Family
We got covid, but symptoms are not serious, i had a soar throat this morning but its feeling much better now. Fang got a bit of a fever, and while Calvin's test showed negative, we think he had it a few days before us, but symptoms were mild. Can't say im surprised, but its not over yet, still got a few more days before we can open shop again. I cut my finger really bad and fixed it with super glue, it healed ok, but now it seems to be difficult to fold my finger, i suspect i might have cut the cartilage under the skin as well and it hasn't healed well yet. We celebrated fangs birthday on the 25th, which is the same as my moms. That was fun, calvin is not scared of the escalator at the mall anymore. Class A student of mine who has been coming for a few weeks now comes from a family who claim to be new believers. We tried to talk to them about it, and his mom is excited about saying she is, but the boy told me he thinks they are not really christian, no surprise, sinners prayer decisionistic conversion is way too common here. Regardless, i have his mothers go ahead to use scripture in my english lessons. Its always nice when i get paid to disciple someone. I can be as direct as i need to be, and go as deep as i need to. We read through by sons abcs the biggest story book last time and i plan on breaking that down page by page as the weeks go on. This is the kind of evangelism that works, teaching God's word, and letting faith come from hearing, not a false decision of the will. Pray for this young man, he wants to pass an interview to get into an expensive christian private school in bangkok, and he failed the interview once already. He told his mom he wants more time to prepare with me, so he will study with me 1 more year before he tries again. Tracts This month i finished up the tract on government, and then i started 2 more tracts, one on the great commission and the other a biblical view of fighting covering scriptures on the ethics of war, self defence, revenge, and recreational fighting for entertainment. I think the tract on the great commission will be good for unbelievers to read and see why Christians share the gospel, and also learn what the gospel is. For Christians it will be good to look into unbiblical methods of evangelism, and why we need to stick to how the bible says to share our faith. As for the fighting tract, it will cover the issue of passivism lightly and why we should be prepared to defend our families, but not involved in a bloodthirsty culture where we enjoy watching others fight. In Thailand this is often the case, men tend to be unwilling to stand up when it matters, yet many enjoy watching bloody fights. Perhaps this is because there is a time and a place, and when we don't understand the God given purpose for our fists, then everything is thrown out of balance. My home in the states is far from perfect but in the bible belt usa, old ladies and children will generally be defended by strangers if must be, this is not the case here. There is a serious lack of masculinity in Thailand because it is discouraged on a foundational level, i want young christian men to know that God designed them a particular way, and if their masculine senses start tingling, don't ignore it, you might need to do something. This tract may get reworked and expanded someday into "biblical masculinity" Building I organized the shelves i build last month, and added cleaned out the space underneath, with it all clean i was able to move the majority of the wood piled inside outside so that inside is more presentable and my benches are accessible. I will have to debark the wood soon, so maybe next month. I have already debarked what was loose. There were some leaks on the side of the house, so i fixed that, and now it is pretty much leak proof, though it overflows from the side when it pours, so ill need to fix that with some expanding foam i think. (its the gap between the gutter and the house that seems to be a problem now. I am also getting ready to finish a wooden bike that converts into a scooter, it uses only wooden bolts so Calvin will learn to convert the bike by himself. I will also include a set of wooden bolts and boards to go with it so calvin can build whatever he wants. The toy should actually hold his weight if he builds upwards, so there is potential to this toy, and as i design it, i have to consider the future and making it expandable. Conclusion We have been busy, and God has been faithful. If we are faithful to God's calling we will be fruitful. Thankyou for standing with us.
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Hi everyone, this month has been an exciting month, and a scary month, but how boring would life be without the scares? So im thankful.
