Bethany Home video!

Post by The Piawongs with YWAM Thailand.

Opportunity for Sponsorship

For all those out there who are excited by the idea of having someone they can sponsor, whether be through education, training for a job, or just helping someone as they come out of crisis, we have an opportunity for you to be involved!!

At the moment we are seeking sponsorship for the soon-to-be-mother that Bethany Home has been supporting. She is due to give birth this month, however she has had a tough pregnancy, lives alone (apart from her teenage neice who she looks after in every way) and we are witnesses to the fact that she's tried everything she can possibly do to make enough money for herself, her niece and her unborn baby, even with the health problems and crisis she's faced. She's been searching long and hard for a job she can do once she gives birth and has been able to find one helping to clean houses, but this will not give her the amount of finances that she needs. She has also been working hard knitting and selling scarves.

We are seeking sponsorship for her first 6 months of motherhood, so it would be a 6-month commitment after which we would revise her needs. The sponsorship would start from 1st January 2014 and the last payment would be transferred on 1st June 2014. Donors will be sent photos and letters from the woman they are sponsoring. We are hoping to raise $AU 60 a month which would be $AU 360 for the entire 6 months. The finances would help support her so that she can have enough money for necessities like food, rent, bills and ongoing supplies for the baby. For the remaining finances that she needs apart from this, we are encouraging her to do what she can and trust that God will take care of her. Coming from a place where she never heard about a loving God before, she has been learning a lot about God's love since we met her 5 months ago and that will continue through conversations and casual Bible studies. If anyone is interested in sponsoring her, please contact us. Every little bit counts!

If this kind of thing excites you but you are not able to sponsor her financially, please support her through your prayers (this is even more important!).

Thank you and God bless :-)

Worshipping through receiving

We've now reached the month of Christmas, the time we tend to focus on giving to and receiving from others (this isn't a bad thing, but let's be honest here: we all want to receive as well!). This is fine, as it comes from celebrating how God gave to us and how we received from Him. However, I want to focus on a different kind of gift in this blog, a gift that God just revealed to me this morning. And this blog is focused on receiving that gift, not necessarily about giving. In a later blog maybe I'll share about giving or directly share about receiving the gift of Jesus, but this blog isn't directly about receiving the gift of Jesus.

It is about receiving the gift of worship.

Before we go on, let me be clear that I'm not talking about spiritual gifts here. I'm talking about the concept of worship being wrapped up in a precious box with beautiful wrapping paper and given to each and every one of us. I'm going to take the risk of saying that no, worship is NOT ALL about sacrifice and giving ourselves to Him - that is ONE part (and a very important part!) but before we are even able to do that, we need to receive from Him. Worship is an ability that God has given to us, a precious gift that gives us purpose to live. 

"Worship isn't just something you do for Me, but it's a gift of love and a special ability that I enable you to do. It's a gift from Me"

Remember Mary and Martha? Mary sat at Jesus' feet listening to Him while Martha served Him. Which of these is more important? I'll say it loud and clear, and before I do I just want to point out that God JUST reminded me of this the other day because I had gone too far in the wrong direction. It is that "God doesn't want our sacrifices, our work, our ministries - He wants US! He wants us to be with Him and RECEIVE from Him!" Jesus came to give life so that we could live it to the full no matter what circumstances we are facing. It gives God joy to see us living life to the full, having received His love. 

When the Samaritan woman met Jesus in John 4, He told her that the time is coming, and is here now, where true worshippers will worship in Spirit and in Truth. He then went on to talk with his disciples about harvesting (receiving the fruit from our ministries).  But before all of this, in verse 14, He gives the invitation to drink from His well, from living water. I don't read this as just stories from history but instead as a letter from God to me, and so I see it as Jesus first inviting US to drink, then helping us understand the meaning of worship, and lastly, speaking to us about serving Him. Receiving this drink is something we need to do in order to serve Him, and it's something we need to do daily, or even hourly!

"I don't get it - I thought worship was about sacrificing, giving my life to You?" This was my question to God this morning when He was revealing these things to me.

When we don't worship through BEING with God first, we won't worship when we sacrifice or serve - we'll be worshipping ourselves and others. We might serve, sacrifice, and give FOR HIM, but when we don't receive from Him first then we're doing it in our own strength, and when we're doing it in our own strength we're not worshipping Him through our serving, because it's impossible to worship Him through our own strength. Worshipping God is a GIFT from Him to us and something we can only do through Him! It is a connection between us and God through Spirit and Truth, a way for us to receive from Him, and a way for us to serve Him through the strength that we've received from Him.

