even hosted a fashion show. I’m not sure that I have ever laughed as much in my life. In addition to all of this they also gave us both some of their traditional fabric so that we could have outfits made. The fabric is beautiful and my favorite color. My favorite gift by far however, was the beautiful individual notebooks they gave each of us. The students had taken the time to write many little notes of thanks and encouragement as a way for us to remember them when we return home. It was an evening I will never forget and is a perfect example of the love and hospitality that is so often found in this culture. 

Leah and I in our sets made from the beautiful fabric they gave us.

Us with just a few of the students that participated in the program.

Cultural Corner: This post I would love to share with you about how our people celebrate birthdays, since it’s pretty different. Here when it’s your birthday it is your turn to treat everyone else. This means that if you invite someone to your party you are expected to pay for their food or activity. It is a way to show others you are grateful for their friendship and also that you want them to enjoy themselves on your day too. Friends will still bring gifts but the birthday person is responsible for the cake and party. The cake is another thing they sometimes do differently. At some birthdays after the singing takes place, the birthday person takes a huge slice of cake and a spoon. They proceed to go around the room feeding everyone in attendance a bite. Perhaps they aren’t trying to get it on your face on purpose but if it happens, well…it’s good for a laugh right? Each birthday party I have been to has been a joyous and wonderful occasion to take part in. I am grateful to have had these cultural experiences. They may celebrate differently but the heart of the celebration is the same- love and joy for a special person on a special day.

Here are some special requests I have for the next few weeks:

Tomorrow morning we will leave our city with about 45 others and head to the beach. We will be spending four days hosting a retreat for our national partners here. As I have mentioned, we hope that it will be a time for the Father to speak to them about His work in our city and around the country. Please lift up this time- that logistics will work out, that fun will be had, rest received, and the Father heard.

Directly following that retreat we have a team coming in from the states. While they are here we will be busy showing them our city and more importantly putting on many Christmas programs. These will be times for us to invite whole neighborhoods to learn about the importance of Christmas and how it fits in to the Truth. Please be lifting up this team as they prepare and travel here. Ask that they will have smooth flights and lots of energy to hit the ground running. Please also lift up the Christmas programs we will do with them and the many others that we will be a part of as the holiday approaches. Ask that the Father will open the hearts and minds of those who will hear that they too might come into His family.

I have two final special requests. The first is for a family of fellow workers who live here in our city. They have three children and just a few weeks ago found out they would be welcoming a fourth into the family. This past Tuesday however, the mother lost the baby. The whole family has had to fly to Thailand so that a medical procedure can be done. With Thanksgiving and the dad’s birthday in these next few days, this already extremely difficult time will be even more trying. Please lift up this family- ask for peace, comfort, healing, and understanding for both the parents and the young children who are trying to grasp the situation.

My final request is for loved ones back home, especially family. My family has been beyond incredible when it comes to supporting this journey and me. I can’t express how grateful I am to them for that. But as Thanksgiving is here and Christmas approaches it can be tough to be apart. The holidays are a time for family and coming together to celebrate what the Father has done for us. Often times, workers abroad are lifted up and those left at home are forgotten, but they too are making sacrifices. So when you think about it, say a little something to the Father about my family and the other families of His workers all over the globe. Ask that we are all filled with His peace and comfort- knowing that the work being done in His name is worth many holidays apart.

Thank you for your love and support! I may sound like a broken record when I say that at the end of every post but I promise I’m not broken- just grateful. It is a joy to take this journey together. I hope that you are just as encouraged by reading what the Father is doing here, as I am knowing that so many are supporting me. Please continue to faithfully lift up this place and its people. Much love to you all!

Changing Seasons...

Time continues to fly by, leaving me flabbergasted that it has been 3 weeks since I last posted. You all may not feel as though you have entered a time warp but I certainly do. In the first weeks since my last blog it was busy life as usual. This past week has offered a time of rest and rejuvenation as we have been in Thailand for a visa run and vacation. It has been nice to combine a little bit of business with a whole lot of pleasure as we took in the sights and tastes of Thailand.

During our time here I have gotten to pet live tigers, visit a market with thousands of vendors, go to the beach, eat way too much western food, and spend good time with some of our friends and mentors. I will cherish all of these experiences and many of them were once in a lifetime chances that I am so grateful to have received. It was also nice to enjoy free fast wifi and time to catch back up with many friends and family members back in the states.

The Beach!

On the ferry on the way to a small island off Thailand's coast!

Me with my namesake white elephants- my local name flipped backwards!

