I’ll start by saying Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Yes, I know I’m late. But here in Thailand, Christmas is celebrated loosely and New Year is celebrated from January 1st through the Chinese New Year in February, so I’m trying to get away with it… is it working?😀 Well, in any event we do pray that each and every one of you had a wonderful Christmas and are beginning this new year full of Hope, Faith, and Love.

This year, the day after Christmas, we celebrated Christmas with some people we’d never met before. We visited a home for blind children. Some of the children had birth defects, eyes that didn’t work properly, some had no eyes at all. Some were only blind and for others a lack of eyesight was just one of several physical and/or mental challenges.

We had been invited by Bangkok First Church to participate with them in the Home’s Christmas party. The children sang some prepared songs, played games, and received gifts. A few parents and relatives had come to be with their children for this occasion. It was joyful and noisy. We sang fo them and Kevin shared the “good news of great joy!” In the midst of it all I made a new friend. A young woman, recently graduated from high school, who had questions about her life, about what she should do, what she should study and do for an occupation, how best to study English, how to navigate growing up with her family. So many questions I didn’t have the answers to… but I was able to assure her that God had a plan for her life and that she could pray and seek God. I asked if I could pray with her. She said, “Yes… what is pray?” I explained that praying is talking to God. That God hears our prayers and listens and that she could pray to God and God would hear her as well. Her name is Bam (a common nickname). I was able to talk to her and pray with her and connect with her on Facebook.

When people ask us what we do here, I find it hard to give an answer. I teach English, we encourage pastors and Church leaders; we teach when asked; Kevin preaches; we lead Work & Witness teams; we wear many hats, but it’s encounters like this one that really define what we are here for. We are here to meet people face to face, to love on them, hold their hands, celebrate with them, form relationships. These are rarely one and done encounters.  We do our best to form friendships in which we can show the love of Christ and speak the Truth on a regular basis.

I’m the kind of person who likes to have a job, accomplish it (cross it off the list) and move to the next task. That is not what Jesus calls us to do. Relationships take time, work, and sacrifice. They rarely come in the forms we want or expect.  But they are the way we reach people for Christ.  It’s the way Christ came and reached us.  Words are never enough, it’s why Jesus Christ came as the Living Word—the Word made flesh.  He walked among us, talked with us, shared our sorrows, was acquainted with our grief, healed wounds, and ultimately took our sin, our problems, on Himself.   This kind of love is, this kind of relationship is, hard.  It’s what He calls us to.

A few days ago, we went to restaurant on our street, a place we often frequent.  We’ve been trying to get to know the proprietors, trying to form a friendship.  We brought them Christmas cookies.  They gave us bananas grown in their garden.  In case you don’t know this, bananas grow in very large bunches.  The bunch of bananas that you pick up at the grocery store is probably about 1/4 – 1/3 of the bunch it grew on.  These lovely people gave us two whole bunches.  These bananas are excellent.  But there is no way we could finish them all before they turned.  So, what does any good, frugal American do with old bananas?  You guessed it!  We make banana bread (chocolate marbled banana bread, to be exact).  Kevin took a loaf to the restaurant owner.  This happened a few weeks ago.  This week, one of the ladies there, I think she’s one of the cooks, possibly one of the owners, came up raving about our “Banana Cake.”  She’d never had anything like it, she loved it!  Would I make it to sell at the restaurant?  Or would I teach her to make?  Of course!!  We exchanged numbers and now when there are extra bananas she is going to call me and we will bake banana bread together.

Who would have thought that I’d make a friend because my husband decided to share loaf of banana bread?  I’m excited to see where this goes and how God uses it.  Why am I telling you all of this?  Two reasons:

1.  You never know what will happen when you say yes to God.  Keep your eyes open.  Don’t push off those little nudges of the Holy Spirit to bake the bread, or send the email, or… ???  Don’t hesitate to say yes to something you’ve never done before or might not normally do or that might be inconvenient.  You have no idea what God can and will do with your small acts of obedience.  Both of the encounters I shared were unexpected and are still totally open ended.  Both came from us just trying to say yes to whatever God asks of us big or small.  Neither one of these experience is limited to the missionary experience.  Loving on people and being available is a way we can all serve.  Join us! Right where you are, ask God who you can bless and love on for Him today.  Ask Him to bring you people to build relationships with so that you can reflect Him.

