Coming to America!

Well,

Happy Summer! Hope everyone is enjoying the warm weather. As I am sitting here typing this it's 10:30 p.m. our time. I am utterly exhausted but in a good place. Our house sits nearly empty. A shell of what it was 5 days ago. My clothes are being washed and folded getting ready to be packed along with various other items... like my favorite curtains... if they fit. I also unstuffed the couch pillows :) My home is nearly empty except for my family and the fullness of our hearts realising the impact we have had on the people around us here. We have done our best to love those around us... even in difficulty, as culture can often make it. As we have been saying goodbye to our neighbors, co-workers, students,and friends we have been shocked to find how much God has used us in their lives. Many of them were teary eyed at the news. Some of them.. we weren't for certain if they even liked us in the first place :) God has used us to love those around us in a culture where love and compassion for others is minimal. He has used us to plant many seeds and we are confident that those seeds will grow with the help of God. They are all sad to see us go. We are also sad to leave but God has shown us that He wants us in America for a time. As you have probably figured from the above said, we are in the process of moving back to America. We are not exactly sure what God has for us there. We were not expecting to leave Thailand so soon. However, we will follow where He leads us even if it is not in our plan :)Right now every day is one step at a time.

We will be leaving for Bangkok on Friday afternoon... Thursday sometime for you guys. There we will stay the night and catch a plane to Taiwan in the morning. From there we have a 4 hour layover and then we will be headed to L.A. We'll wait around for a bit longer and catch a flight to San Jose where we will be staying for a little over a week. After that we will be in Indiana! We arrive on July 4th! What a homecoming :) How many travel hours... let's just say I need more than two hands to count it!

Please be praying for us as this has been difficult on the little guys. Especially Maya, she's been quite upset having to say goodbye to her friends. We know she will be OK once she is back with her friends and fam in America but it's hard for her right now. Jet will turn 1 on July 3rd! He is hanging in there. It has been very busy as we have been getting ready. Jared's mom is currently in the states and will remain there. We will be seeing her in San Jose along with his younger sister, we hope! Let's just say.. this will be an unplanned but FUN family reunion!

We are looking forward to seeing our church family! We can't wait to get involved. We are very curious and looking forward to God's plan for us while we are in America!

Thank you for your prayers love and support! They mean the world to us!

Prayer Points For Our Family:
Safety and health during travel
Ease of travel
Ears to hear God's direction for our time in the States
Provision

God Bless! See you soon! Can't wait to give you guys our love in person!

God Time and Family Time!

For the first time in almost three years my family has had more than a week alone together! This has been an unexpected gift and blessing from God! Our home has been quiet from the outside bu there are deep works going on within. We are wrapping up our English teaching from home and transitioning to English parties twice a month to continue building relationships in a more fun and free environment. We just had our first English party where we made dumplings and pizzas together. We also played some of the games you guys sent. Uno stack was a hit!We will continue to host these parties not to entertain but purposed to continue to build trust and relationship with the students that the opportunity arises where we get to share Christ with them! The people here are so desperate for love. Jared was telling me today that one of the Thai staff asked him if he had problems with students drinking toilet water from the bathrooms. Keep in mind toilet water isn't what you're used to. He said apparently the students do it so that they become sick and get attention. How sad! We have a hope that these kids desperately need!

Today I am thankful that I am hungry. Hungry for God. Hungry to reach out in desperation for the things that He has for me. Hunger for God is such a gift! I am desperate for more of Him because I am surrounded by hopelessness. Christ is hope and I want more of Him to give more away. To be a blessing to those who cannot see the true reality . The reality that there is a God who loves them. That there is a God who fights for them! That there is a God who is Jealous for their love. God is amazing. God cannot be contained, summed up, or explained. He must be experienced, pursued, sought out like a beautiful treasure, dove into like a beautiful ocean of endless love, mercy, peace, and joy! In this season I am pressing in for more of Jesus in my life. More of His truth to manifest as reality in my life. Let the word of the Lord not only come alive in me even more but flow through me as healing waters to those around me to the glory of God! I need him even as the air I breathe!

