Social distancing and community involvement

April was an interesting month for us all.  Due to  social distancing restrictions, we have limited our activities and spent a lot of our month at home.  This meant finding new ways of doing things, most notably connecting with others.  We tried to find inventive ways to stay connected while staying socially distant and we did this with the help of Zoom.  Zoom was already a familiar tool that we had been using to connect with friends from all over the world.  

This past month we decided to try a few new things over Zoom:
- A virtual dinner with friends
- A kids lego club
- Thai classes (that one was really hard)
- An interview with the Social Welfare Department for our visa 

Thank God for platforms like Zoom. It has been a way to continue to build relationships and connection during social distancing. As great as it is,  we can’t wait until we can get back to meeting face to face so we can feel the rich presence of others. 

At the end of April the quarantine facility we had been helping began winding down operations as cases dropped and the facility was no longer needed.   
Last week we saw things like hair salons, restaurants, and other small shops begin to re-open with social distancing rules still in place. Larger venues, such as shopping malls are expected to open later in May.  
This is welcome news! We do know that it may be some time before things get back to normal again, especially for those who have been and continue to be out of work.  This is why in addition to supporting the quarantine facility we joined with a number of others to help supply food each week to families and individuals in need around our city. 
Thank you for your generous support and prayers and know that we are also praying for you and your families through this season. 
 

Unknowns

When I started writing this update the Covid-19 virus seemed to be isolated to a few countries.  However, as the month progressed it was clear that the world was changing in ways many of us never expected.
This week, Thailand is headed into a month-long lockdown, the full details of which will be released by the Government tomorrow (Thursday, March 26).  It is looking like most travel will be limited in hopes of slowing the spread of the virus, but essential services are expected to remain operational.
As a family, we have decided to stay here in Thailand. We haven’t made this decision lightly, but we have prayed and felt this is the right decision for us. In many ways, this is our home and we feel safe here.   We have friends here and are supplied with what we need right now. 
We have already been able to help those in need. Through the Future Foundation, we have been able to help supply food and essential supplies to those in quarantine.
We join with you, our brothers and sisters in Christ, in praying for the world as we head into unknown territory.  We pray that your families are well and that your trust and faith will be strengthened.

As a final note, we wanted to share this video with you called “King of Creation”  It helps us remember that God is truly in control and this pandemic did not take Him by surprise.
Grace and Peace

The power of thought

"We must thoughtfully take that Word in, dwell upon it, ponder its meaning, explore its implications—especially as it relates to our own lives. We must thoughtfully set it into practice. In doing so, we will be assisted by God’s grace in ways far beyond anything we can understand on our own"(Dallas Willard, A thinking Faith).
 
This quote from Dallas Willard on thinking and the role it plays in the Christian life was part of a message I shared with Abba Church recently. 
 
We all know our thoughts have great power in our lives.  Our thoughts can hold us captive to ideas and habits that are not in line with scripture or they can draw us closer into fellowship with Jesus.   If you are like me you have probably even asked yourself if it’s even possible to change the way we think? 

The answer is a resounding Yes!  God truly wants to be a part of our thought life.  God in all his wisdom has given us direction on how to bring His kingdom into our thought life. 

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing
the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s
will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
(Romans 12:2NLT)

 
Paul challenges us to evaluate the ways the world around us shapes our thoughts and actions.  He then invites us to allow God to transform the very ways in which we think, knowing that this has the power to transform us. But how do we do it?

One way I have learned to do this over the years is to ask myself these three simple questions when I read scripture.  These questions help me to engage with what God is saying in the same way Dallas describes.

Those simple questions are:
 
What does this tell/show me about God?
What does this tell me about myself?
How can I put this into practice in my life?
 
Often, after reading scripture, I will think through these questions as I write down my thoughts.  I will ask the Holy Spirit to help me.  He might give me a little prayer to pray or other insight that I didn’t have before.  This practice has been transformative in my life. It helps me to carry what I have read all day long.  
 
