little update

hello brothers and sisters,

derrick here with a little update. i made it! after a couple days of intense travel and virtually no sleep, my plane landed safely in chiang mai. made a new friend on the flight to korea, a dear believer, and was able to reason with an elderly lady about the difference between a life of works and a life with Christ. her name’s joy, she is seeking something, praying for her. all in all by the grace of God things went very smoothly, except when i realized halfway through my first flight that i had somehow managed to get a knife past security. (they found out when i transferred in san francisco, and they weren’t too happy…pretty sure they thought i was a terrorist.) rabbit trails.

the last few days have been intensely interesting and rather overwhelming. i came excited and ready to share Christ with the unreached masses, and i still am, but things got very real for me as soon as i stepped off the plane. to walk the crazy streets, through markets and neighborhoods and such, is far more emotional than i was ready for. to see throngs of people, all under the grips of darkness, has caused my heart to break into slivers.  to see elaborate buddhist temples on virtually every corner, and to see every home equipped with tiny yard temples for the harboring of spirits and the offering of sacrifices is just crazy. painfully crazy. i was blessed to be able to spend the day today with a group of neglected and abused children, and if ever there was a sight that could break me down, this was it. i love these children, and have come to realize i love the thai populace. pray for them continually. they are lost and in line for their just punishment as mandated by the adamic nature, and Christ is the only hope they will ever have. please continue to pray that deep relationship with Christ would become common here. all this to say, it is achingly overwhelming to see first-hand the devastation of godlessness.

as far as the game plan goes, things are becoming quite clear and i am so stoked for the doors God has opened. for the next two months, dave and i will be studying thai in depth (tutors and such) and working with local outreach ministries. the family connection foundation, our ‘home base’ here in chiang mai, has a network of ministries in northern thailand that they support, and we are blessed to be able to participate as the Lord leads. after we have completed training (language and cultural studies, as well as thai-specific outreach), dave and i will be heading down to galasin. this town is virtually unreached with the gospel. there is about one believer for every 2,400 people. we will be helping with church-planting in the surrounding villages and preaching Christ with anyone who would hear. we rejoice for this opportunity, please pray that God will have His full will accomplished in the time we’re given here.

 dave has been an awesome support in helping me learn the language and understand people better. it is such a great blessing to have a brother here who not only provides accountability and fellowship, but who can help translate and communicate and introduce me to ice cream/wonderbead sandwiches and ride around on a motorcycle on the craziest streets i’ve ever seen and tell people that Jesus loves them. while we are in chiang mai, we also have a brother named tom whom we are fellowshipping and breaking bread with and this has also been a blessing. pray for continued deep fellowship and strengthening for the purpose of making His name more famous.

all this to say, pray for thailand. rejoice with us as we rejoice in Him and in His salvation, and celebrate with us as the darkness cowers at His blinding light. i love you all.