The Aftermath
Dear Friends,
Hope you all had a special Christmas season celebrating Immanuel, God with us. Welcome to newcomers to my prayer letter! If you would like to catch up on previous newsletters including those about my Asia trip in October/November, they can be found at this link under "Updates" https://partnerhub.omf.org/JT2 - in fact, my updates back to 2017 can be found there.
As we come to the end of the year, it looks like my financial support has come in at about 90%. Please rejoice with me for all of God's provision and pray with me that God will go on providing if He wants me to continue in this work.
To finish out my Asia trip stories -
Ram and Tengmo - I think Ram (Nuansee's sister) did "make the big sale", but last I heard the finances had not gone through yet so she hasn't been paid. Please pray that Ram will go to church and read the Bible and that she and husband Yut would come to Christ. Tengmo met Nuansee and I at the Bangkok airport and in my exhaustion, I attempted to share the gospel with her. It was soon clear that she knew very little about the Bible, God and Jesus. I had her read some of Genesis 1 and 3 to get the foundation as well as the verses in Romans that speak about sin and God's redemption through Jesus. Then I encouraged Tengmo to attend a church where she can learn more.
Random other tidbits from Asia:
1. On my plane flight from Bangkok to Vientiane Laos, I sat next to an English speaking Thai man in his early 30s. (He had attended an international school in Bangkok while growing up.) Moo and I had an amazing conversation. Moo's school was Catholic so though his parents are Buddhist, he was exposed to a fair bit of Christianity. Moo said that he was confused by the different religions. I gave him a link to read or listen to the Thai Bible and also a link to watch the Chosen, a series of portrayals of the life of Jesus.
2. A co-worker Dee Anne and I looked at two different possible locations in Chiang Mai for the TCK Advisor/Child Safety Officer consultation in Chiang Mai (May 2023). It doesn't look like either one will work out so I am praying that God will provide a venue.
3. I asked two adult Third Culture Kids (TCK or missionary kids) if I could send a copy of "Unstacking Your Grief Tower". Both said yes and have received their copies in the mail. Please pray that A and B would read these books and be able to process well their challenging and rich growing up years.
4. One day I had a wee bit of time to try to figure out my schedule for Chiang Mai where I was to meet with leaders from 4 fields, visit a school and 3 dorms, connect with the International Child Safety Officer (who is on my team), connect with a woman who has been working on Learning Zones for TCKs with me as well as attend the church we used to go to, etc. As I sat down to go through emails to figure out who was available at which time, I was absolutely amazed to see that each had requested a time slot that was different from another and the scheduling was very easy. God definitely worked that out - thank You, Jesus!!
5. One morning as I was getting ready for the day at a mission home, I greeted a missionary mom who I hadn't met before. Relatively new to the field, C was really struggling as she had just been through a hard experience of someone else relating to her son. I provided a listening ear as C poured out her hurt. Part of the challenge came from various cultures and ways of parentings. I hope my care and prayer that day were an encouragement to C.
6. What a joy it was to see Hua again in Chiang Mai. Hua worked in our dorm doing a lot of cleaning and cooking when we lived in Chiang Mai (2008-2011). She has continued to work for OMF and has blessed many missionary kids by caring lovingly for this big 13 bathroom/10 bedroom house and its occupants as well as providing delicious meals. Hua also caters for the Modular Study Groups school which meets one week per month in Chiang Mai for middle school and high school missionary kids. Hua loves Jesus and walks closely with Him despite her unfaithful husband. (Pictured: Hua and me in the dorm)
7. In God's providence, Sophie (who had lived in our dorm) was visiting her parents in Chiang Mai with her husband and new baby, and I was able to see her as well as meet with her parents who are field leaders for a troubled country in East Asia. (Pictured: Sophie with baby Azalea)
Jacob's hand - A few weeks after the explosion, son-in-law Jacob went back to the doctor to examine his burnt hand. The doctor was very impressed at how Jacob had pushed through the pain, doing mobility exercises with his hand and keeping it mobile. I think he has regained full use of it - praise God! It will take time for it to fully heal, but it is becoming less fragile (doesn't wound easily anymore) and he was able to start a new job a couple of weeks ago. Jacob is now managing a service repair shop for liquid transport trucks, and really enjoying this new challenge. Thanks so much for praying!