2.  We don’t know what will happen.  We know God wants the people involved to come to know Him.  That’s His will.  We don’t know how He will use these encounters.  We would love to get to see these ladies and their families come to Christ.  Maybe we will.  Maybe we’re just breaking up ground or planting seeds. Frankly, that’s not really any of my business… it’s His.  He can use us as He sees fit.  But we do know we need prayer.  Please pray that we will be a blessing to everyone we encounter.  That we will overflow with love and extend grace.  Pray that our words and actions will be only exactly what God wants us to say and do.

This New Year… let’s do this together.  Let’s say yes to the big and the small.  Let’s offer what we have and do whatever He asks.  Let’s get personal, let’s be inconvenienced, let’s get messy.  Let’s let Him work through us to love the world as only He can.  We’ll pray for you.  Please pray for us.

It’s been a long time since you’ve heard from me on this blog… According to the time stamp on my last post, over four months.  It doesn’t seem that long to me.  For us, the time between April and October whizzed by.  It was filled with ministry opportunities, Work & Witness teams, teaching and preaching engagements, thanksgiving celebrations, and visits from friends and family.   So, I want to give you a brief overview of what we did this summer.  Rather than long text.  I’m going to break it up by month into smaller posts and include pictures.  In many of these posts, you will find thoughts that I jotted down in the brief in between moments this summer, along with my reflections from today.

So… stop reading this post.

Go read “Heading East” and “Summer”

Then… come back to this post to find out what we are doing now.

Nope… don’t scroll down yet.  Go read about what we’ve been up to!!!

And… you’re back!

Anna Chase, a friend from Oregon, has joined us here in Thailand for a bit.  Anna is living with us and experiencing missionary life, both the fun and exciting, and the dull day to day business of it, as a part of her senior year in high school.

Pray that Anna’s time here will be fruitful and that God will speak to her and form her through this experience.  Pray that we will be a blessing to Anna.

Currently we are working on a variety of things.  I (Jeni) am working on developing an English Language program for SEANBC.  This involves a lot of curriculum and method research and many collaboration meetings.  We hope to begin classes in January.

Pray that God will give us wisdom and that we will have a strong start.  Pray also that God will bring us teachers.  Pray that our teaching will be a blessing and that we will keep our focus on what God wants to do through us and through this program.

Kevin is currently doing a lot of planning.  Planning for the upcoming field meeting, planning for future Work & Witness trips (the next group comes in January), and planning for our time on home assignment.  He also continues to teach and preach when he is asked.

Pray that Kevin will have wisdom, vision, excitement and stamina as he helps our FSC and plans for the future.  Pray he will have a clear understanding of what he needs to do.

Caleb is homeschooling for his Senior year.  He is taking classes through a virtual academy.  We decided not to go back to ICS this coming year because our travel schedule is crazy and we weren’t sure how to work it all out with him in school.  Our daughter’s graduation from NNU also falls during the final month of the ICS school year.  We don’t want to miss it, but it would have been really hard for him to miss school during that time.  So, we are taking home assignment in March and April and will finish our time in the States celebrating the completion of one phase of Lydia’s life and the start of another.

Pray that Caleb will stay caught up in school, that he will do well and finish strong.  

Please pray that we will use the next four to five months wisely.  That we will make the most of our time here before heading to the States for home assignment.

Please continue to pray for our language studies.  Kevin is coming along very well!  I’m a little slower.  Pray that we will be a blessing to the people we meet and work with.  Pray that God will use us as He sees fit and that we won’t get in the way.

Well, that’s it.  That’s what we’ve been up to since I last posted.  I’m praying for you all, for the Church in the U.S., for the unity of believers, for the work of Christ that is being done every day.  I’m praying that God will fill you all with His love and that, as you live as Kingdom people, His love will overflow and become a great flood that overwhelms our homes, neighborhoods, cities, and nation, so that the whole world knows the love of our King.

