New Baptisms

More that we could ask or think... 

The day before our June service we were trying to get an idea of how many people were planning to get baptized.  We thought that there were about 6 people who said that they were ready and a number of people who said they were close but not 100 % yet.   If we are being honest, we were very excited that even 6 people wanted to take that step! In Thailand, baptism is a huge step, and it usually takes some time before people  feel ready to take this step.    So, the night before the service we went to the store and purchased 10 towels.  We got a few extras just in case some people changed their minds. Little did we know God had much bigger plans!

On the day of the service, after sharing a meal together, reading the Word and sharing testimonies of God's work in our lives, we shared about baptism and why it is an important step in our walk with God.  Then we were ready to try out our newly donated baptismal tank. And that's when we were blown away at God's goodness.  We quickly ran out of towels.  When it was all over, 17 people were baptized. 

God had truly done above and beyond what we thought was possible.  What a testimony to the faithfulness of our God.  His heart is so big, and He wants everyone to be a part of His family.

What's really amazing is that these are first-generation Christians.  They are part of theNorthern Thai people groupwhich is has only 0.03% Evangelical Christians.  These are the first people in their families to hear about the Gospel and put their trust in Jesus.  There has never been a church in their village. Until now!  

Since Christmas, God has really moved in our Chiang Mai and Lampang communities. We thought it was amazing at Christmas when 3 people decided to be baptized but this month we were overwhelmed with joy when 17 more people decided to be baptized. Since Christmas 20 people have chosen to be baptized. 

Among those getting baptized was a man named Som. He was in a terrible accident over 25 years ago and has been bed ridden ever since. He said that a Christian visited him over 20 years ago, told him about Jesus, prayed with him and then never came back. For the last 20 years he has been trying to learn what he can about Jesus. When we started visiting with him a few months ago and bringing him food, and praying with him he couldn't believe it. He was so excited to finally meet more Christians and learn more about Jesus. We gave him an audio bible a few months ago and have been visiting with him, encouraging him and praying with him since. We were so excited to have him at the service and baptize him right there in his motorized bed! He was so full of joy and wants to let everyone know about God's love!

Please continue to pray for us and our team as we continue to disciple these people, and more.  Just today we had another lady say she is ready to be baptized now.  We thank God for the opportunity to serve these people and shine God's light here. 

Enjoy the pictures below they are so full of joy, life and laughter.  

We are so thankful for you and so expectant for God to continue moving here.

Food outreach

In the month of December, we were able to start a new project that has been on our hearts for some months.   We saw a need in one of the communities where God has been moving. There are a number of families that are in need of food and so along with the help of a local partner P Baang we selected 15 families to come along side and provide a monthly food package.  The package includes essentials like rice, eggs, cooking sauces, fish and cooking oil.  

A few of the families we are helping are new Christians, but the majority are not. But, what they all have in common is that they are in need.  Some are older, some are parents raising grandchildren, some are sick, have cancer or cannot walk.  Many of them have been shunned or rejected because of their conditions.  

What we want them to know is that they matter to God and to us.  Not only does this project give us the opportunity to meet an immediate physical need but more than that it gives us a chance to speak hope into hopeless situations.  When we visit these families we have the opportunity to pray for them and share the reason behind our generosity. 

A few days after we delivered our first set of food packages P Baang was making follow up visits and one of the ladies asked her,  with tears, why we do something so kind for someone we don’t know.  P Baang proceeded to share how her faith in Jesus has brought hope and joy to her life.    

We are excited to see how God will move in this community in the coming year as we continue to partner with these families.   

Prayer changes things

One of the best parts of the last month has been meeting with a group of new believers.  This group came to faith in Jesus this month through one of our friends and local partner, Baang.  Last month she was going through some stressful things so we took her to a local retreat center and spent about an hour going through the prayer labyrinth together. She had never done anything like that and was so encouraged that she went home and started walking through her community to encourage neighbors. 

While she was walking she saw two ladies and felt led to stop and pray for them in the name of Jesus.  They both immediately felt better, and the next day said to Baang "what did you do? We haven't slept that good in 30 years!".  Bang shared the Gospel with them, and they were hungry to learn more.  Each week Baang and I have been reading the Bible, praying and sharing God's story with these ladies for the first time ever. One week we watched the Jesus film in their native language (Northern Thai), and they were brought to tears when they saw all that Jesus had done for them.  God is so good.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Our hope is that as you are reading this you and your family are well. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

This past year has been a very full year for our family as we have experienced many joys but also have walked through some very trying times, as we know many of you have too.  We are continually amazed by the prayers and support we receive from the community of people God has surrounded us with.

