Playing Catch Up

Once again I have to apologize for the lack of writing on the blog.  I think I'm overwhelmed with where to even begin!  We have traveled, celebrated one little girl's birthday and oh, yeah, we saw the Lord provide our financial support to return to Thailand!  So, to say the past month or so has been busy is a bit of an understatement!
The last time I wrote I shared about our time in Thailand.  Currently, there is much political instability in the nation.  We are leaving in six days for the Land of Smiles and we honestly don't know what will be happening in country at that point.  I am not sharing this to scare anyone, but please do be in prayer for us.
Now, for our trip to Pennsylvania.  We traveled to PA with the hope that we would be leaving for Thailand in late November/early December.  When we left Florida for the north, we still had about 20 per cent of our support left to come in.  So, we wanted to see my family before we left for Thailand.  We had a wonderful visit.  We celebrated "ChrisWuGiving" (Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas all together).  My parents put up their Christmas tree at the end of October for the kids and surprised us all one night when we got home!  We had great visits with my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents as well as dear friends who have been praying for us for years and many who have invested their time and energy into my growing up years.
We arrived in Pennsylvania on Adele's birthday.  She turned six this year.  So, we got to have a party with her PA cousins.  =)

 The Birthday Girl!

 Adi and Adele

 My cousin, Melanie, reading to Elizabeth.

We also enjoyed a walk in town, photographing some of the beautiful buildings in my hometown.

 Nanny and her grands.

 "The Old Mud Church" also known as Union Church. It was built in 1820 and a great example of American Gothic architecture (according to the sign posted outside the church).  

 This is the headstone of one of the Philips, founders of Philipsburg.  And, just for some history, Hardman Philips of Philipsburg was the first to build a screw mill.

 Town Hall 

Saint Paul's Episcopal Church

We also enjoyed the cool Fall weather up north and found ourselves picking out pumpkins and carving them.

 Then, we got to carve more pumpkins at the church party!  The kids also got to bob for apples for the first time EVER!

 Adele (rock star), Paige (mad scientist) and PJ (herpetologist)

 Calvin (army man), Elizabeth (fairy), and Mickey (hockey player).

 Elizabeth ate cookies all night long!

The long table of pumpkin carvers!!!

So, that was our time in PA.  It went by way too fast, but it was so fun! Thank you to all who welcomed us and shared a meal with us, who prayed with us and encouraged us!  We had such a great time!

Our recent trip

Paul and I flew out to Bangkok last week for team development with MTW Thailand. It was a really great time for all the missionaries/staff of MTW Thailand.  We still have a lot to think through and work through and figure out how we are going to operate within Thailand, but it was so beneficial to all be in the same place to pray and talk and plan.  One of the greatest joys of being in Bangkok this time was the time spent with our Thai family.  We had time to just sit and talk and listen to what the Lord is doing and has done over the past 4 years we've been gone.  Last summer when we traveled out to Thailand, we had one day with our Thai family...and it just wasn't enough.  In fact, I've regretted that we didn't have more time.  I didn't have time to sit with Tang and hear her stories of being pregnant or hear her excitement of a new baby.  And the reality is, I will never again have that time with Tang, on this earth.  So, this year, it was truly a blessing to stop in at Napada and visit with the women there and hear how they are doing.  It was a blessing to worship with our brothers and sisters in Thai again.  It was a blessing to hear of all the challenges and hardships the past two years or so have brought and how the Lord, alone, has been faithful to His people.  This is the testimony of our Lord...He is faithful.  He is calling people to Himself in Ram 2.  He is growing His people in His likeness...and that is just exciting and wonderful to see.  Please continue to pray for our Thai brothers and sisters as well as for the missionaries serving alongside them.  The forces of darkness are very real but Christ's light is shining.  I have been reflecting on our time...and the stories I've heard from people I love dearly. I have been overwhelmed with the fractured, broken lives of so many all because of sin.  I have felt as though we're just one small drip of fresh water...there are so many needs and mostly the need for a Savior...for Jesus...and how can a handful of missionaries and Christians be agents of change?  But, what the Lord has been showing me, is that He is faithful.  People, through their hardships are coming to Christ.  He is humbling hearts and bringing repentance and full dependence on Himself. His Spirit is the agent of change...and He is changing lives and transforming hearts.  I am realizing that this work is messy.  It's rarely going to be a nice clean break.  It's all for our good, for our holiness and for Christ's glory alone. MTW Thailand has been in the Ram 2 community almost a decade...and we're starting to see more and more fruit.  For all those who have come and invested in lives, the Lord has been faithful to use you, in some small way.  Has it been perfect? Nope. Have we all made mistakes? Yep.  Are we weak? Yep.  But, the wonderful thing is that Jesus has taken all our failures, weakness and mistakes and is making something beautiful and new...and that is just exciting to see!

