NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

     When I think of the past few months the words blessings and encouragement come to mind. Things started in July when my brother graciously drove down to Florida with me and a trailer full of the rest of my parent’s belongings. I then got to spend the next 2 months with my parents in their new home in Florida. It was fun spending time with them as well as helping them finish getting their new home to their liking. Well mostly to my mom’s liking=) It was just nice to spend time with them during this time before I head to Thailand in January. I also got to spend time at their church (Covenant Fellowship Baptist Church). The Lord provided a little blessing as I met the pastor and his wife one evening and then got invited to watch their house for the next couple of weeks starting the next day. They didn’t really need someone to watch the house, but they thought that it would be an encouragement and a blessing to me. And it was… They had a pool and it was nice to just get away and get some work done. I get distracted easily, so it was nice to get things accomplished away from the family.
     After I left Florida I started heading north and made a stop off in Missouri. I was able to stay at the school that I went to last year for a few days. I got to spend time with two of my closest friends before we all head out to our respective fields of ministry. It was so encouraging and we got to do a ton of fun things as well. We got to spend a night in Branson as well as spend Labor Day with other friend’s water skiing and spending the day out on the lake. (Thanks Nate)Mind you I haven’t skied for about 12-13 years, so you can imagine how sore I was the next few days. But the whole weekend was a blessing and an encouragement. During that time I also got to share about Thailand with the church that I attended while I was in school there. (Lynn Creek Baptist) It was such an encouragement to see them all again.
     Summer has come and gone and fall has started with another move(5th one since May). I am currently up in Michigan till November. Right off the bat I got another blessing as some friends of my parents(and mine as well) have a separate apartment from their house and they have graciously let me use it during my time here. Since being in Michigan I’ve had many many blessings and encouraging times. I’ve been able to meet with friends from my home church here, I’ve met with two churches to share about Thailand with (Calvary Baptist Church of Lansing & Valley Farms Baptist Church), I went to a family reunion, I’ve been able to go to a Michigan State Football game as a gift from my brother while my mom was visiting, and I’ve even been able to get into contact with a few friends that I haven’t seen since elementary school. All of this and I’ve only been here for 3 weeks. I can’t wait to see what more blessings God has in store for me.
     So as you can see, blessings and encouragement have been the theme for the past few months. I’ve been so excited to see how God has taken care of me thus far. I look forward to seeing how God continues to direct my life as I prepare for my January 13th departure date to Thailand. Speaking of Thailand….things continue to move forward. We are still waiting on visa papers so that I can get them filed from this end. I’ve also been in contact with missionaries there to start working on housing. When I get to Thailand, I will be staying in a hotel till I can get into a house. The missionaries there will show me 4 or 5 houses and I get to pick from there. Please continue to pray for smooth transitions as I head to Thailand.

• Praise:
  • Safe move of my parents to Florida.
  • Safe & awesome trip to Thailand.
  • Time with my family before heading to Thailand.
• Prayer:
  • Visa for Thailand. 
  • Preparation for Thailand.
  • Opportunities to share about Thailand with individuals & churches

The next 6 months I will be preparing to head back to Thailand. My goal is to head out of Florida on January 13th 2008. A number of things need to happen before then, but that is the goal.
When I move to Thailand I will be living in Chiang Mai for 2 years learning the Thai language and culture. It is a very tonal language so it will take the full 2 years of studying 8-10 hours a day to get this language. After the two years I will be in discussion with the field leadership there to see what village and team that I will best fit with. I will then spend another 2-4 years learning the tribal language and culture. After that only the Lord knows what He will have me doing. I would really love to have some sort of discipleship amongst the ladies there as well as possibly some translation work. Again this will all be pending on leadership and the needs of the team
I am truly looking forward to the next few months visiting and sharing with many of you my vision for Thailand. If you wish to hear about my trip whether in a small group setting or in your churches please don’t hesitate to give me a call. Talking is something that I love to do=) I also can’t wait to visit with the many of you who have so faithfully continued to support me through prayer and finances. Without you this vision would only be that…a vision, not really a reality.

Bus Rides: 23 hours Train Rides: 14 hours Car Rides: 17 hours Elephant Rides: 1 hour Tribal Works visited: 6 Vision Trip to Thailand: Priceless
Many people have asked me how my trip to Thailand went? All that I can say is it was….Amazing, Awesome, Eye Opening, Heart Breaking, Hot, Encouraging, and most of all it has opened my eyes to a country that lives in spiritual bondage day after day.
I think that we made new meaning to the statement “hit the ground running.” As you can see from above we got to see and experience a lot of Thailand. I stand in awe as we made our goals months in advance and the Lord in his graciousness allowed us to accomplish them one by one and to do it safely. As we recouped in Bangkok we couldn’t believe how God truly went before us in this trip. Thanks you so much for all of your continued prayers during those 3 weeks.
The Thai people are some of the nicest and most hard working people I’ve ever met. It truly is “The land of smiles.” I felt very safe there and can’t wait to get back to Chiang Mai to start learning the language and culture.

It is hard to put into words about the trip. One thing though….the Lord has confirmed in my heart that this is where He would have for me to serve. There is only 1 missionary for every 3 million people in Thailand. The Thai people live in such fear of not doing enough good things or saying the right things to ensure a better afterlife. What freedom we have in knowing our future of eternal life not because of what we do or say, but because of what Christ did for us on the Cross. How can we not want to share that with others

After all of these years of training, I won’t say how many lest I embarrass myself….I finally have a Bachelors degree. I’m not sure how important that is in light of what I’m doing, but I’ve been told it is a good accomplishment. After spending 9 months of saying and analyzing all of these different language groups, I’m finally ready to take on the final one… Thai
Am I excited? Sure, you know me I can’t go too long without communicating with others. Am I prepared? They tell me I am, but to me all of these tools and schooling aren’t worth much if I’m not looking to and trusting in the Lord to be my strength and guidance throughout this whole process.
One thing I have truly learned this semester is that it is only the Lord who can do the true equipping. I should be and need to be running to Him with every situation.