God is not only doing transformational work in me but also my family. As we are pressing in He is exposing areas that need to be strengthened by the truth of His word. He is doing some deep works in mine and Jared's' life. He is drawing us together and into him. He is teaching us to stand together even more and work together even more. At times it is painful as we are clumsily learning to minister to each other and being cleansed of lies planted deep within. It is also joyful as He is planting in me visions for more of the work He has for us here. I can feel them and sense them as if they were already fulfilled! We are waiting on the Lord excited to see what He will do. Most importantly our family must be healthy and planted even deeper into God's word before we can reach out even more. In His time all of these things will come to fruition. Until then we will wait expectantly pressing into Him even more.

I want to encourage you to keep pressing in! It is so easy to become complacent but don't you want to dive deeper! How great is His love for us! How rich are His blessings! Take hold of them and with faith pull them into reality! Provision! Healing! Everlasting Joy! Peace! A relationship with the Holy Spirit, Jesus, our God! Eternal life and a Sea of Love! How blessed we are to know the truth! I bet some of those around you could use some of this also! Press in so that you are overflowing and can't help but give some of it away!

Hey,

Thanks for loving us and praying for us! You are amazing! Your prayers are powerful and we believe that when you pray God moves! We love, love, love it when you pray for us! Thank you also for giving! You help fill the gap financially that makes it possible for us to stay here! Please feel free to e-mail us! We would love to hear from you and answer any questions or curiosities you may have :) I've posted prayer requests below:

Divine protection, provision, and health!

More opportunity to love people!

Jared's transition to working full time with Thai high school students to go smoothely as there have been many challenges already!

The school processes our visas before we have to do another visa run! Jet and Maya fussed the whole bus ride last time :(

God Bless!

Sorry, I'll post pics next time... Jet's sleeping on my lap :)

They will know we are Christians by our LOVE!

Hello everyone!

We made it through songkran with much R&R to be thrust into daily life and then some :) However, I have a great story to share that came out of the chaos! Hopefully you can stay with me as storytelling isn't my forte!

Jodi, one of the students who has lived with us over the last couple of years received news from her University that her student status had been

terminated. She called her supervisor and met with her several times over the following days but to no avail Jodi could not re-enroll as the enrollment for this school year had already been closed. All of this was terrible news as Jodi's student termination was of error. To make it all worse her parents are very upset with her and place most of the blame on Jodi when truly it's not her fault. In there eyes she has caused them to "lose face" putting their whole family in shame. Through the last week or so we have spent much time encouraging Jodi. As I write Jodi is in China we will miss her as one of our own family but we know this will be a good time for her to grow even closer to God as her faith will be tested. We are confident that she will be a light shining in China for her family and those around her! There is much possibility that she will be returning to Thailand in the next 6 months to a year so we are praying and looking forward to the day she returns to fulfill her dream of getting a masters degree from a good Uni. here in Thailand! The next part of the story.....

The night Jodi left we had our English class. In the English class we have 3 Chinese students and 2 Thai students. It just so happened that that night we had been talking about how our different cultures display affection. For example it's normal for men to kiss each other on the cheek in some European countries, however, this is not normal in America. One of the things we had talked about was if guys in America normally hug girls that are their friends and so on... so we explained that usually men don't hug female friends unless it's a hug goodbye to a dear friend, it doesn't happen on a daily basis :) We later learned that hugging in China was reserved for family mostly. Not long after that, it was time for Jodi to go. I came down all teary eyed with her, already having said my goodbyes. Jodi gave Jared the biggest bear hug I've ever seen a girl give :) The students sat in awe at the display.

Jodi drove off and we continued class breaking off into pairs so they could practice speaking english with each other. Jared's partner asked us why we came to Thailand. So he proceeded to tell her "that God had told us to come." She then asked if we were "Christmas." He then replied, "Do you mean Christians?" She said "yes, you pray before you drink water and eat." Jared then proceeded to very briefly tell her why we pray, why we love people, why we love God, why He loves us, and why we ask God for answers and direction in life. This was HUGE. The only thing LuLu had heard about Christianity was Christmas, a couple of her acquaintances were Christians, and she new the names Adam and Eve. She had never heard about Jesus. She had never heard the name of Jesus! Later all three of the girls commented on how much Christians loved each other having witnessed Jodi's love at times when they would see each other out in the community and what they had witnessed in our home that night. They concluded it was very good! Praise God that the doors are now wide open for these girls to learn more about the love of God! We will continue to cultivate our relationships with them and see what God does!

