It went so well, thanks for asking.

Since our arrival back to Hawaii, we’ve been asked many times about how the trip had gone. And to tell you the truth, it was such a great trip for so many reasons.

LEADERSHIP TRANSITION

First, we arrived in Chiang Rai, Thailand at the YWAM base there. We used to lead that base (for over 10 years, actually) and the staff had requested that we return to process a leadership transition. We spent the first week meeting every day, spending many, many hours together. I shared about the things that God has taught me about leadership over the years, helped them process some of the practical things regarding the base and then leading them through the selection of a new base leader and the leadership team. The process went extremely smoothly and afterwards there was a clear feeling of both peace and joy in the base community. It brought a lot of joy and peace to my own heart after having left the base 2 years prior and wondering how things were going to go on after us.

Here are some pictures of our first week in Chiang Rai:

COACHING AND SUPPORTING THE NEW LEADERSHIP

After the base staff had selected their leadership team I took on the role of supporter and “older brother”. I joined them in their leadership meetings and encouraged them when needed. I shared some of the history that certain staff didn’t know about so that they would understand the context of past decisions better. It was also a busy week of meeting with people one-on-one and encouraging them (I think they encouraged us more than we encouraged them). This second week we also set out to do some of the things that Elias said “we had to do in Thailand!” (see Elias riding on the elephant’s head below)
Here are some pictures of our second week in Chiang Rai:

TEACHING IN VIETNAM

Our third week on this trip we were in the beautiful country of Vietnam. The people are amazing and we had a delightful time with them. I shared through the Bible and through personal experiences about how God is a God who walks with us. He desires intimacy and obedience as He shows us His way for our lives. It was fun to hear the feedback regarding how people saw God as distant and condemning, but then how the Holy Spirit revealed to them that He is close and that he seeks relationship with us even in the midst of our sin. Some experienced God’s revelation of forgiveness, others found that God was with them in the little things, and still others began hearing the voice of God in a fresh way. Journeying with people, no matter where they are from, and watching them experience God for who He truly is must be one of the best parts of this trip (and we experienced it in Thailand too).
Here are some pictures from the third week:

And the family is back together again! It was not easy being apart like that. Three weeks was too long to be separated.

WHERE TO FROM HERE?

We still have some clear goals before year’s end. I have been holding back on some major news regarding the Bible projects that we’ve been working on because we are nearing the end of the development stage. Our goal is to be ready to publicly announce a fresh new Bible engagement tool in multiple languages by Christmas! Please pray for God to help us accomplish this goal. We’d love to present this gift to Jesus for his birthday! Our last update by the end of the year should include the public announcement of the project…so stay tuned!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Our Bible Projects: 
  Pray that we have the wisdom and the ability to finish off the last ToDo’s so that we can publish the tool by Christmas
• Dealing with Health Insurance:
  Up until now, health insurance has never been an issue for us. However, now that we live in the USA, the system is really different and our health insurance has denied coverage on multiple occasions. Though we appeal their ungrounded decisions, they still refuse to cover the expenses. Pray that God gives us the grace to deal with this appropriately and in a Christ-like manner, while still standing against injustice.
• For our YWAM family in Thailand:
  We ask for you to pray for the new Core Leadership Team in the YWAM Chiang Rai Base. They are starting on the right foot and we want to stand with them so that they can lead the base forward into another season of increased fruitfulness.
• A Christ-honoring holiday season:
  In the USA we have two big holidays coming up: Thanksgiving & Christmas. It’s a season full of festivities that were birthed with godly foundations, but have been commercialized beyond recognition. Pray that we would have the clarity of heart and mind to be Christ-honoring in our celebrations, our interactions and our words this holiday season.

SPECIAL THANKS

We want to say, “THANK YOU SO MUCH!” to our regular and not-so-regular supporters (both finances and prayer) who God used to make this trip possible. Without your support there is no way that we could follow Jesus to the people that He leads us. We pray that God multiplies His blessings back upon you in bountiful ways!