 An update on my last posts’ special requests:

            We are continuing to pour into our relationship with DeeDee and her husband. Their baby is due in February and we may not get an update on the baby’s health before we leave. It is our hope that the Father shows this family His great healing power when it comes to their baby’s health. Please continue to lift this up. A week ago I got the opportunity to share my personal story about my relationship with the Father with her husband in the local language! This was the first time I shared it with someone who is not like-minded- it was exhilarating and powerful! The next time we visit DeeDee’s shop, I will also share with her. Will you talk to the Father about these times of sharing? Ask that my words will be His words, that they will come clearly and correctly in their language, and that part of my story will connect with her and her husband.

            Sadly, our trip to the southern part of the country with Mary Beth and her boyfriend was cancelled due to flooding. We are still trying to find a time to reschedule. Regardless of whether or not we get to take the trip, please still lift her up as we build on our relationship with her and share our stories and others.

            Our Serving the Servants conference is fast approaching and excitement for the trip is building. The retreat will offer a much-needed time of rest for our many partners but will also serve as a time of vision casting. Leah and I, along with our supervisors serve on a team specifically targeted to our city. The Father has given us the goal of helping plant a reproducing fellowship group in each township of the city- that’s 34 townships and fellowships to reach the 6 million that live in our city. This vision can only be carried out with the help of national partners similarly dedicated. Will you please pray specifically for the Father’s vision to be cast in the hearts of all the participants?

            Finally, both of our visas went through ok. What a praise! I ended up switching the business that my visa is through which will allow me to stay through the end of our time instead of coming back out for another visa run. This is a huge blessing as another visa run means more money and time out of country. Thank you for lifting up this request!

In the coming weeks we will add another class to our schedule bringing our weekly total up to four. This is in addition to a small group one night a week and a Saturday afternoon ministry in a nearby village. I feel incredibly grateful that the Father has provided so many avenues for us to build relationships and pour into the community around us. That said, it will still be a busy schedule when added to our language learning. As for an update on that- we both did well on our mid-terms reaching the level novice-high. We are both happy with this level and are pushing ourselves to reach the next level before we leave. Please lift up both our busy schedule and our language learning. Ask for guidance as we figure out what to learn next for language and the best way of going about it. 

Esther, Leah, and I with some other local friends at the park.

A few days after we get back in country, Leah and I, along with the rest of the women in our company that work with people from our country will travel to a northern part of the country for a retreat. This also is a time for vision casting as well as a time for us to help serve the women who have been serving the people we love for much longer. Please lift up this time and these women. Ask that the Father would rejuvenate their spirits and give them His sustaining strength.

A very important special request I have is for our friend Mona. She has heard the Truth and believed! Praise the Father for this! We now get to spend time each week sharing stories from the Good Book with her through our English lessons. In the coming weeks we will begin having some discipleship time with her as well. Please lift up this time together as we seek to pour into this new sister. Our most recent topic of discussion with her was about obedience to the Father’s call to be dunked after believing. Mona is one of eleven siblings in a family that devoutly follows the main belief system here. She has expressed fear of anger and rejection from her family if she makes the decision to be dunked. I beg you to ask the Father to fill her with a spirit of boldness and obedience. Ask that she be made confident in her place in the Father’s family. Also, join our team and Mona as we lift up her family. She desperately wants them to believe the Truth as well, that they may all be dunked together.

Mona is the young woman in yellow!

 One final request is that you keep our country in your hearts and minds in the next week, as a national election has just taken place. The outcome of this election has the potential to spark dissent among the people and to result in rules and regulations that make our work here more difficult. As the results come in and the country waits to see what the current government will do please ask for peace, understanding, and the Father’s will in all that happens.

Cultural Corner: This time I would love to share with you about our weather patterns here. Hot and humid is the name of the game where we live. The average temperature is between the upper seventies to mid-nineties and humidity seems to be at a constant 100%. I’m not sure if it is possible for a foreigner to be outside without sweating- though that may just be me! We are just coming off of rainy season so the frequent torrential downpours will soon be over. It rarely ever sprinkles here, instead the heavens open up and the rain comes in buckets. It can last anywhere from 5 minutes to a day or two. A mini-hot season that lasts 2-4 weeks will be our next round of weather before we officially enter “cool season.” Now don’t be fooled- cool season is not what we would typically consider cool but as it is cooler than the rest of the seasons the name sticks. Cool season should mean temps closer to seventies and eighties with perhaps some cooler nights with temps in the sixties. Freezing right?! As with most things in life, different weather is something you get used to. In fact, I am quite sure that when I get back to the states I will turn into an ice cube and long for the days of heat and humidity. Either way, the next time you find yourself cold, think of me toasty warm here in Southeast Asia and use it as a reminder to lift up the work being done here.

Your love and support is always felt and appreciated. Petitions to the Father must come before, during, and after our work for it to have any effectiveness at all. Thank you, thank you, thank you for offering these up on our behalf! Know that you are loved and missed!