We have been home now for just over three months. Praise be to God, within that time we have experienced much in the area of healing, though our bodies have not been completely freed from parasites or whatever continues to ail them. Two weeks after returning we were given a round of antibiotics which killed much of, if not all of the Giardia. As a result constant diarrhea, nausea, and weight loss are now behind us.

After the antibiotics we immediately took an herbal parasite cleanse, popular with missionaries and world travelers. We followed that up with a round of heavy probiotics. During the course of both of those we experienced times of much milder digestive issues, upset stomach, nausea, occasional headaches, random skin irritations, belching, and gas about every 7 days or so. You could almost put it on the calendar. Of course that also brings about emotional struggles, low energy levels, irritability, foggy headedness, and a whole other host of problems.  I will say that we have at least learned to have fun with the with ridiculous amount of belching and farting that happens. Normally I would be on the leader board all by myself but these parasites have leveled the playing field. Haha… Sure the family appreciates my mentioning that!

After the probiotics a few times Alyssa’s nausea was a little more severe. She threw up on a couple of occasions. Poor girl, she takes after Daddy as she is our little overachiever. We ended up seeing the doctor again only to have another negative stool test and no answers. He was encouraged that we all have gained some of our weight back. His is also confident that we have killed off the Giardia but to be honest I’m not convinced. Thought it is possible that we may have some other kind of parasite that has not shown up in test yet. We have learned that avoiding certain foods keeps our symptom’s minimal.

Before even leaving Thailand I read thousands of posts on-line from those sharing frustration about not being able to detect parasites. Many of them sound like they are describing our lives. Those with the most success in ridding themselves of these invaders seem to do best through eating foods and supplements that make the body a hostile environment for them to live in. So unless we have a test come back positive, that’s the goal we are striving for.

As I have said before we have joyfully depended upon and served our Lord in health and now also in our sickness. After all, what kind of God would He be if the life and peace that we derive from Him was only sufficient in our good times.

Thailand:
We have all miss being and ministering in Thailand. We miss our new friends and family. We sacrificed so much to be there. We have accepted the Lord’s will in this matter even though it is puzzling to the mind.

We continued learning Thai via Skype for a couple of months. It got a bit difficult with the time difference and our health issues. TLS school in Bangkok is actually looking to hire a nighttime teacher so that we can learn during our daylight hours.

Moving again:
On May 1st we will be signing a one year lease at an apartment in Richardson. We are all excited about the up coming move, even though we have been moving a lot in recent years.

Ministry update:
Within a few weeks of being home we started receiving phone calls from those who were interested in getting counseling, discipleship, and Bible studies going once we were feeling better. We have slowly started meeting with people again over the past couple of months.

In the next couple of weeks things will really be picking up. We will be starting be a couple of Bible studies going through the books of Timothy and Hebrews. If you are interested in the study on Hebrews feel free to contact me for more information. We will be meeting Tuesdays at 9:30a. We will also be increasing the counseling and discipleship meetings. No Romans studies yet. We are trying to get one together so I’ll keep you posted.

Why are we so big on Romans? There is lots of talk these days about who we are in Christ and our freedom from the Law. Romans explains how we got our new identity in Christ that freed us from the Law. Understanding both of these truths and learning to appropriate them by faith is essential to experiencing the life of Christ on a daily basis.

Have ever wondered what it means to “walk by the Spirit” or to be “dead to the Law”? Or maybe you just would like to understand more about how our identity in Christ and being free from the Law applies to our daily Christian life. The Romans study would is a great place to start. Please let us know if we can facilitate your small group study through Romans. We will come to your office, house, church, or wherever you meet.

