Jared and Jessica Young connecting you to tribal missions 3 months already?!
The number one rule to writing or public speaking is not to apologize to set the tone for what you are going to say. With that said: I’m sorry we have not updated our blog in a while. Life here has been a little hectic and frankly, I have had a bit of writers block because I don’t want to bore you with the mundane aspects of life here (well aspects seem mundane to me).
Who’s your idol?
Thousands of years ago there was this group of people who were refugees. They had slavery and were ruled by a ruthless Pharaoh from Egypt. The only way they escaped such hardships from this Pharaoh was because the God of Abraham, their direct ancestor, intervened with some pretty outrageous plagues. These plagues were in direct contrast with the idols the Egyptians had come to serve and worship. Upon the final plague, the escape plan was underway and these people were led into a desert by a man named Moses.
These people, the Israelites, had survived ten plagues (because of God), had been brought out of slavery (by God), crossed a dry sea bed and rescued from pursuing attackers (by God), drank sweet water made from bitter water (by God), ate bread that rained from the sky in a wilderness (from God), drank water from a rock in the middle of nowhere that Moses hit with a stick (because of God). All the while they grumbled and complained about their situation, they complained to the point of even desiring to return to slavery. They were focused on themselves and not what God the Almighty had done for them. They even set up a golden calf to worship!
Prayer Requests
Dear friends,
We have now been in Chiang Mai for about 3 weeks. The time has gone quickly and yet I feel as though it’s been forever since we left California. We’re enjoying our new home and have seen the Lord providing what we’ve needed while we’ve been here, whether physical, emotional or spiritual.
There are a few things that we are thinking through and praying about that I wanted to share with you all. We hope that you will join us in prayer when you think of us.
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Disastrous Glory
Wednesday night our family went to this store here in Thailand called ‘Big C’. It’s like a WalMart of sorts for shopping but there is this huge food court where you can get some decent food. So we got dinner there that night. They also have a kids play area that Boston and Jackson like expending energy in, so after our meal was done we headed over to the adjacent area. While Jess was in the kid’s zone I sat at a nearby table watching them enjoy their time. Then the lights in the building flickered. In fact the lights went completely out for a second, people screamed/gasped and then the lights came back on. Relief.
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The Big Step
Ever move to Thailand with a family of four?
- As of today I can officially check that one off my bucket list.
Ever experience such a life changing event in life that caused you to step out in faith without knowing what God had next for you?
- About 14 hours into our flight, the finality of leaving home hit me and I sobbed nearly uncontrollably in the airplane lavatory. I don’t know if I wept because I left home, friends, and family. Or if it was Boston saying, “Daddy, I want to go home and be done with the plane.” Or if it was the absolute fear of God in me and my total disbelief that by God’s grace we actually left for Thailand. Or if it was the inevitable doubt of moving your family far from comfort that Satan casts on you when you are most vulnerable. Either way I sat in that tiny dimly lit, awkward smelling room and praised God. Prayed to God. Worshiped God. Because without Him, without His Son’s provision on the cross, without the indwelling of His Holy Spirit in me…none (I mean absolutely none) of this matters or could even be accomplished.
- In the midst of the snot and tears a simple song lyric came to my mind that gave me peace, rest and a big picture understanding. “Where You go I’ll go. Where You stay I’ll stay. When You move I’ll move. I will follow You.” That could only be of God, reassuring me in my role(s) that this is the right move, the right decision.
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Disneyland, Visas, and Bloody Eyebrows.
Our life is an adventure. Our perspective on life and our choices will determine whether we enjoy that adventure or not. Recently we had the opportunity to put that choice into practice.
We had one final step in completing our paperwork for our move to Thailand. We had to go to the Thai Consulate in Los Angeles and get our passports stamped with our visas. The catch was, all four of us had to be there in person to verify we exist. So our plan was to drive down early on a Thursday morning, turn in our papers and essentially hang out until the next day when our passports would be ready to pick up.
We were thrown a curveball the day before we left. We were given the opportunity to go to Disneyland and enjoy some family time while we were in L.A. I accepted this gift and took the opportunity to exhaust my family with the enjoyment of being at Disney.
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Going Away Dessert Night
We are finally leaving for Thailand.
Eight years ago (ten for Jess) I made the initial decision to be a full time overseas missionary. And now after all this time, it is here on my doorstep and I am about to move my family to a foreign country, a foreign language, a foreign food, etc. for a extended period of time. There is anxiety, stress, excitement, romance, fear, joy, eagerness, impatience and a slew of other emotions pulsing in our veins as we approach our departure date. Thankfully God has given me an organized wife to keep all the loose ends somewhat together. The only major task we have left to accomplish is packing. We are attempting to fit our life into 8 pieces of luggage and relying on God to give us wisdom and discernment for what to take, store or sell.
