Learning How to Help, Not Hurt

The early church was encouraged always to care for the poor amidst them. Since then, our churches all have their eye out for those in need, in and outside of our body. With that calling, we question how to best care for those around with us without causing dependency and harm rather than good.

Those questions came to my mind quite readily as I entered the mercy ministry work of our church plant in Bangkok. Our church has a relationship with one of the 1500 slum communities in Thailand. Even before entering that community, the Lord had shown me the heart he had given me for those less fortunate. I want to use that gift to help our church plants in Thailand serve and love the lower-income communities in our neighborhoods Biblically.

Chalmers Center at Covenant College offers a distance-learning program that’s objective is to help those working internationally with lower-income communities such as Mahathai slum community in Bangkok. I will be taking this month-long course February 1-26 so I can better be equipped for my position when returning to Thailand. Thank you for your financial support that allows me to have this additional training stateside. Please pray that this course provides wisdom and understanding I can take back with me to serve the Lord’s people.

For more information about this distance-learning program, go to http://chalmers.org/

Snow in Asheville!

12-14 inches expected!

Update: MTW in Haiti

• Most recently we’ve heard that members of a church in Goinaives, Haiti (pastored by MTW missionary Esaie Etienne), are taking up an offering. Haitians helping Haitians! We see potential for this to become a global effort through our international network of churches.

• The first MTW medical team leaves on Thursday, Jan 28. We also have a growing list of non-medical volunteers who want to go when it is safe and their efforts can be utilized.

A letter written from Dr. Paul Kooistra, the coordinator of Mission to the World updating us on the latest.
As I write, MTW’s assessment team has just landed in Haiti. This team is made up of well-trained, seasoned, and experienced professionals. The information they bring back will enable us to quickly begin sending disaster response teams and formulating long-range plans.

MTW disaster response teams are made up of many of the same people who have responded to 20 other disasters around the world, including the tsunami in Southeast Asia. Their work will lay the foundation for construction and other, more long-term work.

The work in Haiti will last many years, and we are committed to being there as long as it takes. We already have a presence in Haiti through national Charles Amicy, MTW missionary Esaie Etienne, and the pastors and churches with whom they work. Our long-standing policy is to work through the churches in such a way that they will get the credit, God will get the glory, and the Church will grow.

What can you do? There is nothing more important than your prayers. You can also give (www.mtw.org/caring/haiti.asp) and encourage your church to be involved in giving and in going when the way becomes clear. Updates, photos, prayer requests, and opportunities will be posted on our website. MTW is on Facebook, and updates will be there as well.

I wish I could thank you personally for your support, but I want you to know how grateful I am for your partnership in this word and deed ministry.

Could I ask you to do one more very important thing? Spread the word to your church and your friends. We are all in this together.

In Christ,
Paul Kooistra

New Members of our Thai Church

News from the Mills family, who are missionaries in Thailand:
This past Sunday we received new members into our church with professions of faith and baptism. What a joyful time; how privileged we are to have seen God knit this church together from the very first strand
Jane is a college student. We are so thankful for her belief in Christ!

Great Church Visit

Driving through the Nantahala National Forest, I headed over to northern Georgia yesterday to meet with a church's mission committee. I sat around the table with them and shared some stories, photographs, and what God is doing in Thailand. What a sweet group of folks with such wisdom. I was reminded yet again what an honor it is to travel around the SouthEast and share about Jesus!

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations;
For your steadfast love is great above the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. –Ps.108:3-4

The church has invited me back to share at their Missions Conference in March. I look forward to opportunities to make deeper relationships there. Thanks for your prayers.

Got Another Partner!

Another church has decided to financially partner with me in my ministry to Thailand! Praise God! It's so exciting to start that relationship with churches and individuals. Knowing over the next four years, they will celebrate along with me the great works of Jesus in establishing his kingdom around the world!

I'm headed to Georgia to speak to a church this evening. Please pray for my message to be clear and contagious so others desire to partner with me! I'll be spending the night at someone's house there and heading back tomorrow. So far, my stomach is doing alright. Thank you for your prayers for my strength and healing.

A Bland Diet?

