MORE BIG NEWS! 
 
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Hello Friends!

 

Greetings from Cascade, Idaho! It’s hard to believe that in just under a month we will be boarding a plane to return home to Bangkok! 

And…in just a little more than a month after that WE ARE EXPECTING ANOTHER BABY! (Surprise!) 

We fly home at 34 weeks pregnant, our due date is July 20, and the ultrasound technician is pretty confident that Izayla & the boys are going to have a baby sister! You can see the video of our sharing the news with our kids here (click on the picture below, it will take you to an external flickr site): 
Click above to see the video...
(note: you might want to skip this video if looking at a pregnancy test makes you squeamish!) 

IDAHO

When we arrived in Cascade, Idaho this past January we were greeted by our school leaders in YWAM’s Bible School For The Nations (BSN) and welcomed into a lovely small house/office with snow up past the windowsills – a truly different context than anything our kids (or us!) have ever fully experienced! The snow persisted through the end of March, and we were pleasantly surprised upon returning from an Easter break road-trip to discover green grass in the yard! All of that to say, both the community of people we’ve found ourselves in, and the quietness of small-town Idaho in winter and spring have been lovingly gracious to our family! 

BIBLE SCHOOL FOR THE NATIONS

As we are drawing near the finish line of this Sabbatical season’s sprint through scripture (the BSN finishes on May 26!) we are simply so thankful for this opportunity we have had to step away from the rhythms, responsibilities and routines of ministry in Bangkok freeing us to more fully dive into the richness of God’s word, and the simplicity of being a family without direct leadership responsibilities.
 
From Creation to Revelation our family has had the opportunity to dig deeply into the Biblical epic of God’s interaction with his children. Some highlights were seeing the consistency of God’s character as revealed to people from beginning to end, his father heart, and his desire to be known!  
 
One such encounter between Moses and God captures this, where God told Moses:
 “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ … [then] the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. – Ex 33:19, 34:5-8.
 
Just as we see here with Moses, throughout the biblical testimony God is delighted to reveal himself, showing us his goodness, his mercy, his grace, his love, his faithfulness, his consistency and his justice. Likewise, one of our richest invitations is to simply respond in worship.
 
Some other places of rest and revelation have been through taking time to enjoy the quietness and majesty of snow-covered mountains, growing in our understanding and confidence as parents, and receiving a renewed sense of calling as leaders to raise up, release and empower for ministry those whom God has invited us to shepherd! 
 
Please be praying for us as a family, and especially Iven, as we prepare to return and begin to flesh out the growth and insight that the Lord has brought during this Sabbatical season. 

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

Since this trip to America has been an even bigger experience for our kids than for ourselves, we wanted to give them a chance to share some thoughts about their time here:
 
Izayla, age 6:
"America is really cold, and people usually wear lots of clothes here. In America there is fall, winter, summer and spring - four seasons, but in Thailand there is only three seasons - really hot, rainy and hot, and kind of hot.  
 
I want to remember my friends in Idaho. 
 
Laws are different in America - in America people have to sit in car seats and in Thailand they don't. 
 
In Thailand we eat food on the street and in America we pretty much always eat at home - I have never had a time in America where we ate outside on the street."
 
Elian, age 4½ :
"Idaho is really cold and sometimes rains in the night. We made lots of friends in our time in Idaho. We got to go on a Ferris wheel in Seattle. There is burritos and we eat them a lot."
 
Kyin, age 2¾ :
"Me like Othniel (his 2-year-old friend here in Idaho). Me love Dad. Me want to love Mom. Me like to cut paper. Me like Rinnan. Me like to eat vegetables and bread and carrots and leaves (baby spinach) and broccoli, and Mom! Ha ha!" 
 
Rinnan, age 15 months:
"Hi. Abwa bwa bwa bwa outside. Dog. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi."
 
While Iven has been in class the kids and Kashmira jumped into a “soft start” homeschooling term, having quite a lot of fun exploring their world together while enjoying the extra space of a “normal” house with a full kitchen (along with the need to cook 3 meals a day – notice the lack of street food as related by Izayla above!) for the first time in our family’s life. It has been quite a change, and a surprisingly welcome and restful one, for this season.
 
