Ric and Sharon Bruce On a journey with you to Thailand 
The biggest joy and privilege that we have is to interact with our Thai church and to encourage our Thai friends. It’s a great honor to be just 27 years old and be able to share God’s Word with our church! This Sunday I shared James 1:1-5, in particular about where to find wisdom and what God promises He will do if we ask for it. Afterward I asked several people for their feedback and got some helpful responses and I hope to improve for next time. The important thing is that in getting outside my comfort zone I’ve opened doors for people to speak into my life and that it’s another opportunity to learn more about myself.
Posts Tagged ‘ric bruce’
Sharing in Church
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Monday, November 19th, 2012Video for Kids
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Tuesday, January 24th, 2012This is a video we made for kids from our home church. It’s meant to present our work in a simple, easy to understand way.
Making Disciples
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Thursday, October 6th, 2011
This is Wu, a guy I’ve been getting to know for the past year and one of a few guys I’ve been assigned by our Thai pastor to mentor regularly. Wu is 20 and has a girlfriend who is thinking about accepting Christ but is still unsure about what all this “Christian” stuff means. He’s a sports major at one of the local colleges here and is one of the best takraw players I’ve ever met. My job is pretty simple… I’m just getting to know him better and trying to live life with him. Pray that I can help encourage him in making wise life choices and that he’d continue to follow Christ despite the cost. We are also hoping Sharon can have a ministry with Wu’s girlfriend but so far that has been slow going. We’re trying to purposefully and thoughtfully enter into discipleship relationships with college students like Wu. Pray we will be able to make a real difference in the next year.
One Year in Thailand
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
Today is the first anniversary of our adventure in Thailand. That doesn’t mean we did anything great… we’re pretty sure anyone could live in this beautiful country for a year. This first year is really YOUR victory and something you can be proud of. Without your continued prayers, interest and support this journey would be impossible. One year sounds like a long time but it’s barely scratching the surface of the time we’re committed to spend reaching people groups in Southeast Asia with the gospel.
Your Worldview’s Showing
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Thursday, September 22nd, 2011
A local mechanic respects his ancestors, the unseen spirits, a host of gods and Buddha before beginning his day.
A “worldview”, simply put, is everything you believe to be true about yourself, your relationship to the world around you and what happens to you when you die. Everyone has one. Your worldview will continue develop over the course of your entire life, shaping the choices you make, the religion you follow and how you prepare for whatever you think happens when you die.
If Sharon and I are to be effective ministers of the gospel here in Thailand we’ll have to constantly be tuned into what’s going on beneath the surface. Can you tell anything about the worldview of the man in the picture above? What’s he thinking? How does he view people who don’t do this? What will happen if he forgets to respect these unseen beings each morning? Who or what is watching or noticing him doing it?
We’re not studying this from a simple anthropological point of view. We have a very specific goal in mind: to reach people with the life-giving message we’ve been entrusted with as followers of Christ. If we don’t understand the starting point we will be unable to guide our friends from a wrong worldview to a worldview that lines up with the truth found in God’s word. Pray for us as we spend the next days, weeks and months digging into worldview in depth.
Hitting the Books
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Wednesday, June 8th, 2011
During the past two weeks we’ve knocked some big jobs off our “to do” lists by using every available minute to study the Thai language and culture. During the month of June we promised each other we’d do no traveling and that we’d focus exclusively on improving our language skills. A few examples of what we’ve been up to include:
Finished reading the 600 page tome “Four Reigns” which covers a critical turning point in Thai history through the eyes of a royal servant growing up in the King’s court. This was the the last of several books on a list we were asked to read in our first year or so here. Next year I’ll have to re-read the entire list in Thai. (more…)
Rigors of Missionary Life
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Monday, May 16th, 2011
Start of the Casiquiare - by Martin Mykiska
Incredible worldwide advances in technology have reversed many of the rigors of missionary life. By and large missionaries no longer have to raise their own food on farms, spend weeks hacking through dense jungles looking for unreached people groups or hike for days to get into a village. So what are the rigors of modern missionary life?
Seven months ago we embarked on the most ambitious adventure of our married life. But just like every adventure we’ve been on including Alaskan salmon fishing and hiking the Appalachian Trail the adventure sometimes doesn’t feel exciting while you’re going through it. Our biggest challenge is this: there is no end in sight to the work here. (more…)
Our Recent Adventures
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Wednesday, January 19th, 2011In the past months we’ve taken thousands of pictures but honestly we just don’t have time to post them all. On our website you’ll find some scrolling picture slideshows or you can check them all out at our picasa web albums. Here are some samples of what you’ll find in the albums:
Beautiful waterfalls
Pictures of our church
Funny situations... like dogs that think leaves are money.
Beautiful flowers... from Sharon's camera.
Evil looking cats.
Delicious food.
Did we mention waterfalls?
Be sure to check out all our pictures at Picasa.