As 2021 draws to a close we look forward to another great year of serving in Thailand.  We almost can’t believe it but 2022 will be our 8th year of serving in Thailand.  Over the last few years we have been able to partner with local churches and church leaders working together on many projects.  Our partnerships have given us many great opportunities to help support the growth of the Gospel in Thailand and 2022 is looking to be even more exciting.    

In 2022 we will continue to develop our existing projects but we will also be taking over leadership of a loan fund which was originally established to help kingdom focused people start and run their own business.  This is the kind of opportunity we have prayed about for years, we love the idea of using business to help grow God’s kingdom in Thailand.   

After 3 years of being back in Thailand our family is hoping(Covid dependent) to make a trip to America in the late spring for our home assignment term.  Home assignment is a 3-6 month term for our family to visit with family and friends in North America, participate in trainings and also provides us time to update and connect with individuals and churches who have partnered with us and thank them for helping us to spread the Gospel.  Our kids would also tell you it's a time for them to eat Chick-fil-A

Pray for Myanmar (Burma)

This month we wanted to bring to your attention the recent events in our neighboring country of Myanmar. Before we moved to Thailand we knew very little about Myanmar but over the years this country has become close to our hearts.  We have a number of friends who grew up there, some who still live there as well as a number of missionary friends who work there. A few years ago we lived just 3 miles from the Thai-Burma boarder where we had some foster children from Burma live with us for a season.

 It breaks our hearts to see the events of the past few months. It is just awful!  The country has been working towards building a new democracy with free and fair elections for the past 10 years.  Then, at midnight on the day before they were to take office, the top government officials of the newly elected government were arrested and detained by the military. Again.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened in Myanmar.  In 1947 the top government leaders  were assassinated just as a newly independent government was forming.  Leading to decades of military control and civil war.   Right as it looked like things were changing and there was hope for the future...this happens.

Since the arrests on 01 February 2021, peaceful protestors have taken to the streets all over the country.  What has been the response of the military?  Violence.  Men, women and children, are being shot in the streets and sometimes in their own homes.

Unlawful arrests are in the thousands and once again refugees are fleeing the country.

Air-raids have begun. The military is bombing all across the country.  On Easter a friend wrote that their Easter service was cut short because of aircraft overhead, fearing they would be bombed they fled. Thankfully they weren't, This time.

This is unbelievable. But it is happening and right next door to us.

We—as a world—are too good at looking back to see that we should have done something. But we want to be  part of doing something now. And right now, for us, that means bringing awareness of what is going on right across our border and also giving financial and tangible aid where we can to those in need in Myanmar. We can't look away.

So you might be asking what can you do?

Well, friends, we can pray!  We can we be faithful people who pray against violence in every land, even our own.

Please join with us as we pray specifically for the nation of Myanmar: 
- pray that there would be peace
- that the taking of innocent lives would stop
- pray that the church in Myanmar would grow

2020 Reflections

Over the last few weeks we have been able to reflect back, as we are sure many of you have, on our last year. 2020 was a different kind of year for everyone. There were moments that challenged all of us as we faced the unknowns of a global pandemic. There were moments of feeling isolated from friends, family and community. Time seemed to go by ever so slowly, while at the same time passing at the speed of light. World wide travel essentially came to a halt and all of a sudden the world felt a little bit smaller. And, on top of all that was going on throughout the world, the division in the US continued to increase and we watched and prayed from a distance as there was, and still is, violence and unrest in our passport country.  We continue to pray. We continue to hope for healing in our nation.

But, through all of that, God was, and still is, on the throne. He still continues to show us grace when we don’t deserve it. He still loves us even when the world may tell us we are unlovable. He extends His hand of forgiveness when we have made the same mistake over and over again. He loves unconditionally.
As we have thought about all of these and tried to process them, we also take time to show our extreme gratitude for the ways in which God has worked through this last year.  We are humbled to be a part of working for His kingdom here in Thailand.

During lockdown we were able to get to know many of our neighbors because they were usually gone long hours for work. The friendships we were able to start when we were all staying home have continued to grow.  
 
Throughout the lockdown we were able to ensure that families in need were able to eat. We helped establish a restaurant that has provided income to help support projects that will sustain families. Frog farms were started that will not only generate extra income, but will also provide food for families who need it. Through our partnership with Pastor Wep, and your generous help, pig farms and fish farms will also be providing extra income and food for families. The Christmas Outreach with Abba Church was a great success and it has truly been a joy to see Pastor Wep love and care for his church. We look forward to being a part of it growing even more this year.