Nothing without Jesus,

Wes
214-952-2115
[email protected]

We made it safely back to Dallas.  The trip home was one of the longest roughest days of my life.  The total time we spent at airports or on planes was 36 hours and all of us were experiencing diarrhea and other issues.  At one point during a layover in Seattle I was exhausted, dehydrated, nauseous, weak, and dizzy; I thought that there was no way we could get on that last plane but somehow we made it.  Only by God’s hand did we make it through that trip!  The best part was being surprised by family and friends at the airport, seeing the faces of people I love excited to see us did us a world of good.  We have been overwhelmed with gratefulness to be here.

(I should mention that God answered our prayer that we did get to sit a parent with a child.  Thanks for praying!)

After our arrival it has all been about recovering from the trip and the jet lag.  We seemed to be doing well until Alyssa got diarrhea again and vomiting.  Ugh!  It was time to find out what was going on with all of us!  We found a family doctor who finally confirmed Wes’ suspicion all along: the parasite Giardia.  We arranged appointments for the rest of the family yesterday so that we could also be prescribed the antibiotics.  We are so grateful for our doctor!  He was a God-send who listened and helped by discounting all of our appointments.  We have been suffering with this for months and are looking forward to having normal body functions again!  I have been concerned about everybody’s weight loss and it is a relief that God willing an end is in sight.

Dear Saints,

It’s our last full day in Bangkok. Mixed emotions have filled our hearts as we say our goodbyes and pack. The parasite, bacterial infection, or whatever it is has finally hit all of us again today. We have a parasite cleanse awaiting us when we arrive in Dallas. Wishing right now that I could take Paul’s advise to Timothy for his ailing stomach in 1 Timothy 5:23, but unfortunately they use ingredients that I am intolerant to in most wine.

Our hearts have been overwhelmed with your support, especially those of Joshua Tree. So many of you have shared our disappointment over the end of our journey here and with the same breath have said that you can’t wait for our arrival home. We have a real peace from the Holy Spirit about coming home. I don’t understand why this journey has come to an abrupt end but I do accept my Father’s leading. As I have thought about all of this I have often been reminded of Paul’s journey through Asia in Acts 16. Even though churches were experiencing strengthening by faith and were growing in numbers daily (verses 1-5) the Holy Spirit forbad them to preach the word in Asia (verse 6). I’m sure that doesn’t sit well with those performance-based evangelist types who believe that you must share the gospel with everyone because you never know if you will see them again. That’s a talk for some other time. They were headed to Bithynia to continue preaching and teaching only the Holy Spirit forbid them to go. I’m sure the words of our Savior rang in their heads, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” I love the fact the Bible does not say that they had done anything wrong or that they were even out of His will. In fact, I believe that they were doing exactly what they were commanded to do until the trump card was played. The Holy Spirits leading proceeded the call to strengthen the church and evangelize in Asia, as well as going to  Bithynia. Paul would later share with us in 2 Corinthians 1:8 about their “affliction which came to” them “in Asia,” and that they “were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life.”

Since being in Asia we have certainly experienced burdens beyond our strength even to the point of wondering if this journey would cost my life due to severe digestive issues and Ethan’s life with Dengue fever. In the last eight years between the four of us we have been to the doctor maybe three or four times. Just days before leaving Dallas Alyssa got strep. Upon getting here Ethan was bitten by something poisonous that had a line running up his leg. Christy had a major sinus infection. Ethan got Dengue fever and we all have had digestive issues. Doctors and hospital visits abounded. Truthfully when I look back I don’t see the mental or the emotional roller coaster, I see Christ. He was with us every step of the way just as He promised to be. What a Savior! This reminds me of my post on July 15 the day we left for Thailand. “We have done all of the necessary preparation. Even so, we do not place our faith in things working out according to plan but instead we place our faith in the Lord Who is with us always!”

