Update #2 from the Middle East

25th:

Thank you all so much for your prayers! We went through immigration and customs though with NO PROBLEM! Huge praise! We arrived at our friend's house in short order. We woke to the call to prayer at 5 a.m.; a great reminder to keep these people in our hearts.

Today was spent enjoying our friends, touring the town, and enjoying the local culture. Lunch was schwarma--good stuff! The people are warm and welcoming - nothing like the media makes you feel about them. Our hearts continue to grow for these people.

26th:

Great time today of encouraging the family! Imagine five adults and four children in a vehicle for five hours - with one of them being a two-day-napless two-year old. Fun times! We visited the site where J went swimming with His prerunner. We visited the Dead Sea & Mt. Nebo (where M looked out across the land that he was not permitted to enter.)

We spent a full day with our sweet friends mainly encouraging them, loving them and letting them show us their temporary home country's highlights. We had the opportunity to visit with our guides at the Jordan River, a French family traveling for ten months throughout the Middle East, and brothers from Arkansas.

Tomorrow, the Sabboth, is our last day here before we move on to our next site. Our flight is five hours, starting at 1:00 a.m. Saturday will feel like a V-E-R-Y long day!

So thankful for you all!!!


29th:

We have had two very full days here at our second site. We have spent a few hours of both days with a local worker sharing information and strategies to reach these people. Be praying for soft hearts, the Spirit's working, and dreams and visions (this is a major way He moves these people to seek out Christians.)

In addition, we spent both days doing some general touring and praying during the driving and in the various sites. Today we saw the city's Grand Mosque. It was gorgeous, lavish and luxuriously cared for. Do you realize you are that building for the Spirit? It was convicting and humbling to see the great care and the great devotion they have toward something that brings no eternal satisfaction. Do you care for your temple that way? Or do you pump it full of trash in the form if food, entertainment, tv choices... The Muslim people come to the Mosque throughout the day to pray. Are you at all that devoted to being sure you talk with Him throughout your day?

The last 3-4 hours of our days here are spent at a festival celebrating this nation. It is a two week festival. We are here for the first five days. Pray for divine appointments, for boldness, for sending and obedience to the Spirit's leading. It is all way, way beyond us.

These people are very gracious, loving and generous. They are curious about Americans and happy to talk. Their homeland is lovely. Our hearts are full of great love for them.

Update from the Middle East

Things are going well with our team in this region. We hope to share more in later updates, but here are some pictures:

SE Asia Update #2

Hello again,

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers up to this point! Last night was awesome - it was so great to see familiar faces half-way across the world and to make new friends, some of whom just recently became Christians, or "got the light" as they phrase it here. The Lord provided a friendly coffee shop for us to meet in and about 30-35 students came to meet with us. There have been miscommunications over the years due to the language barrier regarding whether or not some of these students actually understand the Gospel or know the Lord personally. The missionaries here are working to continue to strengthen the faith of these students through discipleship and weekly meetings but it is still difficult to follow-up with each student that comes.

We learned this morning that one of the members of our team's grandmother passed away last night and we're not sure how that news will affect the rest of our journey - please pray for the Thomas family, for peace and reliance on the Lord in light of such sad news.

We will be traveling to Haiphong today to spend time with the pastor of a house church and his family and to celebrate Christmas and New Years with the believers there. Please pray for travel mercies and for doors to be opened in Haiphong as it is still rather unsafe to share the Gospel there.

Just like Paul in 2 Timothy 4, "In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction."

SE Asia Update #1

Xin chào!!! (Hello!!!)

46 hours later and we're finally here!!! No lost luggage, no trouble with customs, and only a few mildly upset stomachs from China Airline's fine cuisine. I'm already trying to prepare my heart for what we'll be encountering en route to and at the orphanage on Saturday afternoon. Tonight we get the opportunity to meet up with students we've met in years past to just chat and catch up. A few of the students we're meeting with are believers but most are not. Tonight we're just trying to re-water any seeds that have been planted over the years but we definitely want to be open to the Spirit moving through casual conversations and simple acts of love and friendship.

Please be in prayer for the safety of the students as they travel to meet us and for God to work through the crazy variety of conversations that will take place this evening (most likely while you guys are just waking up). Keep James 1:2-4 in mind today:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Whether you're in Vietnam, cleaning house, or traveling, know that God's got a plan for it all.