Back to the story of the Samaritan woman - she was able to go and tell others about Jesus AFTER she realised the revelations about who He was and received the knowledge that He KNEW HER. One of my favourite verses about worship is in Romans 12. Do you know how it begins? It tells us to give ourselves as a living sacrifice to God BECAUSE OF all He has done for us. So we need to know before we can sacrifice! And many of the chapters of Romans before this chapter are focused on helping us to know our sin, to know God and what He's done for us, before it goes on to Chapter 12 which is about OUR sacrifice. So that shows that receiving Him and knowing Him is just as important (if not, then more important!) than giving of ourselves through serving.

In conclusion, the act of receiving this precious, life-giving water, IS worship! Who would have thought that worship is also US RECEIVING and not just us sacrificing? Wow!!! How many of you have children? For me, when my child does something wrong, my desire is for him to cuddle up with me and receive my love and forgiveness. I just want him to sit on my lap and BE with me. How much more does our perfect Father want that with us!!! He desires for us to sit with Him, be with Him, receive Him, feed from Him - this is the first very important way that we worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. 

Please pray for Thailand

At the moment there is a lot of political unrest going on in Bangkok. Although this is over 600km away from where we are in Ubon Ratchathani, we are concerned about how far in violence these protests are going to go before they end and at this point it seems there is no way out. Please see the link below for more history, information and prayer points. One prayer point that I want to add to the current list on this link is to please pray that God's will be done and nothing else, that the Government that He has chosen for Thailand will rule and no-one else.

http://www.dahlfred.com/blogs/gleanings-from-the-field/680-bangkok-street-protests-november-2013

The value of a friend

Those who are suffering need a friend not a solution. The hardest kind of pain isn't according to the circumstances you are going through, but it's when you are going through those circumstances with an unbelievable feeling that you are suffering alone. 


This came out of one of the most productive talks I've had in awhile. Last night on the way home from Noom's village, Noom and I somehow started talking about the first couple of years that we lived in Ubon. It was a very hard and a very lonely 2 years. For Noom it was hard because the ministry of being a father to 2-4 teenage boys was demanding, and for me it was hard because in my struggles of being a mother to 2-4 teenage boys (and being the only farang and the only girl in the house) I felt alone. But I will never regret what we did because God was leading us and holding our hands through it all, and He taught us a WHOLE lot (as you can see, we are still learning from it today!). 

In our ministries we come across people who are suffering from a variety of things: health issues, broken hearts, dead-end jobs, grief and more. Looking back on the things we struggled with in the first couple of years in Ubon, I realised it was the feeling that I was alone that caused the most pain and wouldn't allow me to sort through the struggles that I had with mothering these guys. If I had someone to walk beside me (I'm not saying Noom didn't, because probably only a woman could understand a woman's struggles!) then maybe my struggles wouldn't have seemed so big. 

I asked God why it had to be so hard, why all the sacrifices we had made sometimes seemed to end up being thrown back in our faces, and apart from encouraging me that there WAS fruit which came out of what we did, He also turned me to the circumstances that my friends are facing today - friends in the Bethany Home ministry, friends in my team, old friends of Noom, and friends in Noom's ministry. How can we be a friend to them? How can we stand beside them in their struggles? All too often we rush to try and solve a problem, but we don't realise that that person doesn't need a problem solver, they don't even need a teacher. They just need a friend. They just need someone to stand beside them, to hold their hand, to understand where they are coming from, to listen to them without judging them.

Being a friend to someone can save their life. Please pray that we will be friends to those we are reaching out to, not a "rescuer" that does more damage than good - because only God can be both their Friend and their Rescuer, and all that we should be doing apart from being their friend is to help point them to the only One who can rescue them. 

We've had a very busy week since our last blog! Noom was at the village for 5 days harvesting rice - I got to harvest for a couple of those days but had to juggle it with meetings, travel, and a sinus infection! But we are both really thankful for the opportunity to harvest rice this year, as the last 4 years in Isaan we just haven't been available during the rice harvesting season to have a part in this special time and allow God to teach us while we work alongside Noom's family. We were also very blessed to have close family friends and their team in Ubon in that time.

After the rice harvesting, Eliyah started reacting to the weather change and has been wheezing again - the second time since announcing in our newsletter that he was asthma-free! It's been a tough time but a good reminder to me that family is the first ministry - how ironic since our whole ministry is based on reaching families! However, God is teaching us that not all ministry can be put aside and we need to have a balance which means sometimes making sacrifices for the bigger picture of God's work here. Noom has been quite busy with the rice harvesting, soccer ministry and recording songs for a new project of a friend of ours, but God has been strengthening him, encouraging me, watching over Eliyah, and giving us precious family times in between.

So this is what we've been going through in the last week or so. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us and continually supporting us as we live life learning!

It's harvest season!