The day before the Grandview team left, our daughter arrived for a 3-week visit! This was such a treat!  We miss our kids so much and our only regret was that Noah had to work and couldn’t make it out this summer.  We are looking forward to all being together for Christmas, but let me tell you… a year is way too long between visits!  While Lydia was here, we travelled up north, did some site-seeing, met with our country coordinator,  and finished up some W&W related business with the Children’s Home.  We then came back to Bangkok to enjoy the rest of Lydia’s stay.

Please pray for our kids.  Pray that Lydia would finish strong (she’s set to graduate in May) and not be too stressed out.  Please pray that they would stay healthy and safe as they work hard.  Pray that Noah stays healthy as he is constantly working on some performance (drama, musical, and vocal) that takes a lot of energy and offers little rest.  Pray that God will guide them as they are preparing for their futures and that they will both be open and sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

The day Lydia left, Kevin and I also boarded an airplane to Singapore to attend a week of meetings at our regional headquarters.  We had a great time catching the vision for our region, being inspired to be always mindful of our calling to share Jesus, and becoming acquainted with other servants on our region.

Pray for all the workers in the Asia Pacific Region as we work to empower local believers to be the Church and to spread the gospel.  Pray that we will not grow weary of doing good and that we will be continually mindful of calling to share the light and love of Christ with everyone we meet.

We arrived back in Bangkok at the beginning of September and were home for one week before heading off to Cambodia to teach a Marriage & Family class to pastors and leaders.  We taught in two different rural locations.  At each location we taught from approximately 8:30-4:30 for four days.    At the first location we had around 65 students and at the second 35-40.  All of our teaching was translated by two incredible Cambodian translators.  Let me tell you… translation work is very important Kingdom work!  I so admire those who are gifted in this area and willing to use the gift of languages to build the Kingdom of God.

Pray for Cambodia as they grow in their faith and reach their nation for Christ.  Pray that the Cambodian Christians will be bold in sharing the Good News, faithful in living it out, and united in purpose as the body of Christ.

The last weekend in September, we were super excited to attend our very first Lahu Thanksgiving service!  The end of September through December is harvest time for the northern farmers.  Most weekends in October an November, the churches gather together (a different church hosts each weekend) to offer some of their harvest and to praise the Lord for His provision.  Some congregations come from as far as 4 hours away to attend.  Kevin was honored to be asked to preach and we were blessed as each congregation presented songs and dances that they had prepared for the service.

October brought a real treat to our home… my parents!  Neither of my parents had ever been to this part of the world and my mother had never been out of the US before this trip.  It was super exciting for them and fun for us.  We showed them Bangkok, they took a trip to one of the islands, and we took them up north to see the beauty, ride elephants, climb a waterfall, and meet our friends and fellow workers there.  Kevin was asked to preach at another Lahu Thanksgiving service, so my parents were able to attend with us!  My mom said that this might have been her favorite part of the trip.  Driving up the narrow switch back roads to get the village reminded my Dad of driving in rural West Virginia where he grew up.  They enjoyed spotting coffee trees and tea plants and trying to identify various fruit trees.  Their trip was really full, but even with three weeks, we didn’t get to introduce them to everyone we work with nor manage to get them to more than one of the Bangkok congregations (though we were able to sing together for a couple of the services).  I’ll guess they’ll just have to come back again to meet the rest of our friends!

Pray for my 97 year old Grandmother.  While my parents were here she was hospitalized but is now at home and in stable condition. Pray she recovers and stays well.  Pray for my parents as they shepherd the congregation in South Charleston, West Virginia and as they care for my Grandmother and Uncle.

Pray for the Lahu tribes as they gather together for thanks and fellowship. Pray for unity and that they will have a passion for sharing the gospel with unreached neighbors and neighboring villages.

The following was written while I was sitting in a coffee shop at an Elephant Camp in Northern Thailand…

“We are here with our final Work & Witness team for the summer. While they are riding elephants, oxcarts and river rafts, I thought I would type an update for all of you who are faithfully praying for and supporting us. Our first three teams came and went with only days in between each team. It was tiring, but really fun! The third team was a sweet, refreshing visit from our home/family church. It was wonderful to see and be with our family (see “June” for a more detailed description of previous trips).