Family Calvin is getting into everything, and just yesterday he snuck into the kitchen area and turned the oven on... Fang had put some pans in the oven for storage, dont ask me why, and the handles melted and smoke filled the room… So the kitchen area is now completely off limits. He put something in his mouth this morning and wouldnt spit it out… i had to stick my finger in his mouth and pull it out, it was a snack from yesterday he hid under the chair, saving it for later i guess. Please pray for us that we stay safe, and nobody gets hurt. Health Last month i overworked myself with the tree, and at the beginning of the month i woke up one morning, sat down and put my contacts in at my desk, and then looking down, i noticed a dent in my shin bone. It was an indention into my shin, and it didn't hurt so i googled it, and the results said all kinds of scary things, and i started to panic. I managed to calm myself down, but that was not a good idea, sudden loss of blood preasure caused me to completely black out, and my wife walked into the room and saw my head drooped backwards in the chair, and she managed to wake me up but i could hear nothing. I eventually gained hearing again. I need to try to relax and stay stress free. Fear of that bone problem which turned out to be nothing, almost hurt me. Please pray that i would grow in trust, and learn not to doubt or fear. On a positive note, ive been rock climbing weekly with a missionary friend here from australia, I really enjoy climbing, the challenge, and the thrill. Its important for me to stay in shape, so morning jogs and rock climbing are my main exercise. King David boasted he could scale any wall, well, if we had a time machine, id put him in a harness and put that to the test. I met another young thai believer who is new to rock climbing, and when climbing together we met a local villager who said he used to repell, so we offered to let him climb. We will probably try to contact him again when we are in the area again, and hopefully have an opportunity the share the gospel with him them. He went off on a tangent about bowing to the spirit keeper of the land before we go to repell into a big cave that he is not sure how deep is. I was going to make a comment that we don't need to bow to any spirit because our God made the cave, in hopes that we would get an opportunity to expand on that thought, but i just didnt get a chance to say anything after that. Pray for this old man and his family too. I do like it when we get the chance to witness with the head of a house, he could have dozens of grandchildren. Tracts This month i started and finished a tract on the canons of dort, or commonly refered to as tulip, the acronymn representing the 5 responses to the false doctrines of jacobus arminius that the dutch reformed church gave. I believe they provide a clear explaination of the gospel, and do so in a useful way that also casts down common false doctines of our day such as decisional regeneration, or any kind of works based salvation, or even univeralism or neouniversalism that is so common today. So in the tract, i had to come up with a new acronymn for thai, and i managed to find one, though acronymns are difficult in thai because of the nature of the language, to get a good looking acronymn you can only use unwritten vowels or อ so i came up with สลดพอ which means sad enough, and works out great to represent each point. So the slogan goes something like "the condition of man is sad enough, so lets hear the good news, the gospel". My wife says this word is used in the news, so im hoping it sounds good in conjunction with the word good news in thai. I don't have this formated or printed yet, but i have the tract with its history, scripture, and explainations all translated. I hope it is a slightly more in depth gospel tract from my shorter tract i translated from heartcry explaining the gospel, and i hope it is useful for believers to start to think about what they actually believe about the nature of salvation. I also nearly finished the tract on government, so i should wrap both of these up and maybe one more tract next month. I have a few ideas, but not sure which i will go with. Business My class is going good, i have had several good opportunities to share the gospel with students, both for the first time, and for the 10th time, so I am thankful for my business and my wifes business as very good ways to interact with new people. Today i think i really broke through with a student, i am praying that the Holy Spirit draws him in as he did with me. I taught the child how to pray, he understands the basic nature of God, why idolatry is bad, and why we need a savior to save us from hell. Most of these concepts i have to review on a regular basis. Also please pray that i have more opportunity to share with his parents about the kinds of conversations weve been having, so they don't feel uncomfortable. Building This past month and this coming month i have the daunting task of creating lots of additional storage on the side of our house. I really need to organize. I designed a system, bought the metal and installed the first part, and it worked out great, i can put way more material up there than i thought. So i will finish the last 2 parts of that system this month, and store the rest of my scrap metal and boards on those, and then i should have a nice walkway. The end of the walkway will have additional shelving which i will make simply out of old air conditioner compressor holders, and an old washing machine metal case will house recycled plastic, and on top of that i will have my shredded recycled paper storage. Then the wooden windows will be fitted with french cleats for additional shelving of meterials and inexpensive tools. I will also build a wood working workbench there as well. This should be the most economical and space saving way to use this area possible, without intruding on the neighbors half, which they just use for their air conditioner compressors, but id still rather have my half cleaned up and walkable. Conclution We are moving forward and being productive, but i need to relax and put my trust in God. God called me here, and from the day i stepped out of the airport, God has been with me every step. Really, i still remember telling the taxi driver to take me to ywam, not realizing that in a city of 10 million people, there is no way he would know, and a lady walked by, overheard, told the taxi, and off i went. God will not let me fail here in my mission to glorify Him in this nation. Thankyou for your continued prayer and support. This month has been exhausting, but i do believe victory is near.
Family Calvin is doing well, and so is Fang. Theres not much to say here other than, i am enjoying the fatherhood aspect of my life the most. Its always a blessing to come inside after hard work in the sun and be greeted by my wife and son. Calvins still not talking, but we are not worried, just saying so yall know. The tree So the neighbors cut down the huge mango tree that shaded our house, it was humongous, and they lopped the whole thing down. So naturally i went to ask them what they were doing with the wood, and they said the city is coming to throw the tree away. So when the city came, i asked them to leave the big peices and i would cut them up and use them to make furnature. I just couldn't pass that up, this is solid mango wood, a tropical hardwood that is quite pretty when finished. So i quickly ordered a chainsaw that was big enough to get through it. I managed to get several huge logs, over a hundred smaller logs, 6 giant slabs cut off the bottom trunk, i split a very log thick log in half to make benches, and i did slab a short thick log into square shaped slabs too totaling 4 short square slabs. The reason why i took the time to do this is because i believe it is our duty to take care of what God gives us, it is not right to just cut it down and let it rot anymore than it would be wrong to shoot a deer and leave him to rot. I can use this wood to make furnature after it dries, and the work to do that is fairly simple and straight forward using an electric hand planer and a carving disk on an angle grinder followed by sanding. I have glued the ends to slow drying to prevent cracks. I have installed sprinklers on the roof now to keep this building cool now that we down have that tree for shade anymore. This project has taken the better part of this week, and i am exhausted. Now with most of the wood sealed and stored, i just have to let it sit and dry for several months to a year before i can start making things. I believe this project, because of the size of the tree, factors into my recycle everything business plan, so this is part of my long term tent making strategy, something i can pass onto others. Tracts I have only a few ideas for tracts now, so i asked Fang which one i should do next, and she said government, so i am doing a tract on how the scripture covers government, both good and bad, and how christians should live while under both. This one is probably the topic i have struggled the most with, I believe strongly in the freedoms we americans have grown up with, and have moved to a country where defamation, as defined as anything that offends someone else in public, regardless of whether it is true or opinion, or whatever the case may be, has a higher penalty than selling drugs or theft. Technically speaking a preacher could go to jail for calling out someones sin publically as is occationally nessesary according to scripture. So i find it difficult to submit to these ungodly idolatrous people, i find it even harder to accept that they have been given authority by God. Pray for me that i would have wisdom to share what the scriptures say in a helpful way, that would help me work through some of this for myself as well. The other tracts that i mentioned last month are all printed up and available for everyone. Class I will say that this has been the most interesting part of my ministry this month. I have very long and in depth conversations with the student i told you of last month, he is very curious and asks questions, which is good for me if the students are the ones initiating the conversations about these subjects. Its one concept at a time with this kid, but i am able to build on previous lessons. The 1 God who is everywhere at the same time concept seems to be understood now. Pray for this kid. I have a class of 12 year olds too, and they come with their questions as well, questions about God, the 10 commandments, ghosts, and more. I am slowly putting together some additional flashcard sets to make talking about religious concepts easier with my students. Conclution At the same time that we work to survive this pandemic, we are preparing for the future as well, preparing for a time in the future of higher productivity. I am working on and practicing evangelism and gospel sharing techniques, including creating spesific educational resources to help me explain these concepts with students, including their own religious practices, which all too often, even fluent thai english speakers are not able to talk about in english. Last night, Fang and I were talking about mid life crisis and why neither of us have had one, and we agree that because we don't do things like the world or chase the same things that the world chases, a house, a car, other things that rack up debt, we have been able to get through this pandemic without serious loss, and have even been able to build (though at a slower pace than wanted), and our focus has been on the end goal, God recieving glory from Thais in nst, not on things that do not last. There are all kinds of things we do to gain opportunity with people, so we can share God's truth with them, no matter if its baking bread every morning, or making furnature with the neighbors tree, but our focus is never on these material things we deal with, which is why we can be content whereever God puts us. Stress is way too common in our house, but no matter what happens, we have a lasting joy that sustains us. Thankyou to everyone who prays for us and supports us, thankyou for walking with us. Hi everyone, hope you are doing well. This is my update for this past month of April. In this newsletter you can read what we've been up to, and how we are moving forward both in the long term and short term, so that you can know how to pray for us. We need you prayers, it is not easy living here, and it takes a regular returning to the original calling and purpose for being here that keeps us healthy, and moving strong. Put simply, we love others because God first loved us.