I encourage you to try this little experiment today. Set aside a few minutes to read Ephesians 1:1-12.  After you have read it, take time to ask yourself these three questions and write down what God shows you.  Spend some time thinking about how you can put it into practice in your life. Then begin to thoughtfully put it into practice.   

These simple questions are part of my personal devotions.  I have adapted them from a bible study method called a 3-Thirds group or Discover Bible Study.  It is one of the tools we learned at Jonathan training through Team Expansion and is one of the strategies being used here in Thailand and around the world. 

-Jason

Small details

After graduating from the Nations course, we took a few days to go and visit some of our friends in Mae Sot, where we used to live, and got a reminder from God about how He cares about all the details of our lives, even the small ones!

The day before we left, the A/C in the car died. We knew we could get it fixed in Mae Sot so we decided to enjoy the ‘breeze’ and drive with the windows down. Who needs air conditioning when it is only 95 out? About an hour into the 4-5 hour drive, just as we were hitting the mountains, the car began to overheat. Thankfully we noticed it and were able to pull to the side of the road before we got into the red.  Jason got out and was praying about it and looking in the engine, waiting for the radiator to cool a little, when he felt a nudge from the Holy Spirit to check the A/C wires. They looked ok, but he gave them a jiggle anyway.
As he was checking the radiator fluid reservoir, (it was empty), a transport truck driver pulled over to lend us a hand. He told us he had been driving trucks for 10 years and loved to stop and help people.  We sure were glad for that!  He slowly opened the radiator and then began to flush and clean the entire system with about 10 gallons of water from his truck. He found a small crack in one of the hoses but told us we would be ok to wait until Mae Sot to get it fixed. He topped off the system, provided us with a few extra bottles of water just in case, and sent us on our way.
And wouldn’t you know it, the jiggling of the A/C wires fixed the air conditioning in the car and is still working now!  The hose got replaced in Mae Sot and we’ve not had any more issues. We had the opportunity to be discouraged that the car overheated, but instead chose to thank God for using it to help us fix the A/C.

Our first month back

Friends! Wow, we have been back in Thailand for one whole month already, and the time sure has flown by!

After 27 hours of travel (23 hours actually flying) we were so blessed to be picked up by friends at the airport and then stay at another friend's house while we looked for a place of our own. A friend borrowed our car while we were in the US so it was great to have transportation right when we got back also. 

We started a 6-week Nations course just a few days after arriving back and have really been enjoying it. Having served in Thailand for a number of years now, we are very thankful to have the opportunity to attend this course after our time in America.  We have covered subjects like Anthropology, Missionary Life, Interpersonal Relationships, Cross-Cultural Communications and a host of other very relevant topics.  The course is bringing some structure to our experience in Thailand and is helping to propel us into this next season of ministry.  Once completed, we will begin our language learning to bring our proficiency to ministry level. 

The kids are all doing really well and have been adjusting back to their life here. While many of their friends are in the US for the summer, some of them are here and it's been fun for them to reconnect and catch up. We were all really excited to get back to our church here and look forward to starting to serve there as well. 

After a year of transitional living and traveling a lot, we were all ready to settle for a bit. We looked at quite a few houses, but finally settled on one about 2 weeks ago. We started moving in right away and had our things that we had been storing here delivered on the day we signed the lease. The excitement as the kids saw their beds, instruments, photos and legos was overwhelming...they were so happy to be 'home'.  Our new home came with an empty outdoor kitchen and an indoor kitchen with only a sink. Thankfully, Jason is handy and is working hard to build us a kitchen.  Unfortunately, after moving in we realized there is a bat infestation in the attic, so we are hoping to evict the 70+ bats as soon as we can because they leave quite a lot of poop that we need to sweep up every day!

Back to the airport

At the beginning of May, we left the house that Compassion Christian had so generously provided for us in Georgia and traveled to visit partners in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and Mass, and a few other states. The trip was long, more than 2,000 miles of driving!  But we have made our financial goal.  Praise God.  Thank you all for your faithfulness and generosity!
  
At the end of May, we had our pre-departure interview with Team Expansion and got the approval to purchase our airline tickets.  We fly out tomorrow (June 10) evening from Dulles airport in Virginia.  