If you want more up-to-date pictures check out our mobile albums on Facebook.
Thailand’s Beautiful Flowers
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Tuesday, December 28th, 2010Day three of our week in photos: flowers. Northern Thailand has a unique climate that creates some colorful, exciting flowers. As usual, below are some samples. You’ll find the rest in our web albums.
This reminds me of Willy Wonka for some reason.
Hello from Thailand. Wish you were here with us.
We liked how the window framed the flower.
Pink is "see champoo" in Thai.
When there's light behind them you can see the veins in the flowers. Neato.
The most beautiful Thailand flower is in this picture.
I may have overdone it a bit with the orchids.
Oh yeah, there were a lot of people at the gardens too. 
Glowy!
I guess orchids are just more photogenic.
Check out the rest after the jump here.
Chiang Mai Markets
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Monday, December 27th, 2010Day two in our ongoing saga of pictures from Chiang Mai, Thailand brings you photos from the market. Be warned, you may find some things in these pictures you will NOT see at your local Walmart super-center. To enjoy all the photos at our web albums click here. Enjoy a few samples below:
This kid kept staring at me...
Pig anyone?
Stacking chickens.
Fish. It all universally smells like fish.
Cow's ears. I actually tried these things. They were crunchy and half-cooked.
"I'll take..."
The stuff on the left is SUPER spicy. Some sort of pepper seed I think.
A heart to heart. Or a teachable moment. Universally embarrassing in public.
Smelly charm things to go in your car.
Check out 20 more pictures at our Picasa Web Albums.
Pictures from Loy Krathong 2010
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010Physical Therapy: Day One
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Monday, November 8th, 2010I had no idea what to expect from physical therapy but I’m pretty proud of what I did on the first day. After keeping my knee completely straight for 3 weeks I:
- Used a traction machine to bend my knee 110 degrees – ouch.
- Did 30 squats using a railing as a brace – exhausting.
- Walked up and down a ramp while bending my knee – forgot how to walk.
- Biked for 17 minutes – sweaty.
I can now begin bending it, putting some weight on it and pretty much using it like I normally would. I still use the crutches to keep my balance and to help with the weight. I still wear the brace but now it will allow me to bend the knee to 90 degrees. Enjoy these pictures:
Surgery Tomorrow
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Saturday, October 16th, 2010The Harvest
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Wednesday, September 15th, 2010
I really don’t have anything to say about the harvest but I have this cool picture of rice being harvested in Thailand so I figured I had to throw it on the blog. Let me know what you think of the picture in the comments below. Or if you have comments on “the harvest” go ahead and put those in the comments. Well since I’ve taken the time to explain all that I guess I’ll say a few things.
Reaping a harvest requires patience. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” I hate waiting. Through our delayed visa situation, however, I’m learning patience and to “wait on the Lord.” The Lord is not slow, as I understand slowness. He’s just patient.
Video of Ric After Wisdom Teeth Extraction
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Wednesday, July 28th, 2010While this isn’t near as funny as other videos we’ve watched after surgery if you know Ric there’s definitely something different about how he’s processing things and he takes a long time answering most of the questions. Check it out:
Time with the Fam
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Monday, February 15th, 2010The past few days we’ve been spending time with my family down in Jackson. Sam and Kari are here visiting from Virginia and our latest family addition, Stephen, is up from Cleaveland. Here are some photos from the past few days:
Thailand in January
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Saturday, December 19th, 2009| It’s really happening: |
Blasting off to Thailand 01/20/2010
In January we have the once in a lifetime opportunity to visit Thailand with our missions pastor and key members of our home church in January. It all came together at the last minute and our heads are still spinning as we think about all we need to do to prepare for this trip. We’re excited about the possibilities the trip has for us. We’re excited to visit a tribal location, meet our future leaders and co-workers, and explore our future home.
You can help! Our church leadership has informed us that the cost of the trip will be $1,500 for each of us or $3,000 total. We can’t cover this amount without your help! For your convenience we have many ways you can give to our ministry. To explore the options visit our give page. All gifts to our ministry are tax deductible and will go toward our ministry expenses.
We need your prayers too! Please pray our trip preparations will go well and that we will communicate and minister effectively while we are in the country. Have a wonderful Christmas Season and thank-you for your participation in our ministry.
Rain, Rain Go Away
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Thursday, November 12th, 2009
We’re in Norfolk, Virginia watching the rain slam against the windows and listening to the wind howl though the trees outside. This is the yearly “Noreaster” that residents here have come to respect for its ability to flood the city annually. Here’s a link. We are safe, but appreciate your prayers as we are hoping to drive to central Virginia tomorrow and then head on to Tennessee Saturday.
Yesterday, however, we did squeeze in a little fun before the heavy rains and wind. We went to the Virginia Beach Aquarium and had a great time looking at the animals. Here’s a sample of what we saw:
