Many Apologies

Ok...so I do have an excuse for why it took me so long to update my blog. Up until just a few days ago my sight was in Thai and I had no idea how to switch the language to English. At first I just did it from memory but with everything else that is running through my head that knowledge was amongst the first to go. Hmm... for any of you that have been recieving my updates. My team and I are becoming relatively well settled into Lopburi which will be our home for the next year as we study Thai together and get a clearer vision of what the Lord is leading us into and becoming more inculturated. Although, that has proved to be a bit difficult as we are very much constantly with other foreigners. I think this has been the most frusterating thing for me since last time I was here I lived and worked and hung out nearly 24/7 with the Thai people and it is hard for me not to have that here. I treasure the interactions I do have with them however and look for ways to coonect whenever I can. This last Sunday I went to a wonderful church full of relaxed fun Thai people that I felt an immediate connection with and so I have decided to make this my home church for the duration of my time here in Lopburi. These next couple weeks are going to be quite busy as I will be transitioning all over the place. Tomorrow I leave for Bangkok where I will catch a flight to Penang, Malaysia becasue our RA visas have come in which means we can now apply for workers visas. This will be a very different trip from the last time I went as we have a long weekend and I intent to use it to return to Pattaya to see my friends. It is so great that they are near enough that when I have a few days I can go down and spend time with them. I know as I build a community here I will travel down less and less but right now I need that emersion into Thai society. Following that trip I will have a few weeks to trip and get as much Thai in as possible and then I head for Singapore first and then Indonesia to attend the 50th anniversary of the Bible school my grandpa started in the jungles of Borneo. I cannot wait as it will also be the last time I see my dad and sister for a long time. So I intend to treasure it. All things with my nephew are going well. My mother is perhaps a bit too doting as you can see from the picture but apparently there have been no permanant injuries to the baby. Other than that I think I am looking forward to September when I can finally settle into Lopburi and nuckle down to Thai and really start going intentionally to places I can begin building relationships, get involved in my church and just be. I have not unfortunately taken many photos for you to see what Lopburi looks like but I promise to be more diligent in the future. Life has been a bit fast paced at the moment. Well I'm not sure I have anything else of interest to say so I suppose I will sign off for the time being. Feel free and drop me a note to tell me how your doing. I feel a million miles away from most anyone reading my blog. So.....

Monkey Buisness

I am writing this from an OMF guesthouse in Bangkok as we are in the middle of transitioning betwen being with team 2000 and going up North for a few days to check out where we will eventually be located after langauge school. After that I will be returning to Pattaya for a long awaited reunion with my friends who I have not seen for over a year. Here are a few pics from the few days we have been here in the land of Smiles so far.

I am making up for the fact that I can't hold my new nephew.

Because I am now officially the auntie of Benjamin Matthew Warkentin who was born on May the 15th at 7:25 pm.

Yup that's him.

We celebrated Jason's, the Davises 7 year old, birthday by taking him to the pool. We managed to make friends with all the Thai kids in the kiddie pool and these where two that seemed especially fond of me:)

Here he is with them. He is a trooper and is settling right into the life here.

I will keep posting pics and stories as often as I can.

Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me!!!!!!, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me!!!!!!, HAPPY BIRTHDAY dear Bitsy, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me!!!!!!,

Family Buisness

When I was asking the Lord why I couldn't go back to Thailand right away one of the things that was spoken over me was that this would be a time for me to invest in my family. At the time I brushed it off but that truth of that statement has hit me over and over again over this last year. I have been so blessed to realize how precious my family is to me. This last week specifically was both trying and great at the same time. My car has been in the shop for some repairs and so I have had to spend more time at home and when needing to go out havebummed rides off my parents and they have been nothing but gracious. Friday I was able to spend a beautiful sunny day with my cousin and sister in Fort Langley, having lunch and then wondering through the shops.