Jesus said in Luke 10:2 that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. We've been able to see the truth of this verse in both literal and spiritual terms here in Isaan. This month is the harvesting season where all the rice fields are harvested, and Noom has been able to help his family harvest rice in the last week. Unfortunately I couldn't go because I've been sick, but we plan to go back to the village next week for another few days to help with more harvesting. This year is especially hard because the harvest really is plentiful, but only 3 people (Noom's stepdad, mother, and half brother) have been working in their field, and they've been working out in the hot sun every day for a week with little progress.

This last year was declared "The time of harvest" (spiritually) for Thailand, and many times I have wondered why we haven't seen much spiritual fruit. But only just now have I realised that "the time of harvest" doesn't mean receiving, at least not immediately. The time of harvest means you get up and work 10 times harder than before, in order to bring that harvest IN. Only when the harvest is in can you really see the fruit. "The time of harvest" just means that the fields are ready, but it's only when we go out into those fields and WORK HARD alongside others that we will see the fruits of the harvest. 

Therefore, this last year and the next year may not be a time of harvest where we are sitting back watching peoples lives being changed and coming to know the love of God. However, it has been and will continue to be a time of harvest where we will go OUT into the fields and work even harder than before, believing and trusting that the fields are ready and that there will be fruit. Please pray for us, and as Jesus said in the second half of Luke 10:2, please pray that more workers will be sent out into the field!

Scarves and shawls for sale!

One of my goals in Bethany Home is to encourage young and/or single mothers to find a suitable job that will help support themselves and their families. The young soon-to-be mother who I posted about in the last blog has just started to make and sell scarves and shawls to help support herself until she gives birth. This has been a great job for her as her high-risk pregnancy doesn't allow her to work or even walk around too much, she has no-one else to support her and is living on nothing, and it gives her something to focus on doing during the day.  It costs quite a lot for the wool to make these items and they take around 1-2 days to finish, so they are not cheap for Thais but for those here in Thailand who need a scarf for the coming winter or those in other countries who want to help out, please see the pictures below and contact us for more information!

Scarves (available in a variety of colours) are 450 baht ($AU 16.00) each
























Shawls (available in a variety of colours) are 500 baht ($AU 18.00) each

Family ministry

Det is a father of 3 who has a 6th grade education. Ae is a teenage girl from the slum who has another term of 9th grade to go. Fai is a single soon-to-be-mother who has completed 12th grade but is unable to work. These are real people (with name changes) that we work with here. Det is constantly between jobs as he is unable to make enough money to support his family and relatives because of his low education. He is expected to support his relatives who spend all of their own money on alcohol. Ae is unable to complete her last term of 9th grade because she has no money to pay due to her mother's gambling addiction and may soon be finding fast ways of making money. Fai is unable to work for a living until she has given birth and recovered from this high-risk pregnancy, and her family cannot help support her because of gambling addictions. Each of these 3 people are in their helpless situations not because they themselves have addictions but because others do - because those who are supposed to work together with them or be there for them in their time of need are too busy looking for satisfactions that last only for a few hours. 

I ask myself everyday what it is that people like Det, Ae and Fai need, and how I can help them without doing more damage than good. How can I help them in a way that doesn't "rescue" them but instead enables them to rescue themselves? How can I support them without allowing them to rely on me but instead point them to God? Giving money should hardly be the answer, but where is the line? These are the issues of the society that we face almost daily, and what I've observed is that there is something REALLY important that we need to be focusing on. Family. It all starts in the family. Those who have addictions usually have them because of past pain, most likely from childhood, and those who are affected by their addictions are Det, Ae and Fai, their own family members. Either addictions are passed on to the next generation or neglect and abuse is passed on - sometimes both of them are passed on. 

Business might be the answer to their financial needs, and it sure can be used by God, but there needs to be something other than business in order to reach the family life. There needs to be something to impact the grandparents and parents and encourage them to love their children and to reach out to the children from a young age and teach them God's way so that they may have a chance of a hopeful life where they can then raise their own families to become a responsible future of the country. That's why we focus on family ministry - reaching out to children and youth through games and activities that interest them, reaching out to young mothers and babies through activities that will strengthen their love and bond, using business as a tool for God's love to be shown and to enable parents to work close to home, and gently teaching and encouraging people to hold on to the community aspect of Thai culture and stand for each other. 

One of the main spheres of the society here is family. It is the one with the most influence on how someone's life will turn out in the future. It is the one we need to reach out to to shoot an arrow of God's love and break through the pain and issues we face in society today. The family unit has the power to work together with Det and help support him so that he can further his education and get a better job in the future. The family unit has the power to raise children like Ae with love and support her in her education preventing her from getting into dangerous work as a teenager to make fast money. The family unit has the power to support Fai when she is faced with circumstances that don't allow her to support herself. When we reach out to families instead of just focusing on how we can help one person here and now, whole societies will be changed.

