Being Imitators of Christ Love!!

Well yesterday was awesome! We enjoyed a day of rest and fun on a private beach. The ride out their was beautiful and the time spent laughing, hanging out, just enjoying each other was great but wow being in God's creation taking in His amazing beauty and glory was breath taking. It was a good day...a gift from Tracy and Keith and we were honored to be a part of it.
Today was great!!! We went back to the same hospital we were at on Wednesday to throw another party for aids patients. We again had no idea what to expect and when we showed up the head nurse met us at the vans hugging everyone and thanking us for being there. Then before we knew it we had over 40 people there. Some the same from Wednesday but alot of new faces. It was a day full of joy and laughter....something these people don't experience much of. In fact the head admistrater and the head of the district hopsitals showed up and by the end of the day they were wanting to know if we could all come back and how soon. They said that these patients come every month for check ups and never smile and all they did was smile all day and that brought them joy! How exciting to see God move the way He did!! The whole team jumped in and out of their boat of comfort and interacted in ways ....well we will leave those stories for later...but one has something to do with B Wall singing "Stayin Alive". It really was a blessed day of fellowship and encouragement between team members , the Thai people and the community leaders and the Richards. God is good!! To leave you with one last thing....we ended our day with worship songs and it was so cool to see and hear the leaders talking about how we were praising God and thanking God ....they heard the name of Jesus !!! Praise God! During our worship one man came up and began to sign with us and do the motions with us even imitating our faces...and I couldn't help but think of the verses in Ephesians 5 "Be imitators of God therefore live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." We were being imitators of Christ and they saw the love and I just can't help believe that he wanted what we have .....Christ. The Spirit is moving and it is exciting to be a part of it!! We are heading out tomorrow to help encourage some believers and we know that they will encourage us!!! It is sad to think it is coming to an end but crazy good to see what God has done and is doing in us and in the Thai people!!

We gave them what we had!!

I know some are again wondering what is going on with Team Thailand but to be honest we have just been soaking up time with the Thai people. Yesterday we went to a new island that the Richards have never been and the ladies went to a school to teach English and play some games while the men went to plant trees but let me tell you that I sure am glad God always has something better than our plan. We saw God move in conversations, in team members, in all of it. I don't know why that seems to amaze us when God is so much bigger than we can even imagine. It was a great time for all of the team but for most of us the amazing God sighting was meeting one of the "leaders" of the island ...At or Adam. He came up to us immediately and whispered "I am a believer too". He was so excited he couldn't even hardly wait to tell us anything else but that. Can you imagine being the only person in your entire town that believed and that you couldn't even have a Bible because of how bad it could be for you if anyone found out???? For him God is enough....he has nothing else, no friends, no church, no Bible, no worship music but yet he is excited .....because God has given him exactly what he needs in every moment. He said he was so encouraged by us but for all of us we were in awe of him and his excitement. How much do we take that for granted???!!!
Today was AMAZING!! We went to another new hospital to throw a party for the aids patients and it was moving. We played games, visited with families and made home and hospital visits. There is so much to share in those stories that it would take me all night to share but as we sat with each other tonight and shared how we saw God ,it was summed up in a story Yo shared of when Peter and John were walking and were approached by the begger. It was obvious this begger needed food, money and probably even had health issues . But he said "Silver and gold i do not have but I what I have I give you in the name of Jesus Christ". These people were sick,dying and poor in monetary and it was hard to see and hard for some of us to wrap our minds around, but we gave them Jesus and His name was proclaimed thru song, thru prayer , thru laying on of hands and thru sharing..... HIS NAME WAS PROCLAIMED! There is hope of Yo (the Richards intern) going back and starting to meet with 4 others that he spoke with. It is amazing how God works every detail out and how we have seen the prayers of our people answered. His name is above all names and worthy of all praise and tonight we praise Him and Him alone !!!!!

The Name of Jesus is great!!!

