New rhythms.

August started out with a move to the other side of town for us! God provided a townhouse for us to rent through a friend of a friend, and it has been such a blessing to settle in and get to know a new part of Lopburi and the people here. Thai culture is so warm and community-driven, so it doesn't seem to take long to form new friendships and build some level of trust. 

This may be the only time in our lives when it was an option to move the majority of our belongings by loading up our motorbikes! It isn't uncommon to see trucks and motorbikes packed to the brim here in Thailand, so it was a fun experience for us to do it "Thai" style.

Our home is at the end of the row, so we have some outdoor space as well, which has been a gift!

Our new home came furnished with these traditional Thai wooden couches, which are so fun. This is a picture of the living room at our new place. All of you are welcome to visit us anytime! ;)

We are both continuing to study Thai with private language coaches, and thankful to see slow but steady growth. Language learning is still a main priority for us, as gospel sharing, evangelism, discipleship, and being active members of the local church all hinge on the ability to understand and communicate well. We have acknowledged many times over the past year that there is no shortcut to learning a language -- you just have to put the time in, and be willing to learn from the constant mistakes you make! 

This month has brought with it deeper relationships within our church community here, which has been sweet. This is a newly married young couple that goes to our church that we have been able to connect with some! 

As our ability to communicate has grown, and God has provided more opportunities to deepen relationships with local believers, we feel we are beginning to get a better picture of the state of the church in Thailand and its needs more specifically. Thailand is a country with around 1% of its population being evangelical Christian. The church here is small, and often very shallow as we see a lack of discipleship and commitment to sincere Bible study and application. This month specifically, we have been able to see another layer deeper into Thai culture regarding their views of gender and sexuality, and how pervasive the devil's deception is in this area especially, even in the church. 

It is sometimes tempting to feel discouraged by the task that stands before the church here, but we know that God is totally able to unveil the eyes of the deceived and use His word to purify His bride. We are also so encouraged by the Christians here that we have been able to build relationships with who are walking closely with the Lord and show the fruit of surrendered lives to Him, changed by the gospel. We know we can trust the Lord of the harvest to build His church in this land, and ask you all to pray with us to this end!

One opportunity God has given us that we did not anticipate is the kids in our new neighborhood! We would not have said that "children's ministry" was something that we felt a specific burden for when moving to Thailand, but these are some of the souls that God has placed in our life in this current season. We have started playing games with them and sharing stories from the Bible each week at our house. They have been great language coaches as well, as they are not afraid to correct our mispronounced words or tell us when they don't understand what we're trying to say. ;) 

PRAISES & PRAYER REQUESTS:

- praise God for providing an abundance of new relationships and opportunities this month!

- praise God for providing a wonderful new home for us to live in! 

- praise God for bringing us through 3 years of marriage! Today is our anniversary.  💗

- pray for us as we sort through the complexities of living and working in Thailand. Co-laboring with others who have differing opinions and interpretations of scripture is a challenge and we desperately need clarity from the word of God and wisdom from His Spirit to navigate it.

- pray for our friend, Bird, who we met through the prison ministry. He told us 2 weeks ago that he is no longer a Christian.

- pray for the Holy Spirit to work conviction and sanctification in the church in Thailand! Pray that we would be sensitive to His conviction in our own lives as well.

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God, and not to us." (II Corinthians 4:7)