July 2012
Hello friends and family,
The past few months have gone by quite fast. A lot has happened since our last update, but we’ll try to keep it short, yet full.
The SBS has moved from the New Testament to the Old Testament. We’ve seen the eyes of the students open wide when they realize how much they didn’t realize about the God of the Bible. One of the highlights from this school is that the students are recognizing the God of
immense grace and mercy and love in the Old Testament just as He is in the New Testament. This sets a great foundation for understanding the writings of Moses. We are now finishing the 2nd of 3 trimesters in the SBS. July 22nd we start our final stretch of books before the end. In November the entire school, as well as our family, will be going to Vietnam for an outreach. We’ll be teaching and preaching in churches and Christian groups in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. We’re all excited about being able to put the Bible into practice as we go out and minister the love and truth of God in that country.
On June 2nd YWAM international called all YWAMers to get involved in what is known as Global Outreach Day. YWAM, as well as many Christian organizations and local churches, got to the streets with all-day events. We made God known through serving our neighbors by repainting their buildings in the morning, handing out ice-cream and tracts to people in the streets in the afternoon, and then had an event at a local church that was focused on giving personal testimonies as well as a gospel presentation. Rob shared the gospel in a clear, creative way to around 30-40 people. Though no one accepted Christ that night, the church where we did the event outgrew its building by the end of the month and had to move to a larger facility. We were extremely grateful to God for showing us favor with both Christians and non-Christians alike. He truly made himself known to the people of Chiang Rai that day.
We had one special day on base where we, as a community of believers, made a commitment to fast from food and speaking for 23 hours. That’s right, the whole community didn’t speak for 23 hours. We used corporate times of worship and prayer to be seeking God in silence before Him, meditating on Scriptures and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts as we were silent. Many people shared about how they realized that our fast-paced culture was so strong in their lives and that it was difficult for them to stop and be silent. Others said that by not speaking it gave God a chance to speak into their lives, whereas before they would only talk to God one way. One highlight for us personally was that God began to unravel a long-term, concrete vision for the YWAM base. It goes far beyond our current state and goes beyond the things we’ve done before. God is stretching us to believe and work towards His vision. We’re still praying through it and polishing it up to be able to present it publicly. I just wanted to give you all a taste of some great things to come.
Some good news about the base is that we have accepted 2 new families over the last couple of months. That’s right, your prayers have been answered. One couple is made up of an American man who is married to an Indian woman and they have 3 boys (14,12,4 years old). The other couple is made up of an American man who is married to a Philipina woman and they have a daughter and two boys (9,6,3 years old). Both families are committed for the next 3+ years. Thank you for praying for us and for this request. We truly believe that this is the beginning a new shift in the plans of God. We recently had a staff retreat for all those who are a part of our YWAM Family at the base. One new family was able to participate in that.
Our son is growing strong. He’s learning to speak in 3 languages (Spanish, English & Thai) quite well. We’re amazed at how he can shift between languages so quickly. One day he was asking Cy for water, speaking in Spanish. She told him to ask one of the Thai staff. He went over and asked for water in Thai. He did it all on his own. We didn’t have to lead him to speak in the right language. It’s quite amazing for us to see this happen.
With one of the families living on base at the moment Elias is learning how to share the love. He’s no longer the only kid on base. He has to share, which he has never had to do before. He has to watch some kids do what he isn’t allowed to do. There are a lot of changes in the atmosphere for him, but they are all good for him. It’s not always easy, but it’s good.
The Building Project is still paused for the moment because of a lack of finances. We’ve been able to finish the first floor. We’re still working together with a company to get our electricity upgraded. Hopefully that will be complete this month. However, from there we haven’t been able to advance. We need to see another $15,000 to start working on the top floor by putting in walls, but to completely finish it all we’re going to need around $60,000. Please pray with us for this. We now have families on base, but with no family housing. One family of 5 is living in one single room. They really need a home and we haven’t been able to provide anything for them yet. They really want to live on base and we really want them to live on base. We trust that God will provide in his perfect timing. If you’d like to know how to give towards this project, please click here.
We have realized that one of our family needs is to get a better vehicle. 3 years ago we were given (that’s right, given as a gift = FREE) our current car. It was a wonderful surprise gift from God. It has served us well these last 3 years, although it needs a little fixing up now. However, we can see that it won’t last too much longer with our trips to Chiang Mai every so often. It’s starting to suffer. We often pick up missionaries, guests and students at the airport nearby. Our struggle is that the car is just too small for that purpose…and slowly dying. We’re praying for a larger vehicle, one that can serve us for a loooooonnnnngggg time.
To buy a practical vehicle like the one displayed above we’ll need to see between $15,000-$20,000 come in. Thailand 2nd hand vehicles are so expensive compared to Canada. Please pray with us about this. If you’d like to help us purchase a newer vehicle, please click here for more information.
We want to thank you all for your prayers, love and support. We truly see the favor of God in the relationships that we have with all of you. We have felt cared for and loved, even from afar. Thank you.
Please pray for:
1. Health – we will continually ask for this because we don’t want any health problems to come up.
2. Relationships – the base community is growing and the added nationalities and cultures is both good and difficult. Please pray for wisdom to know how to love people in a way that they will understand in their culture.
3. Finances – while God has been extremely faithful towards us through random gifts of generosity from some of you, we’d like to request that you pray for us to have an increase in our monthly support. The other two things are money for the house (click here for that info) and for a new vehicle. If you want to give to these needs you can find out how to do that click here.
4. Grace – We ask that you would pray for us to have grace in all the different areas of life. We need wisdom to know how to raise our son in the ways of God, how to teach the Bible with authority and love, how to lead a multicultural community into obedience to God and how to communicate effectively with all of you and everyone else that we encounter in Thailand.
BLESSINGS!
Rob, Cy & Elias