Returning to Dallas certainly has a high level of uncertainty to it; in many ways more so then moving to Thailand. We sold or gave away almost everything that we own. Our first priority will be getting back to good health. We will also be praying about what our future looks like. Do we stay in Dallas and continue discipleship? Maybe work for a church? Before we left there was talk about possibly traveling around the US doing discipleship with different churches. Do we step out on this? One things for sure we plan on staying lean for a while as far as owning stuff goes. The Lord knew all of this would happen and yet He allowed us to sell everything anyway. At least until we know what He has in store for us. We will live with friends for a short while. Then maybe sign a short lease 6 months or so while we wait for the Lord’s direction. Of course for now we know that we will be walking right into the glorious hands of the Fellowship of Christ and we look forward to that.

Proverbs 16:3
Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established.

We have a friend that is flying into Dallas January 20th to get rid of the last few items he has in storage. He has offered us what little furniture he has. I see Father in all of this as he planned this trip sometime last year. Much of our personal finances where used on the starting a new life here and medical expenses. So we may ask along the way if some of you have extras of some thing that we can borrow until we get back on our feet and/or are sure of Father’s direction for us. We had friends sell our car after we left so letting us borrow a car would be a huge help if anyone feels led.

Hello everyone,

I figured I had better write the next post since Wes can get so detailed and long winded about topics (bodily function) that you might not have wanted SO much information about.

Our flight back to Dallas is Jan 9th!  We all have a mix of emotions.  We are disappointed to be leaving so soon but are looking forward to being reunited with family and friends.  We are also anticipating some healing and relief from our current health challenges.  Speaking of which… Alyssa is now dealing with diarrhea and stomach pain when she eats.  We took her to the doctor and the best they could give us was, “Maybe it is viral or the food here since we use a lot of pesticides.”  Ugh.

Our flight leaves at 5:30 am.  International check-in 3 hours before flight means being at the airport at 2:30 am.  Factoring in the reality that not even two taxis could bring all the family and luggage, and that the BTS Skytrain  closes from midnight to 6 am we will be trudging our luggage to the Skytrain at 10 pm.  I’m grateful that we have such an opportunity to adjust our internal clocks to our future time zone.  That sounds very sarcastic, but I really do think that it will work to our benefit.

One HUGE praise and prayer request is that after we bought our tickets the date of the protestors “shutting down Bangkok” was reported, Jan 13th.    We knew that sometime after New Years they were planning this and we were hoping to avoid any extra complications in getting home.  My heart and prayers goes out to this city in turmoil; may they find the true Prince of Peace.  Here is a link from Bangkok Post about the shut down and a link from BBC about why this is happening.

On our flight here to Thailand using British Airways we were able to bring three free checked bags each.  Thankfully we only brought two each because our flight back to Dallas using Delta allows only ONE free bag.  The fee for extra bags is outrageous.  So while being distress about the extra cost I’ll grateful that we didn’t bring more over with us.  So pray that our luggage is supernaturally light and compact!   I have to bring home souvenirs somehow!

One last prayer request!  Since we bought our tickets late we don’t have seats that are assigned next to each other.  I don’t think that it will be an issue, but I would at least like to have one parent with one child.  So, a little extra prayer for the hearts of strangers to be compelled to give us 4 first class seats… just kidding.  I just want to be able to sit together.

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement.  I am so thankful to have been able to experience the wonderful people of Thailand even if it was for just a little while.  I come back enriched with faces to pray for and a faith that has strengthened to see God carry us through lonely valleys. I look forward to seeing many of you face-to-face and sharing what our faithful Father has done.

PS   It will take some time to get our phones set up, but you can call our Dallas cellphone numbers and leave us a voicemail which will be emailed to us.

Dear Saints,

Merry Christmas!! We are certainly missing our family and friends this holiday season. You are all loved! Christmas certainly is not the same without you, though I will admit that experiencing the sufficiency of Christ without all the fun celebrations, craziness of gift buying, beautiful decorations, cold weather, Christmas cards, etc. has been amazing. Let’s just say that with less than 1% Christians in Thailand there is not much in the arena of celebrating the birth of Christ. When everything is stripped down to the bare naked you are left with the opportunity to experience the true reason for His birth, He came to give you Himself. All who receive the gift of His life are placed in an intimate relationship with Him that never ends. How exciting! In this bare naked place we have experienced and have expressed the results of an intimate relationship with an Amazing God. Of course, you don’t have to be stripped down to the bare naked to experience the gift of His life. Saints, you can experience and express our Lord in all things (Romans 5:1-5) by His grace, power, and love even in the crazy Christmas season where things don’t seem to slow down. Yes, I know I’m a few days late with my Christmas greeting but things here have been crazy in a different way. So let me catch you up to speed.

