Thank You

I just wanted to thank all of you that have been sending me cards, letters, emails, and packages. They have been a great encouragement to me. The Lord always sees to it that I get each note just when I need it the most. Your words and gifts are greatly appreciated. Each one has made me feel that much closer to all of you. As you can see by the picture they serve as a constant reminder of your thoughts and prayers. I feel so blessed to be a part of such a large and loving family.

Love & Blessings to you all,

Bethany

Kanchanaburi

2 weekends ago Lesa, Lisa, Kristin, and I went with some of the members of Bang Khen Baptist Church(the church Lesa and I are now attending) to a town called Kanchanaburi. The town was about a 5 hour drive West of Bangkok (see map) Bang Khen has a church plant there, and we went to help them put on their Christmas service. We went up early Saturday morning and stopped for breakfast and lunch along the way. We also got to stop and sight-see a little bit at the River Kwai. After we got to Kanchanaburi that afternoon we went on visitations to the people in the community...encouraging them and inviting them to the service the next day. We stayed the night at one of the believers homes. She cooked dinner for all of us and then we went caroling. We sang along in English :) The next morning at church we had a gift exchange with the members (we had brought all the gifts with us) We sang some songs and then the kids were dismissed to their own program while the adults all had a sermon on the Christmas story with the gospel woven through it. Afterward we all ate lunch and then headed back home. It was such an awesome weekend! It was a great opportunity to see how the Thai people live outside of Bangkok and to have a chance to get to know some of the believers from Bang Khen better. It was hard to leave that afternoon. I know I will be going back again before I leave. Please keep the church in Kanchanaburi in your prayers. For its continued growth and a full-time Thai Pastor to lead it.

In His Love,
Bethany

PS-I already have some pics from the wkend posted

Photos

Hey Y'all,

I finally posted pics from my trip to Phuket (poo-ket) Enjoy !

Answered Prayer

Thank you for praying for my trip to Cambodia. My "visa run" went VERY well. I got on the bus I needed at 6am and arrived at the border before 9am. I then got stamped out of Thailand, and purchased a Cambodian visa. I was stamped into Cambodia and met some of ABWE's partnering missionaries once I was across the border. The took me back to their house where they showed me their facilities and fed me a wonderful lunch of Cambodian food. After we had a chance to visit, they took me back to the border. I got out of Cambodia and back into Thailand with no problems, in fact my visa costs were less than I expected. Praise the Lord, I was blessed with wonderful people on my bus back to Bangkok that were more than willing to take care of me all the way home. I will not have to do that again for at least another 3 months. Hopefully if we can get some paper work worked out before my next 3 months are up I will not have to keep making these visa runs. I would appreciate it if you would keep this in your prayers.

In His Love,

Bethany

Prayer Request

I unexpectedly have to go to Cambodia tomorrow for a visa run. I will be leaving by 5am and If all goes well I will be back home by 4pm. (in time for a nice long nap) I am taking a direct bus ride to the border, where I will officially leave Thailand and enter Cambodia just long enough to complete all of the paper work so that I can come back. I will hopefully be meeting some missionaries at the border, but other than that I will be making the trip by myself. The trip is perfectly safe, but all of the paper work is a little intimidating. Please pray that it all goes smoothly and that I make all of my connections going and coming.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. I have been a little under the weather lately. It certainly hasn't been from cold weather though. The temperature is staying around the mid-80's. Whew, and it is already the middle of November! Some of you have been asking what they do here in Thailand to celebrate Thanksgiving. The Thai people do not traditionally celebrate this holiday, as it is an American one. However, several of the Thai Christians have started recognizing the day as a day to give thanks to God. The words for "Thanksgiving Day" in Thai literally mean "the day we thank God." That really hit me this year, for that is what Thanksgiving is supposed to be all about. I am ashamed to say that most years I get so caught up in "what we are going to eat" and "who is coming for dinner" that I forget the beauty of having (in most cases) a whole weekend off of work to focus on all that God has done for me. What a blessing! I challenge you (and myself) this Thanksgiving among all the hustle and bustle of friends and family to take some extra time with the Lord and thank Him once more for all that He has done for you and around you. God is actively at work in our lives, in our churches, and in our world - yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Sometimes I let the fact that we literally owe Christ our lives not have such a direct impact on my daily life. May God have all the glory this holiday season!

In Him,
Bethany

Timewise

Just a little note for those of you that are curious. The time here in Thailand does not change for Daylight Savings time. For the next 6 months I will be 1 additional hour away.

Home Again, Home Again...

Well, I am back in Bangkok safe and sound. I had a wonderful trip! The first 2 days were spent in Khao Lak (cow-lack) which is where ABWE had a shelter for the tsunami victims. They determined to have a service every Sunday at the center whether or not anyone showed up. They still have services every Sunday as well as ESL outreaches to the community. They now have some land that they are planning to use to build a larger center/church. It was such a blessing to be able to worship with them. I love meeting more and more of my spiritual family. I hope that I will have the chance to go back and visit again during my time here.


