Serving The Lord in Thailand

Hello my name is April and I have been married to my wonderful husband Bill for 23 years, and we are missionaries in Thailand.

Four years ago Bill and I were living in Pennsylvania, where Bill worked as an attorney and I worked for a municipal government in the Finance Department.  We were busy with work and serving in many different capacities at our church.

Back in 2005 God had placed it on our hearts to sell our large home (we were thinking Christian Bed and Breakfast, but God had a different plan.)  So we sold our home and started to rent a small bungalow.

Bill and I both felt that the Lord wanted us to serve as fulltime missionaries, but we did not know where or when.  So, we just kept praying.  We started to feel that the field had been narrowed to Australia or Thailand.  (Let me just stop and tell you that our claim to ‘world travel’ up to this point had been that we had traveled into Canada, several times.)  J  We really wanted to serve where the Lord wanted us to serve, so I kept praying that God would make it SO obvious that even I would get it.  And He did!

One day Bill and I were in New Jersey.  We had just gone to church down in Ocean City, and we decided to go for a drive.  We were driving in our Prius, when all of a sudden the GPS started talking.  It said “Your destination has been set!”  We were truly startled when the GPS started to talk.  We had not programmed it, and to be honest, we really had not used the GPS other than to look at the screen that shows where we are currently driving. 

We both turned to look at each other, and Bill tried not to drive off of the road.  Bill looked at my hands to see if I had pushed a button or something, and I looked at his.  But, neither of us had touched the GPS or any controls for that matter.  Just then, the GPS started to speak again.  This time it said “The Point of Interest will now show all Thai Restaurants.”

The screen did not show anything, but from that moment on we knew without a doubt that Thailand was where He wanted us to serve.  We had such a peace in our hearts from that time on.

So, we left our jobs, our families and our friends, got rid of our stuff, and moved halfway around the world to Thailand.  From the time we landed in Thailand, we have felt at home.  Okay so there were things that we had to adjust too: Like not being able to speak with most people, because we did not know the language; Not having the luxury of going to a bookstore to buy a book written in English; Dealing with the fact that a simple Thai Bible costs nearly $30.00, which puts it way out of the reach of the average Thai person; Geckos crawling on the walls inside and out; Washing dishes and clothes in room temp water; and Hot weather all year long.  The list could go on.  J

God has really given us a heart and a love for the people here in Thailand.  I really like the Brandon Heath song “Give Me Your Eyes”, and that is what I pray daily, that God will give me His heart shaped eyes to see people the way He does.

When we came to Thailand we did not know exactly what the Lord wanted to do through us, but in the two years that we have been here He has used us.  Praise God!  We have helped start two churches.  We opened a Youth Center and where we have Bible studies, games and dinner for youth between the ages of 10 and 18.  I teach Ladies Bible study every week.  I started to teach Ballet and Praise Dance about a month and a half ago, and the girls have danced in two churches and for church gathering of 200 people.  We have taught English at church and at an orphanage. . .

Everyday is a new opportunity for us to reach out, serve and love like Jesus.  We are so humbled that He would use us in this way.

People here ask me about my joy, which is a wonderful segue for me to tell them about Jesus.

When people ask me how I am, I always say “I am blessed!”  This too leads into conversations about the Lord.  Yes, there are potholes in the road of life.  There are challenges and hurts, but I know through everything that I am blessed because the Lord is always with me.  Loving me, and loving through me.  Guiding me, and helping me guide others.  Giving me wisdom, discernment, and encouragement, and helping me to teach and encourage others.    

So with a grateful heart I serve the Lord with my husband, here in Thailand.  I feel blessed and honored to serve the people of Thailand.

Giving all the credit, all the praise and glory and honor where it belongs, to the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings, Jesus, my God and my Savior!

Blessings,

April

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled. . .

This week I was going to teach on John 14, “Let not your heart be troubled. . .”  Hmmm.

So here is how my week went. . .

·         I went to use the washer the other day, and it would not work.  “Let not your heart be troubled.”

·         I got a different power strip, and it melted.  “Let not your heart be troubled.”

·         We went to the Youth Center yesterday, and the door to the building was already open.  I don’t mean unlocked, I mean open.  Not good.  “Let not your heart be troubled.” 

·         I went to wash up a few dishes at the Youth Center, and I had a trickle of water and then no water.  “Let not your heart be troubled.”

·         Then Bill and I loaded up the refrigerator at the Youth Center with drinks for the kids, because we will not have much time when we get back from Chiang Mai next Saturday before Youth Group.  Bill opened the freezer and found that all of the ice cream had melted and turned into soup.  Here we had celebrated that we had a working refrigerator with a decent size freezer so we could store ice cream and not have to buy it every week for each youth.  “Let not your heart be troubled.”

·         Wednesday the owner of the property where we rent the Youth Center building stopped by to tell us that something had blown the electric to the entire complex, and he was not sure when electric would be restored.  Let not your heart be troubled.”