Our day yesterday was amazing! I think for some it was a true experience and understanding of what "being the hands and feet of Jesus" means. We went to a local hospital ,one that the Richards have never been. They weren't even sure how or what it would like or even if we would be welcomed to be there for very long. We were there to have a party for the HIV patients in the area but let me tell you God had something way bigger than that in store. When we first arrived the faces of the people were cold and did not seem to really want to interact with us but by the time we left God had moved in mighty ways. We played games and shared stories and pictures and it was an amazing time but for most the most amazing time was before we were to leave they asked us to play some songs and so once again we were able to worhip God in song by the time we were done the some of the people were crying. This may seem like no big deal but in this culture they do not cry and for us we knew the Holy Spirit had moved. How can they hear if no one tells them.......they heard ....Praise God they heard. It is nothing that we did, it is nothing that we could have done, it was the presence of God. We then were able to lay hands on them and pray. The hugs we received afterwards were amazing. Then the director of the hospital's wife asked us to go around and sing to some of the patients.....did you hear that a we were praising the name of Jesus in a Muslim hospital. We sang in the name of Jesus to patients that may have never heard His name. We were able to place hands on a young girl who was very ill and very sick but more than that doesn't know Jesus and we prayed in the powerful name of Jesus. I know some reading must say why am I continuing to say in the name of Jesus because that is enough......there is power in the name of Jesus for healing and for reconcilation. Our day started out seeing the sick and feeling overwhelmed because we know there physical fate at the end of this disease but by the end of the day we saw differently knowing that without Jesus their fate of eternal life is greater. But we saw the Holy Spirit move today and we know without a doubt He is calling His people to Him and that is our prayer!! Today we will be working in a local school and looking forward to what layer is going to be peeled off today!! God is good!!! God is good!!! God is good!!! May all the peoples praise His name!!!!

Every moment is an opportunity to share Jesus!

I know most of you probably are thinking what happened to team Thailand 2....:.. Well let me tell you ........we laid our expectations and our time schedules down these last 2 days and have experienced God in a mighty way! we have had 2 very long days of travel but wow the amazing opportunities God has given us to share. From the gentleman a couple of us sat by on the plane to the daughter of a missionary who we were blessed by....it has been Amazing! After finally getting settled we spent a night of worship and prayer preparing our hearts for the next day and the week ahead. We went to church this morning and the team was amazed and blessed by the people who we worshipped with. Their love for God....the one and only true God was a blessing and we walked away filled......with our cups running over. We enjoyed an amazing lunch and were able to sit and visit with Gods family. We were so blessed by Patty one of the ladies that we met today...her story is beyond words...her faith is a faith we some will never experience...but that story will have to be shared later.....all I can say is she said she was saved 20 years ago but until 2 years ago it was her 70percent and God 30, then He began a work in her and she is now 100 percent filled by God. Wow! Its crazy how God has His mighty hand at work right now. The town was having a festival about alcohol abuse and we were asked to go. When we showed up they asked our group to sing a few songs and so the crowd listened to them sing about our Great God...TheGod...the one and only God! What was more amazing is that as the group sang me and Tracy sat with some ladies doing a craft and Tracy was able to share what worship was and why we worship in song.....because God is alive...He is real....He is mighty ...HE IS! If you are about to get ready for church if your are heading to the building where the American church meets then don't miss the opportunity to be in the presence of God........don't take for granted that you have one more breath to lift your voice up to glorify God.....don't look around and wonder who is watching don't worry about what someone thinks.....STAND WITH ARMS HIGH AND HEART ABANDONED and worship the one Living GOd who loves you ! Please pray as we go to a new area tomorrow and work with HIV patients who need encouragement and love but who need to know Jesus before its too late. May the Spirit go before us and their hearts be opened to the love of Jesus!

Pictures

Hey everyone you can check out over 1600 pictures from Team 1's trip. Go to hhbcmissions2012.shutterfly.com.

Team 2 we are praying for you all the time. may God rock your worlds and bless you beyond your wildest measures. may He use you to open more and more doors for Keith and Tracy everyday you are there. If someone isn't feeling well or are struggling, remember to lay hands on them and pray like you have never prayed before. God will show up. Love you guys.

God is good! Thailand bound!

Well we have arrived at Chicago airport and already had God sightings. We would like to personally thank Robo for the amazing song that inspired us at 3am this morning!!! We got to the little Rock Airport and had a few extra supply bags....one being the mission dolls. The cost $70 a bag.....but not when God is involved.... All free! God is good and we are excited and ready for God to take us with open arms and hands and use us. We are so thankful that God has allowed us on this journey together and we covet your prayers! May He receive all glory and honor in everything we touch and come in contact with. Thailand here we come!

Our time has drawn to an end.

First off, I'm sorry for no post yesterday. I will update now for both days.

