Twenty Six Hours One Weekend. . .

On September 19th our first Youth Group Retreat in Thailand started. All of the youth and three adult volunteers were to meet at our house at 4:00 pm on Friday.

I had gone shopping with my friend that runs the resort, to get food and snacks for all of the meals that we would share together at the Youth Group Retreat. When my friend and I returned to the resort, I called Bill (my husband). He said that the youth started arriving at our house before 3:00 and that there appeared to be more than had signed up. Yikes!

After getting off the phone with Bill I quickly arranged for the use of a third dorm, as we had more youth than we anticipated.

Around 4:15 the vehicles left our house and transported the youth to the resort, and we were off and running. The retreat included dinner on Friday, then a Bible Study followed by a time of discussion. Next, they had free time – which a lot of the youth choose to spend swimming, playing board and card games, or doing art work. Then we walked the two minute walk to the beach for a bonfire – where we taught the non-Americans about the yumminess of s’mors. After that, we went back to the resort for a movie that ended around 11:00 pm, the youth went back to their dorms and we had lights out at 11:30 pm.

Saturday was to start with the youth waking-up at 7:30 am. I had planned to get up at 6:00 to spend time in prayer, reading my Bible and perusing the lessons we were going to teach. After my shower I heard talking, and sure enough a number of the youth were up and excited about the day, not long after 6:00 am.

Saturday went as follows: Breakfast at 8:00, followed by quiet time/prayer time, then about 40 minutes of free time (aka swimming, swimming and more swimming). Actually some of the youth did go for a walk along the beach, and some played games or worked on arts and crafts, but the pool and the slack line were the big hit. The slack line was like a tightrope across the middle of the pool. We then had another Bible Study, followed by a time of discussion. Next, it was time for lunch. As I watched the youth get in line to get their lunch and then find a seat, I thought about the cartoon that shows a whole fish on a plate and then something runs by the fish, and all that is left is bones. That was what feeding the Youth Group was like. There was a lot of food, the youth went through the line, and then there were empty serving dishes. I guess they liked the food.

After lunch we had free time down on the beach. The youth played Spud, volleyball with a huge ball, walked on the beach, sat and talked with each other, and made sand castles.

After brushing off the sand from the beach, we went back to the resort for the third Bible Study and discussion time. The youth then had 45 minutes of free time, which most of them spent. . .you guessed it, swimming and walking the slack line across the pool.

After all that excitement, we had the task of trying to get everybody back upstairs for a time of Worship.

We then shared dinner together, followed by packing up their belongings and clearing out of the dorms.

Before we left the resort, I gathered all of the youth together for a group photo. Standing toward the front was a young boy with two tears flowing down his cheeks, he tried to smile as he realized that the retreat was over and it was time to go home. Seeing that young boy and the emotion he felt about the retreat being over, tugged at my heart. Bill and I had tried to make the retreat a wonderful, fun, exciting time to learn about Jesus. We had been planning for months, so that it would be a meaningful time for each of the youth. Seeing and later hearing, how much the retreat meant to each of the youth was such a blessing for us. We feel so blessed to be used by the Lord. We are humbled and grateful. Thank you Lord!

We headed back to our house around 6:20 pm on Saturday. Upon arriving, with the youth and their belongings strewn around our yard and house, we served up the usual ice cream cones that signify the end of Youth Group. A lot of the youth hung out at our house well past 7:00 pm, reminiscing about the retreat. Praise God!

The Lord was awesome in bringing just the right youth to the retreat. With 27 youth from at least three different countries, there could have been disagreements or problems, but there were none. Thank you Lord!

Being in a foreign country it is amazing to see the Lord work in the hearts of the Thai youth. Only He can do that, as we are still learning the Thai language.

Mark 10:13-16 NLT - "One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch them and bless them, but the disciples told them not to bother him. But when Jesus saw what was happening, he was very displeased with his disciples. He said to them, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you, anyone who doesn't have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God." Then he took the children into his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them."

The English speaking youth blessed us with a wonderful, huge Thank you card, and the Thai speaking youth blessed us with a great Thank you card that was artfully folded into an intricate heart shape.

Oh how we pray that each one of the youth would come to truly know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

We want to give a huge thank you to all of you that supported us with prayer and with funding. Thank you for your faithfulness. We were able to offer the retreat to all of the youth at no cost to them. We pray that you will each realize that you are as much a part of the work that is being done for Christ here in Hua Hin, as we are. God bless you!

By April

Photo by Stefan Schmied

Has It Really Been a Year. . .

Has it really been a year since Bill and I left America and moved to Hua Hin, Thailand as missionaries? August 30th was our 1st anniversary of being in Thailand.

