Quick Update!

       Just enough time for a quick update. I told you that every week all the other orphanages come to Baan Farm to fellowship and worship God together. Well Som Saat and Kringkai up in Chiang Khong couldn't make it last weekend. So yesterday, Ron and I drove up to Chiang Khong and spent some time with the kids there. We bought them dinner and ice cream and just loved on them for the night. We spent the night in a hotel overlooking the Mekong River and the border of Laos. When Ron and I left the orphanage, we sat on our balcony and spent some time praying for Laos. Here's a picture of the sun rising over Laos the next morning.

       There is a young couple named Josh and Jennifer who just recently moved from the states to Chiang Khong. Their heart is to learn the Hmong language and then to work amongst the Hmong people here in Chiang Khong and Chiang Saen and eventually, if the Lord would lead them to, to workk with the Hmong in Laos. Ron and I invited them over to the hotel for breakfast. We had a good time together and we were able to encourage them and pray with them as well as be encouraged. 

Prayer requests:

     - I'm coming up on my last week here, and I can already feel myself getting spiritually tired. Pray that I would really rely on the Lord for strength and that I would finish well and pray that I wouldn't get lazy or anything like that.

     - Pray for Josh and Jennifer as well. They are struggling with feeling like they aren't doing anything and really just want to go work in the villages. I think something we all easily struggle with is letting our minds get focused on the future and what's going to happen then instead of keeping it focused on what the Lord has in front of us. So be praying against discouragement and pray that the Lord would really let them know that where they are is where He has them and that they would find comfort in that.

I will update you again soon with more prayer requests and more pictures!

Thanks to everyone who reads this and prays! I really appreciate it and I am very blessed by it!

God bless you

Mulch

       

     

Swimming!

       To those of you who frequently check this blog, I apologize for not updating it for so long. I have been having some difficulties with my google account, but I think I have everything worked out now. Sorry for the delay friends. :) Here's some of what's been going on...

       The staff and I have been praying a lot about what is best for Phi Boone at this time. He has done some things that have made it very clear that he is a lot smarter then people give him credit for. It has been about five years since they had him tested and Ron thought it would be a good idea to have him tested again. Baan Immanuel supports an orphanage in Chiang Mai that takes care of special needs kids similar to Phi Boone. They go to a school where they are very well cared for. Two of Baan Immanuel's staff members actually work at the school. Last Sunday, P'Nu, Phi Boone, and I drove down to Chiang Mai and took Phi Boone to this school to be tested. He was very excited to meet all the faculty and kids at the school and made it very clear to us that he wants to go there. The school, however, felt that it would be better for him to come back for the next semester, as the current one only has about a month and a half left. This gives the staff, and all of you, some time to pray. Pray for wisdom for the staff. This would be good for Phi Boone because he would get schooling and physcial therapy by trained people, but the Lord knows what Phi Boone needs most and this may not be it. So pray for him and the staff and Ron to really hear from the Lord about what to do.

       This past week has been very hot and humid and was actually the first full five days that it didn't rain once since I've been here. Once a month, all the other orphanages that Baan Immanuel supports come together for a weekend of fellowship. We had planned on taking all the kids to the Chiang Rai Zoo, but since it was so hot, we decided to take the kids to the Huaymaesai Waterfall to cool down. The kids were so excited! Here are some pictures from yesterday...

Thanks for praying guys :)

Mulch

The past few days

     The past few days have been somewhat mellow. Last week we were able to go with some of the staff and kids to a Lahu village to paint a church that is being built. It was a very hot, but fun day. We also took the staff out to pizza last Thursday. That was a lot of fun as well. 

     Today was Jocelyn's last day at Baan Immanuel. Sunday night, as a gift to the kids, Jocelyn bought a special dinner for everyone, and ice cream for desert. The kids were very excited! It was very sad for the kids to see her leave, but they were happy that she was able to spend five weeks with them. This afternoon, we took her to the airport and saw her off. Her flight arrives in LAX at about 8pm Monday night (California time). She was a bit nervous because she was flying by herself, so be praying for her! Pray that the Lord would provide a hedge of protection around her and that she would be able to find her comfort in Him. 

