To the LORD: Thanksgiving and Petitions

Our team has been thanking God for many things. As part of the team, will you Thank God with Me? First, eight new members joined the church this weekend. Second, the International School was able to raise money to send to Haiti(Compassion International's Relief project), through an auction of the Elementary Children's artwork expressing the feelings and heartache that is going on in Haiti currently. Third, Napada Handicrafts has been sold at a couple different places in Colorado Springs (Thank you also to Mama and Adam for their hard work!). Fourth, each of the Staff has made themselves available to mentor each of the new believers within the different ministries. Fifth, Napada Handicrafts has made a shirt for Dave to take back to the states and wear...to see if people would be interested in this new inventory (Thank God for the creative ideas within this particular ministry). Sixth, We have the opportunity to re-start our ministry three times a week at Mahatthai park. Seventh, Thank God for the relationships being built with unbelievers and the continued opportunities to share Christ with them. Eighth, Sarah (the other intern here) has been led to go to Moody College for Overseas Missions! Ninth, Thank God for the continued support all of the different Ministries (not just within MTW) have been for one another; How we come together to reach all different areas of need in the Bangkok area. Now a few personal thanks: Thank you Jesus for the opportunity to disciple 13 women through Bible Study Fellowship; Thank you for using me to help equip the Thai staff within our ministry; Thank you for the creative ideas of sharing you with my English Classes; Thank you Jesus for meeting me where I am at each day and walking beside me each minute; and Thank you Lord for our team in the States-supporting in prayer-supporting financially-giving to this ministry (We are so blessed)!

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."-Colossians 3:16

We have a few Petitions to Bring to Our Father. Will you pray with me? First, Dave left for the states this morning to preach five sermons and share about this ministry through MTW Thailand. Will you pray for safe travels, no jet lag, energy for the Sermons, more people/church bodies to join our team through financial/prayer support and new teammates to physically join us here? Second, will you pray for Napada Handicrafts-the possibly growth of our inventory and more locations who would want to invest in selling Napada Handicrafts? Remember to specifically be praying with my Mama and Adam-as God speaks through them to different owners in this effort. Oh, and if you want to join them in this effort, let me know! Third, Join us in praying for Haiti- for comfort in this disastrous time-that through this God's glory will be revealed and the whole country will come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Fourth, Pray for the New Trainings I will be teaching the Thai staff each Monday throughout the next 10 weeks. Fifth, pray specifically for us to shine the love of Jesus to the cross-dressers who play volleyball at the park (every other Friday evening). Sixth, Pray for God's guidance of putting together a Stomp mixed with a Passion Play...involving all the different ministries (in time for our Easter Service at the park). Seventh, most importantly-that each teammate (including you and I) makes our personal time with God the number one priority of each day.

"In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation."-Psalm 5:3

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, My teammates in the United States, Thank you for praying with me.

Krystle

English In Mahatthai 3 Has Begun!

Many of you are familiar with me talking about the ministry we have in the poverty stricken neighborhood of Mahatthai 3. Yesterday (and every Thursday from here on out) I started my first English Class. Originally, it was going to be just the Women of Mahatthai. Yesterday, two children also showed up and next week others are saying that they want to join. So, this English Class may be for the entire neighborhood! I just pray that God paves the way and brings the people He wants into the "Sala" (where the class is held). We are beginning with the "ABC's". Yesterday, We learned how to write (practicing in their notebooks) letters A-P (both upper and lower case). We also practiced the pronunciation of the letters. And of course they are learning how to sing the ABC's. The plan of approach is that they will be taught how to read English by Phonetics. The people in the class will learn the many different sounds each letter can make. Then I will create short stories for them to read from...little by little. Each story will be about Jesus/God; Truths about God. Using very small words at first (It's just like Kindergarten!). So please, pray with me as I look to God, to give me the thoughts of each story-Thoughts that will be appropriate to their new English/Reading capabilities.

"Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel."-Proverbs 20:15

I know about the One True God. I know about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And I BELIEVE that Jesus is The One True God; That in Jesus ALONE can I have salvation and a truly satisfying/fulfilling life. I pray my knowledge of Jesus-my faith in Jesus-gives light to those that I teach. I pray that they will soak in this rare jewel of knowledge--as they are studying and learning truths. I pray that one day, they too will take this knowledge, accept this truth, and choose to speak the good news of Jesus to those around them. God is moving...Can you feel it?!!

The Interworkings of God

These past couple weeks I have been noticing how God will use what I am learning in one area and spread it for His glory in other areas of the ministry. It usually starts with my time alone soaking in His Word (the Bible), attending Bible Study Fellowship (Saturdays for leaders meeting or Tuesday Evenings for Discussion Group and Lecture); learning deeper meanings to the scripture I was studying. From that point I watch God use what He is showing me, to glorify Himself and show others who He is and all the characteristics that God has.

Just this past Friday, we had a Campus Bible Study (Campus Ministry) and during it one of that gals was confused as to why God lets us suffer if we believe in Him. After the Bible Study (because I was not leading it) we talked about this. I shared with her that the Bible says that Jesus is our Good Shepherd (Referencing John 10-what I just studied in BSF). We talked about how a Shepherd cares for His sheep. How we are His Sheep. He leads us from the front. If we know Jesus, we will follow Him, fully trusting Him that His way is the best. Jesus is not a slave driver-he does not beat us and push us from behind to follow His ways. So, this is where our choice comes in. If we choose not to follow Jesus...we will find ourselves, fallen on a dangerous path(Did you know when a sheep falls down, it literally cannot pick itself up again?...therefore without the shepherd's help...it would die!). Because Jesus is our Good Shepherd, He picks His sheep up when they fall. He says, "I know my sheep and my sheep know me." If you cry out to Jesus, He is your comforter and He will carry you through. Well, we are sinners, who often times try to follow our own paths that lead to death vs. God's eternal path full of blessings and a fully satisfied life. When we sin (i.e. like an expectant mother using drugs) it affects other people, bringing suffering to them (i.e. child is born without limbs or it's brain may not be fully developed, etc.). That is what happens in a sinful world. We may be suffering because of our own sin or others sins. But, God is here to comfort us, sustain us, and carry us through these times of trial(if we allow Him).

And it continues as we see in John 11. Mary and Martha were saddened because their brother, Lazarus was sick and Jesus did not come and heal him. Jesus came to them after Lazarus was already dead. They were suffering in their grief. Yet, their faith stayed strong as they professed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (following Jesus as His sheep). In the End, Jesus' raised Lazarus from the Dead. He showed many who He was as the one true God and He was glorified. Sometimes we do not see why bad things happen or devastating things are happening around us...but, God is in Control and He has a plan and purpose...in the end, God will be glorified and our blinders will be lifted.

What opportunities are you finding or allowing God to use you? Has He revealed something to you and then used you to reveal it to another? I would love to hear!!

Okay Fellow Sheep...Until next time,
Krystle

Powerful Yet Calming is HE

The past four days I was able to join the Team Leader, Dave, and His family on a vacation to Elephant Island. It was an adventure (I continued to see God in the details...see post below) as we went snorkeling, a day hike through a rain forest, and rode elephants through the forest! Yep, it was a time were I was a tourist amongst many Europeans...almost forgetting that I am residing in the mission field of Bangkok, Thailand.

Well, early the first morning I woke up to rain pouring outside...as the powerful rain hit our cabin, I felt a calm sense of peace-laying awake in bed and then dozing off again. Then throughout the first day, we went on a boat to a different stopping point for snorkeling. As the boat was in motion, over the Indian Ocean, I was relaxed and my body was calm as I took in the peacefulness! The next morning I went on a jog on the beach shore. Here I watched as these waves came crashing into the shore line. As I jogged I also took note of the huge signs with warning directions of what to do if a Rip Wave came through (apparently they have had enough of these to make big signs for the guests). Then I sat on the shore and talked to God. My body was once again calmed by the sound of these powerful waves rushing into shore. I read in Matthew 8:23-27-
"Then He (Jesus) got into the boat and his disciples followed Him. Without warning a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey Him!"
Ever question how God can make something so powerful yet so calming at the same time? Isn't it amazing how the waves of the Indian Ocean were made so powerful that a life could be taken underwater with it, yet these same waves have a calming affect to ones mind that it could put one to sleep?! Isn't it neat to see that these waves/storms could be so powerful...but as we read in Matthew, we do not need to fear because our God is even more powerful than the storms and HE can calm them in a moments time? =) There is no problem/issue/storm in our lives that are more powerful the the Creator of the World. I love how we can place these (what feel like) complete opposite attributes of God together and see how they fit perfectly by the illustration He shows us through the Ocean (and even over one riding on the head of a powerful elephant =) ).

