Thailand Missionary Update

Art Chapel!
The theme this year was "Regrowth." We focused on 2 Corinthians 2:16-20 but primarily 17, that says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

Five minute update
We built a tree and asked students to write prayer requests and praises on leaves and attach them to the tree.

This piece is about who this artist is as a new creation in Christ, "one that no longer walks in darkness, but rather is glowing with the hope and righteousness of Christ's love."

In this artwork, the books symbolize the old way of life (appealing but dusty) and the light represents God shining down upon the artist. The yellow butterflies are part of her own testimony: she decided earlier in the school year that seeing a yellow butterfly would be a reminder to reflect on God's presence with her and she has seen at least one almost everyday since.

This student shared, "The hand reaching out towards the dove represents the conscious decision we can make to allow God to transform us. Even in the worst of life, God works to create something new and beautiful."

These artworks represent the specific areas in this student's life where she has seen God bring redemption and renewal.

With this artwork, I shared part of my testimony when God helped me to confess a shameful sin struggle to a friend and how He used it to show me His incredible love. He led me out of the darkness and into His light.

After the presentations, we had stations set up where students could make bookmarks, do little collage projects, add leaves to the tree, and cover words that represented the old life with paint and beauty.

Students could also walk around and look at artwork made by students that connected to the theme.

Multiplying Healing and Hope
The following is from "Grace in Action," a monthly newsletter that goes out to anyone interested in the ministries of Grace International School. This story is about the ministry of the family pictured above. I taught their older daughter for a few years and am currently teaching their younger daughter. :)

“One of the stories that really speaks to us is the story of Nehemiah who God called home from a foreign land to serve his people. Even though our parents immigrated to the US, God has called us back home to Asia,” says GIS parent Minh Dao as he reflects on the ministry work that he and his wife, Jen, are doing in Chiang Mai. Minh serves as the Executive Director of Cornerstone Counseling which was founded to help families of international Christian workers thrive and stay on the field. In recent years, Cornerstone has felt God leading them as an organization to serve Thais as well. As for Jen, she works at Home of the Swallow, which provides spiritual and emotional support to women trying to navigate the uncertainties of unplanned pregnancy. Home of the Swallow operates a daycare and provides parenting training, as well as education and job training.
 
Both Minh and Jen have seen God bless their work in amazing ways through the ministries with which they are involved. Specifically, Thais are empowered through Cornerstone’s counseling services, psychoeducation programs, and healing groups to reach their communities to provide emotional, mental, and spiritual support, thus creating a multiplicative impact. At Home of the Swallow, Jen tells the story of a woman named “Phoebe” who was incarcerated due to her and her husband’s involvement with drugs. As she progressed through Home of the Swallow’s program, she came to faith, grew in her faith and is now successfully raising a healthy son. Despite her hardship, she praises God for His ability to use her and her experiences to be a blessing to many others in her community because Home of the Swallow was a blessing to her.
 
The work Minh and Jen are able to do is made possible because their five children attend Grace International School where they receive a Biblically-integrated, American-style curriculum education. “One of the main reasons we chose GIS was so our kids could learn alongside other children of international Christian workers. They can grow together and relate to each other’s joys and challenges of being a TCK,” says Minh. “What’s more is that teachers see students for more than just their academic progress. They see and value each child’s unique character and personality. The teachers themselves were called to the field so they truly love and care for their students,” adds Jen.
 
Grace International School supports the ministry of families like the Daos so more people in Asia can experience the healing and hope found only in Jesus Christ. And that hope can multiply throughout the nations.

I also went to my niece's dance recital! She did so well!!!
Praises

Praise God for...

• Giving me peace and giving us a wonderful Art Chapel!
• Giving us art, beauty, creativity, and the ability to enjoy and experience these things.
• Freeing us from shame and giving us joy in His love, expressed in Jesus' sacrificial death for us.
• The work He is doing through so many families like the Daos.
• Giving me a wonderful student teacher in January and the beginning of February. She was amazing!!! She helped me so much with my classes and with Art Chapel.
• Giving us life and love and eternal hope.

Pray that God will...

• Continue to work in the hearts and lives of Rina and Noa in El Salvador.
• Help my housemate, Amanda, to have a good furlough in America.
• Help my housemate, Liz, as she teaches AP Chem for the first time this year.
• Give us energy, strength, and renewed joy in this last quarter of school.
• Give us a really good break in April so that we can be blessings to our students in the last month and a half of school.
• Help me to listen to and walk humbly with Him.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. You are a blessing to myself and the missionary kids I serve and a catalyst to the growth of the Kingdom of God in Southeast Asia! All glory to God forever and ever.
 
Love,
Kelsey