Family It is very hot here in nst now, and that means we are a bit more sickly. Fang is sneezing cause of the air conditioner, and I always have a migraine due to the heat, both problems are very difficult to solve, and they add stress to our house. Calvin is doing quite well, and now loves to yell and turn in circles, especially to his favorite songs, (currently jumpstart3 bible verse videos) We took a small trip to the mountains one weekend, and calvin had a blast playing in the river and tiny waterfalls. Meanwhile he is terrified of the escalator lol. Business This month my business is doing well, and fangs bakery is suffering, but it will likely flip when schools open. I currently have one student who is the nephew of one of my first private students in nst, he studies for 2 hours, and always has lots of good questions. I'd like you all to pray for him, because the past few classes have very much turned into discipleship sessions, he is young, but im hoping the truth we talk about will stick with him. I also had a return student who now doesn't speak during the day but only speaks at night. Her grandmother talked with fang while she was in class with me, and told fang she has only been like this for 3 months, and thinks someone cast a spell on her. That again puts me in an awkward position but, like i should, i will lay hands on her and pray for her every class, and if it is by some demonic force that she is mute, then she will speak, and she will give glory to God. Pray for her as well, her mother is a doctor, so it seems strange that they should believe it to be a curse if they haven't exhausted all other possibilities. I finished writing a little phonics booklet explaining common misconceptions and common mispronunciations, and why i believe this is the root cause for a lack of english proficiency in Thailand. At the end of that booklet i leave a bible verse, and invite them to take a look at my other tracts, pointing out the fact that if there is this much misconception and false teaching in the english classroom, and so wide spread throughout the country, then surely there are other more significant misconceptions that need to take priority as well. I believe that missionaries need to make practical contribution in order to help give us some credit with the locals, no matter if this is medical, or scientific, or intellectual, or some more practical contribution. Judson wrote the first English Burmese dictionary for example. Ministry I added a tract shelf in the bakery to display the tracts, now anyone can pick the tract that grabs their attention. I also redid the covers, so now every tract has an additional gospel message to reiterate what they read in the tract itself, and the back of the front cover is for notes. We finally finished and printed the God is real tract, and have it up on the site. I finished both God is good, and God is Love, but have not formated or printed them yet. These 3 tracts go together. We have had several good evangelism outings, and i am plumb out of cards, so ill need to make more. We must have handed out somewhere between 2000- 3000 gospel verse cards now, to all the houses and businesses within a 5 km radius of our house. Reaching the whole city within a few years is actually looking possible. I wish there was some way to see if traffic to bible.com has increased from our city at all in the past few months. (if you know how to find information like that tell me) Building Our water pump is shot again, so im going to redo everything like it should be, and add a water tank next to the house, and pump from there (actually this is how you are supposed to do it, i just haven't got around to it since ive been here), and i will add a sprinkler to the roof while im at it, this will allow fang to turn on the roof sprinkler at various times of the day when its sunny, and cool off the roof. We have a friend who does this, and it works rather well. In the future, id like to collect rain water, but im not going to do that now, too much work, but i may do some planning, and minor prep for that as well. I will also be glueing up a workbench countertop for the other side of the house, this will be a woodworking bench, i am making it with scrap wood. Conclusion We have been busy, and will be busy, but we take time every week to rest and reflect, and study Gods word, refocus and start again. This is labor, but if we are faithful to what God has called us to, it is not in vain. Thankyou to all who keep us in prayer, and support us. Hi everyone, hope you are doing well. Our family is enjoying life in the service of our king. This month we have been very busy, its one of those months where you sit back and rest at the end and think "gosh, i got a lot done"
Family Calvin is having fun learning about the world around him, he is extremely energetic, and i mean he's a little ball of energy. I suppose i should have known this from a few months old, even before he could walk, he would wake up and immediately stand before fully awake. Now he wakes up, stands, and starts pointing around the room as if he wants someone to tell him what that thing is, mind you, he's alone in the room usually when he wakes up from a nap. I have no idea what is normal for kids, but I've been teaching little kids long enough to know that little kids are extremely different at an early age. Calvin loves to listen to worship music any time, in fact its the only thing sure to make him stop crying if he is fussy. Fang and i are doing well as well, it is our 4th anniversary this month, we were married on the 2nd of April, 4 years ago, on a beautiful mountain in new zealand. Now we are building a family together here in Thailand. Love does grow in time, i love her more now than ever. Ministry Its been raining a lot, and there have been days when we were just too tired after closing shop, so we haven't been out as often this month, please pray that we do continue the