Daughter Alysha had been nannying for a family whose mother died of cancer in early October 2021 (two weeks before Alysha's wedding). After she got them through that first year without mom, this October Alysha decided that she was burnt out on her commute (basically an hour each way) so she also started a new job. She found a job as a nanny for two young boys (ages 2 and 4) that is less than 15 minutes from their house, and she is really enjoying it. I have been telling her that after all this nannying, she's going to find parenting easy. Jacob and Alysha would love to be parents. Would you join me in praying that God will give them a baby soon?
Scott's new job - we had been praying for months that Scott would get a raise at his security job. He finally did and then the neighborhood reduced his hours to compensate! So he lost 3 days of his 5 day work week. This happened the week before we were to go to Colorado to celebrate Christmas. Scott counted this a blessing as it gave him time for quiet and rest and to prepare for a very busy 10 days. When we returned from Colorado, Scott interviewed with Publix, a grocery store chain in Florida, to work in their deli. They offered him a job pending background check and we hope he will be scheduled to begin soon. (The plan is to work Tues-Thurs for Publix and Fri-Sat as a security guard.) Thanks be to God for His provision of a new job. Please pray for Scott in the learning curve and also the adjustment to standing for 8 hour shifts.
Son Joshua and Megan with Natalie and Michael are doing well in Guam. They had hoped to host a couple of foster kids over Christmas, but a lack of staffing for DCS canceled that plan. We miss them, but were glad to be able to Zoom with them recently and hear about things that they are involved with. Please pray for the whole family to be well after having fevers and sickness recently.
We had a special trip to Colorado December 10-19. We shared an AirBnb with Son Matthew's and Son Nathan's families. Matthew, wife Rachel and Nathan snowboarded and skied while Katelyn (Nathan's wife) took care of 3 month old Ellis, and Scott and I took care of 23 month old Graham. We found a cute "Imagination Station" which had lots of neat activities and took Graham there two mornings. It was very cold (8°F) and we got 10 inches of snow in the mountains! Another highlight was our family sharing time on Sunday morning when we shared what God is doing in our lives and prayed for each other. (Pictures below)
On Wednesday, we had a harrowing drive out of the mountains watching truckers put chains on their tires while trucks without chains slid on the icy roads. Scott and I had a special lunch with co-workers at our Denver OMF office, and then I worked on an Adult Sunday School presentation to share with the church Scott had pastored in Louviers, Colorado. We spent Thursday with my parents and sister Susanna including a lovely trip to the Broadmoor hotel in Colorado Springs. On Friday, we celebrated Christmas, including a big family game of Lords of the Waterdeep which I won :) I think that's because my son Nathan was feeling sick and not as sharp as usual. In fact, Nathan got quite sick with a respiratory infection and wasn't able to be with the family the next few days. Thankfully, he was well enough to drive his family home to Iowa on Monday. On Saturday, my three siblings with their families joined us for more Christmas fun. On Sunday, I shared about TCKs and my Asia trip, and then Scott preached at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Louviers. We enjoyed connecting with sweet friends at a potluck, and visiting a couple of families in the village where we lived for 6 years. On Monday we flew home - thankfully missing all the holiday travel craziness of Christmas weekend - our hearts go out to any of you who were affected by canceled flights and/or the big storm.
Coming back I have realized that I have been pushing hard for too long. As my boss recommended, I've been taking "lieu" time this week (time off in lieu of the time I didn't have off when I was in Asia). I've also been trying out some new holistic remedies and looking toward doing a kidney/liver cleanse in the near future. I want to feel well and have energy to do the work God has called me to. I ask you to pray for me in this as I've been struggling with some depression as well as fatigue. A friend said, "Depression is God's way and our body's way to tell us that we are running too hard."
Also, as I consider projects for TCKs and their families, I long to see these ones really move ahead. Will you pray?
1. Learning Zones for TCKs - training for parents for each stage of their missionary life - pre-field, new on field, returning to passport country, etc.
2. Debriefing/processing of TCKs - training for TCK Advisors and for parents
3. Educational support for missionary families
4. TCK Advisor/CSO Consultation planning including sessions, venue, etc.
5. Helping fields who don't have strong TCK programs
With much appreciation for your prayers and care,
Jennifer