Along with leaving comes the inevitable goodbyes to dear friends and family. We are going to truly miss the relationships we have built over the nearly 2 years since we came back to Fresno. We are having one final goodbye event on February 24 at 7pm. It will be held at The Well Community Church – Fig Campus, Fellowship Hall (corner of Palm and Gettysburg). If you are in the area we would love for you to come by and support us and say farewell as we will be leaving a few days after that, plus there will be dessert! If you are not able to make it you can always email us at jared_young@ntm.org, find us on Skype at ‘youngs.place’, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/theyoungsplace.
We would appreciate your prayers as we embark on this radical transformation we are about to undergo. Specifically in the area of patience. As stress rises and anxiety settles in, our temper and patience is the first to go. Also pray for our kids to transition as smoothly as humanly possible. We know it won’t be easy. We know God is faithful to draw us closer to Him. Pray that we keep our focus squarely on His comfort and rest in His Word during these times.
Back off. Back on.
This blog post was inspired by a seemingly insignificant conversation with my friend Rose. After our conversation, the Holy Spirit did some urging for me to give you all an update on the situation with my back. I must apologize for not sending this out sooner to have people praying for me in this specific area. I become a clam when it comes to my health probably because I don’t want people feeling sorry for me.
I have two bulged discs in my lower spine. Some refer to this as ‘slipped discs’. It is not a pleasant thing to have when you are an active, high energy guy with two kids like myself. But by God’s grace I am still able to engage my family and I have good days and bad days with my health. Over the past year I have faithfully gone to a wonderful chiropractor who uses a whole body approach and adjusts me with a tool called an activator. This process has worked well for me and has got me to a more mobile state since my last major flare up when our second son, Jackson, was born (another story for another time). I have also visited an acupuncturist twice now and have seen good results from that as well.
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Family Update
Ministry
Our big move is coming down to the wire as we are still planning on venturing out to Thailand at the end of January, beginning of February. We are currently still waiting on our visa paperwork to arrive from Thailand, which will approve us to move to “the land of smiles” legally. Once we receive our paperwork we will then have 3 months to move in country before our paperwork expires. When we arrive in Thailand we will get longer term visas and renew those annually. So if you could pray that we rely on God’s timing and not worry or fret about when our paperwork arrives, that would be great.
From a financial side of things we are currently pledged at 58% of our recommended monthly support. That amount involves 31 individual supporters and 2 churches. The Lord has increased our support 7% in the month of November (and has gone up since starting to write this post). He has blessed us tremendously with many opportunities to share with 4 different Life Groups and we have 3 already scheduled for December (one includes an interview for a local Christian magazine). We are praying that we reach at least 70% before leaving in a few months. Click HERE if you are interested in being involved financially to sustain us on the field of Thailand.
We just celebrated Boston’s 4th birthday last month on the 19th. We had two parties for him (one for family, one for friends) and thoroughly enjoyed both of them. It is such a blessing to have a son like Boston. It will be neat to watch how he and Jackson adapt to their new surroundings next year and how we as parents model Christ to them as we adapt ourselves.
Jackson is now saying words like “dada”, “mama”, “papa”, “baba” (for Boston), and “budouybudouy” (we don’t know what that is quite yet). He is also becoming more of a shadow of Boston by copying sounds and movements that his big brother is doing. Which can be both good and bad.
Jess and I have been thoroughly encouraged through a Bible study on 1st/2nd Peter. Jess attends a women’s study through a church here in Fresno and suggested I check out the study for myself. The truly amazing thing is there are podcasts for both men and women and I printed out the study for myself and a friend to go through together. I have been so encouraged by the study and have gained a renewed focus not only in my personal walk with God but in my marriage with Jess. I feel God is preparing not just the physical side of things before we move (i.e. luggage, health, finances, plane tickets, etc.), but the spiritual side of things as well. It is creating a renewed vibrance in our marriage and for me my parenting of my kids. We are excited to spend yet another year together this holidays with our immediate family and extended families.
*if you are interested in the 1,2 Peter study email me and I will gladly send you the link to download both the audio and pdf files.
religion kills…
Jesus Christ himself proclaimed that he is “the way, and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through [Him]” (John 14:6). At this time, Christ was about to set up something radically different for approaching God. Upon Jesus’ death on the cross, he obliterated the need for animal sacrifice and approaching the temple priests to gain access to God for forgiveness of sins. With Christ dying, the veil that separated the front of the temple to the ‘holy of holies’ where God resided was torn. Now everyone, not just the priests, had access to the creator God. But the only way to get to God, the Father, was through Christ. And this is a critical aspect to those who follow Christ. True Christianity hinges on this narrow road approach to God.
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