habit of evangelism in the evening. As far as tracts go, i did finally finish the God is real tract, and translated it, and fang checked it, so it will be printed and up on the site shortly. I will follow this one with 2 more, God is good (focusing on the justice of God) and God is love (focusing on the mercy of God) i believe that these 3 tracts will be useful to take someone from thinking Christianity is foolishness, to seriously considering that Christianity is the truth. The first tract was difficult because of the amount of research and extra-biblical sources, but that is what is needed for someone who does not yet believe in the validity of the scriptures. I added a new sign on the window inviting anyone interested to a Bible study on Saturday, no one has mentioned interest yet, but im hoping someday. Please pray for guidance for me, i believe i should be doing more video related resources, perhaps based on the tracts ive been making, also subtitled videos like ive done before as well. It will take more time, and id have less time to do the tracts, but i want to balance resources so that i can reach more people. Business I spent a few mornings slicing apples, and dehydrating them, bagging them to sell, also dried some herbs and made a test batch of jerky. We adjusted our sourdough recipe and its better than ever, now we are keeping it in the fridge. We are also getting ready to add icecream to the menu as some customers come in with a sweat tooth and all we usually have are cookies and brownie crisps which fang makes when she has time. I made some papercrete containers which turned out awesome, so ill be making more with this recipe, and hopefully this will add a bit more stability for us when students stop coming for whatever reason. I added a crashpad around the rock climbing wall for safety. I have been meaning to do this for a while but just got around to it. Hopefully we can add meat curing and canning to the list of things we do before we start getting ready to hire our first employee, we need lots of work that can add instant profit so we can pay their salary when we get around to it. Keep the bakery in mind too when you pray for us. My class is doing ok, though due to another covid outbreak kids disappeared again, im getting frustrated but learning to work around it. Some have started coming back so hopefully others will too. I have a couple new students i really like including 2 boys who are cousins and study together, one goes to an english program school and the other regular. The boy who goes to the english program school thinks he knows it all and the kid who doesn't know much is very curious and listens to everything i say, remembering always to pronounce his th sound, and final s and ed sounds, which are usually difficult for thai kids, im so impressed i brag on him all the time, i love the story of the uneducated kid who ends up wiser in the end because of humble curiosity. I have a 10 commandments sign in my room and have walked through it with them, he remembers not to take the lords name in vain, and not to worship idols. The law is the foundation we must explain before we point out our sinfulness and Gods sacrifice for us. Pray for my students that even though i may not be able to explain everything in detail, that the seed of the gospel would grow in their heart and one day make them believe. Conclusion We strive to live our lives in this place for the glory of God and the good of those around us. Pray that the davis name would be a light in this place for centuries to come, that some of my children would stay here and carry on the work we have started. Pray that others would join us in our mission of service and form a gospel centered, bible believing church led by locals, not just me. Pray that our businesses would grow the way they should, to support our ministry, and church for years to come. Thankyou for those of you who support us in prayer and giving. Family
We are doing well this month. I think both fang and I agree that married life gets so much easier when you have kids. Calvin is such a smart boy, and is constantly learning, by intentionally setting a good example for him, we are nicer to each other, and things go so smoothly. Also learning to be a good father means asking what would father God do? WWFD? When the bible uses language like father, and calvin is young and reading for himself, i want him to understand that God is his father, and i want that to be a positive thing for him. Later in life he will learn how imperfect i was as a father, but i pray that i can reflect as much as possible. Tracts Finished a tract on child discipline, a tract on gluttony, and a tract on Satan and evil spirits. That last one there i finished it first because we had a weird message from a lady about studing english, when fang looked at her profile picture, found out she was part of a group that asks evil spirits to possess their bodies so they can take on special abilities. You may have seen the parades in phuket where they take spikes and put them through their arms and legs and neck and apparently don't feel pain, well this is that group, so i didn't want to be empty handed when they came, i prepared a tract, and studied up in case i had to do an exersism. They didn't come however, but the tract goes right along with the conversation i had with that christian lady we met while handing out tracts if you remember. Deliverance is an important topic. I am now wrapping up the tract on "How do we know God is real" which i may rename to God is real, and follow it with 2 more, God is good (or just) and God is love. I have a note on my board i forgot about, and think these three would be like an expanded form of my basic gospel tract for more serious readers. The God is real tract tackles the topic from a scientific point of view, a historical point of view, and an experiencial point of view where i mainly give percentages and