As we look forward to this year, we are filled with hope and expectancy. There are still so many unknowns throughout the world, but what we do know is we have the answer for the peace that so many are looking for. Over the last few months God has been strategically bringing us together with others who have the same vision for Thailand, and as we partner with them, we are expectant to see lives changed and hearts receive the message of the Gospels.

Thank you for being a part of this journey and the work that God is doing here. Your prayers, words of encouragement and financial support are making a lasting impact. We bless you and your families!

Christmas already

Christmas seems to have come faster than ever this year. Well actually, this whole year has had moments that seem to have flown by, and then times that have made this feel like the longest year ever.

With all that has happened this year my heart was touched deeply by an advent devotional that  I(Jason) read the other day. Written by Alfred Delp, a Jesuit priest in a Nazi prison shortly before he was executed in 1945.  Though his words were written more than 70 years ago they feel like they could have been written yesterday.

He highlights how world events can shake us to our core but he challenges us to take that shaking and allow it to move us deeper into the reality of God's kingdom.
 

"We need people who are moved by the horrific calamities and emerge from them with the knowledge that those who look to the Lord will be preserved by him, even if they are hounded from the earth."

For us, this has been a year in which we have been challenged to examen and re-examen where our deepest trust is placed. Is our trust in things we can control or, in a God who controls all things.  On the surface, this question sounds simple. Sure, we trust God.  But, placed in the context of the events of this year, I see that God is leading us into a deeper trust of who He his.  A stripping away of trust in unstable things and turning to the One who controls all things.

And that is the Joy of the Advent season.  It is a  celebration of God coming to us and dwelling among us. It is the joy of God working in our lives to draw us closer and deeper to Him so that we will be rooted and grounded in the reality of His kingdom. There we will be filled with true joy that cannot be stolen from us no matter what the world brings our way.

So this advent season, in the midst of all that is happening in the world, we pray blessings over you and your families. We pray that God would reveal Himself to you in new and greater ways.
As we pray for His word to take root and grow here in Thailand, we also pray His roots would grow deep and grow in your homes, workplaces and communities.

If you have a few minutes you can read all of Alfred Delp's devotional and see what God brings up for you.

The Lord will provide

This month, as part of my(Jason) birthday present from the family, I was able to take a motorbike trip with some friends for a few days. Winding mountain roads, trees all around, wind, sun and the quiet space of my helmet help to refresh my soul.
 After spending weeks planning the trip, a few days before we were scheduled to leave we had to rearrange our route to accommodate one of the guys coming. My initial reaction was one of frustration, partly because we had already made plans to stop in and visit one of my Thai friends who had moved back to his village last year to start a church. This change in the plan would have us arriving in his village on a different day, and I didn’t know if it would still work for him. Looking back, I should have been more accepting of this change, realizing that maybe God was working Himself into our trip in a special way.
On the last night of the trip, we made it to my friends village and settled in to enjoy the evening with him. After he cooked us dinner, in the quiet of the village, under the star studded sky looking up at the cross on his roof, we worshiped our Creator together.  All of our cultures and languages were unified as we sat in awe of how good God is.
Sitting around talking after that, we found out that he had a church planting meeting the next morning to attend. It was now 12 hours before the meeting was to start and he didn’t know how he was going to get there. It was an hour and a half away. I’m sure you can guess what happened next. We looked on the map and saw that his meeting was right on our way back to Chiang Mai.
So, early the next morning, we ate apple fried rice together, and then he climbed on the back of my motorbike so we could take him to his meeting. As we were riding, I couldn’t help but be amazed at how God had worked this out. A change of plans that at first had me frustrated, ended in me once again being in awe of how much God cares about us and works things for our good.  It was just another reminder to keep my trust in Him and Him alone.
When we set out on our ride I knew it would be refreshing and fun, but it ended up being so much more. It ended up being an invitation to be encouraged, and to rest in God’s love and care. To trust Him and to seek Him first.  But, isn’t that just how God likes to work?!
Is there an area of your life that God is inviting you to rest in His love and care, and trust that He has you?

Kerri's Reflections

I’m sad that because of Covid I couldn’t go and say goodbye. I know he would tell me it’s ok and he would probably tell the kids to go eat a bug for him!

He wasn’t always excited about my adventurous spirit or my choices that took me far from home, but he told me he knew that it was good for me and he supported my decisions. Even when he didn’t understand them.