As I’ve mentioned before my digestive system has been struggling since being in Thailand. Normally identifying the food sources that are contaminated with my food intolerances helps heal my stomach. This normally takes time, is tedious, and frustrating. As I’ve been trying to chase down the major contributors things in last three weeks things are having been getting much worse. It seems that each change brings about new problems with my food intolerances.

After three months of being here I made the new discovery of having an intolerance to eggs whites. Then I found out that Thai’s use MSG in most of the food they cook which of course is another food intolerance of mine. We started cooking at home to avoid such irritants, only to discover that we would have to cook all of our veggies instead of just washing and peeling them to avoid parasite infections because we are in a tropical environment… Rookie Move! Truth be known I just wrote veggies because I could not remember how to spell vegetables. (Mental note: after finding the correct spelling there is no reason to out oneself. Ha!) Since eating at home I’ve had to depend on a lot more meat in my diet because of the limited variety of vegetables I can eat here. My digestive system is sensitive to pesticides and GMOs causing me to have to eat as much organic produce as possible which is costly.  There is a lot less organic produce here and when you find it most of the time its not as nutrient dense.

I’ve seen a total of six doctors in the last three or four months. Why so many? Great question…. plain and simple language barrier. The first few helped to identify a few new food intolerances as well as other food contaminations through blood test and process of elimination. The last four doctors have been in the last month as things have progressively gotten worse. In the end I found an older gentleman who has been very helpful. In fact, Dr. Chaao was the one that diagnosed Ethan with Dengue Fever. He is a very kind and wise man. I enjoy that when I tell him how good his English is he likes to brag about how much better his French is as he did his medical studies in France. Yesterday after looking over my medical history with recent blood and stool test his diagnoses is that I have IBS. That is funny considering after about two months of being here I told Christy that it seemed like my leaky gut issues were progressing into IBS. This is something I have been able to manage much easier in the States because the abundance of organic foods and grain free meats. The doctor  believes that my body is struggling to deal with the different foods here and the tropical changes (mainly germs and parasites). He also stated that has become much more common with many people who travel to different countries. I found this to be consistent with the many internet testimonies. Where were all of those when I did my intense research on-line before leaving?

Of course, I talked to the doctor about what my chances of getting a handle on this while staying in Thailand and what concerns I should have if it persist. Other than being really uncomfortable and causing soft and/or watery stool IBS is not known to do any real damage or have any medical threats… other than that fun effect it has on your life by controlling your bowel movements. I’ve had to canceled one opportunity to teach already due to a flare up. My major concern is that my blood work still shows signs that my body is still dealing with the food intolerances due to leaky gut and/or parasite infection. When I discovered my leaky gut three years ago my lymph-nodes got seriously overloaded due to the same intolerances which caused them to swell to visible sight. At that time I did not know the signs of an oncoming infection. This time I can see it coming. Also, how can I get past IBS if my body is still overloaded with food intolerances and possibly a parasite infection? I am convinced that I have the Giardia parasite. The symptoms are really similar to IBS. I have had two stool test that were about two weeks apart without an sign of a parasite yet. In America many believe that it is not likely to detect a parasite from just one test. The best is to have three consecutive stool test because of the life cycle of parasites. We had two other family members get hit with diarrhea one week after I did. They recovered in about a week. I think my other stomach issues keep me from improving. Doctors here really don’t seem to care about the three stool rule.