 P'Lek and her daughter, Som-O.  P'Lek is a new believer from the Maahaadthai community.

P'Chai faithfully serving Christ over these past years at New City Fellowship Church.

Another joy we had was to hear NaamFon's testimony of her time in the mountains among the Karen people after Sunday worship.  Her missionary heart was evident to all.  We thank God for her obedience in following Him into a very hard place to serve and her heart for these people who are so marginalized in Thai society.

NaamFon sharing about her time among the Karen people after worship on Sunday.

Another joy we had was to attend the new Grace City Church Bangkok worship service Sunday afternoon.  Our prayer for Thailand has always been to see multiple churches planted, and to see this group of worshipers was so encouraging.  I was especially struck by the sheer volume of praise these people exuded.  There was joy and it was abundant!  We had to bolt fairly quickly after the service to catch our flight, but we were sure glad we got to worship with this group as well.

 waiting for worship to begin...

musicians practicing.

Turning Two

Elizabeth turned two the last Sunday of July.  Grammy and Grampy offered us to use their home for the celebration.  Elizabeth loves her sister's Bitty Baby doll, so Grammy got Elizabeth her very own Bitty Baby.  For now, we call her "Baby" but I am sure as the days roll by and Elizabeth starts to talk more, her baby will have a more clever name.  Elizabeth continues to be a joy to us.  She is a lot of fun and enjoys being tickled and chased by her siblings.  She's still pretty spunky and I know I'm a bit partial, but she's smart!  You can't get much past her. She may not talk much, but her understanding is impeccable.  Some of her new recent words are, "me", "baby", "bye", "kay", "dee-dee" (which is her word for binky), "mimi" for Grammy, "pee pay or pp" for PJ, and of course "mama" and "dada".  I think the funniest thing she does at this time, is she calls Paul, "Paul".  And it's a guttural sounding type of call...and then we she calls him "da-da", it's so sweet and demure.  It's pretty funny. I really need to get it on video!  She is also really into books right now. We catch her looking at books and "reading" them at all hours of the day. I love to see her happily content looking at books while sitting on the couch.  She also likes to be read to, of course...and so if you're sitting down, chances are pretty good she'll bring you a book to read to her (though half the time she just wants to flip the pages and not really hear the story!)  She loves being outside and she loves the beach.  She's not a baby anymore, that much is sure.

A Boy and His Birthday

 On July 16, PJ turned 10!  We had a small celebration for him down at Grammy and Grampy's beach condo.  PJ wanted his grandparents and cousins there as well as his best friend and his family.  So we all descended on the beach, played, swam, talked and ate some lunch before we got the singing and gifts underway.  Pictured above is the spunky 10 year old!

 Above, PJ and his boy cousins, friends and brother!

 Singing "Happy Birthday to You."  He blew the candles out before we finished the song!

 PJ's best friend, Joseph, gave PJ this book on reptilian scientific names.  He was thrilled!

 Grammy made him happy with some new LEGO sets!

 Everyone excited about new gifts!

 Most of the kids pictured with Calvin's gift to PJ in the background. A homemade LEGO construction complete with a couple dollars hidden inside as well as some mini-figs.  A very creative gift from a very loving brother.

 And, the gift we got PJ...snake tongs. He was over the moon.  Below is Sean, a cousin, with PJ and more LEGOs!

