"Oh the places you'll go!" -Dr. Seuss (And pregnant Cinderella's godmother did not show up for this one)

In Chiang Mai, Thailand
 
Had one of those adventures yesterday that left me really humbled. What I thought was going to be a regular/casual meeting with lots of people turned into a personal dinner with few people at a fancy  restaurant in a fancy hotel. Somehow I missed the memo, luckily my prince looked charming. I was dressed like a pregnant village missionary, complete with wide $2.00 blue sandals, an outfit that wasn't totally matching. And I had brought my wild 4 year old along for the ride! If you know me and my background, my dad has worked in the hotel industry since he was 19, so hotels were part of my growing up. But as you know, my life now does not usually consist of fancy hotels and fancy dinners. We live in the middle of nowhere, the selection is Thai/Isaan food or in the city there are 2 good places to get Western food - Pizza Company (pizza/some Italian) or KFC.

So back to my story, I think God has such a sense of humor and is so good to us. The night was such a blessing! The restaurant was even an Italian one, my favorite food!  We ended up staying the whole time, the people we met with were really fun and were very sweet to Ry. Other than making the restaurant smell like burnt hair at the end of the night (candle), she did pretty well.  We got home and she asked for her pajamas and put herself to bed, princess was wiped out.  Life is so funny sometimes! It's a day in Chiang Mai, Thailand that I will never forget!

My encounter with Pakistani Christians seeking asylum in Bangkok (Jason)

A few weeks ago we spent two weeks in Bangkok for OMF training for ministry in Thailand. During our stay we went to an international church and met a very friendly family from Pakistan who spoke English fluently. They are one of thousands of Pakistani Christian families fleeing persecution and seeking asylum in Bangkok. There are many issues, which I don’t have room to explain, but if you are interested you can find info on the web. Please pray the churches in Bangkok will come to a unified decision on how to help our persecuted Pakistani brothers and sisters. I also encourage you to pray for the many ethnic groups who take refuge in America, may the church learn to comfort them and befriend them, because sometimes sojourner need a friend, not just someone who can help them. “The Lord loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner; therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt” (Deut. 10:18, 19).

May 2015 newsletter / video update

May 16, 2015

“For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing” (Deut 10:17-18).

Dear Prayer Partners,

Hello everybody. Can you believe in a few weeks there will be another little girl in the Byers’ family here in Thailand? We thought it would be good to write a little update before we temporarily move to Chiang Mai for the baby’s birth. I hope you take the time to read and pray for the people that are mentioned in this newsletter.

Contents:

1.      Video update

2.      Neighbors interested in the Lord

3.      Encounter with possible trafficked Myanmar boy in Isaan

4.      Prayer points

1.      Video (6 minutes)

Please check out our update video of Sahatsakhan, Jenn worked hard to put this together. The video is currently appearing very blurry on YouTube, we apologize if you have the same issue! As some of you know, Jenn takes care of a lot of the administration part of the ministry and does a great job, she also is the one who formats the newsletter and puts in the pictures, so if it was just me you would get a plain letter with no pictures. I know, I am pretty lame. They say every good man has a great woman behind him.

2.      Neighbors interested in the Lord

Last week Jay and Rya were at our neighbor Yaay Phim’s (“Grandma Phim”) house, let’s call her Grandma Pam. Grandma Pam has been a real person of peace for us in the community, she is always inviting us to festivals and she is the one who set up the once a week English teaching for the kids in the community at her home, she is a great blessing. While Jay and Rya were at her house she looks at Jay and asks, “Why are you different than other foreigners?” I told her, “Because I am a Christian and I worship the Creator of the world. She looks around to see if anybody is around and in a soft quite voice, she says, “I like Christianity a lot.” I asked her if she was interested in the Lord and she quietly tells me that she and the teenage orphan Youee (we will call her Suzie) that lives at her house are both interested. Then she tells me how one of our good Christian friends from our fellowship (Boom) has invited them to our OMF Isaan church camp in October. She said she really wants to go. Praise the Lord! This has brought so much encouragement to our family and to Boom as well. Please pray for Grandma Pam and Suzie, that their curiosity in the Lord would increase and they would know Him. Our God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome, and causes dead lifeless stones to come to life and declare His glory amongst nations.

Jenn and Rya with neighbor Grandma Pam in April

3.      My encounter with a possible Trafficked teenager from Myanmar

After our long bus ride back from Bangkok back to Isaan (they wouldn’t let Jenn on the plane, that’s a different story), we went to go eat some dinner. While we were waiting for the food, Jay and Rya went for a walk. While walking there was a young teenage boy who was selling roti (a popular Indian snack) who tried to speak English to me. I (Jay) responded, but soon realized his English consisted of “Hello, where you come from?” I eventually started to speak Thai with him even though I could tell he was not Thai. He was able to speak Thai very well. While we were talking he would look around as though he was not supposed to be engaging in conversation with me.  Eventually, a Thai lady came over and I started to talk with her for a little bit, she eventually walked off. I continued the conversation with the boy, who was very interested in me as I was of him. He was 16 year old from Myanmar who first came to Thailand when he was 13. He asked me about my parents and where they live, which opened the door for me to ask about his. He said they are still in Myanmar. I asked if he missed them, and he lowered his head and wiped a tear away (if you know Asian culture it is very rare to show that type of emotion in public). Right when I was about to give him my number and ask him if he needed help, the same lady appeared and the boy walked away. I went to go look for the boy again, but could not find him. I don’t know for sure if this boy was trafficked, but I would not doubt it.  Please pray for the ones who are trafficked, and pray that the church/body of Christ will be the first responders.

“He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow…” (Deut 10:18). 

4.      Prayer Points:

1.      Pam and Suzie that they would have a revelation of Jesus and receive His life

2.      For the men, women, boys and girls that have been trafficked into Thailand

3.      Safety for our 10+ hour journey to Chiang Mai (we leave Tuesday, 5/19)

4.      Safe birth and smooth transition with raising our new baby in Isaan

Thank you for reading and I hope you look at this as a spiritual exercise and pray while reading through this letter. We are very thankful for all of you who support this ministry in different ways, may the Lord bless you.

With much love and appreciation,

Jason, Jenn and Moriah 

35 weeks pregnant in Bangkok (now 37!)