As far as adjusting here, Dr. Chaao said that some people adjust to the new environment/food eventually getting past IBS while others never adjust. There really is no way to know what the turnout will be. We have found many personal testimonies to this online. A very few people don’t improve even after going home.

For the last week or so Christy and I have started to talk and pray about what was best for our futures if we could not get my body under control soon. We have decided that it is best that we return to the States. We have exhausted our personal savings on doctors and starting a new life here, I’m not getting better, and I can’t help but wonder if the Lord is not trying to get us out of here as the country is on the edge of plunging into civil war. I will post the latest link below if you would like to read up on it. While the doctor nor I have any reason to suspect anything worse is going on at this point if by some chance there is something more I would rather have the support of friends close by especially for my family. We will more than likely be making the trip home within the next couple of weeks. Our hearts are filled with disappointment and joy just as when we left Dallas. One of our supporters said, “I think it would be awesome if you have to come home and tell everyone forever the cause was chronic diarrhea.” I love this. By the way I blame all of this on those of you who kept saying, “You don’t have to go” before we left.  Especially those who said you were praying that we would somehow stay (of which Andi is the foremost.) Haha! I love you all!  (Get our favorite seats ready in Joshua Tree, bump those other suckers out. Johnsons, we are fully expecting another awesome kicked-out party this time a rejected-from-Thailand party!  Tylers, we are so pleased you bought a bigger house, get our rooms ready.)

Please forgive me for dropping all of this at once. In the last three weeks as things have gotten worse I have had some really adverse reactions to the meds they are put me through. The antibiotic messed with my head, the parasite meds drained me and cause my occasional soft or watery stool to become chronic diarrhea. IBS medication has caused sleeplessness, irritability, and nervousness. I have tried to write many times but have had trouble keeping my mind focused. The food intolerances and IBS have been a joy in comparison to the meds. No kidding! In fact the antibiotics and parasite meds are what sent the IBS from mild to over the top. Please keep this in mind if you have written me and last few weeks and I have not gotten back with you. I feel like I’m coming out of the mental fog right now. My inbox is full. I will try and get back with each of you.

While our emotions and minds have experienced major highs and lows of turbulent winds from this storm our spirits have remained much like the eye of a hurricane… calm.  A few years ago I was in the physical shape of a pro-athlete. I praised the Lord for being so. Today far from being in the shape of a pro-athlete by His grace through faith I still praise the Lord. This is His provision for our lives. We don’t have to understand it or like but I do respect the Lord of Lords! Thank you Jesus! The realness of Who you are is evident in the hearts of this family. As a family we are all united to Jesus and as a result we beat as one. You are amazing and worthy to be praised in all things!

PS Ross, I fully expect you to read ALL of this in front of the class with special emphasis on my bowel movements.

My life is not my own,
Wes

Links:
Boycott of Elections
Cash donation for protest leader
Possible Coup

Okay, just a quick update. I know that I have promised to post about our church experiences, but it will have to wait for now. This week is extraordinarily busy.

Ministry Update: Christy and I are leading a small group Bible study of about 10 at a local Thai church on Thursday nights. We are going through an English Christian book with some Thais that are interested in strengthening their English. It has been really nice to start teaching again. The pastor’s wife translates when needed. We have had some great conversations. This past week one of the chapters in the book was about the term Born Again. When confronted with the topic three people in group expressed that they did not know what it meant to be born again and one of them stated that it was hard because she does not always live correctly. “Sometimes I curse or think something bad.” The translator took some time to share the basis of the gospel. That we are saved only by faith through grace. The three understood and agreed. We also had the opportunity to share that to be born again literally happens to our spirit the moment that we believe we are placed in Christ- placed into His death, burial, raised with Him in new life, and then united to Him. Thank you, Jesus! It never gets old sharing God’s glorious truth with His Saints.