statistics regarding numbers of christians accross the globe. Its been difficult to put together, and im waiting on fang to finish checking, but i really feel that this tract is a good starter for the modern skeptic who really doesn't believe there is a God. Evangelism We have not been out as often this month because fangs back is hurting, and she can not take medicine due to breastfeeding calvin, so we are thinking about weaning him off. We covered a few more streets, including a friend of fangs, and had a few breif conversations with people who seemed interested and receptive. Health I have been running in the mornings, hoping to start running every morning so that I can get my time up and set a good example for my son, and take care of this body God gave me as i get a bit older. Seems that my stomach has been slightly better since running, not sure if it is cooralated however. Business I've been teaching more, and my new students are great, pray for me to find a clever way to share the gospel clearly and effectively without scaring anyone off. I need students to pay the bills here. Ive been thinking through some methods that have worked before, and thinking of doing childrens books on the parables of Jesus starting with the gospel more centric ones, and moving on from there. Building Finished the pool table completely and my work benches are 90% complete, including a small table saw and a router table. Im hoping that soon i will be able to create a 3rd income source to help offset the risk of loosing students when i share the gospel with them. Conclution All around we have had a good month, and are moving forward. We hope you are all doing well and are thankful for your continued prayers and support. Family
This month has been a particularly happy month, however quite busy. We are continuing to grow together in this family unit God has put together for us. There is so much to learn about being a good husband and a good father, and i am so weak, and there are so few who do things right, but God is teaching me, and i am thankful that my parents and grandparents laid a wonderful example, when i doubt im inclined to fall back on what my grandfather or father would have done. That makes me nervous too, because someday Calvin is going to be doing the same thing. Imperfect men trying to be a visible reflection of Christ in this world, at least we are trying. My prayer is always that I would lead my family in the right direction and have wisdom to prioritize everything in the most godly manner. Calvin is growing and developing well. He has started to pretend play by himself, and loves it when we join in. He loves books, and is starting to grow more patient as i read the whole book to him. When he throws a tantrum, he can control his breathing now and stop crying, i really don't know what i am doing but tantrums seem to be the most ungodly thing 1 year olds do, so i don't put up with them. He knows he can always depend on us for love and affection as he needs. I love this boy so much, and i pray he becomes an evangelist and preacher in this country someday. Evangelism We have been handing out verse cards a few days a week as we are able, and calvin loves the walk, my hope is that he remembers these walks and evangelism is a natural part of his faith when he grows older. We came across a street that had several believers on it, because one lady came to faith due to her experience with her haunted house. Im pretty sure that was a divine encounter, she was outside picking leaves off some tree, or we would have never met her, God wanted to encourage us in this thing we do. God works through family is a huge part of this, think of Abraham. I am reminded how important it is for us to continue to share with fangs family. Tracts I know i said i was going to try to get more done this month, and once again ive been slow, but the tract im working on has been getting longer and more complicated too. The God is real tract is going to be great, but it is about twice as long as expected now, so i decided im not going to rush it, i don't need the stress, ill take my time, research well, translate carefully, and do a good job, this is one of those tracts most people will choose to take home. Then i got most of a second tract on child discipline done, and i am brainstorming a tract on evil spirits, mainly because i think a lot of folks here have this kind of experience, and they need to know Jesus has authority. Business My class is going well, and fangs business is doing better this month, things are starting to look brighter. We might have enough money to put one of those portable airconditioners in our bedroom this month, we've been sleeping in the heat for too long. Building I am finally wrapping up the pool table and my work benches, i have the cloth on, and all thats left is glueing up the bumpers, adding the cloth around those, and putting some threaded inserts to fasten them to the sides snugly, and then adding the topper which will be a pingpong table. My hope is that this will be a conversation place, i have some memories of a counselor i saw when i was a boy who would play pool which talking with me, and it works, so hopefully it will create a casual atmosphere where i can engage in evangelism with customers on a one by one basis. Standing and sitting talking, and dropping the "no one is perfect, all people are sinners" line is a bit awkward. Thankyou Thankyou for praying and supporting us, and walking with us as we share the good news of hope in this dark place. Merry Christmas and happy new year! I hope everyone had a wonderful time together with family, in remembrance of the birth of the Messiah. I look forward to a new year, hopefully it will be better than this past year. (I say this cause we are all thinkin it, but at the same time, i am thankful for 2021, it was an interesting year, full of many life lessons and warnings that have been a long time coming.)