 Showing off with his snake tongs (above).

 Before our friends left, I snagged this picture of PJ and Joseph.  Such sweet boys, such a sweet friendship they have.  So thankful for this friendship and the ways in which I see God at work in them.  Thank you to Joseph and the Ohareks as well as the Henry family for coming and making his 10th birthday so very extra special!

a poem on TCKs

I am
a confusion of cultures.
Uniquely me.
I think this is good
because I can
understand
the traveller, sojourner, foreigner,
the homesickness
that comes.
I think this is also bad
because I cannot
be understood
by the person who has sown and grown in one place.
They know not
the real meaning of homesickness
that hits me
now and then.
Sometimes I despair of
understanding them.
I am
an island
and
a United Nations.
Who can  recognize either in me
but God?
~"Uniquely Me" by Alex Graham James

*TCK stands for Third Culture Kid
Please pray for Paul and me as we raise our TCKs...that we would shepherd them well, that we would have good communication with them and that, ultimately, they would bring much glory to Christ.  Thank you.

stone of help

Ebenezer in Hebrew is translated as stone of help.  Taken from 1 Samuel 7, where the Israelites feared for their lives and asked Samuel to pray to God for His protection.  After the Lord caused the Philistines to lose and retreat during the battle, Samuel offers up an "ebenezer" or a stone.  It is  a monumental stone set up to signify the great Help our Lord was to Samuel.

In the course of the past month, especially, we have witnessed our Lord's great help. We have not physically set up a stone, but I'd like this post to be a bit of a stone in honor of our King.  He has brought us through a valley, a trial, a battle, if you will.  And, of course, I don't really mean the Henry family, I mean our church in Ram 2.  As news of Tang's diagnosis with cancer hit us all very hard, we each one, I think, began to adjust to it, to process what was happening to her body.  News from the field was sparse at times but we continued to hold up Tang, Mot, Peace and their families and the church family at New Community.  Then, in April, news started coming more and more regularly.  We never knew if the next morning we would have an update on her passing.  Then, on a Saturday afternoon in mid June, EST, that news came.  Tang had flown to be with her Jesus!  Were there tears?  You betcha.  Of course, our first reaction is thankfulness that her suffering has ended!  I was reading last night in 1 Corinthians about the resurrection of the dead in Christ and how our bodies will be different, spiritual bodies that will bear the image of the man of heaven!  So, we rejoice!   But, we also mourn.  We mourn for her husband, her daughter, her parents and family.  We mourn for ourselves, that we will miss this servant of the Lord SO much.  There is a huge hole in the family at the church in Ram 2.  I can't even fathom the ache they have. But, as they held funeral services for Tang that week and as the week progressed it was clear that Christ was glorified and proclaimed in a very dark place.  In a place where there is no hope or assurance in death, Tang's death and funeral services brought hope of a better way.  In her life and in her death Tang's desire was to bring glory to Christ.  I actually happened to find a Christmas card Tang gave our family several years ago and in it she had written out her testimony in English.  It's very powerful and perhaps one day I will share it here, but even then, all she wanted was to glorify Christ...until the day she died.  And, I think the Lord, in His great faithfulness to Tang has done just that.  He has been glorified, His name has been praised, His Word has gone forth and many have been faced with this man Who was raised from the dead to bring new life and in whom Tang had placed all her hope and trust.  Now, we wait for the Holy Spirit to do His perfect work, to convict and bring repentance and to bring new life in Christ.  It is clear that the Lord usually uses affliction to bring about His purposes.  Our prayer is that many would know Christ because of the opportunity Tang's life and death gave to share Him...and to live it out.  Christ loves His Bride, the Church.  He is glorified when His Bride serves and loves sacrificially as He does and it is my deepest conviction that when we are loving through His Spirit, people outside the church see it and wonder at that kind of love and concern.  The church in Ram 2 continues to need our prayers as they process and grieve this one whom they loved so dearly.  May the Lord continue to be their stone of help.