Between the last team and this one, we got a three week “break.” By break, I do not mean that we didn’t work; we just worked in Bangkok. I picked back up teaching English and we worked on preparing for the next team, getting Caleb all registered for school, finishing reading assignments for a training we have to attend in August, and lesson plans for a marriage conference we are teaching in September. Plenty of work, but also time to rest.

We also found out that the Myanmar congregation (where we have been teaching English on Saturday nights) now has church in 6 locations! That’s 5 new brand new baby churches! The Burmese people come to Thailand for work, usually in factories and do not get days off. They make very little money and so only use public transportation. The Bangchalong Church location was too far for some to come and some didn’t have time off work. So, Pastor Khunjar and her congregation decided to start churches in locations and at times when and where people could attend. Pastor Khunjar and her brother WinMin travel to each of these locations while they are working hard to train leaders for these new churches.

Please pray specifically that God will raise up pastors and leaders, that the Church will be able to train and disciple them to do the work to which they are called. Pray that resources will be provided and for transportation to all of locations. Above all, pray that the Holy Spirit moves in the hearts of the people and that they give their lives to Jesus.

Right now we are in Northern Thailand with the current team who are from Grandview, Washington.  This particular team has formed a three year partnership with our Field, so we know we will see them again for (at least) the next couple years.  This team is partnering with the Northern Thailand district to improve the Maetang Tribal Children’s Home, empower the local churches, and encourage and offer aid in church planting.  They completely repainted the sanctuary of the church on the children’s home campus, did some serious clean-up and organization, set up much needed new bunkbeds for the kids, played games and did crafts with the children after school, and shared the gospel and lead worship during youth group night. Grandview Church is partnering with a specific Lahu congregation to plant a new church in an unreached village so, one day, half of the team travelled to a Lahu village and had a games and crafts day at the local church for kids in the village while the other half travelled to an unreached Lahu village where a new work is being started by that same congregation.   Other than sitting down to try a variety of new and wonderful foods, the people from Grandview took very little time to rest.  This group was loving, fun, hardworking and focused and we loved getting to know them!

Please pray for the Grandview Church of the Nazarene as they fellowship, serve, and grow together.  Pray for Pastor Brent and his family, for unity in the church, and for God to have His way with His people.

We also had the privilege of meeting up with another team from Nampa, ID. For one day we had over 50 volunteers at the Children’s Home. It was crazy, but tons of fun. The Nampa group worked on painting a mural and, as I write this, are putting on a carnival day outreach for the local children.  Each team has added to improving the condition of the church in Maetang by painting and cleaning. Two of the teams (Olivet and Nampa) have painted murals and it’s looking really great!

We are really loving this part of our job—getting to know brothers and sisters in Christ from all over and seeing how God is moving their hearts both for international ministry and re-igniting a passion for sharing Jesus back home. We love being able to connect US congregations with ministry opportunities and needs here in Thailand and watching the people learn from each other and share Jesus’ love with each other.

As you can tell our “busy” time isn’t over yet. We will be traveling until September 21st (and that’s just what’s currently on the schedule).

Please be praying for us. Pray for our stamina and health. Continue to pray that our Thai language skills get better even as our language study becomes a bit more sporadic.

Please pray that we will have wisdom and know the exact areas of ministry where we are supposed to get involved here. We have so many requests for teaching, preaching and music instruction, but only so much time. Pray that the Holy Spirit reveals to us where we are really needed.

Pray that we develop relationships that go deep and bear fruit. And PLEASE pray for a move of the Holy Spirit in Bangkok.

Pray that the strongholds of idol worship and Buddhism will be broken and Christ will be honored as Lord in the hearts and homes of the Thai people.

In June, we welcomed a team from Olivet Nazarene University.  This team spent most of it’s time up north in Chiang Mai and Maetang.  They worked at the children’s home doing clean-up, painting and VBS style activities with the students.  They also did a one day English camp at a local school and got to visit one of the Lahu villages for a church service on Sunday.  We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these wonderful young adults and their fantastic leaders.  We absolutely love having university students.  It is a joy to watch them discover the world outside their home country, listen to how the Lord is speaking through their experiences and pray with them as they grapple with how God is calling them to serve at home and abroad.