Last week

Last week's soccer program in the village was awesome! Thank you for all your prayers. We were so blessed to have a team from Singapore come and help us. I was personally able to build relationships with more of the women from Noom's village as most of the village came to watch the children play. We pray and trust that whole families and the community was touched as they saw the skills their children have in sports (some of them seeing their children play soccer for the first time) and that this would be the start of future change in family life - with parents being more involved in their children's lives. We pray that the people in the village were able to see God's love through everything Noom did to plan this event for the children and through the wise Biblical teachings he gave them.

The children warming up for their first game

Coach Noom (above) and Coach Eliyah (below)

All the teams from 4 different villages that participated in the program

The team that Noom coaches in his village with some of the parents and grandparents that came to cheer them on

The Isaan kids love sports

Noom playing in the guy's game on the first day (above) and me in the girl's game (below)

Praise God for His protection and blessings over the work in Noom's village!

Eliyah's health

We are coming into the week of the soccer program in the village and things are starting to come together! Noom has been in the village since last week (apart from the weekend where he came back to town) preparing the soccer field and the house for teams. I will be going to the village tomorrow with Eliyah and then the program will start on Thursday. We wrote in our newsletter update last week that Eliyah had been asthma-free for a few months (even amongst the flu and colds) however last week with all the weather changes he caught a cold which turned into labored breathing, a croupy cough, and wheezing all throughout last Saturday night. We would like to ask for your prayers for protection over his health as things like these tend to happen right before a big event, program or a turning-point in the ministry. We are claiming victory over every attempt from the devil to stop God's work here but we really need continued prayer support - prayer for protection over our family's health. Praise God that Eliyah is much better now and although he's still wheezing and coughing a bit, everything seems to be under control! Thank you to everyone for your prayers!

Sorry for lack of updates!

From now on, we are going to try and write a blog once a week starting from today :-)

Apart from the updates we sent out in our newsletter last week (if you didn't receive our newsletter and wish to receive it and/or future updates please contact us) we have a further update about the soccer ministry:

We are so excited for the opportunity to run another soccer program in Noom's village at the end of this month. This is the 3rd year running a 3-day tournament in the school holidays in Noom's village, but the first year that we are seeing the villagers opening up and excited to have a part. Not only is the school getting involved and preparing two teams of under 12's, but the village has also prepared a woman's team to play with the women of our team. This is a huge opportunity for us to build relationships with the people in Noom's village, not just by running something for the children and having the parents come along to watch, but actually having activities that give us the chance to interact with the adults in the village too. The first day will be for the young adults: guys on our team VS the guys from the village, and girls on our team VS the girls from the village. The remaining three days will be a fun tournament for the under 12's. Please be praying for open hearts and for relationships to be built during 24th-27th October!

And a further update about the music ministry:

Noom is currently in the process of writing a few songs about the life of Daniel and recording them with another couple of songs about Gideon and Samson. This is for a project run by a friend of ours in another province who has a heart to record Isaan-style songs about the Bible so that Isaan people can have more opportunities to learn about the Bible (especially for those who can't read Thai or are unable to get a copy of a Thai Bible that isn't the Thai KJ version!). Our friend has already completed two albums (Genesis and Exodus). We are thankful that God allowed us to be a part of this project but Noom needs prayer in writing the songs about Daniel because he doesn't want to miss anything important but also needs to pick and choose the most necessary facts and put them to music that will be easy for people to understand. The goal is to have them finished and recorded by the end of this year.

Land

As we posted through Facebook a few weeks ago, in the beginning of August we were able to buy the 1 Rai land (next to Noom's mum's house and our current housing project) for agriculture/self support and for future ministry purposes (to build a children and medical ministry on). We wanted to take time to thank everyone who helped through prayers, donations and constant encouragement! We are so excited about how God will use this land to bless the Isaan people (especially the children) and to support other ministries in the future!

Investment project

This piece of land is in Noom's village, right next to his family's house, a little less than half an acre (1 rai) and selling for 50,000 baht ($AU 2,000). We've had our eyes on it for months and are currently raising money to buy it as an investment to plant these tapioca trees and help support the ministry in Noom's village (planting and harvesting happens once a year). In the future (5-10 years) when we move to Noom's village we want to use this land to do a children's home and medical clinic. If anyone would like to have a part in this investment project please contact us!

When Helping Others Actually Helps You

For one year now I've been reaching out to a young mother in Noom's village. In order to protect her, let's call her…Grace. And in order to protect Grace's daughter, let's call her June (since she was born in June!) 

