Going Fishing

Thanks so much for your support this summer. I’m now going into my last week here, and it has been a truly incredible summer. Many of you know the difficult time I had preparing for this summer, and you know the uncertainty of every step that I took along the way. I can say with confidence that this summer has been blessed by Dad & His powerful hand has been upon us this summer. So, to many of you, I want to say a special thank you for encouraging me to persevere through dark & difficult circumstances all along the way. The Fruit we have seen is the consequence of our obedience to endure the difficult things and stay the course.

This week has been filled with mixed emotions: eagerness to return to Family & friends is mixed with a pain to leave new family & friends here. We’ve had so many opportunities to meet with friends this week, continue sharing the Truth, and see eyes & hearts opened to the True Light. To the right is a picture of D’s English club that he invited us to come join for a day. This was an opportunity for us to share the Store with over 30 people as D translated for us the Story of our Brother and how to return to our Father. It was truly incredible to see his boldness and willingness to share with his friends how his life has been changed. I believe we will see a lot of fruit from this small group of students.

Also, we were able to meet these students again for a party to help out with festivities and follow up with a couple of students. D says that as he has been talking about Him, he is starting to find people that are interested and he will continue to share with them. Right now he really needs some Brothers to be beside him, and this is a key goal for us this week. We want to connect him and the other interested friends with those who can continue the work after we leave. This is really important for us, so please lift this up.

This weekend we were able to travel to the countryside with one of our friends, L. We got to visit him in his home & spend a lot of time with him and his friend. We went fishing, swimming, snail-catching, crazy food eating, and badmitton-ing, and we really had a blast. It was nice to get away from the city for a couple days, and it was an awesome opportunity to live out the things we’ve been sharing with this guy for a few weeks. We got to share the Story with him and his friend, and it seems as though his heart is being opened to the Truth. He seems more receptive, but “needs more time to think about it.” For many of our friends, they’ve never even heard of this Guy before, so making a decision takes time as they consider the Truth and the cost of following. It’s hard to leave when our friends seem so close like this. We are trusting that Dad will complete the work He’s begun here, and we must simply be faithful to be obedient to do our part here.

This last week we will be meeting almost all of our contacts for a final goodbye and last words before traveling home. We will connect our new Family and those interested with Friends who can continue speaking & teaching what they need to hear.

Join us this week and Lift Up:

1. Final meetings with friends. Last opportunities to share the Truth

2. D-, continued Growth and Maturity. Ask for a mentor for him.

3. Opened eyes and hearts to receive the Truth

4. Peace for us as we deal with leaving this place that has become our home for the past 2 months

“Don’t fish with a hook, fish with a net.”

grace & peace,

M & Ernest

Another in the Family!

 After returning to our city, we had only a couple of meetings scheduled, and some plans we had for a beach trip with friends fell through. We thought it would be an uneventful week, but boy were we wrong! We've met with D- this week he brought a friend (A) with him. We went to a Buddhist temple that is very popular for tourists, and it was inside this temple that I was able to share the Story with him for the first time. His family is Buddhist, and it seems like that is the only thing currently holding him back from receiving the Gift. He's sent some encouraging messages our way since then so we feel that the Holy Spirit is really working in his heart.

We also were able to meet with one of our Sisters here, who introduced us to some of her friends who attend her university. We were able to Share with both of them, and one of the girls- L- has joined the Family!  It seems as though all of this movement if happening right as we are about to leave, which is hard. Leaving this place will be really difficult. It has stolen my heart, and my new friends & Family here will be extremely hard to leave.  Our task is big, and we can't do it along. We want to be faithful to pour ourselves out as long as we are here, and we want to ask for more to be sent to finished the work that has begun. The Father hasn't forgotten this people- that much is clear- and we must only be faithful with the portion given to us. One sows, another waters, but He bring the growth.  With only 2 weeks left, it's time to finish strong.

Worthy is the Lamb,
M & Ernest 





Join us in lifting up:

• A-  openness & boldness to Follow even if his family rejects him 
• L-  continued resolve to Follow & for our friends who will be following up with her 
• Endurance for me & Ernest this week as we are drawing close to the end of our time here 
• More laborers to continue what has been started

Hearing from the Father

This week has been absolutely amazing! It has easily been my favorite off the summer so far as we have experienced some great rest & seen the Father do some amazing things. We began the week in the mountains, a common tourist spot, and got to spend 2 days trekking through villages of minority people & their terraced rice paddies.