Yesterday - we had a great and relaxing day. Today was all about relaxation. We drove out to the middle of nowhere with some Muslim friends of the Richards. The husband is Banchim (remember that name). The ladies sat outside on mats and made rice wraps and fresh coconut treats for lunch. When we arrived, the family whose home we were at got fresh coconuts right from the tree and cracked them open and we got to drink right from the coconut. That was pretty cool. Then we went and got the banana leaves for the treats to be cooked in. While the ladies were making the food and talking with the women the guys sat around and sang some worship music. That led Banchim to ask Keith what we were singing about. I love how God uses worship to open doors! Banchim left to go do his daily prayer time but his time to hear wasn't over just yet. After eating and hanging out a little longer we packed up and went to a resort for some beach time. Now this was no regular resort. It was way off the beaten path in the middle of nowhere just outside a slummy area. But it was absolutely beautiful! While there Yo, the Richard's Thai intern, got to sit and talk with Banchim and his family and answer a lot of questions they had about our faith. That was huge. This family is deep into Islam. Becoming a Muslim is very easy. Getting out is vurtually impossible. If that happens you are automatically divorced unless both spouses convert and you are banished from your families and are outcast forever. So the fact that they are asking and are interested is huge! After he was done Banchim and his family took Ong, another Thai Christian that anyone from the last trip knows, to the bus station. He shared with them all the way there even more. Please keep that family in your prayers. They are more and more interested all the time. The Richards have known them about a year and this has never happened. Well, after a peaceful day at the beach we had an awesome time of worship right there next to the water. It was pretty sweet.

Today - today we went back to the church in Hat Yai and had a block party at a local park. There were a few eye opening experiences but I don't want to tell the story since I wasn't involved. Please ask Kristen and Carrie their stories. It will be more personal and touching coming from them. I know they will want to tell all who ask. We then went to do our souvenir shopping and had our last evening share time and worship. Tomorrow we will get up and have our personal worship and devo time and then head out back to Bankok to start our travel home. Please continue to pray and we will see you guys at the airport. We arrive around 5:45 Monday evening.

What a day!

Today was another great experience. We started off with a great new breakfast. The change was nice. We then went to another hospital and just loved all over them. God showed out today. One of the first things said to us was that we could not share. They wanted no part of that. Well guess what, don't tell God he can't because he will. Jeremy started playing the guitar as I sang along with him just praising God to the fullest extent we could. As we sang, the nurses and patients came out to listen. Someone asked what we were doing and what we were singing about and the door was wide open. The gospel had to be shared. I mean if someone asks it is rude to not tell them right. You cannot hold back the name of Jesus. He will prevail and his word will be spoken. If there is one thing I have learned as a Christian is that you you can't tell God you can't or won't. Because he will.

We then got a much needed rest. Well some of us did. A few ladies went and did some shopping. The smart ones took naps. After that we were invited to a Muslim festival. Think about this. 10,000 Muslims surrounding 20 Christians. Look at those numbers again. That is mind boggleing. The men and women got split up. The women walked around at the booths while the men were escorted back to chat with a few English speaking men from Malaysia and Thailand. They explained to us what the gathering was all about and what they believed. It broke my heart to listen to them knowing they believe in a false God and that all 10,000 people there were going to hell. We talked to another man who just got back from the same meeting in Bangledesh where there were 5 million who gathered. Wrap your head around that a minute. 5 million lost souls all in one place. That's 5 million people going to hell unless they realize they are living with a false hope and turn to Jesus.

Another eye opening experience from this trip is to see the hospitality and generosity of these people. Imagine this. You just had a baby two days ago and a strange foreign person walks in and asks to hold your baby. What do you do? Well most would look at them like they were out of their mind and tell them to go away. Well that scenario happened today with myself and Elizabeth but the complete opposite reaction occurred. The mom openly allowed Elizabeth to hold her baby while I took pictures. Later Andrea and Tracy went in and they rolled out a mat and set up fruit and drinks and asked them to eat and drink. I mean who does that? The Thai that's who. That is just one of many many stories of the hospitable things we have seen on this trip. The sad part is it just shows how selfish and hateful we Americans are. And how wrong we are in our thought process. Not only that but we are Christ followers. That should be second nature to us. But it isn't even in the ballpark of how we act. Just let that sink in. Jesus calls us to be like him! Why do we not strive for that? We act good, we read the bible, we go to church, but we don't strive hard enough to BE JESUS! And I promise I am speaking right to myself when I say all this. I pray we can just come home and bring that attitude of Jesus back with us. That we can bring back the love of Christ in our dailey walk and attitudes.

