A new year has begun! Already this year is proving to be much different than the last. A new normal pace of life has set in, and we are all so very excited for all that God is going to do.

About a month ago I was sitting down with the Lord and processing the upcoming season. We were getting ready to host the Montana DTS Outreach team for December, and had a brief break to get ready for the first official OTM team. As I was processing all the upcoming changes, I realized just how blessed this last season was. If you read many of my past letters, there is a theme of overcoming trials and growing in maturity in the Lord. For a long time, I did not enjoy that season. Despite having an amazing team around me, I was often lonely and disheartened. I missed family, friends, comforts. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. Living alone was not easy, yet in God's infinite love and mercy he brought me through despite my apparent weakness. One of the changes coming up this year is that another girl is coming on staff! Which means I won't be living alone anymore!
Now stay with me until the end here, I'm drawing a connection not making an announcement. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul addresses the Corinthian church regarding marriage. There was a lot of confusion and disagreement in the church, and thus Paul spent time answering it. There was one portion that stuck out to me. He addresses those who were slaves, and the circumcised and uncircumcised, and then goes back into talking about marriage. He makes the point for us to "remain as we were when we were called." Now does Paul mean that we should always stay exactly as we were when we began following Jesus? No. He even says to slaves that if they can get their freedom they could. What then was his point? His point was that we aught to make use of our present condition. A little later he says that the time has grown short. We have a mission and Jesus is coming back at the completion of it. Paul advises those with wives to be as though they had none, those who mourn as though they didn't, those who make use of the world as though they didn't, and so on. All for the sake of completing the mission and living lives worthy of the gospel. So for me, whether I live alone or with people, am single or married, am learning Thai or fluently translating, I must make use of the time and position I have. For "the present world is passing away."
After I studied this passage for a time, I realized that my time of living alone is nearly over. With another girl coming on staff here soon, more interested in coming, and many OTM teams coming in, I won't have as much time alone anymore. I am going to miss it. If you know me you know how crazy that is. But this last season I have gotten to know Jesus as my closest friend and comforter. In living alone I got to experience both a loneliness and an intimacy with the Lord that I know I will treasure for years to come. My only regret is that I didn't take joy in the season sooner. To know that my portion for following Christ is to receive him is my greatest joy. He is my portion. That is what I call a treasure worth selling it all for.
Outreach Timeeee!
Finally the trip I've been talking about for a year is around the corner. We are leaving in a month and I am ecstatic. We are finally booking hotels, tickets, and visas. By God's provision we all have what we need for the trip! It was looking a little close there for awhile, but as always God has pulled through and provided for all of us! Thank you to each and every one of you who gave to make this trip possible.
We are all looking forward to the opportunity to scout out two countries in this region and to build relationship to hopefully send a DTS team in the future! If you want to know more about the why behind the trip, check out Still Called to Go.
With the trip coming up I will be unpublishing my website again for a short time. I'll be sure to send an update shortly after I return to tell you all how the scouting trip went!

OTM Begins
Last month we had the opportunity to host a DTS team from YWAM Montana Lakeside! It was our first official Outreach Team Ministry (OTM) team, and we did a Christmas themed outreach with them. Thailand loves Christmas! They only know of Christmas being about Santa Claus, and so we prayerfully took the opportunity to make this outreach focused on sharing the real reason for the season. Throughout the month of December, we went to roughly ten different schools for English teaching and games. We also did "Christmas Concerts" at markets, doing music and a skit that shared about the nativity. There were many opportunities to do service projects throughout different missional communities. Finally, we went caroling to three different missional communities.

Throughout our time with this team, we took the opportunity to share more about missions. We wanted to share our heart for the neediest places, and encourage the students to pursue a lifetime of obedience to God in service to these neediest places. Just as we "choose to forego ministry among gospel-saturated/reached/those that have access to peoples," (YWAM Trang, Value of Prioritization) so we wanted to encourage these students to do. The students were greatly impacted by what we shared, as some of this information was new to them. For the first time they began to understand the unfortunate imbalance of our resources, and the gravity of the situation. Our hope for all the teams going forward is that they would be impacted to be the change. To be the ones to recognize the preexisting call to go where we are not and go. Our prayer is that we would see many go into long term unreached missions from this ministry!

DTS September 2025
In about 7 months our first DTS will start! I am so incredibly excited for this season. I remember my DTS with so much fondness. God built a foundation for me to follow Him for my whole life during those short 6 months. I learned more about the greatest injustice, that being billions of people without access to the most loving God, and only the tiniest fraction of our missionary force going to them. I realized that my calling was simply to follow the preexisting calling: GO. Through God's mercy to me, he called me to join the team here in Trang. While many details are yet unknown, my future is decided for me. I will follow Him among the unreached as long as I live.
I look forward to our DTS here in Trang. I look forward to seeing our students lives changed as the Lord changed mine. I got to know God and His deep, rich, awesome character. Then I got to make Him known to those who had yet to hear that there is only one God worthy to worship. That in worship and service to Him we are free and free indeed. That in Him don't have to do enough good but rather repent and follow. Pray and consider joining us in this call! We are currently receiving applications for our fall school! Check out ywamtrang.org and read more about our DTS and how you can engage with the unengaged.

Girls House
In a few short months my house will finally be a girls house! Just like I mentioned in the beginning of my letter, there is another girl accepted on staff and she will be joining mid-March when I return from outreach. There are still things we need for the home, but the main things have been finished. The upstairs bathroom is finally in working order, Wi-Fi has been installed, and someone incredibly generous got me an oven for Christmas! (Thanks Marie and Ethan!) There's a long way to go until we have everything for the house, but it's come a long way from my old-electrical-socket yellow, empty box of a house.

Prayer Requests
For God's will to be done on our scouting trip in February.
Provision for finances for both our upcoming outreach and for continuing to furnish my home.
Wisdom and myself and the team as we continue in OTM.
Our future DTS students!
Continued growth in myself and the team as we pursue to be more like Christ, and to appreciate our present condition!
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