I'll start off this story simply. Our first reaction when we hear heartbreaking stories is to take the person away from potential danger in order to protect them, and this isn't a bad thing - in fact this was my first reaction after I went to visit June when she was born and saw that her mother Grace had an untreated mental disorder and wasn't really able to look after herself let alone her daughter. However, I was challenged to instead of breaking Grace's heart, breaking relationships we had formed in Noom's village, and breaking June's ties with her mother, I should be reaching out to Grace and helping equip her to be the mother she needs to be. Those who have seen the movie "I Am Sam" will know that a mental disorder does not take away the love one has for their child and is not a good enough reason to take a child away from their parent.

Oh yes, it's MUCH EASIER just to take the baby and send the mother to an institution to get better…but how is this going to help???

So I started in a journey where I challenged myself to step out of my comfort zone and visit Grace whenever we were in Noom's village in order to encourage her in motherhood. I noticed that the women who care for her in the village often came onto her quite hard and made her feel intimidated - and what they were saying was good and true and things that Grace needed to hear, but I wanted to complete what they were doing by giving her the other side of what she needed: a friend. And I didn't visit her half as much as I should have. Her mental disorder was worse by the time that June was 2 months old. Grace refused to take her medication, refused help from people in the village, in what I thought may have been trying to prove to herself and others that she could mother her daughter. Why does it have to come to the point where someone feels like they have to PROVE this? Her mental disorder got so bad that the last time I visited her in 2012 I could hardly communicate with her. She would come out talking in a weird language that no one else could understand. I also noticed her daughter had cuts on her head from Grace cutting her hair and accidentally cutting her with the scissors - and that made me feel again like I needed to "bring her daughter to safety"

By "bringing her daughter to safety" I mean taking her away from her mum, from her village, and placing her in a foundation where she goes from person to person and doesn't really form a real, loving, healthy relationship with one or two permanent guardians. Safety? Physically - yes. Emotionally - maybe not.

After the last discouraging visit in 2012 where I couldn't even talk to Grace and was a little freaked out by her disorder, to be honest I really didn't have the guts to go back there by myself. I just asked other people in the village how her daughter was going and constantly got back a positive answer - so I didn't really bother going to see Grace. After all, she was handling it, right? She didn't need me.

In May/June 2013, after not visiting Grace or June for many months, I heard that Grace's mother who also has a mental disorder came to "rescue" June and left her in a random children's home in order to force Grace to get treatment at the mental hospital in Ubon. Again, I was convinced that taking June from the random children's home, bringing her in to live with us, and taking her to visit her mum in the hospital weekly, would be much better than her being isolated in a place that she didn't know. And this was the first decent idea that I'd had. However, it still wasn't meant to be. Grace's mother told her that if she went to get treatment, she would return her daughter. Grace's love for June was strong enough for her to go and do what she was so scared to do, and after getting an injection at the mental hospital and improving her condition, she went to get June and travelled back home. I wanted to visit Grace but missed her by a few hours. 

The next time we went to the village was last week. Mid July 2013. I put off visiting Grace because again I was scared. I was a coward, honestly. I told myself that she could do it and she didn't need me. On Tuesday morning (we got to the village on Monday) I woke up with feelings of unbelievable loneliness. I cried out for God to send me a friend who I could really connect with. The truth is, in Ubon, I have a whole team and I'm physically not alone at all. God asked me "Karis, if you have people by your side and feel so lonely, how much more lonely do you think Grace feels?" God was challenging me in the commitment that I'd made, and not continued to do, to be Grace's FRIEND. After I got up that morning, I heard the news that Grace had given her medication, along with sleeping pills, to June (who was now 1 year old) to get her to sleep. Grace was too tired to look after her. June had a huge reaction and almost died. She was in the hospital in Ubon city. Again, I was angry. "How could Grace do that?" I asked myself. This time, I was truly going to get her daughter and "rescue" her from her mother before her mother could do something worse. Grace's neighbours also told me that another time Grace had fed June bleach.

There began a 2-day journey of praying for wisdom. Should our foundation take June? If so, how? If someone was going to take her, we would be the best choice as we were from that village and could bring June to visit her mother every month. But what if we did take June and she was too much to handle? Would we send her around to stay with different families in our foundation, cutting off any chance that she would form a close, healthy attachment with an adult? That surely wouldn't do any good. Or what if she was going to be permanently damaged from the reaction she had to her mother's medication? Are we equipped to take care of her? Or if things got hard would we just "hand her over" to someone else? Do we REALLY love her more than her own mother?

