Dear friends and family,
The pace has been picking up in August and even though we faced various challenges, we are grateful for the blessings that God has brought into our lives. One verse that has encouraged us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus is Psalm 27:13-14:
13 I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
It’s still a season of transition for us: after settling down in-country, we transit to starting work in a multi-cultural setting. Through it all, we want to wait on the Lord daily so we can know what is on His heart, see His goodness, and be courageous in Him!
9th – 12th August: YWAM Northern Thailand Retreat at Chiang Rai
It was an amazing time of equipping and resting in the joyful presence of God! We had a great time of fellowship with the many other YWAM staff who are serving in various provinces of Northern Thailand. We attended workshops on songwriting, book writing, spiritual journaling, and even photography! Find us in the group photo below 🙂
15th – 20th August: DTS Chiang Mai Staff Training Part 2
Our DTS team had another week of team building and curriculum training right before DTS started. It was a great time of clarifying what our roles as staff are, what is expected of a DTS in accordance with YWAM’s guidelines and values, and getting to know our team better. We also experienced and were equipped with activities that we can do with our students to engage with God in a deeper way.
17th – 20th August: Jason’s parents came to visit
As a detour from Bangkok, Jason’s parents, grandmother, and grand auntie came to visit us! It was a great 4 days of catching up and sight-seeing. We were very blessed to spend time with our family right before we slide into the busy period of DTS.
22nd August: DTS Orientation and team building
Finally, it’s time; DTS started with a huge bang! We had 2 days of full-on orientation and team-building with our full team of 7 students and 8 staff. This time we find ourselves wearing the “staff” hat, and oh boy it was challenging, yet fun!
We praise God for each of the 7 that He brought to us, indeed it’s not by coincidence that our paths are crisscrossing right here. Although we have students coming from a huge variety of backgrounds, the way they gel with each other in just 2 days is amazing. We’re all very excited about how God is going to bring transformation in all our lives together as a community.
Something that has been stretching both of us out of our comfort zones is that we have taken up the role of translators. While it accelerates our language learning greatly, translating also requires a lot of mental agility to listen and communicate meaning accurately. Please pray for the empowering of the Holy Spirit as we continue to rely on Him in this role! We need it! 🙂
As we write this newsletter, the first week of lecture phase has started and it’s on the topic of the nature and character of God. Even though DTS had just begun, we are already experiencing various forms of spiritual warfare. We greatly need your prayer covering and intercession over our school so that we can continue to be Christ-like in our heart, minds, and behaviour. Our school theme is “One Thing I Seek…”; we need the Holy Spirit’s empowerment to be focused on God and His presence!
Students and staff, balancing on a log and trying to accomplish a seemingly impossible task!
How can you pray for us?
- Pray for us, staff and students alike, that we surrender to the loving hands of our Father, and let Him continue moulding us and shaping us to become more like Him
- Pray for Sheryl and Jason, that they will serve from a place of rested assurance of the Father’s love, ministering as Sons and Daughters of the most high God
- Pray for wisdom as we navigate through the staff-student and staff-staff relationships and boundaries in DTS. We want to trust God for deep and healthy relationships in the DTS.
- Pray for our health; Sheryl has been having sinus issues. Pray for our safety also as we commute from place to place