That was Then, This is Now
When I look back at 20 years with OMF, wow, what a journey! Scott and I arrived in Thailand on August 5, 1997 with 3 little boys - Matthew was 6, Joshua was 4 and Nathan had just turned 1. Alysha was born 1 year later at our mission hospital - Manoram. Christian Hospital We learned so much in those years as we studied the Thai language, did Bible studies with Thai people and shared Christ as He opened opportunities.
In our first term (1997-2001), we joined a church planting team in Lopburi (2 hours north of Bangkok) that primarily reached out to students at the local university and polytechnic schools. Through fun events (basketball and soccer games, parties and folk dances), we built relationships, and then invited students to evangelistic weekends by the ocean where they heard the gospel. We often showed the Jesus Film at these events. Those who showed interest were invited to follow up Bible studies and to God's Glory Church (Prasiri), and over time, some fully gave their lives to Jesus. At first, our multi-national team (Scottish, Malaysian, Singaporean, Dutch, Thai and American) made up most of the congregation, but eventually this church became self-sustaining, with its own Thai pastor.
In the years 2002-2006, Scott and I with our 4 kids moved to Sow Tong, a town of 30,000 about 20 minutes from Lopburi. With a large air force base and an army base nearby, many of the Thai we reached out to were military. We continued with evangelistic Bible studies in people's homes using Chronological Bible Teaching. Yearly, we hosted a large Christmas party and invited many people in the community. Over 100 people attended these parties each year and received gospel portions as well as hearing the gospel from Thai Christians. We longed to see a church started in Sow Tong, but that didn't happen.
We were surprised to be asked to take on dorm parenting from 2008-2011 in Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand. Our kids attended Grace International School along with some of the other missionary kids that we cared for. We also had missionary kids in our home who attended Chiang Mai International School. At our peak, we had 11 children under our roof (including our own). We attended lots of sporting events, concerts, parent-teacher nights as well as holding weekly dorm devotions, evening prayer times, games and other activities to care for these precious children.
In 2012, we had a last visit to Thailand to say goodbye to precious OMF co-workers as well as many Thai friends. God has closed the door to continuing ministry in Thailand through a lack of financial support. In August, I began working full-time at OMF's US office in Littleton, CO in Personnel and Estate Planning. Scott began pastoring Faith Evangelical Free Church in Louviers, CO in November 2013. We moved to this little town of 250 people in June 2014 after Nathan graduated from Littleton High School.
Scott continues to pastor in Louviers and we both enjoy outreach to folks in this town through building relationships and Bible studies. I continue to work at the OMF office 24 hours per week. One of my roles at OMF is US Child Safety Officer. This involves preventing child abuse through making sure that all of our staff, missionaries and volunteers are screened and trained in child safety. It is my heart's desire that as much as possible children (both missionary and national) will not be abused, and that by elevating our understanding of appropriate procedures (not being alone with a child, working with children in places with open doors and windows, etc.), OMF will be able to continue it's work of reaching East Asians for Christ in a God-honoring way.
In my main role at OMF, I am the Executive Assistant to the Vice President for Personnel. This means that I work with my boss on lots of email, providing care for the 300 plus missionaries sent out by OMF US. I also work with each missionary when they return to the US for Home Assignment to make sure that they have enough financial support to return to the field. Our Personnel team feels privileged to be the "homefront" for our folks who are faithfully serving in many countries in Asia, sharing the love of Jesus with the millions who have never heard, many of whom have not ever met a Christian (see graphic below in "The Spiritual Needs of Asia".
I am thankful that God has continued to provide financial support for my work at OMF. This means that less of my salary needs to come from donations given to support the work in East Asia. I am currently about 70% supported. Trusting God to continue to guide and provide as I serve Him.
A brief update on our kids - Matthew is married to Rachel. They live in Eastern Texas where Matthew works for a Staff Hiring Agency and Rachel works in Human Resources. Joshua is in the Navy, preparing in upstate New York to eventually work on an aircraft carrier or submarine. He expects to be deployed around March 2018. Nathan is a senior at University of Portland (Oregon) where he is studying Computer Science. Alysha is a freshman studying Equine Business Management in Lamar, Colorado (about 3.5 hours from us). 4 kids in 4 time zones! Thankful that they are all following Jesus.