At the beginning of May, I(Jason) flew to Colorado to be a part of a retreat hosted by some great folks at Ransomed Heart Ministries.  It was a four-day intensive retreat directed at men in their 30's and 40's who desire a deeper, closer walk with God. It is designed for men who have suffered enough to know they don’t have all the answers. Men who would give a great deal to sit at the feet of older, wiser men who have walked with God for decades more and have gained some wisdom along the way.   When I registered for the event in November I had no idea the retreat would fall at such a busy time, but it was a refreshing time in the middle of a busy season and it helped to prepare my heart for what God has ahead as we prepare to fly back to Thailand.  

Our bags are packed and we are getting ready to fly  to Thailand tomorrow, Monday, June 10th.  Kerri and I are excited to get back to a people that God has put on our hearts. The kids are excited to be getting back to friends and a few other things.  

Faith (12) is excited to get back to all her friends and Thai food.

Rylan (11) is excited to get back to friends, collecting interesting bugs and his drums.

Addison (9) is excited to get back to friends, bringing bugs in the house and his longboard.

Eaden (8) is excited to get back to her friends, church and her guitar.

An update

It’s been a while since we have written. A lot has been going on so we thought we would update you on some of the things!

Fundraising Update
One of our main focus for the month of April has been securing our funding for the next season of ministry in Thailand.  The great news is that we are almost there. Thank you to all of our financial partners!  We only need 10 more monthly financial partners who will commit to giving between $50-$100 monthly.  Once we have these commitments we will be able to leave for Thailand.

Church Multiplication Training in Savannah
In April we had a wonderful opportunity to be a part of a 3 day Church Multiplication training in Savannah.  The training was led by our new field coordinator David Dale and hosted by our sending church, Compassion Christian.  David has over 16 years of experience working with churches across South East Asia and we were able to learn from his experiences.  One of the most valuable things we learned was how to present the gospel message in ways that break down cultural barriers and also simple strategies for training others to do the same. What we learned in this training will be extremely valuable as we step back into ministry in Thailand.  

Looking Forward
When we get to Thailand our first action will be to take a 6-week full-time training course called the Nation’s Course which is offered by Word Outreach International.  This course is a part of our required Team Expansion training program.  Over the past 40 years, Team Expansion has seen courses like this greatly improve the long term success of cross-cultural workers and their families. We feel this course will help bring some structure to the many things we have learned in Thailand over the past 5 years.  The great news is that this course is being offered in Chiang Mai, the same city we are moving to!  In addition, friends in Chiang Mai have generously offered us the use of their home,  giving us time to look for a new home over the summer.  The timing of this is amazing, Praise God!

Our family is doing well. The kids are excited and ready to get back to Thailand.  They have really enjoyed their time in America connecting with old friends and making new ones. They are so thankful for technology that will allow them to stay connected.  Thank you to all of our friends and family for making our home assignment a success. We are all ready to get back to Thailand and continue to bring God’s life and hope to people.  We feel privileged to have a part in expanding God’s kingdom and through your support, YOU also have a part! We could not do this without the faithful support of our committed financial partners. Thank you to all of our current, new and future financial partners.

When home isn't

I wrote this at the beginning of our time here but didn’t publish it right away, I wanted to think about it more.

We’ve been back in the US for almost 3 weeks and two of the most common things we hear are, “Welcome home” and “How does it feel to be home?”. I don’t always have a response ready because I’m not really sure I am home.