     Here's some pictures from the past few days.

That's all for now. Thanks for your prayers!

Mulch

Family Night!

Hello all! Tonight, as is every Friday night, is a family worship night. Everyone gets together in the meeting hall to sing songs, play games, worship, and fellowship after. It's a really fun night. If you don't know what you're doing, which both Jocelyn and I don't, then you pretty much make a fool out of yourself the entire night. It's very fun, and it brings a smile to all the kid's faces. Here's a few pictures from last week.

A few praise reports...

I know a lot of you have been praying for Phi Boone, and the Lord has really been answering. After only a week of working with him, he is already showing a lot of progress. When we first got here, he kept his fingers on his right hand curled up and never used them. We have been stretching out his fingers and moving all his joints in an attempt to build some muscle. He now is able to keep his fingers open! Praise the Lord! Keep praying for him! He also came down with a fever earlier this afternoon so pray for healing as well!

The Lord has really been blessing our english classes. He has used these last two meetings to grow our relationships with the staff. 

I also have not gotten a headache since Wednesday! I still haven't figured out what was causing them. But whatever it was, spiritual or physical, it has gone away completely. All glory to Jesus! Thank you guys so much for your praying you guys!!

Thats all for now, God bless!

Mulch

A mellow first week...

The past week has been kind of relaxed, especially with no team here, but we have developed somewhat of a routine for each week. The kids go to school everyday from 7:30am to 4:00pm. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the staff women and Jocelyn go to the market and do a little grocery shopping for the orphanage, buying all the food and whatnot. Tuesdays and Thursdays, while the kids are at school, there is a short staff meeting where we all get together for an hour and pray for whatever needs that come up. Jocelyn and I have decided to start our "english classes" after these meetings. We had our first one on thursday last week. Today, we made a packet of vocabulary worksheets for each of them to work on during the week. Pray that our times together would be fruitful and that the Lord would use the meetings to knit our hearts together. Jocelyn and I are both fools and have never taught an english class before, but we believe that the Lord really does use the foolish of this world to do his work. 

This last Sunday, we were able to go on an outreach into a Lawhu village called Non Keow. Baan Immanuel has been doing outreaches there for a little over a year now and a lot of people have come to the Lord. There are actually two tribes that come together here: the Red Lawhu and the Yellow Lawhu. You guys need to be praying for these two tribes. The Red Lawhu tribe does not have the Word of God translated into their language. The yellow Lawhu have a church established in there village but won't let the Red Lawhu come anywhere near it. As a result, the Red Lawhu who come to the Lord eventually fall away because they have no one lead them. Pray for peace between these two tribes and pray for the Lord to raise up pastors and leaders amongst the Red Lawhu. There were about 22 kids there this time. I put up a little slideshow of the outreach. 

Prayer requests...

We both have a lot of free time, and we want to be diligent to press into the Lord as much as we can. We want our hearts and minds to be focused on how the Lord can use us here. I have also faithfully gotten a headache every single day since sunday last week. They start at somewhere around 11am and go away around 4pm. Please pray that they would stop, or that the Lord would give us wisdom to know what's causing them. Thank you!!!!

God Bless,

Mulch and Jocelyn

The Adventure Begins...

The Thai Unit team left this morning at 6:30am. It was a sad moment watching their bus drive away. I know the Lord did a lot of work in people's heart on this trip. Praise God! Keep praying for them, as they are spending the day in Singapore, and then going back home. 

I think it finally hit me this morning that I'm really here for eight more weeks. But the Lord is good and I know He has me here for a reason. For the next three weeks, Jocelyn and I will be working with the staff to teach them english and to attempt to learn Thai in the process. I will also be working with one of the orphanage's special needs kids named Phi Boone. Phi Boone was hit by a car when he was younger and has lost a lot of his motor skills in his right side. He walks with a limp and tries his hardest to never use his right arm. So, while the other kids go to school, Phi Boone and I will be doing some exercises to try and gain some of his strength back in his arm. Above is a picture of Phi Boone and I...we are handsome. Pray for him. He loves to the exercises, but he can get very discouraged when they get too hard for him. That's all for now guys! Thanks for your prayers!

Mulch