Appointed by OMF – WE ARE MOVING to THAILAND!

New appointees at Candidate Course (and Moriah's babysitter!)

We spent the last 10 days at Candidate Course with OMF International, the missions organization we've been applying for…it was a blast! AND…they (OMF-USA) as well as the field (Thailand) asked us to join their team!

What does this mean? We will be moving to Thailand in the next year, spending 1 year in language school in Lopburi and then on to Isaan (the North East) of Thailand to begin church planting. WE ARE SO EXCITED! More information to come!

If you want to read about OMF International (formerly “China Inland Mission” or CIM), their website is: http://www.omf.org/ OMF focuses on reaching East Asia. OMF International has an amazing heritage, with J. Hudson Taylor as its founder. It’s a privilege to serve with this mission!

One of the best parts of the trip was getting to know the leaders. They are passionate, down to earth, loving, real, and servant hearted. During our training, we learned about partnership development and began planning for our future team. In addition, we learned that prayer is our number one support, and that we rely on God, not people, for our provision. We also explored different ways to encourage others to discover their unique role in missions, which is so much more than going or giving. We have an exciting journey ahead while on the “homeside” and even more excited about the ones that God will call to walk this journey with us!

Moriah had a blast in Colorado (see photos below). She was the “mascot” of the course and loved her baby-sitter.

We are always asking for prayer for Moriah's left eye. At her last eye doctor appointment, the doctor felt that her eye is doing pretty well and that she doesn’t need to be on medication for the time being. This is truly an answer to prayer. Please keep praying for her and for complete healing.

Oh yeah....on Friday, October 28 - we celebrate our 4 year wedding anniversary!

We will be in touch. Thanks for your prayers and please send us an update!

-Jason, Jenn and Moriah

P.S. Thailand has had some serious flooding. A missionary with OMF made this video showing the devastation going on even where he lives (he even shows his kids SWIMMING in their living room!)

Flooding in Central Thailand 2011 - English from Ulrich Kohler on Vimeo.

At a Vietnamese restaurant - Moriah wanted it to be an authentic experience!

Jason and our friend Phil - who will also be going to Thailand with his wife Kate!

Picture day for Prayer cards!

Group picture at the Hideaway Retreat Center

Our girl

Summer 2011...and we've been accepted to Candidate Course!

Dear Friends & Family,

Hope the summer has treated you well! I am happy to say that it is not currently snowing here in Park City, Utah…but come October, we will see snow again.

In June, we celebrated 2 high school graduations…Congrats to our baby sisters Amy Byers and Jordan Gunderson! While in California for Jordan’s graduation, we got to meet Jenn’s nephew Caleb Hurley Gunderson for the first time. It was so fun having Moriah and Caleb TOGETHER!

In July, Jenn’s parents came out and we spent some time at the Sundance Resort. Sundance is quite picturesque! A highlight of our time together is when we went on a lovely 3 mile hike down the mountain…it was a little harder than expected, very beautiful, and memories of Terri sliding down a snow bank will probably never leave our minds. But we survived the adventure! They have come out to visit again since then…they just can’t seem to be away from Moriah for too long!

In August, Jason went as a leader on a Young Life (the Christian organization that I now work for) backpacking trip in Colorado. They roughed it for 7 days with only a few pairs of clothes and no showers. This was Jason’s kind of trip; rugged mixed with deep talks about Jesus.

While Jason was roughing it, Jenn and Moriah got on a plane again to CA to make a “surprise visit” to her dad. The doorbell was rung, and my dad came down the stairs to find a little baby on his doorstep. He was definitely SURPRISED!

Exciting Byers family news- We have another beautiful niece! Jason’s sister April and husband Jason had their baby, Kaili Ann Scarbrough, born on July 29, 2011 in Hawaii.

Moriah, or “Chew bug” as we have nicknamed her is now 7 months old and just as cute as can be. She says “mom,” is trying out different sounds, laughs, is captivated by the dog, is most likely teething (hence the nickname) and enjoys doing her little “motormouth” for all to hear. Please pray for healing for the hemangioma over her left eye. It’s growth is supposed to be less aggressive now, but it may continue to try to grow until she’s a year. She’s off the prednisolone (steroids - some pictures you’ll notice that she is REALLY chubby) but might be going on a different medication soon. We patch her good eye for two hours a day and we try to get her to wear her glasses as much as possible (Moriah has decided that glasses are yummy…so they do not always stay on her face for very long!).

We have been accepted to Candidate Course for OMF (Overseas Missionary Fellowship) in Colorado! The 3 of us will be going to the 10 day course on October 17-27th (only a little over a month away!). It is after that training time that we may or may not be accepted to join their organization. As we’ve asked before, please pray for God’s continued leading and provision for this huge step in our lives. We are VERY excited!