They say that home is where the heart is. If that’s the case, then my home is scattered across the world because pieces of my heart have been loved and left all across the globe.
Growing up in a small town in Massachusetts, I knew that I would never settle there. Something in my heart burned for adventure and seeing all the beautiful landscapes and people of the world. God breathed it into me and I never resisted. I have traveled and explored and have still never really ‘settled’, yet I feel like I have experienced home more than once.
I have lived in 7 states, travelled to 48 states and more than 10 countries. In our almost 13 years of marriage we have lived in more than 10 houses, including Big Blue and most of them have felt like home (at least while we were there). The longest I have ever lived in a house since moving from my childhood one is 3 years.
When I think of home I think of love. I think of cherished memories. I think of it as the place I am with those I love the most on this earth.I don’t think of it as a birth country or the structural building, or in some cases the place on wheels, but rather the memories and growth and fostering of relationships that happens.
For our family, we have had the joy of experiencing home in multiple states and also in another country. For some of our children, they wouldn’t even consider a place in the US to be their home. In their mind, home is where most people don’t speak English, you can fit 5 people on a motorbike, eat exotic fruits at the markets and go to a friend’s house in the village for rat curry.
We are back in the US for an extended period this year and we have loved getting back into Big Blue and settling in. We’ll be traveling the East Coast through the next few months, visiting friends and family and enjoying the places we once called home. We’ll reminisce and make new memories. We’ll love and be loved. We’ll share our hearts with those we love here, while at the same time missing our friends and family in our home overseas.
So, if you ask me what it’s like to be home, or tell me welcome home and I give you a blank stare, or stumble through a reply, my apologies. I will tell you I’m happy to be here, I’m just not sure here is home.
I don’t always know where my next home will be, but I always know that my eternal home is not here. My eternal home is with the Father, and it is there that I will finally feel what it is like to be truly home. For now, I will enjoy the journey and thank God for the opportunity to experience home in so many wonderful places with so many amazing people.