Please keep our university students your prayers continually.

June also brought us a Work & Witness team from home (Redmond, Oregon)!  It was such a treat to serve with our family for a bit.  We joined a Bangkok First Church and cleaned up the neighborhood where the church is located. We managed to squeeze in a little sight seeing and shopping before traveling to Korat to put on English camps, pray for the village, build a bathroom,  and show the Jesus Film.  There the team had the great honor of staying in the homes of two local families and getting to know the people of the village.  The crew were serious troopers, some sleeping on bamboo mats on the floor of host families, using squatty potties, and “showering” using a cistern and water scoop (the girls had a real shower and bathroom ;).  My heart was warmed by the hospitality shown to us by those in the village and by Duan’s family.   If you’ve read my post entitled, “April” then you know that in this particular village there is only one family who are Christians. This family is praying that their home will be the start of a new church. To that end, Duan, who is a teacher, offers after school teaching and tutoring to village students and also gets the opportunity to share Jesus with them. She, her husband Tom, and their daughter Phoebe, open their home and hearts to love and care for the people of her village in Jesus’ name. I can safely say that everyone just fell in love with the village and with Tom, Duan, and Phoebe.

Pray for Duan, Tom, and Phoebe.  Pray for Tom’s health; pray that they will be encouraged and joyful; pray for provision for their family. Most of all pray that God will build His church in their midst and that the people of that area will come to Christ. 

The Redmond team followed up their amazing experience in Korat with a trip to the Maetang Children’s Home where they worked on clean-up, updating and repairing the playground, and played with, sang with, and loved on the children.  We also visited a Lahu village church and an orphanage nearby.  The Redmond team ended their trip in Bangkok.  We were sad to see them go, but know that they will take their love for the lost and passion to share Jesus back to Redmond.

Please pray for the Bridge Church in Redmond.  Pray for unity, clear direction, and that God will use them to bring others to Himself.

Though the Redmond team left at the beginning of July, one member of the group, Jarod, stayed with us.  He travelled with Kevin and Caleb to Cambodia where he gave us the use of his brilliant photography and videography skills to capture some of the work that is being done in places where the church is growing rapidly.

I (Jeni) spent most of July in Bangkok and picked back up with my English students.  I have been teaching English to pastors and leaders.  It is joy and privilege to be a part of their lives and to help them when I can.  We also got a 3 week “break” from travel so, Kevin was able to preach here in Bangkok.

In April, Kevin also travelled to one of our creative access countries to teach Church History to those working on completing the Course of Study for ordination.  He had a great time and enjoyed getting to know the students.

Please pray for the believers in creative access areas.  Pray for the protection of pastors and church leaders.  Pray that the Church continues to grow unhindered, that workers will be equipped, and pray for boldness among believers to share their faith.

In May, we welcomed a Work & Witness team made up of pastors from the Intermountain District.  Let me tell you, Idaho has some really fun, crazy, amazing pastors!  They were a blast to be with!  This team travelled to Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia, teaching, encouraging and catching a vision for what God is doing in Southeast Asia.  In Myanmar, the team spent a week teaching and preaching to students at the Southeast Asia Nazarene Bible college in Yangon.  They also travelled to northern Myanmar to experience first hand how the church is growing in that area.  The gang then came to Bangkok to visit, preach for and encourage the churches here in Central Thailand.  We also fit in some sight-seeing and even took a dinner cruise on the river.

Always keep pastors in prayer around the world.  Lift up their families.  Ask for protection, strong marriages, integrity, wisdom, compassion, health, energy, and clear vision.

During this month, Caleb was finishing up a really great junior year at ICS.  He was able to participate in drama and cross country at ICS, as well as joining his classmates in service projects, Bible studies, and fun camps.

Please keep Caleb in your prayers as he finishes up high school.  Pray that the experience of living as an MK will be a good one and that he will allow himself to be formed by it as God desires.

