(The Angel Oak, Johns Island)

 

Recently, David and I have been reminding ourselves of all the ways that the Lord is blessing us, here and now.  It’s important to remind ourselves of the Lord’s goodness and faithfulness while in a season of transition.  It would be so easy to wish this season away and only set our eyes on the horizon ahead (Peru), but our prayer is to remain focused on the Lord and to seek Him RIGHT NOW.  

 

At the beginning of the summer, I thought that it was only me going through a time of transition; a time where I have so many passions, but not sure where or how to use them.  To the world it looks like, “what are you doing with your life?” Then I found out that a lot of my friends are in a similar position with transitioning and seeking direction.  I want to encourage you that you are doing the right thing by seeking the Lord’s will.  You ARE doing something when you are focusing on the Father.  John 15 (I love the whole chapter, but specifically this part), “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches…”

 

I want to encourage friends and family that while we might be in a season of transition that God is always moving.  He doesn’t just do great things in Uganda or Peru. He’s doing great and wonderful things in Charleston too.  Some recent boasts on the Lord include: 1. This morning at Dunkin’ Doughnuts, the Lord used my assistant principal from high school and I to pray for my friend’s ankle (He noticed that I was holding her foot once he walked in and started talking about yoga and this and that to help her and I said, “we’re about to pray, do you want to join?” He did and afterwards she said her ankle felt better and it didn’t hurt to move it in positions that originally did!)  2. We have friends that are leading prayer outreaches in the city (aka “treasure hunts” because the sought after are the Lord’s treasures) and every time they go out, there is a physical healing. 3. We see people hungry for the Lord’s anointing and for a deeper relationship with Him (across denominations). 4. Seeing vision released for a local family to follow God’s call to Africa…and more!

 

We will continue to worship and cheer the Lord on, in all that He is doing and working on.  Jesus, keep rocking people’s lives in Charleston, in South Carolina, and beyond! Family, keep seeking the Lord and yield that fruit!

 

 

I must confess. I’ve been trying to do the Lord’s job for him. I keep striving to do it all by myself and even though he keeps reminding me, “I’m your Daddy, I got this. Just be still and know that I can provide.” Lately, I don’t know. I can’t speak for David, but I’ve been really stressed about our finances recently…bills to pay (but you don’t exactly know when they will come, or go through), David’s car broke down 2 weeks ago and they couldn’t figure out what was wrong and we just KNEW that it was going to be expensive, lots of gas money, ect. You understand. Life happens. So, we were praying a lot to trust in the Lord’s provision. Even though I’ve been struggling with “do I try to get another part time job? I should be doing more.” And jobs are not happening.

The silver and glory lining to this story is that I took a morning to sit with the Lord and it was exactly what I needed! Just to be still and know that He is God and He is doing His job. He is with me and He knows what He’s doing. I was so filled with peace and joy after our rendezvous in the park: a date with words, pictures and scriptures later, I really felt at peace about NOT looking for another job and it felt really good to surrender that to Him. To remember what He has done for us and to seek Him in times of blessing and when we need a breakthrough.

The point of this ramble is that God has not forgotten us. Or you. He knows exactly what you are going through and is way more creative at solving your problem than you are! Praise Him! Worship Him above all things (even if you don’t “feel” like it). He will listen and hear you and respond even in the dry places. He’s a wonderful Father who will not abandon or leave you stranded half-way. Trust Him. That’s a big lesson I re-learned (again) this week… Thanks for letting me be real and share.

By the way, that same afternoon, David found out that the car (poor Rudy…) was going to need a new motor that would set us back a couple thousand (dollars, not baht, unfortunately). And then God stepped in and solved this issue because the same mechanic’s next topic was that he wants to BUY our car for scrap. It sounds ridiculous, but it’s the Lord’s creativity on this one. You take the car in, stressing out that it will be thousands of dollars to fix and instead we walk out with hundreds of dollars! Wow Lord!! (This also means the car insurance will also drop and so will gas for 2 cars). ALSO, the before the bills come, we’ve been getting insurance statements saying that we owe amounts that are WAY lower than they should be. And we’re not really sure how this is happening, but we are saying (hands open) “Thanks Lord! More please!” And so be encouraged, because we’re seeing him provide in the little life things. All the time. Even when we we’re like the Israelites and forgot for a moment (or week, or several weeks) that he cares about our day-to-day situations.

