First of all, merry christmas to all, and happy newyear. I hope everyone had a good time with family and friends.
Family We had a great holiday, and calvin has been trying to talk more than anything else. He is making vowel sounds and trying to mimic us, as well as responding to speech, and trying to join in the conversation when he hears someone talking. He entertains customers, both mine and fangs. He has started laughing occationally while awake. He has laughed in his sleep several times, but a couple weeks ago he started hickuping and i teased him, and he thought that was the funniest, poor boy trying to laugh and hickup at the same time lol. He loves christmas lights, especially the blinking ones. Calvin enjoys his gifts. Yesterday when singing in the morning, Calvin mumbled along every time i started to sing, so i think its his attempt to sing which is cool. Calvin has started to push himself up into a crawling position but hasn't figured out how to crawl yet. He also hasn't been able to repeat that roll over he did a month ago, but it looks like he is getting close. He scratches habitually, its kind of funny. He scratches fang and i as well. Business Business is doing ok, and we are able to pay our bills. But both of us are going to have to focus on promoting our businesses so that we can grow even in this tough economic time. TTT I got 1 tract completely checked and translated, i will upload that in 2 languages this time, another has about 3 things i still need to translated before its done, 1 that needs to be completely translated, and 1 more i thought id have done this month but i didn't. I might be getting slightly faster on average, but not nearly as much as id like. I woke up way early this morning to get a headstart and that helped a lot, i will probably start doing this regularly so i can get started before noon. The tracts take time mainly because of sifting though scripture to do with a particular topic, organizing them in the way that makes the most sense and will be the most helpful, and then going back and organizing them by order, and relavence, and then translating the verses (copy and paste) and then translating the headings, and explainations (takes more time). I spend maybe 2 hours to 3 hours on the days i have some free time, but other days i just can't make time. I hope i will get more time as Calvin grows older and becomes more independent. But i got done what i could, and i learned a lot while doing so, so im thankful. Building I finally started finishing the side of the house for fang, it is an area i added a concrete counter outside of the window in the storage room, right behind her kitchen, it is a "mess zone" where she can deep fry and cook without having the smoke come inside where the customers are sitting, however, it is still not enclosed, so everything we place out there we have to take in in the evening. I have been working on using some boards i salvaged from the roof replacement, to enclose this area, and im almost done, so a few more days of work and it should be done, and i can add the door for breathing, and add the glass panel for a window, and then pour the final concrete finish for the counter when everything else is done. Ill add some shelves too. After this is done, im sure i will have more time for other things. But having this dedicated area for all fangs cooking machines out of the way is important. After im done with this, i can begin with construction of some additional shelf space in the storage room for storage of bulk products like flour, oil, vinagar, drinks, and anything we buy in bulk, this will also help fangs work. Church We have met some new friends who are moving here later, and they want to join our group on saturday, so thats great. For christmas, i got a computer i can look up to the projector i already have, this is good because my current computer is not compatible, but i dont want the projector to just sit there, i bought it for showing christian movies in the village back when i lived in the country, but now i don't use it. I will use this computer almost exclusively for the church and ministry, and maybe my class from time to time when it comes in handy. Having a projector that works will really help during worship. One of the projects i have on my list, but im waIting to finish right now is putting together a bilangual hymnal that has only the good hymns ;) , and in both languages side by side. Ill make a slideshow or something with it when im done, so that it is easy to view from the projector. And our friend who will join us has affirmed us in our desire to meet every morning… how thats going to work… we're not going to rush it, but going about it prayerfully, hoping that God makes a way. (and God has already done such because my son is ussually in a wonderful mood in the morning, as long as we have a bottle waiting for him.) Thanks again for your prayer and support, and merry christmas from Calvin, Fang, and I.