The truth is, Grace loves June. Grace wants the best for June. But like any other new, young mother - like me when I started out - she just has no idea how to take care of a child. Put that together with an untreated mental disorder and you have disaster. But it doesn't have to be that way, with the proper help. Is the best solution really to take her child away? How will this teach her to be a mother? Or is the better solution to help the MOTHER so that she in fact can help the baby? Bethany Home doesn't just reach out to babies, Bethany Home has a vision to help whole families. Bethany Home has a vision to help MOTHERS.! When praying and seeking God's wisdom for this situation with my team on Thursday morning, I received a picture of a dying tree. The tree was then surrounded by water and it came back to life. When we come across a dying tree, do we de-root it and place it in water? No!! How would taking a dying tree out of the dirt help it in any way? Instead, we take the water and use it to water the dirt where the roots of the tree are. We use the water and other nutrients to improve the soil, roots and eventually the tree - bringing it back to life. I had my answer. I was to take the living water and bring it to Noom's village, and use it to reach out to Grace and June there. The rest of my team all had peace accepting June but one of our staff members felt we should wait for God's timing and not try to make it happen ourselves. I couldn't believe it…because before then I was convinced that God would have us take June away from the "danger", and away from her mum. But He had other plans which I didn't yet want to accept because I still wanted to get June OUT!

We went back to the village and on Thursday afternoon I met with the women in Noom's village who take care of Grace and June. They explained that, although earlier they had wanted to have us take June out, now they believed they should give Grace another chance and just give her stronger boundaries. They would confiscate her medicine and act as the nurses, to give her one tablet every morning and evening - just as the doctor prescribed so that she didn't have the whole lot and couldn't give any to June. They would talk to Grace's dad and try to encourage him to become a stay-at-home work-at-home granddad, in order to help Grace when she was tired. I still don't know if any of these plans will go ahead after the novelty has worn off. I don't know if something will happen and Grace will do the wrong thing and put June's life in danger again. But I DO know that this time, God needed me to be Grace's friend, not an "authority" that would take her child away. I know that God wanted me to allow the women in the village to wake up to the urgency of the situation and move ahead to look after Grace and June, and again I don't know if this will continue to happen once the novelty wears off. But we need to go one step at a time. This time I will be Grace's friend, I will be June's aunty, I will be a helper in her situation and work alongside the women in the village to help this family - I will not work against them.

All that said, in the future there may be a time if things get tough where June might come to stay with us, but I will make sure if that happens that it happens because God has made it happen, not because I have tried to make it happen just because "I" think it's the best thing. I will try to visit Grace EVERY TIME we are in the village, not just when bad things happen. I will allow God to continue to challenge me to step out of my comfort zone and go to reach out to people in THEIR place, NOT reach out to them after I have them come to me. In the last week, month, YEAR of helping this family I have grown and learnt so much to step out of my comfort zone and look outside of my box of how I think people should be helped and what I think they need. Only God knows. Only God sees peoples hearts. We have to trust Him if we want to reach others.

Last night I asked my husband "Do you think God calls people to be missionaries just to reach out to people, or does He also see a huge importance in calling people into mission so that he can change their own life and perspective?" We think the second is just as important. After all, how can we reach out to others if we don't allow God to reach out to us first?

Please pray for Grace, for June, and for June's safety.

Family Seminar a Success!

What is success? Is success measured by the number of people, a good outward response, lots of programs, or how much profit is made? Or is it measured by the ability to push forward, even when it isn't what we expected, and be faithful in doing what God has given us to do? We can use any of these to measure success, but the only kind of success that we ourselves have full control over is the last one. Perseverance. A good attitude. Faithfulness. For the turn out, outward response, programs and profit, we have only little control over. 

While praying for this first family seminar, run by Bethany Home, we prayed that God would send us 10 women. God spoke to us in one of our prayer meetings that we shouldn't worry - just do what we could do and He would do the rest. So when only 3 women turned up, we were prepared. Within our team, we had promised each other that we would start at 9am no matter how many women were there. By the last day we understood why God had only sent us 3 even though we had prayed for 10. These 3 women, with their children, were the perfect amount for us - with kids running around and missing their mothers and going in and out of the "classroom", we really couldn't handle a larger group. But here's the funny thing...We had prayed for 10 because we wanted to touch 10 lives - we thought that would be a good start. Well, the 3 women with their children equaled 10. God had sent us the exact number we had been praying for. We just had to open our eyes and see that His faithfulness was complete even if it wasn't in the same way we expected. At our seminar we were able to reach out to 10 people (well, one of them was still in the womb!). We wanted to reach families, and because of God's faithfulness, we were able to spend time with both mothers and children. Along with these mothers and their children, we were also able to have the mothers and children from our own team take part. But this didn't make it a success.

