Dear Saints,
Here is an update on what’s going on with us. It would be nice to hear what’s going on with you also. So please drop us a line in the comment box below to let us know how you are. We greatly love and appreciate you all!
Move and Living Arrangements: We are certainly no strangers to moving but this last move really put us to the test. We all know that moving is challenging enough when you just have to throw everything in boxes and take it to a new destination. We literally had to sort through every personal item that we own to determine what should happen each of them. We had a long term storage pile, give away pile, the sell pile, we need it until we go pile, trash it pile, and of course the ever so small we are taking it with us pile. We had a huge garage sale and truthfully that went great with the help of great friends. The most draining part I would say is that most of what we owned (which was not a lot) had sentimental value. Furthermore it was shocking to see what little is received when your life’s collections have been sold. We have since moved in with another family whom has graciously taken us in while we are in our transition. Doing so has given us the opportunity to cut back on our salary helping us to save money in the ministry account in preparation for our journey to and in Thailand.
Our original goal to head to Thailand early next year has been delayed and our current goal is to leave somewhere between May and August of 2013. I’ll talk more about that date change here shortly. For now we have moved in with the Kirby’s. They have 3 kids ages 3 and younger. Ethan and Alyssa share a room with Faith (3) and Caleb (2). Baby Reese (8m) has her own room. Christy and I share a room;) in the back of the house. Almost all of the families possessions that we have left fit in our bedroom. After 13 years in ministry we are certainly no strangers to living a life of sacrifice (not to say that we still do not have challenges to face in this area). The obvious blessing in this situation is having someone open their house giving you a place to stay. However the one that has touched my heart the most is having someone else sacrifice for you. Especially in this day and age in America. Sacrificing by faith is a long forgotten idea in most of our lives. Truthfully living with another family has given me much more of an idea of what the early church in Acts 2:44-47 was like.
It would have been much easier for them to say that a house with only four bedrooms is not large enough for two families instead of receiving what the Lord put on their hearts. The Kirby’s have each sacrificed space, privacy, time alone, refrigerator space, pantry space, a room of their own (the kids), let’s not bring up how I make the house smell when I cook asian food and forget to turn on the exhaust fan etc… and so much more when you consider the physical, mental, and emotional challenges that comes with such. Those things may sound like no big deal but in the day to day living giving up what’s “mine” is the real challenge. We all want to be left alone sometimes, your own private place where nobody is watching your every move for a change, have your house just the way you like it, to have something that is all your own, etc… I believe that it’s in these day to day moments that the spiritually mature are separated from the spiritually immature not just at home but also at work, school, in our marriages, or wherever life takes us. Not many sacrifice what’s “mine” to serve another as the Kriby’s have and are doing for us. During this time they have given up what is “mine” to the Lord and shared what He has entrusted to them with us. We are so grateful that they would allow us to interrupt their normal everyday lives and sacrifice to help us on our journey. Thank you so much! Truth is even though there is a place inside of me that longs to have a place of our own I can’t imagine living without the Kirby’s. We are one family in Christ but this experience together has brought us much more into the realness of that truth. May we forever be known as the Kir-sance family. Now the Kirby’s may have another story to tell as we all know that I am a pain in the you know what to live with. I know Christy just yelled AMEN out loud when she read that. Nine months to a year certainly would be a long time to keep this them from their normal life together and it is certainly much longer than we originally planned on when we moved in. As a result we will be moving early next year and we are certainly praying about what that looks like at this time. We have had a few offers over the past few months and I may be checking in with some of you to see if you are still open real soon!
The Delay in Departure: While researching in preparation for our journey to Thailand I was reminded of Hudson Taylor missionary to China in the 1800s. His approach was very much like ours in that he immersed himself into the culture and he built relationships in order to share the gospel of Christ. Upon further research of Hudson Taylor’s life I discovered that his mission organization China Inland Mission has changed its name to OMF International to better describe them as they now reach 12 countries in East Asia. They have been in Thailand for 60 years. With so much experience in Thailand and a similar approach we applied with them.
