Thailand Update!

Hi gang. I wanted to share an email from Joe that I got the other night. He says:

So, I just wanted to give everyone a hello and let you all know what is going on. Currently we are staying at Pastor Eric's house as ours is still in repair. Tomorrow we should be able to get the keys and start moving in. We need a few things before we really can move in; a stove and a drinkable water source, both of which are easily attained. Our house is absolutely empty so please keep this area lifted to the Lord as we seek His provision. We do have the finances we need to purchase some things, not sure what as of yet. We are praying through our options and seeking the Lord as to the priority of the items needed. As it is now, we are looking at the two above mentioned items, as well as a washing machine and, most importantly, transportation. We are about 1-2 miles from both town and Eric so this is very important. That should leave us with enough money to get groceries until we receive funds again. The ladies have had the opportunity to teach English twice, as well as accompany MJ once. The guys have had some really good fellowship in the Word and have been taking care of the logistical things. Dennis and Caleb, two of my classmates, are here as well and they have been blessed and have been a blessing. Tomorrow we will hold our English fellowship here at Eric's house around 9 before heading to a Karen church at 11. We also meet with our language teacher. Language is hard but by the power of the Spirit we will get it. This is very important as English is very minimal at best. Please pray also for this, that her schedule would be open to once a day for an hour or so, and also that our tongues would be loosed to learn this new language. Around 2 we will meet with the owner of our house at which point we should sign papers and start the next process. This next week coming up we will spend cleaning and preparing our house to be lived in as well as many other things not yet decided. Bless you guys

It sounds like things are going well for them and it's exciting to hear how the Lord is blessing them as they hit the ground running! Please also keep the following items in your prayers as they get settled in.

The Lord's provision

Language

Adaptation

New school year

Spiritual strength 

Here are a few pictures that I received as well.

Thanks for checking in and please continue to lift up Joe, Sarah, and the kids as they begin a new chapter in their lives in Thailand!! Pray that the Lord would break through the darkness there as the country is about 95% Buddhist and less than 1% Christian. They need Jesus in a bad way and Joe and Sarah continue to be on the front lines for the Lord! As always, pray for their safety as well. I would also ask that you'd pray that they would fall into the good graces of the Thai people very quickly and make inroads with the Gospel!

They should have plenty of rice varieties to choose from for meals since there are something on the order of 5,000 varieties in the country. Let's see. If they have one style per day, they'll get through all the rice varieties in about thirteen years!! LOL

Thanks again for your prayers and support. If you aren't currently supporting Joe and Sarah financially, please prayerfully consider doing so. They rely totally upon the support of others. I firmly believe that if you can't go on the mission field, support those who can and do. In doing so, you're partnering with others in being a part of bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world! It pays eternal dividends!

God bless you!

Mike

WE ARE HERE!!

So after many hours of travel we are finally here and safe! We arrived here at Pastor Eric's house last night around 10pm, exhausted. It was so cool upon arriving in Thailand we were reunited with the Fletchers, as we were on our way to baggage claim they walked up on us, so we got to travel to baggage claim and customs together. Such a blessing. Then as we exited the airport we were met by Pastor Eric and went in route directly to the bus station for the trip North. 12 hours in a bus and three in a truck we arrived. Today we got to see our new home, WOW, what a blessing! This new home of ours is going to be such a neat place to live, we have three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a very nice kitchen, a area for class and also a living room. The yard is another blessing as it has about 1 acre full of fruit trees. This is going to be cool. We are now internet ready. As this is only our first day we have just been doing some minor things, learning our way around and checking stuff out. The Fletchers are having a great time, about an hour ago we went up to visit a Buddhist temple and just hanging out here at the house. We are preparing to go in search of appliances and the things we need for our house. As this next few days transpire I will be giving more info via Mike. Blessings.

Farewells AGAIN!

The last few days have been rather challenging, with packing and parting ways with so many friends and family. They will be dearly missed. It again has been hard with emotions running wild, just like when we left the states, it is amazing how God works and how He builds those everlasting relationships. Today we actually left our home here in the Philippines and we are currently in a hotel in Tacloban, the city we have visited so many times to do our visa extensions. Our first flight is scheduled for 4 something tomorrow afternoon and our international flight is around 10 pm. We will be arriving just minutes after Randy and Jen Fletcher in Bangkok to meet up with them as well as Pastor Eric. Please pray for the rest of our travel, teamwork as we travel, we also have two fellow students, one is now an intern and the other a continuing student, making 8 coming from the Philippines and two from America, that everything would run smoothly, meeting up and transfer of all our belongings. Also that as we begin this next step of our journey, that just as we had to here, we adapt well and mesh with the community. Of course all the normal prayers, health, strength, and growth. It has been such a blessing seeing how the Lord works while here and how the Lord has used us to touch so many lives, I think I said this before but really it is cool. Thanks for the Prayers. Joe

Hello everyone!

