Mission Trip

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July from the Philippines!  It is always interesting to celebrate our nation’s independence day while in another country.  As everyone in America is beginning their day of celebration, we are winding down, having spent a day celebrating the 4th of July.  We were able to celebrate with some great friends, and meet some new friends.  We love our nation, and we love each of you.  Thus far in the Philippines we have been able to be a part of a youth service, and Sunday morning services at two different church locations.  It has been a great opportunity and our girls are making some great new friends.

Vietnam in View

We got to spend some great days with good friends in Vietnam.  There is so much happening there, and so many opportunities that we hope we can be a part of.  Our girls made some new friends in Saigon and it has been wonderful to see how much they have loved the culture of each country we have been too.  They just fit right in. We took a tour of the Mekong River with one of our ministry partners to see more of Vietnam and the history and culture of the area we work in.  It is a beautiful country with great potential.  Currently, we have an English Tutorial Center and 2 feeding centers in Saigon.  We are hoping to open another English Tutorial Center in Hanoi and a program to help children learn to read.

Time with the boys

Paul and I got to spend some time with the boys at the youth service to do a special Bible study and pray with each one individually. It was an awesome time! They really opened up to us and we were able to pray fro them specifically.  Some were concerned about their family, others wanted help with struggles in their lives.  It was so nice to see teenagers share their heart and seek prayer and support.

Making Friends

Our girls are making some great friends here in Thailand.  I think the kids here would adopt our kids in a heart beat.  They love them!  It is so much fun to watch how the interact and how much the kids here light up when they see our girls show up. The come and grab their hands and run off and play.  They want to sit with them and eat with them.  It is such a beautiful thing. Here are some pictures from tonight as we had a special youth service.

The Rest of the Story

You may remember from two years ago the story I posted about a boy with no known language.  The picture above is of him on my shoulders when I was in Mae Sot in 2014.  He came to the orphanage from a remote area of Burma and nobody knew what language he spoke.  He didn’t understand Burmese or Thai and it was difficult to find a way to communicate with him.  As Paul Harvey would say, here is the rest of the story.

Today he is speaking and thriving in his new environment.  The children at the school love him and he is really doing great.  It was wonderful to see him again. Here is a video of him playing catch with a football with our group.  I know the Lord has great plans for him.  We now know that his name is Paulus.  I love to get to watch kids like this grow over time and see their stories unfold.

The Beginning

The first day at our project is in the books.  Kim and the girls, and the team from First Baptist, Lexington had a great time and they were able to pour into the over 200 children there.  It is such a joy to be able to watch your children being used in ministry.  Our girls were able to connect with the children really well.  A group of students had signs for each person in the team.  They waved the signs as the team arrived in the bus.

Prayer Matters

I spent about 8 hours last night throwing up.  Something I ate definitely didn’t like me. However, through the prayers of others, I was able to start keeping food down and was able to travel with the team to Burma (Myanmar).  Prayer does matter, and I appreciate having each of you as prayer warriors for us.