Hello friends and family! Yesterday was hard. Real hard. We had a home cooked brunch of bacon and eggs, watched the Cougs pull a win in basketball against ASU, did a sunny prayer walk of the campus, and ended the day sharing dinner with a slew of Oxford-caliber speakers after church. Rough. In all reality, yesterday […]
Fight Night
I remember years ago when Jenny and I were having a “tiff;” at least I considered it more of a “tiff” than a “fight.” I don’t even remember the issue, but I do remember her saying to me several times throughout the conversation, “You’re not listening to me.” And most likely I wasn’t! At the […]
Unexpected Gifts
Some of the best things in life are the things you don’t plan for. That pit stop that turns into a favorite eating spot. The child who wasn’t planned. Surprises become something special. It’s in the nature of short-term mission trips to require flexibility, and that’s no different here in Thailand. When you’re making a […]
Medical Team Update
Another busy day for the medical team. Dr. Ian Lawson leads the morning devotional, sharing how God brought him to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Then off to one village in the morning to treat 30 villagers and then in the hot afternoon a second village for another 30+ people. The evening medical work […]
Building Christian Leadership
On Friday, our pastor training team wrapped up the training sessions by having the CHO trainers lead training sessions for the other participants about authentic love {I Cor 13:4-5} and to talk about village church ministry and share ideas. Randy Cook worked with the seven leaders to train the other village pastors and lay leaders […]
Training Photos
Training Participants: Devotion with Anita: Leader Training – Identifying Values: Leader Training – Values List: Mess Hall at Training Seminar: Trust Exercise with Randy: […]
Daily Devotions
One of the traditions for our visiting teams is to lead the daily morning devotions with the CHO staff. This week devotions include the participants in the pastor training classes. The classroom is filled with our Christian brothers and sisters, singing songs of praise and worship in the Khmer language. We recognize some familiar hymns […]
First Day of Ministry
Tuesday, our first day of ministry, the medical team traveled to a remote area near the Thailand border that was used by the army as a medical camp, and area that has never been visited by any government agency, NGO or church. This is what I saw: Hundreds of villagers eager to receive medical attention. […]
Our City
A few days ago, I made a mistake I’ve lately tried hard to avoid: I turned on the news. My senses were immediately inundated with the sights and sounds of our broken world: civil wars, terrorism, violence, racial divisions, epidemics, natural disasters, poverty, hunger, injustice. In that moment, as my heart hurt, I have to […]
The Thailand Journey Continues
We arrived in Thailand on Friday, and we were still on our way to Laytongku on Sunday. It’s one of the interesting things about partnering with ministries in remote locations. Sometimes the journey feels just as long as our time in the destination. This is very true of our partnership with the village of Laytongku […]