 

As of May 26th, 2012, we have been officially accepted to join YWAM Peru’s staff! We will be partnering and co-laboring with the Allen family who is pioneering a YWAM base/school in Cuzco, Peru. (Yes, Cuzco, as in the inspiration for Walt Disney’s movie release in 2000, “The Emperor’s New Groove”. David and I promise to be singing the theme song as we arrive). 

Wait, how did Peru come up, you ask? Weren’t these two just on the other side of the world in Thailand?  Who decided that they should switch continents and go to Peru, you wonder?  The short version is: The Lord.  

The longer version is that in October 2011 we attended a 2-week conference in Chiang Rai where the founders of YWAM, Loren and Darlene Cunningham, were the speakers.  There was a lot of worship, celebration and prayer during those two weeks. In one of the prayer times that David Hamilton was leading, we were to spend some alone time asking the Lord for a specific nation (to pray for, to ask the Lord about serving there, ect.) and both David and I got “Peru”.  We later learned that at this Southeastern-Asian conference, out of the many people who were there, there was one guy from YWAM Peru, Clark Bernard. Why was Clark at an Asian conference that week? Let’s call it a faith journey.  So we invited him to lunch to talk about what the Lord was doing in Peru (in Iquitos and in Lima) and to hear his story/walk with God and we had a great time catching up.  David and I told him that we knew that we had a pioneering call on our lives to start a ministry of some sort and how we had just been given the idea of Peru.  Clark politely explained that he doesn’t have to “recruit” people to join YWAM Peru.  It’s totally dependent on the Lord.  Simply, if you’re called, you come and if your not, you don’t.  So from that divine appointment onward, David and I began to pray and discern if Peru was the next step after our DTS.  Awhile later, Clark put us in touch with the Allen family (a beautiful family with 3 kiddos who have been in Peru for over a year now) who are pioneering a base in Cuzco and we contacted them several times before applying to be on staff with them.  Peru kept coming up in our day-to-day lives as little confirmations from the Lord (i.e. strangers in a cafe sit next to us and are discussing all things Peru (at Miguel’s Tex-Mex in Chiang Mai no less), a friend has a book about Peru on her coffee table when we are invited the first time to small group, 1976 VW vans pass us on the road everywhere, we looked at the Allen’s blog for the first time ever and they have a VW van!, and through words from friends). It’s the little things…

 

So in late September/early October, David and I will embark on a journey to Peru, to come under the Allens and their vision for YWAM Cuzco and to learn as much as we can about pioneering a base/school while we are there.  Our plan is to serve for at least a year, possibly more, God-willing.  We know that besides assisting the Allen’s on staff, we will also be attending a language school to “estudiar mucho español.”  

 

Please be in prayer for us as we are preparing to make this transition in the fall, for the Allen family, for Clark Bernard/ his family and YWAM Peru, for the strengthening and revival of the Peruvian church and that we would trust in the Lord’s provision.  

After 30-something hours of travel halfway around the world, we safely arrived in Charlotte, yesterday.  To honest, being back so far seems surreal.  (Shout-out goes to Rick, Erin, Adam and David’s parents who gave us a “Welcome Home” show at the airport and then dinner @ Cracker Barrel).  Our first “American” meal was grits and bacon (David) and cereal with real milk (me). YES! We are still adjusting to the sleep schedule at weird times thing (a glorious 15-hour “nap” yesterday) and trying to become as “normal” as possible.

 

We wanted to share with you what culture shock of  our re-entry that we’ve experienced in less than 24 hours:

 

1. More than 1 checked bag on an American aircraft costs a lot. Try $145 a lot. Woah. (That’s 4,609 Thai baht. That’s your 1 month apartment rent in Bangkok. Or 460 Lactasoys. Or 92 meals for 2 people at the Mae-Malai market.)

 

2. We have to remind ourselves to hug/wave at people, not wai. The wai turns into an awkward “Christian side-hug” or a confused “what do I do with my hands?” movement which leads to awkwardness.