The seminar had teaching on nutrition, parenting, handling money, First Aid, speaking English, sewing, crocheting, flower making and baking. A HUGE variety! But this didn't make it a success. On the last day our MC for the seminar (who is also a single Thai mother on our YWAM team) shared her testimony. The response was overwhelming. That day we had another mother who had joined in for the last day, so we had 4 mothers - 2 of them were young mothers (the group we were targeting). The 2 young mothers responded with tears, shared their struggles and asked for prayer for them and their families. The other 2 mothers asked for prayer for their children. We had this empty slot in the schedule which we weren't sure how we were going to fill (as we couldn't find a teacher for that subject), and the time was filled with this sharing time, prayer time, and a chance to give God's love to the women. We had never planned on doing this, but God had planned the whole schedule right from the start! But do you know what? Even if this emotional sharing time hadn't happened, the seminar would have still been a success. If success was measured by a good outward response, then what hope do we have for those times where there is NO outward response? Similarly, if success was measured by financial profit, then what hope do we have for this seminar and many other ministries, where there is no financial profit?

This has changed the way I measure success. What made this seminar a success was the being. BEING there, allowing God to work, even though things turned out differently to what we had planned. Perseverance. A good attitude. Faithfulness. And how we will use this as a foundation for future ministry.

How do you measure success?

Bethany Home's first seminar

For those of you who got our last newsletter, you would have heard that I have been wanting to plan a program to teach pregnant teenagers and young single mothers how to take care of their pregnancy, children, health and equip them with different business skills to enable them to work from home. We have finally chosen a date and name for this program and are currently promoting it and confirming speakers! It will be called the Family for Life Seminar and will go for 3 days (1-3 May) during the Thai school holidays. The girls will also have an opportunity to come on 4th May to receive counselling and more tips.

 We are still in need of a translator, someone to teach on computer skills and a nurse to teach First Aid focused on infants and common childhood injuries. Our team will be handing out brochures at shopping centres, hospitals and pregnancy clinics during the Songkran Water Festival later this week and early next week. Please keep us in your prayers! We are hoping for a small group for this seminar, around 5-20 people to come and participate.

 

Reflections on Miracle Night

Imagine seeing pastors and missionaries from many different churches, cultures and denominations all over town coming together, accepting all their differences, holding hands and walking into the future – together. It seems like a pretty unrealistic picture! Three years ago, this seemed impossible for Ubon Ratchathani. Two years ago, it was on the horizon but seemed centuries away. One year ago, it was beginning. And in the first few months of 2013, it became everyday life.

There is an African evangelist who lives in Ukraine called Henry Madava. When he heard that all the pastors and missionaries from Ubon Ratchathani had been coming together since 2010 to pray for their city, he decided it was time to support their vision. He came all the way from Ukraine with his team to train the Christians in Ubon, encouraging them in who they are as a child of Christ and what this means, equipping them to pray for healing for the people of Ubon, and to see fruit come from doing so. This really touched the pastors and missionaries of Ubon, however, he didn't stop there. Pastor Henry Madava came to Ubon a second time to run a Jesus Festival, also known as a series of Miracle Nights, from 22^nd-24^th March 2013.

In the last few months leading up to the Miracle Night festival, the pastors and missionaries were confronted with many challenges, trials and temptations – all threatening to take away their unity and destroy the power they had as a group to make change. However, they decided to continue to come together, accept their differences, hold hands and walk into the future – together. The Miracle Night, the beginning of Ubon's future, was a real success. We had expected 10,000 people to come per night, but only got an average of 3,500. It was still a success. We saw many people receive healings from paralysis, injuries, blindness or deafness in one eye or ear, and more. We saw people crying out to God for the first time. We saw hands, eyes, and hearts lifted up to heaven. We, no – I – was reminded of the love that God has for His people here in Ubon. But what makes these nights a real success is the unity that we, as people serving God in Ubon, were able to obtain, and whether we're able to keep it in the future. You see, when God's people love each other and work together as one, we open up a door for His Holy Spirit to come and work amongst us. Where unity is, the Holy Spirit has room to move, but when disunity comes in, there is minimal space for the Holy Spirit to even breathe, let alone work in people's hearts!

Thousands came to hear about God's love for them and experience it for themselves. Many found healings from diseases and everyone who attended saw this with their own eyes. This is a MIRACLE in itself! When the event came to a close, it wasn't the end of a revival – it is just beginning! But the question is: Will the people of Ubon continue to seek this love, and will they find it through God's people as we continue to stand together in unity? Please pray that they will find it! And please pray that we will give it!

Miracle Night Day 3

Miracle Night has finished! Tonight was awesome - lots of healings but the best one was probably a 45 year old woman who'd been in a wheelchair and not walked since she was 9 years old. She got up and walked tonight. Tomorrow there is a special seminar for new Christians and then that's it! Thank you once again for all your prayers!

