Just in time

As you (hopefully) know, World Outreach Ministries (WOM) is my sending agency. They are a registered 501c3 in the states, which allows people like you to make tax deductible donations to my ministry here in Thailand.  I am then "contracted" by WOM to work with my receiving agency, the Family Connection Foundation (FCF).

Because I am considered as a contractor my taxes are filed differently than a typical employee (I get a
1099 instead of a W-2).  One of the biggest differences is that social security payments aren't automatically withdrawn from each of my 'paychecks.' As a result, when I (well, actually my dad - thank you dad!) go to file my taxes, I have to pay a year's worth of social security based on my income for the year.  This year, I ended up having to pay $1,397 worth of social security taxes.  To help put into perspective how much money that is for me to pay ... it's equivalent to 10 months worth of my rent!

When my dad told me how much I'd have to pay in mid-March, I knew I'd have the money, for it, but asked that my parents wouldn't have it withdrawn from my bank account until April 11.  Yes, I had the money, but I knew I'd need my "first of the month" deposit from WOM as a buffer.

As I was traveling April 2-10 (for the Hat Yai Discipleship trip), I didn't get a chance to see what the deposit total was going to be until April 11.  When I went to check, I was shocked to see an extra gift had been made at the end of March. This extra gift was just what I needed to get me through April without dipping into my savings (which I was expecting to do) and supported me while the usual monthly donations came in to replenish my checking account.

Since I haven't had many extra donations this year and I had to pay a hefty amount for new glasses, I've been living pretty simply - doing without many of the 'extras' I usually enjoy. To have God provide in such a way - just enough to be covered, to have that exact amount come in at that exact time, there's no way it could be anything but God's provision, confirmation of his presence, approval for what I'm doing in Thailand.

Moving Mountains - Answered Prayers

While on the discipleship trip, we used John Eldredge's new book, "Moving Mountains" to learn about prayer during our devotional times.  One of the days we talked about daily prayer and challenged the students to either use Eldredge's daily prayer, or to adopt one of their own to pray daily.

I personally decided to use Eldredge's daily prayer, which you can read for yourself here. (I'd also suggest that you start this practice if you don't already and that you read his book as it has changed the way I think about prayer).

The Sunday after we returned, I was gong through the prayer and the line, "In all that I now pray, I stand in total agreement with your Spirit and with all those praying for me by the Spirit of God alone" stood out to me. I'm not really sure why, but that phrase "with all those praying for me" really struck something in me that morning. 

I paused, thinking over what I know people have prayed for/over me. I think the most common thing I hear that people are praying for me is that I stay safe on the roads while I'm on my motorbike. In thinking this I said to myself/God (almost flippantly), "yeah, I agree with those prayers. I'd like protection while riding around town. Protect me today God, as I go out on my motorcycle." I went through the rest of the prayer, got ready for the day, and headed off to church (on my motorcycle) without really thinking anything of it.

After church I headed up towards Meechok Plaza on the Mae Jo road to meet some friends for lunch. At one of the U-turns in the middle of that road, I saw (from a distance) a car starting to pull out (and just as a reminder, we drive on the opposite side of the road here). As I came closer, the car started pulling out further. As the Mae Jo road is plenty wide I thought they might swing into the far left lane that I was in, but would get into middle lane before I reached them. Still, I started to slow down a bit. But this car didn't pull into the middle lane. In fact, it started to cut me off in the far left lane. I slammed on the breaks and saw there was a petrol station on my left. I figured that's where this car was headed and that they hadn't seen me, but I wasn't fast enough to honk my horn. Instead I sped up to pull into the petrol station and pass around the car. I made it safely, but couldn't believe how close I came to being run off the road.

Once I reached the restaurant and settled my racing heart I was overwhelmed by this sense of God's hand and protection in this situation. I was then overwhelmed that I had prayed for protection on my motorbike today because I prayed in agreement with what I know others pray for for me.

Hat Yai Discipleship Trip

Our group with the students we worked with during a 4 day English camp

Like last year, I had the privileged of spending a week in a Muslim village in southern Thailand (outside the city of Hat Yai) with a group of teens from our youth group April 2-10.  With the youth pastor being on furlough, I had more responsibilities as one of the leaders and not just a chaperone, which made it quite a different experience for me.  I was incredibly proud of the way the students handled themselves in the village and stepped up in the English classes they were teaching.

One of the highlights for me this year, took place during our debriefing time at the end of the trip.  We spent 2 nights and one full day at a beach hotel.  After the debrief session our first night, one of the guys asked to borrow my beach mat so they could go out to play worship music on the beach.  I joined them, not knowing that it would end up being only the male students out there.

As the one guy played guitar, most joined in singing different praise songs he played.  Others milled around or chatted quietly or prayed with each other.  At one point, two guys were standing by the water's edge with their arms around each others' back.  Slowly the other guys began to join them until they were all standing in a line looking out over the ocean.  They sang together then circled up - obviously praying together.  Of course they ended their circle time with a primal warrior cry before coming back to where the other leader and I were sitting.

They picked up where they left off - continuing with their worship, prayers, and encouraging conversations. At this point the other leader (Dave) got up from where we were sitting and walked to the water's edge.  It just so happened that he was leaving Thailand for a number of months a few days after we returned from this trip.  Our guys love and respect him so much.  It didn't take long for one of the guys to suggest that they go pray for him, and he was swarmed.  After praying for him, people slowly started heading back to their rooms for the night.

In seeing the guys in this special context, I felt as though I am more fully able to understand their relationship with each other and with Dave. Apparently, the guys thought it was cool that joined them.  I was relieved to hear this, as I did feel like I was intruding on their time and space to some extent, even though I feel so blessed that the guys allowed me to intrude and witness them in this almost intimate context.

With Mike and now Dave gone, I feel a huge amount of responsibility not just for the youth group, but also for these guys in closing out the year well (as many of them are graduating this year). I was thankful for this experience to help open up another way for me to connect with these guys.