Well, two of the four Work & Witness teams visting Thailand this summer have come and gone.  Two groups of Americans have come, walked, smelled, tasted, seen, served and embraced Southeast Asia.  And I have just one thing to say:  this is one of the best parts of our job here.  We just love getting to meet brothers and sisters from various walks of life with hearts for Jesus, and being able to introduce them to brothers and sisters here in Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia.  We love giving them a glimpse of what God is doing here and how they can be a part of His global Kingdom vision, His desire for all nations to know Him and receive Christ as Lord and Savior, to be reconciled to the Father and to live in abundant freedom.

Our first group was a group of pastors from the Intermountain District, specifically Idaho.  They came to teach and serve, but also to catch a vision for how they can partner with the Church in Southeast Asia to build the Kingdom of God.  This was an amazing group of loving, hardworking, joyful, servants of Christ.  It was our privilege to introduce them to Myanmar, Thailand and then to pass them on to Cambodia.  We pray that their time here was as much of an inspiration and encouragement to them as they were to all of us over here.

Our second group came to us from Olivet Nazarene University.  This was a group of devoted, energetic, fun, Jesus-loving young adults.  It was so fun to travel and serve with them as they joined in worship at Oikos Church of the Nazarene, loved on the children in Maetang, and experienced slices of life in Thailand.  They were open and willing to see what God had for them here.  And ready to take back what they’ve seen and learned.  We were so blessed by their visit.

We have two more groups this summer and are expecting to have just as great a time working, serving, learning, trying new things, and keeping our hearts and eyes open for all that Jesus is doing.

This year during spring break there was also a national holiday… Songkran.  Songkran is the Thai new year.  It is marked, most notably by water, a very large water fight.  People throw buckets of water on each other, shoot each other with water guns, spray with hoses, you name it (not a bad idea for the hottest month of the year).   Some parts of town are wetter than others.  In our quiet little part of town children threw buckets of water at passing cars and sometimes pedestrians.  It was pretty tame.  In downtown Bangkok, we hear it can be pretty intense.  People also wear very bright floral clothing during this holiday.  Songkran is also a time for people to go home to be with their families.  During this family time children and parents take part in a ritual where the children ceremonially wash the hands of parents and parents bless their children.

We decided that for Songkran, we would like to participate in a Maximum Mission trip and Mission Encounter training.  From Friday afternoon through Sunday, we helped teach and train up-and-coming NYI and NMI leaders from all over the Asia Pacific Region.  This time was very similar to what we experienced at our Cross Cultural Orientation.  It was a time to explore what it means to ministry cross culturally.  Young adults and teens from Myanmar, Vietnam, Fiji, Indonesia, Thailand, the US (Caleb) and India gathered to learn and grow.  This time of learning was followed by an opportunity to serve.  The group participated in a Maximum Missions trip to Korat, a province in Eastern Thailand (Isaan).

For those who might not know, Maximum Missions are opportunities to serve, both near and far, where an outside group teams up with a local group to do outreach, ministry, and evangelism.  In Korat, we began our trip at a school by cleaning and painting.  The next day we held a summer International Camp day for local kids.  We separated into stations where kids created crafts and learned games, songs, and fun facts about other nations.  Then we gathered at the end of the day for a “mini- concert” where each of the groups shared a song or story and some gave testimonies and shared the gospel.

Our local hosts for this trip were Duan, Tom and their daughter.  They are the only believers in the village.  Duan works at the school we worked in for the first two days.  Duan opened her home to host the girls and her precious Aunty also opened hers to the boys.  God has given Duan and her family a burden for the people of her community.  Her vision is to use her home as a Center where students can come for after school activities and tutoring and learn about Jesus at the same time.  She has a passion for discipling new believers and would love to see discipleship groups spring up all over her village.

In the village we repeated our International Camp day at the local village school.  It was a huge success.  We did painting and cleaning at Duan’s home to get it ready for community use and some of the guys went and worked on her farm as well.  We also had a movie night at Duan’s place.  The entire community was invited to come play games, hear testimonies and songs, receive gifts and watch an animated Thai telling of the story of David and Goliath.  It was a fun night for all.