Second night of Miracle Night

Second night of Miracle Night tonight! Thankyou for all your prayers!! Some of my highlights were: Women getting up from the crowd and dancing to the Isaan worship music, a 17 year old boy who had been deaf since birth being able to hear for the first time, and a man who suffered paralysis on his left side after being stabbed in the head years ago being able to walk and feel his left side again! There were many more people who were healed, and also many who are still waiting. Tomorrow is the last night! I pray that God will never let me forget again, the love that He has for His people in Ubon

First night of Miracle Night

First night of Miracle Night was great! The field was half full which was really good for a first night. Some people were healed from being paralysed, a couple others were healed from blindness and deafness in one eye or ear. Saw maybe a thousand people looking to God for the first time. Thank you God! Expecting even more tonight! Please pray that ALL those who look to God for healing will receive it!

2 days to go!

Tomorrow is the final practise before the Miracle Night begins. In the last month, teams have been all around Ubon putting signs up, prayer driving, prayer walking and handing out flyers. Transport has been organised for those interested in coming and all the details have been put together. Please pray for God's sovereignty in Ubon from the "dress rehearsal" tomorrow until 25th March when all the new Christians will meet together after the event. Please pray for protection in our family and for everyone else who has had a part in making this event happen! Pray that the people who come will be forever touched and transformed through God's love. We can't wait for it to start and will try and post photos and videos, as well as update our Facebook, as things come along!
Thank you for standing with us!

Miracle Night

There are only 18 days left until the Miracle Night with Henry Madava! Please join us in prayer as we prepare for this huge event. Noom and his team are practising every day as they will be leading worship. The event goes from 22-24 March and we are expecting thousands of locals to turn up. There will be worship, testimonies, a talk from Henry Madava on each night and then a healing time. Although the flyer is only in Thai, we have posted it on this blog for you all to check out.

The prayer team is putting together a list of things to pray for every day. Please join them and us in your prayers each day leading up to the event! This is taken from the "Pray for Ubon" page on Facebook and has been posted by the prayer team. 

Miracle Night” in Ubon Ratchathani, March 22-24, 2013
Prayer Information

Pray items for each day of the week from now until the event: 
Monday: 1. Pray for the preparation details for the event; 2. Advertising/publicity: protection from opposition, stealing or destroying the signs

Tuesday: 1. Christians from all churches would be actively involved; 2. That all churches would be involved in serving in unity as ushers and prayer counselors (leading people to Christ & gathering info)

Wednesday: 1. The work of the planning committee – that they would involve others and work whole-heartedly; 2. That we would see miracles, signs and wonders both during the “Miracle Night” and continuing after the event

Thursday: 1. For the weather, the stage, sound system, etc. on the day of the event; 2. For offerings to fund the event from various sources both in Thailand and from abroad

Friday: 1. That the people of Ubon would have open hearts, and that many people would come on March 22-24; 2. Cooperation from various governmental offices and officials

Saturday: 1. That God would work miracles through Pastor Henry Madava; protection for his health, ministry, family, and travel, as well as that of the entire team 2. Spiritual protection in every area for the planning committee and all those serving as staff at the event

Sunday: 1. Follow-up after the event; 2. That new churches would be planted continuously in every ampher, tambon, and village

Our new place

Here are some more updated pics of the new place we're renting. We've been working on it in the last couple of weeks and now that we're settled in normal life starts again :)

We have a place!

After all the land searching in the last couple of months, we've decided to rent a place first. Once we made the decision to stop looking for land to buy, we came across a house for rent that we'd had our eyes on for months - but the owner had only just put a sign up that day. It was such a release to find a beautiful, more affordable cozy place for our family to rent. It is a small portable one bedroom wooden place, with a bathroom built on the back, set on 3 Rai of land (almost 1.2 acres) which is full of fruit trees such as tamorine, banana, coconut, mango, passionfruit, custard apple - and the list goes on! The rent is just for the house, but the owner has allowed us to also use the land as we please, including eating the fruit or having campouts, as long as we help take care of it. At first we weren't going to take the place once we saw how small the house was (the one room inside is about 3x3m), and especially because it was without a kitchen, but after talking with the owner he offered to supply cement and bamboo for us to build a kitchen - just as long as we were the ones who built it ;) So at the moment we're in the process of building a kitchen and turning the place into a home that will be safe for a little active boy to run around in. Once the owner found out we were Christians, he immediately took the idols down and has been curious of what we're doing here ever since. We thank God for His provision and look forward to a fresh start in a place surrounded by nature :-)

Here are some pictures!

Side view and starting to build a kitchen

Trying out a sofa bed to see how it fits in the room with Eliyah's cot

Looking outside from the room and outdoor sitting area

Tamorine trees out the front