While slipping through muddy rice paddies, trekking through bamboo forests, and walking the streets, I've really heard the Father speaking to me. Through the things He's told us in the letter He gave us, He's been granting direction & wisdom for my future... as well as giving me some things to do after I leave here.  It's encouraging to hear His voice, and I'm thankful for the way He speaks to us as we place ourselves in faithful obedience to His ultimate purposes among the nations.

Funny story: While trekking through the bamboo forests, I got 4 leeches!  No one else in the group got any... but I guess I took care of the leeches for everyone. That doesn't happen in Jackson, TN...

-M

How Can I Follow? Can You Help Me?

Can you believe this summer is already halfway over? I simply can’t believe the adventure that we’ve had this far. Thanks for being here with me and Ernest. I hope this update will bring you as much joy as I’ve felt from your Thoughts for us.

It’s been an incredibly busy week, and we’ve been extremely thankful for the many opportunities this week to share The Story and build friendships. Busyness comes at a price, however, and Ernest and I have felt really exhausted this week. I haven’t been sleeping too well, and we’ve had some late nights and early mornings. We’ve been able to meet with friends a lot this week, traveling around the city and seeing some of the sights. These trips are our favorite things to do because we get to hang out, build relationships, and we often have many opportunities to speak the Truth and share some of our favorite stories. We went to the “ceramic village” this week with some of our friends and tried to make some ceramic creations (fail!).

Yesterday, I had an incredible opportunity to share at the lake we frequent, and the guy I met, D-, said that he has been reading about our Brother on the internet, and he asked me how he could begin following him. He literally said, “How can I follow, can you help me?” We’re talking Acts 8 stuff here! No, I didn’t teleport away like Philip, but this guy asked to be made new, and we will meet with him tomorrow to explain more and give him a copy of the Letter. We are incredibly stoked, and this seems to be the first fruits of your Thoughts and our labor here. Ask for fertile ground and true Understanding. We Hope he didn’t simply want to practice English.

I think one of the main lessons I’m learning here is the importance of faithfulness, and how it’s really all that Dad asks from us. We aren’t responsible for producing fruit, only Listening to Dad and obeying what He says. It’s hard for me sometimes to be ok with just being faithful, but Dad is showing me over and over this summer that He shows up when I’m faithful in the little things. I wish I could share all of the stories of what He’s doing, but I guess you’ll have to wait until I get back!

For the first time in 5 weeks, I was able to attend a Meeting in my own language! It was so encouraging, and Ernest and I really needed it. I’ll leave you with a quote from our brother Hudson T., from China, whose life has greatly encouraged me this week:

A little thing is a little thing, but faithfulness in a little thing is a great thing.

You can bet that we won’t stop running this race. Keep being faithful wherever you’re at, and remember that you can impact the nations from anywhere by being faithful to His Great Command. Thanks for laboring with us!
 
Grace & Peace
- M & Ernest

New Opportunities with Students

This week we had many unique opportunities to meet students, and each of these meetings has been incredibly Filled and we are thankful for the many friends we’ve made. On Tuesday we got to play basketball with a bunch of new guys we haven’t met before from one of the universities here. They invited us to come and play with them every Tuesday, an incredible opportunity for us to meet more guys, which has been a bit of a challenge up to this point. Dad has answered your Thoughts, and we do not take this for granted, thank you! 

Most students are now done with exams, which has caused many of them to leave the city and travel home, but it also means there are some who stay in the city have plenty of free time! We’ve been able to simply sit at the lake and meet students this week, a few of whom we’ve been able to meet with since then. 

This week has held many struggles for Ernest and I: homesickness, worry, and a general sense of darkness are a few of the ways we are experiencing opposition to our labor here. Ernest’s sister has some health problems and is supposed to have an operation.  Please join in me in asking for miracles and healing.

Sometimes we aren’t given the ability to see the fruit of our labor, but He is still working and doing what’s best for my good and His glory. I’ve also been encouraged by a friend this week who said, “There is One who has borne the weight of the world so you don’t have to.” I’m thankful for this reminder, and we will keep lifting the banner high and calling many to follow our Master and Friend.

Grace & Peace,
-M & Ernest

Please pray for:

• T, a guy we’ve shared with who seems interested enough that we gave him a copy of the Letter. We will read with him soon. 
• The many friends we’ve made this week. Continued meetings and openness to The Story

Funny Story: This week some new friends invited us to see their band play at a café. It was more like a bar, but during the middle of their set, they asked me to get up and play a song! I pulled out Josh Garrels’ “Farther Along” on the spot. So, I’m probably the first person ever to play Josh’s music in a southeast Asian bar, haha!