Top pic(left to right) Tang, Ying, P'Khiaw, Yu with baby Adele

Middle picture: Tang dressed up at a baby shower for a woman who cleaned the church in Ram 2

Last picture: Tang and Mot with baby Peace, December 2012

*I wrote this post just days after Tang passed into glory.  Just today, I was looking through some old photos and found a beautiful picture of Tang smiling, tears came welling up. Thank you for your prayers.

North and South Carolina Trip

We headed up to North Carolina last week for Paul to help with training the MTW interns that left Friday to go all over the world to serve the Lord this summer.  The kids and I went along for the ride...kidding!  No, we hung out and enjoyed the beautiful campus of Ridge Haven, the PCA's camp.  As you can imagine, there are lots of hills...so we got our workouts in everyday, climbing hills, hiking, swimming and canoeing and kayaking on the pond.  We even managed to get some book work done.  Of course, we did a lot of exploring and learning about the bugs, plants and critters of North Carolina.

 Above: PJ and Calvin doing some math worksheets.

 Above: Adele writing in her "journal".  Below: Elizabeth playing with stickers! This kept her entertained for a long while!!!

 Calvin especially enjoyed the Honeysuckle on the walk to the cafeteria and the pond.  He begged me anytime we were near there if we could stop and eat some honeysuckle.

 Another first for the boys was kayaking.  They both really enjoyed the freedom of having their own "vessel" to steer.  I wasn't sure if Calvin could do it, but he proved me wrong!

 As usual, Adele met a friend.  This is Julia.  Her Mamma works at Ridge Haven and so we got to spend an afternoon playing with her.  She and Adele had a good time together.

 I had the super idea of going on a nice, long walk one evening and collecting leaves.  We then rubbed them into Adele's journal.  She really enjoyed this activity, and so did I!

 The above rock was along the roadway and we passed it multiple times a day. I don't know who put it there, but it brought such great encouragement to me every time I passed it.  What a great reminder!

 The above picture is the pond.  It's hard to see but there is a long telephone pole with a rope swing hanging from it.  Would you believe PJ jumped from that swing?!?!  He did!  He wanted to do it, so he and Paul each jumped twice. I was so proud of him. I only have video of it, no pictures!

 Adele was especially fascinated with the Mountain Laurel. It was blooming everywhere at Ridge Haven.  It was so beautiful.

 We found two luna moths...again, a beautiful creature and one we rarely see.

 Paul is in the above picture with all the interns!  This is just before they pulled out to be taken to the airport to fly off to their destinations!  What a blessing to be there and pray with and for them as they departed!

 After Ridge Haven, we had planned to camp at Table Rock, SC.  We had never been there before and it was really a lovely State Park to visit.  Above is PJ helping Paul set up the tent.  We had a meeting with a church on Sunday, so we decided to camp from Friday to Sunday.  As we thought about breaking camp early Sunday morning before our meeting and worship, we were wondering if we should break camp Saturday evening and stay in a hotel.  Well, as you will see below, John Boyte, a dear and long time friend came to visit us and offered us to stay at his in-laws home not far from Greenville.  So, that is what we did..and it was SO much easier!!!

 At Table Rock, we spent some time hiking.  As you can see Elizabeth had the easiest time of it...and even got a nap on our hike.

 Yes, you have seen it correctly, this is a copperhead.  Not far up the trail, PJ, who was in the lead, saw this and immediately identified it as a copperhead.  Of course, it was confirmed. If you know anything about our boy, he was and has been elated since seeing this snake. It was on his list of snakes to see in the wild.  He hasn't stopped talking about it!

Pictured above are Adele, Elizabeth and Calvin in front of Table Rock.  Maybe when they all get older we can do the 4 hour hike (one way) to the top!  But, it wasn't to be this trip!!!

Last, but certainly not least, is John and Paul.  It was such a wonderful blessing to see him.  On Sunday, we got to see him again along with his bride, Cheryl and another college friend and his wife and children.  Unfortunately, it was raining when we arrived at their house for lunch and I left the camera in the car!  We headed home Sunday afternoon. It was a packed trip, days were full of the beauty of God's creation (for the kids and me, anyway!) and we had the privilege of seeing old friends and meeting new ones.