Our home in Cascade is right in the middle of a very small town, and only two short blocks away from the small library - where we seem to have become minor celebrities. The librarian has been completely astounded by the number of children’s books we have checked out in the past four months – well over 200 at last count. 

FINANCIAL UPDATE

Shortly after arriving in America we had some poignant conversations with friends and supporters that helped us realize we needed to rethink and make some changes in the area of finances for our family. We have come to a point of looking at our family’s financial situation with more clarity and honesty and realized that for several years now we have consistently had higher expenses than income, which we all know is not sustainable for the long haul.
 
Practically, this means that we have returned to a stricter budget as a family (something that we had slowly let slip as we began drowning in little people), are making intentional choices to reprioritize long-term savings, and are prayerfully seeking an increase of $440 a month in regular monthly support.
 
God has always been faithful to meet our needs as they arise, and we have full confidence that He will continue to do so. We also want to be clear that we are SO GRATEFUL for his provision through the faithful and sacrificial partnership of many who read this update. We are blessed beyond measure! 

For those of you who are interested in the details, or feel a desire to partner financially with our family in ministry, we are happy to share our family’s revised monthly budget, and answer any questions you may have.  

RETURNING HOME TO BANGKOK SOON

Iven’s BSN will end May 26th starting a 10 day whirlwind goodbye with grandparents and a small handful of others in Washington and Northern California.
 
Our family will then fly across the ocean June 6, arriving in Bangkok June 8th, and then less than 48 hours later Kyin and Elian will begin Thai pre-school at the start of their normal Thai school year on June 10th. Lots of quick transitions!
 
Please be praying especially for our kids’ hearts as they are excited to be returning home to Bangkok but it is likely to be a lot of adjustment for them – especially Kyin and Elian. Although we have worked to keep Thai in and around their little ears and conversations, it has slipped quite a bit and it may be difficult as they find themselves plunged into an all-Thai school two days after arriving back in Bangkok (Elian’s third year, and Kyin’s first).
 

THANK YOU!

These past six+ months here in America have been such a gift to each of us – we have felt God’s favor, presence and provision in every step of this journey, and we are confident that His refreshing will continue to go with us as we return to Bangkok in June.
 
Thank you for partnering with our family in your prayers, fellowship and support. We pray this day that the Lord of the Harvest would be bringing growth to His fruit ever more fully in each and every one of us! We are honored and humbled to be journeying with you!
 
All grace and peace,
Iven, Kashmira, Izayla, Elian, Kyin, Rinnan & ??????
 
10 1/2 years ago we were married at Magnolia Park (this picture and those above and below)- now we have more people than swings! :) 
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Giving Information:
As non-salaried YWAM volunteers all of our financial support comes from
the generous partnership of individuals and churches like yourselves.

If you would like to be involved in supporting our family and ministry
please make checks out to “YWAM”, include a separate note
that your gift is for “Iven & Kashmira”, project number ”3588”
and mail to:

Iven & Kashmira Hauptman | c/o YWAM Montana Accounting
501Blacktail Rd | Lakeside | Montana | 59922 | USA

Please don’t put our names or project number directly on the check. :)

PAY-PAL Option Now Available:
You can now give tax-deductible gifts through YWAM Montana via Pay-Pal by sending a donation to: accounting@ywammontana.org

If you choose to give through this pathway it is necessary to include "3588" in the subject line or message box of the optional email, otherwise your gift will be directed towards ywam montana, rather than our family.

Our new Personal Mailing Address in Thailand:
Iven & Kashmira Hauptman | PO Box 2
Ratchdomnern Post Office | Bangkok | 10200 | Thailand

Our Contact Info:
ivenandkashmira@gmail.com
www.ivenandkashmira.info
skype: ivenandkashmira
tel US: 206.201.2134
mob TH: +66(0)83.614.5017

Copyright © 2016 Iven and Kashmira, All rights reserved.


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