Been feeling sick for the last week and a half. My stomach is just not being itself. I can usually eat off the Thai streets without it fussing. One of my friends just said it was missing Thai food. But seriously, the doctor says I need to eat a bland diet until I feel better. A bland diet!! The saddest news for someone who now loves spicy food and tropical fruits! Hopefully I'll figure out soon what is making my stomach unhappy. It sure is difficult to follow my strict support-raising schedule with an unhappy belly.

Good Second Day

Thanks for your prayers for Sunday. Everything went quite well. I was able to speak at all three services and greet people afterwards. The Sunday School class was very inquisitive with one woman even interested in teaching English in Thailand! I will need to do follow-up with lots of folks, so pray for perserverance.

A Rose Among Thorns

That's what the moderator called me after I stood up and shared in front of 100 pastors and elders this morning. I was the only woman there. Thanks for your prayers. My presentation went well, less than 5 minutes. MTW trains us to tell stories during our presentations. I love telling stories about my friends in Thailand. Today I shared about Wi, the first adult Christian in Mahathai community. To reach a group of pastors and elders, I shared about our church plant and how she always arrived late to the service pulling her fruit cart up to the front of the church.

Only one man invited me to speak at his church and two more signed up for my newsletters. I'll have to do more follow-up to connect with those churches.

Tomorrow I speak to my church here in Charlotte. Keep up the prayers!

Big Groups and Butterflies

A big weekend is starting at 8am tomorrow morning. I will be speaking with the pastors and elders of about 20 churches in the Central Carolina Presbytery. I hope that these people will invite me to share with their congregations and become fellow financial partners with me in sharing the Gospel in Thailand! I believe I will know two pastors there. Pray for clarity of thought, courage to meet strangers, and that the Lord will open many hearts. I remember reading once three years before speaking somewhere, "Commit your way to the Lord and He will shine your cause as bright as the noonday sun." That is God's promise. Hallelujah for that.

Sunday I share at the church I grew up in at all three services. The church has grown so much since I left and many faces are unfamiliar. I hope to shake lots of hands and find some individuals interested in becoming financial partners with me from there. Between services, I'll speak to two Sunday School classes. Please pray for peace and strength for the morning.

Through all of is, I am thankful that at the end of this weekend, about 400 more people will have heard about what God's doing in Thailand. How great is it to be used in that way while home. I get to share God's miracles and movement with his church!

Over Your Head

In Thailand, its very rude to touch the top of someone's head or reach over the heads. Yesterday, I passed a paper over quite a few people's heads to someone. The flag went up in my head telling me I shouldn't have done that. I laughed to myself knowing I wasn't in Thailand anymore.

It's also rude to point the bottom of your feet at somebody. So, you wouldn't putting your feet up on the coffeetable or chair in front of you unless you're facing the wall. Yesterday, while scanning some photos of Obama's first year as president, I saw him in his oval office. Five of his advisors were surrounding him, and he had his feet up on the desk. I laughed at how different our cultures are.

The Henrys Visit!

Sweet friends that served in Thailand with me came to visit Thursday. After serving four years, they are back in the US. Once finished with seminary, they hope to return to start their own team. But for now, they stopped halfway through their travels to spend the night in my apartment. What fun we had!Crystal, me, Paul, and their son Calvin posing for a picture in my apartment before they headed out.
Adele, who has grown so much since I last saw her in May, loved the weather outside.
PJ and Calvin enjoyed my snow fort that still hasn't melted!

Eyes on Haiti

Watching the news now is a not such a distant experience as before. Though those places we hear about on the news are faraway, they are still very real. Living across the world for two years opened my eyes more. As I looked through the slideshow of pictures from Haiti on my email homepage, tears came to my eyes. What devastation. Praying for people still trapped in the rubble, praying for the churches' strength there, praying for the hearts of the Haitians experiencing such an earthquake, praying for God's glory to be there.

Mission to the World, along with lots of other organizations, has received appeals from the national pastors there for help. MTW is setting up help to go. For more information, read this link. To find out how you can help, follow this link.

Thai Children's Day

Children's Day is celebrated this Saturday in Thailand. To celebrate the upcoming holiday, the prime minister of Thailand's life-size cut-out is pictured with this kid in a newspaper advertisement. All of Thailand stops what they are doing to hold parties for the children in their neighborhoods with games and food.