·         We were supposed to have a roof rack and luggage holder installed on the roof of our car, because 7 of us are driving up to Chiang Mai for a week.  That is a 12 hour drive, and although the 7 of us fit comfortably in the car, that does not leave much room for luggage.  But that was not supposed to be a problem, because we had an appointment Wednesday morning at 8:00 to have a roof rack and luggage holder installed.  We dropped off the car at 8:00 and around 9:30 they called to say that they could not do it.  We drove back to the dealer on our scooter and talked to them.  They said that the roof would leak if they put on the roof rack, but that we should not worry because Friday they could get a different kind that would work.  The trouble is that we are to leave Thursday.  So, now 7 of us and our luggage are going to squeeze into our car.  There is very little room behind the third row of seats, so each person is only bringing the bare minimum of necessities.  Ah, the best laid plans. “Let not your heart be troubled.”

·         We got a GPS for the trip and the website is not working that we have to use to authenticate the software in order to use it.  “Let not your heart be troubled.”

·         Now I have a rash on my arm.  “Let not your heart be troubled.”

·         There are other things that I could mention, but let’s just say, I don’t want to go there.  “Let not your heart be troubled.”

I guess the Lord really wants me to “Let not my heart be troubled” no matter what the circumstances.

So, I am trying to live how Jesus wants me too, reminding myself to “Let not my heart be troubled”.  I give all of my trials and challenges to the Lord in full faith, and I truly feel that my heart is not troubled.  And I change my attitude to gratitude.

Thank you Lord!  Thank you for love. . .when I know I don’t deserve it.  Thank you for peace. . .when it seems there shouldn’t be any.  Thank you for joy. . .when it seems impossible.  Thank you for answers. . .when there don’t seem to be any.  Thank you for an untroubled heart. . .when life just seems topsy-turvy.

Thank you Lord that You love me that much.

So my prayer for each of you is that you “Let not your hearts be troubled.”  Truly!

Jesus says in John 14:1  "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me."

Let’s live it, and be blessed!

Blessings,

April

It’s Incredible. . .

I love how the Lord, gives me new understanding of His Word even though I have read it before.  In reading the Bible recently, I found myself looking at some of the scriptures in a whole new way.

In John 13, here was Jesus on His last evening on earth, and it is fascinating to me how He chooses to spend His last evening and with whom.

I mean, to be honest, if I knew that I was going to die tomorrow and that a close friend was going to setup my murder. . .basically, that person would be the last person I would think of spending my last evening with.  Personally, I would seek to surround myself with family and close friends.

But. . .How did Jesus choose to spend His last evening on earth?  He surrounded Himself with His 12 disciples.  Note I did not say 11 disciples.  He did not post a guard, giving them strict instructions not to let Judas in.  In fact His treatment of Judas was just as He had always treated him, with love, caring and compassion.

Even though Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him, He still chose to spend His final evening with all of His disciples.  They ate together, they prayed together and Jesus – the Creator of the world washed the feet of His disciples.  He humbled Himself, and just as lowly servants would do, He washed their feet.  Jesus washed the feet of all of His disciple’s.  He did not skip Judas.  He did not ridicule Judas, or give Him ‘the look’, or tell the other disciples who was going to betray Him.  It’s Incredible!

In fact, when Jesus said that one of them would betray Him, they all looked at each other wondering who it was.  Hmmm, that tells me that Judas acted (at least on the outside) like the other disciples.  Judas had already decided in his heart to betray Jesus, and yet no one could tell from his demeanor that those were his intentions.  The other 11 disciples did not all spin around, pointing and staring accusingly at Judas.  There were no ‘Oh yeah, we knew it was Judas’ comments made.

I wonder how many people are sitting in church pews looking the part, but in their hearts they don’t even know Christ.  God knows our hearts.  He knows whether we have given our lives to Him, or whether it is all about the perception of others and showing up for an hour on Sunday.  My heart hurts thinking about those that don’t know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  For me, there is no greater Joy. . .than knowing and loving Jesus.

As Jesus sat surrounded by His disciples, did He dwell on that fact that He would endure horrible pain, torture, humiliation and death the very next day?  I think many of us would be self-centered had we been in similar circumstances, and yet Jesus shows us that we should humble ourselves and be God centered and other’s-centered no matter what the circumstances.   It’s Incredible!

What a challenge to Christians, to live a life that reflects those same things. . .

Being Humble. . .truly humble, not ‘Hey look at me.  Aren’t I humble?’.  (a.k.a. – not humble.)

Being Servants. . .not looking around to see who will serve us, but us looking around at how we can serve others.  Without fanfare.  Quietly, and with the love of Christ in our hearts, serving others.  Without looking for a ‘pat on the back’ or accolades for a job well done. 

Colossians 3:23-24 "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."

Giving Grace. . .Jesus gave us undeserved Grace.  Can we rise to the challenge and give undeserved grace to the people around us?  To the people that we have decided don’t deserve grace?  Yes!  With Christ in our hearts we can!

Loving one another. . .Giving and showing love to one another, without expecting anything in return.  Jesus loved Judas knowing that he would not thank Him for the years of love, time and devotion that Jesus showed him.  Jesus loved Judas, because God the Father wanted Him too.  Jesus tells us in John 13:34  “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another."  After that commandment there is no ‘but’, there is no ‘except’.  We are to love one another, as Christ loved us.  Period.

It’s Incredible!

John 13:

Vs 1-5 …when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.  During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him,  Jesus… rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.  Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. ...

Vs 14-17 “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.  For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.  Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them...”

Vs 21-22  …Jesus…testified, "Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me."  The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. ...

Vs 34-35  “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

This is just part of the story; I encourage you to read all of John 13.  It’s Incredible!

Blessings,

April