This week is extraordinarily busy because the Lord has given me an opportunity to teach on Friday and Sunday for an international church here in Bangkok. It will take about an hour of travel time each direction to and from the church. The name of the church is AIT Christian Fellowship. Please remember me in your prayers this week if you would. I am prepared for teaching the Bible study on Thursday, I’ve got some studying to do for Friday, and Sunday I’m still asking the Holy Spirit what He’s got in store.

Language school: is going very well. We have a new teacher. Our previous teacher just had her first baby. Christy is still the superstar, with Alyssa trailing just behind her, Ethan and I still struggle to keep up with the girls. Keep praying for us. Things are coming together for us.

Border runs: We were so excited to find out that we will not need to make border runs to Laos every three months as originally thought. We can head to the local immigration office to check in and get our visas stamped.  We have already made our first visit. In total it took us half a day to go through the whole process, which beats a whirlwind trip over the coarse of three days. It also was a lot cheaper and that’s always exciting to experience!

The Family: We are all adjusting well to our new lifestyle. The hardest part is missing our friends. We talk about you all quite often.

Several people have continued to ask about Ethan. He has recovered fully from Dengue Fever. For the most part we all seem to be in good health. Ethan and I both still struggle with food intolerances. That really sucks! It looks like Alyssa may be starting to develop issues in this area also. Since being in Bangkok I’ve struggled with keeping my digestive system healthy. I finally had a blood test done to determine exactly what foods are causing my body to react. The test consisted of 221 common foods. Those of you who know me will think this is funny! I’m intolerant to egg whites. I only eat three to six eggs a day. That is until now anyway! Add that to my other intolerances such as wheat, corn, agar agar, and you can forget eating anything outside this home safely. People often ask me, “What do you eat?” Mostly meat and veggies, some fruit and nuts. If I had a cashew intolerance, then I could just avoid cashews. But being intolerant to the foods that are used to make just about everything is insanity. In total I have 11 foods that are causing issues for me. The others are much easier to avoid.

My body detoxed heavily during first three days of cutting eggs out of my diet.  My digestive system got better for about three days and then started having issues again. I bought a heavy probiotic to assist my stomach in regaining heathy bacteria. My stomach got better for three days and then I started having issues again. The way I see it is my body is obviously having a revolt against Christianity. After three days comes new life not more sickness and problems. Haha! Lame I know. Give me a break I’m full of toxins. Anyway avoiding the food intolerances has helped a lot. I’m thinking clearer, able to focus easier, my skin is clearing up, and I’ve got more energy; which is good. Now I just need to find out what else is bothering my stomach. More than likely its parasites. It could also be a bacterial infection in my small intestines, over growth of candida, or even eating foods that have been feed a lot of grains. I guess we will see. Keep praying for us. Long term issues in the stomach are not good. In fact, it can lead to much more serious illnesses. I know that these stomach issues are Father’s provision for us. I’ve learned a lot about trusting Him in sickness.

Well, that’s about it for now. I’ve got plenty more to share but it will have to wait. I’m behind on my studies. You are greatly loved and appreciated! Today I told someone back home to “be encouraged as you all have been an encouragement to us.” Your concerns, e-mails, thoughts, and prayers have overwhelmed us. Through all of you the Love of Christ has touched our lives. Keep fighting the fight of faith.

My life is not my own,
Wes

Prior research is paying off:
All of the internet research on Thailand that frustrated the life out of me before leaving Dallas has most certainly payed off. At least so far in dealing with language school, Government agencies, visa border runs, living arrangements, food, culture, etc… Even though many times it felt like endless circles without concrete answers.  There are plenty of things that we would not have been prepared for if it were not for all the time spent researching. Thank you, Father, for leading me and being my strength to keep going on when it felt pointless.

