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What a start to our journey in Bangkok!
We apologize for skipping our October newsletter, but it was one hectic ride from arriving at the airport in Thailand. Visas, Work Permits, Language Study, Hospital visits, getting our home set up... and a once-in-every-four-years Regional Conference to attend in the middle of it all! We want to thank everyone who has been supporting us on this journey through prayer, finances, or actually accompanying us in these places! We appreciate you all so much!
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Only after a few days arriving in Bangkok, we both had the same urge, "Tonight is the night we meet our man of peace."
After another day of orientations, shopping, and paperwork, we walked to the nearest badminton court...and no one could speak English. Ingrid didn't know how to explain what we wanted in her rusty Thai. Terence said, "Never have I ever felt so lost in a badminton court."
Luckily, one lady was called who could speak some English. She introduced us to her team, Team Eksiam, a group of adults who meet three times a week to play. They let Terence play, and suddenly... everyone wanted to play with the Filipino! Those who weren't playing were talking to Ingrid in Thai. They couldn't pronounce Terence's nickname "Toto," so he was officially dubbed with a Thai nickname, Tao (Turtle). The English-speaking woman, P'Ning, and her husband P'Ei took us under their wings. The team wanted Terence to become a member right away. and after a few days of playing with them, Terence became an official member of Eksiam's Badminton Group!
Every visit, Terence learns something new in Thai. Numbers, days of the week, simple introductions, encouragements, etc. It has been his best way to learn the language by allowing his teammates to become his tutors. They always get excited to see the foreigners come to the court and practice Thai with them.
We are really praising God for Team Eksiam, and we ask that you pray with us for them. No one there knows Christ. We found a close connection with P'Ning and P'Ei, and we feel that they may be our men of peace that we have been praying for since the beginning of the year.
Thanks be to God!
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Regional Conference
It was like seeing a piece of heaven. From Mongolia to New Zealand, Myanmar to Fiji, hundreds of Nazarenes from the Region gathered in ChiangMai, Thailand to learn from and encourage each other in a week of meetings, workshops, and worship. It was amazing and awe-inspiring. We were reunited with Nazarenes we thought we'd never see again, and were introduced to others we had yet to meet.
We were put to work by our WMC team who was in charge of coordinating the event. Ingrid helped mostly with the translation equipment and registration while Terence was on video. We were also asked to speak at the Regional NMI Meeting. After the Conference, the Regional missionaries stayed behind an extra few days for a Member Care Retreat where we were encouraged by our Global leaders and provided resources for spiritual growth and emotional/mental maintenance.
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We have been very adaptable to the Thai transportation system. It's cheap, and easy to commute anywhere. We especially utilize the bus and metro system for our language study. However, on Oct 29, we had another mini-medical scare. Ingrid started having intense back and abdominal pain while we were doing language study. After hours of the pain getting worse and more intense, we took a taxi to our hospital. The taxi driver was so nervous that Terence had to shake him a bit. We eventually made it to the hospital, and it turned out to be reaction to an infection that was not affecting baby. However, the scare made us and our team realize that we needed a more reliable source of transportation if this were to happen again.
Some of our officemates took several days off to assist us in finding the right car. Since our budget was limited (because we didn't set aside a car budget), we were led to cars where the seatbelts were broken, the doors won't open, the windows needed repairs and the car owners just shrugged their shoulders. But our Thai co-workers didn't give up on the search.
After days of searching, P'Pai, one of our co-workers, found a Thai Christian car salesman named Michael. He has been in the business for years and he has sold vehicles to both missionaries and pastors. He recommended a particular car that fit perfectly with our budget. During our test drive, Michael noticed that the AC wasn't working and a crack on the windshield. Michael offered to fix both, free of charge!
Thanks to Michael and our co-workers, we are now a proud owner of a Nissan Cefiro 1996 aka "Batman."
Thanks be to God!
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Prayer Requests
Visa: We praise God for providing us visas and work permits to be here. There was one hiccup with our visas though, and we are still sorting it out. Please keep us in prayers so we can stay in Thailand.
Language Study: We have been given three months to learn one of the most difficult languages in the world. Pray that the Lord opens our minds to the language so we can speak His Truth. Although we are taking classes and learning from the Badminton Group, we ask specifically that you pray for a tutor who would take us on.
New Team Member: We have found our OB-GYN! Our doc was worth the wait and has been very supportive in this process. Baby girl has been perfect on every exam we've had. God has been the Great Protector for our little girl since the beginning. Terence and Ingrid were both born very early and very sick, so we get anxious at every appointment, every pain, every symptom that Ingrid has. Continue to pray that Baby Lustaña stays healthy in Ingrid's tummy until her due date in January. We also ask that you pray for a natural birth.
Man of Peace/Eksiam Badminton Group: We have been praying for our Man of Peace for months now. Now we have some names and faces. We ask that you lift up the Eksiam Badminton Group to the Lord. We know God is working ahead of us. We pray that we will be sensitive to His Spirit and leading.
Cultural Adjustments: Moving to a new place is scary and difficult. Moving to a new country is even scarier and more difficult! There's not only a foreign language but new customs, opposite driving, foods that upset the tummy, and lots and lots of mistakes! Pray for us as we adjust to living in Thailand and working with a very diverse team.
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Our men of peace, P'Ning and P'Ei.
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