I met Suphansa!

I met the Thai lady we asked you all to begin praying for. David and I stopped by the resturant where she works Monday and dropped off the Thai Bible. We couldn't stay long because the kids were asleep in the car but she was so thrilled! When she saw it was written in her language she seemed to be in awe. Another lady that works there looked at it very intently with a big smile and said, "It's in Thai!" Eventhough they know nothing about the Book itself, they were so appreciative and genuinely joyful just to see something familiar. Needless to say, it was a great meeting and we will be going back to have some lunch and hopefully build a relationship with her. Please continue to pray for her. (Sue-pahn-za)

"My Daddy"

Luke singing his new song. "My Daddy is Strong!" He made this up almost completly by himself. We were driving one day and to prevent himself from falling asleep, he started singing.

Settled in North Carolina

Greetings form North Carolina!! Sorry it has taken me so long to give an update. I’m not very good at this yet. Since the delayed blog, this one might be kinda long. Bare with me please. I am hoping to begin using this blog for many things, 1) to stay in contact with friends and family that are far away 2) share what God is doing in our lives and those around us and 3) keep an update/journal of our life (mainly the kids!). I still will slack quite a bit and not post as often as I should but I am going to give it a try again.

I opened the blog to begin working on this and realized how dreary it looked! So as you see we got a new do. Much better I believe.

As many of you know, we have settled in quite nicely. North Carolina is beautiful and really feels a lot like home. We live on a little farm north of Wake Forest and are quite content right here. We are surrounded by people who are in love with the Lord and it’s a blessed thing to experience.

David is going at full speed all the time. Between managing me, the kids, work, school and trying to find a church, he doesn’t get much of a break. The first semester is over half way complete and as much as he is enjoying the classes, I believe he’s ready to be done with all the work involved (Rodney is too!). This semester David is taking Old Testament, Intro to Missions and Hermeneutic. Hermeneutics is a new term to me. I didn’t have a clue what that was when we moved up here. Needless to say, if nothing else our vocabulary sure has expanded! Hermeneutics is the study of interpreting the Bible. At first I thought it really odd to take a class on how to read/interpret! However, once again I was proved wrong. Dr. Akin, the president of the seminary, teaches this class. David really enjoys it and I can tell just from listening to him talk about what he’s reading that he is getting more out of the Bible, learning how to study a little deeper, and loving his time with Dr Akin. And it goes without saying that he loves the Missions class and professor as well. So academically, so far so good! I am amazed at how much we have learned in just 3 months. In and out of class. I would venture to say that we may have learned just as much out of class as in.

I am also taking classes through the seminary’s Baptist Women’s Institute. My classes are arranged a little different than David’s. They are only 7 weeks periods of intensive study rather than 14. So, I will take 2 classes this semester. I have finished Old Testament Survey and am now working on New Testament Survey. The hardest part is all the reading!! I am not a reader. Wish I was. Praying that I’ll become one. I know it would be beneficial on multiple levels but for starters it would help me with school!

Kids are doing great. They amaze me more and more everyday. Abigail has had a strong personality since her first breath and seeing her grow and interact with Luke just tickles me. She is really funny to just sit back and watch. She loves horses, dogs, her baby dolls, and especially her big brother. Her eyes light up when she hears his voice. It’s absolutely precious.

Luke is still our little inquisitive one. We have been visiting some churches trying to find just where we belong and at almost all of them, someone says something about Luke’s accent or his questions! He still loves playing with blocks and just being outside. His imagination is really starting to take off too. He will make up his own games and songs. His new favorite song is one he made up and it goes like this, “My Daddy is strong. My Daddy is strong. He can lift my big 4-wheeler and throw me all day long!” Priceless. Abigail is like his own personal toy and gets sucked into most his games. However, they typically end up playing by her rules!

As I briefly mentioned earlier, we are looking for a church home here. We want to be used by God wherever He puts us and we can’t put that on hold for school. I ask you to join us in prayer that we may find where He wants us to serve. Please continue to pray that while we’re here God will mold us and lead us. Our goal in being here is to become better equipped to spread the gospel to the nations. That’s to everyone, from our daily interactions to foreign nations. I don’t like using the term “missionary” because I am unworthy to be called that. When I think of a missionary I think of people of who have done remarkable things for Christ, like the Apostle Paul. However, reality is that all believers are called to be missionaries. I read recently that ‘life is a mission trip.’ That statement triggered something in me. God saved us so we would “make disciples.” That is our purpose on this Earth.

