The last few weeks have been a trying time for us in our faith. We were faced with many unexpected fees due to a new music room, a broken down car, minor sicknesses and a trial of dairy-free eating. However, God has never let us down and we are constantly in awe at the fact that although we are so imperfect, He is full of grace and provides for us - right down to the very baht!
One day a couple of weeks ago, one of the Isaan guys on our team surprised me (Karis) with a few groceries that I had been desiring to have. This certainly wasn't the first time this has happened. Coming to the end of this month we were also faced with a surprisingly high (well, higher than expected) electricity bill. After an offering from our YWAM team, money from a couple of CDs sold and our remaining money for the month, we were again surprised and blessed to see that everything was JUST enough to pay the bills. Talk about God-incidence! (not coincidence).
However, life here is MUCH much more than just bills and finances.
For the past week and a half, Noom and the Worship and Performing Arts team have been working on a new music room on the block that we call our YWAM "base". They have been cleaning it, making it soundproof and ready for band practises. They also plan to open it for the public to come and use for a small fee to help support monthly living costs.
For our Christmas outreaches next month, we are excited to announce that so far we have plans to travel to 3 villages (in Roi Et and Ubon) where people have never heard the Good News of Jesus, and others where they have heard only very little. We will also be travelling to the town where Noom comes from and doing a concert in the local markets. Along with this we plan to do concerts in local churches, the cancer centre and the psychiatric hospital - where we have been involved in ministries in the past. We're very excited for these opportunities, however we know that God's timing is the most important thing (and we believe that is now).
As for an update on our building project in the village, we're excited to go and work on it once all the Christmas outreaches are over. We've been blown away by peoples support to get this building project finished! Not long to go now!
We sense that we are entering into a season of new opportunities. However, with these new opportunities comes trials where we are able to grow in faith. May God's will be done in our daily lives and may we remember that even with our plans to make a difference in Ubon, one of the most important things is to love each other and keep the unity on our team.
