As most of you know, I decided in March to go to Thailand to
do missions work upon completion of my contract in Korea. This decision came after months of going back
and forth between SE Asia and Brazil, some stuff God was showing me, and a trip
I took to Thailand. I wanted to give you
an update on where I’m, and how I’m preparing so you would better know how to
pray for me.
Money: I decided it was necessary for me to live on
a minimal budget, only purchasing necessities, cutting back on going out to
eat, paying for Thai class and other trainings, and only allowing myself one
vacation, as cheap as possible, between now and when my contract ends in
February 2015. This is really difficult for
me because I love to travel and there are still so many places in Asia I want
to visit. I also love to eat and Seoul
is full of so many yummy places. I’m
using this next 10 months to practice self control and pay off as much student
loan debt as possible. I really need
help and accountability in this area. Pray
that I stay committed to sending as much money home as possible and those
random, uncontrollable expenses won’t keep popping up as they have been doing
since I made this decision.
Learning Thai: I started taking Thai class and completed my
second class this past Monday. I have
only managed to learn the letters and sounds of the 44 consonants and 32
vowels. This is a difficult task. Please pray that God opens my mind to
understanding Thai. My teacher says I’m
really good but she probably says that to everyone. :P I
feel like once I learn how the alphabet works everything else will naturally
fall into place. This was difficult for
me because of the cost involved. I
wasn’t going to do it at first. But
after prayer, God reminded me that He owns all the money. Learning Thai, far in advance, is a huge investment,
so I decided to bit the bullet and go to class.
Music: I
decided I want to learn how to play the guitar.
When I move to Thailand I want to be able to lead worship. None of the team members already in Thailand
can play an instrument. I feel like it
is important for me to learn. I’m
looking for a good deal on a used guitar (praying I get one for free) and
someone who would be willing to teach me.
Training: There are some things
I must do with my church before I can be sent as a missionary with them. I am in the process now of beginning these
things. In May I will start a 7 months,
long term missions training. I’m looking
forward to the small, group that will be doing this training with me. I could use some good, godly bonding time
with people. It’s something that I’ve
been neglecting the past several months.
Memorizing Scripture: I decided it was
important to arm my mind and heart spiritually as I prepare for this move. I can’t think of a better way to do that than
memorizing scripture. I challenged
myself to memorize a chapter of scripture a month. This month I am memorizing Galatians 5. In May I will probably memorize Psalm
139. I’m really feeling discouraged and
reminding myself of that scripture I’m memorizing every morning has been
helping me. Pray that I stay focused and
accomplish this goal.
Thank you so much for all your prayers and support of me
throughout the years. I am so happy to be preparing for this wonderful opportunity and look forward to the future. 307 more days!
So proud of you for your obedience to the Lord and your commitment to loving the vulnerable in practical ways. I will be praying for you as you continue to learn Thai and guitar and finish your LTM course! <3
ReplyDeleteThanks Natasha! We will see what God has in store for me within the next 2 weeks as I prepare to go on my vision trip to Thailand
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