Family We had a wonderful christmas, and were able to exchange gifts, calvin got several books, among other things and he loves so much, he runs with a grin and a giggle every time i say "ya wanna read a book?", fang got a couple machines that she is enjoying now among other things, and my favorite give was a tap and die for larger wooden rods (1 1/3 inch diameter) which works wonders, ill be able to make amazingly interesting table and chair legs as well as adjustable stools, and sell them on the side to support us, and hopefully others in the ministry here. Fangs sister and her son are back in town to celebrate new years, pray for us as we share with her again as well. Evangelism We have been going out a few times a week, and it feels increasingly normal and comfortable, which is what I prayed for. Its a habit every missionary should have, both domestic and abroad, but i assume its not very common unless you belong to a cult. God is giving me boldness to strike up longer and longer conversations. Yesterday it started to rain and we got caught up under an awning with an elderly couple and were able to share quite a bit with them, he was even familiar with churches on the far ends of town that are less known or hidden, which supprised me. I hope the tract is a blessing for him and others we were able to share with this month. Its hard work, but thats why Jesus called it labor. Calvin loves it, and to me that is just the icing on the cake, i really want him to grow up with this habit so that there is nothing strange about striking up conversations with strangers to share the gospel and a tract. Tracts I still wish i could get more done, so im trying to work out a method, calvin takes so much of my time, and i love my time with him, but i do need to work too, so pray for wisdom here. Id like to get 4 tracts done per month, about 1 per week. 1 day for drafting and initial english version, day 2 for translation, day 3 for wrap up, graphic design, and formating, day 4 for reordering and printing. 1-3 hours a day is good enough, and this would allow me to get at least 1 per week done. I got 2 and a half done this week. 1 on marriage and 1 on christmas, and half of the God is real track done. Hopefully ill get a couple more tracts done next month too. Business I have a few more students, which is good, and fang is doing a little better as well this month. We were able to pay for the installation of a second air conditioner unit in her room in preparation for the hot season, fangs mom gave her that machine, so we are thankful. I am getting ready to make more candles, and do some concrete desk organizers and flower pots for sale as well, and soon will add some woodwork to my brand. After that, ill work on making some displays and then officially brand and make a fb page and so on. Right now i want to test peoples interest, recycled glass candles were a hit, so ill do more of those for sure. Again, my mind in all this work is to not only provide for ourself and support our ministry, but also prepare ourselves to teach others who would join us, and let them use our space and tools to follow in our lead, providing for themselves so they can do ministry as a vocation. Thankyou again for you continued prayers and support. Hi everyone, hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving!
This thanksgiving i again was brought back to the importance of being thankful. Life here is difficult but it is also a great blessing to be able to spend my life for something eternal in an age where everything is so superficial. Be thankful always, and in all circumstances, how many times is this theme repeated in scripture? When we practice regular thankfulness, we grow in contentment, and happiness, and our ability to serve without growing exhausted is renewed. I have a lot to be thankful for, my ministry, the work we have finished, my family, an amazing wife who was truly hard to find, but i found her and seemingly knew she was mine the moment i laid eyes on her. My son is a constant joy, and he honors his parents even unknowingly, he bows to greet everyone who walks in the door, and waves bye when they leave, he obeys when i say no, and has already learned to follow my instruction. In spite of this difficult covid season, we remain dept free and able to move forward. Almost surreal, we watch other businesses go under, yet we, who have never done particularly well, are still alive. Its as if God gives us a kind of supernatural stability that is less than wealth but is always enough. I don't want to say this kind of provision will always be the case, but we know this is Gods blessing for us now, and we are constantly aware and thankful for Gods care of us. Evangelism We have been handing out cards and tracts as you know, and due to heavy rain we haven't been able to go as often. It is so cool here now which is nice, but some areas are flooding like happens almost every year. When it stops raining we will be back at it in the evening. Tracts I finished the chapters memorizations cards, I decided for a a5 piece of cardstock with the chapters sized to fit on one sheet both sides. This is good to save paper, but also allows me to print the same sheet on a4 for elderly or visually impaired, so they can join in the challenge as well. Not sure when i get to implement it but ill have them in my bag for anytime i can challenge believers to memorize a whole chapter. I have picked out 30 or 31 (i forget) chapters most fitting to be memorized in their entirety. I also finished the 10 commandments tract. My plan for this coming month is to translate a scientific article on the creation of the universe and the implications of a actual beginning to everything being that if everything physical had a beginning, the cause must be nonphysical, and infinite in many different ways. I figure having at least one or 2 articles for people who just won't listen to scripture yet is good. However it is worth noting that it is rare for me to come across someone who will reject scripture, most people don't know enough, and because of the traditions on catholicism being so similar to buddhism, likely because of a long history of imitation, most folks here are under the impression any religion is good, and there is no need to seek further, so under normal circumstances just giving them some scripture to read for themselves is enough to show them the vast