20 tiny toes

In January, a week after we moved, our house was still filled with half unpacked boxes. We didn’t have all the furniture we needed. I hadn’t been grocery shopping to stock our fridge yet. We didn’t really know anyone here yet. Our house was still in need of repairs and there were areas that needed a serious deep cleaning. But, after receiving one brief phone call, none of that seemed to matter anymore...
       A 10 month old baby girl had just been rescued and needed a place to stay. The children’s home we are currently partnering with didn’t have space available for her and they wanted to know if we could take her into our home. Into our family. Our whole family prayed and all unanimously said absolutely.   Three hours later I was driving to pick her up.
      When she came to stay with us she was extremely lethargic, sleeping about 20 hours a day.  Because I was the one who picked her up she immediately latched onto me. I became her safety. I had to hold her all day and she slept on me at night.  I couldn’t even just sit next to her on the floor…she had to be sitting in my lap. She wouldn’t even hardly move, she just wanted to be held and to sleep. She wouldn’t eat and was having a really hard time with her digestive system.  We prayed over her and started her on formula and baby food. It took a few days but she started eating and drinking. We loved on her and cried with her and prayed more. Finally, we got her system cleaned out and she began to get life back in her eyes. Every once in a while she would even crack a little smile.
      She only stayed with us for about 3 weeks, but the girl who left was much different than the girl who came.  By the time she left, she was literally running through our house screaming and laughing with the kids.  She let them love her and she would snuggle them on the couch and one day she made Faith’s day by falling asleep on her.  We saw how the love of God through us could literally bring her back to life.
     Saying goodbye was hard. She cried. We cried. But we knew we loved her the best we could and that’s all that God asked of us. Through the whole process we talked to our kids about how hard it is sometimes to love. Sometimes those you love don’t love you back. Love anyway. Sometimes it hurts to love and let go. Love anyway. Sometimes God asks us to love big and it might hurt a little. Love big anyway. The day she left, Addison looked at me and said, “Mom, that was so hard saying goodbye to her. I don’t think I ever want to do that again. But, you know what mom, I would do it again if another baby needed us. I know that God will help our hearts”.  We still look at her pictures and tear up. We pray for her and smile when we think about the girl who taught us to fully trust God and love with our whole hearts. She was a miracle in our lives when we needed it.
     We are so thankful our kids had the revelation that even though it might be hard, it is so worth it.  We finally got a good routine down in our lives here. Homeschooling was going smoothly, the kids joined a singing class, the girls started a 6 month ballet class and Faith and Rylan started taking music lessons.  Jason had a good rhythm at work and we started making friends in the community.
    Two weeks ago we got another phone call. This time there were 2 babies that needed a safe, loving home. Again, we all prayed and the kids were the fastest to say yes. Jason and I had a lot to pray about and consider, but we both also felt we were supposed to say yes.  We made a quick 2 day trip to Chiang Mai (about 5 hours away) to buy some baby beds, and get a few things from our friends there who were blessing us with baby supplies. We stocked up on diapers, formula, wipes, baby bottles, and a few clothes because we knew they would come to us with nothing.
    We’re writing this to you now with 2 sweet babies sleeping in our home.  We’ve been blessed with 20 extra little toes for about 10 days now. Sweet baby boy is 1 month old and sleeps and eats like a champion. He is so cute and loves to be snuggled….to the delight of all of our children!  Sweet baby girl is 3 months old, but she looks more like a newborn. We were able to find out she was born weighing only 1.3 kilos and today she only weighs 3.7 kilos. Because we don’t know any of her medical history, or how early she was born we are left wondering about some things. She has a few medical issues and she struggles to eat and cries a lot…well, more like screams a lot. We have prayed over her daily and taken her to the doctor to get checked and we are starting to see minor improvements in her. She is slowly eating just a little bit more and just last night she slept for more than 1.5 hours so we call that a victory.
     Life in our house is a little bit chaotic right now, but there is also peace. We have peace in knowing this is what God asked us to do. We have peace watching our kids really step out and love these babies, even though we don’t know how long they will live with us. We have peace that God will sustain us through the sleepless nights. We have peace that God will provide the extra funds we need to care for these babies. We have peace that these two sweet babies are being loved and given a chance at life. 
     Even though we are both exhausted, we wouldn’t change our decision. We have seen our kids light up and really take pride in helping to care for the babies. Every time they run by, they stop to give a kiss or just get a little snuggle. Schoolwork still gets done, but somedays it takes longer than normal.  The dishes usually get done every day and I have even managed to cook a few meals. We don’t know how long we are blessed to love these babies in our home, but we know that God’s grace will cover us for it. His grace will cover us as we care for them and as we one day say goodbye to them. For now, though, we will enjoy our baby snuggles and thank God for allowing us the opportunity to love more of His children back to life.
    If you think of us, please pray for peace in the baby’s bodies. Peace to sleep well and also that sweet baby girl would begin eating more. Please pray for our kids to keep loving these babies well and for peace in their hearts when the time comes for us to say goodbye. Pray that our family would continue to be united and grow closer together as we love these babies. We love and appreciate you all so much.
    Because we want to protect the children we are loving, we won’t be sharing pictures of their faces or giving many details about their history. I realize this can be frustrating for some people, but we need to make sure to protect their stories for them and in some cases their identities need to be concealed. We hope you will understand!  Whenever we are able to share a picture we will make sure we do!
    If you would like to commit to praying for us and these babies, just send us a quick email to let us know!  Diapers, formula and baby items are more expensive here and often hard to find so please be praying for us.

What have the Kealey's been up to?

Hello friends!  It has been non-stop since we moved here in January. We love our new place and have been enjoying finding our way around our new little town. We wanted to just give you a quick update on a few things we have been doing. Thank you all for your love, support and encouragement through our transition process! We love you all and are so blessed to have you joining our journey. 

Hong Kong Visa Trip-  In January, after we finished at ZOE, our family had to leave Thailand in order to apply for a new Visa for our work on the border.  After speaking with many others who had done it before us, we decided to go and apply in Hong Kong. We spent about 3 days in Hong Kong and really enjoyed wandering around the city and eating the local foods.
While there, we really saw God working on our behalf.....after having to run to the copy shop a few times to make extra copies of paperwork they decided they needed last minute, we turned in our application with 5 minutes to spare for that day, and, we were able to pick up our new Visa the next day! Praise God.  He also worked out an amazing deal for our hotel accommodations and we were able to actually all stay in the same room (as opposed to the two rooms we normally need) at the Noah’s Ark Resort for an incredible deal. Noah's Ark resort is a replica of Noah's Ark and had a discovery center for our kids to play at. We told our friends the deal we got and they couldn’t believe it because when they went to look for the same room it was more than double what we paid for it! Overall, our time in Hong Kong was a great way for our family to process the emotions we felt at saying goodbye to our ZOE family and looking forward to all that God has in store for us on the border.