As always, please keep in touch. We love and miss YOU!

-Jason, Jenn & Moriah

Moriah & Caleb hanging out in August

Jason preaching on John 9 @ Creekside

Grocery Shopping!

3 1/2 months

Jenn says:

Greetings from Park City, Utah! Tonight as I write this it is….snowing outside. Yes, snowing. It is the end of May, but Park City just doesn’t seem to care!

Moriah is now 3 ½ months old. Time has flown and her cheeks have GROWN! She’s become a chunky baby. She babbles a lot now, loves her bath time (usually cries when we take her out), takes incredibly short naps (30 minutes usually), sleeps around 9 hours straight at night (lucky mama!), and never ceases to make us laugh! Our only health concern has been her eye. She developed a hemangioma (vascular birth mark) over her left eye area and is now on medication to make it stop growing and to hopefully shrink it. From the mass pushing on her eye, she has developed an astigmatism and will be getting...pink glasses! Please pray for her little eye and that the mass will go away completely with the medicine that she is on now.

The ski season ended so Jason had to start job hunting…he found a new job! He is now working the front desk at the Best Western right by our house. The location makes it very convenient for him to come home and eat dinner. He is loving the hotel industry, seems to be a family thing.

I am now doing administrative work for Park City/Wasatch’s Young Life organization. It is my first experience working for a Christian organization and it is awesome! I am able to do the majority of my work…FROM HOME! We have nothing against putting children in daycare when it’s necessary, but we feel extremely blessed that we get to keep Moriah at home with us.


In June…our baby sisters are graduating from high school! After we attend Jason’s sister Amy’s graduation here in Park City…we will be going to California for my sister Jordan’s graduation in June! We are super excited for our trip and I can’t wait to take Moriah to the beach! We will also be meeting our new nephew, Caleb Gunderson (Justin & Jennifer’s baby) for the first time as well!

We are still in the process of applying with OMF (Overseas Missionary Fellowship). It is a pretty lengthy process. We hope to go to their Candidate Training Course this October. We still have a lot of paperwork to do before then! Thailand is still on our hearts. Please be praying for us as we work through this process and that we will be extra diligent in paying off our student loans!

Please continue to stay in touch! Miss you all!

Love,

Jenn, Jason & Moriah

Favorite pictures of Moriah from Week 0 - 3 months

Professional Pictures of Moriah (Hancock Photography)

Moriah's Birth Announcement !!!

Jenn says:

Moriah has arrived!

Moriah Lynn Jordan Byers was born on Wednesday, February 9th at 7:30p.m. She weighed 7 pounds 14 oz and was 20 1/2 inches in length. Mom is almost recovered from that eventful delivery day. All I can remember saying about her while we were at the hospital was "She's so pretty!" I love looking at her little feet and thinking about how many times she kicked me with them...babies are such miracles!

We live with Jason's parents so she's gotten to spend time with her grandparents, cousins Ayden & Addison, and aunts and uncles on the Byers' side. We have a ton of support out here! We've also had the Gunderson clan out to meet little Moriah as well as Great Grandma Ethel! My mom stayed here for a few weeks after Moriah was born...WHAT A HUGE HELP! I never realized how much support you need after a baby is born! We also celebrated Jason's 26th birthday on February 22nd, as well as my sister Jordan's 18th birthday on the 26th AND my dad's birthday on February 27th. LOTS of February birthdays in this family!

More pictures can be found here in my facebook albums, just click on the week(s) you want to see:
Week 0
Weeks 1-2
Week 3
Some fun things about Moriah:
1. She makes lots of different "faces" in her sleep (smiles, frowns, it's very entertaining!) and makes some very SWEET sounds when she's awake and asleep.
2. When she's done eating, a lot of times she tucks in her bottom lip to say "Don't feed me any more!"
3. She loves hanging out with dad when he gets home.
4. She does not like having her clothes changed.
5. She sleeps pretty well at night (lucky mom!)
6. She doesn't like to burp after meals but she toots...A LOT.
7. Her changing table is one of her favorite places to be! She looks up at her picture of 2 elephants on the wall and at the seahorse that is on her little mirror. She is fascinated!

Only 2 1/2 weeks away!

Jenn says: We are getting so unbelieveably close! Still have a few last minute things to do (testing out the car seat being the most important of them). My parents' bags are almost packed and they are just waiting for the phone call!

Meanwhile, I wanted to show some prego pictures we got done by our good friend Alan Hancock. He posted some on his blog, enjoy!

Hancock Photography Blog - pics of Jay and Jenn