Isn't love such a powerful and amazing testimony! Be encouraged that if you take the time to love others around you they will take notice!

Thank you all for praying for us.

Goodbye Photo with Jodi and Candy

February 2011

It's starting to warm up here! The average is about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the beginning of a rapid incline in Temp. Yesterday I had to run the AC for 10 min. just to cool down after mopping the floor. Not a good sign considering soon The average temp will be somewhere in the mid 100's. Sweat :) On the top of our to do list is to go out and purchase a few more fans and some sun-blocking curtains. I'm sure your all feeling sorry for us as your freezing in the snow and ice.

Jet is now standing almost on his own and in attachment phase full force. He is also the big-toe sucking monster. In Thailand it is custom to take off your shoes upon entering a home. ALWAYS. Often Jet will be playing on the floor and then all the sudden... ewww he's trying to suck or chew on your toe! Very Gross and not so polite for guests. Considering the status of the foot in this country. AAAHHH!! Maya is still learning the tough lessons a three year old must learn. Everyday feels like a repeat. I'm sure it will sink in sometime. I have seen some hopeful glimmers of improvement as she moves towards the age of 4. Four just so happens to be my favorite age in Children so... I'm waiting and waiting for the 4 year old to emerge :)

Jared did well in his job interview but unfortunately didn't get the job. That's ok though. We are in the process of discovering what's next here in Chiang Mai. We are researching and looking at many different things we can do here. Please keep us in prayer as we are in the middle of some big and a bit scary decision making. We will let you all know the plan as soon as we are sure! Stay tuned :)

Please pray for peace over our family during this time of searching and decision making. These times can be a bit stressful for our family. We are already a bit stretched as it is ;O We are continuing to trust in God and seek Him in everything we do. Your prayers are so important to us and we need them. Thank you for the time, energy, and money you put towards making it possible for us to be here. We are on the edge of a breakthrough to the next step. Thank you for believing in us and working with us to help make a difference in peoples lives.

This is Jody telling us about a Chinese desert consisting of beans, nuts, and other ingredients.

Back from Tachilek!

Just thought I would update you all. We made it to and from the border all safe and sound. We had a slight hold up on the Burmese side when they wouldn't accept our U.S. currency because of a mark on one of the bills. Who can get a perfect one these days? Anyway, we didn't have anymore money and fortunately Maya and Jet's big blue eyes convinced the guy to accept the money and let us through. I looked online when we got back and apparently they have been more often than not wanting to be paid in Thai baht rather than U.S. dollar lately. It's more expensive to pay the Thai baht but next time it might be what we'll do as to avoid the hold up.

Second in the updates... Jared got a call from Dara and he goes in for a group interview a week from Wed. Please pray for favor and the opened door if it is God's will. Also pray that we will find out sooner rather than later whether he is hired.

And last, we have been hit hard with attacks recently on our emotions and thoughts. A lot of things are pending right now on Jared getting a full time job. Both of us feel this is the next step right now so we are persevering in trusting God and waiting patiently; this is easier said than done at times :) Our family is very tired from all the moving and changes in the last 2-3 years, mostly concentrated in the last year, so we are hoping that God intervenes soon to provide us some rest and stability so we can move forward in His work.

Thank you all for your love and support. Hope you guys stuck in ice and snow are staying safe and warm. Your in our prayers.

2011

It's a new year! Hooray for that. I feel that this one may be a challenging yet fruitful year. God is already moving us along in big ways. I haven't blogged on here in for so long that I'm not sure where to begin. Perhaps a reflection of last year...

Our son Jet, who is now 6 mo. today was safely born in the states. He is now almost crawling! Of course we are back in Chiang Mai and enjoying being home again. Our time in the states really made us realise that we are truly made to be living over here as we deeply missed the international community and sense of adventure :) We did however, love seeing our families and friends during our stay. We miss them often. Maya loves being a big sister. Jared and I are finally adapted, I think, to having two. It's quite a change. It's amazing to think that it is only a little over a year ago that we moved to chiang Mai. Now another year begins!