Sorry I got off on a tangent. Thanks for all the prayers and stay tuned for more.

We miss you and are praying for you!!!

I am sorry its a little dark but we all wanted you all to know that we love you, miss you and are praying for you all earnestly!!!

Hard work pays off!

First I have to start by talking about our worship time last night. It was by far one of the best small worship gatherings I've ever been a part of. Jesus did a cannon ball right in the middle of the living room. Candace was doing backflips in her seat. It was crazy awesome. I think like 5 people got saved all over again. I mean WOW! The crazy part was that we were all soooooo tired and ready for bed. Jesus had a better idea. He said praise me right here right now and I will bless you beyond your wildest dreams. So just remember when you are tired and just want to give up sometimes, praise Jesus for that tiredness and he will fill you up with his energy and get you through more than you could imagine.

Now for today. The ladies went with some kids and a few other ladies who worked with the local district government office and cleaned up a local beach of trash and debris. The men went with a couple other district officials and filled pot holes with asphalt. At lunch we got a pretty long break as we ate on the beach again. The Thai people are so giving. They just kept bringing us more and more to eat. We started off with a simple fried rice lunch. Before we knew it we had fresh crab, fresh pineapple, fried bananas, and papaya salad. It was unreal. The ladies decided to all go jump in the ocean and take a quick swim. I chased a monitor lizard but it was too fast for me. We got to see a bunch of wild monkeys on the road and watched goats roam the street side. After our long break we got back to work. The men went back to filling holes while the ladies got to hang out with some Muslim women and just love on them and have tea. More doors were opened for the Richards because of all this. That is the whole point of why we are here. God is going to use this and just allow the Richards to have the opportunity to share the word of God to the lost people. Please continue to pray. We love you guys. Stay tuned.

Another great day!

Today started off just like yesterday. Early devotional time and rice porridge for breakfast. We then took off to a hospital about 45 min away. We split up into different groups and all had our thing to do. We popped popcorn, cut up fruit and had milk for snacks. We had a group that played bingo in the waiting room for prizes, and a couple other games to just have fun and entertain them. We had face painting for the kids but the adults jumped in and got painted up too. Three ladies along with Tracy went with some nurses and made house calls. Kristen got to play doctor in Thailand! How cool is that! You will have to ask her, Jamie, and Lori all about it. We got to have lunch at a great outdoor restaraunt that overlooked the water. It was beautiful! For round two we went back to the hospital to another building to try and play some more games. Not as many people showed up so we got to visit a couple of rooms and give away some prizes we had planned to give out during the games. Mark got a chance to share the Gospel for the first time with 2 ladies who were pretty sick. He had Ong as his translator. Ong is the most amazing man. He spills Jesus everywhere he goes. He just walks up to people and starts sharing. I wish I had that kind of faith and commitment back home. As a matter of fact, I bet we could all say that. It kind of makes you stop and look at your life a little. Why can he do that and I can't? The sad part is I can't is a horrible excuse! The fact is we just don't. We are all to focused on us instead of the lost souls all around us. If you hang around Ong long enough you will see him walk up to any person he sees and start sharing. He probably shared with at least 4 people just this afternoon. I can't tell you the last 4 people I shared with. That is just sad and makes me want to make it a standard way of living. I challenge us all to live that life of spilling Jesus everywhere we go.

All in all it was another great day for us to help open doors for the Richards. Stay tuned for more to come. Tomorrow is a work day. The ladies will be cleaning a beach while the men are working on roads. Love y'all and thanks again for the continued prayers.

What a day!!!

Today was AMAZING! We started off with a great time of prayer and bible study to get the morning going just before we went and ate rice pourage for breakfast. Yummy. We then took a 40 min boat ride over to an island that is almost all Muslim. We got to ride in the side cars of these little scooters. That was pretty cool. We went to a school and got to hang out and play games with the older kids. Now when I say school, it was more like a day care. There was zero structure. Kind of crazy actually. The ladies did English activities with the girls while the guys played kickball with the boys. They then fed us an incredible lunch of fried rice, muscles, and crabs. Fresh crabs at that! After lunch the ladies got to go in pairs to the girls homes. They got to show family pictures and see their family pics and just hang with them. All with no translators. But they didn't need them. God allowed his love to be enough communication to the Muslim families. All the little girls were so excited to have our ladies in their homes. They then took them all on scooter rides around the island. They all said it was the most amazing experience. Words couldn't describe the looks I saw on all our ladies faces after all that. The guys tried to go to a Muslim mosque but no one was there. We got the chance to just hang and talk with Keith and just see Jesus radiate off of him. So much more happened but I can't get it all into words. God is just amazing is all I can say! Our evening worship time is just the best way to wind down and let God know how much he means to us and worship Him with everything we have. I'm sorry the pictures aren't working. I don't know why. Please stay tuned to see what God does tomorrow at the hospital we are going to be at. Love you all and thanks so much for all the prayers.

