Meetings...even in Thailand

Tuesday morning started with my workout in a nearby park. Kris calls it "her PA park." It's beautiful! I would have never guessed that a "forest" would exist here in Ubon. The main path around the perimeter of the park was about 3/4 of a mile. I decided to do a mixture of running and bodyweight stuff. So, I did a lap and then would do other exercises and then run again. Repeated that for 45 minutes, ending up with a 3 mile run.

God continues to give me butterflies wherever I go. I wish they were easier to capture on picture or film, haha! Saw a really large, bright yellow one during my run in the park.

 

 

After we finished at the park, we headed back to Kris' house for breakfast. We stopped at a local stand on the way so I could get some protein. There were so many options to choose from. We got a sticky rice pancake too.

 

I chose the pork on a stick to go with the sticky rice pancake, some yogurt and fruit. 

We had a team meeting this morning (without Sophie since she was teaching at University). This meeting was a time for me to meet Geng and Pawn, and for them to get to know me a bit. I shared a devotion from James 1 and some things that God has been saying to me. We had a nice time sharing together from that scripture. Then we shared a bit about ourselves to begin to get to know each other. 

Geng and his wife, Tookta, have been with Kris for the last 8-9 years. Geng has "officially" been a part of the team here for the past two years in his role with The Tide doing media work. He does excellent video and photography. He and Tookta have two children, Hannah and Joel. 

Pawn has known Kris for the last 7-8 years as well. She used to work at a children's home and now has been on the team for over 3 years. She helps Kris with the village ministry, among other things. Pawn has a 15 year old son.

I'm so happy to see the team growing here and that the nationals desire to step in! Kris has been here for almost 16 years. It's been a long and challenging time for her, with many ups and downs. It is rewarding to begin to see some of these changes and growth. We praise God for what he is doing here.

The team spent some time talking and preparing for the monthly pastors meeting that will happen this Friday. We spent some time praying and seeking God for the direction He wants that meeting to go.  The team has been seeking prayer partners for praying for the Issan people. They are praying for 10,000 days of prayer and fasting, and are currently around 2,200. If you're interested in joining in this effort, please message me.

We joined Sophie for lunch for some Vietnamese soup. I tried a matcha almond frappe too.

 

After lunch, we took a quick trip to the immigration office to register me as staying in Ubon. Saw these poinsettias planted along the walkway. It's so weird to see them growing in the ground here when I only ever really see them in pots at Christmas.

After that quick trip, we went back to the office where Kris and Pawn needed to do some work. I was able to get some work done there as well.

We got home around 5:00 and Kris and I had a snack of some fruit. Dragon fruit was the choice today. It was sweet and tasty.  

Sophie and I had some time together in the evening. We went out for Japanese for dinner and came upon a local market as well. We ended up being in the restaurant for over 2 hours! We thought we were the last ones there, but there were a few others still there. It was such a good time of sharing together and catching up on our lives. Sophie was able to share her heart with me. I'm so proud of her. She's been here 2 years now. She has grown so much. She has learned (and continues to learn) the language--which is so hard! I admire her (and so many others who can learn language) -- Thai is a very difficult language to learn with all of the tones and sounds. She's here currently teaching English at the university. She has many funny stories of her experiences with her students. 

 

I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be back in Thailand. Pray that as I am with the team this week I can be an encouragement to each of them. Pray that I would hear God's voice in knowing the words I should speak to them. I will be sharing with the city house church on Sunday. Pray that I would hear clearly from God the things He would have me share and that my message would be challenging, yet encouraging to the church here. 

I'm thankful for good health and strength during this trip. Thank you for praying and joining me in the journey.