Visa update:
You may remember us mentioning that we would need to make border runs for visas every three months. Well, we received some good news recently. We will not have to make any more border runs this year! We found out that we can go to the local immigration office in Bangkok every three months for our required check in and to get our stamps. This is exciting news as the trips are really expensive, exhausting, and uncomfortable to say the least. By the way, if you’ve never made a run to the border of Laos from Bangkok for a visa then there’s no way you can consider yourself real thill seeker. We made the trip in a crowded minivan loaded with 9 other people. That’s the 4 of us and 9 other people. Unlike minivans in America the windows are tiny so you feel closed in and you can’t see out of the sides without ducking down. The only exception was the front window which was large. It was, however, the only window you did not want to see out of. As the driver drove well over the speed limit, treated the lines in the road like they were only a suggestion, and talked or texted on the cell phone quite a bit. On the way back we watched Fast & Furious 6! While I have never been a fan of the F&F series I highly recommend watching one while on one of these trips for the ultimate 3D experience. The screen was at the front of the van. So we could see our driver’s point of view around the screen. We were driving on and off the road, flying once again at unreal speeds, and seeing real cars flying by.

Untangling the Cultural Knot:
We are learning more about the culture and area everyday. Here are a couple of stories.

The end of October marks the finishing line of the three month rainy season here in Thailand. In fact, the last two weeks it rained everyday. Everyone was concerned about Bangkok flooding. As the rainy season ends it brings about a little bit cooler weather as it’s not quite as humid. Recently as I have hopped into cabs I have encountered taxi drivers who share their excitement about the cooler weather being here. The average temp right now is 35c or 95 fahrenheit. I hate to admit it, but the truth is it does feel a lot cooler outside and when I tell myself the truth I have to admit that it’s relentlessly hot all day and night!

As we walked to church this past Sunday morning holding hands one yellow leaf fell just between Christy and I. Christy said, “That was it, fall.” I think she was right… That was it, all of it, fall all at once! In a land currently abundant with green lush trees we both feel so blessed to have witnessed Bangkok’s fall. A minute earlier or later and we would have missed it.

Compared to most Thais Americans are very abrupt even when we are trying to be subtle. You don’t hear people raising their voices around here much, so I’m learning not to abruptly yell out things like, “Ethan, Let’s roll.” Even though I was not angry or yelling the couple of times that I have spoken crowded rooms got quiet, everybody kind of paused where they were and people looked very uncomfortable. Hey, my kids knew it was time to catch the bus, jump off the train at this stop, or grab a cab out of here.

They also are not big on confrontation or even perceived confrontation. Once a young fruit vender gave me back the wrong amount of change. As I tried to explain that he gave me back too much money (without any aggressiveness) people around us got uncomfortable and quiet.  A man coming out of the store stopped just outside of my sight and listened. While he could not see what we were talking about I assume he must have known some English as he loosened up, snickered, and walked off when the young man finally realized that he short changed himself 10 baht.

In fact, this is a popular thread on expat blogs and forums for those living in Thailand. Westerns often write about using this to their advantage. It’s not uncommon to read ones recommendation to another encouraging them to raise their voice when not getting their way because Thais almost always back down. What a naughty tactic… taking advantage of a culture’s gentleness and kindness. Of course, many times it had to do with someone’s landlord trying to unjustly keep the deposit worth two months rent. Which by the way is also said to be common here. I know we were shocked and concerned when we had to pony up the first and last months rent as well as two months worth for the deposit. 4 months rent at once… holy smokes! Some research revealed that this was normal for Thai apartment contracts. We hope that we don’t have the same problems getting our deposit back as most seem to. We are counting on the fact that the owners here are Christians and we’ve been found to be super honest with them.

By the way, on that note apartments are much smaller here on average than in the States. Our last apartment in the US was 1,100 sq ft. Our apartment here is 45 Sq m which is just under 485 Sq ft. In Dallas we could watch hawks, bunnies, and coyotes from the balcony, but we’ve traded those in for bats at dust and monitor lizards roaming the backyard.

Enough rambling for now. I’ll save our church experience for the next post. I could title our church experience Lost in Translation, The Cult, and a New Beginning! Haha… bet you can’t wait to hear about our experience now. I will also get to working on an updated prayer request post.