A couple of months into the process with OMF we learned a few things that made us realize that they are not the right choice for us. For starters they wanted us to raise $60,000 to $70,000 dollars a year. We were set back to say the least as we do not make anywhere near that living in the states and $1 is worth 32 (baht) of theirs. Upon further inquiry we found that much of that expense is not for cost of living/ministry but instead goes toward working for a large ministry. They have several different financial systems that they require you pay into… international and domestic etc… Second using Muay Thai (Thai Kick Boxing) as an avenue to build relationships in order to share the gospel is the first thing that Father put on my heart. My first contact with OMF was in the field in Thailand and told me that my training and interest in Muay Thai would be of great use. A couple months into talking with OMF I was informed that it would be five or six years before I would have the opportunity to do so and even then it would be up to the field director if I got to do that at all. The final and most important thing was that Hudson Taylor taught that Christians were to abandon performance as a means to Godliness, that we have exchanged trying to live holy for having been made holy in Christ, and when we stopped trying to perform and rest in Christ He will live out His holiness in and through us. All of this we agree with and is a very important part of what we teach. I searched the OMF website and the sites of its missionaries but could not find evidence of these teachings within OMF. When we got the opportunity to talk to a representative over the phone I quoted some of Hudson Taylor’s teachings (I put a few of those quotes below) in these areas and asked why was it that I was unable to find some of evidence of the same being taught from their website and missionaries. At first I was told that they did not hold to everything that Hudson Taylor did and that some things were not culturally the same. I then proceeded to explain that Taylor’s stance on how a Christian should live such as believing that in Christ we are dead to sin, and we are dead, buried, and alive in Christ were directly out of the BIble (Romans 6). They also could be found in Colossians, Galatians, etc… Listen dear Saints Christ is the only one who ever lived the perfect Christ life and to this day He still is the only one who can live the perfect Christian life. No amount of striving in the flesh is worthy before a perfect God no matter how good your fleshly deeds are. We must agree with God in this area and allow Christ to live in and through us if we want to experience and express His life on this earth. I hope that you have all come to understand this truth. If not please let’s talk before I leave for Thailand. I love you and would love the opportunity to challenge you with such amazing truth as trusting Christ as our life. Anyway all of this to say that our sending organization will continue to be Nothing Without Jesus and just for the record we love OMF. They have been and continue to be a beacon for the gospel of Christ for salvation in Asia.
“The Lord Jesus received is holiness begun; the Lord Jesus cherished is holiness advancing; the Lord Jesus counted upon as never absent would be holiness complete…” -Hudson Taylor
“Ah, there is rest!” I thought. “I have striven in vain to rest in Him. I’ll strive no more. For has not He promised to abide with me––never to leave me, never to fail me?” -Hudson Taylor
“…I am dead and buried with Christ––ay, and risen too!” -Hudson Taylor
Interesting side note about using Muay Thai to reach Thai’s. I met a Thai Pastor Yongyut Wiraponsawan who’s here in Texas to continue his education. He has been a pastor in Thailand for 20 years with the main role of bringing churches in Thailand together. (The church is still very young and small there about 400,000 to 500,000 people out of a population of 66,000,000) He asked me what our goal was when we get to Thailand and as I mentioned the part about Muay Thai he got visionally excited about the idea. He say, “I have never heard of this”… “no one in Thailand reaches these people”… “They are normally looked down upon because they are normally uneducated, not very wealthy, and not as morally good”.
So whatcha up to these days Wes? Great question… Much of my time is currently spent researching for our trip to Thailand and following up on those who have connections there. Then I spend a lot of time banging my head into a wall because I am tired and frustrated from having administration overload and staring at a computer screen. I will be increasing time in learning Thai and begin getting back into training Muay Thai. I am far from being in the physical shape that I need to be in. A friend, trainer, and champion fighter has offered to help me get back in shape. Other than that we have a couple of Bible studies, a couple in marriage counseling, the MMA group, and a couple of people to disciple.
The family: Christy is still home schooling the kids and is my hero for doing so. She is so amazing! We are all ready to get going on our next move. The delay has been hard on us but we are trusting Father with it all. We certainly have experienced some spiritual warfare. If the enemy can cause divisions between us as a family he can cloud our witness. We also have had more sickness in the 4 months than in the last 4 years combined. Nothing major just seems that we get every cold or flu bug that goes around. With very few toys left around both the kids enjoy playing video games. Ethan enjoys reading and Alyssa enjoys arts and crafts. Our kids are amazing with the younger children in the house. They play and care for them. It is so sweet to see them caring for others. Every chance I get I run off with Christy alone for lunch, run to the store, or a date. A great bonus to living with another family is being able to sneak away together from time to time. With the delay in departure we will surely experience the suffering of Christ in that Jesus said, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” (Luke 9:58).
Prayer request:
☆ Location: Where to plant? We are praying about moving to Bangkok or somewhere in the North east (Ubon Ratachathani area). Bangkok was not on my list at all but the truth is I remain open because of the skills that Father has equipped us with could be greatly used. Discipleship is greatly needed in Bangkok and Muay Thai is enormous in that city.
☆ Visa’s: I will be engaging a lawyer soon to make the process easier and to be sure that we are and stay legal while in the country.
☆ Support: Going on our own means trying to make a projected budget for cost of living and ministry. Not exactly the easiest thing to put together from such a great distance. The sooner I have this information the sooner we can make our needs known for those who wish to help us. May we also pray that Father will continue to put the desire to meet our needs on the hearts of others. We are trying to equip the website with the ability to receive donations (so far this simple task has proven to be a real pain).
☆ Favor: That Father will give us favor in the hearts of Thai’s, Thai churches, and the Thai government.
☆ Learning and Preparing: Pray for us as we begin learning the language before we go. Please pray for me also during this time of transition as It has been very hard on me to be in front of a computer so much. I am so use to having a lot more meetings and Bible studies going on.
☆ Living Situation: Until we go that is. As I explained delaying our departure means needing somewhere stay for a few extra months.
As you pray for us in each of these areas please know with certainty we have peace that Father has all of these worked out and we are waiting for His insight, wisdom, and timing. We have story after story of His faithfulness. Thank you for standing along side us and for remembering us in prayer. You are greatly loved and God’s love transforms!
My life is not my own,
Wes
214-952-2115
