Hi to all of you,
My time in Singapore was fun. I stayed with Chor Yoon. We stayed in a
friend's condo for a few days, so were able to use the pool, etc. They took
me around...downtown, to Sentosa Island... I spent a lot of time with Chor
Yoon's cell group at church - fun people! On the Monday and Tuesday she had
to babysit her nephew, so I took the trains and spent time downtown.
Singapore is a very beautiful city - malls everywhere! It is quite the
experience! I enjoy the glitz and glamour for a few days, then I think I've
had enough!
Then I went to a YWAM conference by a lady from Kona, Hawaii, Jean Norment
on "Unveiling the Cross". It was really excellent - all on the cross, what
Jesus has done for us, our identity in Christ, the exchanged life. There
was also personal ministry time. It was very encouraging for me,
personally. God confirmed some things for me, that this next year is to be
one of spending more time in His presence...and understanding the 'rest of
God'. I am inspired to study the books of Romans and Hebrews again.
Yes, Rick and Melanie have gone... so the Leadership Team is meeting every
week to discuss all the changes. Every department is undergoing some
change, so it is quite something. The Malaysian family, Das and Rani and
their 4 kids, are now living in Rick and Melanie's house. They are
wonderful people and add real strength to this place. Just some of the
changes: the office will be completely renovated (and Marlys has left).
Joanna (Jody Counts' wife) is now the office manager. Andrew and Gretel are
now the DTS Leaders. Chad is doing more 'homefront management' with Rick
gone, and Nicole is focusing completely on Community Outreach and teaching
at Dalat. The DTS looks like it will be a small school and the BTPS is full,
being a bilingual English/Indonesian school. We continue to receive
inquiries for the SBS, so it would have been a large school.
My trip to Redang with Jennifer Creamer was good. I really enjoyed the
beautiful beach and wonderful swimming!! Snorkling was fun too. We had a
few adventures along the way and I learned what 'not' to do - like don't go
there on a weekend when it is super crowded with many people! Jennifer's
flight from Bangkok was delayed 10 hours... so we lost a day at the
resort... fun and games!
Then on Aug. 13-20 I fly to E. Malaysia to teach the book of Mark in the
Core Course there. It will be a new experience for me... bilingual in
English and Bahasa Malaysia... mainly with Orang Asli (tribal) people... I'm
getting excited about going...My teaching will look very different - not
nearly as much content, with more activities, games, drama... so I will let
you know how it goes! It will be fun to see Joanne in a very different
environment! Pray for me!
I am teaching the book of Ephesians inductively in my church. I think it is
going well... a little hard to tell, as they haven't been too interactive
(but that is usually how it goes here...)... I am excited about this
opportunity and that Pastor Joshua has opened the door to me to do
ministry... I would like to do some more books for them over the next few
months, but will see about their schedule.
Thursday night was Coffee House and I wish that you all could have been
there. Hillside Baptist has partnered with us for a couple of weeks and
they have done a great job! They've brought food (lots of noodles), so this
last week we had 130+ people. There was also a visiting basketball team
from the US, so that was an added attraction. Myung Hee and I worked like
crazy almost non-stop the whole night in the kitchen with getting drinks.
It was pretty wild! So, just to let you know, that all the prayers you
prayed for Community Outreach (and your input) are having an effect! Keep
praying for us that we would continue to be led by God as we reach out to
the Community. (Das has started English classes for the Indonesian migrant
workers in our neighborhood.)
Pray for Pastor Prem from Fettes Park. I know that he was the pastor for
some of you. He has been diagnosed with leukemia - is now stable, but
remains quite serious - very hard to understand all these things.
Sorry, this is long...but just wanted to give you an update on what is
happening in my life and the life of the base!! Hope you are all doing
well! I miss you.
God bless.
