Greetings from Chiang Rai, Thailand!
2017 has so far been a whirlwind of great challenges and victories. Sorry for the lack of communication. That should give you an idea as to how busy we have been lately.
FAMILY
This January we hosted a YWAM team from Pichilemu, Chile led by Cy’s sister, Joyce. Joyce came with our nephew, Moises, for 2 months. It was the first time someone from Cy’s family was able to come to Asia to visit us. It was a giant miracle of God to bring these two from one end of the earth to the other and we are happy to praise Jesus for this gift. It was fun to eat Venezuelan food, show them a little bit of Chiang Rai and laugh together. Elias enjoyed having his cousin and aunt with us. It was sad to see them leave.
Praise item: Though we have not seen an increase in our monthly support over the past 3 years, God has been faithful to provide for so much. We were able to pay off Elias’ school tuition for the entire 1st grade year already.
TEAMS & BIBLE DISTRIBUTION
In January & February 3 YWAM teams helped us officially finish distributing Bibles to an entire sub-district in Chiang Rai: Tambon Nanglae. It is the first milestone in our overall goal to distribute 1 Bible to every home, 1 Bible for every student and a set of 4 Bibles for every temple. You can see the Share Bibles Project for more information.
In March we hosted 2 teams from Rob’s home town of Abbotsford, BC. One team was a high school missions trip team from Mennonite Educational Institute (MEI) and the other team was from our home church in Canada, South Abbotsford church. Together these two teams distributed approximately 1,500 Bibles.
SHARE BIBLES EXPANDING QUICKLY
Though the sub-district we finished earlier this year needed just 6,725 Bibles, altogether approximately 20,000 Thai SourceView Bibles are already in the hands of Thai people all around the nation. We recently printed another 20,096 Bibles to continue the work.
IGNITE DREAMS FOUNDATION
Last December we received the official document from the Thai government that recognizes the new legal board for the foundation that we pioneered about 8 years ago. Rob is officially the chairman of the foundation. We had a couple of board meetings and have started to work through the process of developing the foundation so that we are strongly administratively and more active in the community.
It has been a great learning process, which continues until today, about how to deal with government entities and what language to use when communicating with them. Things in Thailand are becoming more correct and that means learning the laws of the land and adjusting to changes in those laws. It hasn’t been easy, but God has been faithful to show us grace and give us necessary favor with the leaders of this country.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Wisdom from God: to lead the YWAM base, the legal foundation and the Share Bibles Project in His will and according to His ways…and be a healthy family at the same time.
- Trust in God: We are in a new season in which God is leading us to travel more than we usually do for the sake of His kingdom (which means new financial challenges). We have upcoming plans to…
- serve at the YWAM Philippines National Conference (May 31 – June 4)
- visit family, friends and our church in Canada (late June – Mid-September)
- share about our Bible Projects with potential partners in Montana, USA and Alberta, Canada
- reconnect with global YWAM leadership and the Bible Innovations team in Kona, Hawaii (July 31 – August 12)
- attend the global YWAM gathering in Costa Rica (September 4-11)
- Finances: God has been so faithful to us over the course of our lives and that’s why we can joyfully approach his throne to request the resources that we need to do His will.
- Deepening relationships with each other and with God
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