Our house
            Our house had been empty of people for a while when we moved in, so we were welcomed by many ants, birds in the bathroom windows and pigeon nests on our roof. We even had a frog living in our bathroom drain that took about 3 months to get out…he would pop his head up to say hello but wouldn’t come out far enough for us to grab him.
            Since moving into our house we have seen God bless us abundantly with the house He provided for us to rent…we have hosted visiting teams for dinner and to hang out, we have had someone stay with us for a few weeks, we’ve enjoyed movie nights with friends and every Sunday we open our house to host a house church, which has been amazing. Through this process we have seen our children take ownership of so many things and begin to trust God even more with the plans He has for them.

Language study- Learning Thai is hard. Like really hard at some points. Unless you are our kids….then it seems to be easy. We are all in the same reading/writing class and there are multiple times during the class that we need to ask them to slow down a little because we can’t keep up with their speed, and they think it is so funny they can read better than their mom and dad. Learning to read and write is helping us to get the correct tone when we speak and it helps us to order food at the market when there is no English! We are studying together 2 times a week and the kids are joining other Thai and Burmese kids for tutoring 1-2 times a week. During some of the tutoring sessions, our kids have been asked to help teach the English portions, which they loved!

Just so you can understand some of our difficulty, watch this quick video for a 1 minute Thai lesson....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp1CLJmUxGc

Do you have a better understanding of some of our difficulty? We will test you on these words when we see you next, haha. 

World Changers Youth Camp - Our whole family was blessed with the opportunity to be be involved with a youth camp for about 300 teens in a village about an hour from our house. The youth came from different villages in the area as well as from a few different children's homes. It was incredible to be a part of their services and worship God under the stars at night with them.  Jason shared at one of their night services, challenging them to not get complacent with what God was speaking to them during their time at camp, but to write it down and take it back to their villages and schools. The kids helped us teach an English workshop for the 3 days of the camp as well....each workshop was 3 hours and our kids did an amazing job of helping keep the teens engaged in the lessons and games. We look forward to helping with more camps in the future. 

Discipleship-  Jason is beginning a  discipleship class with many of the Thai and Burmese staff that are working at Life Impact. Many of them come from Christian villages, and grew up hearing about God, but they don’t always have a solid understanding of the Bible or have a realization of who God created them to be. He is working with many of them on a daily basis, but some of them he only sees about once a week.  By equipping and empowering the locals, we believe they can go out into their communities and begin to see even more lives transformed by the power of the Gospel. 
            In May, Kerri will be helping to lead a weekly Bible study with the house mothers of Life Impact. They all have a desire to study the Word more but they have said they don’t really know how to do that and they have asked for help. For 3 weeks a month we will do Bible study and one week they will come to our house to fellowship, play games, cook, watch movies or just relax and enjoy a few hours outside of their house!
           
Counseling training- A few of the teams that have visited this year have had counselors or social workers from America so they have conducted multiple trainings which Kerri has been able to be a part of. As part of our work  here, Kerri will be helping Life Impact by being a case manager for all the children. This will involve scheduling counseling appointments, following up with children to find out any needs or concerns they have, attending training sessions to be able to better equip the house-parents in their roles, and assisting in bi-weekly training of all new and current house parents.


Movie nights- We recently hosted a movie night to watch Hidden Figures with some of our missionary friends here as well as a few of our Thai friends. It was a great opportunity to fellowship and our Thai friends enjoyed the English practice. If you haven’t yet seen the movie, we recommend it!  We’ll be hosting many of the families from Life Impact at our house for movie nights throughout the year as well as hosting game and movie nights for some of our local neighbors.

We took a Muay Thai class together as a family. It was a lot of fun but it was really hard work! 

May God bless you abundantly this week!!