Wow, in some ways it seems like we have been here for years. We have made wonderful friends; the Lord has worked through us and used our home in a mighty way, as only He can. At other times it seems like the year whizzed by, and we can hardly believe that a year is up already.

The blessings over the year have come in the form of starting a weekly:

Ladies Bible Study -

Men’s Outreach Project

Men’s Bible Study

Day of Prayer

Youth Group – Games, Bible Study, Dinner & Fellowship

As well as, moving the Friday night Dinner and Bible Study to our home; and my taking over all of the church accounting; and Bill produces a weekly church bulletin and prints Our Daily Bread in English and in Thai for those attending Sunday services. We have added a prayer box at church for those that do not wish to lift up their prayer concerns during the service. We pray over all of the prayer requests each day of the week.

We praise God for faithful Bible Study participants that come eager to learn about Jesus; share in praying for each other and share in giving praise to the Lord.

We praise God for youth that show up for Youth Group half an hour early with grins from ear to ear, they are so happy to be here. They don’t let flat tires, or rain drenched days keep them away, and they thank us profusely for letting them come when they leave. They are joyful and thankful. Praise God!

We have added a Prayer Box and Prayer Pops program for the youth. When the youth leave a prayer request in the Prayer Box, they get to take a Prayer Pop (a tootsie pop type lollypop). It has been such a blessing to hear the hearts of the youth. They confess weaknesses and ask for strength in following the Lord, and they lift up the needs of others. We lift up these prayer concerns to the Lord every day.

Of course there have been some difficult times, but as Jesus reminds me during those times of trial “Keep your eyes on Me!”

As we continue to live and minister here in Thailand, we pray that when people see us – they will see God; and when they hear us - they will hear God. Every day we will seek to see where the Holy Spirit is leading us; seek to follow Him in all we do; and pray that we reflect Jesus everywhere we go.

A beautiful friend brought us beautiful roses to commemorate our 1st anniversary of being in Thailand. What a blessing! Thank you, Moni!

By April

A Broken Toe and Two Colds to Go. . .

On Thursday Bill and I started to come down with what seemed like a cold, so Thursday night we decided to watch a new movie that we had gotten. This was a real treat, as we have given up watching TV.

Okay, back to the movie, we watched “Letters to God”, which was just released this month. The movie was wonderful and I went through half a box of tissues. I won’t tell you whether that was because of my cold or because of the movie. You will just have to watch the movie for yourself.

After the movie was over there was very little lighting in the living room and I got up to turn off the DVD player, when I slammed my toe into the metal leg of a chair. Oh my, that really hurt. Bill asked if I was okay, and I told him that I stubbed my toe and that it really hurt but that I was fine.

Thursday night I tossed and turned, as I coughed and blew my nose what seemed like incessantly. Bill did not sleep well either, as he spent the night getting up again and again, with intestinal distress. (Need I say more?)

Friday morning I sat on the couch sniffling and coughing when I decided to cross my legs. As I brought my left leg in front of me I saw purple. Now normally purple and my foot do not go together, so I stopped my leg in midair and took a better look. Yes indeed, the middle toe on my left foot was a rainbow of hues in the pink and purple range, not to mention that it was swollen. Bill asked what was wrong, so I tilted my foot toward him. He said, “Yikes! After we looked at it closer, we decided that it was probably broken.

Isn’t it funny how once you know you have hurt something, you notice that it hurts? I really had not noticed that my toe hurt before I saw my toe in its purple splendor, but once I knew, then I noticed that it was throbbing. Of course I had been taking Thai pain killer and decongestant for my cold and headache, so that may have had something to do with it.

As the morning continued, Bill and I started to feel worse, we were achy all over and had fevers. We were supposed to host about 25 people in our home that evening for dinner, fellowship and Bible Study. As I continued to cough and empty yet another box of tissues, I told Bill that I did not think we should be potentially infecting other people. So, Bible Study was moved to the house next door.

Saturday found me sleeping. . .and sleeping. . .and sleeping. Around 11:00 a.m. we realized that we needed to cancel Youth Group. We did not want to share our sickness with the Youth. After notifying the Youth, you guessed it, I went back to sleep.

This was the first time that we had ever had to cancel Friday night Bible study or Youth Group. We felt bad about it, but knew that it was the best decision for everyone.

Sometimes our bodies just need a rest, and Jesus calls us to come to Him for the rest that we need. I love that He does not say we should feel guilty about needing to rest, He just says come.

"Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls." Matthew 11:28-29 NLT

By April

Get well flowers from my friend, Rose.