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Hi everyone, hope you are doing well. This year has been a very strange year, and i want to encourage everyone to stay in God's word, and practice thankfulness in your daily prayer, this is how i am staying joyful in the midst of very stressful times. I feel like things are moving faster and faster as time goes on, and soon we will loose control and crash, but lets remember that things do have to get worse, but what the devil means for evil, our great God means for our good. That being said, this is an update into our life and ministry here in nst, and our plans for next month and the long term. Calvin Calvin is strong, and developing quickly, he is smiling all the time, and even making speech sounds which he makes then waits for a response, when i repeat his sound, he makes a new one, and it goes on for 4-10 sounds before he gets bored. I decided to go ahead and teach him phonics, i know its a bit early to learn to read, but he has wonderful attention, and smiles as i make the sounds, so i think he can begin to learn now, and it will come back soon, could speed his language learning, which we do need to do since most bilangual kids speak slower. I wrote a few songs for him, i will tidy them up, and have them on my website in the future with sheet music. I plan to continue to put scripture to old hymns and keep them coming, no more than a few a month however, so that i don't overwhelm myself, and make sure i have enough artistic freedom to tweak and even rewrite. I trust he will be singing scripture as soon as he can talk. Fang I figured I would give everyone an update about my wife, since some friends wanted to know how she was doing after the pregnancy. Simply put, she is doing great, and Calvin is bringing her a lot of joy. She didn't experience any postpardom depression, or anything like that, and we both sleep well at night. She is working hard, and the bakery is doing well. We should have the rent paid on time this coming month, and thats really refreshing. Fang is really going to be a wonderful mother, and I am very thankful i married her. Ministry God is training me up slower than i would like, but i trust it is all part of Gods plan, and these trying times are only good for me, God's rod keeps me safe from the devil, and more dangerous pits. God has seemingly opened doors for me to minister with many people back home, people i haven't thought about ministering to before. Its as if i am being told to minister with those you know, in the language you are fluent in, as part of your learning process to minister people you don't know very well, in a language you are not fully fluent in yet. So please pray that i would be faithful with God's direction here. TTT The tracts are coming, i think i finally got a bit of a system with it, but the system needs tweaked. I need to step back and put them all in english too for one, and then i need to categorize some of the tracts, and create a versioning system so i can update them from time to time, i will also have them on the site, each will be displayed for download on the homepage, and will eventually have an individual page for viewing as well. I want to have a place where people can fill out, or upload their own as well, so that in the future, as this grows, we can have more people working on this, and i'll just focus on formating, printing, and cutting. This month i finished the tracts on eternal damnation, and the trinity, they will be up soon after formatting. I started a tract on islam which takes a different approach, in it i address first the verses in the quran which talk about the bible, (they speak positively), second, i provide proof that the canon we have today seriously predates islam, and conclude that the bible we use today is not corrupt or the quran would have said so, then i finish off with the false teachings of islam one by one, answered by scripture, presenting verses more gospel centered at the end, and conclude with a call for faith and repentance. This tract will take a while, but ill keep working on it. I also started a tract on prayer and thanksgiving (which i hope to address how to pray, with an emphasis consistent with scripture on thanksgiving in our prayer) and i also started one on fear and peace. Church We hope to start traveling to church on fridays again now that calvin is a bit stronger, it might be a bit difficult at first, but i think it is important to be a part of it if we can. I also am wanting to have worship and scripture reading daily open to anyone, here at the shop, early in the morning, maybe 7 or 8, so folks can join us for half an hour before work. I know this won't work for all people, but i want to try to add this to our normal weekly meeting. We hope that if we can make it a daily thing, scripture based, and only have a sermon on the sabbath, then we can really grow together, and hopefully quicker. Its still something we are praying about, so please join us, that we would have clarity on how we can do something like this. Thanks again for your prayer and support, we are truely thankful! Hi everyone, hope you are well, here is my newsletter for october and plans for november
