A quick update from the floor of KL
I am doing really well, I finally found my passion. everything here in Thailand is amazing, the people, the culture, the reality of spiritual warfare… the hand of God is so evident, I really don’t want to leave. I actually tried to etend my stay, and after a month of prayerful consideration I decided to stay if at all possible… mainly because God was asking me “what if?” would I be willing to give up a semester at ACU and with my family? THings started falling into place, everyone even back in the states that I talked to completely encouraged me to stay after talking about what I was doing at that time, the relationships, the discussions, the whole speil. I loved it!
My parents said that they would be completely supportive of my decision regardless, but required that I pray, read, fast, seek wise counsel, and give it time before I made any decisions; which was awesome because I had already done all of those and continued to do so as well as fast and just listen to God throughout that month… The only real reason that I am not staying longer is because even with a 90% chance of staying, with an apprenticeship being offered to me here, that if my parents did not support the decision, I would go back because my parents were put over me for a reason… and of course as I was so excited to stay, I ended up being told that if I didn’t go back to school within the first two days of class, I would lose my scholarships, enrollment, and with that all of my military dependancy benefits… SO I would lose essentially my life for an extra month here in Thailand… my parents said “it would be wise to come back…”
Looking at the situation as things are playing out, I think that in the long run it truly is better for everyone; I thnk if I stayed in Thailand now I would be distracted by the other apprentices and the trips that they are taking in the next month or two… I was able to successfully build relationships with many Thais, several of whom were only in th elasst two weeks… I was surprised by their willingness to come to church, to get plugged in, and to open up about who they are and what they believe. We had a pretty large group of Thai students/friends come to see us off, several were crying, several guys came up and gave us hugs (anti-Thai culture) and the coolest part was that almost everyone there was like a family. The Christians and the non-Christians. The love was there, it was palpable, and I could see it in the eyes of the non-Christians… they could see there was something more. it was beautiful.
Right now, I am sitting on a hard tile floor of the international airport in Kuala Lampur, waiting for my flight to Bali Indonesia… I will attend the Asian Missions Forum, then be flying back through KL, Bangkok, Tokyo, Dallas and then to SA… it will be a very long and very exhausting day or two of traveling, but I look forward to it.
There is so much more to be said, so much more to show you and try to convey (although I will never be able to fully), but I have rambled long enough.