Hey there all! We finally after ten months got internet at the house, slower than dial up and only works 1/3 of the time but PRAISE GOD, we are able to check email and send them also. Everything is good here just preparing for the move, I know some were expecting us home a few months ago... but that is the way the Lord works.. in mysterious ways. As most of you that follow we will be moving on August 23 to Northern Thailand to continue our training, we will be with Pastor Eric who has been in country with his wife and two children for about six years. We will be living in the beautiful house pictured below, God is so good to us. This is a bittersweet time for us as we prepare to leave so many friends we have grown so close to yet we are finally able to continue in the call of the Lord, working in Thailand. Today we (Sarah and Ati Jomarie) washed the suitcases and backpacks so we can begin to pack the items we will not need for the next twelve days, books, hygiene, and many other misc. items. Praise the Lord we have 8 75lb suitcases we are able to take on the trip, I just hope all of our stuff fits in the allotted space. We are very excited to continue on this journey we have embarked, and are so thankful to our leadership, both at CCVV and U-turn for Christ, for their obedience to the Lord in making us come here. It has been a wonderful time of trial and growth, not only for myself (Joe) but for the whole family. As you can probably tell from the new family photo the kids have grown, incredibly so, in the last few months. All about a head taller! As we continue to prepare and as you feel the leading of the Lord please pray that each step of the journey we will be obedient and flexable, that seems to be the hardest part for us, we want things one way, God wants them another. Not only that but that we would stay focused on what He is trying to do in and through us and that we would never lose sight of that. God has placed a calling, direction and good works for us, let us walk in them, remembering the one who gave it all for us. We are just so blessed now just as we were when we left the states to see how the Lord has touched lives through us, things we never would have seen that have been revealed as encouragement to continue on. Bless each and everyone of you who remember to pray for us, Lord knows we need all the prayers we can get. Lord Bless you and Keep you.

The Nelson Home in Thailand

I got some photos from Randy that show the house the Nelson's will be living in when they arrive in Thailand. As their move approaches, please continue to pray for every aspect of this move. Pray for all the logistics (legal paperwork and such), safe travels, health and strength, sufficient funds for the move and the initial expenses upon their arrival, acclimation to the climate and to the cultural differences, quick learning of the language, and most of all, tremendous impact for the sake of the Gospel as they bring the good news of Jesus Christ to that nation!

Also, Randy and Jenn will be flying over to help Joe and Sarah with the move. Please lift them up in prayer as well. The children will be remaining here so please pray for them as mom and dad are away. Pray for Randy and Jenn for safe travel, protection, health, no financial hardships, and also for spiritual growth as they see the hand of God move in this whole adventure! And we look forward to great stories from them upon their return. God speed!!

Update from Joe

Grace and peace. I apologize that this update didn't make it here sooner. As we continue to work hard to make all communication with Joe and Sarah seamless, we often still find "seams" that need mending. Email is one of those seams that often rears it's ugly head. We've had Joe's emails get picked off as spam, get intercepted for some reason before even getting here, and just plain get lost in cyber-space. In any event, we will not be shaken. With that, here is an update from Joe from just after the team left the Philippines. Thanks for your patience and partnership in the Gospel!! Mike


Hey everyone. How are things? I just wanted to drop a line and give everyone an update. So the trip is over and we have used the last two days as a relaxation time while we recoup some energy. The time with the team from America was great!! Every aspect was amazing and anointed by the Lord. As I already informed you, there were 700 follow-up cards turned in and many more that were not. Only the people who recieved the Lord recived a card. The week after the crusade with only the U-turn and YFC teams were also very action packed with outreaches scheduled throughout every day starting at about nine and ending around four. What a busy time of ministry and fellowship. Many lives were touched with the love of Christ through the team. While here, there were two pastors conferences and one youth conference. All three went very well. I was given one session to teach on 2 Thess. 3.1-5 and it went great! Cooking for that many people was a real challenge but the Lord is good and all went ok. We ended the trip with planting a church in Hernani, a neighboring borangai to Macarthur where we did the crusade. It was a huge blessing to be a part of the trip here as we prepare fo our move to Thailand. We were also blessed to spend a day woth Dan and Becky in Tacloban and even more of a blessing to see how to deal with hardship while on the field. As most of you know, his mother passed while he was here serving. Remember to pray for the family. Like I said, it was a blessing to see how a man of God deals with this sort of thing. After two days of "rest", they began a huge remodel at my house, which involved removing about thirty feet of block walls from my downstairs; not very relaxing. We are headed to the west side of the island for a few days to do some paperwork and say goodbye to so many poeple we have grown so close to and will miss very much. After this, we will pack and begin our next step. Please continue to pray for this as I know you are. Also pray for the Fletchers as they put their hand to the plow to join us in this move. Our health is ok and we love you guys. I am hoping to get some photos this week while on the other side of the island. We love you and covet your prayers. God bless.

New Photos From Joe!!

Hi gang,

I just got some photos from Joe. There are more to be seen on Facebook as well. Please remember to keep them in your prayers. The time of their move to Thailand is fast approaching and just a few weeks away now.

Thanks again for your prayers and support! May the Lord richly bless you as you partake of this ministry and put your hand to the plow with the Nelson family!!

In His service,

Mike