With the graduation from our L+C phase, we are now beginning official ministries. Life has changed its pace and the years of preparation are proving their worth.
Our Language + Culture phase has been finished for about three months and we are continuing to prepare ministries. During the last few months I have been to a conference, spent many hours painting and decorating the base, and spent time in prayer as we seek out what God desires for us. Though we all know our vision and values, and we have our two main ministries decided (Outreach Teams Ministry (OTM) and DTS), we have yet to decide what other ministries will be officially part of our base. After two years of dreaming and hoping, we have plenty of good ideas! But the enemy of best is good, and we truly want God's best.
This season is certainly one of victory. By the Lord's great power we have beaten the statistics that many of us would leave. We have all remained, and even grown here in Trang. Additionally, we have good relationships with the people around us. We can communicate in another language to those in our communities, and can even translate basic concepts into both English and Thai. It's been a long road here, and an even longer one ahead, but without this foundation we would be unable to effectively minister here. Yet through God's grace, we will see the people in Trang go out and make disciples among the remaining neediest red. We have seen much victory, and in time we will see even greater than these.
Middle East Outreach!
As I've said in the past, we are going to the Middle East for an outreach! We officially have dates, leaving on the 11th of February. Our locations have been decided and we are now in the budgeting and planning phase of our outreach. We will be going to two countries and four locations. We are very excited also that Braden will be joining the team! That makes us a team of four adults and two children. The projected budget for our trip is around 2,800 USD. Please pray for God to provide for our team. Each one of us has yet to begin the support raising process, and as such we all need to raise that full amount.
This trip is especially exciting for me. In the first few weeks of my DTS God had begun to speak to me about being a long term missionary. I had known my life was to be about missions, but I had yet to imagine that I would be living over seas. Naturally, after God had begun to speak about being long term, I prayed about where I was to live. It only took one time praying in front of a map for the Middle East to be highlighted to me. My heart broke for those living under the tight reign of Islam. Those who had portions of truth so convoluted with lies. Unsure of salvation and left in the dark about the security found in "the man in white". Though God called me to Thailand, I knew that I would make it to that region someday.
Gin Je - The Vegetable Festival
Of course my heart breaks for the Thais as well. Thailand, and many other Asian countries just finished celebrating the Gin Je festival. A festival with an innocent name, but a gory celebration. This Chinese background celebration centralizes on the people purifying themselves by wearing white, eating only vegetables, and refraining from impure thoughts and actions. Then, during the nighttime festivities, they will allow "spirits" or as we would know them to be demons, to possess them. Once inhabited, they will mutilate themselves in a show of the spirits power. They marvel because those possessed feel no pain.
There are a few stories on how this festival came to be, but whatever the cause they participate in this in order to gain merit (good karma) for the afterlife. To gain favor with the spirits and bring prosperity to their house. It breaks my heart to see this "celebration" grow every year. To see my dear friends dressed in white, excited to go and watch this bloody ritual. To see a nine year old girl go with her grandma to watch. This is the opposite of what Christ has done for us. He allowed his own blood to run upon the ground so that we might be made holy and clothed in white at the end of all of this. His blood has purified us, not our own. His work has made us holy, not our own. And it is His power by which we live, not that of the enemy.
Please pray for the Buddhist world in the aftermath of this festival. Pray that the Lord of the Harvest would receive worship from these people, and that they would turn from their ways of idolatry and self-righteousness.
Home and Health
Well my wisdom teeth are out! It was not fun. To say the least. Both procedures went well, even though I was fully conscious during them. The whole process took about three weeks, but thanks to my supporters I had enough savings to cover it. I am so thankful to all of you, for not only supporting my ministry, but also my health and wellbeing.
My house is becoming more of a home bit by bit. I completely underestimated how much work and finances it takes turning a box into a cozy place to live. But by the grace of God I have what I need for the day to day, and I know some day in the future it will be a place for many girls to live and serve. Please pray for my finances, as I have many things that I am trying to get set up.
Here is my priority list of what the house still needs:
Washing machine
Fixing the plumbing in the bathroom/redoing bathroom
Curtains
Electrical outlets install
Oven
Lamps/lighting
There are other things not yet on this list, like coffee table, dressers, storage closets, coffee stand, etc. but those will come down the road. If you are interested in sponsoring a project or piece of furniture, please reach out! This house isn't just for me, it's for all of the girl staff that are to come serve here at YWAM, Trang.
YWAM Together
The YWAM Together conference in the Philippines was an amazing time. It was absolutely wild to see 4,500+ people from over 110 countries all together in the same place. I got to see many friends that I have made throughout my short time in YWAM, and make new connections for the future. I was especially excited about some of the contacts we made! As we start to pray and plan for our DTS next year, I am so hopeful that some of the contacts we made will be places we send teams.
During that conference we got to hear many times from Darlene Cunningham. It was such an honor to hear from the co-founder of Youth With a Mission. I am left speechless thinking about how the YWAMers to come will not have the same opportunity that we did to hear from Darlene. She, along with all the other speakers, encouraged us to return to the roots of YWAM. To go back to being a movement of prayer. To go back to our vision and values, and for the new generation to faithfully spread the gospel where we are not.
One huge focus was for people to take on Oral Mother Tongue (OMT) bible translation. This is a pioneering movement of translation that is able to translate scripture into new languages in record time. Prior to this method, it would take 50+ years to translate the whole bible. Now, it can take as little as 2-3 years. It is now entirely possible for every single mother tongue (10,000+) to have a bible translation. This is absolutely revolutionary. For how are we to disciple nations if they do not have access to scripture in their heart language?
Prayer Requests
Provision for finances for both our upcoming outreach and for continuing to furnish my home.
Wisdom and myself and the team as we begin ministries.
For OMT to begin in many different nations, and for those who do not have scripture in their heart language.
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