About two weeks ago David had the opportunity to share the gospel with a young lady form Thailand. She proclaimed to be Buddhist but was very interested in the Gospel. David said he could tell by her inquisitiveness and openness that he believes the Holy Spirit is working in her heart. The one thing that really gets us is that she didn’t know who Jesus was. She thinks she has heard the name but had no idea!! I was horribly convicted about this. Many times we Christians want to say that we’re going to “let our light shine” right here where we’re planted and use that as an excuse not to do foreign missions. However, there is a young lady right down the road who has lived here the majority of her life and had no clue who Jesus is! My first thought was why? Is it because we let our light shine in our community of believers only? Is it because speaking to her and inviting her to our church would be outside our comfort zone? I don’t know the answer to that question. Yes, she may have been in Raleigh but that doesn’t mean there’s not another lady just like her right down the road from you. And I am by no means condemning anyone but myself here. Sadly, I wasn’t the one who reached out to her, David was. We have ordered her a Thai bible and hope to go give it to her soon. Please pray that she will be open minded and that a relationship will develop between us so that we may continue to be there to answer any questions she may have.

So, I say all this to say “Thank You” for the prayers and words of encouragement we have received. A kind word really does go a long way.  If you would like our updated contact info please email me or post on here!

Love you all!

Abigail says Dada

So, I am about a week late posting this but Abigail has possibly said the most important words she will ever say, Dada. Yes, that may be a wee bit of an exaggeration.

Things are going well here in Canaan. Recently, we along with the other volunteers here began preparing for International Student Convention. This Convention is full of academic and athletic events that is put on by A.C.E. which provides the curriculum for the school. Anna is going to be working with the Drama (fitting for her, just kidding) and photography. I will be working with the Basketball team (no jokes) and the Bible bowl team. We are really excited as are the kids as you might could imagine. The Convention begins in May at Indiana University in Pennsylvania.Please be praying for the preparation and logistics leading up to it.

Recently it has been busy around here. At the beginning of October, there was a team of 40 something, and since then teams have sprinkled in. If any of you all ever want to come please let us know as there is much to do inside and outside of Canaan.

Luke and I have really been having a good time the last few weeks. I have been getting out of school around four and then going and getting Luke and playing basketball till supper at five. Everywhere we go, he backs up to me and says "Daddy, I ride on your shoulders". Precious, truly precious. I am really excited for this coming Saturday because all of the volunteers here will be going down the road to a place where we can swim and visit the beach. The pool has long steps and Luke likes to walk up and down the steps, he calls it swimming.

By for now.

Abigail

Abigail has been running a fever for a couple of days. We were discussing this morning about what to do about getting her some medical attention. But God had already worked it out. There is a doctor from the States that arrived this afternoon. What is his specialty you ask? You guessed it, pediatrics. He thinks it could be a UTI but we will know more tomorrow. Please be in prayer for Abigail and praise God for His provision.

We serve an awesome God!

Update

So, everyone has probably heard by now, but Abigail has gotten her first tooth. She should be crawling any day now.

I wanted to share something else with you all. Two weeks ago a team came from the states and I had some great conversations with the team members, one in particular. There was a guy who had spent time in Honduras sharing the Jesus film. He informed me of the vast present of Mormon missionaries there. He expressed to me the sadness of the fact that there were so many more Mormon missionaries than Christians. While expressing this he was almost crying. I was very convicted about not having enough zeal and passion for the lost.

Egg Sandwiches

David's class in school met a goal yesterday and got some egg sandwiches. There is a place just down the road from Canaan that makes egg sandwiches that are so so good. The students really really enjoyed it and are excited about the next opportunity for sandwiches.

Please be praying for us as we will both be starting bible studies with some of the kids here on Monday. Anna will be working with another volunteer going through Ruth with girls 12 and under. David will be going through Luke with boys 13 and up.

We celebrated Kristi's birthday last night with some Dominos pizza, Luke was so so excited, as was his daddy.