We are all extremely excited to see how God uses this willing family of believers to reach the people of their village for Christ.  We are also inspired to go back with more support when we can and to pray consistently for protection and encouragement for the family and what God is doing and has planned for that village and that province.

Pray for the many people here in Thailand who do not know Jesus and are enslaved by idol worship and in fear of evil spirits.  Pray that the Light of Christ will shine in every heart in Southeast Asia.

In my last blog I shared some of the things we have been doing and promised to write a series of blogs giving you the details.  There is one other thing that has distracted us from blog writing, that I want to share it with you.  Any of you who follow us on Facebook have probably already heard that we experienced a tragic loss in our family.  As I write this, Kevin is with our family in Colorado celebrating the life of our beloved, amazing nephew, Taylor.  Taylor was taken home to be with Jesus a week and a half ago, when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver while attempting to cross the street, in a crosswalk.  Taylor passed from this life to the next at the age of 21, two weeks before he was supposed to be married to an amazing, Jesus-loving, girl, Sarah.

This tragedy has been a hard blow for our family.  It’s hard to accept that this vibrant young man, so full of life and love and joy and adventure is just not with us any more.  He won’t be lighting up the room with his smile or darkening the door with his large muscular frame.  There are no answers for why he was taken from us and I don’t think answers would make it feel any better, really.  We trust the Lord.  We trust that He has a plan.  As a family we are already seeing how God used Taylor’s short time here on earth to encourage others in their faith, to urge others toward abundant and joyful living, and to guide others upward, toward Jesus, toward a life of fullness in Christ.  Taylor loved mountain climbing, hiking, getting out there and inhaling life in a deep way so he could exhale joy, laughter, goofiness, goodness, and praise.  He journeyed here on earth with us as an adventurer, always inviting others to do the same.  He was fearless in the way he lived and in the way he loved.

Now, Taylor is climbing, running, dancing, laughing, worshipping unhindered.  His joy is perfect.  We are left to continue this journey.   We are left to take up the mantle of joy and climb higher, nearer, closer to Jesus and to invite others to walk with us, climb with us, dance with us.

Pray for our family as we process our grief over the coming weeks, months, and years.  Join us in the adventure. Live fully for Jesus and bring anyone who will come along with you.  Cling to the Holy Spirit as your guide and devour the Word as both your map, compass, and your trail food.  Breathe deeply of the pure, clear, presence of God and exhale joy, goodness, blessing, laughter, hope, and life.

Continue the adventure.

Well, it’s been a while since I blogged.  I’m sorry for that!  We have been in and out and doing and experiencing… I just haven’t taken the time to sit and let you all know what we’ve been up to.  So, since I have a little bit of “down” time, I’m going to try to write a series of blog posts that give you a picture of what we’ve been up to and how I’ve processed it.  Since I last wrote a blog post, we have been to Myanmar to renew our visas, up to Northern Thailand for a bi-annual camp meeting of hill tribe churches, and out to Korat, a province in Isaan.  I’ve also started teaching a new English class for church leaders and pastors.  So I’d like to share a little of what I’ve seen and experienced wtih you all in the next few posts.

The title of this first post is one of the big lessons I’ve learned:  to pray with my eyes open.  When I was a child, I was taught to close my eyes and fold my hands to pray.  Anyone else?  There was a very good reason for this.  Children are often distracted by what’s going on around them.  So my closed eyes were to help me focus on what I was doing—talking to Jesus.  My folded hands were to keep me from trying to do other things while praying.  It was about focus.

As an adult it’s much the same.  When I close my eyes, my thoughts turn inward before going upward.  There is a time and place for this.  I reflect on my relationship with Jesus, my spiritual life.  I repent; I listen. I pray for the concerns closest to my heart.  My folded hands keep me from multi-tasking (or attempting to).  I have learned to be still before the Lord.

Lately, though, I find myself praying with open eyes and outstretched hands.  When my eyes are open, I see the people around me.  I see the hurt, the poverty, the illness, the struggles, the stresses, the burdens and needs of daily life.  It can be quite overwhelming, but these are things that need to be brought to the foot of the cross.