God,
you are the Power behind my every step. You are the Calmer of my heart and soul. To you I am blessed to give my entire life!

God of Deity and Detail

After Christmas I was given the opportunity to join some co-workers in a retreat up to their humble homes in Chiang Rai, Thailand. We joined their world/their families in: eating, residing with, and fellowship with the Akah tribal people. The people in their home village are mostly coffee farmers. I helped pick coffee beans for the day. It was hard work, yet it felt good to be out in creation, working a good days work (see picture of our bag full of picked coffee beans!). At the end of the day going down the mountain (back home) we all rode in the bed of the truck. One lady unwrapped her precious baby from her back. I had no idea that He was swaddled up behind her and I was surprised at the fact that she worked all day with him attached to her. So I took a picture (see the precious pic of mother and baby). This time in Chiang Rai was also spent hiking, in deep conversations with one another, in my own quality time with God, having devotional time as a group, and spending time with the children at a couple different children's homes. I could go on and on about the mishaps, the adventure, the many stories of the different activities...however, I would like to share with you How I saw our God in His Deity be revealed in every little detail.

A guy that I know wrote a song in reference to an ex-girlfriend and it repeatedly said, "I'm so sick of the details...I could care less about the details." And after my time in Chiang Rai I want to sit and have a long conversation with him letting him know that he SHOULD care about the details because GOD CARES about the details! I could of chosen to sit on top of the highest mountain, and take joy in just noticing the big picture of the beautiful landscape (which I did this too!). But, God continually showed me the beauty in the small details. In creation, I saw many types of flowers, trees, leaves, bamboo, coffee beans, fruits, etc, growing around the areas. I also sat in awe and listened to the many sounds of the birds and animals around (during different parts of the day I heard different music being played/sung by different creatures). If I didn't take time to notice these small intricate details, I would have missed some of the beauty God has shown me. We have a God who likes to have fun and He is quite an artistic, creative, musically minded person.

After noticing God in the details of these things I began to notice God's care for the families I was staying with and His care for the Children in the Children's Homes. You see He is about the details as He has a perfect plan, perfected to the tea for each individual (His sheep whom He knows by name) through their hardships, and their grief and loss. My co-worker's families have to work hard to put food on the table, to have a roof over their heads, and they seem to wear the same clothes each day. The children in the children's homes, were rescued from drug trafficking and prostitution. These individuals are being educated. The orphans, now have parental figures whom they are bonded too at the Children's Home. God cares about the details of their hardships/joys, their feelings and their future. GOD cares about the details of OUR hardships/joys, feelings, and future! We have a detailed Father in Heaven. I was Blessed to have the opportunity to notice God in the details of His creation, in the lives of others, and now in my life.

As stated before, our Father has an artistically detailed Hand. What details are you overlooking in your life? How are you going to take time to notice the the important details that God is placing in your life? What details do you feel God does not care about and they are too small to bring to Him? Problems of hardships you may be feeling? Insecurities, bad habits, hurts...God cares about even the things you may call, "too little to bring to God"! So what is holding you back? Mathew 10:30 tells us that God knows the number of hairs on our heads. This shows us that God is greatly interested in each of us. We do not not need to be afraid to talk to Him about any of our concerns-no matter how small or unimportant they might seem. Taking it a step further, as followers of Jesus, lets also not get sick of the details but, embrace them with pure Joy! I do not want anyone to be blind to this new revelation of our God and His love for the details!