The rest of last week was spent at a resort on the Karon Beach in Phuket. Missionaries from all over Asia were treated to a 3 day/3 nt stay by the Christian Hospitality Network. After the retreat, our team here in Thailand had their quarterly meeting. We flew home the next day, and Lesa and I took one of her missionary friends that we met up with at the retreat around Bangkok. It has been a very busy week! The mtg. went well and the retreat was such a blessing. I feel refreshed, somewhat in my right mind :), and ready to face what God has planned for me this next week.

I hope to talk to you more soon,

Bethany

Hitting the Road Again

I am headed to Phuket next week to spend some time at the tsunami center and at the beach. Phuket is located in the southern tip of Thailand. Our team mtg is also being held there at the end of the week. I am looking foreward to a change in pace. I know school only began 3 wks ago for all of us, but I feel the need to take some time and process all that has happened these past 5 wks (have I been here 5 wks already?!) I am actually flying out tomorrow with another missionary couple, and then the Caynor's and Lesa Morgan will be coming down in time for the team meeting. I am then coming back to Bangkok early on Nov 2nd. with the couple I am flying down with. The Caynor's and Lesa however, are not coming back until later that day. That is when they will be doing their sight-seeing. We are all getting a little confused with the who's and what's flying in/out when and where. See what I mean - it's contagious! Ah, well. Will be sure to post more soon. If you are so confused now that all you want is to know exactly where I will be at, I posted a map of the country over by my photos. That might help give you a better idea of where I am headed (it did me!!)

Love to you all,
Bethany

Welcome!

Sawaa Dee Kaa (Hello),
Welcome to my new blog. I hope this site will allow me to keep in better contact with all of you. I just posted my first pictures yesterday. I hope you will enjoy seeing them and what some of my life is like here.
Mon & Tues are inservice days for the teachers at the language school, so I will not be teaching Kristin and Ricky those two days. Instead, on Mon, Lesa Morgan and I are planning on going downtown to get the last couple things we need for our appt. (a home phone & printer) On Tues we are hoping to invite one of the missionary couples over for dinner. Gotta go for now.
Talk to you later,
Bethany

Mailing Info

I just thought I would post a quick note with this link. Several of you have asked me how long it takes to send mail/packages here. I found this online today. It is a direct link to the official website for the US Postal Service. Just open the link and click on "Calculate Postage" and select the country of destination. It will walk you through a few steps, and then it will tell you how long and how much. I hope this helps to answer some of your questions about the mail.
http://ircalc.usps.gov/

Talk to you all soon,
Bethany

I Have an Address

I can't begin to thank you for all the encouragement you have been to me. It has been a tremendous blessing to hear from so many of you, and I know that I am in all of your prayers. Praise the Lord! Things are going very well. Lesa Morgan and I moved in about 10 days ago and have finally settled into our new appt. Since then we have literally shopped 'till we dropped. I never thought I would say this, but I honestly don't care if I see the inside of a store again for weeks! God blessed us richly however, with providing everything we needed and more for a reasonable price, right down to the silverware and trash baskets. Lesa and I agreed that our appt is starting to look and feel like "home." This past weekend we were able to have our phone and internet hooked up at our appt. We are grateful for the increase in our ease to communicate with our friends and family. The Caynor's moved into their house this past Saturday. They are having their furniture delivered over this next week, and are very excited to finally be able to start unpacking. Today the Caynor's and Lesa Morgan are registering at the language school. School should start for all of us by the end of this week or the begining of next.I would appreciate your prayers this next week as the Caynor's finish settling in and have to deal with things from late deliveries to opening new bank accounts to installing air conditioners - not to mention getting ready to learn a whole new language. Pray for Lesa Morgan that the language studies will go well for her as well. Pray also for Ricky, Kristin, and I as we start school together that we would form a special bond as we adapt to life here, work on the language, and grow in Christ together.

In His Love,
Bethany

I've Arrived!

Thank you all for your prayers this past week. The time has just flown by (both figuratively & literally) The flight over went as smooth as could be. The connection was made without any gliches, and we even got into Bangkok early. We have all spent the last few days getting over jet lag and looking for places to live. We still have a ways to go getting over jet lag, but I am happy to report that we have all found a place to live! The Caynors have found a nice 4 bdrm town-house that is just perfect for them, and Lesa Morgan and I found a very nice 2 bdrm appt not a 5 min walk away. God has been so good to us! This week we are all working on buying the necessities for our houses and having them cleaned. Lesa Morgan and I hope to move in this coming Friday (that's thurs. for you). The Caynors will probably not be moving in for at least another week. Please pray that all the arrangements that need to be made this coming week go smoothly and that we will be able to start building relationships with the people we are working with.

In His Love,

Bethany