 

3. This is America. You can flush your toilet paper. It is unacceptable now to place it in the trash can.

 

4. Hot showers. All 15-something minutes of it.

 

5. We can wash AND DRY our clothes in machines in less than 30 minutes.

 

6. We can not only participate in full English sentences in conversations (we are very out of practice and it takes lots of effort for us to talk to you) and we can now eavesdrop on annoying conversations around us.

 

7. The amount of TV commercials in English are astounding and equally ridiculous.

 

8. American drivers are very safe. Congratulations drivers on using blinkers and obeying traffic lights/signs. We have yet to see a moped on the roads. We start driving this week again. I’m sure that will be adventurous.

 

9. We went to Cracker Barrel. Tasty. Yet overwhelming.

 

10. We have a new found respect for people in the U.S. who can’t read, write, or speak English when they come. Trust us. We’ve been in their shoes for 5 1/2 months.

 

11. Couches are for sitting on. They are SUPER comfortable. Not to be wrapped in plastic with “Do Not Sit” signs on them. (This is specifically to make P. Gai and P. Pong smile)

 

12. The floors have carpet. You cannot throw water on the bathroom floor to clean the bathroom.  People will get super angry at you.

 

13. We are so happy to cook for people. If we come visit you, we will cook for you. And use every kitchen appliance possible and not get black carbon from the pots all over us.

 

14. Opening mail/packages that were saved for us since we left is like doing Christmas all over again.

 

15. It’s FREEZING even though SC claims it had a “warm” winter.  Hats, coats, wool socks on and in action INSIDE the house.

 

More revelations to come later… 🙂

 

The rest of this month we are planning on taking a sabbatical. Meaning, we will rest and visit friends and family. Rest some more. We are trusting the Lord’s provision for what comes next and greatness is coming!

 

 

Final Family Update From Thailand

This past week was our last week in Khun Wang. Our last week of sleeping in hammocks. Our last week of being with the kids at the school. Our last week of outreach.  Tuesday was our last day at school and we shared the Gospel with all of our classes and wrote ‘thank you’ cards to the teachers.  Grade 6 made us farewell cards and we had a party of sorts. I really wanted to take a kid home in my suitcase. Eak and Well (the Shan couple) got to share the Jesus film in Shan to 4 families and their kids.  They got to answer lots of questions about Jesus and expel the families’ fear of “the world ending in 2012”.  We prayed over the Taylors and left on Wednesday for Chiang Mai.

In Chiang Mai, we stayed at the Mountain View Guesthouse in “Farang Town.” (We saw more white people than we did Thais and it was creepy. We did get to walk around and play “tourist” though. Tuk-tuk drivers followed us around like the paparazzi asking “where are you going?” The highlight was finding a bakery that sold chocolate croissants, coffee, and REAL yogurt on fruit salad).  On Thursday we debriefed with each person on our team, totaling a 12 hour meeting.  David and I both felt sick for the next 2 days so we rested in our room and slept a lot.

On Saturday, we headed back to the base in Mae Taeng.  We never thought we would consider our little room “home”, but it felt super good to get back to it! Our own comfy bed and walls that connect to the ceiling and fans! It was really good seeing the other outreach teams (since we only got to talk to the other people once or twice on the mountain).  Some highlights from the other two teams: the team in Wheinhang got to see lots of signs and wonders.  (According to Katheryn Cummings blog) They prayed for a person whose hands continually shook from a stroke and they were healed from shaking.  One night, a family of Christians heard “an explosion” outside and they all ran outside to see what it was and when they looked at the full moon there was a “cross inside the moon made of lightning.”  They took a picture with their cell phone and the next day they showed the team–it was that clear.  They were able to give a lot of encouragement to the Christians in that town.  The WonGen Kafe team got to meet a lot of CM university students, form relationships with them and work with other YWAM teams that came to help at WonGen.  They learned the art of making Sexy-berry smoothies and also went to the red light district of CM to minister to the bar-girls and prostitutes.

It’s hard to think that this is our last week of being in Thailand, but we graduate on Friday as official YWAMers! We fly out on Sunday and will be in the States on MONDAY. Love you guys.