It's Gonna Be May (May 2022)
As the school year comes to an end, and we look towards the summer, here are some ways you can pray with us and some important news. We’ll start with the fun stuff first.
Music
One of our friends here in Chiang Rai, Gahn, is a musician and wrote a song in Thai based on Psalm 51. Liz sang the background vocals for it, and it turned out really good. Here’s the song:
Worship Training
In addition to helping with this song, Liz also partnered with a friend of ours, Teekay, in leading a “worship workshop” for those who volunteer on the worship team at Baan Athitaan Church. This was a 3-hour workshop where they taught about voice types, stage presence, and even how to warm up before singing.
Graduation
Another piece of news that I am happy to announce is that I finished my graduate degree. We got together with a few friends who were also graduating from their online programs this semester, and had a small graduation dinner.
To be honest, there was a time when I thought I wouldn't finish this. I started seminary right after college, but took a break for several years because I wanted to prioritize learning the Thai language. While I was on chemo, though, I had time to think about the big things I wanted to finish in my life, and this was one of them. So, as soon as I was in the clear and the fog in my brain cleared up, I enrolled in classes again full-time. I actually enjoy school, so should the day come when God calls me to continue to a PhD, I think I would be happy to do it.
Now here are some ways that you can pray for us and our friends:
Health
First, I want to ask you to pray for our health. I am still dealing with bad clotting in my leg, despite having been cancer-free for an entire year. This is a bit concerning to me, and I do not like the idea that my life is totally dependent on taking two overpriced blood thinner pills every single day. After this last doctor’s visit, I knew I needed to include this prayer request in this update, and ask everyone reading this to pray in faith that God would heal my leg. I feel great, I am able to workout for the most part, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit worried about this DVT since it hasn’t cleared up as fast as we thought it would. In addition, please pray for Liz. If you are on Facebook, you probably saw my long post this last week about how she fainted at the dentist's office when Mary Ella had to get another tooth extracted. In short, for about 2 minutes, I thought she was actually gone. She fainted with her eyes open, her body went limp, face turned completely pale and she was totally unconscious. She thinks it is probably a "vagal response" to seeing invasive medical procedures, but we would like to get some tests run just in case.
Praying for Friends
I also have several friends that I would like to ask you to join me in praying for this month: 1.) We have a friend in Bangkok, Ja, whose dad’s house caught on fire this past month. I was told that he lost everything he owns but don’t know much else.
2.) I have another friend, whom I will keep anonymous, whose uncle was shot and killed this month. Unfortunately, I know how unexpected and devastating this can be on a family.
3.) I have another friend, who I will also keep anonymous for now, who just found out that his wife is pregnant with their first child. He grew up in a very broken family and is a little overwhelmed with the thought of becoming a dad. He is a Christian and I believe he will be a great dad, so I was glad to get to encourage him and give him some new dad advice.
4.) There is a family in my home church that lost their mom this month to cancer. From what I understand, this all happened pretty suddenly. Karon Jones is her name, and she left behind a husband and four girls, one of which was in my class in high school and youth group. Karon also managed the nursery when we were in Adamsville during my time of chemo. She loved Mary Ella, and even bought her her first baby doll.
5.) Last, I wanted to mention a friend and brother of mine from a few countries over from us. I will keep his name and country hidden for security reasons, but I will say that where he lives is under Sharia law, and the Muslims in his city aren’t happy about the fact that he’s a Christian. I met this brother on Facebook a few years ago, and we have become friends since then. I now call him about once a month to talk and pray. He just got a job at a factory and asked that you would pray for him to be courageous in sharing the gospel in his city and at work.
Thanks for being part of the team!
Transformation Ministries is dependent on generous financial partners who want to see positive gospel impact made in our world today. If you would like to join the partnership team, you can do so by clicking the button below and filling out the form on the next page.
Comments