Sunday night

Well church was AWESOME!!! We got to sing some old hymns in Thai. It is awesome to hear The Old Rugged Cross and Amazing Grace in another language! The team got to sing Our God and Jeremy preached. The message was great and we hope that the Thai understood Jeremy's crazy talk the same way we do. After church we had a meal with the church members. It was interesting to say the least. ( see picture below). I think they just cooked the whole chicken and put it in a bowl. Yummy. We also got to try a banana in coconut milk and a fish cracker thing. A couple ladies got the pleasure of loving on a little Thai baby. They were in heaven! ( picture below) the best part was getting to take communion in a Thai church. That was unbelievable! Knowing that they love and worship the same God we do and are able to take the elements and we got to share in that experience. It was unreal! God is so much bigger than we are and we forget that a lot. I got to have a conversation with a 90 yr old man who is totally in love with God and to see the light in his eyes just shine when he told me what a pleasure it was to worship a loving God. That is what loving and worshiping Jesus is all about!! We are now finally checked in to our bungalows. Yes I said bungalows. They are pretty cool. ( pictures below). We are now at dinner and will be heading to the Richards' for our evening worship and a little chill time. Stay tuned for more to come! We will be at a school tomorrow on an island.

Sunday morning

Well it's almost 8:00 am Sunday morning. We went to the beach for a few minutes last night and then went to dinner. We got to experience some new Thai dishes. There were mixed reviews. But all in all we had a good meal. At that point we got in the vans to go back to the hotel and could barely keep our eyes open. After 2 days of travel we were physically exhausted. But now we have had a good nights sleep and are refreshed and ready to roll. After breakfast we are loading all our luggage into Keith's truck and heading off to church. We will get to see what God is doing in a Thai church. It is going to be amazing! After the days activities we will drive an hour or so to Satun and check in to our long term hotel for the week. This will be our third hotel off the trip. Hopefully we are all still wired from the day and get to go to Keith and Tracy's house for a night of intense worship.I will update later tonight to let everyone know how our day went. Stay tuned!

Checked in at HatYai hotel

Well after a lot of stinkin flying we are in Hat Yai! All our luggage made it, praise Jesus!!

We just had our first Thai meal and it was awesome. There are some ladies that might argue that since I ( Eby) told them it wouldn't be that spicey and of course they it was. Oh well lesson learned. Don't ask Eby if something is hot. Hehehe. We are all stoked to see what God has in store for us over the next several days. We are about to head out and do some sight seeing and have dinner on the beach tonight. Will update later. Thanks so much for all the prayers. We love you all and can't wait to share what is happening.

Checked in and ready to go!!!

Well we made it through check in and security with no big issues! Praise Jesus! We have a 2 hr flight to Chicago with a 4 hr layover then off to Tokyo Japanon a 15-16 hr flight. We are so pumped and cant wait for all this travel mess to be done with. Keep checking in for more updates.

Thailand Bound!!!!!

Well it is official...we just sent off 14 obedient followers of Jesus to Thailand!! Some a little nervous, some probably a little anxious, probably some super "stoked" but whatever they are feeling right now will not compare to how they will feel in the couple of days. We are praying for you guys....praying God bends you , twists you and molds you thru this experience. All drawing you closer to HIM!! You may be tested at times, you may be tired at times but you must remember to keep you eyes what is eternal. II Corinthians 4:17-18 " For out light and momentary troubles are achieving us an eternal glory that far out weighs them all. So we fix our eys not what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." PRAISE GOD!!! May your light shine brightly these next 10 days and may you come back with it flaming so much that you set someone else on fire!! Bless you!! Psalms 67: 1-5 "May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the people praise you , O God, may ALL the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. May the people praise you, O God, may ALL the peoples praise you.

Praying for each of you!!