On a warm day he could be seen wearing a hanes tshirt and blue jeans. When it was cooler than 85 he would have a hanes sweatshirt over his tshirt.  He’s also been known to own a plethora of flannels as well.  I’ve never known him to not own a pair of work boots.

As a kid I always loved going with him to return the cans and bottles for recycling because he would buy me a gatorade with the money he made.

Growing up, he always had a “special” way of fixing things around the house. He saved everything and always found a use for it. Even our tights and nylons that had holes in them were put to good use. Jason and I affectionately refer to his projects and fixes as “Bill Greenan specials”, and wherever we are in the world we always find someone else who fixes things in a similar way and they put a smile on our faces. I imagine they will keep giving us smiles for years to come.

One of his favorite snacks was Cheez-its and skippy peanut butter. If you’ve never tried it, you should. It’s so good. He loved being a Papa and introducing all his grandkids to this snack.

He loved to sit outside and listen to the Red Sox on his old radio and grill a hotdog over a fire. It took a long time, but he finally learned that he was the only one in the family who liked grilled meat to be charred and overly well done.

He was born on a leap year and loved counting his age in leap years. This year he turned 18, finally a legal adult!

I’m thankful for the time I had with him as my dad but wish that I had more time to ask questions and hear more of his story. He was a man of few words, but he could certainly tell some corny jokes.

Family update

At the beginning of the year, we had decided that this would be the year we started scheduling some rest for our family. We have never taken a vacation in Thailand and when we are back in the US we always somehow find a way to turn every trip into a work trip. But the kids are growing at an alarmingly fast rate and we decided to make a change and schedule it. Thailand is still closed to tourists, which means the government has been promoting domestic tourism, so we decided to take advantage of the deal before the country opens up again in the future. 

We drove 20 hours to get to the beach and see the breathtaking beauty of God’s creation. We lived in Hawaii for 3 years, and thought there couldn’t be anything more beautiful. Until we were here. And I’m sure there are more beautiful beaches in the world, but so far these beaches in Thailand have become our favorite. And it was only one of the many beaches!

When we planned the trip, we didn’t know the timing would not be ideal. The day before we left for our trip, Kerri’s dad underwent lung surgery to remove a tumor. He told us he was so happy we were finally taking a vacation. The surgery went great, and with minimal oxygen he was able to breathe on his own. Unfortunately, over the next few days, he started having heart trouble, was put in a medically induced coma and then began having seizures and strokes that ultimately led to his passing away. On our second day at the beach, Kerri lost her dad and the kids lost their Papa.

At first, we had an immense sense of guilt for being on vacation while this was going on. And even though there was nothing we could do aside from praying (which truly makes a difference!), it still wasn’t easy. But also, in some ways, we were thankful to be at the beach during that time, looking out at the beautiful, majestic sea. For us, to look out into the ocean is to experience the goodness, nearness and bigness of God. We can’t help but be in awe and wonder of how the same God who created that also cares deeply about us. He knows our name. He calls us His. He holds us in our joy and He holds us in our pain.

 As we looked out into the sea, we felt God’s presence and knew He was near. He was near us when we couldn’t be near family. He was near us when we had questions and He was near us when we cried out.  And the beautiful thing is, even though we are back home now, 20 hours from that beach, He is still with us. He is still holding us and He is still near.

And so, even though our vacation wasn’t the rest we were hoping for, and July didn’t turn out to be the month we had planned, we still trust. We trust that the rest we did get will sustain us. We trust that we will carry the beauty of creation in our hearts and remember how He loves us. We still walk forward in trust that we made the right decision to stay here during Covid…even though it meant not being able to travel back to the US to be with family. We still trust that God is good. We still trust that God is able. We still trust that God holds our hearts. And we still trust that God is near.

In what ways have you felt the nearness and closeness of God? Have you been able to draw close to Him during this Covid time or has that been difficult for you? We would encourage you to take some time and just be with Him. Remember and reflect on the times you felt Him near and thank Him for those. If you can unplug and get in nature, even for a few minutes, we would encourage you to do so. Listen to the birds, feel the light breeze, look up at the wonder of all the stars. As you do, our prayer is that you will again feel His nearness and remember His great joy in you!

As we honor Kerri’s dads life life from this side of the world, we would just ask for your prayers of comfort for our family as well as Kerri’s mom. We also know that the reality of his passing may not fully present itself to us until we make our first trip back to the US and he isn’t there grilling steak tips and getting Big Blue ready for us.