You are all loved and greatly appreciated! Your prayers have warmed our hearts.

My life is not my own,
Wes

To the Saints in America,

Greetings from Bangkok! This post really is all about you! Getting here would have been so much harder if it were not for the love, help, and support of the body of Christ. We are so grateful for you all.What a blessing it has been getting to see the Lord supply for our needs through each of you.

Thank you to the Kirby’s and the Terry’s for opening your home to us for 5 months each. That took such a huge drain off of our finances both personal and ministry as we prepared to go. It also kept us from having to live in a hollowed out shell for a home as a result of getting rid of all of our things thinking that we were leaving earlier. I’m sure you will receive the Crown of Long Suffering which will be made just for you as I don’t remember that one being named in Scripture. Truthfully having others live in your home is difficult and a huge sacrifice. There are very few who will sacrifice their personal space, privacy, and comfort. Thank you so much! We are truly grateful for your sacrifice. We love and miss you all!

Todd and Dana, I know that we were such a drain of time, money, and resources on you guys especially towards the end (even now! haha). The personal time that you spent with us and the kids was amazing. Thank you so much for getting and keeping the website going. Fixing the simple things that are just to complicated for me to figure out. Running us to the airport. I can’t think of anyone else that I would have wanted to bring us and let’s not forget Todd running at the airport for us. WOW!  Everyone else is like what is he talking about? You should have been there. Well, we gave the Tyler’s a bag on the way to the airport to return for us. In the security line at the airport we decided that we needed it so Todd dashed to the car to get it for us. You will be excited to know that bag has been so helpful. And thanks for taking care of the administrative stuff for NWJ on a moment’s notice.

Joshua Tree, you are the reason that we began attending The Heights Baptist Church. The community and servant’s heart that you share was such an example of Christ to us that we wanted to be a part of your family. Thank you for accepting us. How great it was to be a part of such an amazing group. Thank you for all of your help in getting us to the field. Thank you to those of you who watched our kids and spent time with them. To the Johnson’s who put together the most amazing “KICK OUT PARTY” and those who attended what a great ministry it was to us. Thank you for your prayers and encouraging e-mails along the way.

For those of you who were able to come by to wish us farewell. Sorry that I was not more mentally present. My mind was obviously on overload with last minute details, but you should know that it was very warming to my heart. It meant so much to us that you took the time to come by. Thank you for running final errands for us, bringing travel pillows, and snack bars for our journey.

I also wanted to mention Christy, Ethan, and Alyssa, you guys are my true heroes in this life. You gave up almost everything you own, left your friends and family, and everything that you have known to follow the leading of your husband/father’s heart. You have had the most amazing hearts and attitudes in doing so. In the words of King Leonidas, “In the end, a Spartan’s true strength is the warrior next to him.” For me there is no greater joy in life than serving Christ with these three warriors. On that note, for those of us who are in Christ may we  never forget that the Warrior by all of our sides is Christ Himself.

For those of you who don’t have Facebook I thought I would share my fb post from our last day in Dallas:

July 15th 2013

“It’s game day in the Plaisance household and we are ready to play. We have done all of the necessary preparation. Even so, we do not place our faith in things working out according to plan but instead we place our faith in the Lord Who is with us always! You are all loved! I’m not sure what we would have done without the body of believers being Christ to us as we prepare to go. Thank you for helping to carry this very heavy load with us. Even though we will miss being with you there are no goodbyes for those who are in Christ! You are all greatly loved and appreciated! Our prayers are with you and ask that yours continue to be with us. -with Christy”

For those of you that we know, you may want to look us up on facebook as we post a little more frequently on there. I’m working on a picture journal of our journey so far and a ministry update as well. I hope to post them within a week or so. You are all greatly loved! I appreciate you and your everything that you have done for us!

My life is not my own,
Wes