As I write this update, I am sitting in my bedroom where I have spent most of the day. It must have been the cold water from the baptism that did me in. I have had a fever most of the day even though right now I am feeling much better. I just finished eating some “mama” which is the Thai equivalent of noodle soup but with lots of peppers added to it.
It is Christmas Eve and Hope and the boys are over at a friend’s house for dinner and I needed to rest and not spread my germs. I want to thank all of you who have been praying for us and reading these updates each day. I pray that they have helped you to see what an awesome God we serve and how deeply our Lord loves all these unreached peoples living in and around Northern Thailand and how He has invited us to join Him in His great work.
Today, I want to ask you to join us in praying for missionaries like David & Dianne Ford and their family and missionaries like Lesa Morgan, Kim Matthews, Vern and Audrey McCauley, our family and many others just like us who serve on the field for an “indefinite” time. I think I speak for most of us when I say that this is a time of year that is a time of high emotional strain and adjustment. We are deeply emotionally connected to our friends, our coworkers, and the people we have come here to serve, but our hearts also long to be with our families and friends back home. I would love to walk up to my mother and give her a hug and say “Merry Christmas Mom. I love you.” I would love to go over to my brother’s house for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and have a meal and celebrate Christmas with both of our families. Those are desires that we have tugging at our hearts this time of year in a way that is just hard to pen. Please understand your missionaries that are long term missionaries. This is the time of year that they really do have struggles and they really do need your love and your support.
Pray for them. Yes. Pray for them earnestly. They need your prayers. But do not stop there. Write them an email. SEND THEM A CHRISTMAS CARD. Send them a care package. Send their children a small gift for Christmas. Make a small donation on their behalf expressing your support of their mission. Reach out to your missionaries this Christmas in a meaningful way.
Prayer Example:“Lord, we thank You for raising up people who are willing to follow You wherever You lead them to go. We thank You for the Johnsons, the Fords, the McCauleys, for Lesa and for Kim and for many others who serve You in Northern Thailand. We thank You for the reminder that they really do struggle during this time of year. Please help their families understand the call God has placed on their lives and help our missionaries to rest in Your perfect plan for their lives. Help us, Lord, not to forget them but to reach out to them in a special way this year. May You wrap each of our missionaries and their children in Your arms of love and bless them in a special way. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.”&nbs
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