These times are precious to me because it will be at least 3 years before I am able to do things that for so long I took for granted. I am trying to capture every moment with the people who are close to my heart. The reality is really starting to hit me and I'm so excited and yet I want to sqeaze every last moment full of activity and friends. Yesterday my parents and I gardened all day which hasn't happened in years. I loved it. And then today we had our last big meal together before I leave. I am so thankful for this time at home. God is Good.

Oh God, My God

I Will Lift My Eyes

God, my God, I cry out

Your beloved needs You now

God, be near, calm my fear

And take my doubt

Your kindness is what pulls me up

Your love is all that draws me in

I will lift my eyes to the Maker

Of the mountains I can’t climb I

will lift my eyes to the

Calmer Of the oceans raging wild

I will lift my eyes to the

Healer Of the hurt I hold inside

I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

God, my God, let Mercy sing

Her melody over me God, right here all I bring

Is all of me

‘Cause You are and You were and You will be forever

The Lover I need to save me

‘Cause You fashioned the earth and You hold it together,

God So hold me now

Bebo Norman

What Draws Me?

This past Sunday we watched a video in church from Thailand. With all the buisiness that has been going on over the last few months I have had little time to sit and think about why I am going back. When I speak to people the automatic response is most often a head response. I know what the right answer is, I know what is being asked of me and I give the appropriate answer. But I think I have forgotten truly why I have fought so hard to get to this point of returning to Thailand. What draws me so steadily back? And then I saw their smiles, their laughter and most meaningful of all their worship. To see their hands raised while singing songs to the Lord brought back a flood of memories from my time in Thailand. Time of laughing and eating and fellowshipping. I remembered the late night volleyball and going to the beach at 12am with a truckload of Thai young people to avoid the tourists. I remember sitting on the floor sharing a meal at 9 pm not understanding hardly a word and yet feeling like my heart had found it's home. I remember the first time I sat down with one of the guys I had befriended and understood his life's story he was pouring out to me in Thai.
The video showed a baptism that had just occured at the beach in the city of the missionaries and my thoughts went back to baptizing former prostitutes in a pool in one of our friends homes and what a joyful day that was. I remembered why I longed to return so much my entire body ached when I came home a year ago. It is for the people. Not the food, not the sun, not the adventure. Although all those things are an added blessing and I can't wait to experience them all again. But it is the stories that draw me to return, the tears, the smiles, the hopes, dreams, and fears in the peoples eyes. The joy on their faces inspite of their lostness. These are the brothers and sisters I want to see beside me in heaven raising their voices in unison praising the Lord. I remember why I have fought so hard to return.

Passage of Time!

I am always amazed by how quickly time passes. You have all these plans and things to do and days and weeks planned out and before you know it the time is gone. That is what this last week and really the last 3 months have felt like. Time speeding along with little concern for all the things we try to fit into it. This past week was as I mentioned in the last post a time of team building and specifically really solidifying our places or were we fit into the team. It was incredible to go through all the different areas needing to be filled and then looking specifically at the individual team members to assess where our gifts and talents where. For myself I ended up with some great responsibilities which I am super excited for. They include media: making sure the world is kept up to date on our activities (I love this one because it allows me free reign with my artistic skills and photography as well as writing), Librarian: being a resource person for the team and others, Member care: counseling members of the team, (this one is incredible since this is an area I dearly desire to grow in so the opportunity to use it in such a great environment is awesome), and Facilitator:) I get to boss everyone around in team meetings. That should be fun! Who ever said working for the Lord is boring. I would argue that being a missionary is the best possible job a person could have. I am so excited to start this new chapter in my life.

We also purchased our tickets! Which means we officially are leaving now, people can stop asking us why we aren't gone yet:) That's pretty exciting. We fly out early on the 7th of May.