difference and hopefully make them ask deeper questions. However there is a group of younger people who have rejected buddhism or at least are not practicing, and would call themselves non-religious. I met a couple customers in this group, and its not the first time, this is a growing group in thailand, and i think the church should be ready to answer them as well. I might do a couple tracts on moral issues like gluttony or lust as well. Family Calvin usually likes music, there is nothing new here, but recently he has taken a liking to me singing to him again, so id like to dig up old tunes ive written, and try to write some more as well, and organize them. I also had the opportunity to finish calvins first 6 months video, cut down, it ended up being 2 and 1/2 hours long, but the next 6 months have more pictures and less video i think so hopefully that will be a much quicker video to make. It will be good to get that out of the way. Also is really nice to look back on how much he has grown. We are doing well as a family, working together, growing together. I really love my family. Business Fangs bakery is holding on, its strange, some days it seems like we do extremely well, and others its almost silent. I have got a few new students thankfully, so im able to help pay the bills, and for christmas gifts for the family. I am thankful for this as well. Building I really didn't build much this month, this coming month i will probably try to make some things to sell if i find the time, maybe some more glass bottle candles and some paper-crete desk organizers. Thankyou Thankyou for everyone who prays for us, pray that our work will be fruitful, and that someone will come ready to seek Jesus with us. Pray that parents, students, and customers will be good soil when i plant seeds there. Pray that we would have new coworkers, (or that old coworkers would come around more often and plan for the future with us.) Thankyou for those who support us financially, we couldn't do this without you. Merry Christmas to everyone, I hope you and your families have a joyful time this time of the year. Hi everyone, here for another update. We have had a good month walking in faith where God has called us. Thankyou for your continued prayer and support!
Evangelism This month we have been going almost everyday. I have mapped out the streets and we are taking them one by one, handing them to people walking, or at businesses, or putting them in peoples mailboxes, leaving a few on peoples front porch tables. We have had only a few conversations, but one that stood out was a man sitting on his front porch alone, when we handed him the verse card, he asked "which denomination are you from", and we had a long conversation from there, and he asked for a bible too, and i handed him a few longer verse tracts on various things, and he looked happy to receive them, then we invited him to join us on Saturday for our bible study, and he promised he would come, so i guess we will see if he comes tomorrow. If we can have a conversation like this every week, then surely His sheep will come, we simply have to go find them. I suppose its no surprise most reject, but even then, its a seed planted and that one verse might play in their head until they can not sleep at night. Last night we handed a card to another restaurant owner who knows fang, and her restaurant is very old and has always been popular in this city, we had the opportunity to invite her as well, and she asked for our address, so who knows. Pray for her as well. We are taking Calvin with us, and he loves it, he waves at people, and loves the walk. My hope is that evangelism will seem less strange for him, and will be something that Christians naturally do in the evenings or whenever they get a chance. Tracts I got the track on the bondage of the will finished, printed and cut. And the rest of this month I have spent trying to finish 38 chapters of scripture for memorization. It really shouldn't take this long but I wanted to space things differently, not spaced based on verses but based where it makes sense for memorization. On top of these 38 chapters, I started a ten commandments tract. And that will be three parts, the purpose of the law, The ten commandments themselves, and other verses that add to and clarify each of the ten commandments. I really think that the ten commandments is something everybody knows exists but almost nobody really knows what they are, and for Thai people I think it would be very beneficial for them to pick up and read it, a summary of Christian morality, along with the clear statement of our inability and need for God's grace. Family Calvin is doing very well, he has finally started saying Dada more often, followed by Papa, then Dada again, so we know he probably knows what it means. And he's also started to say Mae more frequently along with Mama, so again he's getting the correlation. He does reply to questions now with yah yah and a head nod… it's pretty dang cute. Business Business is still pretty slow for fang but she's getting by, and I've actually got a few new students, so that's really nice as well. They have absolutely no foundation, so it's good for me to practice teaching from scratch as well. It keeps me humble, because I was the same way in Spanish class I guess. Building I think I'll finally be able to finish my workbenches and the pool table this month. My Hope is that the pool table will be in conversation helper. They work benches will help in increase the speed of my work there, and the amount that I can do. I also need a new table for my wife's customers for the front room. Can't wait till there's really not that much to do… it's actually starting to seem like that will be the case soon. Conclusion Thanks again for everyone who prays for us and supports us, it really does help us to move forward and take steps needed to be able to effectively plant churches now and in the future. |
AuthorMy name is Kaison, my wife is Kritti, our children are Calvin and Abigail, we are a missionary family living in Nakhon si thammarat Thailand for the longhaul. I want to start blogging regularly but pretty sure the posts will be pretty random about things i think are not being covered at all, or family related updates. So follow along and leave a comment, i love comments, thankyou. Archives
January 2024
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