Leaving Bangkok for Roi Et

Greetings everyone,

We have had a busy couple of weeks, we have moved from our apartment at the church in Bangkok to the city of Roi Et, seven hours NorthEast.  We felt the Lord prompting us to continue our language and culture study here where we plan on serving him for our remaining time in Thailand.  The Isan area where we now live is primarily rural, with rice farming being the main source of income here.  We found an apartment in the city of Roi Et which is a larger city here, about 40,000 people.  There are shops, restaurants, businesses, schools and temples all around.  There are a few restaurants that serve Western food so that has been a blessing!  It is much quieter here, less traffic and a breeze.  We get a lot of looks as we walk around the town, since there are few Westerners here. Noah and Hannah Grace get most of the stares, we try to greet folks and smile.  Having eyes on you is definitely an adjustment for all of us, but at least they are noticing we are here.  We try to be ourselves and pray that God is using our presence here somehow for his glory.  Now we just have to get to know them and to be able to speak with them.

Getting ready to board the bus to Roi Et

Our belongings

 There is a beautiful park in the center of the city where many people go to walk, play basketball, play on the playground and just hang out.  We are in walking distance of most of the things we need, which is important since we haven't yet purchased a ministry vehicle.  We go to the park about everyday to try to meet and greet Thai people.

The other team members live 10 to 15 minutes from us so we have been blessed by their company and presence since arriving.  Some of the students we got to know at camp this summer were at their home last Wednesday night for worship, so we had the chance to reconnect. with them.  Noah picked right up with a friend he made named Biw.  Although they have to speak with broken Thai and English the two seem to find a way to make it work.
We felt the Lord encouraging us to host a worship night in English in our home, so that those on the team and others serving here who speak English could have an opportunity to worship in their native tongue.  We had worship here in our apartment Saturday night from 6 to 9.  We ate dinner together (we made spaghetti) read scripture, sang praise songs and watched a recorded sermon about Listening to God.  After the sermon we had small group time and prayed for each other.  We had 10 people here to worship,  Noah and Hannah Grace participated as well.  God blessed our time and we believe offering church in our home each week is something we feel led to do.  Please join us in prayer for our group to grow, for this to be an opportunity for team members and others to be fed spiritually and for God to be shone glory.

New apartment, main room

One of the bedrooms

Our apartment in Roi Et, Second floor

Please continue to pray for our transition here and for us to begin to make relationships with Thai nationals.  We live in a 2 bedroom apartment where we are comfortable.  The apartment complex is full of high school students who live here and attend school right down the street.  We are living in the middle of students and believe the Lord has brought us here for a reason.  Join us in prayer in how we can serve him and bring his name and hope to so many who do not know him.

We love you all and pray for you, please continue to stay with us on this journey.  Blessings.

Our family with our Thai Tutor, Nid in Bangkok

Todd at the Barber shop in Roi Et