It has been an awesome time of growing with the team as well as growing into this responsibility the Lord is laying on each of us. I think of the verse that talks about if we are faithful in the little things than He will give us bigger things to work on. This is definitely bigger for me!
Each of your prayers would be much appreciated as there are a lot of things to wrap up before I go. One being bringing in the remainder of the support I need which also includes a 3 month buffer of 10,000 dollars in case of emergency. We have to have this in the bank before we may leave. That at the moment is my biggest need but I also need to raise about 1000 dollars more a month. I have no doubt the Lord can bring this in. He has continually shown Himself to be faithful. But being human, it is a concern:) The other thing I need to do is sell my car. If any of you know someone who is looking for a simple car to drive to work and pleasure driving my car is a 94 Hyundai Scope, with under 209000km and in relatively good condition. It's not a fancy car by any means but reliable. I'm asking about 2,300 for it at the moment. I'd appreciate any advice on this as I need to get this sold before I leave.

So those are some practical needs at the moment. Also pray that the Lord would continue to prepare me for this next 3 years. I feel in so many ways inadequate and yet I know He is strong in our weakness.

I came across this quote I've had for years and just wanted to share it. It's a beautiful thought. "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." Don't you love that.

Well thank you for walking out this time of preparation with me. I pray the Lord's many blessings on each of you as you bless others.
In Him,
Bitsy

Team Building Week!

This song really touched my heart yesterday as we sang it in church. The words are so simple and yet it is the cry of my heart that the Lord would find His home in me. I am here and I want to be a temple holy and pleasing to Him. This week we are going into a time of really intentional team building and I am excited to see what the Lord does both in my heart and within our team. The time is quickly slipping away till the day that we leave. It felt very real today as I went to Wal-Mart to buy suitecases and other stuff for traveling. I'm kind of waiting for the road block that will knock this all out from under me and yet I trust that if this is where God is leading me He will keep providing. It just doesn't fully seem real. Although as the time shortens I am feeling an urgency to spend as much time with friends and family as possible. Hmm...we will see what happens in the next couple weeks. One thing you can pray for is my passport to come through soon so that my visa application can be worked on. Without that I would hit a roadblock. Also pray for God's provision for a teacher for the missionary kids in Lopburi both for our team and the teams already there studying in the langauge school. They are looking for 2 teachers to come for at least a year. So that is life at the moment and I'm looking forward to taking each day as it comes.

Resting Place
(Daphne Rademaker)

Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Whom of you will hear the cry of my heart? Where will my resting place be?

Here oh Lord Have I prepared for you a home Long have I desired for you to dwell Here oh Lord Have I prepared a resting place Here oh Lord I wait for you alone

Copyright © 1991 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing. All rights reserved. International copyright secured.

Sigh not so but let them go!

It is with mixed emotions that I write this first update on blogger. I have just finished a training time with MBMSI called TREK alongside my team and 9 other Trekkers. It has been an amazing time of community and learning. Our team has been growing together more and more and the Lord has been extremely good. We all took part in the training in blind faith because each of us had our own plans for what this time would look like, however, the Lord had other plans and I'm so glad cuz His plans are always so much better than ours. I was so blessed to not only spend time with my team but also in close community with the 9 Trekkers as well. I loved spending time with them and we shared much laughter and just about as many tears. Our time together consisted of snow tubing, a disastrous trip to Seattle, 5 pin bowling (which sad to say I lost), and many other lovely times spent together. As I look into the next 2 months and ultimately the next 3 years I am sad to leave this time behind me and yet excited for what the Lord has next. I just went to a Brian Doerksen concert and it really was a lovely way to transition from one season to the next in this journey of mine. Praising the Lord. There are a lot of things to get done before I leave as well as people to spend as much time with as possible:) And then on to Thailand. But I think I'll just take one day at a time. It gets a bit overwhelming if I think to far ahead. Well I will be continuing to update this blog. Feel free to check back whenever you feel like it. I won't always be sending out an e-mail saying I updated it. However, for big updates I will. So on to the next phase of this adventure. I have included a selection of photos from our time together in Trek as well as just fun friend times.

Ever In Him,

Bitsy