When we pulled up to the church, the first thing we noticed was a new church sign with the cross and flame logo of the United Methodist Church. The sign reminds us of how proud we are to be United Methodist. Life Center UMC serves as a lighthouse of hope in the midst of a dark city, and seeing the UMC logo reminds us of the Connection which means so much to us.
When we went inside, the church was filled with joyous people worshipping the Lord. We really enjoyed the service, which had many people standing up to give a testimony of how God has changed their lives and blessed them. In fact, there were a few people who gave testimonies that we believe God will some day call into pastoral ministry. They were filled with holy boldness as they gave testimony to the goodness and power of our Lord.
There were many new faces and the numbers of worshippers have grown in the last few months. When we met some of the new people, we were truly blessed to discover that some of them were the grandparents or "foster" parents of the children from Blessing Home. We gave praise to the Lord that God is using this ministry to not only save these children, but also to reach the families that care for them. It is working! Blessing Home is truly a ministry to the community, reaching the children and the adults that care for them. This is what makes Blessing Home different than other orphan ministries. God is good!
On a side note, we are still adjusting to the heat here. It has been 100-110 degrees with 95% or higher humidity everyday. When we went back to the States, we were there long enough for our bodies to adjust to the moderate temperates of Kentucky (especially since Kentucky had unusually cold weather). Now we have to re-adjust to the sweltering heat of Thailand. We find ourselves quickly physically drained in this heat and must pace ourselves. We have been enjoying air conditioning more than usual in the effort to adjust.
Since we have been back, we have been trying to meet with the pastors and interns on an individual basis and will have our first group pastors meeting on Tuesday. We must make plans for an upcoming Mission Team from Santa Clara as well as plans for a License to Preach School coming up soon.
Keep lifting us and your Thai brothers and sisters up to God in prayer.
