September 2018 Newsletter
Dear friends and family,
This letter is a milestone for our family. It signals the last leg of a years-long-journey to be made ready. Ready for what? Ready to move our lives to Thailand for the sake of the gospel. The gospel is the good news that Jesus lived a perfect life on our behalf, died for our sins, and was raised to life in victory over sin and death so that "whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). The need in Thailand is substantial. Christians make up only about one percent of the population, and many Thais have no real opportunity to hear the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.
What have we been doing to get ready? Julie has recently finished her Master of Arts in Counseling, and this December I will be finishing a Master of Divinity in Biblical Communication, as well as a 2-year church internship at Church on Mill. Earlier this year we completed a rigorous process to become appointees with OMF International, an organization that supports missionaries in church-planting across East Asia.
Julie and her family after the commencement ceremony
Preaching on Good Friday
Over the next several months, we would love to get together with you—to hear what God is doing in your lives and to share what God has been doing in ours. We would also like to share with you what God has put on our heart concerning ministry in Thailand, and to ask you to prayerfully consider partnering with us in that work.
Our long-term goal is to partner with Thai Christians in planting churches that display and proclaim the gospel in unreached areas of Thailand.
Our short-term goal is to be on a plane to Thailand by the summer of next year.
We are really looking forward to time with you, whether God leads you to partner with us or not. For some of you, we’ve got lots to catch up on!
With lots of love,
Phil, Julie and Sophie