Summer in the USA

What a wonderful time we had while in the USA this summer. It was an absolute whirlwind of a trip, and in the nearly nine weeks there, we put almost 9k miles on our van. In that time, we shared meals with over 55 different families or individuals, slept in 66 different beds (between the 6 of us), and met with a variety of groups to share more about the ministry. We were able to see so many of our dear friends, family, and supporters, but there were still many we were not able to connect with in person. Overall, we were incredibly encouraged by the love, generosity, and time given to us—we only wish we could have seen every person and spent more time with each of you!

Being in the USA was both comforting and encouraging, as well as a stark reminder of how different our lives are in Thailand. For the first week or two, it was as if my mind couldn’t reconcile that both realities exist. Deep friendships seemingly picked up where we’d left off two years earlier, and our home church home felt like…well…home. But at the same time, we missed Thailand—our friends, our rhythms, the relationships we’ve been investing into, etc. It is challenging to live in the tension of loving two vastly different places and people. But truly, we feel blessed to get to experience both, and living in that tension also serves as a further reminder that neither place is our forever home.

Investing in Chaiyo

We have been back for a little over a month now, and after taking a couple of days to recover from jet-lag and reorient our bodies to the correct timezone, we dived back into ministry and life here. One of the things we were especially eager to get back to was our Thai church—Chaiyo. We first started attending in February, and have been regular attenders ever since—save for this summer. Our first week back we were able to meet together as a large group—five sister churches in one location. What a unique experience to meet with believers from several different parts of Chiang Mai, all worshipping together—a true glimpse of how the Gospel is being shared throughout this city.

We have also really enjoyed investing into these relationships outside of church. We’ve shared a number of meals with church members, including having several of them over to our home. It’s definitely reinforced our need to continue with Thai language, especially since not all of the members can speak English, but we are so grateful for their graciousness with us as we work hard to understand what we can.

Additional Highlights