Thailand Missionary Update
Salvation!!!
In our last letter we shared that our friends, Palm and May, were interested in becoming Christians. On Monday, October 14th, they shared they were ready to “รับเชื่อพระเจ้า” (believe in God) and wanted to pray with us!!!!!!!!!!!! We all met up at the Kaebs and prayed with them to receive Christ. It’s incredible to see their desire to know God even more since their decision. We are now doing a weekly study through the Bible with them and the Kaebs to help them build more of a foundation. As we studied that God is from "Everlasting to Everlasting" May exclaimed that she felt a sense come over her that could only be translated as "more than wow!" Please pray for them in their young faith.
Massive Floods
On Saturday October 5th, Chiang Mai was hit extremely hard by flooding caused by the Mae Ping River overflowing its banks. Chiang Mai has not experienced flooding like this in nearly 50 years. While our home was safe, many of the most vulnerable people in the city were deeply affected by the floods. Expat Homes, along with our friend, Pastor Pai, went to volunteer to do clean up work and distribute food in the city. We also paused Expat Homes normal work schedule to go and clean customer/friend’s houses who were affected by the floods. While it has been so hard to watch the devastation hit our city, it has created tremendous opportunities to share God’s love with others. Please pray for our city that it would be renewed physically but much more so spiritually.
Jonathan Crain
Just two days after the floods we got a heartbreaking message that Jonathan Crain, a high schooler at Grace International School, passed away in a motorcycle accident. Evan played basketball with JonJon weekly at Grace, and they were good friends. Evan had been with him just two days before the accident working in the floods to try and rescue some friends who were trapped. They never reached the people they were trying to rescue. After the failed rescue attempt, they all laughed at God’s sense of humor and how sometimes we just have to make ourselves available to God but we know He’s the one who does the work. Losing JonJon has left a hole in our community and yet we have hope as we saw his life of following Jesus.
Emily's Counseling
Emily still hasn't renewed her counseling license since moving to Thailand, having more babies, and supporting our current commitments. But slowly over the years, the Lord has been calling her back into that world, creating a deep desire to do counseling again. So she's been praying for opportunities to use that training and gifting to serve others using counseling fundamentals (in a season where she's not able to be licensed). For the most part, the Lord highlights individuals for her to come alongside. When JonJon Crain passed away, she was able to be on campus at Grace International School, and was available to any students or staff who needed to process. She helped the school counselors do some group psychoeducation, normalizing the grief process for many students who haven't walked through a loss like this before. It was heartbreaking, as she was grieving herself, yet humbling and sweet for her to serve our community in this capacity. She also was just asked to help co-lead a debrief for a short-term team who has been doing anti-human-trafficking work here in Chiang Mai. It's been encouraging and validating to see how the Lord continues to present small opportunities.
In our last letter we shared that our friends, Palm and May, were interested in becoming Christians. On Monday, October 14th, they shared they were ready to “รับเชื่อพระเจ้า” (believe in God) and wanted to pray with us!!!!!!!!!!!! We all met up at the Kaebs and prayed with them to receive Christ. It’s incredible to see their desire to know God even more since their decision. We are now doing a weekly study through the Bible with them and the Kaebs to help them build more of a foundation. As we studied that God is from "Everlasting to Everlasting" May exclaimed that she felt a sense come over her that could only be translated as "more than wow!" Please pray for them in their young faith.
Massive Floods
On Saturday October 5th, Chiang Mai was hit extremely hard by flooding caused by the Mae Ping River overflowing its banks. Chiang Mai has not experienced flooding like this in nearly 50 years. While our home was safe, many of the most vulnerable people in the city were deeply affected by the floods. Expat Homes, along with our friend, Pastor Pai, went to volunteer to do clean up work and distribute food in the city. We also paused Expat Homes normal work schedule to go and clean customer/friend’s houses who were affected by the floods. While it has been so hard to watch the devastation hit our city, it has created tremendous opportunities to share God’s love with others. Please pray for our city that it would be renewed physically but much more so spiritually.
Jonathan Crain
Just two days after the floods we got a heartbreaking message that Jonathan Crain, a high schooler at Grace International School, passed away in a motorcycle accident. Evan played basketball with JonJon weekly at Grace, and they were good friends. Evan had been with him just two days before the accident working in the floods to try and rescue some friends who were trapped. They never reached the people they were trying to rescue. After the failed rescue attempt, they all laughed at God’s sense of humor and how sometimes we just have to make ourselves available to God but we know He’s the one who does the work. Losing JonJon has left a hole in our community and yet we have hope as we saw his life of following Jesus.
Emily's Counseling
Emily still hasn't renewed her counseling license since moving to Thailand, having more babies, and supporting our current commitments. But slowly over the years, the Lord has been calling her back into that world, creating a deep desire to do counseling again. So she's been praying for opportunities to use that training and gifting to serve others using counseling fundamentals (in a season where she's not able to be licensed). For the most part, the Lord highlights individuals for her to come alongside. When JonJon Crain passed away, she was able to be on campus at Grace International School, and was available to any students or staff who needed to process. She helped the school counselors do some group psychoeducation, normalizing the grief process for many students who haven't walked through a loss like this before. It was heartbreaking, as she was grieving herself, yet humbling and sweet for her to serve our community in this capacity. She also was just asked to help co-lead a debrief for a short-term team who has been doing anti-human-trafficking work here in Chiang Mai. It's been encouraging and validating to see how the Lord continues to present small opportunities.
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