Last year, on Children's Day, our church had the opportunity of organizing the festivities at Mahathai slum community. I remember playing musical chairs with a little kid holding on to me on each hip. We sang lots of songs, one about heroes. The song is the best because actions include acting like Superman, Spiderman, and Wonderwoman. We asked the kids afterwards who their heroes were. Two of the answers have stuck with me every since. One kid said "Jesus, because he died for me." Another kid said, "God, because he loves me." Right there in front of their families, they told their parents about a loving God who gave!

Please pray for our church's activities this year. Pray for many opportunities for the kids to show their parents the knowledge they have about the God who loves them. Pray for energy, creativity, and relationships as our church prepares. Thank you!

Thai Currie: January Update

I send frequent updates to prayer and financial supporters about God's work in my life, my ministry, and in Thailand. Let me know if you want to get on my mailing list! Thank you for your prayers for the people of Thailand.

A Mouse in the House

When I first heard the little scratching in the wall behind my bed, I thought I was imagining it. Flashbacks to Thailand might have gotten the best of me? We had a few rats in the house there. Once, we had a dead one. Man, did he smell! Surprisingly, here in North Carolina, animals scurry inside when its cold and that sound is in fact mice probably. I can make a pretty sure guess they're not the size of Thai rats. It's funny how Thailand has taught me to identify lots of noises, smells, and sights quickly--but I don't usually run across too much of that here until now.

Time Ticking By...

As I enter into January, June feels very close. I have been ridden by anxious thoughts. How will the rest of my financial support come in? Will I ever get back to Thailand to see those kids in Mahathai? They have probably grown so much already. Each time the anxieties seem to take over, God sends me at least a couple phone calls from friends who listen and help me get it out of my system.

God has me here now for a purpose as well. He's not just sitting back with a sinister laugh not answering my prayers out of spite, though I think I imagine that when I'm not remembering the God of Love. If I hadn't been home last week, I wouldn't have been here for Granddad's funeral. I don't need to leave right now. Actually, aside from the fierce cold, I'm really enjoying the time stateside.

Yet that crazy calling of mine is fiercely raging within me to strive forward. Why can't I trust that the God of my calling will also be the God of my provision? It's just such a strange middle ground that I'm sitting around in for these months. I don't seem to do well at "resting." I still enjoy getting a sense of worth from my performance instead the grace I have in Jesus Christ. It's confusing to figure out where I fit in since while I settle in here, I'm thinking about leaving the whole time. Well, that's where I am for those interested in missionary re-entry at the 6 month point.

Thailand in Ohio

Right near Cincinnati Ohio, you will find the coolest grocery store/amusement park around. There are separate aisles for every region of the world! My friends and I, while getting together for New Year's, went touring Jungle Jim's!
Oh, the lovely aisle full of Thai food. I just walked up and down that aisle staring at all the bags and bottles feeling like I was reunited with old friends. Sadly, I must confess I can't cook Thai food. Yet with all that food around, I did buy some and will attempt it. In my arms were my purchases-fish sauce, jasmine rice, green curry, tom yam soup mix.

Wow, this Thai fruit is $16 dollars in the US. (In Thailand, it would probably be a dollar.) That's crazy! That's about 530 Baht! With 530 Baht in Thailand, I could buy 18 meals at the market!

I know it's Cold in the US when...

...smiling makes my teeth freeze!

Loss in the Family

I wanted to ask you to pray for my family with the loss of my granddad this morning. He's been struggling in health this year, particularly after his heart surgery last week. This morning, he peacefully passed away. The funeral is Sunday in Taylorsville. It is sad to have lost my granddad but I'm thankful to be home in the US to share the loss with my family. Thanks for your prayers. Granddad is in heaven now, with no more suffering and pain. I am thankful for all the great memories I've had with him. Some of my best include going fishing at the nearby pond with him. He would patiently help me put corn on a hook, as I fished for brim with my stick and string fishing pole. Granddad was a kind and patient man who will be missed by me and my whole family.

Lost on Pop Culture

Coming back after being gone from pop culture for two years definitely left me confused during the Dick Clark's New Year's show. My friends had to constantly answer my questions, "Who's that singer?, "When was that guy on American Idol?," What's that song?". I remember one of my friends that came back after being gone a year said road trips were miserable. She didn't know any of the music her friends were playing. Pop culture changes so fast. So, if we're hanging out soon, please feel free to educate me.