Going Stateside
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
As you all know, I have been in Thailand for 3 years and 8 months, without ever going back for a visit to the States. On April 14th, I will be back to see your friendly faces once again!
Travel Plans
Praise be to God! I am so thankful for his mercy that has kept me here for so long, and has given me a part in serving him among the nations that have not yet heard of his work. The nations he longs to know him. Now, after many years, it’s time to come back for a brief visit. To see friends, family, and to hopefully meet more people God would want to be a part of his Global Purpose.
I’ll be in between Grandview and Coeur d’Alene from April 20th-June 27th. If you want to know what area I’ll be in when, please check out my instagram for updates! If you want to spend time with me please reach out as soon as possible! I have a LOT of people I’m trying to meet with, and I don’t want to miss anyone. It will likely be some time before I’m back in the States again.
At the very end of June, I’ll be headed to YWAM Montana Lakeside for the Bible Core Course. I was officially accepted for the school this week! Please continue praying with me for my finances, as I still need the full tuition of 3,800 for the school. I know that God will provide in time.
Visa Update
As you may have seen a week or so ago, I got the missionary visa! This was a huge answer to prayer, as I will not only not have to raise 20K in support, but that I will be able to remain in Thailand for as long as God would have me here! It is nearly unbelievable. While there are few workers here in Thailand, there are even fewer missionary visas. These are incredibly difficult to come by, and some workers have been on the waiting list for years. This year, they opened up a few more spots! Praise God that he is providing for not only myself, but a good handful of other missionaries here too!
Financial Update
As you all know, I have been trying to support raise for the last few months. Before I started, I needed $400 more a month, and $8,350 to cover the costs of schooling , a new computer/iPad, my missionary visa, and the BCC coming up. Unfortunately, my monthly support went down by $100 so I now need $500 a month. However, God has been faithful to provide a lot over the last few months! Here’s where we’re at:
Monthly: We are up by $265 a month! Thank you to everyone who has joined the team, this is a huge answer to prayer! That’s over half of the goal to reach $1,500!!
One time: $3,700! That’s a huge amount, and I was able to pay for my iPad, my visa, my language course, and some of the travel costs for the States. I still need the full amount for the BCC, more for travel in the States, and my flight back to Thailand. That only leaves $4,650, which I know that God is more than able to do.
Thank you all again for praying for me and being so incredibly generous. I’m really looking forward to seeing how God provides the rest.
Final Thoughts
Thank you all for how you’ve been so encouraging over these last few years. Though you may not be here in Thailand, you’ve been a crucial part of the work here. By your prayers, giving, and encouragements, I have been able to remain and lay a foundation for many more years of work here in Trang.
God has been so faithful. I’m honestly in awe of how he led me to the States in this time. For those of you who don’t know, our whole team committed to staying in Thailand for two years before we went back to visit family. Those two years are statistically the hardest for missionaries, with 80% leaving the field in that time period. When praying about that commitment, and even getting here for the first time, I felt like God was leading me to stay for longer than those two years. Naturally when I asked God when, I felt like he said I would know when it was time. And sure enough. Last year, family events paired with visa issues made it clear that this was the time to head back.
There was even the unexpected blessing of being led to do the BCC. I have wanted to do a Bible school for awhile, but I didn’t want to leave the work God is doing here. I feel like even after almost four years here, we’ve barely just begun. So I certainly wasn’t looking to leave and do a school. However, with trying to figure out a long term visa option, it became apparent that I would likely need to be in the States for roughly 6 months. Through realizing that timeline, I talked to a couple people who were considering the BCC, as well as I have always wanted to visit YWAM Montana, and all of it through prayer led me to the school. It’s going to be a really amazing time of preparing for the next season, and getting away with God after the last one.
Prayer Requests
Praise God that I got the visa! Pray that the timeline of receiving the visa continues to be timely.
Continue to pray for my finances, that God would provide all I need in his time.
Unity for YWAM Trang in this next season as many of our staff will be gone for a considerable amount of time.
God would continue to grow me and lead me as I step into this training role for DTS school leading!!
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