When we travelled to Myanmar it was for the purpose of getting our visas renewed.  Every 90 days we have to get our visa stamped.  These are known as visa runs.  Ours usually coincide with trips we need to take anyway.  Our trip to Myanmar, was different.  This was to basically get a new one year, multiple entry visa.  Myanmar is closest place that will give us the same kind of visa we came to Thailand with.  We arrived in Yangon on Sunday, turned our paperwork in on Monday and picked up our new visas on Tuesday and then went back to Bangkok.  Sounds simple, right?  Well, yes it was—and that was a total answer to prayer.  I don’t think we spent more than an hour at the Thai Embassy in total.  This is not a typical experience and we really felt that God orchestrated our time there.

While we were waiting for our visas we got to do some sightseeing and meet some wonderful people.  On Monday we decided to do something pretty non-touristy.  We took the train.  Yangon has a train that runs the circumference of the city.  This is the cheapest way to travel around the city.  We paid less than a dollar per person to ride it.  The entire ride took us about 3 hours.  The train is not air-conditioned, it has no comfort features other than benches on which to sit.  But we got to see real life along the tracks.

The fun parts:  Vendors who hop on and off at every stop selling bottled water, fresh fruit, snacks, even toys. Waving to those we passed who were a little surprised to see the tall, pale foreigners riding the train, the beautiful countryside we passed, and sharing fruit we purchased with children on the train.  The beautiful people with whom we could not really communicate, but who were always ready to return our smiles.

The not so fun:  The poverty—the tracks run right past some of the poorest parts of the city.  Some were living in what we would basically call a lean-to.  We also saw empty lots full of garbage, lots of garbage.  We saw an old man whose job was collecting recyclable and reusable water bottles.

The interesting:  The farming happening right on the outskirts of the city, right next to the train tracks.  The substance they paint on their faces to protect them from sun damage (a man came on our car selling this service as well).  The array of foods layed out at one station we passed—a makeshift market of baskets on the ground.

As I rode, I watched the people, listened to sounds around me, and tasted the fruit we bought, was refreshed by the water for sale, smelled various ways of life along the tracks, felt the heat and the hard bench, and felt the wind in my face as the train chugged on.  I watched and listened and tasted and smelled and felt and prayed.

The next day, we met Pastor Jubilee.  He took us to the famous Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon.  There we saw many people who had trekked to this site to pray at the foot of a gold encrusted Pagoda, purchase gold to add to the site, to offer money and prayers in order to atone for sins and earn good luck (consequently, if all of the gold and jewels in this pagoda were sold, the money could provide food and clean water to all the people of Myanmar for many years to come).  There were stations specifically for each day of the week, so you can light incense and pray at the station of your day of birth.  There were shrines where people could meditate or listen to monks chant.  Pastor Jubiliee lamented the time and money his people waste praying to stone statues; he grieved over how mislead they were.  Here was their national treasure.  They poured their money into it and were still both physically and spiritually empoverished.  As I walked I looked, and listened, and prayed.

I discovered the value of praying with open eyes.  When my eyes and hands are open something happens.

My open hands are waiting to be filled.

My outstretched arms can help and heal while I pray.

My moving feet can go.

When my eyes are open, I can also see all of the blessings flowing from the throne of God.

I see the people who God uses to teach and to speak to me.

I see the way God provides daily, hourly.

I see the beauty of His creation that reflects His creativity, imagination, wisdom, beauty and majesty.

I see the blessings, the things that God gives that are above and beyond what I really need and way beyond what I deserve,

I can see how to use those blessings.  Through what I see and hear and touch, the Holy Spirit can guide me to opportunities to bless others, to share love, and to reflect His person.

Here’s a challenge:  join me in praying with open eyes.  Try it for one week.  Intentionally, pray for what you see around you, for the people you see, for what you hear.  Pray for the places you will go, the places where your feet touch the ground and the places you have been.  Watch and listen.  See how the Holy Spirit directs you to pray, at your home, your work, your school, your grocery store, your kid’s game…

Let’s see what happens when we watch and pray.