The end of 2010 and the beginning of this year has been one of the busiest times in my life aside from preparing to move here. We have been going non-stop. Not to mention the new additions to our home. Maya now has a dog named Spot. She is absolutely adorable. We got her from an animal shelter here in Chiang Mai. The dogs are so many they just give them away free already spayed and vaccinated. Jared and I decided that this was the year for a dog as it would add extra security. Last year when there were thefts around the area, only two homes that we know of got hit. Us and our neighbor. We were the only two without dogs. We feel a bit safer with spot around. Our second addition is Tahn. She is a Thai friend of ours who just graduated from an animation school with YWAM. She is in-between places right now as she has been trying to figure out her next step. As it turns out, God put her in our home for a reason. Later on that. Now total, including the kids we have 8 people in our home plus a dog. Any more and we will burst. We are sort of looking forward to our border run in February as to have some quiet time.

Another add to the hustle in bustle is the English classes we've been doing out of our home. Right now we have 5 university students that we cook for and teach twice a week. This helps us make a bit of money and allows some discipling. We've talked about topics including abortion, aliens and creation, desperate housewives, JFK conspiracies, ect... it can get quite interesting. Our hour and a half class usually turns to two hours or more.

Jared is still looking for full time work. We hope to find out something this month... we're counting down the days :) Even so, work will not begin until March. I am now in partnership with Tahn, working on a Family Club. We have rented a house three doors down from our home to use as an outreach center and language center titled the Happy Family Club. It's a Thai style english name. :) So, I've posted the details on our project further down. Right now we are trying to make and raise 3000 U.S. dollars to finance the start up costs. Tahn has signed the contract for the building. She signs the lease in 2 more weeks! Please be praying for this project as it has the potential to make a big impact in the community. There are many (70-80%) broken families and unstable homes in Thailand.

Happy Family Club
Transforming communities by transforming families.
December 29, 2010

Founders
Amber Lee
It has been my vision to start a center for children in
Chiang Mai for many years. I’ve been waiting patiently
for God to bring along someone in Thailand to work
with who carries the same vision and conviction for
community, families, and children. If we can give value
to the lives of children and work to build stronger
family units, it will change lives and has the potential
to change generations. Through this project, I believe
we can bring joy and the hope of Christ to the families
within the community. It is my honor to be able to
work alongside Tahn to serve and bring glory to God!

Tahn Vong
From when I could remember, it has always been my
passion to do media for kids and families. I value families as
the very core foundation of community. To build a strong
community, we need to start at its heart, which is families.
After Christ came into my heart, He made me even more
passionate about families. He has equipped me with
education and experiences to make that dream of mine,
which is truly His, come true. I have invested my time,
energy, skills, and finances for this passion and have
started putting together the pieces of this jigsaw. Our God
is creative and He has creative plans to reach communities
in southeast Asia. I am so blessed that He created me to be
a part of His creative plan for His creation. I would be the
manager and facilitator for this project.

Our Vision:
To transform communities by transforming families.

Mission statement:
To create a center where families can come to build stronger
relationships with each other and learn skills through seminars, media
and activities to continue building a healthy happy family in the future.

Club Center Club Center:

The features of this house make it the perfect facility to
start our center. The features include: a large courtyard where kids can
play, an open main floor with a small kitchen, an office on the main floor,
four rooms on the second level suitable for classrooms, two restrooms,
ceiling fans, and air-conditioning in the classrooms. It is located in a
central residential area within Chiang Mai City. Another advantage is
that it is only three doors down from our home. This is good as we will
be spending a lot of time at the center!

Our activities will include:
- Family fun night
- Kids story time
- Handcrafting
- A mother&daughter cooking time
- A father&son sport time
- Child development workshops
- Marriage improvement workshops
- Family’s day outreaches in surrounding communities
- English Fitness: Teaching English by playing and doing activities. We will charge
people for the English Fitness program to generate income for staff.

This Saturday we will celebrate Children's Day. We will pass out cookies and have tea at the center to become more known to the community!

There is a lot to look forward to in this year! God is good!

P.S. My new years resolution is to update my blogs regularly this year. Should be better now that we have the Internet! I'll get a pic of the center up asap.