Calvin Calvin keeps supprising us, today he managed to plank on both arms, and legs, yesterday he was smiling all day, and made a few noises that seemed to be attempts to speak. He sleeps long at night, and doesnt wake us up in the middle of the night at all, he only crys when he really is hungry and can't wait anymore, then he kicks and hits like crazy. He is very aggressive, which i hope means athletic. I could not have asked for a better son, God is good. Businesses The Bakery is running well, and we have been reopened for about a month now, lots of customers, and Calvin is the star of the show, loves to be around people, even smiling sometimes. My class has got a few return students, but things are still slow, so keep this in prayer. TTT I have a couple tracts put together but not translated yet, one on the trinity and the deity of Christ (i was inspired by the way the bible actually explains these concepts, and how easy they are to understand, sometimes its best to let the bible speak for itself), and another on eternal damnation, because the buddhist concept of hell is not eternal, so i thought this was a subject that might be useful to cover, also considering the 7th day adventists do not consider hell to be eternal, and we have a lot of them here in this city. I want to address them differently than i address the jahovah witnesses, or the mormons, because the number of heretical beliefs is significantly less, so i can correct their false beliefs one at a time instead of collectively like i have the with jw tract. I have also been working on some resources to go with the new city catechism that fang and I translated when I was still discipling her, found out that another church in bkk has made some major revisions to the translation, which i am thankful for, so i will be updating it soon as well. (He also has videos which go with it, which is awesome) Church We usually go to church on friday, where a small group of believers meet to study scripture and worship, and then on saturday we open our house to anyone who might come to study and worship with us, however that has been quiet for a while. We are praying about ways we can get that jump started again, and grow our group. One thing i am sure of is that worship should be a daily thing we do personally, but after talking with a thai leader in the northeast whom i greatly respect, i truely do believe daily communal meetings is actually ideal. So with this in mind, i have been worshiping with calvin every morning, and when we have disciples again, then I want to open our doors early before the bakery opens for daily morning worship and scripture reading. I dont think this is a time for teaching, but mainly a short time we can worship communally and listen to scripture before we start our days. Part of my concern is how easy it is for me to get distracted and skip devos in the morning, and i know local christians are no different, by spending this time together, we can hold each other accountable, and form good habits. Calvin loves it, and i hope he will become a little worshiper. Financial All temporary funds have been provided, and i am set to go here in a few months. Thankyou to those of you who provided this support, and thankyou to those who considered, i am very thankful. Health My stress levels are apparently dangerously high, and it is causing various health problems from stomach problems, to sleepyness, to general anxiety, a brother suggested i spend time in biblical meditation which seems to help a little bit some days. Keep me in prayer that i can figure this out, so that i don't crash. My son is certainly a breath of fresh air, and my anxiety relief, a hope for thailands future (can you tell i have high hopes?) Thanks again for all the love and support. Thanks for keeping us in prayers. Calvin
Calvin is doing well, and i think the best word to describe him is strong, very strong. I think we might have a body builder son, or a marathon runner.. or something, his legs never rest, he is always pushing, and if we lay him down on the bed he pushes himself all the way across the bed with his legs in an instant, so we have to keep a close eye on him. He is getting kind of fussy when we put him down, and doesn't go to sleep easily, but he does sleep for 6-7 hours at night, which is great for his age. If he starts crying and fang is not ready to feed I will sing hymns, and he loves that, the louder the better. Everyone is a worshiper, and the simplest thing i can do for Calvin now is teach him the Shema, to love God and worship him with all his little heart. I dont know how much he understands, but i trust this is the right direction. So I know this is the time to finish putting the bilangual hymnal together. I started it a long time ago, and like so much, i haven't had time to finish, so i'll do that so we can use it, it will be quality time for both of us. TTT At first i thought i wouldn't have much time to work on ttt, but i was able to work on the website, got a bit of that translated, and set up a blog i will be putting these newsletters in with additional pictures, and links, and you can feel free to share the blog with your friends if you want. I also created verse cards to save money with the printing, and these have information about my english class, fangs bakery, and our biblestudy group on saturday, with a phone number, and a bible verse on the other side with bible.com so people can do some searching on their own. These cards are really easy to print and make, so i will be providing the cards for printing and a link to the card puncher that i use to cut them out, this makes for a very good system, and neat clean looking cards that cost very little to make. I plan on being intentional about handing these cards to everyone i come across, should be a great conversation starter, and a way to share the gospel without scaring folks. (locals seem a bit shy, so im hoping this helps) Visa Extension- please comment with your contact information and i will get back to you with the details about how you can help. Thanks to everyone for keeping us in prayer and supporting us, things have gone very well for us. Don't forget to follow the link to the blog. Thanks again. |
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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