praises....

Friends,

The sun has set on our side of the world, but we didn't want the day to end without sharing with you just how powerful and effective your prayers were today as I (Steve) led the Tha! Bible study this afternoon. If you remember from yesterday, half the class are B-ddhists ... and I felt G0d leading me to simply share with them that our G0d is faithful. I felt led to shared 1 Peter 5:7, that we should give our cares to G0d. I then felt led to share Acts 16:31, to believe in the L0rd Je$us Chr!st and you will be saved. I then shared John 14:6, how Je$us said that "I am the way and the truth and the life ... and that no one comes to the Father except through me." I felt led to share that before I accepted Chr!st, I found myself trying to be "good enough" for G0d, but that I finally came to understand that Je$us had to be real and personal in my life, and that no one could do it for me ... that I had to make that very real and very personal decision to follow Him. I then shared our family's theme verse from 1 Samuel 7:12 - "Thus far has the L0RD helped us." It was then that I felt like I was supposed to give real life testimonies of how G0d has helped our family through some uncertain times - the baby that we lost, Noah's snake bite, leaving our family and going to !ndia, dealing with my dad's death while on the other side of the world, leaving Ind!a, and now leaving Tha!land. At that point, they seemed to be very captivated over this list of "hard stuff", but how great He was in that quiet little room to tell them that though times may be hard, that times may be uncertain, that times may be confusing ... He is still G0d, He is real, He is faithful, and He is here to walk us through life if we believe, accept, and trust Je$us. How great is was for God to tell them that following Je$us doesn't mean an easy-street-kind-of-life ... but that it DOES mean peace in the midst of the turmoil. It does mean that you can lose a loved one and know that He will carry you. And that it does mean that you can pack up your bags with NO details worked out and move across the world ... and yet KNOW it will all be fine. How great it is that He has allowed us to go through some hard junk over the years, yet use it to glorify His name. The coolest part of the day was when it was over, one of the ladies turned to Joanna and asked with all sincerity, "But HOW do you HEAR G0d's voice?" We couldn't believe how G0d opened up such a conversation ... how awesome is He to burn this question into her heart!! Joanna was able to explain to her the different ways she hears from Him. As she was telling her about one of the verses that G0d used to show us that our time here is complete, this lady said, "Oh, you mean He talks to you through the BOOK?!" Joanna said quickly, "Yes, the BOOK!" Whether your day is just now getting started or is about to end, please pause and pray for our friend... that she will continue to ask questions until she fully understands Truth.

We also wanted to follow up with a praise from the village trip a couple weeks ago. When a few of our personnel were talking with the head teacher from the school, someone from our team asked a multiple choice question ... "What can we do to further help your villages ... educational resources, agricultural resources, or medical assessment?" This head teacher said, "We have no church or wat (Tha! temple) ... the people believe in spirits, but they have nothing to hold their hearts." Again, how good is G0d?! While they don't really know what they want, something stirred within him to bypass all the material things that could help them and go straight to the "heart talk." Our team responded that that is definitely something we could help with and asked if we would be welcome back to the villages. He said that we would be welcome. We're deeply saddened that it won't be us going back, but our prayer tonight is that the doors would be open and that He would show them that there is Someone who can hold their hearts.

Finally, thank you seems like a little thing, but it what we have to offer ... our sincere thanks. The outpouring of support, love, and encouragement has been used mightily by G0d to keep us grounded, reminded, and assured that we are walking the way He has asked us to walk. As we mentioned yesterday, there are so many unknowns and so many details still to be worked out ... and we want to know TODAY what will happen TOMORROW, but as we are telling those we come into contact with, the same faith that brought us here will also take us back. In some really strange way, it seems that it is taking MORE faith for us to leave than it did for us to come here ... but thankfully, G0d is still in the business of giving His children exactly what they need. We would ask that you pray especially for N0ah ... he completely broke down last night when we told him what G0d was doing. His emotions are very raw, and his heart is breaking over having to leave. G0d will love him through it, and he will be fine ... but to tell him that we're returning to the states is one of the hardest things we've had to do as his parents.

We will continue to be in touch as God rolls it all out before us ... not for us, but as He says in Isaiah, "so all mankind together will see it."

Peace,Steve & Joanna
Elizabeth, Noah, & Emma